initial commit of ebook 890HEADmain

6 files changed, 54734 insertions, 0 deletions

diff --git a/old/890-8.txt b/old/890-8.txt
new file mode 100644
index 0000000..1a42b7a
--- /dev/null
+++ b/old/890-8.txt
@@ -0,0 +1,17360 @@
+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
+
+Posting Date: June 7, 2008 [EBook #890]
+Release Date: April, 1997
+
+Language: English
+
+Character set encoding: ISO-8859-1
+
+*** START OF THIS PROJECT GUTENBERG EBOOK DECLINE AND FALL OF THE ROMAN EMPIRE ***
+
+
+
+
+Produced by David Reed and Dale R. Fredrickson
+
+
+
+
+
+HISTORY OF THE DECLINE AND FALL OF THE ROMAN EMPIRE
+
+Edward Gibbon, Esq.
+
+With notes by the Rev. H. H. Milman
+
+Volume 1
+
+1782 (Written), 1845 (Revised)
+
+
+
+
+CONTENTS:
+
+Introduction
+
+Preface By The Editor
+
+Preface Of The Author
+
+Preface To The First Volume
+
+Chapter I: The Extent Of The Empire In The Age Of The Antoninies.—Part
+I.   Part II.   Part III.
+
+Introduction—The Extent And Military Force Of The Empire In The Age Of
+The Antonines.
+
+
+Chapter II: The Internal Prosperity In The Age Of The Antonines.—Part I.
+Part II.   Part III.   Part IV.
+
+Of The Union And Internal Prosperity Of The Roman Empire, In The Age Of
+The Antonines.
+
+
+Chapter III: The Constitution In The Age Of The Antonines.—Part I.
+Part II.
+
+Of The Constitution Of The Roman Empire, In The Age Of The Antonines.
+
+
+Chapter IV: The Cruelty, Follies And Murder Of Commodus.—Part I.   Part
+II.
+
+The Cruelty, Follies, And Murder Of Commodus. Election Of Pertinax—His
+Attempts To Reform The State—His Assassination By The Prætorian Guards.
+
+
+Chapter V: Sale Of The Empire To Didius Julianus.—Part I.   Part II.
+
+Public Sale Of The Empire To Didius Julianus By The Prætorian
+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.
+
+
+Chapter VI: Death Of Severus, Tyranny Of Caracalla, Usurpation Of
+Macrinus.—Part I.   Part II.   Part III.   Part IV.
+
+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.
+
+
+Chapter VII: Tyranny Of Maximin, Rebellion, Civil Wars, Death Of
+Maximin.—Part I.   Part II.   Part III.
+
+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.
+
+
+Chapter VIII: State Of Persia And Restoration Of The Monarchy.—Part I.
+Part II.
+
+Of The State Of Persia After The Restoration Of The Monarchy By
+Artaxerxes.
+
+
+Chapter IX: State Of Germany Until The Barbarians.—Part I.   Part II.
+Part III.
+
+The State Of Germany Till The Invasion Of The Barbarians In The Time Of
+The Emperor Decius.
+
+
+Chapter X: Emperors Decius, Gallus, Æmilianus, Valerian And
+Gallienus.—Part I.   Part II.   Part III.   Part IV.
+
+The Emperors Decius, Gallus, Æmilianus, Valerian, And Gallienus.—The
+General Irruption Of The Barbarians.—The Thirty Tyrants.
+
+
+Chapter XI: Reign Of Claudius, Defeat Of The Goths.—Part I.  Part II.
+Part III.
+
+Reign Of Claudius.—Defeat Of The Goths.—Victories, Triumph, And Death Of
+Aurelian.
+
+
+Chapter XII: Reigns Of Tacitus, Probus, Carus And His Sons.—Part I.
+Part II.   Part III.
+
+Conduct Of The Army And Senate After The Death Of Aurelian.— Reigns Of
+Tacitus, Probus, Carus, And His Sons.
+
+
+Chapter XIII: Reign Of Diocletian And His Three Associates.—Part I.
+Part II.   Part III.   Part IV.
+
+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.
+
+
+Chapter XIV: Six Emperors At The Same Time, Reunion Of The Empire.—Part
+I.   Part II.   Part III.   Part IV.
+
+Troubles After The Abdication Of Diocletian.—Death Of
+Constantius.—Elevation Of Constantine And Maxentius. ­ 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.
+
+
+Chapter XV: Progress Of The Christian Religion.—Part I.   Part II.
+Part III.   Part IV.   Part V.   Part VI.   Part VII.   Part VIII.
+Part IX.
+
+The Progress Of The Christian Religion, And The Sentiments, Manners,
+Numbers, And Condition Of The Primitive Christians.
+
+
+
+
+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 art., 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:--
+
+"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'achève.'"
+
+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 least
+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 (tronquées) 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.*
+
+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 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.
+
+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 Cæsar 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, 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.
+
+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 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.
+
+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 Ælius
+Spartianus, Julius Capitolinus, Ælius 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.
+
+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-fû-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 Antoninies.--Part I.
+
+     Introduction--The Extent And Military Force Of The Empire In
+     The Age Of The Antonines.
+
+In the second century of the Christian Æra, 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.
+
+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. 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. 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.
+
+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 Cæsars 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.
+
+The only accession which the Roman empire received, during the first
+century of the Christian Æra, was the province of Britain. In this
+single instance, the successors of Cæsar 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; 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, 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. 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.
+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.
+
+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. 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. 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.
+
+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. 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. 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. 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. 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. 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.
+
+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. 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. 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. 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.
+
+
+
+Chapter I: The Extent Of The Empire In The Age Of The Antoninies.--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. 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. 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. 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.
+
+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. 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.
+
+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. 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.
+
+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. 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.
+
+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. 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. 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. 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.
+
+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. 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.
+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, 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.
+
+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. 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. 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. 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. 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.
+
+Nine centuries of war had gradually introduced into the service many
+alterations and improvements. The legions, as they are described by
+Polybius, in the time of the Punic wars, differed very materially from
+those which achieved the victories of Cæsar, or defended the monarchy of
+Hadrian and the Antonines. The constitution of the Imperial legion may
+be described in a few words. The heavy-armed infantry, which composed
+its principal strength, 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. 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. The legion was usually drawn up eight deep; and the
+regular distance of three feet was left between the files as well as
+ranks. 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. 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. 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.
+
+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. 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. 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; and whenever they embraced the profession
+of arms, they were immediately intrusted with a troop of horse, or a
+cohort of foot. 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.
+
+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. 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. 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. Among the auxiliaries, the bravest and most faithful
+bands were placed under the command of præfects 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. 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.
+
+
+
+Chapter I: The Extent Of The Empire In The Age Of The Antoninies.--Part
+III.
+
+The camp of a Roman legion presented the appearance of a fortified city.
+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 prætorium, 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.
+
+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. 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. 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. 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.
+
+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 Rhætia, one in Noricum, four in
+Pannonia, three in Mæsia, 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 Prætorian Guards, watched over the safety of the monarch and the
+capital. As the authors of almost every revolution that distracted the
+empire, the Prætorians 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.
+
+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; 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. 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. 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.
+
+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 Pyrenæan 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,
+Bætica, 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 Bætica. 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. 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.
+
+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. 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 Cæsar,
+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. 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.
+
+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 Belgæ in the West, the Brigantes in the
+North, the Silures in South Wales, and the Iceni in Norfolk and Suffolk.
+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.
+
+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. 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. 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. 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.
+
+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. The provinces of the Danube soon acquired the
+general appellation of Illyricum, or the Illyrian frontier, and were
+esteemed the most warlike of the empire; but they deserve to be more
+particularly considered under the names of Rhætia, Noricum, Pannonia,
+Dalmatia, Dacia, Mæsia, Thrace, Macedonia, and Greece.
+
+The province of Rhætia, 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.
+
+After the Danube had received the waters of the Teyss and the Save,
+it acquired, at least among the Greeks, the name of Ister. It formerly
+divided Mæsia 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, Mæsia, which, during
+the middle ages, was broken into the barbarian kingdoms of Servia and
+Bulgaria, is again united in Turkish slavery.
+
+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 Hæmus
+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
+Ægean 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 Achæan
+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.
+
+Under the successors of Alexander, Syria was the seat of the Seleucidæ,
+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. 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.
+
+The geographers of antiquity have frequently hesitated to what portion
+of the globe they should ascribe Egypt. 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 præfect 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. *
+
+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 Phnician 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 Cæsariensis.
+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; but which is now diffused over the immense ocean
+that rolls between the ancient and the new continent.
+
+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.
+
+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. 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.
+
+
+
+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. 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. 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.
+
+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. 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. 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. The elegant mythology of Homer
+gave a beautiful, and almost a regular form, to the polytheism of the
+ancient world.
+
+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. 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.
+
+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.
+
+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. 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; 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:
+but the priests themselves, their gods and their altars, subsisted in
+peaceful obscurity till the final destruction of Paganism.
+
+Rome, the capital of a great monarchy, was incessantly filled with
+subjects and strangers from every part of the world, who all introduced
+and enjoyed the favorite superstitions of their native country. 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. 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. Nor was this indulgence a departure from
+the old maxims of government. In the purest ages of the commonwealth,
+Cybele and Æsculapius had been invited by solemn embassies; 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.
+Rome gradually became the common temple of her subjects; and the freedom
+of the city was bestowed on all the gods of mankind.
+
+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. During the most
+flourishing æra of the Athenian commonwealth, the number of citizens
+gradually decreased from about thirty to twenty-one thousand. 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. 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, 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.
+
+
+
+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. 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.
+
+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, and in Gaul, 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.
+
+"Wheresoever the Roman conquers, he inhabits," is a very just
+observation of Seneca, 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. 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. 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. 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. Those of the provincials who were permitted to bear
+arms in the legions; 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 Cæsar in Alcsia,
+commanded legions, governed provinces, and were admitted into the senate
+of Rome. Their ambition, instead of disturbing the tranquillity of the
+state, was intimately connected with its safety and greatness.
+
+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. 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, that
+the faint traces of the Punic or Celtic idioms were preserved only in
+the mountains, or among the peasants. 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 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. 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. The slothful effeminacy of the former
+exposed them to the contempt, the sullen ferociousness of the latter
+excited the aversion, of the conquerors. 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.
+
+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. 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.
+
+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, 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, the most severe
+regulations, 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. 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.
+
+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. 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. 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.
+
+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. Without interpreting, in their utmost
+strictness, the liberal appellations of legions and myriads, 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. 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. Almost every profession, either
+liberal 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. 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. 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. 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.
+
+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, and forms the most numerous society that has ever been
+united under the same system of government.
+
+
+
+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. 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.
+
+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. 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. 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. 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.
+
+[See Theatre Of Marcellus: Augustus built in Rome the theatre of
+Marcellus.]
+
+The family of Herod, at least after it had been favored by fortune, was
+lineally descended from Cimon and Miltiades, Theseus and Cecrops, Æacus
+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. 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.
+
+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. 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
+Thermopylæ, 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.
+
+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; 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. 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.
+
+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 æra of antiquity the expression
+might be intended, 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; 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. 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. III. Three hundred African cities had once acknowledged
+the authority of Carthage, 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 Cæsars, the
+proper Asia alone contained five hundred populous cities, 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.
+Four of them were immediately rejected as unequal to the burden; and
+among these was Laodicea, whose splendor is still displayed in its
+ruins. 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. 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? 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, and yielded, with reluctance, to the majesty of Rome
+itself.
+
+
+
+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. 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. 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. 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. 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. * 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. 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. 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.
+
+[See Remains Of Claudian Aquaduct]
+
+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: 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. 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. 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. 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. 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. 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. 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. 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.
+
+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. 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, 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. 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; precious stones, among which the pearl claimed the first rank
+after the diamond; 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. The annual loss
+is computed, by a writer of an inquisitive but censorious temper, at
+upwards of eight hundred thousand pounds sterling. 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. 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.
+
+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." 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.
+
+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. 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.
+
+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." 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.
+
+
+
+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.
+
+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 Cæsar, 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, 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 Cæsar, 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.
+
+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. 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.
+
+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."
+
+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. 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.
+
+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. 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. 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. 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.
+
+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. 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 prætorian dignity; the legions were commanded by senators, and the
+præfecture of Egypt was the only important trust committed to a Roman
+knight.
+
+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 Prince,
+the favorite epithet of Augustus, was the same in every part of the
+empire.
+
+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 and tribunitian offices, 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. 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.
+
+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.
+
+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, prætors,
+and tribunes, 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. 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. 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. 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.
+
+By declaring themselves the protectors of the people, Marius and Cæsar
+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.
+
+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. 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.
+
+The deification of the emperors 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. 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 Cæsar 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; 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, 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 Cæsar 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.
+
+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 Cæsar 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.
+Augustus was therefore a personal, Cæsar 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 Cæsar 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. *
+
+
+
+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. 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.
+
+I. The death of Cæsar 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, would applaud the
+imitation of his virtue. Cæsar 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.
+
+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 Cæsars, 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 prætorian 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 prætorians, and to embrace the
+benefit of an amnesty, which Claudius had the prudence to offer, and the
+generosity to observe.
+
+[See The Capitol: When the throne was vacant by the murder of Caligula,
+the consuls convoked that assembly in the Capitol.]
+
+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 Cæsar; 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 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. 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.
+
+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. 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 Judæa. 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.
+
+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 Cæsars; 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 prætorian guards had been persuaded to
+abandon the cause of the tyrant. 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; 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.
+
+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. 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.
+
+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; 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.
+
+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 Ælius Verus a gay and voluptuous
+nobleman, recommended by uncommon beauty to the lover of Antinous. 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 Cæsar 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.
+
+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, 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, 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.
+
+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; and the benevolence of his soul displayed
+itself in a cheerful serenity of temper.
+
+The virtue of Marcus Aurelius Antoninus was of severer and more
+laborious kind. 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. 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. 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. 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.
+
+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, and the timid, inhuman Domitian, are
+condemned to everlasting infamy. During fourscore years (excepting
+only the short and doubtful respite of Vespasian's reign) 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.
+
+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. 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. 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. 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.
+
+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 Cæsar 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. The servile judges
+professed to assert the majesty of the commonwealth, violated in the
+person of its first magistrate, whose clemency they most applauded when
+they trembled the most at his inexorable and impending cruelty. 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.
+
+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 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. 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.
+"Wherever you are," said Cicero to the exiled Marcellus, "remember that
+you are equally within the power of the conqueror."
+
+
+
+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 Prætorian 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. 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.
+
+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. 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, 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. 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.
+
+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; 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.
+
+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. 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.
+
+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. 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. 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, popular address, and imagined virtues, attracted
+the public favor; the honorable peace which he had recently granted to
+the barbarians, diffused a universal joy; 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.
+
+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. A fatal incident decided his fluctuating
+character.
+
+One evening, as the emperor was returning to the palace, through a dark
+and narrow portico in the amphitheatre, 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.
+
+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.
+
+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.
+
+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 Prætorian 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. This presumption of a distant army, and their discovery
+of the weakness of government, was a sure presage of the most dreadful
+convulsions.
+
+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. 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.
+
+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. 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. 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.
+
+By these means, Cleander, in the space of three years, had accumulated
+more wealth than had ever yet been possessed by any freedman. 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. 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. 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.
+
+
+
+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. 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 Prætorian guards, 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, who had been long
+jealous of the prerogatives and insolence of the Prætorian cavalry,
+embraced the party of the people. The tumult became a regular
+engagement, and threatened a general massacre. The Prætorians, 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.
+
+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 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.
+
+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 Nemæan 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. Ignorant of these distinctions, Commodus eagerly embraced the
+glorious resemblance, and styled himself (as we still read on his medals
+) 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.
+
+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. 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. Æthiopia 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. 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. ^
+
+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. 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. 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. 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. 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 of the mournful and applauding senate. 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.
+
+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. 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 Lætus, his Prætorian
+præfect, 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.
+
+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, præfect 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. 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 præfect 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.
+
+Lætus conducted without delay his new emperor to the camp of the
+Prætorians, 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 præfect, 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.
+
+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; 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. *
+
+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 Cæsar. 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.
+
+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, 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 Prætorian 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, 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.
+
+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.
+
+Amidst the general joy, the sullen and angry countenance of the
+Prætorian 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 Lætus, their præfect, 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, 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.
+
+These disappointments served only to irritate the rage of the Prætorian
+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 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
+Prætorian 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.
+
+
+
+Chapter V: Sale Of The Empire To Didius Julianus.--Part I.
+
+     Public Sale Of The Empire To Didius Julianus By The
+     Prætorian 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 Prætorian bands, whose licentious fury was the first symptom and
+cause of the decline of the Roman empire, scarcely amounted to the
+last-mentioned number 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. 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, which was fortified with skilful care, and placed on a commanding
+situation.
+
+Such formidable servants are always necessary, but often fatal to the
+throne of despotism. By thus introducing the Prætorian 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 Prætorian 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.
+
+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.
+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,
+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 Prætorians increased their
+weight, by throwing, like the barbarian conqueror of Rome, their swords
+into the scale.
+
+The Prætorians 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 præfect
+Lætus, 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 Prætorians, 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.
+
+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. 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 Prætorian 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. *
+
+It was now incumbent on the Prætorians 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. 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. 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.
+
+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 Prætorians 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, with a numerous train of auxiliaries; and however
+different in their characters, they were all soldiers of experience and
+capacity.
+
+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. 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. 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 Cæsar.
+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, 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.
+
+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. 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. 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 Æthiopia 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, Niger trifled
+away in the luxury of Antioch those irretrievable moments which were
+diligently improved by the decisive activity of Severus.
+
+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. 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, 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.
+
+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. 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 Prætorian 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. 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.
+
+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. 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.
+
+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 Prætorians, 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. 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.
+
+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.
+
+
+
+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 Prætorians might have rendered it bloody;
+and Severus had the laudable ambition of ascending the throne without
+drawing the sword. 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 Prætorians, 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. 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.
+
+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 Prætorian 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.
+
+The funeral and consecration of Pertinax was next solemnized with
+every circumstance of sad magnificence. 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.
+
+The uncommon abilities and fortune of Severus have induced an elegant
+historian to compare him with the first and greatest of the Cæsars. 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? 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, 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.
+
+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.
+
+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, 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. 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. 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.
+
+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 Cæsar,
+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 Cæsar with respect, to
+desire a private audience, and to plunge their daggers into his heart.
+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.
+
+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. The battle of Lyons, where one hundred
+and fifty thousand Romans 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. The war was finished by that memorable day.
+
+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.
+
+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. 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. 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 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.
+
+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.
+
+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 suspicion 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 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.
+
+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. 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.
+The fame of the Roman arms was revived by that warlike and successful
+emperor, 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.
+
+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 Cæsar, 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. 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,
+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. 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.
+
+The Prætorians, 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. 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. 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 Prætorians 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.
+
+The command of these favored and formidable troops soon became the
+first office of the empire. As the government degenerated into military
+despotism, the Prætorian Præfect, 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 præfect 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. 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. After the fall of Plautianus, an eminent
+lawyer, the celebrated Papinian, was appointed to execute the motley
+office of Prætorian Præfect.
+
+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
+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. 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.
+
+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 Macrinus.--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" Distracted with the care, not
+of acquiring, but of preserving an empire, oppressed with age and
+infirmities, careless of fame, 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.
+
+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. 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. 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, 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. 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. 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.
+
+Two sons, Caracalla 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.
+
+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.
+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.
+
+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.
+
+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. 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; 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.
+
+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. 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.
+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.
+
+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. 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.
+
+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.
+
+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 the fury
+of the assassins. As soon as the deed was perpetrated, Caracalla, with
+hasty steps, and horror in his countenance, ran towards the Prætorian
+camp, as his only refuge, and threw himself on the ground before the
+statues of the tutelar deities. 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. 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. 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.
+
+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. 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. Helvius Pertinax, son to the prince of that name, lost his
+life by an unseasonable witticism. It was a sufficient crime of Thrasea
+Priscus to be descended from a family in which the love of liberty
+seemed an hereditary quality. 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.
+
+
+
+Chapter VI: Death Of Severus, Tyranny Of Caracalla, Usurpation Of
+Macrinus.--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
+Prætorian Præfect, 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. 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
+Præfect 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. "That it was easier to commit than
+to justify a parricide," was the glorious reply of Papinian; 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.
+
+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. 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. 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.
+
+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. 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." 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 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.
+
+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 Prætorian præfecture 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 præfect 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 Prætorian Præfect, 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 Carrhæ. * 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. 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.
+
+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 Prætorian guards elevated the hopes of their
+præfects, and these powerful ministers began to assert their legal
+claim to fill the vacancy of the Imperial throne. Adventus, however,
+the senior præfect, 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. 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.
+
+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 hasty 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. The sudden elevation of the Prætorian præfects
+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 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.
+
+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. 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.
+
+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. * Julia Mæsa, 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, Soæmias and Mamæ, each of whom was a widow, and each had an
+only son. Bassianus, for that was the name of the son of Soæmias, 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 Mæsa
+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.
+
+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, 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, the
+Prætorian 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 Prætorians 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.
+
+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.
+
+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.
+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.
+
+The Sun was worshipped at Emesa, under the name of Elagabalus, 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
+Phnician tunics, officiated in the meanest functions, with affected zeal
+and secret indignation.
+
+
+
+Chapter VI: Death Of Severus, Tyranny Of Caracalla, Usurpation Of
+Macrinus.--Part III.
+
+To this temple, as to the common centre of religious worship, the
+Imperial fanatic attempted to remove the Ancilia, the Palladium, 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.
+
+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,
+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, 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, 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.
+
+It may seem probable, the vices and follies of Elagabalus have been
+adorned by fancy, and blackened by prejudice. 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.
+
+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 Mamæa.
+The crafty Mæsa, 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 Cæsar, 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 Mamæa
+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 Cæsar. The message was received in the senate
+with silence, and in the camp with fury. The Prætorian 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 præfects to watch over the safety of
+Alexander, and the conduct of the emperor.
+
+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
+Prætorians, 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.
+
+[See Island In The Tiber: Elagabalus was thrown into the Tiber]?
+
+In the room of Elagabalus, his cousin Alexander was raised to the throne
+by the Prætorian 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. 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, Mamæa, and of
+Mæsa, his grandmother. After the death of the latter, who survived but a
+short time the elevation of Alexander, Mamæa remained the sole regent of
+her son and of the empire.
+
+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. 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. 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 Soæmias, 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, Mamæa, 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. The substance, not
+the pageantry, of power, was the object of Mamæa'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 Mamæa. 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.
+
+Notwithstanding this act of jealous cruelty, as well as some instances
+of avarice, with which Mamæa 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.
+
+But the most important care of Mamæa 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. *
+
+The simple journal of his ordinary occupations exhibits a pleasing
+picture of an accomplished emperor, 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.
+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."
+
+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.
+
+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.
+
+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. 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.
+
+The Prætorian 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
+præfect, 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 præfect 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. 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.
+
+
+
+Chapter VI: Death Of Severus, Tyranny Of Caracalla, Usurpation Of
+Macrinus.--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. 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
+soldiers  , but citizens, 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.
+
+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
+Cæsar 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. 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, Mamæa exposed to public
+ridicule both her son's character and her own. 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.
+
+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, 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. 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. 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.
+
+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. 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. 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 Æthiopia and India. 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. The ten thousand Euboic
+or Phnician talents, about four millions sterling, which vanquished
+Carthage was condemned to pay within the term of fifty years, were a
+slight acknowledgment of the superiority of Rome, 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.
+
+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. 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 drachmas of silver, or about three hundred thousand
+pounds a year. Twenty thousand pound weight of gold was annually
+received from the provinces of Asturia, Gallicia, and Lusitania.
+
+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 Ægean Sea, destitute of fresh water and every necessary of life, and
+inhabited only by a few wretched fishermen.
+
+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; 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.
+
+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.
+
+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. 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. 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; Parthian and Babylonian
+leather, cottons, silks, both raw and manufactured, ebony ivory, and
+eunuchs. We may observe that the use and value of those effeminate
+slaves gradually rose with the decline of the empire.
+
+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. 1
+
+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. . 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; nor could it be exacted from the
+nearest of kin on the father's side. When the rights of nature and
+property 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.
+
+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. 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 prætors 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. 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; nor do the friends of the younger Pliny seem to have been
+less generous to that amiable orator. 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.
+
+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. 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. 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.
+
+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, 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.
+
+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. 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.
+
+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. To their
+influence and example we may partly ascribe the modest obedience of the
+legions during the two first centuries of the Imperial history.
+
+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 Cæsars; and whilst those princes
+were shackled by the forms of a commonwealth, and disappointed by the
+repeated failure of their posterity, 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.
+
+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.
+
+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; 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.
+
+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. 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 Mamæa, 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, Mamæa, 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.
+
+The former tyrants, Caligula and Nero, Commodus, and Caracalla, were
+all dissolute and unexperienced youths, 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, 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.
+
+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. 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.
+
+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.
+
+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, 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.
+
+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. It was distinguished by ancient
+trophies of naval victories, and decorated with the works of modern
+painting. His villa on the road to Præneste 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. The public shows
+exhibited at his expense, and in which the people were entertained with
+many hundreds of wild beasts and gladiators, 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 ædile, 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, 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. 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.
+
+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.
+
+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, 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, 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!" 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]
+
+During the emperor's absence, a detachment of the Prætorian guards
+remained at Rome, to protect, or rather to command, the capital. The
+præfect 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 quæstor 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; and the example of Rome was followed by the rest of Italy.
+
+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.
+
+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.
+
+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!"
+
+
+
+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, 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 Præfect
+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, they had
+both attained the full maturity of age and experience.
+
+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. 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 Cæsar. 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.
+
+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. 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, 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.
+
+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, 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.
+
+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 Prætorian 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 præfect, and the principal ministers of his tyranny.
+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. 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.
+
+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. 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." His apprehensions were but too well
+justified by the event.
+
+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 Mæcenas, a
+Prætorian 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 Prætorians,
+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
+Prætorians 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.
+
+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. But nothing could reconcile the haughty spirit of the
+Prætorians. 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. 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.
+
+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; but the mutual consciousness prevented them from
+uniting in any vigorous measures of defence against their common enemies
+of the Prætorian 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.
+
+In the space of a few months, six princes had been cut off by the sword.
+Gordian, who had already received the title of Cæsar, was the only
+person that occurred to the soldiers as proper to fill the vacant
+throne. 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 Prætorian
+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.
+
+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, 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.
+
+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 Prætorian Præfect, 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 Præfect.
+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. 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 præfecture, 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 where he was killed, near the conflux of the Euphrates with the
+little river Aboras. The fortunate Philip, raised to the empire by the
+votes of the soldiers, found a ready obedience from the senate and the
+provinces.
+
+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 of Algiers, 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?
+
+"When the army had elected Philip, who was Prætorian præfect 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 Cæsar; the favor was refused
+him. He desired, at least, he might be appointed Prætorian præfect;
+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.
+
+
+
+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, 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 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. 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.
+
+Since Romulus, with a small band of shepherds and outlaws, fortified
+himself on the hills near the Tyber, ten centuries had already elapsed.
+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.
+
+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, 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.
+
+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.
+The latter represent him as descended from a branch of the ancient
+kings of Persia, though time and misfortune had gradually reduced his
+ancestors to the humble station of private citizens. 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. 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, 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.
+
+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, was still revered
+in the East; but the obsolete and mysterious language, in which the
+Zendavesta was composed, opened a field of dispute to seventy sects,
+who variously explained the fundamental doctrines of their religion, and
+were all indifferently derided 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. 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.
+
+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 absorbed 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.
+
+
+
+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, "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.
+
+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.
+
+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." 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." 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.
+
+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.
+The property of the Magi was very considerable. Besides the less
+invidious possession of a large tract of the most fertile lands of
+Media, they levied a general tax on the fortunes and the industry of the
+Persians. "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." *
+
+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. 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. 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.
+
+The first counsel of the Magi was agreeable to the unsociable genius of
+their faith, to the practice of ancient kings, and even to the example
+of their legislator, who had a victim to a religious war, excited by his
+own intolerant zeal. 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. The sword of Aristotle (such was the name given by
+the Orientals to the polytheism and philosophy of the Greeks) was easily
+broken; the flames of persecution soon reached the more stubborn Jews
+and Christians; 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. * 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.
+
+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 vitax, 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, 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 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, 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. 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.
+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. 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.
+
+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; 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.
+
+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. 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. 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. The innumerable
+attendants on luxury and despotism resorted to the court, and the little
+village of Ctesiphon insensibly swelled into a great city. 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. 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. 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.
+
+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. 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, 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.
+
+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 Ægean Sea; the provinces of Caria and Ionia, under their empire,
+had been governed by Persian satraps, and all Egypt, to the confines
+of Æthiopia, had acknowledged their sovereignty. 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. 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.
+
+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, 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.
+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.
+
+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, was encompassed by the superior
+numbers, and destroyed by the arrows of the enemy. The alliance of
+Chosroes, king of Armenia, 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.
+
+The reign of Artaxerxes, which, from the last defeat of the Parthians,
+lasted only fourteen years, forms a memorable æra 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. 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." 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.
+
+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.
+
+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.
+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.
+
+
+
+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.
+
+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. 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 of Scandinavia.
+
+Some ingenious writers 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. 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. In the time of Cæsar 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. 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. 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.
+
+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. 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, 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, 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.
+
+
+
+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 Indigen, 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; 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.
+
+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, as well as the wild Tartar, 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. 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.
+
+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; 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.
+
+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. 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; 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. But Tacitus
+asserts, as a well-known fact, that the Germans, in his time, had no
+cities; and that they affected to despise the works of Roman industry,
+as places of confinement rather than of security. Their edifices were
+not even contiguous, or formed into regular villas; 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.
+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. The game of various sorts, with which the forests of Germany were
+plentifully stocked, supplied its inhabitants with food and exercise.
+Their monstrous herds of cattle, less remarkable indeed for their beauty
+than for their utility, 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.
+
+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. 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.
+
+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. 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. 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.
+
+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. 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. 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. 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.
+
+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.
+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. 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
+Cæsar and Tacitus, the inhabitants of the North were far more numerous
+than they are in our days. 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, we can oppose the equal names of Robertson and
+Hume.
+
+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." 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.
+Some tribes, however, on the coast of the Baltic, acknowledged the
+authority of kings, though without relinquishing the rights of men,
+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.
+
+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. 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.
+
+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. Princes were, however, appointed, in the general
+assembly, to administer justice, or rather to compose differences, in
+their respective districts. In the choice of these magistrates, as much
+regard was shown to birth as to merit. 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.
+
+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. At the same time they were not authorized
+to punish with death, to imprison, or even to strike a private
+citizen. 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.
+
+
+
+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. 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. 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.
+
+"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. 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.
+
+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. 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. 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. 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.
+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. 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.
+
+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. 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; 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.
+
+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. 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. 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.
+
+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; and the hostile
+army was devoted with dire execrations to the gods of war and of
+thunder. 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, others imagined a gross paradise of immortal
+drunkenness. 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.
+
+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. *
+
+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 frame (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 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, 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. 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, 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, the allies, not the servants, of the Roman
+monarchy.
+
+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.
+
+"The Bructeri * (it is Tacitus who now speaks) were totally exterminated
+by the neighboring tribes, 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, and have nothing left to demand
+of fortune, except the discord of the barbarians."--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.
+
+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. 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, who had taken the lead in the war, were the most
+severely punished in its catastrophe. They were commanded to retire five
+miles 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. 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.
+
+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 Cæsar, 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.
+
+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, 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.
+
+
+
+Chapter X: Emperors Decius, Gallus, Æmilianus, Valerian And
+Gallienus.--Part I.
+
+     The Emperors Decius, Gallus, Æmilianus, Valerian, And
+     Gallienus.--The General Irruption Of The Barbarians.--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 Mæsia; and that a subaltern officer,
+named Marinus, was the object of their seditious choice. Philip was
+alarmed. He dreaded lest the treason of the Mæsian 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, 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 Mæsia 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 Prætorian 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.
+
+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. 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.
+* 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. 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. 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.
+
+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. 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.
+
+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.
+
+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, 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
+Mæotis, 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.
+
+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, 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 æra, and as late as the age of the Antonines,
+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. 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. The latter appear to have been subdivided into Ostrogoths,
+Visigoths, and Gepidæ. 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.
+
+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.
+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; 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.
+
+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. 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. 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 Bastarnæ 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 Bastarnæ dwelt on the northern side of the
+Carpathian Mountains: the immense tract of land that separated the
+Bastarnæ from the savages of Finland was possessed, or rather wasted,
+by the Venedi; we have some reason to believe that the first of these
+nations, which distinguished itself in the Macedonian war, 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. But the confusion
+of blood and manners on that doubtful frontier often perplexed the most
+accurate observers. 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.
+
+
+
+Chapter X: Emperors Decius, Gallus, Æmilianus, 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. But the Goths withstood all
+these temptations, and still adhered to a life of idleness, of poverty,
+and of rapine.
+
+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
+Mæsia 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 Mæsia. 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 Mæsia,
+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.
+
+Decius found the Goths engaged before Nicopolis, one of the many
+monuments of Trajan's victories. 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 Hæmus. 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, Philippopolis, destitute of succor, was taken by storm. A
+hundred thousand persons are reported to have been massacred in the
+sack of that great city. 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. 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, intrusted the passes of the mountains to officers
+of approved valor and fidelity, 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.
+
+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, till
+it was usurped and gradually neglected by the Cæsars. 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, the
+præfect 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."
+
+A magistrate, invested with such extensive powers, would have appeared
+not so much the minister, as the colleague of his sovereign. 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. 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. 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.
+
+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 Mæsia, called Forum Terebronii, 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. 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." In this morass
+the Roman army, after an ineffectual struggle, was irrecoverably lost;
+nor could the body of the emperor ever be found. Such was the fate of
+Decius, in the fiftieth year of his age; an accomplished prince, active
+in war and affable in peace; who, together with his son, has deserved
+to be compared, both in life and death, with the brightest examples of
+ancient virtue.
+
+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. 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.
+
+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. 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. 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 Hostilianus,
+though it happened in the midst of a raging pestilence, was interpreted
+as the personal crime of Gallus; and even the defeat of the later
+emperor was ascribed by the voice of suspicion to the perfidious
+counsels of his hated successor. The tranquillity which the empire
+enjoyed during the first year of his administration, 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.
+
+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 through 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 Æmilianus, governor of Pannonia and Mæsia; 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. 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 Æmilianus; they were attracted by his liberality, for he offered a
+considerable increase of pay to all deserters. 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 Æmilianus 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. 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.
+
+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. 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 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 Æmilianus, 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.
+
+Valerian was about sixty years of age 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. 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. 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; 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.
+
+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, that Gaul, that the northern parts of Germany, 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. They suppose, that about the year two hundred and forty, 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; 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. 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.
+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. 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.
+
+
+
+Chapter X: Emperors Decius, Gallus, Æmilianus, 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. 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.
+
+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; 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. When the exhausted country no longer supplied
+a variety of plunder, the Franks seized on some vessels in the ports of
+Spain, 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.
+
+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. Patriotism contributed, as well as devotion, to
+consecrate the Sonnenwald, or wood of the Semnones. 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. 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 Cæsar, declared that they esteemed
+it not a disgrace to have fled before a people to whose arms the
+immortal gods themselves were unequal.
+
+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. 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. 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.
+
+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
+Rhætian Alps into the plains of Lombardy, advanced as far as Ravenna,
+and displayed the victorious banners of barbarians almost in sight of
+Rome.
+
+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 Prætorian
+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.
+
+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.
+
+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.
+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. 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.
+
+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. 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.
+
+The banks of the Borysthenes are only sixty miles distant from the
+narrow entrance of the peninsula of Crim Tartary, known to the ancients
+under the name of Chersonesus Taurica. On that inhospitable shore,
+Euripides, embellishing with exquisite art the tales of antiquity, has
+placed the scene of one of his most affecting tragedies. 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 Mæotis 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, was at last swallowed up by the ambition of
+Mithridates, and, with the rest of his dominions, sunk under the weight
+of the Roman arms. From the reign of Augustus, 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. 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. 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. 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; and they are probably
+not inferior, in the art of navigation, to the ancient inhabitants of
+Bosphorus.
+
+The fleet of the Goths, leaving the coast of Circassia on the left hand,
+first appeared before Pityus, 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.
+
+Circling round the eastern extremity of the Euxine Sea, the navigation
+from Pityus to Trebizond is about three hundred miles. 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, 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. 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. 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.
+
+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,
+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, Apamæa, 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.
+
+When the city of Cyzicus withstood the utmost effort of Mithridates, it
+was distinguished by wise laws, a naval power of two hundred galleys,
+and three arsenals, of arms, of military engines, and of corn. 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.
+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 Nice and Nicomedia, which they wantonly burnt. Some
+obscure hints are mentioned of a doubtful combat that secured their
+retreat. 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.
+
+When we are informed that the third fleet, equipped by the Goths in the
+ports of Bosphorus, consisted of five hundred sails of ships, our ready
+imagination instantly computes and multiplies the formidable armament;
+but, as we are assured by the judicious Strabo, 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 Ægean 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 Piræus, five miles distant from Athens, 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 Piræus, was unexpectedly attacked by the
+brave Daxippus, 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.
+
+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. Great numbers of
+the Goths, disgusted with the perils and hardships of a tedious voyage,
+broke into Mæsia, 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. 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 Hæmus; 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. 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.
+
+
+
+Chapter X: Emperors Decius, Gallus, Æmilianus, 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, 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. 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. 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. 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.
+
+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. 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.
+
+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. Elated with this easy conquest, and presuming on the distresses
+or the degeneracy of the Romans, Sapor obliged the strong garrisons of
+Carrhæ and Nisibis * to surrender, and spread devastation and terror on
+either side of the Euphrates.
+
+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 Prætorian præfect.
+That worthless minister rendered his master formidable only to the
+oppressed subjects, and contemptible to the enemies of Rome. By his
+weak or wicked counsels, the Imperial army was betrayed into a situation
+where valor and military skill were equally unavailing. The vigorous
+attempt of the Romans to cut their way through the Persian host was
+repulsed with great slaughter; 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. 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.
+
+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, 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. 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. 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
+Cæsarea, 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 Cæsarea 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. 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.
+
+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." 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 and the tents of the desert, 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. 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.
+
+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. 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;
+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.
+
+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. 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, 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, 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. 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.
+
+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. 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, Saturninus; in Isauria,
+Trebellianus; Piso in Thessaly; Valens in Achaia; Æmilianus 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.
+
+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. 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, who, by female alliances, claimed a right of
+exhibiting, in his house, the images of Crassus and of the great Pompey.
+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 Cæsars. 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.
+
+[See Roman Coins: From The British Museum. Number four depicts Crassus.]
+
+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."
+
+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.
+
+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. 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."
+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.
+
+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. 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.
+
+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; it was peopled by three hundred thousand
+free inhabitants, besides at least an equal number of slaves. 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. 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, were at any
+time sufficient to kindle a sedition among that vast multitude, whose
+resentments were furious and implacable. 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. 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 musæum, 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.
+
+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 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, 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.
+
+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. 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.
+
+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. 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.
+
+
+
+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 Rhætia, 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 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 Rhætian 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.
+
+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
+Prætorian præfect, 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.
+
+The obscurity which covered the origin of Claudius, though it was
+afterwards embellished by some flattering fictions, 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,
+Mæsia, Dacia, Pannonia, and Dalmatia, the appointments of the præfect
+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;
+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."
+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. When Claudius ascended the throne, he was about
+fifty-four years of age.
+
+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." 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.
+
+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.
+
+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. 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.
+
+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;
+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.
+
+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." 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.
+
+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 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 Mæsia, 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 Hæmus, 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.
+
+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, 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.
+
+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.
+
+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 præfect 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, 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.
+
+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." 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.
+
+
+
+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 Hæmus, 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. 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.
+
+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.
+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. 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 Getæ,
+* 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.
+
+While the vigorous and moderate conduct of Aurelian restored the
+Illyrian frontier, the nation of the Alemanni 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, and the numbers of the infantry
+doubled those of the cavalry. The first objects of their avarice were
+a few cities of the Rhætian 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.
+
+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, 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 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. 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.
+
+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. 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 Prætorian guards who had served in the wars on the
+Danube.
+
+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. 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. 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. Thus far the successful Germans had advanced along the Æmilian
+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. 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.
+
+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, 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.
+
+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. 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. The extent of the new walls, erected by
+Aurelian, and finished in the reign of Probus, was magnified by popular
+estimation to near fifty, but is reduced by accurate measurement to
+about twenty-one miles. 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, 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.
+
+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. The death of Victorinus, his friend
+and associate, was occasioned by a less worthy cause. The shining
+accomplishments 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. 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.
+
+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. The retreat of the irregular
+auxiliaries, Franks and Batavians, 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.
+
+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. Lyons, on the contrary, had resisted with
+obstinate disaffection the arms of Aurelian. We read of the punishment
+of Lyons, 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.
+
+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. She claimed her descent from the
+Macedonian kings of Egypt, * equalled in beauty her ancestor Cleopatra,
+and far surpassed that princess in chastity 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.
+
+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.
+
+
+
+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. His nephew Mæonius 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 Mæonius, 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, was killed with his father.
+But Mæonius 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.
+
+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.
+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. * 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 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.
+
+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. 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. 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.
+
+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, and the second near Emesa. 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. 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.
+
+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 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.
+
+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 balist 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." 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.
+
+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, 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, 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.
+
+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." 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.
+
+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, 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.
+
+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. 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.
+
+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. 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 Æthiopia, 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. 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, 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. 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.
+
+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. Tetricus and his son were
+reinstated in their rank and fortunes. They erected on the Cælian 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, 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.
+
+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. 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.
+
+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. 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." 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 Cælian 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.
+
+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. 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 Prætorian guards. 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.
+
+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. 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. 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.
+
+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. 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.
+
+
+
+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." 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.
+
+The contention that ensued is one of the best attested, but most
+improbable events in the history of mankind. 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.
+
+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. 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.
+
+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, required his opinion on the important subject of a proper
+candidate for the vacant throne.
+
+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. The senator Tacitus was then seventy-five
+years of age. The long period of his innocent life was adorned with
+wealth and honors. He had twice been invested with the consular dignity,
+and enjoyed with elegance and sobriety his ample patrimony of between
+two and three millions sterling. 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. 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 Baiæ, 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.
+
+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?"
+
+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 Prætorian guards.
+
+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.
+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. 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 præfect 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.
+
+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 Baiæ 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." 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.
+
+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
+Prætorian præfect, presented to the assembled troops, as the prince whom
+they themselves had demanded, and whom the senate had bestowed. As soon
+as the præfect 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.
+
+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.
+
+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. 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.
+
+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.
+
+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; 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.
+
+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. 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; in the full possession
+of his fame, of the love of the army, and of a mature vigor of mind and
+body.
+
+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." 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." When this respectful epistle was read by the
+consul, the senators were unable to disguise their satisfaction, that
+Probus should condescend thus humbly 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 Cæsar and Augustus, the
+title of Father of his country, the right of making in the same day
+three motions in the senate, 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. 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.
+
+
+
+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, equalled the fame of ancient
+heroes, and restored peace and order to every province of the Roman
+world. The dangerous frontier of Rhætia 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. He attacked the Isaurians in their
+mountains, besieged and took several of their strongest castles, 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, 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.
+
+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. 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. 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. 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; 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." 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. 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.
+
+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. 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.
+
+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. 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. 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. 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. 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 Dæmon, now serve only to excite the wonder
+of the Swabian peasant.
+
+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. 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, 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. Great
+numbers of Franks and Gepidæ were settled on the banks of the Danube and
+the Rhine. A hundred thousand Bastarnæ, expelled from their own country,
+cheerfully accepted an establishment in Thrace, and soon imbibed the
+manners and sentiments of Roman subjects. 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;
+nor could these artificial supplies, however repeated by succeeding
+emperors, restore the important limit of Gaul and Illyricum to its
+ancient and native vigor.
+
+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. 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.
+
+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." 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. 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.
+
+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, 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.
+
+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.
+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.
+
+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. 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. 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. 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.
+
+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. 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. 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. 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.
+
+When the legions had indulged their grief and repentance for the
+death of Probus, their unanimous consent declared Carus, his Prætorian
+præfect, 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. 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; 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. 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.
+
+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. 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. 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.
+
+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 Cæsar, 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. 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.
+
+The successor of Artaxerxes, * Varanes, or Bahram, though he had subdued
+the Segestans, one of the most warlike nations of Upper Asia, 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. 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.
+
+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. 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. 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 præfect 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."
+
+
+
+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. 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. 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.
+
+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; 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 he intrusted with the government of the city. In the room of
+the Prætorian præfect, 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.
+
+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.
+
+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. 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.
+
+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. 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. 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. Ten elks, and as many
+camelopards, the loftiest and most harmless creatures that wander over
+the plains of Sarmatia and Æthiopia, were contrasted with thirty African
+hyænas 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,
+and a majestic troop of thirty-two elephants. 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.
+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.
+
+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. 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. 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. 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. 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. 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. 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.
+
+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. 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.
+
+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. 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. 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, 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 Prætorian præfect, 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.
+
+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. 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. 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. 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 præfect. 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.
+
+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 Mæsia, in the neighborhood of the Danube.
+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.
+
+
+
+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. 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. 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 Mæsia, 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. 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
+Cæsar, 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.
+
+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.
+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.
+
+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 Cæsar, and afterwards that of Augustus. 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, 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. 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.
+
+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 Cæsars, * to confer on two
+generals of approved merit an unequal share of the sovereign authority.
+Galerius, surnamed Armentarius, from his original profession of a
+herdsman, and Constantius, who from his pale complexion had acquired the
+denomination of Chlorus, 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. 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 Cæsars, Diocletian
+to Galerius, and Maximian to Constantius; and each, obliging them to
+repudiate their former wives, bestowed his daughter in marriage on his
+adopted son. These four princes distributed among themselves the wide
+extent of the Roman empire. The defence of Gaul, Spain, 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
+Cæsars, 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.
+
+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 Bagaudæ, had risen in a general insurrection;
+very similar to those which in the fourteenth century successively
+afflicted both France and England. 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 Cæsar 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. 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.
+
+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. 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. 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. 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, Ælianus and Amandus, were Christians, 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.
+
+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. 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, 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.
+
+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. 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.
+
+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, 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. But the adoption
+of the two Cæsars 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.
+
+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 præfect 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 præfect 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.
+
+
+
+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. 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. A barrier so respectable was
+seldom violated, and the barbarians often turned against each other
+their disappointed rage. The Goths, the Vandals, the Gepidæ, 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.
+
+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 Cæsars, 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. 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. 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.
+
+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 ) 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 Bastarnæ, and the Sarmatians; and, by
+a dangerous indulgence, permitted them in some measure to retain their
+national manners and independence. 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.
+
+While the Cæsars 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. Julian had assumed the purple at
+Carthage. 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. 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, 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. 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. 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
+Æthiopia. 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. 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. Such had been the unworthy
+allies of the Egyptians; and while the attention of the state was
+engaged in more serious wars, their vexatious inroads might again harass
+the repose of the province. With a view of opposing to the Blemmyes a
+suitable adversary, Diocletian persuaded the Nobatæ, 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.
+
+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. 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." 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.
+
+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. Those qualities
+were more nobly exerted in the defence of his benefactor Licinius.
+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 Cæsar, 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.
+
+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. 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. 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 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,
+which at that time extended as far as the neighborhood of Sogdiana.
+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.
+
+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. 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.
+
+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. 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. 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 Carrhæ to the Euphrates; a smooth and barren
+surface of sandy desert, without a hillock, without a tree, and without
+a spring of fresh water. 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; yet such was his strength and dexterity, that he
+reached in safety the opposite bank. 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.
+
+As soon as Diocletian had indulged his private resentment, and asserted
+the majesty of supreme power, he yielded to the submissive entreaties of
+the Cæsar, 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. 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. 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." 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. 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.
+
+
+
+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. 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 Cæsar, 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.
+
+"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.
+
+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 præfect of the guards, and an officer who had
+commanded on the Armenian frontier. 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.
+
+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. 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.
+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. 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. 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; 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.
+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. 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. 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.
+
+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 æra, as well as the success of his
+arms, by the pomp of a Roman triumph. Maximian, the equal partner of his
+power, was his only companion in the glory of that day. The two Cæsars
+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. 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. 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.
+
+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. 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. 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. 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. 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.
+
+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. The camp
+of the Prætorians, 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 Prætorians were insensibly reduced, their
+privileges abolished, 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. 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; 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.
+
+
+
+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; 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. Viewing it in that odious light, it had
+been rejected with abhorrence by the first Cæsars. 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. 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.
+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.
+
+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. 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. 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.
+
+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.
+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 Cæsars, 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 Cæsars. 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.
+
+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." 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. 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.
+
+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, 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.
+
+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 Cæsar
+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.
+
+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, 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, 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.
+
+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. 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. 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." 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.
+
+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. 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. 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."
+
+Though Constantine, from a very obvious prejudice, affects to mention
+the palace of Diocletian with contempt, 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. 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 Æsculapius, 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.
+
+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, 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 Æsculapius; 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. 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. 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.
+
+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.
+
+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, 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.
+
+
+
+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 Maxentius.--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 Cæsars 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 Cæsars, Constantius and Galerius, who immediately assumed the
+title of Augustus.
+
+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. 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. 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.
+
+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. But these obscure anecdotes are sufficiently
+refuted by an impartil 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.
+
+After the elevation of Constantius and Galerius to the rank of Augusti,
+two new Cæsars 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 Cæsar, 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 Cæsar, and intrusted with the sovereign command of Egypt
+and Syria. 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 Cæsarian 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.
+
+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, 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. The great
+Constantine was most probably born at Naissus, in Dacia; 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. He was about eighteen
+years of age when his father was promoted to the rank of Cæsar; 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 Cæsar, 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. 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. 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.
+
+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 Cæsar. 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. 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, 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 Cæsar, 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.
+
+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. 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.
+
+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. 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. 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 Prætorian 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.
+
+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 Cæsar,
+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 Prætorian 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 præfect 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.
+
+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 Prætorian præfect, 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.
+
+
+
+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.
+
+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. 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. 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 Cæsar'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.
+
+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.
+
+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 Cæsar 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. 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 Cæsar, and,
+notwithstanding the prayers as well as arguments of Galerius, exacted,
+almost by violence, the equal title of Augustus. 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.
+
+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. 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 Prætorian guards;
+and those troops, who dreaded the severity of the old emperor, espoused
+the party of Maxentius. 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. 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, 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 Cæsar, 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.
+
+The last years of Galerius were less shameful and unfortunate; and
+though he had filled with more glory the subordinate station of Cæsar
+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. 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; 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. 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.
+
+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. 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. *
+
+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. 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. 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. 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. 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; 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.
+
+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. 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 Rhætia; 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. 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.
+
+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 Prætorian 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; 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. 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.
+
+
+
+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. 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. 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. 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.
+
+From Milan to Rome, the Æmilian 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.
+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. 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.
+
+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, he
+indulged himself in a vain confidence which deferred the remedies of the
+approaching evil, without deferring the evil itself. The rapid progress
+of Constantine 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 Prætorian 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. 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.
+
+The celerity of Constantine's march has been compared to the rapid
+conquest of Italy by the first of the Cæsars; 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. It was with equal surprise
+and pleasure, that on his arrival at a place called Saxa Rubra, about
+nine miles from Rome, he discovered the army of Maxentius prepared to
+give him battle. 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 Prætorians, 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. 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. 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.
+
+In the use of victory, Constantine neither deserved the praise of
+clemency, nor incurred the censure of immoderate rigor. 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.
+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. 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.
+
+The final abolition of the Prætorian 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 Prætorians 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. 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. 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.
+
+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. 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.
+
+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. 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 Cæsar, 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. 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." 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. 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 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.
+
+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, 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 Cæsar. 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 Cæsar,
+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 Æmona, on the frontiers
+of Italy, to the statues of Constantine, became the signal of discord
+between the two princes.
+
+The first battle was fought near Cibalis, a city of Pannonia,
+situated on the River Save, about fifty miles above Sirmium. 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 Cæsar on Valens, his general of the
+Illyrian frontier.
+
+
+
+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. 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." 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 Cæsars 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.
+
+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. 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. 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." 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;
+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.
+
+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 Cæsar 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.
+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 Mæotis 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; 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, 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. 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.
+
+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.
+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. 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. 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 Piræus, 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. 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.
+
+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.
+
+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 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 Cæsar
+on Martinianus, who exercised one of the most important offices of the
+empire.
+
+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. 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. 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.
+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. 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.
+
+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.
+
+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. *
+
+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.
+
+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, 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. 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. 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. According to the maxims of universal toleration, the
+Romans protected a superstition which they despised. The polite Augustus
+condescended to give orders, that sacrifices should be offered for
+his prosperity in the temple of Jerusalem; 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. 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. 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.
+
+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. 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.
+
+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. 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. 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, 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.
+
+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: 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, 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.
+
+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. 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. 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.
+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 Ælia
+Capitolina, a new city on Mount Sion, 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.
+
+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. 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. 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. 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.
+
+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. 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. 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. 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. 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.
+
+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. 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. 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, of whom the most celebrated appear to have been the
+Basilidians, the Valentinians, the Marcionites, and, in a still later
+period, the Manichæans. Each of these sects could boast of its bishops
+and congregations, of its doctors and martyrs; 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. The success of
+the Gnostics was rapid and extensive. 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.
+
+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 dæmons were the authors, the patrons, and the
+objects of idolatry. 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 dæmons 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 dæmon assuming the name and attributes of Jupiter,
+another of Æsculapius, a third of Venus, and a fourth perhaps of Apollo;
+and that, by the advantage of their long experience and ærial 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
+dæmon, and as an act of rebellion against the majesty of God.
+
+
+
+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. 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. 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. 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. When the bride,
+struggling with well-affected reluctance, was forced into hymenæal pomp
+over the threshold of her new habitation, or when the sad procession of
+the dead slowly moved towards the funeral pile; 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;
+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. 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 dæmons.
+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.
+
+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 designed 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.
+
+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 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. 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 Cæsars,
+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.
+
+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. 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. 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.
+
+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, 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. 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. 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 Asmonæan
+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.
+
+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.
+
+
+
+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. By the same analogy it was inferred, that
+this long period of labor and contention, which was now almost elapsed,
+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. The assurance of such a Millennium was
+carefully inculcated by a succession of fathers from Justin Martyr, and
+Irenæus, who conversed with the immediate disciples of the apostles,
+down to Lactantius, who was preceptor to the son of Constantine. 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. 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.
+
+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. All these were only so many
+preparatory and alarming signs of the great catastrophe of Rome, when
+the country of the Scipios and Cæsars 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 Ætna, 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.
+
+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. 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. But it was unanimously
+affirmed, that those who, since the birth or the death of Christ, had
+obstinately persisted in the worship of the dæmons, 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.
+
+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, has claimed an uninterrupted
+succession of miraculous powers, the gift of tongues, of vision, and
+of prophecy, the power of expelling dæmons, of healing the sick, and
+of raising the dead. The knowledge of foreign languages was frequently
+communicated to the contemporaries of Irenæus, though Irenæus himself
+was left to struggle with the difficulties of a barbarous dialect,
+whilst he preached the gospel to the natives of Gaul. 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. 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 dæmons 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
+dæmon was heard to confess that he was one of the fabled gods of
+antiquity, who had impiously usurped the adoration of mankind. 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 Iranæus, 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. 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.
+
+The miracles of the primitive church, after obtaining the sanction of
+ages, have been lately attacked in a very free and ingenious inquiry,
+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. 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 Irenæus. 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 æra is chosen for that purpose, the death of the
+apostles, the conversion of the Roman empire, or the extinction of the
+Arian heresy, 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.
+
+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 dæmons, 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. *
+
+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. 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.
+
+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. 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. 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.
+
+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.
+
+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. *
+
+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. 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; 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. 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.
+
+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.
+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. 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. 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; 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. A few of
+these, among whom we may reckon the learned Origen, judged it the
+most prudent to disarm the tempter. 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. 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. Such are the early traces of monastic principles and
+institutions, which, in a subsequent age, have counterbalanced all the
+temporal advantages of Christianity.
+
+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. 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; but it was impossible that the Christians, without
+renouncing a more sacred duty, could assume the character of soldiers,
+of magistrates, or of princes. 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. 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.
+
+
+
+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 to the respective standards of their
+own policy. The few who have pursued this inquiry with more candor and
+impartiality, are of opinion, 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, 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. 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.
+
+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. The
+advantages of this episcopal form of government, which appears to have
+been introduced before the end of the first century, 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, 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. 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. 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.
+
+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 Achæan 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. 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.
+
+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. 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. 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.
+
+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. 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. 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; 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. 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. 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. 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.
+
+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. 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.
+
+
+
+Chapter XV: Progress Of The Christian Religion.--Part VII
+
+I. The community of goods, which had so agreeably amused the imagination
+of Plato, and which subsisted in some degree among the austere sect of
+the Essenians, 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. 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. 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, and to acquire some merit by resigning a
+superfluous treasure, which must so soon be annihilated with the world
+itself. 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. 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. 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. 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; 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. 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.
+
+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. 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. 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
+agap, 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. 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. 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. 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.
+
+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. A milder sentiment was embraced in practice as well as
+in theory, by the purest and most respectable of the Christian churches.
+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. 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.
+
+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; 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.
+
+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 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, 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.
+
+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. 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. 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.
+
+
+
+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, 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. 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.
+Within fourscore years after the death of Christ, 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.
+
+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.
+The splendor and dignity of the queen of the East, the acknowledged
+populousness of Cæsarea, Seleucia, and Alexandria, and the destruction
+of two hundred and fifty thousand souls in the earthquake which
+afflicted Antioch under the elder Justin, 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. 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.
+
+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 Theraputæ, 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. 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. 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. The body of the natives, a people distinguished by a sullen
+inflexibility of temper, 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. 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.
+
+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, 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. 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. 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.
+
+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;
+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. 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. 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. 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.
+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.
+
+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."
+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 Æthiopia, was not attempted with any degree of success
+till the sceptre was in the hands of an orthodox emperor. Before that
+time, the various accidents of war and commerce might indeed diffuse
+an imperfect knowledge of the gospel among the tribes of Caledonia, and
+among the borderers of the Rhine, the Danube, and the Euphrates. Beyond
+the last-mentioned river, Edessa was distinguished by a firm and early
+adherence to the faith. 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.
+
+
+
+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, 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 fraction of the population placedthemselves 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.
+
+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.
+
+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. 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. 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."
+
+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. 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. 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. 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.
+
+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.
+
+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.
+
+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. 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,
+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.
+
+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,
+dæmons 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, or at least a celebrated province of the Roman empire,
+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. 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. 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 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 Cæsar, 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 and historians of that memorable age.
+
+End Of Vol. I.
+
+
+
+
+
+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 AND FALL OF THE ROMAN EMPIRE ***
+
+***** This file should be named 890-8.txt or 890-8.zip *****
+This and all associated files of various formats will be found in:
+        http://www.gutenberg.org/8/9/890/
+
+Produced by David Reed and Dale R. Fredrickson
+
+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.  Special rules,
+set forth in the General Terms of Use part of this license, apply to
+copying and distributing Project Gutenberg-tm electronic works to
+protect the PROJECT GUTENBERG-tm concept and trademark.  Project
+Gutenberg is a registered trademark, and may not be used if you
+charge for the eBooks, unless you receive specific permission.  If you
+do not charge anything for copies of this eBook, complying with the
+rules is very easy.  You may use this eBook for nearly any purpose
+such as creation of derivative works, reports, performances and
+research.  They may be modified and printed and given away--you may do
+practically ANYTHING with public domain eBooks.  Redistribution is
+subject to the trademark license, especially commercial
+redistribution.
+
+
+
+*** START: FULL LICENSE ***
+
+THE FULL PROJECT GUTENBERG LICENSE
+PLEASE READ THIS BEFORE YOU DISTRIBUTE OR USE THIS WORK
+
+To protect the Project Gutenberg-tm mission of promoting the free
+distribution of electronic works, by using or distributing this work
+(or any other work associated in any way with the phrase "Project
+Gutenberg"), you agree to comply with all the terms of the Full Project
+Gutenberg-tm License (available with this file or online at
+http://gutenberg.org/license).
+
+
+Section 1.  General Terms of Use and Redistributing Project Gutenberg-tm
+electronic works
+
+1.A.  By reading or using any part of this Project Gutenberg-tm
+electronic work, you indicate that you have read, understand, agree to
+and accept all the terms of this license and intellectual property
+(trademark/copyright) agreement.  If you do not agree to abide by all
+the terms of this agreement, you must cease using and return or destroy
+all copies of Project Gutenberg-tm electronic works in your possession.
+If you paid a fee for obtaining a copy of or access to a Project
+Gutenberg-tm electronic work and you do not agree to be bound by the
+terms of this agreement, you may obtain a refund from the person or
+entity to whom you paid the fee as set forth in paragraph 1.E.8.
+
+1.B.  "Project Gutenberg" is a registered trademark.  It may only be
+used on or associated in any way with an electronic work by people who
+agree to be bound by the terms of this agreement.  There are a few
+things that you can do with most Project Gutenberg-tm electronic works
+even without complying with the full terms of this agreement.  See
+paragraph 1.C below.  There are a lot of things you can do with Project
+Gutenberg-tm electronic works if you follow the terms of this agreement
+and help preserve free future access to Project Gutenberg-tm electronic
+works.  See paragraph 1.E below.
+
+1.C.  The Project Gutenberg Literary Archive Foundation ("the Foundation"
+or PGLAF), owns a compilation copyright in the collection of Project
+Gutenberg-tm electronic works.  Nearly all the individual works in the
+collection are in the public domain in the United States.  If an
+individual work is in the public domain in the United States and you are
+located in the United States, we do not claim a right to prevent you from
+copying, distributing, performing, displaying or creating derivative
+works based on the work as long as all references to Project Gutenberg
+are removed.  Of course, we hope that you will support the Project
+Gutenberg-tm mission of promoting free access to electronic works by
+freely sharing Project Gutenberg-tm works in compliance with the terms of
+this agreement for keeping the Project Gutenberg-tm name associated with
+the work.  You can easily comply with the terms of this agreement by
+keeping this work in the same format with its attached full Project
+Gutenberg-tm License when you share it without charge with others.
+
+1.D.  The copyright laws of the place where you are located also govern
+what you can do with this work.  Copyright laws in most countries are in
+a constant state of change.  If you are outside the United States, check
+the laws of your country in addition to the terms of this agreement
+before downloading, copying, displaying, performing, distributing or
+creating derivative works based on this work or any other Project
+Gutenberg-tm work.  The Foundation makes no representations concerning
+the copyright status of any work in any country outside the United
+States.
+
+1.E.  Unless you have removed all references to Project Gutenberg:
+
+1.E.1.  The following sentence, with active links to, or other immediate
+access to, the full Project Gutenberg-tm License must appear prominently
+whenever any copy of a Project Gutenberg-tm work (any work on which the
+phrase "Project Gutenberg" appears, or with which the phrase "Project
+Gutenberg" is associated) is accessed, displayed, performed, viewed,
+copied or distributed:
+
+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
+
+1.E.2.  If an individual Project Gutenberg-tm electronic work is derived
+from the public domain (does not contain a notice indicating that it is
+posted with permission of the copyright holder), the work can be copied
+and distributed to anyone in the United States without paying any fees
+or charges.  If you are redistributing or providing access to a work
+with the phrase "Project Gutenberg" associated with or appearing on the
+work, you must comply either with the requirements of paragraphs 1.E.1
+through 1.E.7 or obtain permission for the use of the work and the
+Project Gutenberg-tm trademark as set forth in paragraphs 1.E.8 or
+1.E.9.
+
+1.E.3.  If an individual Project Gutenberg-tm electronic work is posted
+with the permission of the copyright holder, your use and distribution
+must comply with both paragraphs 1.E.1 through 1.E.7 and any additional
+terms imposed by the copyright holder.  Additional terms will be linked
+to the Project Gutenberg-tm License for all works posted with the
+permission of the copyright holder found at the beginning of this work.
+
+1.E.4.  Do not unlink or detach or remove the full Project Gutenberg-tm
+License terms from this work, or any files containing a part of this
+work or any other work associated with Project Gutenberg-tm.
+
+1.E.5.  Do not copy, display, perform, distribute or redistribute this
+electronic work, or any part of this electronic work, without
+prominently displaying the sentence set forth in paragraph 1.E.1 with
+active links or immediate access to the full terms of the Project
+Gutenberg-tm License.
+
+1.E.6.  You may convert to and distribute this work in any binary,
+compressed, marked up, nonproprietary or proprietary form, including any
+word processing or hypertext form.  However, if you provide access to or
+distribute copies of a Project Gutenberg-tm work in a format other than
+"Plain Vanilla ASCII" or other format used in the official version
+posted on the official Project Gutenberg-tm web site (www.gutenberg.org),
+you must, at no additional cost, fee or expense to the user, provide a
+copy, a means of exporting a copy, or a means of obtaining a copy upon
+request, of the work in its original "Plain Vanilla ASCII" or other
+form.  Any alternate format must include the full Project Gutenberg-tm
+License as specified in paragraph 1.E.1.
+
+1.E.7.  Do not charge a fee for access to, viewing, displaying,
+performing, copying or distributing any Project Gutenberg-tm works
+unless you comply with paragraph 1.E.8 or 1.E.9.
+
+1.E.8.  You may charge a reasonable fee for copies of or providing
+access to or distributing Project Gutenberg-tm electronic works provided
+that
+
+- You pay a royalty fee of 20% of the gross profits you derive from
+     the use of Project Gutenberg-tm works calculated using the method
+     you already use to calculate your applicable taxes.  The fee is
+     owed to the owner of the Project Gutenberg-tm trademark, but he
+     has agreed to donate royalties under this paragraph to the
+     Project Gutenberg Literary Archive Foundation.  Royalty payments
+     must be paid within 60 days following each date on which you
+     prepare (or are legally required to prepare) your periodic tax
+     returns.  Royalty payments should be clearly marked as such and
+     sent to the Project Gutenberg Literary Archive Foundation at the
+     address specified in Section 4, "Information about donations to
+     the Project Gutenberg Literary Archive Foundation."
+
+- You provide a full refund of any money paid by a user who notifies
+     you in writing (or by e-mail) within 30 days of receipt that s/he
+     does not agree to the terms of the full Project Gutenberg-tm
+     License.  You must require such a user to return or
+     destroy all copies of the works possessed in a physical medium
+     and discontinue all use of and all access to other copies of
+     Project Gutenberg-tm works.
+
+- You provide, in accordance with paragraph 1.F.3, a full refund of any
+     money paid for a work or a replacement copy, if a defect in the
+     electronic work is discovered and reported to you within 90 days
+     of receipt of the work.
+
+- You comply with all other terms of this agreement for free
+     distribution of Project Gutenberg-tm works.
+
+1.E.9.  If you wish to charge a fee or distribute a Project Gutenberg-tm
+electronic work or group of works on different terms than are set
+forth in this agreement, you must obtain permission in writing from
+both the Project Gutenberg Literary Archive Foundation and Michael
+Hart, the owner of the Project Gutenberg-tm trademark.  Contact the
+Foundation as set forth in Section 3 below.
+
+1.F.
+
+1.F.1.  Project Gutenberg volunteers and employees expend considerable
+effort to identify, do copyright research on, transcribe and proofread
+public domain works in creating the Project Gutenberg-tm
+collection.  Despite these efforts, Project Gutenberg-tm electronic
+works, and the medium on which they may be stored, may contain
+"Defects," such as, but not limited to, incomplete, inaccurate or
+corrupt data, transcription errors, a copyright or other intellectual
+property infringement, a defective or damaged disk or other medium, a
+computer virus, or computer codes that damage or cannot be read by
+your equipment.
+
+1.F.2.  LIMITED WARRANTY, DISCLAIMER OF DAMAGES - Except for the "Right
+of Replacement or Refund" described in paragraph 1.F.3, the Project
+Gutenberg Literary Archive Foundation, the owner of the Project
+Gutenberg-tm trademark, and any other party distributing a Project
+Gutenberg-tm electronic work under this agreement, disclaim all
+liability to you for damages, costs and expenses, including legal
+fees.  YOU AGREE THAT YOU HAVE NO REMEDIES FOR NEGLIGENCE, STRICT
+LIABILITY, BREACH OF WARRANTY OR BREACH OF CONTRACT EXCEPT THOSE
+PROVIDED IN PARAGRAPH F3.  YOU AGREE THAT THE FOUNDATION, THE
+TRADEMARK OWNER, AND ANY DISTRIBUTOR UNDER THIS AGREEMENT WILL NOT BE
+LIABLE TO YOU FOR ACTUAL, DIRECT, INDIRECT, CONSEQUENTIAL, PUNITIVE OR
+INCIDENTAL DAMAGES EVEN IF YOU GIVE NOTICE OF THE POSSIBILITY OF SUCH
+DAMAGE.
+
+1.F.3.  LIMITED RIGHT OF REPLACEMENT OR REFUND - If you discover a
+defect in this electronic work within 90 days of receiving it, you can
+receive a refund of the money (if any) you paid for it by sending a
+written explanation to the person you received the work from.  If you
+received the work on a physical medium, you must return the medium with
+your written explanation.  The person or entity that provided you with
+the defective work may elect to provide a replacement copy in lieu of a
+refund.  If you received the work electronically, the person or entity
+providing it to you may choose to give you a second opportunity to
+receive the work electronically in lieu of a refund.  If the second copy
+is also defective, you may demand a refund in writing without further
+opportunities to fix the problem.
+
+1.F.4.  Except for the limited right of replacement or refund set forth
+in paragraph 1.F.3, this work is provided to you 'AS-IS' WITH NO OTHER
+WARRANTIES OF ANY KIND, EXPRESS OR IMPLIED, INCLUDING BUT NOT LIMITED TO
+WARRANTIES OF MERCHANTIBILITY OR FITNESS FOR ANY PURPOSE.
+
+1.F.5.  Some states do not allow disclaimers of certain implied
+warranties or the exclusion or limitation of certain types of damages.
+If any disclaimer or limitation set forth in this agreement violates the
+law of the state applicable to this agreement, the agreement shall be
+interpreted to make the maximum disclaimer or limitation permitted by
+the applicable state law.  The invalidity or unenforceability of any
+provision of this agreement shall not void the remaining provisions.
+
+1.F.6.  INDEMNITY - You agree to indemnify and hold the Foundation, the
+trademark owner, any agent or employee of the Foundation, anyone
+providing copies of Project Gutenberg-tm electronic works in accordance
+with this agreement, and any volunteers associated with the production,
+promotion and distribution of Project Gutenberg-tm electronic works,
+harmless from all liability, costs and expenses, including legal fees,
+that arise directly or indirectly from any of the following which you do
+or cause to occur: (a) distribution of this or any Project Gutenberg-tm
+work, (b) alteration, modification, or additions or deletions to any
+Project Gutenberg-tm work, and (c) any Defect you cause.
+
+
+Section  2.  Information about the Mission of Project Gutenberg-tm
+
+Project Gutenberg-tm is synonymous with the free distribution of
+electronic works in formats readable by the widest variety of computers
+including obsolete, old, middle-aged and new computers.  It exists
+because of the efforts of hundreds of volunteers and donations from
+people in all walks of life.
+
+Volunteers and financial support to provide volunteers with the
+assistance they need, is critical to reaching Project Gutenberg-tm's
+goals and ensuring that the Project Gutenberg-tm collection will
+remain freely available for generations to come.  In 2001, the Project
+Gutenberg Literary Archive Foundation was created to provide a secure
+and permanent future for Project Gutenberg-tm and future generations.
+To learn more about the Project Gutenberg Literary Archive Foundation
+and how your efforts and donations can help, see Sections 3 and 4
+and the Foundation web page at http://www.pglaf.org.
+
+
+Section 3.  Information about the Project Gutenberg Literary Archive
+Foundation
+
+The Project Gutenberg Literary Archive Foundation is a non profit
+501(c)(3) educational corporation organized under the laws of the
+state of Mississippi and granted tax exempt status by the Internal
+Revenue Service.  The Foundation's EIN or federal tax identification
+number is 64-6221541.  Its 501(c)(3) letter is posted at
+http://pglaf.org/fundraising.  Contributions to the Project Gutenberg
+Literary Archive Foundation are tax deductible to the full extent
+permitted by U.S. federal laws and your state's laws.
+
+The Foundation's principal office is located at 4557 Melan Dr. S.
+Fairbanks, AK, 99712., but its volunteers and employees are scattered
+throughout numerous locations.  Its business office is located at
+809 North 1500 West, Salt Lake City, UT 84116, (801) 596-1887, email
+business@pglaf.org.  Email contact links and up to date contact
+information can be found at the Foundation's web site and official
+page at http://pglaf.org
+
+For additional contact information:
+     Dr. Gregory B. Newby
+     Chief Executive and Director
+     gbnewby@pglaf.org
+
+
+Section 4.  Information about Donations to the Project Gutenberg
+Literary Archive Foundation
+
+Project Gutenberg-tm depends upon and cannot survive without wide
+spread public support and donations to carry out its mission of
+increasing the number of public domain and licensed works that can be
+freely distributed in machine readable form accessible by the widest
+array of equipment including outdated equipment.  Many small donations
+($1 to $5,000) are particularly important to maintaining tax exempt
+status with the IRS.
+
+The Foundation is committed to complying with the laws regulating
+charities and charitable donations in all 50 states of the United
+States.  Compliance requirements are not uniform and it takes a
+considerable effort, much paperwork and many fees to meet and keep up
+with these requirements.  We do not solicit donations in locations
+where we have not received written confirmation of compliance.  To
+SEND DONATIONS or determine the status of compliance for any
+particular state visit http://pglaf.org
+
+While we cannot and do not solicit contributions from states where we
+have not met the solicitation requirements, we know of no prohibition
+against accepting unsolicited donations from donors in such states who
+approach us with offers to donate.
+
+International donations are gratefully accepted, but we cannot make
+any statements concerning tax treatment of donations received from
+outside the United States.  U.S. laws alone swamp our small staff.
+
+Please check the Project Gutenberg Web pages for current donation
+methods and addresses.  Donations are accepted in a number of other
+ways including checks, online payments and credit card donations.
+To donate, please visit: http://pglaf.org/donate
+
+
+Section 5.  General Information About Project Gutenberg-tm electronic
+works.
+
+Professor Michael S. Hart is the originator of the Project Gutenberg-tm
+concept of a library of electronic works that could be freely shared
+with anyone.  For thirty years, he produced and distributed Project
+Gutenberg-tm eBooks with only a loose network of volunteer support.
+
+
+Project Gutenberg-tm eBooks are often created from several printed
+editions, all of which are confirmed as Public Domain in the U.S.
+unless a copyright notice is included.  Thus, we do not necessarily
+keep eBooks in compliance with any particular paper edition.
+
+
+Most people start at our Web site which has the main PG search facility:
+
+     http://www.gutenberg.org
+
+This Web site includes information about Project Gutenberg-tm,
+including how to make donations to the Project Gutenberg Literary
+Archive Foundation, how to help produce our new eBooks, and how to
+subscribe to our email newsletter to hear about new eBooks.
diff --git a/old/890-8.zip b/old/890-8.zip
new file mode 100644
index 0000000..698ba22
--- /dev/null
+++ b/old/890-8.zip
diff --git a/old/890.txt b/old/890.txt
new file mode 100644
index 0000000..cc546a6
--- /dev/null
+++ b/old/890.txt
@@ -0,0 +1,17359 @@
+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
+
+Posting Date: June 7, 2008 [EBook #890]
+Release Date: April, 1997
+
+Language: English
+
+Character set encoding: ASCII
+
+*** START OF THIS PROJECT GUTENBERG EBOOK DECLINE AND FALL OF THE ROMAN EMPIRE ***
+
+
+
+
+Produced by David Reed and Dale R. Fredrickson
+
+
+
+
+
+HISTORY OF THE DECLINE AND FALL OF THE ROMAN EMPIRE
+
+Edward Gibbon, Esq.
+
+With notes by the Rev. H. H. Milman
+
+Volume 1
+
+1782 (Written), 1845 (Revised)
+
+
+
+
+CONTENTS:
+
+Introduction
+
+Preface By The Editor
+
+Preface Of The Author
+
+Preface To The First Volume
+
+Chapter I: The Extent Of The Empire In The Age Of The Antoninies.--Part
+I.   Part II.   Part III.
+
+Introduction--The Extent And Military Force Of The Empire In The Age Of
+The Antonines.
+
+
+Chapter II: The Internal Prosperity In The Age Of The Antonines.--Part I.
+Part II.   Part III.   Part IV.
+
+Of The Union And Internal Prosperity Of The Roman Empire, In The Age Of
+The Antonines.
+
+
+Chapter III: The Constitution In The Age Of The Antonines.--Part I.
+Part II.
+
+Of The Constitution Of The Roman Empire, In The Age Of The Antonines.
+
+
+Chapter IV: The Cruelty, Follies And Murder Of Commodus.--Part I.   Part
+II.
+
+The Cruelty, Follies, And Murder Of Commodus. Election Of Pertinax--His
+Attempts To Reform The State--His Assassination By The Praetorian Guards.
+
+
+Chapter V: Sale Of The Empire To Didius Julianus.--Part I.   Part II.
+
+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.
+
+
+Chapter VI: Death Of Severus, Tyranny Of Caracalla, Usurpation Of
+Marcinus.--Part I.   Part II.   Part III.   Part IV.
+
+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.
+
+
+Chapter VII: Tyranny Of Maximin, Rebellion, Civil Wars, Death Of
+Maximin.--Part I.   Part II.   Part III.
+
+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.
+
+
+Chapter VIII: State Of Persion And Restoration Of The Monarchy.--Part I.
+Part II.
+
+Of The State Of Persia After The Restoration Of The Monarchy By
+Artaxerxes.
+
+
+Chapter IX: State Of Germany Until The Barbarians.--Part I.   Part II.
+Part III.
+
+The State Of Germany Till The Invasion Of The Barbarians In The Time Of
+The Emperor Decius.
+
+
+Chapter X: Emperors Decius, Gallus, AEmilianus, Valerian And
+Gallienus.--Part I.   Part II.   Part III.   Part IV.
+
+The Emperors Decius, Gallus, AEmilianus, Valerian, And Gallienus.--The
+General Irruption Of The Barbari Ans.--The Thirty Tyrants.
+
+
+Chapter XI: Reign Of Claudius, Defeat Of The Goths.--Part I.  Part II.
+Part III.
+
+Reign Of Claudius.--Defeat Of The Goths.--Victories, Triumph, And Death Of
+Aurelian.
+
+
+Chapter XII: Reigns Of Tacitus, Probus, Carus And His Sons.--Part I.
+Part II.   Part III.
+
+Conduct Of The Army And Senate After The Death Of Aurelian.-- Reigns Of
+Tacitus, Probus, Carus, And His Sons.
+
+
+Chapter XIII: Reign Of Diocletian And This Three Associates.--Part I.
+Part II.   Part III.   Part IV.
+
+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.
+
+
+Chapter XIV: Six Emperors At The Same Time, Reunion Of The Empire.--Part
+I.   Part II.   Part III.   Part IV.
+
+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.
+
+
+Chapter XV: Progress Of The Christian Religion.--Part I.   Part II.
+Part III.   Part IV.   Part V.   Part VI.   Part VII.   Part VIII.
+Part IX.
+
+The Progress Of The Christian Religion, And The Sentiments, Manners,
+Numbers, And Condition Of The Primitive Christians.
+
+
+
+
+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 art., 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:--
+
+"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 least
+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.*
+
+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 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.
+
+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, 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.
+
+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 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.
+
+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.
+
+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 Antoninies.--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.
+
+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. 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. 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.
+
+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.
+
+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; 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, 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. 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.
+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.
+
+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. 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. 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.
+
+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. 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. 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. 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. 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. 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.
+
+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. 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. 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. 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.
+
+
+
+Chapter I: The Extent Of The Empire In The Age Of The Antoninies.--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. 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. 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. 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.
+
+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. 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.
+
+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. 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.
+
+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. 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.
+
+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. 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. 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. 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.
+
+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. 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.
+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, 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.
+
+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. 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. 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. 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. 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.
+
+Nine centuries of war had gradually introduced into the service many
+alterations and improvements. The legions, as they are described by
+Polybius, 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. The heavy-armed infantry, which composed
+its principal strength, 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. 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. The legion was usually drawn up eight deep; and the
+regular distance of three feet was left between the files as well as
+ranks. 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. 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. 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.
+
+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. 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. 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; and whenever they embraced the profession
+of arms, they were immediately intrusted with a troop of horse, or a
+cohort of foot. 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.
+
+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. 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. 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. 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. 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.
+
+
+
+Chapter I: The Extent Of The Empire In The Age Of The Antoninies.--Part
+III.
+
+The camp of a Roman legion presented the appearance of a fortified city.
+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.
+
+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. 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. 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. 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.
+
+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.
+
+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; 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. 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. 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.
+
+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. 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.
+
+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. 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. 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.
+
+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.
+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.
+
+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. 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. 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. 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.
+
+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. The provinces of the Danube soon acquired the
+general appellation of Illyricum, or the Illyrian frontier, 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.
+
+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.
+
+After the Danube had received the waters of the Teyss and the Save,
+it acquired, at least among the Greeks, the name of Ister. 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.
+
+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.
+
+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. 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.
+
+The geographers of antiquity have frequently hesitated to what portion
+of the globe they should ascribe Egypt. 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. *
+
+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 Phnician 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; but which is now diffused over the immense ocean
+that rolls between the ancient and the new continent.
+
+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.
+
+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. 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.
+
+
+
+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. 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. 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.
+
+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. 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. 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. The elegant mythology of Homer
+gave a beautiful, and almost a regular form, to the polytheism of the
+ancient world.
+
+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. 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.
+
+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.
+
+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. 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; 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:
+but the priests themselves, their gods and their altars, subsisted in
+peaceful obscurity till the final destruction of Paganism.
+
+Rome, the capital of a great monarchy, was incessantly filled with
+subjects and strangers from every part of the world, who all introduced
+and enjoyed the favorite superstitions of their native country. 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. 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. 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; 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.
+Rome gradually became the common temple of her subjects; and the freedom
+of the city was bestowed on all the gods of mankind.
+
+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. During the most
+flourishing aera of the Athenian commonwealth, the number of citizens
+gradually decreased from about thirty to twenty-one thousand. 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. 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, 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.
+
+
+
+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. 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.
+
+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, and in Gaul, 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.
+
+"Wheresoever the Roman conquers, he inhabits," is a very just
+observation of Seneca, 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. 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. 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. 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. Those of the provincials who were permitted to bear
+arms in the legions; 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. Their ambition, instead of disturbing the tranquillity of the
+state, was intimately connected with its safety and greatness.
+
+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. 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, that
+the faint traces of the Punic or Celtic idioms were preserved only in
+the mountains, or among the peasants. 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 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. 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. The slothful effeminacy of the former
+exposed them to the contempt, the sullen ferociousness of the latter
+excited the aversion, of the conquerors. 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.
+
+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. 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.
+
+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, 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, the most severe
+regulations, 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. 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.
+
+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. 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. 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.
+
+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. Without interpreting, in their utmost
+strictness, the liberal appellations of legions and myriads, 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. 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. Almost every profession, either
+liberal 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. 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. 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. 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.
+
+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, and forms the most numerous society that has ever been
+united under the same system of government.
+
+
+
+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. 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.
+
+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. 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. 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. 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.
+
+[See Theatre Of Marcellus: Augustus built in Rome the theatre of
+Marcellus.]
+
+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. 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.
+
+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. 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.
+
+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; 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. 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.
+
+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, 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; 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. 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. III. Three hundred African cities had once acknowledged
+the authority of Carthage, 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, 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.
+Four of them were immediately rejected as unequal to the burden; and
+among these was Laodicea, whose splendor is still displayed in its
+ruins. 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. 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? 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, and yielded, with reluctance, to the majesty of Rome
+itself.
+
+
+
+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. 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. 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. 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. 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. * 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. 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. 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.
+
+[See Remains Of Claudian Aquaduct]
+
+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: 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. 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. 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. 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. 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. 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. 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. 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.
+
+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. 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, 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. 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; precious stones, among which the pearl claimed the first rank
+after the diamond; 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. The annual loss
+is computed, by a writer of an inquisitive but censorious temper, at
+upwards of eight hundred thousand pounds sterling. 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. 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.
+
+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." 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.
+
+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. 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.
+
+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." 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.
+
+
+
+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.
+
+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, 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.
+
+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. 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.
+
+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."
+
+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. 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.
+
+Without any violation of the principles of the constitution, the general
+of the Roman armies might receive and exercised 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. 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. 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. 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.
+
+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. 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.
+
+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 Prince,
+the favorite epithet of Augustus, was the same in every part of the
+empire.
+
+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 and tribunitian offices, 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. 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.
+
+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.
+
+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, 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. 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. 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. 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.
+
+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.
+
+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. 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.
+
+The deification of the emperors 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. 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; 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, 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.
+
+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.
+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. *
+
+
+
+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. 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.
+
+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, 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.
+
+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.
+
+[See The Capitol: When the throne was vacant by the murder of Caligula,
+the consuls convoked that assembly in the Capitol.]
+
+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 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. 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.
+
+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. 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.
+
+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. 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; 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.
+
+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. 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.
+
+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; 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.
+
+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. 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 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.
+
+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 peaking,) governed the Roman world forty-two years, with the same
+invariable spirit of wisdom and virtue. Although Pius had two sons, 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, 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.
+
+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; and the benevolence of his soul displayed
+itself in a cheerful serenity of temper.
+
+The virtue of Marcus Aurelius Antoninus was of severer and more
+laborious kind. 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. 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. 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. 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.
+
+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, and the timid, inhuman Domitian, are
+condemned to everlasting infamy. During fourscore years (excepting
+only the short and doubtful respite of Vespasian's reign) 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.
+
+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. 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. 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. 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.
+
+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. The servile judges
+professed to assert the majesty of the commonwealth, violated in the
+person of its first magistrate, whose clemency they most applauded when
+they trembled the most at his inexorable and impending cruelty. 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.
+
+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 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. 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.
+"Wherever you are," said Cicero to the exiled Marcellus, "remember that
+you are equally within the power of the conqueror."
+
+
+
+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. 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.
+
+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. 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, 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. 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.
+
+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; 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.
+
+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. 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.
+
+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. 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. 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, popular address, and imagined virtues, attracted
+the public favor; the honorable peace which he had recently granted to
+the barbarians, diffused a universal joy; 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.
+
+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. A fatal incident decided his fluctuating
+character.
+
+One evening, as the emperor was returning to the palace, through a dark
+and narrow portico in the amphitheatre, 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.
+
+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.
+
+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.
+
+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. This presumption of a distant army, and their discovery
+of the weakness of government, was a sure presage of the most dreadful
+convulsions.
+
+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. 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.
+
+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. 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. 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.
+
+By these means, Cleander, in the space of three years, had accumulated
+more wealth than had ever yet been possessed by any freedman. 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. 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. 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.
+
+
+
+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. 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, 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, 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.
+
+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 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.
+
+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. Ignorant of these distinctions, Commodus eagerly embraced the
+glorious resemblance, and styled himself (as we still read on his medals
+) 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.
+
+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. 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. 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. ^
+
+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. 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. 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. 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. 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 of the mournful and applauding senate. 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.
+
+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. 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.
+
+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. 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.
+
+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.
+
+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; 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. *
+
+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.
+
+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, 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, 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.
+
+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.
+
+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, 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.
+
+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 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.
+
+
+
+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 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. 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, which was fortified with skilful care, and placed on a commanding
+situation.
+
+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.
+
+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.
+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,
+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.
+
+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.
+
+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. 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. *
+
+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. 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. 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.
+
+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, with a numerous train of auxiliaries; and however
+different in their characters, they were all soldiers of experience and
+capacity.
+
+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. 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. 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.
+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, 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.
+
+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. 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. 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 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, Niger trifled
+away in the luxury of Antioch those irretrievable moments which were
+diligently improved by the decisive activity of Severus.
+
+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. 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, 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.
+
+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. 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. 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.
+
+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. 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.
+
+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. 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.
+
+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.
+
+
+
+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. 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. 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.
+
+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.
+
+The funeral and consecration of Pertinax was next solemnized with
+every circumstance of sad magnificence. 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.
+
+The uncommon abilities and fortune of Severus have induced an elegant
+historian to compare him with the first and greatest of the Caesars. 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? 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, 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.
+
+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.
+
+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, 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. 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. 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.
+
+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.
+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.
+
+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. The battle of Lyons, where one hundred
+and fifty thousand Romans 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. The war was finished by that memorable day.
+
+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.
+
+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. 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. 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 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.
+
+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.
+
+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 suspicion 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 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.
+
+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. 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.
+The fame of the Roman arms was revived by that warlike and successful
+emperor, 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.
+
+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. 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,
+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. 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.
+
+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. 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. 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.
+
+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 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. 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. After the fall of Plautianus, an eminent
+lawyer, the celebrated Papinian, was appointed to execute the motley
+office of Praetorian Praefect.
+
+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
+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. 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.
+
+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" Distracted with the care, not
+of acquiring, but of preserving an empire, oppressed with age and
+infirmities, careless of fame, 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.
+
+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. 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. 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, 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. 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. 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.
+
+Two sons, Caracalla 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.
+
+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.
+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.
+
+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.
+
+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. 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; 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.
+
+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. 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.
+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.
+
+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. 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.
+
+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.
+
+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 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. 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. 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. 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.
+
+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. 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. Helvius Pertinax, son to the prince of that name, lost his
+life by an unseasonable witticism. It was a sufficient crime of Thrasea
+Priscus to be descended from a family in which the love of liberty
+seemed an hereditary quality. 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.
+
+
+
+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. 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. "That it was easier to commit than
+to justify a parricide," was the glorious reply of Papinian; 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.
+
+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. 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. 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, allthe
+Alexandrians, those who perished, and those who had escaped, were alike
+guilty.
+
+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. 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." 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 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.
+
+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. 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.
+
+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. 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.
+
+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. 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 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.
+
+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. 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.
+
+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. * 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.
+
+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, 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, 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.
+
+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.
+
+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 Phnicians; 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.
+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.
+
+The Sun was worshipped at Emesa, under the name of Elagabalus, 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
+Phnician tunics, officiated in the meanest functions, with affected zeal
+and secret indignation.
+
+
+
+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, 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.
+
+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,
+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, 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, 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.
+
+It may seem probable, the vices and follies of Elagabalus have been
+adorned by fancy, and blackened by prejudice. 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.
+
+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.
+
+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.
+
+[See Island In The Tiber: Elagabalus was thrown into the Tiber]?
+
+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. 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.
+
+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. 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. 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. 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.
+
+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.
+
+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. *
+
+The simple journal of his ordinary occupations exhibits a pleasing
+picture of an accomplished emperor, 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.
+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."
+
+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.
+
+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.
+
+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. 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.
+
+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. 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.
+
+
+
+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. 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, 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.
+
+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. 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. 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.
+
+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, 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. 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. 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.
+
+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. 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. 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. 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. The ten thousand Euboic
+or Phnician talents, about four millions sterling, which vanquished
+Carthage was condemned to pay within the term of fifty years, were a
+slight acknowledgment of the superiority of Rome, 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.
+
+Spain, by a very singular fatality, was the Peru and Mexico of the old
+world. The discovery of the rich western continent by the Phnicians,
+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. The Phnicians 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. Twenty thousand pound weight of gold was annually
+received from the provinces of Asturia, Gallicia, and Lusitania.
+
+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.
+
+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; 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.
+
+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.
+
+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. 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. 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; Parthian and Babylonian
+leather, cottons, silks, both raw and manufactured, ebony ivory, and
+eunuchs. We may observe that the use and value of those effeminate
+slaves gradually rose with the decline of the empire.
+
+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. 1
+
+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. . 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; nor could it be exacted from the
+nearest of kin on the father's side. 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.
+
+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. 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. 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; nor do the friends of the younger Pliny seem to have been
+less generous to that amiable orator. 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.
+
+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. 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. 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.
+
+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, 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.
+
+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. 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.
+
+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. To their
+influence and example we may partly ascribe the modest obedience of the
+legions during the two first centuries of the Imperial history.
+
+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, 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.
+
+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.
+
+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; 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.
+
+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. 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.
+
+The former tyrants, Caligula and Nero, Commodus, and Caracalla, were
+all dissolute and unexperienced youths, 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, 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.
+
+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. 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.
+
+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.
+
+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, 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.
+
+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. 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. The public shows
+exhibited at his expense, and in which the people were entertained with
+many hundreds of wild beasts and gladiators, 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, 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. 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.
+
+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.
+
+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, 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, 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!" 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]
+
+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; and the example of Rome was followed by the rest of Italy.
+
+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.
+
+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.
+
+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!"
+
+
+
+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, 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, they had
+both attained the full maturity of age and experience.
+
+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. 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.
+
+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. 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, 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.
+
+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, 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.
+
+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.
+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. 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.
+
+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. 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." His apprehensions were but too well
+justified by the event.
+
+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.
+
+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. 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. 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.
+
+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; 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.
+
+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. 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.
+
+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, 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.
+
+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. 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 where he was killed, near the conflux of the Euphrates with the
+little river Aboras. The fortunate Philip, raised to the empire by the
+votes of the soldiers, found a ready obedience from the senate and the
+provinces.
+
+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 of Algiers, 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?
+
+"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.
+
+
+
+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, 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 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. 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.
+
+Since Romulus, with a small band of shepherds and outlaws, fortified
+himself on the hills near the Tyber, ten centuries had already elapsed.
+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.
+
+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, 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.
+
+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.
+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. 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. 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, 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.
+
+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, was still revered
+in the East; but the obsolete and mysterious language, in which the
+Zendavesta was composed, opened a field of dispute to seventy sects,
+who variously explained the fundamental doctrines of their religion, and
+were all indifferently derided 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. 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.
+
+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 absorbed 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.
+
+
+
+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, "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.
+
+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.
+
+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." 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." 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.
+
+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.
+The property of the Magi was very considerable. Besides the less
+invidious possession of a large tract of the most fertile lands of
+Media, they levied a general tax on the fortunes and the industry of the
+Persians. "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." *
+
+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. 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. 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.
+
+The first counsel of the Magi was agreeable to the unsociable genius of
+their faith, to the practice of ancient kings, and even to the example
+of their legislator, who had a victim to a religious war, excited by his
+own intolerant zeal. 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. The sword of Aristotle (such was the name given by
+the Orientals to the polytheism and philosophy of the Greeks) was easily
+broken; the flames of persecution soon reached the more stubborn Jews
+and Christians; 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. * 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.
+
+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 vitax, 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, 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 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, 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. 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.
+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. 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.
+
+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; 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.
+
+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. 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. 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. The innumerable
+attendants on luxury and despotism resorted to the court, and the little
+village of Ctesiphon insensibly swelled into a great city. 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. 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. 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.
+
+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. 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, 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.
+
+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. 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. 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.
+
+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, 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.
+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.
+
+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, was encompassed by the superior
+numbers, and destroyed by the arrows of the enemy. The alliance of
+Chosroes, king of Armenia, 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.
+
+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. 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." 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.
+
+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.
+
+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.
+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.
+
+
+
+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.
+
+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. 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 of Scandinavia.
+
+Some ingenious writers 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. 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. 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. 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. 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.
+
+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. 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, 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, 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.
+
+
+
+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 Indigen, 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; 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.
+
+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, as well as the wild Tartar, 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. 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.
+
+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; 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.
+
+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. 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; 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. But Tacitus
+asserts, as a well-known fact, that the Germans, in his time, had no
+cities; and that they affected to despise the works of Roman industry,
+as places of confinement rather than of security. Their edifices were
+not even contiguous, or formed into regular villas; 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.
+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. The game of various sorts, with which the forests of Germany were
+plentifully stocked, supplied its inhabitants with food and exercise.
+Their monstrous herds of cattle, less remarkable indeed for their beauty
+than for their utility, 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.
+
+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. 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.
+
+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. 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. 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.
+
+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. 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. 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. 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.
+
+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.
+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. 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. 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, we can oppose the equal names of Robertson and
+Hume.
+
+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." 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.
+Some tribes, however, on the coast of the Baltic, acknowledged the
+authority of kings, though without relinquishing the rights of men,
+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.
+
+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. 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.
+
+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. Princes were, however, appointed, in the general
+assembly, to administer justice, or rather to compose differences, in
+their respective districts. In the choice of these magistrates, as much
+regard was shown to birth as to merit. 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.
+
+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. At the same time they were not authorized
+to punish with death, to imprison, or even to strike a private
+citizen. 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.
+
+
+
+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 hecould bestow, or they
+would accept. War, rapine, and the free-will offerings of his friends,
+supplied the materials of this munificence. 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. 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.
+
+"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. 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.
+
+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. 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. 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. 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.
+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. 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.
+
+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. 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; 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.
+
+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. 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. 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.
+
+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; and the hostile
+army was devoted with dire execrations to the gods of war and of
+thunder. 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, others imagined a gross paradise of immortal
+drunkenness. 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.
+
+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. *
+
+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 frame (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 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, 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. 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, 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, the allies, not the servants, of the Roman
+monarchy.
+
+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.
+
+"The Bructeri * (it is Tacitus who now speaks) were totally exterminated
+by the neighboring tribes, 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, and have nothing left to demand
+of fortune, except the discord of the barbarians."--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.
+
+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. 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, who had taken the lead in the war, were the most
+severely punished in its catastrophe. They were commanded to retire five
+miles 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. 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.
+
+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.
+
+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, 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.
+
+
+
+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,
+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, 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.
+
+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. 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.
+* 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. 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. 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.
+
+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. 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.
+
+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.
+
+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, 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.
+
+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, 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, and as late as the age of the Antonines,
+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. 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. The latter appear to have been subdivided into Ostrogoths,
+Visigoths, and Gepidae. 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.
+
+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.
+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; 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.
+
+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. 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. 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; we have some reason to believe that the first of these
+nations, which distinguished itself in the Macedonian war, 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. But the confusion
+of blood and manners on that doubtful frontier often perplexed the most
+accurate observers. 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.
+
+
+
+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. But the Goths withstood all
+these temptations, and still adhered to a life of idleness, of poverty,
+and of rapine.
+
+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. 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.
+
+Decius found the Goths engaged before Nicopolis, one of the many
+monuments of Trajan's victories. 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. 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. 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. 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, intrusted the passes of the mountains to officers
+of approved valor and fidelity, 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.
+
+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, till
+it was usurped and gradually neglected by the Caesars. 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, 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."
+
+A magistrate, invested with such extensive powers, would have appeared
+not so much the minister, as the colleague of his sovereign. 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. 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. 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.
+
+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, 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. 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." In this morass
+the Roman army, after an ineffectual struggle, was irrecoverably lost;
+nor could the body of the emperor ever be found. Such was the fate of
+Decius, in the fiftieth year of his age; an accomplished prince, active
+in war and affable in peace; who, together with his son, has deserved
+to be compared, both in life and death, with the brightest examples of
+ancient virtue.
+
+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. 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.
+
+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. 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. 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; and even the defeat of the later
+emperor was ascribed by the voice of suspicion to the perfidious
+counsels of his hated successor. The tranquillity which the empire
+enjoyed during the first year of his administration, 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.
+
+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. 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. 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. 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.
+
+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. 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 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.
+
+Valerian was about sixty years of age 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. 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. 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; 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.
+
+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, that Gaul, that the northern parts of Germany, 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. They suppose, that about the year two hundred and forty, 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; 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. 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.
+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. 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.
+
+
+
+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. 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.
+
+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; 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. When the exhausted country no longer supplied
+a variety of plunder, the Franks seized on some vessels in the ports of
+Spain, 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.
+
+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. Patriotism contributed, as well as devotion, to
+consecrate the Sonnenwald, or wood of the Semnones. 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. 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.
+
+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. 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. 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.
+
+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.
+
+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.
+
+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.
+
+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.
+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. 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.
+
+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. 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.
+
+The banks of the Borysthenes are only sixty miles distant from the
+narrow entrance of the peninsula of Crim Tartary, known to the ancients
+under the name of Chersonesus Taurica. On that inhospitable shore,
+Euripides, embellishing with exquisite art the tales of antiquity, has
+placed the scene of one of his most affecting tragedies. 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, was at last swallowed up by the ambition of
+Mithridates, and, with the rest of his dominions, sunk under the weight
+of the Roman arms. From the reign of Augustus, 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. 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. 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. 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; and they are probably
+not inferior, in the art of navigation, to the ancient inhabitants of
+Bosphorus.
+
+The fleet of the Goths, leaving the coast of Circassia on the left hand,
+first appeared before Pityus, 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.
+
+Circling round the eastern extremity of the Euxine Sea, the navigation
+from Pityus to Trebizond is about three hundred miles. 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, 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. 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. 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.
+
+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,
+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.
+
+When the city of Cyzicus withstood the utmost effort of Mithridates, it
+was distinguished by wise laws, a naval power of two hundred galleys,
+and three arsenals, of arms, of military engines, and of corn. 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.
+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 Nice and Nicomedia, which they wantonly burnt. Some
+obscure hints are mentioned of a doubtful combat that secured their
+retreat. 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.
+
+When we are informed that the third fleet, equipped by the Goths in the
+ports of Bosphorus, consisted of five hundred sails of ships, our ready
+imagination instantly computes and multiplies the formidable armament;
+but, as we are assured by the judicious Strabo, 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, 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 Daxippus, 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.
+
+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. 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. 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. 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.
+
+
+
+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, 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. 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. 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. 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.
+
+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. 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.
+
+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. 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.
+
+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.
+That worthless minister rendered his master formidable only to the
+oppressed subjects, and contemptible to the enemies of Rome. By his
+weak or wicked counsels, the Imperial army was betrayed into a situation
+where valor and military skill were equally unavailing. The vigorous
+attempt of the Romans to cut their way through the Persian host was
+repulsed with great slaughter; 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. 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.
+
+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, 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. 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. 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. 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.
+
+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." 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 and the tents of the desert, 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. 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.
+
+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. 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;
+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.
+
+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. 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, 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, 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. 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.
+
+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. 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, 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.
+
+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. 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, who, by female alliances, claimed a right of
+exhibiting, in his house, the images of Crassus and of the great Pompey.
+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.
+
+[See Roman Coins: From The British Museum. Number four depicts Crassus.]
+
+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."
+
+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.
+
+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. 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."
+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.
+
+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. 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.
+
+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; it was peopled by three hundred thousand
+free inhabitants, besides at least an equal number of slaves. 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. 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, were at any
+time sufficient to kindle a sedition among that vast multitude, whose
+resentments were furious and implacable. 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. 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.
+
+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 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, 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.
+
+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. 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.
+
+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. 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.
+
+
+
+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 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.
+
+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.
+
+The obscurity which covered the origin of Claudius, though it was
+afterwards embellished by some flattering fictions, 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;
+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."
+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. When Claudius ascended the throne, he was about
+fifty-four years of age.
+
+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." 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.
+
+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.
+
+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. 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.
+
+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;
+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.
+
+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." 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.
+
+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 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.
+
+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, 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.
+
+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.
+
+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, 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.
+
+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." 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.
+
+
+
+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. 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.
+
+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.
+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. 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.
+
+While the vigorous and moderate conduct of Aurelian restored the
+Illyrian frontier, the nation of the Alemanni 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, and the numbers of the infantry
+doubled those of the cavalry. 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.
+
+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, 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 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. 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.
+
+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. 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.
+
+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. 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. 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. 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. 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.
+
+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, 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.
+
+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. 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. The extent of the new walls, erected by
+Aurelian, and finished in the reign of Probus, was magnified by popular
+estimation to near fifty, but is reduced by accurate measurement to
+about twenty-one miles. 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, 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.
+
+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. The death of Victorinus, his friend
+and associate, was occasioned by a less worthy cause. The shining
+accomplishments 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. 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.
+
+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. The retreat of the irregular
+auxiliaries, Franks and Batavians, 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.
+
+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. Lyons, on the contrary, had resisted with
+obstinate disaffection the arms of Aurelian. We read of the punishment
+of Lyons, 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.
+
+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. She claimed her descent from the
+Macedonian kings of Egypt, * equalled in beauty her ancestor Cleopatra,
+and far surpassed that princess in chastity 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.
+
+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.
+
+
+
+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. 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, 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.
+
+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.
+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. * The emperor Claudius acknowledged her merit, and
+was content, that, while he pursued the Gothic war, sheshould 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 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.
+
+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. 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. 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.
+
+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, and the second near Emesa. 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. 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.
+
+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 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.
+
+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 balist 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." 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.
+
+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, 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, 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.
+
+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." 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.
+
+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, 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.
+
+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. 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.
+
+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. 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. 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, 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. 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.
+
+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. 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, 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.
+
+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. 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.
+
+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. 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." 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.
+
+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. 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. 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.
+
+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. 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. 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.
+
+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. 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.
+
+
+
+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." 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.
+
+The contention that ensued is one of the best attested, but most
+improbable events in the history of mankind. 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.
+
+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. 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.
+
+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, required his opinion on the important subject of a proper
+candidate for the vacant throne.
+
+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. The senator Tacitus was then seventy-five
+years of age. The long period of his innocent life was adorned with
+wealth and honors. He had twice been invested with the consular dignity,
+and enjoyed with elegance and sobriety his ample patrimony of between
+two and three millions sterling. 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. 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.
+
+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?"
+
+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.
+
+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.
+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. 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.
+
+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." 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.
+
+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.
+
+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.
+
+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. 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.
+
+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.
+
+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; 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.
+
+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. 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; in the full possession
+of his fame, of the love of the army, and of a mature vigor of mind and
+body.
+
+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." 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." 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, 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. 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.
+
+
+
+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, 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. He attacked the Isaurians in their
+mountains, besieged and took several of their strongest castles, 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, 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.
+
+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. 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. 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. 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; 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." 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. 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.
+
+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. 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.
+
+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. 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. 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. 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. 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.
+
+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. 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, 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. 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. 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;
+nor could these artificial supplies, however repeated by succeeding
+emperors, restore the important limit of Gaul and Illyricum to its
+ancient and native vigor.
+
+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. 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.
+
+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." 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. 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.
+
+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, 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.
+
+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.
+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.
+
+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. 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. 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. 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.
+
+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. 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. 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. 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.
+
+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. 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; 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. 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.
+
+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. 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. 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.
+
+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. 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.
+
+The successor of Artaxerxes, * Varanes, or Bahram, though he had subdued
+the Segestans, one of the most warlike nations of Upper Asia, 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. 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.
+
+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. 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. 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."
+
+
+
+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. 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. 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.
+
+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; 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 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.
+
+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.
+
+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. 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.
+
+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. 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. 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. 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,
+and a majestic troop of thirty-two elephants. 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.
+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.
+
+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. 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. 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. 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. 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. 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. 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.
+
+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. 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.
+
+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. 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. 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, 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.
+
+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. 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. 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. 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.
+
+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.
+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.
+
+
+
+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. 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. 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. 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.
+
+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.
+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.
+
+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. 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, 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. 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.
+
+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.
+Galerius, surnamed Armentarius, from his original profession of a
+herdsman, and Constantius, who from his pale complexion had acquired the
+denomination of Chlorus, 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. 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. These four princes distributed among themselves the wide
+extent of the Roman empire. The defence of Gaul, Spain, 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.
+
+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, had risen in a general insurrection;
+very similar to those which in the fourteenth century successively
+afflicted both France and England. 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. 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.
+
+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. 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. 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. 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, 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.
+
+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. 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, 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.
+
+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. 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.
+
+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, 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. 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.
+
+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.
+
+
+
+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. 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. 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.
+
+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. 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. 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.
+
+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 ) 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. 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.
+
+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. Julian had assumed the purple at
+Carthage. 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. 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, 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. 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. 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. 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. 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.
+
+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. 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." 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.
+
+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. Those qualities
+were more nobly exerted in the defence of his benefactor Licinius.
+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.
+
+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. 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. 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 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,
+which at that time extended as far as the neighborhood of Sogdiana.
+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.
+
+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. 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.
+
+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. 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. 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. 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; yet such was his strength and dexterity, that he
+reached in safety the opposite bank. 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.
+
+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. 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. 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." 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. 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.
+
+
+
+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. 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.
+
+"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.
+
+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. 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.
+
+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. 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.
+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. 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. 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; 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.
+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. 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. 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.
+
+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. 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. 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. 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.
+
+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. 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. 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. 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. 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.
+
+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. 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, 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. 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; 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.
+
+
+
+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; 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. 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. 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.
+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.
+
+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. 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. 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.
+
+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.
+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 Csars, 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 Csars. 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.
+
+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." 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. 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.
+
+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, 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.
+
+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.
+
+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, 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, 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.
+
+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. 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. 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." 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.
+
+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. 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. 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."
+
+Though Constantine, from a very obvious prejudice, affects to mention
+the palace of Diocletian with contempt, 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. 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.
+
+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, 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. 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. 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.
+
+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.
+
+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, 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.
+
+
+
+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.
+
+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. 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. 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.
+
+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. 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.
+
+After the elevation of Constantius and Galerius to the rank of Augusti,
+two new Csars 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. 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.
+
+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, 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. The great
+Constantine was most probably born at Naissus, in Dacia; 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. 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. 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. 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.
+
+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. 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, 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.
+
+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. 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.
+
+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. 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. 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.
+
+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.
+
+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.
+
+
+
+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.
+
+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. 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. 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.
+
+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.
+
+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. 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. 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.
+
+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. 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. 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. 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, 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.
+
+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. 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; 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. 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.
+
+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. 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. *
+
+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. 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. 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. 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. 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; 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.
+
+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. 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. 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.
+
+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; 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. 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.
+
+
+
+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. 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. 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. 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.
+
+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.
+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. 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.
+
+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, he
+indulged himself in a vain confidence which deferred the remedies of the
+approaching evil, without deferring the evil itself. The rapid progress
+of Constantine 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. 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.
+
+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. It was with equal surprise
+and pleasure, that on his arrival at a place called Saxa Rubra, about
+nine miles from Rome, he discovered the army of Maxentius prepared to
+give him battle. 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. 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. 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.
+
+In the use of victory, Constantine neither deserved the praise of
+clemency, nor incurred the censure of immoderate rigor. 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.
+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. 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.
+
+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. 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. 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.
+
+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. 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.
+
+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 extinguishingthe 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. 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. 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." 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. 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 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.
+
+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, 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.
+
+The first battle was fought near Cibalis, a city of Pannonia,
+situated on the River Save, about fifty miles above Sirmium. 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.
+
+
+
+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. 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." 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.
+
+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. 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. 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." 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;
+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.
+
+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.
+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; 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, 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. 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.
+
+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.
+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. 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. 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. 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.
+
+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.
+
+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 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.
+
+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. 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. 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.
+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. 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.
+
+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.
+
+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. *
+
+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.
+
+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, 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. 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. 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. According to the maxims of universal toleration, the
+Romans protected a superstition which they despised. The polite Augustus
+condescended to give orders, that sacrifices should be offered for
+his prosperity in the temple of Jerusalem; 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. 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. 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.
+
+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. 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.
+
+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. 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. 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, 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.
+
+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: 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, 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.
+
+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. 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. 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.
+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, 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.
+
+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. 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. 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. 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.
+
+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. 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. 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. 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. 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.
+
+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. 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. 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, 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; 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. The success of
+the Gnostics was rapid and extensive. 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.
+
+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. 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;
+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.
+
+
+
+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. 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. 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. 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. When the bride,
+struggling with well-affected reluctance, was forced into hymenaeal pomp
+over the threshold of her new habitation, or when the sad procession of
+the dead slowly moved towards the funeral pile; 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;
+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. 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.
+
+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.
+
+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 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. 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.
+
+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. 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. 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.
+
+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, 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. 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. 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.
+
+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.
+
+
+
+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. By the same analogy it was inferred, that
+this long period of labor and contention, which was now almost elapsed,
+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. The assurance of such a Millennium was
+carefully inculcated by a succession of fathers from Justin Martyr, and
+Irenaeus, who conversed with the immediate disciples of the apostles,
+down to Lactantius, who was preceptor to the son of Constantine. 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. 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.
+
+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. 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.
+
+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. 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. 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.
+
+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, 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. 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. 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. 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. 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.
+
+The miracles of the primitive church, after obtaining the sanction of
+ages, have been lately attacked in a very free and ingenious inquiry,
+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. 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. 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, 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.
+
+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. *
+
+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. 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.
+
+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. 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. 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.
+
+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.
+
+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. *
+
+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. 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; 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. 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.
+
+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.
+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. 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. 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; 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. A few of
+these, among whom we may reckon the learned Origen, judged it the
+most prudent to disarm the tempter. 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. 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. Such are the early traces of monastic principles and
+institutions, which, in a subsequent age, have counterbalanced all the
+temporal advantages of Christianity.
+
+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. 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; but it was impossible that the Christians, without
+renouncing a more sacred duty, could assume the character of soldiers,
+of magistrates, or of princes. 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. 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.
+
+
+
+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 to the respective standards of their
+own policy. The few who have pursued this inquiry with more candor and
+impartiality, are of opinion, 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, 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. 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.
+
+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. The
+advantages of this episcopal form of government, which appears to have
+been introduced before the end of the first century, 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, 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. 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. 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.
+
+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. 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.
+
+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. 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. 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.
+
+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. 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. 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 oneapostolic 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; 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. 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. 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. 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.
+
+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. 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.
+
+
+
+Chapter XV: Progress Of The Christian Religion.--Part VII
+
+I. The community of goods, which had so agreeably amused the imagination
+of Plato, and which subsisted in some degree among the austere sect of
+the Essenians, 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. 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. 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, and to acquire some merit by resigning a
+superfluous treasure, which must so soon be annihilated with the world
+itself. 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. 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. 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. 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; 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. 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.
+
+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. 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. 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
+agap, 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. 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. 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. 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.
+
+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. A milder sentiment was embraced in practice as well as
+in theory, by the purest and most respectable of the Christian churches.
+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. 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.
+
+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; 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.
+
+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 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, 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.
+
+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. 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. 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.
+
+
+
+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, 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. 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.
+Within fourscore years after the death of Christ, 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.
+
+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.
+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, 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. 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.
+
+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. 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. 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. The body of the natives, a people distinguished by a sullen
+inflexibility of temper, 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. 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.
+
+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, 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. 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. 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.
+
+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;
+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. 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. 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. 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.
+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.
+
+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."
+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. Before that
+time, the various accidents of war and commerce might indeed diffuse
+an imperfect knowledge of the gospel among the tribes of Caledonia, and
+among the borderers of the Rhine, the Danube, and the Euphrates. Beyond
+the last-mentioned river, Edessa was distinguished by a firm and early
+adherence to the faith. 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.
+
+
+
+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, 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.
+
+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.
+
+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. 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. 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."
+
+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 orderof men in
+Bithynia had deserted the religion of their ancestors. 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. 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. 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.
+
+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.
+
+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.
+
+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. 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,
+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.
+
+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, or at least a celebrated province of the Roman empire,
+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. 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. 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 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 and historians of that memorable age.
+
+End Of Vol. I.
+
+
+
+
+
+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 AND FALL OF THE ROMAN EMPIRE ***
+
+***** This file should be named 890.txt or 890.zip *****
+This and all associated files of various formats will be found in:
+        http://www.gutenberg.org/8/9/890/
+
+Produced by David Reed and Dale R. Fredrickson
+
+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.  Special rules,
+set forth in the General Terms of Use part of this license, apply to
+copying and distributing Project Gutenberg-tm electronic works to
+protect the PROJECT GUTENBERG-tm concept and trademark.  Project
+Gutenberg is a registered trademark, and may not be used if you
+charge for the eBooks, unless you receive specific permission.  If you
+do not charge anything for copies of this eBook, complying with the
+rules is very easy.  You may use this eBook for nearly any purpose
+such as creation of derivative works, reports, performances and
+research.  They may be modified and printed and given away--you may do
+practically ANYTHING with public domain eBooks.  Redistribution is
+subject to the trademark license, especially commercial
+redistribution.
+
+
+
+*** START: FULL LICENSE ***
+
+THE FULL PROJECT GUTENBERG LICENSE
+PLEASE READ THIS BEFORE YOU DISTRIBUTE OR USE THIS WORK
+
+To protect the Project Gutenberg-tm mission of promoting the free
+distribution of electronic works, by using or distributing this work
+(or any other work associated in any way with the phrase "Project
+Gutenberg"), you agree to comply with all the terms of the Full Project
+Gutenberg-tm License (available with this file or online at
+http://gutenberg.org/license).
+
+
+Section 1.  General Terms of Use and Redistributing Project Gutenberg-tm
+electronic works
+
+1.A.  By reading or using any part of this Project Gutenberg-tm
+electronic work, you indicate that you have read, understand, agree to
+and accept all the terms of this license and intellectual property
+(trademark/copyright) agreement.  If you do not agree to abide by all
+the terms of this agreement, you must cease using and return or destroy
+all copies of Project Gutenberg-tm electronic works in your possession.
+If you paid a fee for obtaining a copy of or access to a Project
+Gutenberg-tm electronic work and you do not agree to be bound by the
+terms of this agreement, you may obtain a refund from the person or
+entity to whom you paid the fee as set forth in paragraph 1.E.8.
+
+1.B.  "Project Gutenberg" is a registered trademark.  It may only be
+used on or associated in any way with an electronic work by people who
+agree to be bound by the terms of this agreement.  There are a few
+things that you can do with most Project Gutenberg-tm electronic works
+even without complying with the full terms of this agreement.  See
+paragraph 1.C below.  There are a lot of things you can do with Project
+Gutenberg-tm electronic works if you follow the terms of this agreement
+and help preserve free future access to Project Gutenberg-tm electronic
+works.  See paragraph 1.E below.
+
+1.C.  The Project Gutenberg Literary Archive Foundation ("the Foundation"
+or PGLAF), owns a compilation copyright in the collection of Project
+Gutenberg-tm electronic works.  Nearly all the individual works in the
+collection are in the public domain in the United States.  If an
+individual work is in the public domain in the United States and you are
+located in the United States, we do not claim a right to prevent you from
+copying, distributing, performing, displaying or creating derivative
+works based on the work as long as all references to Project Gutenberg
+are removed.  Of course, we hope that you will support the Project
+Gutenberg-tm mission of promoting free access to electronic works by
+freely sharing Project Gutenberg-tm works in compliance with the terms of
+this agreement for keeping the Project Gutenberg-tm name associated with
+the work.  You can easily comply with the terms of this agreement by
+keeping this work in the same format with its attached full Project
+Gutenberg-tm License when you share it without charge with others.
+
+1.D.  The copyright laws of the place where you are located also govern
+what you can do with this work.  Copyright laws in most countries are in
+a constant state of change.  If you are outside the United States, check
+the laws of your country in addition to the terms of this agreement
+before downloading, copying, displaying, performing, distributing or
+creating derivative works based on this work or any other Project
+Gutenberg-tm work.  The Foundation makes no representations concerning
+the copyright status of any work in any country outside the United
+States.
+
+1.E.  Unless you have removed all references to Project Gutenberg:
+
+1.E.1.  The following sentence, with active links to, or other immediate
+access to, the full Project Gutenberg-tm License must appear prominently
+whenever any copy of a Project Gutenberg-tm work (any work on which the
+phrase "Project Gutenberg" appears, or with which the phrase "Project
+Gutenberg" is associated) is accessed, displayed, performed, viewed,
+copied or distributed:
+
+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
+
+1.E.2.  If an individual Project Gutenberg-tm electronic work is derived
+from the public domain (does not contain a notice indicating that it is
+posted with permission of the copyright holder), the work can be copied
+and distributed to anyone in the United States without paying any fees
+or charges.  If you are redistributing or providing access to a work
+with the phrase "Project Gutenberg" associated with or appearing on the
+work, you must comply either with the requirements of paragraphs 1.E.1
+through 1.E.7 or obtain permission for the use of the work and the
+Project Gutenberg-tm trademark as set forth in paragraphs 1.E.8 or
+1.E.9.
+
+1.E.3.  If an individual Project Gutenberg-tm electronic work is posted
+with the permission of the copyright holder, your use and distribution
+must comply with both paragraphs 1.E.1 through 1.E.7 and any additional
+terms imposed by the copyright holder.  Additional terms will be linked
+to the Project Gutenberg-tm License for all works posted with the
+permission of the copyright holder found at the beginning of this work.
+
+1.E.4.  Do not unlink or detach or remove the full Project Gutenberg-tm
+License terms from this work, or any files containing a part of this
+work or any other work associated with Project Gutenberg-tm.
+
+1.E.5.  Do not copy, display, perform, distribute or redistribute this
+electronic work, or any part of this electronic work, without
+prominently displaying the sentence set forth in paragraph 1.E.1 with
+active links or immediate access to the full terms of the Project
+Gutenberg-tm License.
+
+1.E.6.  You may convert to and distribute this work in any binary,
+compressed, marked up, nonproprietary or proprietary form, including any
+word processing or hypertext form.  However, if you provide access to or
+distribute copies of a Project Gutenberg-tm work in a format other than
+"Plain Vanilla ASCII" or other format used in the official version
+posted on the official Project Gutenberg-tm web site (www.gutenberg.org),
+you must, at no additional cost, fee or expense to the user, provide a
+copy, a means of exporting a copy, or a means of obtaining a copy upon
+request, of the work in its original "Plain Vanilla ASCII" or other
+form.  Any alternate format must include the full Project Gutenberg-tm
+License as specified in paragraph 1.E.1.
+
+1.E.7.  Do not charge a fee for access to, viewing, displaying,
+performing, copying or distributing any Project Gutenberg-tm works
+unless you comply with paragraph 1.E.8 or 1.E.9.
+
+1.E.8.  You may charge a reasonable fee for copies of or providing
+access to or distributing Project Gutenberg-tm electronic works provided
+that
+
+- You pay a royalty fee of 20% of the gross profits you derive from
+     the use of Project Gutenberg-tm works calculated using the method
+     you already use to calculate your applicable taxes.  The fee is
+     owed to the owner of the Project Gutenberg-tm trademark, but he
+     has agreed to donate royalties under this paragraph to the
+     Project Gutenberg Literary Archive Foundation.  Royalty payments
+     must be paid within 60 days following each date on which you
+     prepare (or are legally required to prepare) your periodic tax
+     returns.  Royalty payments should be clearly marked as such and
+     sent to the Project Gutenberg Literary Archive Foundation at the
+     address specified in Section 4, "Information about donations to
+     the Project Gutenberg Literary Archive Foundation."
+
+- You provide a full refund of any money paid by a user who notifies
+     you in writing (or by e-mail) within 30 days of receipt that s/he
+     does not agree to the terms of the full Project Gutenberg-tm
+     License.  You must require such a user to return or
+     destroy all copies of the works possessed in a physical medium
+     and discontinue all use of and all access to other copies of
+     Project Gutenberg-tm works.
+
+- You provide, in accordance with paragraph 1.F.3, a full refund of any
+     money paid for a work or a replacement copy, if a defect in the
+     electronic work is discovered and reported to you within 90 days
+     of receipt of the work.
+
+- You comply with all other terms of this agreement for free
+     distribution of Project Gutenberg-tm works.
+
+1.E.9.  If you wish to charge a fee or distribute a Project Gutenberg-tm
+electronic work or group of works on different terms than are set
+forth in this agreement, you must obtain permission in writing from
+both the Project Gutenberg Literary Archive Foundation and Michael
+Hart, the owner of the Project Gutenberg-tm trademark.  Contact the
+Foundation as set forth in Section 3 below.
+
+1.F.
+
+1.F.1.  Project Gutenberg volunteers and employees expend considerable
+effort to identify, do copyright research on, transcribe and proofread
+public domain works in creating the Project Gutenberg-tm
+collection.  Despite these efforts, Project Gutenberg-tm electronic
+works, and the medium on which they may be stored, may contain
+"Defects," such as, but not limited to, incomplete, inaccurate or
+corrupt data, transcription errors, a copyright or other intellectual
+property infringement, a defective or damaged disk or other medium, a
+computer virus, or computer codes that damage or cannot be read by
+your equipment.
+
+1.F.2.  LIMITED WARRANTY, DISCLAIMER OF DAMAGES - Except for the "Right
+of Replacement or Refund" described in paragraph 1.F.3, the Project
+Gutenberg Literary Archive Foundation, the owner of the Project
+Gutenberg-tm trademark, and any other party distributing a Project
+Gutenberg-tm electronic work under this agreement, disclaim all
+liability to you for damages, costs and expenses, including legal
+fees.  YOU AGREE THAT YOU HAVE NO REMEDIES FOR NEGLIGENCE, STRICT
+LIABILITY, BREACH OF WARRANTY OR BREACH OF CONTRACT EXCEPT THOSE
+PROVIDED IN PARAGRAPH F3.  YOU AGREE THAT THE FOUNDATION, THE
+TRADEMARK OWNER, AND ANY DISTRIBUTOR UNDER THIS AGREEMENT WILL NOT BE
+LIABLE TO YOU FOR ACTUAL, DIRECT, INDIRECT, CONSEQUENTIAL, PUNITIVE OR
+INCIDENTAL DAMAGES EVEN IF YOU GIVE NOTICE OF THE POSSIBILITY OF SUCH
+DAMAGE.
+
+1.F.3.  LIMITED RIGHT OF REPLACEMENT OR REFUND - If you discover a
+defect in this electronic work within 90 days of receiving it, you can
+receive a refund of the money (if any) you paid for it by sending a
+written explanation to the person you received the work from.  If you
+received the work on a physical medium, you must return the medium with
+your written explanation.  The person or entity that provided you with
+the defective work may elect to provide a replacement copy in lieu of a
+refund.  If you received the work electronically, the person or entity
+providing it to you may choose to give you a second opportunity to
+receive the work electronically in lieu of a refund.  If the second copy
+is also defective, you may demand a refund in writing without further
+opportunities to fix the problem.
+
+1.F.4.  Except for the limited right of replacement or refund set forth
+in paragraph 1.F.3, this work is provided to you 'AS-IS' WITH NO OTHER
+WARRANTIES OF ANY KIND, EXPRESS OR IMPLIED, INCLUDING BUT NOT LIMITED TO
+WARRANTIES OF MERCHANTIBILITY OR FITNESS FOR ANY PURPOSE.
+
+1.F.5.  Some states do not allow disclaimers of certain implied
+warranties or the exclusion or limitation of certain types of damages.
+If any disclaimer or limitation set forth in this agreement violates the
+law of the state applicable to this agreement, the agreement shall be
+interpreted to make the maximum disclaimer or limitation permitted by
+the applicable state law.  The invalidity or unenforceability of any
+provision of this agreement shall not void the remaining provisions.
+
+1.F.6.  INDEMNITY - You agree to indemnify and hold the Foundation, the
+trademark owner, any agent or employee of the Foundation, anyone
+providing copies of Project Gutenberg-tm electronic works in accordance
+with this agreement, and any volunteers associated with the production,
+promotion and distribution of Project Gutenberg-tm electronic works,
+harmless from all liability, costs and expenses, including legal fees,
+that arise directly or indirectly from any of the following which you do
+or cause to occur: (a) distribution of this or any Project Gutenberg-tm
+work, (b) alteration, modification, or additions or deletions to any
+Project Gutenberg-tm work, and (c) any Defect you cause.
+
+
+Section  2.  Information about the Mission of Project Gutenberg-tm
+
+Project Gutenberg-tm is synonymous with the free distribution of
+electronic works in formats readable by the widest variety of computers
+including obsolete, old, middle-aged and new computers.  It exists
+because of the efforts of hundreds of volunteers and donations from
+people in all walks of life.
+
+Volunteers and financial support to provide volunteers with the
+assistance they need, is critical to reaching Project Gutenberg-tm's
+goals and ensuring that the Project Gutenberg-tm collection will
+remain freely available for generations to come.  In 2001, the Project
+Gutenberg Literary Archive Foundation was created to provide a secure
+and permanent future for Project Gutenberg-tm and future generations.
+To learn more about the Project Gutenberg Literary Archive Foundation
+and how your efforts and donations can help, see Sections 3 and 4
+and the Foundation web page at http://www.pglaf.org.
+
+
+Section 3.  Information about the Project Gutenberg Literary Archive
+Foundation
+
+The Project Gutenberg Literary Archive Foundation is a non profit
+501(c)(3) educational corporation organized under the laws of the
+state of Mississippi and granted tax exempt status by the Internal
+Revenue Service.  The Foundation's EIN or federal tax identification
+number is 64-6221541.  Its 501(c)(3) letter is posted at
+http://pglaf.org/fundraising.  Contributions to the Project Gutenberg
+Literary Archive Foundation are tax deductible to the full extent
+permitted by U.S. federal laws and your state's laws.
+
+The Foundation's principal office is located at 4557 Melan Dr. S.
+Fairbanks, AK, 99712., but its volunteers and employees are scattered
+throughout numerous locations.  Its business office is located at
+809 North 1500 West, Salt Lake City, UT 84116, (801) 596-1887, email
+business@pglaf.org.  Email contact links and up to date contact
+information can be found at the Foundation's web site and official
+page at http://pglaf.org
+
+For additional contact information:
+     Dr. Gregory B. Newby
+     Chief Executive and Director
+     gbnewby@pglaf.org
+
+
+Section 4.  Information about Donations to the Project Gutenberg
+Literary Archive Foundation
+
+Project Gutenberg-tm depends upon and cannot survive without wide
+spread public support and donations to carry out its mission of
+increasing the number of public domain and licensed works that can be
+freely distributed in machine readable form accessible by the widest
+array of equipment including outdated equipment.  Many small donations
+($1 to $5,000) are particularly important to maintaining tax exempt
+status with the IRS.
+
+The Foundation is committed to complying with the laws regulating
+charities and charitable donations in all 50 states of the United
+States.  Compliance requirements are not uniform and it takes a
+considerable effort, much paperwork and many fees to meet and keep up
+with these requirements.  We do not solicit donations in locations
+where we have not received written confirmation of compliance.  To
+SEND DONATIONS or determine the status of compliance for any
+particular state visit http://pglaf.org
+
+While we cannot and do not solicit contributions from states where we
+have not met the solicitation requirements, we know of no prohibition
+against accepting unsolicited donations from donors in such states who
+approach us with offers to donate.
+
+International donations are gratefully accepted, but we cannot make
+any statements concerning tax treatment of donations received from
+outside the United States.  U.S. laws alone swamp our small staff.
+
+Please check the Project Gutenberg Web pages for current donation
+methods and addresses.  Donations are accepted in a number of other
+ways including checks, online payments and credit card donations.
+To donate, please visit: http://pglaf.org/donate
+
+
+Section 5.  General Information About Project Gutenberg-tm electronic
+works.
+
+Professor Michael S. Hart is the originator of the Project Gutenberg-tm
+concept of a library of electronic works that could be freely shared
+with anyone.  For thirty years, he produced and distributed Project
+Gutenberg-tm eBooks with only a loose network of volunteer support.
+
+
+Project Gutenberg-tm eBooks are often created from several printed
+editions, all of which are confirmed as Public Domain in the U.S.
+unless a copyright notice is included.  Thus, we do not necessarily
+keep eBooks in compliance with any particular paper edition.
+
+
+Most people start at our Web site which has the main PG search facility:
+
+     http://www.gutenberg.org
+
+This Web site includes information about Project Gutenberg-tm,
+including how to make donations to the Project Gutenberg Literary
+Archive Foundation, how to help produce our new eBooks, and how to
+subscribe to our email newsletter to hear about new eBooks.
diff --git a/old/890.zip b/old/890.zip
new file mode 100644
index 0000000..7069945
--- /dev/null
+++ b/old/890.zip
diff --git a/old/dfre110.htm b/old/dfre110.htm
new file mode 100644
index 0000000..2b24659
--- /dev/null
+++ b/old/dfre110.htm
@@ -0,0 +1,20015 @@
+<!DOCTYPE HTML PUBLIC "-//W3C//DTD HTML 4.01 Transitional//EN">
+<html>
+<head>
+<title>The Decline And Fall Of The Roman Empire Volume 1</title>
+<meta http-equiv="Content-Type" content=
+"text/html; charset=iso-8859-1">
+<style type="text/css">
+<!--
+body {margin:10%; text-align:justify}
+blockquote {font-size:14pt}
+P {font-size:14pt}
+-->
+</style>
+</head>
+<body>
+<p>The Project Gutenberg Etext of History Of The Decline And Fall
+Of The Roman Empire Volume 1<br>
+</p>
+
+<p>#2 in our different formats by Edward Gibbon, Esq. With notes
+by the Rev. H. H. Milman<br>
+<br>
+</p>
+
+<p>Copyright laws are changing all over the world, be sure to
+check</p>
+
+<p>the copyright laws for your country before posting these
+files!!<br>
+</p>
+
+<p>Please take a look at the important information in this
+header.</p>
+
+<p>We encourage you to keep this file on your own disk, keeping
+an</p>
+
+<p>electronic path open for the next readers. Do not remove
+this.<br>
+<br>
+</p>
+
+<p>**Welcome To The World of Free Plain Vanilla Electronic
+Texts**<br>
+</p>
+
+<p>**Etexts Readable By Both Humans and By Computers, Since
+1971**<br>
+</p>
+
+<p>*These Etexts Prepared By Hundreds of Volunteers and
+Donations*<br>
+</p>
+
+<p>Information on contacting Project Gutenberg to get Etexts,
+and</p>
+
+<p>further information is included below. We need your
+donations.<br>
+<br>
+</p>
+
+<p>History Of The Decline And Fall Of The Roman Empire Volume
+1<br>
+<br>
+</p>
+
+<p>by Edward Gibbon, Esq. With notes by the Rev. H. H. Milman<br>
+</p>
+
+<p>April, 1997 [Etext # 890]<br>
+<br>
+</p>
+
+<p>The Project Gutenberg Etext of History Of The Decline And Fall
+Of The Roman Empire Volume 1<br>
+</p>
+
+<p>*****This file should be named dfrel10.txt or
+dfrel10.zip******<br>
+</p>
+
+<p>Corrected EDITIONS of our etexts get a new NUMBER,
+dfrel11.txt.</p>
+
+<p>VERSIONS based on separate sources get new LETTER,
+dfrel10a.txt.<br>
+<br>
+</p>
+
+<p>Scanned, proofed and converted to HTML by David Reed. Dale R.
+Fredrickson who entered the Greek characters in the footnotes and
+who has suggested retaining the conjoined ae character in the
+text.<br>
+<br>
+</p>
+
+<p>We are now trying to release all our books one month in
+advance</p>
+
+<p>of the official release dates, for time for better
+editing.<br>
+</p>
+
+<p>Please note: neither this list nor its contents are final
+till</p>
+
+<p>midnight of the last day of the month of any such
+announcement.</p>
+
+<p>The official release date of all Project Gutenberg Etexts is
+at</p>
+
+<p>Midnight, Central Time, of the last day of the stated month.
+A</p>
+
+<p>preliminary version may often be posted for suggestion,
+comment</p>
+
+<p>and editing by those who wish to do so. To be sure you have
+an</p>
+
+<p>up to date first edition [xxxxx10x.xxx] please check file
+sizes</p>
+
+<p>in the first week of the next month. Since our ftp program
+has</p>
+
+<p>a bug in it that scrambles the date [tried to fix and failed]
+a</p>
+
+<p>look at the file size will have to do, but we will try to see
+a</p>
+
+<p>new copy has at least one byte more or less.<br>
+<br>
+</p>
+
+<p>Information about Project Gutenberg (one page)<br>
+</p>
+
+<p>We produce about two million dollars for each hour we work.
+The</p>
+
+<p>fifty hours is one conservative estimate for how long it we
+take</p>
+
+<p>to get any etext selected, entered, proofread, edited,
+copyright</p>
+
+<p>searched and analyzed, the copyright letters written, etc.
+This</p>
+
+<p>projected audience is one hundred million readers. If our
+value</p>
+
+<p>per text is nominally estimated at one dollar then we produce
+$2</p>
+
+<p>million dollars per hour this year as we release thirty-two
+text</p>
+
+<p>files per month: or 400 more Etexts in 1996 for a total of
+800.</p>
+
+<p>If these reach just 10% of the computerized population, then
+the</p>
+
+<p>total should reach 80 billion Etexts.<br>
+</p>
+
+<p>The Goal of Project Gutenberg is to Give Away One Trillion
+Etext</p>
+
+<p>Files by the December 31, 2001. [10,000 x
+100,000,000=Trillion]</p>
+
+<p>This is ten thousand titles each to one hundred million
+readers,</p>
+
+<p>which is only 10% of the present number of computer users.
+2001</p>
+
+<p>should have at least twice as many computer users as that, so
+it</p>
+
+<p>will require us reaching less than 5% of the users in
+2001.<br>
+<br>
+</p>
+
+<p>We need your donations more than ever!<br>
+<br>
+</p>
+
+<p>All donations should be made to "Project Gutenberg/CMU": and
+are</p>
+
+<p>tax deductible to the extent allowable by law. (CMU =
+Carnegie-</p>
+
+<p>Mellon University).<br>
+</p>
+
+<p>For these and other matters, please mail to:<br>
+</p>
+
+<p>Project Gutenberg</p>
+
+<p>P. O. Box 2782</p>
+
+<p>Champaign, IL 61825<br>
+</p>
+
+<p>When all other email fails try our Executive Director:</p>
+
+<p>Michael S. Hart &lt;hart@pobox.com&gt;<br>
+</p>
+
+<p>We would prefer to send you this information by email</p>
+
+<p>(Internet, Bitnet, Compuserve, ATTMAIL or MCImail).<br>
+</p>
+
+<p>******</p>
+
+<p>If you have an FTP program (or emulator), please</p>
+
+<p>FTP directly to the Project Gutenberg archives:</p>
+
+<p>[Mac users, do NOT point and click. . .type]<br>
+</p>
+
+<p>ftp uiarchive.cso.uiuc.edu</p>
+
+<p>login: anonymous</p>
+
+<p>password: your@login</p>
+
+<p>cd etext/etext90 through /etext96</p>
+
+<p>or cd etext/articles [get suggest gut for more
+information]</p>
+
+<p>dir [to see files]</p>
+
+<p>get or mget [to get files. . .set bin for zip files]</p>
+
+<p>GET INDEX?00.GUT</p>
+
+<p>for a list of books</p>
+
+<p>and</p>
+
+<p>GET NEW GUT for general information</p>
+
+<p>and</p>
+
+<p>MGET GUT* for newsletters.<br>
+</p>
+
+<p>**Information prepared by the Project Gutenberg legal
+advisor**</p>
+
+<p>(Three Pages)<br>
+<br>
+</p>
+
+<p>***START**THE SMALL PRINT!**FOR PUBLIC DOMAIN
+ETEXTS**START***</p>
+
+<p>Why is this "Small Print!" statement here? You know:
+lawyers.</p>
+
+<p>They tell us you might sue us if there is something wrong
+with</p>
+
+<p>your copy of this etext, even if you got it for free from</p>
+
+<p>someone other than us, and even if what's wrong is not our</p>
+
+<p>fault. So, among other things, this "Small Print!"
+statement</p>
+
+<p>disclaims most of our liability to you. It also tells you
+how</p>
+
+<p>you can distribute copies of this etext if you want to.<br>
+</p>
+
+<p>*BEFORE!* YOU USE OR READ THIS ETEXT</p>
+
+<p>By using or reading any part of this PROJECT GUTENBERG-tm</p>
+
+<p>etext, you indicate that you understand, agree to and
+accept</p>
+
+<p>this "Small Print!" statement. If you do not, you can
+receive</p>
+
+<p>a refund of the money (if any) you paid for this etext by</p>
+
+<p>sending a request within 30 days of receiving it to the
+person</p>
+
+<p>you got it from. If you received this etext on a physical</p>
+
+<p>medium (such as a disk), you must return it with your
+request.<br>
+</p>
+
+<p>ABOUT PROJECT GUTENBERG-TM ETEXTS</p>
+
+<p>This PROJECT GUTENBERG-tm etext, like most PROJECT
+GUTENBERG-</p>
+
+<p>tm etexts, is a "public domain" work distributed by
+Professor</p>
+
+<p>Michael S. Hart through the Project Gutenberg Association
+at</p>
+
+<p>Carnegie-Mellon University (the "Project"). Among other</p>
+
+<p>things, this means that no one owns a United States
+copyright</p>
+
+<p>on or for this work, so the Project (and you!) can copy
+and</p>
+
+<p>distribute it in the United States without permission and</p>
+
+<p>without paying copyright royalties. Special rules, set
+forth</p>
+
+<p>below, apply if you wish to copy and distribute this etext</p>
+
+<p>under the Project's "PROJECT GUTENBERG" trademark.<br>
+</p>
+
+<p>To create these etexts, the Project expends considerable</p>
+
+<p>efforts to identify, transcribe and proofread public
+domain</p>
+
+<p>works. Despite these efforts, the Project's etexts and any</p>
+
+<p>medium they may be on may contain "Defects". Among other</p>
+
+<p>things, Defects may take the form of incomplete, inaccurate
+or</p>
+
+<p>corrupt data, transcription errors, a copyright or other</p>
+
+<p>intellectual property infringement, a defective or damaged</p>
+
+<p>disk or other etext medium, a computer virus, or computer</p>
+
+<p>codes that damage or cannot be read by your equipment.<br>
+</p>
+
+<p>LIMITED WARRANTY; DISCLAIMER OF DAMAGES</p>
+
+<p>But for the "Right of Replacement or Refund" described
+below,</p>
+
+<p>[1] the Project (and any other party you may receive this</p>
+
+<p>etext from as a PROJECT GUTENBERG-tm etext) disclaims all</p>
+
+<p>liability to you for damages, costs and expenses,
+including</p>
+
+<p>legal fees, and [2] YOU HAVE NO REMEDIES FOR NEGLIGENCE OR</p>
+
+<p>UNDER STRICT LIABILITY, OR FOR BREACH OF WARRANTY OR
+CONTRACT,</p>
+
+<p>INCLUDING BUT NOT LIMITED TO INDIRECT, CONSEQUENTIAL,
+PUNITIVE</p>
+
+<p>OR INCIDENTAL DAMAGES, EVEN IF YOU GIVE NOTICE OF THE</p>
+
+<p>POSSIBILITY OF SUCH DAMAGES.<br>
+</p>
+
+<p>If you discover a Defect in this etext within 90 days of</p>
+
+<p>receiving it, you can receive a refund of the money (if
+any)</p>
+
+<p>you paid for it by sending an explanatory note within that</p>
+
+<p>time to the person you received it from. If you received
+it</p>
+
+<p>on a physical medium, you must return it with your note,
+and</p>
+
+<p>such person may choose to alternatively give you a
+replacement</p>
+
+<p>copy. If you received it electronically, such person may</p>
+
+<p>choose to alternatively give you a second opportunity to</p>
+
+<p>receive it electronically.<br>
+</p>
+
+<p>THIS ETEXT IS OTHERWISE PROVIDED TO YOU "AS-IS". NO OTHER</p>
+
+<p>WARRANTIES OF ANY KIND, EXPRESS OR IMPLIED, ARE MADE TO YOU
+AS</p>
+
+<p>TO THE ETEXT OR ANY MEDIUM IT MAY BE ON, INCLUDING BUT NOT</p>
+
+<p>LIMITED TO WARRANTIES OF MERCHANTABILITY OR FITNESS FOR A</p>
+
+<p>PARTICULAR PURPOSE.<br>
+</p>
+
+<p>Some states do not allow disclaimers of implied warranties
+or</p>
+
+<p>the exclusion or limitation of consequential damages, so
+the</p>
+
+<p>above disclaimers and exclusions may not apply to you, and
+you</p>
+
+<p>may have other legal rights.<br>
+</p>
+
+<p>INDEMNITY</p>
+
+<p>You will indemnify and hold the Project, its directors,</p>
+
+<p>officers, members and agents harmless from all liability,
+cost</p>
+
+<p>and expense, including legal fees, that arise directly or</p>
+
+<p>indirectly from any of the following that you do or cause:</p>
+
+<p>[1] distribution of this etext, [2] alteration,
+modification,</p>
+
+<p>or addition to the etext, or [3] any Defect.<br>
+</p>
+
+<p>DISTRIBUTION UNDER "PROJECT GUTENBERG-tm"</p>
+
+<p>You may distribute copies of this etext electronically, or
+by</p>
+
+<p>disk, book or any other medium if you either delete this</p>
+
+<p>"Small Print!" and all other references to Project
+Gutenberg,</p>
+
+<p>or:<br>
+</p>
+
+<p>[1] Only give exact copies of it. Among other things, this</p>
+
+<p>requires that you do not remove, alter or modify the</p>
+
+<p>etext or this "small print!" statement. You may however,</p>
+
+<p>if you wish, distribute this etext in machine readable</p>
+
+<p>binary, compressed, mark-up, or proprietary form,</p>
+
+<p>including any form resulting from conversion by word pro-</p>
+
+<p>cessing or hypertext software, but only so long as</p>
+
+<p>*EITHER*:<br>
+</p>
+
+<p>[*] The etext, when displayed, is clearly readable, and</p>
+
+<p>does *not* contain characters other than those</p>
+
+<p>intended by the author of the work, although tilde</p>
+
+<p>(~), asterisk (*) and underline (_) characters may</p>
+
+<p>be used to convey punctuation intended by the</p>
+
+<p>author, and additional characters may be used to</p>
+
+<p>indicate hypertext links; OR<br>
+</p>
+
+<p>[*] The etext may be readily converted by the reader at</p>
+
+<p>no expense into plain ASCII, EBCDIC or equivalent</p>
+
+<p>form by the program that displays the etext (as is</p>
+
+<p>the case, for instance, with most word processors);</p>
+
+<p>OR<br>
+</p>
+
+<p>[*] You provide, or agree to also provide on request at</p>
+
+<p>no additional cost, fee or expense, a copy of the</p>
+
+<p>etext in its original plain ASCII form (or in EBCDIC</p>
+
+<p>or other equivalent proprietary form).<br>
+</p>
+
+<p>[2] Honor the etext refund and replacement provisions of
+this</p>
+
+<p>"Small Print!" statement.<br>
+</p>
+
+<p>[3] Pay a trademark license fee to the Project of 20% of
+the</p>
+
+<p>net profits you derive calculated using the method you</p>
+
+<p>already use to calculate your applicable taxes. If you</p>
+
+<p>don't derive profits, no royalty is due. Royalties are</p>
+
+<p>payable to "Project Gutenberg Association/Carnegie-Mellon</p>
+
+<p>University" within the 60 days following each</p>
+
+<p>date you prepare (or were legally required to prepare)</p>
+
+<p>your annual (or equivalent periodic) tax return.<br>
+</p>
+
+<p>WHAT IF YOU *WANT* TO SEND MONEY EVEN IF YOU DON'T HAVE
+TO?</p>
+
+<p>The Project gratefully accepts contributions in money,
+time,</p>
+
+<p>scanning machines, OCR software, public domain etexts,
+royalty</p>
+
+<p>free copyright licenses, and every other sort of
+contribution</p>
+
+<p>you can think of. Money should be paid to "Project
+Gutenberg</p>
+
+<p>Association / Carnegie-Mellon University".<br>
+</p>
+
+<p>*END*THE SMALL PRINT! FOR PUBLIC DOMAIN
+ETEXTS*Ver.04.29.93*END*<br>
+<br>
+<br>
+<br>
+</p>
+
+<p>This is the first volume of the six volumes of Edward Gibbon's
+History Of The Decline And Fall Of The Roman Empire. If you find
+any errors please feel free to notify me of them. I want to make
+this the best etext edition possible for both scholars and the
+general public. I would like to thank those who have helped in
+making this text better. Especially Dale R. Fredrickson who has
+hand entered the Greek characters in the footnotes and who has
+suggested retaining the conjoined ae character in the text.
+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.<br>
+</p>
+
+<p>David Reed<br>
+</p>
+
+<p align="center"><strong>History Of The Decline And Fall Of The
+Roman Empire</strong><br>
+</p>
+
+<p>Edward Gibbon, Esq.</p>
+
+<p>With notes by the Rev. H. H. Milman</p>
+
+<p>Vol. 1</p>
+
+<p>1782 (Written), 1845 (Revised)<br>
+</p>
+
+<p><strong>Introduction</strong><br>
+</p>
+
+<p>Preface By The Editor.<br>
+</p>
+
+<p>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
+art., 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.<br>
+</p>
+
+<p>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: --<br>
+</p>
+
+<p>"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 --<br>
+</p>
+
+<p>'Un grand destin commence, un grand destin
+s'ach&egrave;ve.'"<br>
+</p>
+
+<p>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 least to
+the contracted sphere of Grecian affairs. As far as the
+<strong><em>Barbarians</em></strong> 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.<br>
+</p>
+
+<p>In imitation of his classical models, Gibbon places
+<strong><em>Rome</em></strong> 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: --<br>
+</p>
+
+<p>"A dark</p>
+
+<p>Illimitable ocean, without bound,</p>
+
+<p>Without dimension, where length, breadth, and height,</p>
+
+<p>And time, and place, are lost: where eldest Night</p>
+
+<p>And Chaos, ancestors of Nature, hold</p>
+
+<p>Eternal anarchy, amidst the noise</p>
+
+<p>Of endless wars, and by confusion stand."<br>
+</p>
+
+<p>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.<br>
+</p>
+
+<p>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.<br>
+</p>
+
+<p>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: --<br>
+</p>
+
+<p>"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."<br>
+</p>
+
+<p>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: --<br>
+</p>
+
+<p>"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
+<strong><em>misrepresentation</em></strong>. Some imperfect
+(<strong><em>tronqu&eacute;es</em></strong>) quotations; some
+passages, omitted unintentionally or designedly cast a suspicion
+on the honesty (<strong><em>bonne foi</em></strong>) 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 (<strong><em>justesse
+d'esprit</em></strong>) 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."<br>
+</p>
+
+<p>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.<br>
+</p>
+
+<p>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, <strong><em>in
+general</em></strong>, 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.<br>
+</p>
+
+<p>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
+<strong><em>passions</em></strong>, 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.<br>
+</p>
+
+<p>We are thus naturally led to that great misrepresentation
+which pervades his history -- his false estimate of the nature
+and influence of Christianity.<br>
+</p>
+
+<p>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
+<strong><em>origin</em></strong> and
+<strong><em>apostolic</em></strong> propagation of the new
+religion, with its <strong><em>later</em></strong> 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 <strong><em>might
+be</em></strong> -- and to the Protestant, the rational
+Christian, it is impossible to define
+<strong><em>when</em></strong> it really
+<strong><em>was</em></strong>-- left to make its way by its
+native force, under the ordinary secret agencies of all-ruling
+Providence. The main question, the <strong><em>divine origin of
+the religion</em></strong>, was dexterously eluded, or speciously
+conceded by Gibbon; his plan enabled him to commence his account,
+in most parts, <strong><em>below the apostolic
+times</em></strong>; 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.<br>
+</p>
+
+<p>"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 <strong><em>suggested</em></strong> 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.<br>
+</p>
+
+<p>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
+<strong><em>comparison</em></strong> 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; <strong><em>affects</em></strong> 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
+<strong><em>glories</em></strong> 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.<br>
+</p>
+
+<p>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.<br>
+</p>
+
+<p>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.<br>
+</p>
+
+<p>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.<br>
+</p>
+
+<p>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.<br>
+</p>
+
+<p>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.<br>
+</p>
+
+<p>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.<br>
+</p>
+
+<p>The notes of Wenck are extremely valuable; many of them have
+been adopted by M. Guizot; they are distinguished by the letter
+W.*<br>
+</p>
+
+<p>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.<br>
+</p>
+
+<p>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.<br>
+</p>
+
+<p>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.<br>
+</p>
+
+<p>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.<br>
+</p>
+
+<p>The editor's notes are marked M.<br>
+</p>
+
+<p>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.<br>
+</p>
+
+<p>June, 1845.<br>
+</p>
+
+<p>In this new edition, the text and the notes have been
+carefully revised, the latter by the editor.<br>
+</p>
+
+<p>Some additional notes have been subjoined, distinguished by
+the signature M. 1845.<br>
+</p>
+
+<p><strong><em>Preface Of The Author.</em></strong><br>
+</p>
+
+<p>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 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.<br>
+</p>
+
+<p>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:<br>
+</p>
+
+<p>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.<br>
+</p>
+
+<p>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<br>
+</p>
+
+<p>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 C&aelig;sar 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.<br>
+</p>
+
+<p>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, 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.<br>
+</p>
+
+<p>Bentinck Street, February 1, 1776.<br>
+</p>
+
+<p>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.<br>
+</p>
+
+<p><strong><em>Bentinck</em></strong> Street<strong><em>, March
+1, 1781.</em></strong><br>
+</p>
+
+<p>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 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.<br>
+</p>
+
+<p><em>Bentinck Street, March 1, 1782.</em><br>
+</p>
+
+<p><em><strong>Preface To The First Volume.</strong></em><br>
+</p>
+
+<p>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.<br>
+</p>
+
+<p>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 &AElig;lius Spartianus, Julius
+Capitolinus, &AElig;lius 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
+<em>Augustan History.</em><br>
+</p>
+
+<p><em><strong>Preface To The Fourth Volume Of The Original
+Quarto Edition.</strong></em><br>
+</p>
+
+<p>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.<br>
+</p>
+
+<p>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.<br>
+</p>
+
+<p>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.<br>
+</p>
+
+<p>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.<br>
+</p>
+
+<p><em>Downing</em> Street<em>, May 1, 1788.</em><br>
+</p>
+
+<p>P. S. I shall embrace this opportunity of introducing two
+<em>verbal</em> remarks, which have not conveniently offered
+themselves to my notice. 1. As often as I use the definitions of
+<em>beyond</em> the Alps, the Rhine, the Danube, &amp;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
+<em>Mohammed</em> 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 <em>Haleb</em>, <em>Demashk</em>, and <em>Al
+Cahira</em>: 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,
+<em>Con-f&ucirc;-tzee</em>, in the respectable name of Confucius,
+or even to adopt the Portuguese corruption of Mandarin. But I
+would vary the use of Zoroaster and <em>Zerdusht</em>, as I drew
+my information from Greece or Persia: since our connection with
+India, the genuine <em>Timour</em> is restored to the throne of
+Tamerlane: our most correct writers have retrenched the
+<em>Al</em>, the superfluous article, from the Koran; and we
+escape an ambiguous termination, by adopting <em>Moslem</em>
+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.<br>
+</p>
+
+<p><strong>Chapter I: The Extent Of The Empire In The Age Of The
+Antoninies.</strong><br>
+</p>
+
+<p><strong><em>Part I.</em></strong><br>
+</p>
+
+<p>Introduction -- The Extent And Military Force Of The Empire In
+The Age Of The Antonines.<br>
+</p>
+
+<p>In the second century of the Christian &AElig;ra, 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.<br>
+</p>
+
+<p>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.<br>
+</p>
+
+<p>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. 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. 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.<br>
+</p>
+
+<p>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 C&aelig;sars
+seldom showed themselves to the armies, or to the provinces; nor
+were they disposed to suffer, that those triumphs which
+<em>their</em> 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.<br>
+</p>
+
+<p>The only accession which the Roman empire received, during the
+first century of the Christian &AElig;ra, was the province of
+Britain. In this single instance, the successors of C&aelig;sar
+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; 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,
+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. 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. 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.<br>
+</p>
+
+<p>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. 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. 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.<br>
+</p>
+
+<p>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.
+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. 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. 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. 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. 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.<br>
+</p>
+
+<p>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. 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. 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. 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.<br>
+</p>
+
+<p><strong><em>Chapter I: The Extend Of The Empire In The Age Of
+The Antoninies. -- Part II.</em></strong><br>
+</p>
+
+<p>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. 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. 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. 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.<br>
+</p>
+
+<p>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. 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.<br>
+</p>
+
+<p>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. 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.<br>
+</p>
+
+<p>Part II.<br>
+</p>
+
+<p>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.
+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.<br>
+</p>
+
+<p>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. 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. 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. 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.<br>
+</p>
+
+<p>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. 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.
+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, 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.<br>
+</p>
+
+<p>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. 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. 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. 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. 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.<br>
+</p>
+
+<p>Nine centuries of war had gradually introduced into the
+service many alterations and improvements. The legions, as they
+are described by Polybius, in the time of the Punic wars,
+differed very materially from those which achieved the victories
+of C&aelig;sar, or defended the monarchy of Hadrian and the
+Antonines. The constitution of the Imperial legion may be
+described in a few words. The heavy-armed infantry, which
+composed its principal strength, 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 <em>pilum</em>, a
+ponderous javelin, whose utmost length was about six feet, and
+which was terminated by a massy triangular point of steel of
+eighteen inches. 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 <em>pilum</em>, 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. The legion was
+usually drawn up eight deep; and the regular distance of three
+feet was left between the files as well as ranks. 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. 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. 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.<br>
+</p>
+
+<p>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. 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.
+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; and whenever they embraced the
+profession of arms, they were immediately intrusted with a troop
+of horse, or a cohort of foot. 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. <em>Their</em> 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.<br>
+</p>
+
+<p>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. 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. 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. Among the auxiliaries, the
+bravest and most faithful bands were placed under the command of
+pr&aelig;fects 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. 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.<br>
+</p>
+
+<p><strong><em>Chapter I: The Extend Of The Empire In The Age Of
+The Antoninies. -- Part III.</em></strong><br>
+</p>
+
+<p>The camp of a Roman legion presented the appearance of a
+fortified city. 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 pr&aelig;torium, 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 <em>pilum</em>. Active
+valor may often be the present of nature; but such patient
+diligence can be the fruit only of habit and discipline.<br>
+</p>
+
+<p>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. 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. 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. 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.<br>
+</p>
+
+<p>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 Rh&aelig;tia, one in Noricum,
+four in Pannonia, three in M&aelig;sia, 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 Pr&aelig;torian Guards, watched over the safety of
+the monarch and the capital. As the authors of almost every
+revolution that distracted the empire, the Pr&aelig;torians 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.<br>
+</p>
+
+<p>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; 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. 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. 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.<br>
+</p>
+
+<p>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.<br>
+</p>
+
+<p>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 Pyren&aelig;an 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,
+B&aelig;tica, 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 B&aelig;tica. 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. 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.<br>
+</p>
+
+<p>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. 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
+C&aelig;sar, 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. 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.<br>
+</p>
+
+<p>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 Belg&aelig; in the West, the Brigantes in
+the North, the Silures in South Wales, and the Iceni in Norfolk
+and Suffolk. 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.<br>
+</p>
+
+<p>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. 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. 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. 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.<br>
+</p>
+
+<p>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. The
+provinces of the Danube soon acquired the general appellation of
+Illyricum, or the Illyrian frontier, and were esteemed the most
+warlike of the empire; but they deserve to be more particularly
+considered under the names of Rh&aelig;tia, Noricum, Pannonia,
+Dalmatia, Dacia, M&aelig;sia, Thrace, Macedonia, and Greece.<br>
+</p>
+
+<p>The province of Rh&aelig;tia, 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.<br>
+</p>
+
+<p>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.<br>
+</p>
+
+<p>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.<br>
+</p>
+
+<p>After the Danube had received the waters of the Teyss and the
+Save, it acquired, at least among the Greeks, the name of Ister.
+It formerly divided M&aelig;sia 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, M&aelig;sia,
+which, during the middle ages, was broken into the barbarian
+kingdoms of Servia and Bulgaria, is again united in Turkish
+slavery.<br>
+</p>
+
+<p>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 H&aelig;mus 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 &AElig;gean 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 Ach&aelig;an league, was usually denominated the province
+of Achaia.<br>
+</p>
+
+<p>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.<br>
+</p>
+
+<p>Under the successors of Alexander, Syria was the seat of the
+Seleucid&aelig;, 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. 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.<br>
+</p>
+
+<p>The geographers of antiquity have frequently hesitated to what
+portion of the globe they should ascribe Egypt. 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 pr&aelig;fect 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. *<br>
+</p>
+
+<p>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 Phnician 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
+C&aelig;sariensis. 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; but which is now diffused
+over the immense ocean that rolls between the ancient and the new
+continent.<br>
+</p>
+
+<p>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.<br>
+</p>
+
+<p>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. 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.<br>
+</p>
+
+<p><strong>Chapter II: The Internal Prosperity In The Age Of The
+Antonines.</strong></p>
+
+<p><strong><em>Part I.</em></strong><br>
+</p>
+
+<p>Of The Union And Internal Prosperity Of The Roman Empire, In
+The Age Of The Antonines.<br>
+</p>
+
+<p>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.
+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. 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.<br>
+</p>
+
+<p>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.<br>
+</p>
+
+<p>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. 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. 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. The elegant mythology
+of Homer gave a beautiful, and almost a regular form, to the
+polytheism of the ancient world.<br>
+</p>
+
+<p>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. 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.<br>
+</p>
+
+<p>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.<br>
+</p>
+
+<p>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. 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;
+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: but the priests themselves, their
+gods and their altars, subsisted in peaceful obscurity till the
+final destruction of Paganism.<br>
+</p>
+
+<p>Rome, the capital of a great monarchy, was incessantly filled
+with subjects and strangers from every part of the world, who all
+introduced and enjoyed the favorite superstitions of their native
+country. 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. 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. Nor was this indulgence a
+departure from the old maxims of government. In the purest ages
+of the commonwealth, Cybele and &AElig;sculapius had been invited
+by solemn embassies; 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. Rome gradually
+became the common temple of her subjects; and the freedom of the
+city was bestowed on all the gods of mankind.<br>
+</p>
+
+<p>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. During the most flourishing
+&aelig;ra of the Athenian commonwealth, the number of citizens
+gradually decreased from about thirty to twenty-one thousand. 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. 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, 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.<br>
+</p>
+
+<p><strong><em>Chapter II: The Internal Prosperity In The Age Of
+The Antonines. -- Part II.</em></strong><br>
+</p>
+
+<p>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. 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.<br>
+</p>
+
+<p>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, and in Gaul, 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.<br>
+</p>
+
+<p>"Wheresoever the Roman conquers, he inhabits," is a very just
+observation of Seneca, 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.
+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.
+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.
+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. Those of
+the provincials who were permitted to bear arms in the legions;
+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 C&aelig;sar in Alcsia, commanded
+legions, governed provinces, and were admitted into the senate of
+Rome. Their ambition, instead of disturbing the tranquillity of
+the state, was intimately connected with its safety and
+greatness.<br>
+</p>
+
+<p>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. 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, that the faint traces of the Punic or Celtic idioms
+were preserved only in the mountains, or among the peasants.
+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
+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. 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. The
+slothful effeminacy of the former exposed them to the contempt,
+the sullen ferociousness of the latter excited the aversion, of
+the conquerors. 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.<br>
+</p>
+
+<p>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. 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.<br>
+</p>
+
+<p>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, 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, the most severe regulations, 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. 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.<br>
+</p>
+
+<p>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. 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,
+<em>they</em> 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.
+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.<br>
+</p>
+
+<p>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. Without
+interpreting, in their utmost strictness, the liberal
+appellations of legions and myriads, 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. 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. Almost every profession,
+either liberal 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. 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.
+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. 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.<br>
+</p>
+
+<p>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, and forms the most numerous society that has ever been
+united under the same system of government.<br>
+</p>
+
+<p><strong><em>Chapter II: The Internal Prosperity In The Age Of
+The Antonines. -- Part III.</em></strong><br>
+</p>
+
+<p>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. 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.<br>
+</p>
+
+<p>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.<br>
+</p>
+
+<p>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. 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. 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. 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.<br>
+</p>
+
+<p>[See Theatre Of Marcellus: Augustus built in Rome the theatre
+of Marcellus.]<br>
+</p>
+
+<p>The family of Herod, at least after it had been favored by
+fortune, was lineally descended from Cimon and Miltiades, Theseus
+and Cecrops, &AElig;acus 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 <em>use
+it</em>. <em>Abuse it then</em>, replied the monarch, with a
+good-natured peevishness; for it is your own. 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.<br>
+</p>
+
+<p>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.
+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 Thermopyl&aelig;, 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.<br>
+</p>
+
+<p>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; 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. 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.<br>
+</p>
+
+<p>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.<br>
+</p>
+
+<p>I. <em>Ancient</em> Italy is said to have contained eleven
+hundred and ninety-seven cities; and for whatsoever &aelig;ra of
+antiquity the expression might be intended, 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; 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. 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. III. Three hundred African cities had once
+acknowledged the authority of Carthage, 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
+C&aelig;sars, the proper Asia alone contained five hundred
+populous cities, 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. Four of
+them were immediately rejected as unequal to the burden; and
+among these was Laodicea, whose splendor is still displayed in
+its ruins. 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. 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? 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, and yielded, with reluctance, to the
+majesty of Rome itself.<br>
+</p>
+
+<p><strong><em>Chapter II: The Internal Prosperity In The Age Of
+The Antonines. -- Part IV.</em></strong><br>
+</p>
+
+<p>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. 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. 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. 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. 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. * 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. 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. 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.<br>
+</p>
+
+<p>[See Remains Of Claudian Aquaduct]<br>
+</p>
+
+<p>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: 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. 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. 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. 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. 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. 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. 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. 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.<br>
+</p>
+
+<p>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.<br>
+</p>
+
+<p>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. 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, 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. 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; precious stones, among which the pearl
+claimed the first rank after the diamond; 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. The annual loss is computed, by a writer of
+an inquisitive but censorious temper, at upwards of eight hundred
+thousand pounds sterling. 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. 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.<br>
+</p>
+
+<p>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." 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.<br>
+</p>
+
+<p>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.<br>
+</p>
+
+<p>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. 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.<br>
+</p>
+
+<p>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." 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.<br>
+</p>
+
+<p><strong>Chapter III: The Constitution In The Age Of The
+Antonines.</strong></p>
+
+<p><strong><em>Part I.</em></strong><br>
+</p>
+
+<p>Of The Constitution Of The Roman Empire, In The Age Of The
+Antonines.<br>
+</p>
+
+<p>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.<br>
+</p>
+
+<p>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 C&aelig;sar, 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, 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
+C&aelig;sar, 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.<br>
+</p>
+
+<p>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. 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.<br>
+</p>
+
+<p>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."<br>
+</p>
+
+<p>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. 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.<br>
+</p>
+
+<p>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. 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. 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. 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.<br>
+</p>
+
+<p>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 <em>auspicious</em> influence the merit of their action was
+legally attributed. 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
+pr&aelig;torian dignity; the legions were commanded by senators,
+and the pr&aelig;fecture of Egypt was the only important trust
+committed to a Roman knight.<br>
+</p>
+
+<p>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 <em>Prince</em>, the
+favorite epithet of Augustus, was the same in every part of the
+empire.<br>
+</p>
+
+<p>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.<br>
+</p>
+
+<p>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 and tribunitian offices, 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. 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.<br>
+</p>
+
+<p>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.<br>
+</p>
+
+<p>When all the various powers of executive government were
+committed to the <em>Imperial magistrate</em>, 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, pr&aelig;tors, and
+tribunes, 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. 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. 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. 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.<br>
+</p>
+
+<p>By declaring themselves the protectors of the people, Marius
+and C&aelig;sar 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 <em>seemed</em> 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.<br>
+</p>
+
+<p>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.<br>
+</p>
+
+<p>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. 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.<br>
+</p>
+
+<p>The deification of the emperors 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. 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
+C&aelig;sar 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;
+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, 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
+C&aelig;sar 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.<br>
+</p>
+
+<p>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 C&aelig;sar 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.
+<em>Augustus</em> was therefore a personal, <em>C&aelig;sar</em>
+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 C&aelig;sar 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.
+*<br>
+</p>
+
+<p><strong><em>Chapter III: The Constitution In The Age Of The
+Antonines. -- Part II.</em></strong><br>
+</p>
+
+<p>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. 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.<br>
+</p>
+
+<p>I. The death of C&aelig;sar 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, would applaud the imitation of his
+virtue. C&aelig;sar 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.<br>
+</p>
+
+<p>There appears, indeed, <em>one</em> 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 C&aelig;sars, gave the watchword <em>liberty</em> 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 pr&aelig;torian
+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 pr&aelig;torians, and to embrace the benefit of an
+amnesty, which Claudius had the prudence to offer, and the
+generosity to observe.<br>
+</p>
+
+<p>[See The Capitol: When the throne was vacant by the murder of
+Caligula, the consuls convoked that assembly in the Capitol.]<br>
+</p>
+
+<p>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 C&aelig;sar; 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.<br>
+</p>
+
+<p>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 to
+Commodus passed away unstained with civil blood, and undisturbed
+by revolutions. The emperor was elected by the <em>authority of
+the senate, and the consent of the soldiers</em>. 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.<br>
+</p>
+
+<p>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. 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 Jud&aelig;a. 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.<br>
+</p>
+
+<p>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 C&aelig;sars; 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 pr&aelig;torian guards had been
+persuaded to abandon the cause of the tyrant. The rapid downfall
+of Galba, Otho, and Vitellus, taught the armies to consider the
+emperors as the creatures of <em>their</em> will, and the
+instruments of <em>their</em> license. The birth of Vespasian was
+mean: his grandfather had been a private soldier, his father a
+petty officer of the revenue; 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.<br>
+</p>
+
+<p>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. 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.<br>
+</p>
+
+<p>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;
+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.<br>
+</p>
+
+<p>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 &AElig;lius Verus a gay
+and voluptuous nobleman, recommended by uncommon beauty to the
+lover of Antinous. 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
+C&aelig;sar 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.<br>
+</p>
+
+<p>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 peaking,) governed the Roman world forty-two
+years, with the same invariable spirit of wisdom and virtue.
+Although Pius had two sons, 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, 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.<br>
+</p>
+
+<p>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; and the benevolence of his soul displayed
+itself in a cheerful serenity of temper.<br>
+</p>
+
+<p>The virtue of Marcus Aurelius Antoninus was of severer and
+more laborious kind. 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. 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. 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. 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.<br>
+</p>
+
+<p>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.<br>
+</p>
+
+<p>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.<br>
+</p>
+
+<p>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, and the
+timid, inhuman Domitian, are condemned to everlasting infamy.
+During fourscore years (excepting only the short and doubtful
+respite of Vespasian's reign) 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.<br>
+</p>
+
+<p>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.<br>
+</p>
+
+<p>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. 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. 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. 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.<br>
+</p>
+
+<p>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 C&aelig;sar 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. The servile judges
+professed to assert the majesty of the commonwealth, violated in
+the person of its first magistrate, whose clemency they most
+applauded when they trembled the most at his inexorable and
+impending cruelty. 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.<br>
+</p>
+
+<p>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, 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 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. 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. "Wherever you are," said Cicero to the
+exiled Marcellus, "remember that you are equally within the power
+of the conqueror."<br>
+</p>
+
+<p><strong>Chapter IV: The Cruelty, Follies And Murder Of
+Commodus.</strong></p>
+
+<p><strong>Part I.</strong><br>
+</p>
+
+<p>The Cruelty, Follies, And Murder Of Commodus. Election Of
+Pertinax -- His Attempts To Reform The State -- His Assassination
+By The Pr&aelig;torian Guards.<br>
+</p>
+
+<p>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. 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.<br>
+</p>
+
+<p>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. 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, 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. 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.<br>
+</p>
+
+<p>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.<br>
+</p>
+
+<p>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; 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.<br>
+</p>
+
+<p>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. 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.<br>
+</p>
+
+<p>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. 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. 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,
+popular address, and imagined virtues, attracted the public
+favor; the honorable peace which he had recently granted to the
+barbarians, diffused a universal joy; 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.<br>
+</p>
+
+<p>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. A fatal incident decided his fluctuating
+character.<br>
+</p>
+
+<p>One evening, as the emperor was returning to the palace,
+through a dark and narrow portico in the amphitheatre, an
+assassin, who waited his passage, rushed upon him with a drawn
+sword, loudly exclaiming, "<em>The senate sends you this.</em>"
+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.<br>
+</p>
+
+<p>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.<br>
+</p>
+
+<p>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.<br>
+</p>
+
+<p>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 Pr&aelig;torian 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. This
+presumption of a distant army, and their discovery of the
+weakness of government, was a sure presage of the most dreadful
+convulsions.<br>
+</p>
+
+<p>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. 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.<br>
+</p>
+
+<p>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. 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. 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.<br>
+</p>
+
+<p>By these means, Cleander, in the space of three years, had
+accumulated more wealth than had ever yet been possessed by any
+freedman. 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. 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. 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.<br>
+</p>
+
+<p><strong><em>Chapter IV: The Cruelty, Follies And Murder Of
+Commodus. -- Part II.</em></strong><br>
+</p>
+
+<p>Pestilence and famine contributed to fill up the measure of
+the calamities of Rome. 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 Pr&aelig;torian guards, 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, who had been long jealous of the prerogatives and
+insolence of the Pr&aelig;torian cavalry, embraced the party of
+the people. The tumult became a regular engagement, and
+threatened a general massacre. The Pr&aelig;torians, 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.<br>
+</p>
+
+<p>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
+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.<br>
+</p>
+
+<p>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 Nem&aelig;an 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. Ignorant of these
+distinctions, Commodus eagerly embraced the glorious resemblance,
+and styled himself (as we still read on his medals ) the
+<em>Roman</em> <em>Hercules</em>. * 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.<br>
+</p>
+
+<p>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. 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 <em>Arena</em>.
+Neither the huge bulk of the elephant, nor the scaly hide of the
+rhinoceros, could defend them from his stroke. &AElig;thiopia 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. 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. ^<br>
+</p>
+
+<p>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. He
+chose the habit and arms of the <em>Secutor</em>, whose combat
+with the <em>Retiarius</em> formed one of the most lively scenes
+in the bloody sports of the amphitheatre. The <em>Secutor</em>
+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
+<em>Secutor</em>, till he had prepared his net for a second cast.
+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. 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. 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 of the mournful and applauding senate.
+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.<br>
+</p>
+
+<p>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. 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 L&aelig;tus, his
+Pr&aelig;torian pr&aelig;fect, 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.<br>
+</p>
+
+<p>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,
+pr&aelig;fect 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. 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 pr&aelig;fect 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.<br>
+</p>
+
+<p>L&aelig;tus conducted without delay his new emperor to the
+camp of the Pr&aelig;torians, 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 pr&aelig;fect, 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.<br>
+</p>
+
+<p>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.<br>
+</p>
+
+<p>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; 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. *<br>
+</p>
+
+<p>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 C&aelig;sar. 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.<br>
+</p>
+
+<p>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.<br>
+</p>
+
+<p>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, 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
+Pr&aelig;torian 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, 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.<br>
+</p>
+
+<p>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.<br>
+</p>
+
+<p>Amidst the general joy, the sullen and angry countenance of
+the Pr&aelig;torian 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 L&aelig;tus, their
+pr&aelig;fect, 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, 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.<br>
+</p>
+
+<p>These disappointments served only to irritate the rage of the
+Pr&aelig;torian 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 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 Pr&aelig;torian 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.<br>
+</p>
+
+<p><strong>Chapter V: Sale Of The Empire To Didius
+Julianus.</strong></p>
+
+<p><strong><em>Part I.</em></strong><br>
+</p>
+
+<p>Public Sale Of The Empire To Didius Julianus By The
+Pr&aelig;torian 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.<br>
+</p>
+
+<p>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.<br>
+</p>
+
+<p>The Pr&aelig;torian bands, whose licentious fury was the first
+symptom and cause of the decline of the Roman empire, scarcely
+amounted to the last-mentioned number 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. 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, which was fortified
+with skilful care, and placed on a commanding situation.<br>
+</p>
+
+<p>Such formidable servants are always necessary, but often fatal
+to the throne of despotism. By thus introducing the
+Pr&aelig;torian 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 Pr&aelig;torian 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.<br>
+</p>
+
+<p>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,
+<em>their</em> 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.
+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, 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 Pr&aelig;torians increased their
+weight, by throwing, like the barbarian conqueror of Rome, their
+swords into the scale.<br>
+</p>
+
+<p>The Pr&aelig;torians 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 pr&aelig;fect L&aelig;tus, 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
+Pr&aelig;torians, 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.<br>
+</p>
+
+<p>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. 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 Pr&aelig;torian 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. *<br>
+</p>
+
+<p>It was now incumbent on the Pr&aelig;torians 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. 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. 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.<br>
+</p>
+
+<p>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.<br>
+</p>
+
+<p>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 Pr&aelig;torians 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, with a numerous train of auxiliaries;
+and however different in their characters, they were all soldiers
+of experience and capacity.<br>
+</p>
+
+<p>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. 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. 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 C&aelig;sar. 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, 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.<br>
+</p>
+
+<p>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. 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. 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
+&AElig;thiopia 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, Niger trifled
+away in the luxury of Antioch those irretrievable moments which
+were diligently improved by the decisive activity of Severus.<br>
+</p>
+
+<p>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. 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, 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.<br>
+</p>
+
+<p>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. 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 Pr&aelig;torian
+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. 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.<br>
+</p>
+
+<p>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. 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.<br>
+</p>
+
+<p>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.<br>
+</p>
+
+<p>He attempted, however, to prevent, or at least to protract,
+his ruin. He implored the venal faith of the Pr&aelig;torians,
+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. 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.<br>
+</p>
+
+<p>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.<br>
+</p>
+
+<p><strong><em>Chapter V: Sale Of The Empire To Didius Julianus.
+-- Part II.</em></strong><br>
+</p>
+
+<p>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 Pr&aelig;torians might have rendered it bloody; and
+Severus had the laudable ambition of ascending the throne without
+drawing the sword. 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
+Pr&aelig;torians, 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. 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.<br>
+</p>
+
+<p>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 Pr&aelig;torian
+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.<br>
+</p>
+
+<p>The funeral and consecration of Pertinax was next solemnized
+with every circumstance of sad magnificence. 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.<br>
+</p>
+
+<p>The uncommon abilities and fortune of Severus have induced an
+elegant historian to compare him with the first and greatest of
+the C&aelig;sars. 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? 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, 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.<br>
+</p>
+
+<p>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.<br>
+</p>
+
+<p>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, 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. 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. 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.<br>
+</p>
+
+<p>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 C&aelig;sar, 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
+C&aelig;sar with respect, to desire a private audience, and to
+plunge their daggers into his heart. 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.<br>
+</p>
+
+<p>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. The battle of Lyons, where one hundred and fifty thousand
+Romans 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. The war was
+finished by that memorable day.<br>
+</p>
+
+<p>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.<br>
+</p>
+
+<p>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. 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. 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 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.<br>
+</p>
+
+<p>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.<br>
+</p>
+
+<p>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 suspicion 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 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.<br>
+</p>
+
+<p>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. 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. The fame of the
+Roman arms was revived by that warlike and successful emperor,
+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.<br>
+</p>
+
+<p>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 C&aelig;sar, 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. 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, 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. 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.<br>
+</p>
+
+<p>The Pr&aelig;torians, 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. 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. 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
+Pr&aelig;torians 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.<br>
+</p>
+
+<p>The command of these favored and formidable troops soon became
+the first office of the empire. As the government degenerated
+into military despotism, the Pr&aelig;torian Pr&aelig;fect, 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 pr&aelig;fect 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. 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. After the fall of
+Plautianus, an eminent lawyer, the celebrated Papinian, was
+appointed to execute the motley office of Pr&aelig;torian
+Pr&aelig;fect.<br>
+</p>
+
+<p>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.<br>
+</p>
+
+<p>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
+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. 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.<br>
+</p>
+
+<p>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.<br>
+</p>
+
+<p><strong>Chapter VI: Death Of Severus, Tyranny Of Caracalla,
+Usurpation Of Marcinus.</strong></p>
+
+<p><strong><em>Part I.</em></strong><br>
+</p>
+
+<p>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.<br>
+</p>
+
+<p>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" Distracted with the care,
+not of acquiring, but of preserving an empire, oppressed with age
+and infirmities, careless of fame, 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.<br>
+</p>
+
+<p>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. 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. 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,
+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. 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. 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.<br>
+</p>
+
+<p>Two sons, Caracalla 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.<br>
+</p>
+
+<p>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. 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.<br>
+</p>
+
+<p>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.<br>
+</p>
+
+<p>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 <em>the
+King of the World</em>, Caracul, fled from his arms along the
+fields of his pride. 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; 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.<br>
+</p>
+
+<p>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. 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. 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.<br>
+</p>
+
+<p>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.
+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.<br>
+</p>
+
+<p>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.<br>
+</p>
+
+<p>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 the fury of the
+assassins. As soon as the deed was perpetrated, Caracalla, with
+hasty steps, and horror in his countenance, ran towards the
+Pr&aelig;torian camp, as his only refuge, and threw himself on
+the ground before the statues of the tutelar deities. 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. The real <em>sentiments</em> of
+the soldiers alone were of importance to his power or safety.
+Their declaration in his favor commanded the dutiful
+<em>professions</em> 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. 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.<br>
+</p>
+
+<p>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. 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. Helvius Pertinax, son
+to the prince of that name, lost his life by an unseasonable
+witticism. It was a sufficient crime of Thrasea Priscus to be
+descended from a family in which the love of liberty seemed an
+hereditary quality. 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.<br>
+</p>
+
+<p><strong><em>Chapter VI: Death Of Severus, Tyranny Of
+Caracalla, Usurpation Of Marcinus. -- Part II.</em></strong><br>
+</p>
+
+<p>The execution of so many innocent citizens was bewailed by the
+secret tears of their friends and families. The death of
+Papinian, the Pr&aelig;torian Pr&aelig;fect, 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. 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 Pr&aelig;fect 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. "That it was easier to commit than
+to justify a parricide," was the glorious reply of Papinian; 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.<br>
+</p>
+
+<p>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. 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. 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, <em>all</em>the
+Alexandrians, those who perished, and those who had escaped, were
+alike guilty.<br>
+</p>
+
+<p>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. 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." 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
+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.<br>
+</p>
+
+<p>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 Pr&aelig;torian
+pr&aelig;fecture 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
+pr&aelig;fect of the city, the faith of his prophecy. That
+magistrate, who had received the most pressing instructions to
+inform himself of the <em>successors</em> 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 Pr&aelig;torian Pr&aelig;fect, 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 Carrh&aelig;. * 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. 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.<br>
+</p>
+
+<p>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 Pr&aelig;torian
+guards elevated the hopes of their pr&aelig;fects, and these
+powerful ministers began to assert their <em>legal</em> claim to
+fill the vacancy of the Imperial throne. Adventus, however, the
+senior pr&aelig;fect, 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. 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.<br>
+</p>
+
+<p>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. The sudden elevation of
+the Pr&aelig;torian pr&aelig;fects 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 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.<br>
+</p>
+
+<p>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.<br>
+</p>
+
+<p>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. 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.<br>
+</p>
+
+<p>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. * Julia M&aelig;sa,
+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, So&aelig;mias and
+Mam&aelig;, each of whom was a widow, and each had an only son.
+Bassianus, for that was the name of the son of So&aelig;mias, 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 M&aelig;sa 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.<br>
+</p>
+
+<p>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, 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, the Pr&aelig;torian 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 Pr&aelig;torians 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.<br>
+</p>
+
+<p>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.<br>
+</p>
+
+<p>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
+Phnicians; 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. 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.<br>
+</p>
+
+<p>The Sun was worshipped at Emesa, under the name of Elagabalus,
+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 Phnician tunics, officiated in the meanest
+functions, with affected zeal and secret indignation.<br>
+</p>
+
+<p><strong><em>Chapter VI: Death Of Severus, Tyranny Of
+Caracalla, Usurpation Of Marcinus. -- Part III.</em></strong><br>
+</p>
+
+<p>To this temple, as to the common centre of religious worship,
+the Imperial fanatic attempted to remove the Ancilia, the
+Palladium, 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.<br>
+</p>
+
+<p>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, 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, 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, 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.<br>
+</p>
+
+<p>It may seem probable, the vices and follies of Elagabalus have
+been adorned by fancy, and blackened by prejudice. 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.<br>
+</p>
+
+<p>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 Mam&aelig;a.
+The crafty M&aelig;sa, 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 C&aelig;sar,
+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 Mam&aelig;a 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
+C&aelig;sar. The message was received in the senate with silence,
+and in the camp with fury. The Pr&aelig;torian 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
+pr&aelig;fects to watch over the safety of Alexander, and the
+conduct of the emperor.<br>
+</p>
+
+<p>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 Pr&aelig;torians, 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.<br>
+</p>
+
+<p>[See Island In The Tiber: Elagabalus was thrown into the
+Tiber]?<br>
+</p>
+
+<p>In the room of Elagabalus, his cousin Alexander was raised to
+the throne by the Pr&aelig;torian 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. 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, Mam&aelig;a, and
+of M&aelig;sa, his grandmother. After the death of the latter,
+who survived but a short time the elevation of Alexander,
+Mam&aelig;a remained the sole regent of her son and of the
+empire.<br>
+</p>
+
+<p>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. 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. 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 So&aelig;mias, 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,
+Mam&aelig;a, 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. The substance, not the
+pageantry, of power. was the object of Mam&aelig;a'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
+Mam&aelig;a. 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.<br>
+</p>
+
+<p>Notwithstanding this act of jealous cruelty, as well as some
+instances of avarice, with which Mam&aelig;a 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.<br>
+</p>
+
+<p>But the most important care of Mam&aelig;a 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.
+*<br>
+</p>
+
+<p>The simple journal of his ordinary occupations exhibits a
+pleasing picture of an accomplished emperor, 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. 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."<br>
+</p>
+
+<p>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.<br>
+</p>
+
+<p>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.<br>
+</p>
+
+<p>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. 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.<br>
+</p>
+
+<p>The Pr&aelig;torian 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
+pr&aelig;fect, 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 pr&aelig;fect 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. 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.<br>
+</p>
+
+<p><strong><em>Chapter VI: Death Of Severus, Tyranny Of
+Caracalla, Usurpation Of Marcinus. -- Part IV.</em></strong><br>
+</p>
+
+<p>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. 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 <em>citizens</em>, 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; <em>me</em> 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,
+"<em>Citizens!</em> 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.<br>
+</p>
+
+<p>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 C&aelig;sar
+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. 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, Mam&aelig;a exposed to public ridicule both her son's
+character and her own. 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.<br>
+</p>
+
+<p>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.<br>
+</p>
+
+<p>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,
+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. 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. 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.<br>
+</p>
+
+<p>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. 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. 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 &AElig;thiopia and
+India. 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. The ten thousand Euboic or
+Phnician talents, about four millions sterling, which vanquished
+Carthage was condemned to pay within the term of fifty years,
+were a slight acknowledgment of the superiority of Rome, 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.<br>
+</p>
+
+<p>Spain, by a very singular fatality, was the Peru and Mexico of
+the old world. The discovery of the rich western continent by the
+Phnicians, 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. The Phnicians 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. Twenty thousand
+pound weight of gold was annually received from the provinces of
+Asturia, Gallicia, and Lusitania.<br>
+</p>
+
+<p>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 &AElig;gean Sea, destitute of fresh water and every necessary
+of life, and inhabited only by a few wretched fishermen.<br>
+</p>
+
+<p>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; 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.<br>
+</p>
+
+<p>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.<br>
+</p>
+
+<p>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. 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. 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; Parthian and Babylonian leather, cottons, silks, both raw
+and manufactured, ebony ivory, and eunuchs. We may observe that
+the use and value of those effeminate slaves gradually rose with
+the decline of the empire.<br>
+</p>
+
+<p>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.
+1<br>
+</p>
+
+<p>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. . 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; nor could it be
+exacted from the nearest of kin on the father's side. 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.<br>
+</p>
+
+<p>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. 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 pr&aelig;tors 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. 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; nor do the friends of the
+younger Pliny seem to have been less generous to that amiable
+orator. 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.<br>
+</p>
+
+<p>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. 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. 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.<br>
+</p>
+
+<p>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, 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.<br>
+</p>
+
+<p>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. 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.<br>
+</p>
+
+<p>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. To their
+influence and example we may partly ascribe the modest obedience
+of the legions during the two first centuries of the Imperial
+history.<br>
+</p>
+
+<p>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.<br>
+</p>
+
+<p><strong>Chapter VII: Tyranny Of Maximin, Rebellion, Civil
+Wars, Death Of Maximin.</strong></p>
+
+<p><strong><em>Part I.</em></strong></p>
+
+<p>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.<br>
+</p>
+
+<p>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.<br>
+</p>
+
+<p>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.<br>
+</p>
+
+<p>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 C&aelig;sars; and whilst those princes
+were shackled by the forms of a commonwealth, and disappointed by
+the repeated failure of their posterity, 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.<br>
+</p>
+
+<p>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.<br>
+</p>
+
+<p>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; 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.<br>
+</p>
+
+<p>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.<br>
+</p>
+
+<p>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. 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 Mam&aelig;a, 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,
+Mam&aelig;a, 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.<br>
+</p>
+
+<p>The former tyrants, Caligula and Nero, Commodus, and
+Caracalla, were all dissolute and unexperienced youths, 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,
+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.<br>
+</p>
+
+<p>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. 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.<br>
+</p>
+
+<p>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.<br>
+</p>
+
+<p>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, 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.<br>
+</p>
+
+<p>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. It was distinguished by ancient trophies of
+naval victories, and decorated with the works of modern painting.
+His villa on the road to Pr&aelig;neste 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. The public shows exhibited at his expense, and in
+which the people were entertained with many hundreds of wild
+beasts and gladiators, 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 &aelig;dile, 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, 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. 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.<br>
+</p>
+
+<p>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.<br>
+</p>
+
+<p>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, 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, 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!" 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.<br>
+</p>
+
+<p>[See Temple Of Castor and Pollux]<br>
+</p>
+
+<p>During the emperor's absence, a detachment of the
+Pr&aelig;torian guards remained at Rome, to protect, or rather to
+command, the capital. The pr&aelig;fect 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 qu&aelig;stor 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; and the example of
+Rome was followed by the rest of Italy.<br>
+</p>
+
+<p>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.<br>
+</p>
+
+<p>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.<br>
+</p>
+
+<p>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!"<br>
+</p>
+
+<p><strong><em>Chapter VII: Tyranny Of Maximin, Rebellion, Civil
+Wars, Death Of Maximin. -- Part II.</em></strong><br>
+</p>
+
+<p>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, 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 Pr&aelig;fect
+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, they had both attained the full
+maturity of age and experience.<br>
+</p>
+
+<p>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. 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 C&aelig;sar. 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.<br>
+</p>
+
+<p>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. 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, 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.<br>
+</p>
+
+<p>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,
+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.<br>
+</p>
+
+<p>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.<br>
+</p>
+
+<p>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
+Pr&aelig;torian 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 pr&aelig;fect, and the principal ministers
+of his tyranny. 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. 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.<br>
+</p>
+
+<p>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. 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." His apprehensions were but
+too well justified by the event.<br>
+</p>
+
+<p>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 M&aelig;cenas,
+a Pr&aelig;torian 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 Pr&aelig;torians, 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 Pr&aelig;torians 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.<br>
+</p>
+
+<p>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. But nothing could
+reconcile the haughty spirit of the Pr&aelig;torians. 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. 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.<br>
+</p>
+
+<p>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; but the mutual consciousness
+prevented them from uniting in any vigorous measures of defence
+against their common enemies of the Pr&aelig;torian 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.<br>
+</p>
+
+<p>In the space of a few months, six princes had been cut off by
+the sword. Gordian, who had already received the title of
+C&aelig;sar, was the only person that occurred to the soldiers as
+proper to fill the vacant throne. 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 Pr&aelig;torian 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.<br>
+</p>
+
+<p>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, 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.<br>
+</p>
+
+<p>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 Pr&aelig;torian
+Pr&aelig;fect, 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
+Pr&aelig;fect. 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. 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 pr&aelig;fecture, 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 where he was
+killed, near the conflux of the Euphrates with the little river
+Aboras. The fortunate Philip, raised to the empire by the votes
+of the soldiers, found a ready obedience from the senate and the
+provinces.<br>
+</p>
+
+<p>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 of Algiers, 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?<br>
+</p>
+
+<p>"When the army had elected Philip, who was Pr&aelig;torian
+pr&aelig;fect 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 C&aelig;sar; the favor was refused him.
+He desired, at least, he might be appointed Pr&aelig;torian
+pr&aelig;fect; 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.<br>
+</p>
+
+<p><strong><em>Chapter VII: Tyranny Of Maximin, Rebellion, Civil
+Wars, Death Of Maximin. -- Part III.</em></strong><br>
+</p>
+
+<p>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, 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
+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. 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.<br>
+</p>
+
+<p>Since Romulus, with a small band of shepherds and outlaws,
+fortified himself on the hills near the Tyber, ten centuries had
+already elapsed. 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.<br>
+</p>
+
+<p>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.<br>
+</p>
+
+<p><strong>Chapter VIII: State Of Persion And Restoration Of The
+Monarchy.</strong></p>
+
+<p><strong><em>Part I.</em></strong><br>
+</p>
+
+<p>Of The State Of Persia After The Restoration Of The Monarchy
+By Artaxerxes.<br>
+</p>
+
+<p>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.<br>
+</p>
+
+<p>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,
+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.<br>
+</p>
+
+<p>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. 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. 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. 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, 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.<br>
+</p>
+
+<p>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, was still revered in the East; but
+the obsolete and mysterious language, in which the Zendavesta was
+composed, opened a field of dispute to seventy sects, who
+variously explained the fundamental doctrines of their religion,
+and were all indifferently derided 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. 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.<br>
+</p>
+
+<p>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, <em>Time without bounds</em>; 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 absorbed 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 <em>Ormusd's egg</em>;
+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.<br>
+</p>
+
+<p><strong><em>Chapter VIII: State Of Persion And Restoration Of
+The Monarchy. -- Part II.</em></strong><br>
+</p>
+
+<p>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,
+"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.<br>
+</p>
+
+<p>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, &amp;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.<br>
+</p>
+
+<p>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." 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." 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.<br>
+</p>
+
+<p>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. The property of
+the Magi was very considerable. Besides the less invidious
+possession of a large tract of the most fertile lands of Media,
+they levied a general tax on the fortunes and the industry of the
+Persians. "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
+<em>destour</em>, or priest. To obtain the acceptation of this
+guide to salvation, you must faithfully pay him <em>tithes</em>
+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." *<br>
+</p>
+
+<p>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. 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. 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.<br>
+</p>
+
+<p>The first counsel of the Magi was agreeable to the unsociable
+genius of their faith, to the practice of ancient kings, and even
+to the example of their legislator, who had a victim to a
+religious war, excited by his own intolerant zeal. 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. The sword of Aristotle (such was the name given by the
+Orientals to the polytheism and philosophy of the Greeks) was
+easily broken; the flames of persecution soon reached the more
+stubborn Jews and Christians; 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. * 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.<br>
+</p>
+
+<p>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 vitax, 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, 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 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,
+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. 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. 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. 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.<br>
+</p>
+
+<p>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; 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.<br>
+</p>
+
+<p>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. 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. 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. The innumerable attendants on
+luxury and despotism resorted to the court, and the little
+village of Ctesiphon insensibly swelled into a great city. 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. 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.
+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.<br>
+</p>
+
+<p>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. 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, 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.<br>
+</p>
+
+<p>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
+&AElig;gean Sea; the provinces of Caria and Ionia, under their
+empire, had been governed by Persian satraps, and all Egypt, to
+the confines of &AElig;thiopia, had acknowledged their
+sovereignty. 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. 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.<br>
+</p>
+
+<p>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, 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. 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.<br>
+</p>
+
+<p>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, was encompassed by the superior
+numbers, and destroyed by the arrows of the enemy. The alliance
+of Chosroes, king of Armenia, 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.<br>
+</p>
+
+<p>The reign of Artaxerxes, which, from the last defeat of the
+Parthians, lasted only fourteen years, forms a memorable
+&aelig;ra 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. 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."
+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.<br>
+</p>
+
+<p>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.<br>
+</p>
+
+<p>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. 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.<br>
+</p>
+
+<p><strong>Chapter IX: State Of Germany Until The
+Barbarians.</strong></p>
+
+<p><strong><em>Part I.</em></strong><br>
+</p>
+
+<p>The State Of Germany Till The Invasion Of The Barbarians In
+The Time Of The Emperor Decius.<br>
+</p>
+
+<p>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.<br>
+</p>
+
+<p>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. 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 of Scandinavia.<br>
+</p>
+
+<p>Some ingenious writers 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. 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. In the time of
+C&aelig;sar 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. 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. 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.<br>
+</p>
+
+<p>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. 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, 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, 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.<br>
+</p>
+
+<p><strong><em>Chapter IX: State Of Germany Until The Barbarians.
+-- Part II.</em></strong><br>
+</p>
+
+<p>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 <em>Indigen</em>, 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; 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.<br>
+</p>
+
+<p>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,
+as well as the wild Tartar, 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. 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.<br>
+</p>
+
+<p>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; 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 <em>illiterate</em> 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.<br>
+</p>
+
+<p>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. 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; 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.
+But Tacitus asserts, as a well-known fact, that the Germans, in
+his time, had <em>no</em> cities; and that they affected to
+despise the works of Roman industry, as places of confinement
+rather than of security. Their edifices were not even contiguous,
+or formed into regular villas; 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. 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. The game
+of various sorts, with which the forests of Germany were
+plentifully stocked, supplied its inhabitants with food and
+exercise. Their monstrous herds of cattle, less remarkable indeed
+for their beauty than for their utility, 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.<br>
+</p>
+
+<p>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. 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.<br>
+</p>
+
+<p>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. 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. 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.<br>
+</p>
+
+<p>Strong beer, a liquor extracted with very little art from
+wheat or barley, and <em>corrupted</em> (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. 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. 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.
+Drunkenness, the most illiberal, but not the most dangerous of
+our <em>vices</em>, was sometimes capable, in a less civilized
+state of mankind, of occasioning a battle, a war, or a
+revolution.<br>
+</p>
+
+<p>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. 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. 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 C&aelig;sar and Tacitus, the inhabitants of the
+North were far more numerous than they are in our days. 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, we can oppose the equal names of Robertson and
+Hume.<br>
+</p>
+
+<p>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 <em>therefore</em> 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." 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. Some tribes, however, on the coast of the Baltic,
+acknowledged the authority of kings, though without relinquishing
+the rights of men, 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.<br>
+</p>
+
+<p>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. 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.<br>
+</p>
+
+<p>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. Princes
+were, however, appointed, in the general assembly, to administer
+justice, or rather to compose differences, in their respective
+districts. In the choice of these magistrates, as much regard was
+shown to birth as to merit. 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.<br>
+</p>
+
+<p>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. At
+the same time they were not authorized to punish with death, to
+imprison, or even to strike a private citizen. 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.<br>
+</p>
+
+<p><strong><em>Chapter IX: State Of Germany Until The Barbarians.
+-- Part III.</em></strong><br>
+</p>
+
+<p>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 <em>he</em>could bestow, or <em>they</em> would
+accept. War, rapine, and the free-will offerings of his friends,
+supplied the materials of this munificence. 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. 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.<br>
+</p>
+
+<p>"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. 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.<br>
+</p>
+
+<p>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. 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. 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. 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. 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. 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 <em>man</em>, they must have
+resigned that attractive softness, in which principally consist
+the charm and weakness of <em>woman</em>. 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.<br>
+</p>
+
+<p>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. 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; 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.<br>
+</p>
+
+<p>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. 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
+<em>Earth</em>, 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. The <em>truce of God</em>, so often and so
+ineffectually proclaimed by the clergy of the eleventh century,
+was an obvious imitation of this ancient custom.<br>
+</p>
+
+<p>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; and the
+hostile army was devoted with dire execrations to the gods of war
+and of thunder. 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, others imagined
+a gross paradise of immortal drunkenness. 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.<br>
+</p>
+
+<p>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. *<br>
+</p>
+
+<p>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.<br>
+</p>
+
+<p>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 frame (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 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, 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. 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, 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, the allies, not the servants, of the Roman
+monarchy.<br>
+</p>
+
+<p>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.<br>
+</p>
+
+<p>"The Bructeri * (it is Tacitus who now speaks) were totally
+exterminated by the neighboring tribes, 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, and have nothing left to
+demand of fortune, except the discord of the barbarians." --
+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.<br>
+</p>
+
+<p>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. 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, who had taken the lead in the war,
+were the most severely punished in its catastrophe. They were
+commanded to retire five miles 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. 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.<br>
+</p>
+
+<p>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
+C&aelig;sar, 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.<br>
+</p>
+
+<p>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, 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.<br>
+</p>
+
+<p><strong>Chapter X: Emperors Decius, Gallus, &AElig;milianus,
+Valerian And Gallienus.</strong></p>
+
+<p><strong><em>Part I.</em></strong><br>
+</p>
+
+<p>The Emperors Decius, Gallus, &AElig;milianus, Valerian, And
+Gallienus. -- The General Irruption Of The Barbari Ans. -- The
+Thirty Tyrants.<br>
+</p>
+
+<p>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.<br>
+</p>
+
+<p>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 M&aelig;sia; and that a subaltern officer, named
+Marinus, was the object of their seditious choice. Philip was
+alarmed. He dreaded lest the treason of the M&aelig;sian 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, 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
+M&aelig;sia 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 Pr&aelig;torian 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.<br>
+</p>
+
+<p>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.<br>
+</p>
+
+<p>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.<br>
+</p>
+
+<p>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. 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. *
+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. 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. 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.<br>
+</p>
+
+<p>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. 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.<br>
+</p>
+
+<p>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.<br>
+</p>
+
+<p>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, 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 M&aelig;otis, 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.<br>
+</p>
+
+<p>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, 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 &aelig;ra, and as late as the age of the
+Antonines, 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. 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. The latter appear to have been subdivided into
+Ostrogoths, Visigoths, and Gepid&aelig;. 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.<br>
+</p>
+
+<p>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. 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; 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.<br>
+</p>
+
+<p>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. 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. 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 Bastarn&aelig; 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
+Bastarn&aelig; dwelt on the northern side of the Carpathian
+Mountains: the immense tract of land that separated the
+Bastarn&aelig; from the savages of Finland was possessed, or
+rather wasted, by the Venedi; we have some reason to believe that
+the first of these nations, which distinguished itself in the
+Macedonian war, and was afterwards divided into the formidable
+tribes of the Peucini, the Borani, the Carpi, &amp;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. But the confusion of blood and
+manners on that doubtful frontier often perplexed the most
+accurate observers. 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.<br>
+</p>
+
+<p><strong><em>Chapter X: Emperors Decius, Gallus,
+&AElig;milianus, Valerian And Gallienus. -- Part
+II.</em></strong><br>
+</p>
+
+<p>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. But the Goths withstood
+all these temptations, and still adhered to a life of idleness,
+of poverty, and of rapine.<br>
+</p>
+
+<p>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 M&aelig;sia 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 M&aelig;sia. 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 M&aelig;sia, 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.<br>
+</p>
+
+<p>Decius found the Goths engaged before Nicopolis, one of the
+many monuments of Trajan's victories. 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 H&aelig;mus. 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. 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. 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, intrusted the passes of the
+mountains to officers of approved valor and fidelity, 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.<br>
+</p>
+
+<p>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, till it was
+usurped and gradually neglected by the C&aelig;sars. 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, the pr&aelig;fect 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."<br>
+</p>
+
+<p>A magistrate, invested with such extensive powers, would have
+appeared not so much the minister, as the colleague of his
+sovereign. 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. 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. 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.<br>
+</p>
+
+<p>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 M&aelig;sia, called Forum Terebronii, 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. 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." In this morass the
+Roman army, after an ineffectual struggle, was irrecoverably
+lost; nor could the body of the emperor ever be found. Such was
+the fate of Decius, in the fiftieth year of his age; an
+accomplished prince, active in war and affable in peace; who,
+together with his son, has deserved to be compared, both in life
+and death, with the brightest examples of ancient virtue.<br>
+</p>
+
+<p>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. 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.<br>
+</p>
+
+<p>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. 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. 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; and
+even the defeat of the later emperor was ascribed by the voice of
+suspicion to the perfidious counsels of his hated successor. The
+tranquillity which the empire enjoyed during the first year of
+his administration, 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.<br>
+</p>
+
+<p>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
+&AElig;milianus, governor of Pannonia and M&aelig;sia; 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. 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 &AElig;milianus; they were
+attracted by his liberality, for he offered a considerable
+increase of pay to all deserters. 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
+&AElig;milianus 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. 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.<br>
+</p>
+
+<p>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. 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 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 &AElig;milianus, 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.<br>
+</p>
+
+<p>Valerian was about sixty years of age 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. 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. 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; 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.<br>
+</p>
+
+<p>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, that Gaul,
+that the northern parts of Germany, 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. They suppose, that about the year two hundred and forty, 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; 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. 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. 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. 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.<br>
+</p>
+
+<p><strong><em>Chapter X: Emperors Decius, Gallus,
+&AElig;milianus, Valerian And Gallienus. -- Part
+III.</em></strong><br>
+</p>
+
+<p>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. 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.<br>
+</p>
+
+<p>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; 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.
+When the exhausted country no longer supplied a variety of
+plunder, the Franks seized on some vessels in the ports of Spain,
+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.<br>
+</p>
+
+<p>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. Patriotism
+contributed, as well as devotion, to consecrate the Sonnenwald,
+or wood of the Semnones. 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. 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 C&aelig;sar, declared that
+they esteemed it not a disgrace to have fled before a people to
+whose arms the immortal gods themselves were unequal.<br>
+</p>
+
+<p>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. 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
+<em>Allmen</em>; to denote at once their various lineage and
+their common bravery. 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.<br>
+</p>
+
+<p>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
+Rh&aelig;tian Alps into the plains of Lombardy, advanced as far
+as Ravenna, and displayed the victorious banners of barbarians
+almost in sight of Rome.<br>
+</p>
+
+<p>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 Pr&aelig;torian 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.<br>
+</p>
+
+<p>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.<br>
+</p>
+
+<p>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. 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. 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.<br>
+</p>
+
+<p>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. 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.<br>
+</p>
+
+<p>The banks of the Borysthenes are only sixty miles distant from
+the narrow entrance of the peninsula of Crim Tartary, known to
+the ancients under the name of Chersonesus Taurica. On that
+inhospitable shore, Euripides, embellishing with exquisite art
+the tales of antiquity, has placed the scene of one of his most
+affecting tragedies. 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 M&aelig;otis
+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, was at
+last swallowed up by the ambition of Mithridates, and, with the
+rest of his dominions, sunk under the weight of the Roman arms.
+From the reign of Augustus, 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. 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. 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. 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; and they are probably not inferior,
+in the art of navigation, to the ancient inhabitants of
+Bosphorus.<br>
+</p>
+
+<p>The fleet of the Goths, leaving the coast of Circassia on the
+left hand, first appeared before Pityus, 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.<br>
+</p>
+
+<p>Circling round the eastern extremity of the Euxine Sea, the
+navigation from Pityus to Trebizond is about three hundred miles.
+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,
+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. 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. 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.<br>
+</p>
+
+<p>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, 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, Apam&aelig;a, 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.<br>
+</p>
+
+<p>When the city of Cyzicus withstood the utmost effort of
+Mithridates, it was distinguished by wise laws, a naval power of
+two hundred galleys, and three arsenals, of arms, of military
+engines, and of corn. 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. 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 Nice and Nicomedia, which they wantonly burnt. Some obscure
+hints are mentioned of a doubtful combat that secured their
+retreat. 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.<br>
+</p>
+
+<p>When we are informed that the third fleet, equipped by the
+Goths in the ports of Bosphorus, consisted of five hundred sails
+of ships, our ready imagination instantly computes and multiplies
+the formidable armament; but, as we are assured by the judicious
+Strabo, 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 &AElig;gean 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 Pir&aelig;us, five miles distant
+from Athens, 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
+Pir&aelig;us, was unexpectedly attacked by the brave Daxippus,
+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.<br>
+</p>
+
+<p>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. Great numbers of the
+Goths, disgusted with the perils and hardships of a tedious
+voyage, broke into M&aelig;sia, 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. 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 H&aelig;mus; 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. 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.<br>
+</p>
+
+<p><strong><em>Chapter X: Emperors Decius, Gallus,
+&AElig;milianus, Valerian And Gallienus. -- Part
+IV.</em></strong><br>
+</p>
+
+<p>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, 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. 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. 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. 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.<br>
+</p>
+
+<p>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. 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.<br>
+</p>
+
+<p>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. Elated with this easy conquest, and presuming on the
+distresses or the degeneracy of the Romans, Sapor obliged the
+strong garrisons of Carrh&aelig; and Nisibis * to surrender, and
+spread devastation and terror on either side of the
+Euphrates.<br>
+</p>
+
+<p>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 Pr&aelig;torian pr&aelig;fect. That worthless
+minister rendered his master formidable only to the oppressed
+subjects, and contemptible to the enemies of Rome. By his weak or
+wicked counsels, the Imperial army was betrayed into a situation
+where valor and military skill were equally unavailing. The
+vigorous attempt of the Romans to cut their way through the
+Persian host was repulsed with great slaughter; 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. 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.<br>
+</p>
+
+<p>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, 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. 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. 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 C&aelig;sarea, 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 C&aelig;sarea 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. 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.<br>
+</p>
+
+<p>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." 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 and the tents of the desert, 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. 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.<br>
+</p>
+
+<p>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.
+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; 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.<br>
+</p>
+
+<p>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. 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, 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, 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. 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.<br>
+</p>
+
+<p>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. 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, Saturninus; in Isauria, Trebellianus; Piso in Thessaly;
+Valens in Achaia; &AElig;milianus 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.<br>
+</p>
+
+<p>It is sufficiently known, that the odious appellation of
+<em>Tyrant</em> 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. 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, who, by female
+alliances, claimed a right of exhibiting, in his house, the
+images of Crassus and of the great Pompey. 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 C&aelig;sars.
+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.<br>
+</p>
+
+<p>[See Roman Coins: From The British Museum. Number four depicts
+Crassus.]<br>
+</p>
+
+<p>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."<br>
+</p>
+
+<p>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.<br>
+</p>
+
+<p>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. 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." 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.<br>
+</p>
+
+<p>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.<br>
+</p>
+
+<p>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. 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.<br>
+</p>
+
+<p>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; it was peopled by
+three hundred thousand free inhabitants, besides at least an
+equal number of slaves. 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. 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, were at any time sufficient
+to kindle a sedition among that vast multitude, whose resentments
+were furious and implacable. 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. 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 mus&aelig;um, 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.<br>
+</p>
+
+<p>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 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, 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.<br>
+</p>
+
+<p>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. 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.<br>
+</p>
+
+<p>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. 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.<br>
+</p>
+
+<p><strong>Chapter XI: Reign Of Claudius, Defeat Of The
+Goths.</strong></p>
+
+<p><strong><em>Part I.</em></strong><br>
+</p>
+
+<p>Reign Of Claudius. -- Defeat Of The Goths. -- Victories,
+Triumph, And Death Of Aurelian.<br>
+</p>
+
+<p>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.<br>
+</p>
+
+<p>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
+Rh&aelig;tia, 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 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 Rh&aelig;tian 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.<br>
+</p>
+
+<p>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 Pr&aelig;torian
+pr&aelig;fect, 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.<br>
+</p>
+
+<p>The obscurity which covered the origin of Claudius, though it
+was afterwards embellished by some flattering fictions,
+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, M&aelig;sia, Dacia, Pannonia, and Dalmatia, the
+appointments of the pr&aelig;fect 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; 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." 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.
+When Claudius ascended the throne, he was about fifty-four years
+of age.<br>
+</p>
+
+<p>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; <em>he</em>, perhaps, might have listened to them
+with patience, and accepted a colleague as despicable as
+himself." 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.<br>
+</p>
+
+<p>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.<br>
+</p>
+
+<p>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. 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.<br>
+</p>
+
+<p>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; 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.<br>
+</p>
+
+<p>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." 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.<br>
+</p>
+
+<p>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 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 M&aelig;sia, 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 H&aelig;mus, 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.<br>
+</p>
+
+<p>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, 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.<br>
+</p>
+
+<p>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.<br>
+</p>
+
+<p>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 pr&aelig;fect 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, 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.<br>
+</p>
+
+<p>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.<br>
+</p>
+
+<p>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." 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.<br>
+</p>
+
+<p><strong><em>Chapter XI: Reign Of Claudius, Defeat Of The
+Goths. -- Part II.</em></strong><br>
+</p>
+
+<p>The death of Claudius had revived the fainting spirit of the
+Goths. The troops which guarded the passes of Mount H&aelig;mus,
+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.
+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.<br>
+</p>
+
+<p>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. 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. 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 Get&aelig;, * 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.<br>
+</p>
+
+<p>While the vigorous and moderate conduct of Aurelian restored
+the Illyrian frontier, the nation of the Alemanni 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, and the numbers of the infantry doubled those of the
+cavalry. The first objects of their avarice were a few cities of
+the Rh&aelig;tian 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.<br>
+</p>
+
+<p>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.<br>
+</p>
+
+<p>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, 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 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. 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.<br>
+</p>
+
+<p>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.
+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 Pr&aelig;torian guards who had
+served in the wars on the Danube.<br>
+</p>
+
+<p>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. 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. 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. Thus far the successful Germans had advanced along the
+&AElig;milian 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. 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.<br>
+</p>
+
+<p>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, 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.<br>
+</p>
+
+<p>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. 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. The
+extent of the new walls, erected by Aurelian, and finished in the
+reign of Probus, was magnified by popular estimation to near
+fifty, but is reduced by accurate measurement to about twenty-one
+miles. 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, 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.<br>
+</p>
+
+<p>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.<br>
+</p>
+
+<p>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.
+The death of Victorinus, his friend and associate, was occasioned
+by a less worthy cause. The shining accomplishments 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. 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.<br>
+</p>
+
+<p>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. The retreat of the irregular auxiliaries, Franks
+and Batavians, 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.<br>
+</p>
+
+<p>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. Lyons, on the
+contrary, had resisted with obstinate disaffection the arms of
+Aurelian. We read of the punishment of Lyons, 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.<br>
+</p>
+
+<p>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. She claimed her descent from the
+Macedonian kings of Egypt, * equalled in beauty her ancestor
+Cleopatra, and far surpassed that princess in chastity 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.<br>
+</p>
+
+<p>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.<br>
+</p>
+
+<p><strong><em>Chapter XI: Reign Of Claudius, Defeat Of The
+Goths. -- Part III.</em></strong><br>
+</p>
+
+<p>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. His nephew M&aelig;onius
+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 M&aelig;onius,
+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, was
+killed with his father. But M&aelig;onius 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.<br>
+</p>
+
+<p>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. 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. * The emperor Claudius acknowledged her merit, and was
+content, that, while <em>he</em> pursued the Gothic war,
+<em>she</em>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 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.<br>
+</p>
+
+<p>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. 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. 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.<br>
+</p>
+
+<p>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, and the second
+near Emesa. 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. 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.<br>
+</p>
+
+<p>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
+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.<br>
+</p>
+
+<p>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 <em>balist</em> 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." 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.<br>
+</p>
+
+<p>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, 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, 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.<br>
+</p>
+
+<p>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." 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.<br>
+</p>
+
+<p>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, 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.<br>
+</p>
+
+<p>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. 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.<br>
+</p>
+
+<p>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. 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
+&AElig;thiopia, 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. 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, 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. 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.<br>
+</p>
+
+<p>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. Tetricus and his son were reinstated in their rank and
+fortunes. They erected on the C&aelig;lian 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, 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.<br>
+</p>
+
+<p>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. 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.<br>
+</p>
+
+<p>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. 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." 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 C&aelig;lian 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.<br>
+</p>
+
+<p>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. 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 Pr&aelig;torian guards. 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.<br>
+</p>
+
+<p>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. 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. 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.<br>
+</p>
+
+<p>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. 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.<br>
+</p>
+
+<p><strong>Chapter XII: Reigns Of Tacitus, Probus, Carus And His
+Sons.</strong></p>
+
+<p><strong><em>Part I.</em></strong><br>
+</p>
+
+<p>Conduct Of The Army And Senate After The Death Of Aurelian. --
+Reigns Of Tacitus, Probus, Carus, And His Sons.<br>
+</p>
+
+<p>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." 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.<br>
+</p>
+
+<p>The contention that ensued is one of the best attested, but
+most improbable events in the history of mankind. 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.<br>
+</p>
+
+<p>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. 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.<br>
+</p>
+
+<p>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,
+required his opinion on the important subject of a proper
+candidate for the vacant throne.<br>
+</p>
+
+<p>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. The
+senator Tacitus was then seventy-five years of age. The long
+period of his innocent life was adorned with wealth and honors.
+He had twice been invested with the consular dignity, and enjoyed
+with elegance and sobriety his ample patrimony of between two and
+three millions sterling. 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. 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 Bai&aelig;, 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.<br>
+</p>
+
+<p>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?"<br>
+</p>
+
+<p>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 Pr&aelig;torian
+guards.<br>
+</p>
+
+<p>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. 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. 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 pr&aelig;fect 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.<br>
+</p>
+
+<p>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 Bai&aelig; 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." 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.<br>
+</p>
+
+<p>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 Pr&aelig;torian pr&aelig;fect, presented to
+the assembled troops, as the prince whom they themselves had
+demanded, and whom the senate had bestowed. As soon as the
+pr&aelig;fect 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.<br>
+</p>
+
+<p>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.<br>
+</p>
+
+<p>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. 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.<br>
+</p>
+
+<p>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.<br>
+</p>
+
+<p>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; 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.<br>
+</p>
+
+<p>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. 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; in the full possession of his fame, of the love of the army,
+and of a mature vigor of mind and body.<br>
+</p>
+
+<p>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." 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." 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 C&aelig;sar and Augustus, the title of
+Father of his country, the right of making in the same day three
+motions in the senate, 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. 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.<br>
+</p>
+
+<p><strong><em>Chapter XII: Reigns Of Tacitus, Probus, Carus And
+His Sons. -- Part II.</em></strong><br>
+</p>
+
+<p>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,
+equalled the fame of ancient heroes, and restored peace and order
+to every province of the Roman world. The dangerous frontier of
+Rh&aelig;tia 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. He attacked the Isaurians
+in their mountains, besieged and took several of their strongest
+castles, 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, 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.<br>
+</p>
+
+<p>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. 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 <em>Free</em>,
+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. 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. 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; 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." 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. 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.<br>
+</p>
+
+<p>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. 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.<br>
+</p>
+
+<p>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. 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. 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. 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. 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 D&aelig;mon, now serve only to
+excite the wonder of the Swabian peasant.<br>
+</p>
+
+<p>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. 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, 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. Great numbers of Franks and
+Gepid&aelig; were settled on the banks of the Danube and the
+Rhine. A hundred thousand Bastarn&aelig;, expelled from their own
+country, cheerfully accepted an establishment in Thrace, and soon
+imbibed the manners and sentiments of Roman subjects. 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; nor could these
+artificial supplies, however repeated by succeeding emperors,
+restore the important limit of Gaul and Illyricum to its ancient
+and native vigor.<br>
+</p>
+
+<p>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.
+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.<br>
+</p>
+
+<p>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." 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. 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.<br>
+</p>
+
+<p>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, 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.<br>
+</p>
+
+<p>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. 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.<br>
+</p>
+
+<p>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. 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. 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. 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.<br>
+</p>
+
+<p>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. 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. 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. 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.<br>
+</p>
+
+<p>When the legions had indulged their grief and repentance for
+the death of Probus, their unanimous consent declared Carus, his
+Pr&aelig;torian pr&aelig;fect, 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.
+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; 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. 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.<br>
+</p>
+
+<p>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. 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. 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.<br>
+</p>
+
+<p>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 C&aelig;sar, 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. 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.<br>
+</p>
+
+<p>The successor of Artaxerxes, * Varanes, or Bahram, though he
+had subdued the Segestans, one of the most warlike nations of
+Upper Asia, 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.
+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.<br>
+</p>
+
+<p>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. 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. 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 pr&aelig;fect 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."<br>
+</p>
+
+<p><strong><em>Chapter XII: Reigns Of Tacitus, Probus, Carus And
+His Sons. -- Part III.</em></strong><br>
+</p>
+
+<p>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. 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. 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.<br>
+</p>
+
+<p>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; 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 he intrusted with the government of
+the city. In the room of the Pr&aelig;torian pr&aelig;fect, 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.<br>
+</p>
+
+<p>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.<br>
+</p>
+
+<p>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. 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.<br>
+</p>
+
+<p>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. 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. 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. Ten elks, and as many
+camelopards, the loftiest and most harmless creatures that wander
+over the plains of Sarmatia and &AElig;thiopia, were contrasted
+with thirty African hy&aelig;nas 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, and a majestic
+troop of thirty-two elephants. 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. 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.<br>
+</p>
+
+<p>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. 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. 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. 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. 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. 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.
+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.<br>
+</p>
+
+<p>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. 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.<br>
+</p>
+
+<p>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. 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. 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, 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 Pr&aelig;torian pr&aelig;fect, 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.<br>
+</p>
+
+<p>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. 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. 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. 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 pr&aelig;fect. 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.<br>
+</p>
+
+<p>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 M&aelig;sia, in
+the neighborhood of the Danube. 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.<br>
+</p>
+
+<p><strong>Chapter XIII: Reign Of Diocletian And This Three
+Associates.</strong></p>
+
+<p><strong><em>Part I.</em></strong><br>
+</p>
+
+<p>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.<br>
+</p>
+
+<p>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. 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. 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 M&aelig;sia, 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. 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 C&aelig;sar, 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.<br>
+</p>
+
+<p>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. 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.<br>
+</p>
+
+<p>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 C&aelig;sar, and
+afterwards that of Augustus. 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, 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. 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.<br>
+</p>
+
+<p>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 C&aelig;sars, * to confer on two generals of
+approved merit an unequal share of the sovereign authority.
+Galerius, surnamed Armentarius, from his original profession of a
+herdsman, and Constantius, who from his pale complexion had
+acquired the denomination of Chlorus, 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.
+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 C&aelig;sars, 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. These four princes distributed among themselves the
+wide extent of the Roman empire. The defence of Gaul, Spain, 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
+C&aelig;sars, 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.<br>
+</p>
+
+<p>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.<br>
+</p>
+
+<p>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 Bagaud&aelig;,
+had risen in a general insurrection; very similar to those which
+in the fourteenth century successively afflicted both France and
+England. 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 C&aelig;sar 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. 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.<br>
+</p>
+
+<p>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. 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. 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.
+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,
+&AElig;lianus and Amandus, were Christians, 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.<br>
+</p>
+
+<p>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. 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, 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.<br>
+</p>
+
+<p>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. 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.<br>
+</p>
+
+<p>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, 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. But the adoption of the
+two C&aelig;sars 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.<br>
+</p>
+
+<p>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 pr&aelig;fect 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
+pr&aelig;fect 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.<br>
+</p>
+
+<p><strong><em>Chapter XIII: Reign Of Diocletian And This Three
+Associates. -- Part II.</em></strong><br>
+</p>
+
+<p>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. 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. A barrier so respectable
+was seldom violated, and the barbarians often turned against each
+other their disappointed rage. The Goths, the Vandals, the
+Gepid&aelig;, 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.<br>
+</p>
+
+<p>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 C&aelig;sars, 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. 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. 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.<br>
+</p>
+
+<p>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 ) 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 Bastarn&aelig;,
+and the Sarmatians; and, by a dangerous indulgence, permitted
+them in some measure to retain their national manners and
+independence. 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.<br>
+</p>
+
+<p>While the C&aelig;sars 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. Julian had assumed the purple at Carthage. 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. 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, 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. 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. 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
+&AElig;thiopia. 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.
+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. 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 Nobat&aelig;, 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.<br>
+</p>
+
+<p>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. 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." 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.<br>
+</p>
+
+<p>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.<br>
+</p>
+
+<p>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. Those
+qualities were more nobly exerted in the defence of his
+benefactor Licinius. 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 C&aelig;sar, 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.<br>
+</p>
+
+<p>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. 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. 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 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, which at that time extended as far as the
+neighborhood of Sogdiana. 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.<br>
+</p>
+
+<p>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. 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.<br>
+</p>
+
+<p>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. 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. 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 Carrh&aelig; to the
+Euphrates; a smooth and barren surface of sandy desert, without a
+hillock, without a tree, and without a spring of fresh water. 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; yet such was his strength and dexterity, that
+he reached in safety the opposite bank. 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.<br>
+</p>
+
+<p>As soon as Diocletian had indulged his private resentment, and
+asserted the majesty of supreme power, he yielded to the
+submissive entreaties of the C&aelig;sar, 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. 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. 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." 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. 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.<br>
+</p>
+
+<p><strong><em>Chapter XIII: Reign Of Diocletian And This Three
+Associates. -- Part III.</em></strong><br>
+</p>
+
+<p>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. 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 C&aelig;sar, 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.<br>
+</p>
+
+<p>"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 <em>moderation</em>,
+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.<br>
+</p>
+
+<p>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 pr&aelig;fect of
+the guards, and an officer who had commanded on the Armenian
+frontier. 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.<br>
+</p>
+
+<p>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. 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. 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. 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. 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; 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. 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. 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. 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.<br>
+</p>
+
+<p>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 &aelig;ra, as well as the success of his arms, by the
+pomp of a Roman triumph. Maximian, the equal partner of his
+power, was his only companion in the glory of that day. The two
+C&aelig;sars 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. 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. 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.<br>
+</p>
+
+<p>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. 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. 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. 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. 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.<br>
+</p>
+
+<p>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. The camp of the Pr&aelig;torians,
+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 Pr&aelig;torians were
+insensibly reduced, their privileges abolished, 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. 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; 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.<br>
+</p>
+
+<p><strong><em>Chapter XIII: Reign Of Diocletian And This Three
+Associates. -- Part IV.</em></strong><br>
+</p>
+
+<p>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; 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. Viewing
+it in that odious light, it had been rejected with abhorrence by
+the first C&aelig;sars. Their resistance insensibly became more
+feeble, and the name less odious; till at length the style of
+<strong><em>our Lord and Emperor</em></strong> 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. 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. 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.<br>
+</p>
+
+<p>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. 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 <strong><em>schools</em></strong>, 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. 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.<br>
+</p>
+
+<p>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. 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 <strong><em>Augusti</em></strong>;
+that, as affection or esteem might direct their choice, they
+should regularly call to their assistance two subordinate
+colleagues; and that the <strong><em>Csars</em></strong>, 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 <strong><em>Augusti</em></strong>, the latter
+were intrusted to the administration of the
+<strong><em>Csars</em></strong>. 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.<br>
+</p>
+
+<p>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 <strong><em>kings</em></strong>
+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." 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. 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.<br>
+</p>
+
+<p>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, 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.<br>
+</p>
+
+<p>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 C&aelig;sar 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.<br>
+</p>
+
+<p>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, 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, 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.<br>
+</p>
+
+<p>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. 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.
+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." 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.<br>
+</p>
+
+<p>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. 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. 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."<br>
+</p>
+
+<p>Though Constantine, from a very obvious prejudice, affects to
+mention the palace of Diocletian with contempt, 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. 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
+&AElig;sculapius, 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.<br>
+</p>
+
+<p>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, 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 &AElig;sculapius; 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. 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. 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.<br>
+</p>
+
+<p>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.<br>
+</p>
+
+<p>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, 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.<br>
+</p>
+
+<p><strong>Chapter XIV: Six Emperors At The Same Time, Reunion Of
+The Empire.</strong></p>
+
+<p><strong><em>Part I.</em></strong><br>
+</p>
+
+<p>Troubles After The Abdication Of Diocletian. -- Death Of
+Constantius. -- Elevation Of Constantine And Maxen Tius. &shy;
+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.<br>
+</p>
+
+<p>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
+C&aelig;sars 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.<br>
+</p>
+
+<p>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 C&aelig;sars, Constantius and Galerius, who
+immediately assumed the title of Augustus.<br>
+</p>
+
+<p>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.
+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. 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.<br>
+</p>
+
+<p>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 <strong><em>private</em></strong>
+conversation between the two princes, in which the former
+discovered as much pusillanimity as the latter displayed
+ingratitude and arrogance. 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.<br>
+</p>
+
+<p>After the elevation of Constantius and Galerius to the rank of
+<strong><em>Augusti</em></strong>, two new
+<strong><em>Csars</em></strong> 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 C&aelig;sar, 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
+C&aelig;sar, and intrusted with the sovereign command of Egypt
+and Syria. 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
+C&aelig;sarian 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.<br>
+</p>
+
+<p>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.<br>
+</p>
+
+<p>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, 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. The great Constantine was
+most probably born at Naissus, in Dacia; 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.
+He was about eighteen years of age when his father was promoted
+to the rank of C&aelig;sar; 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 C&aelig;sar, 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. 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. 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.<br>
+</p>
+
+<p>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 C&aelig;sar. 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. 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, 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 C&aelig;sar, 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.<br>
+</p>
+
+<p>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. 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.<br>
+</p>
+
+<p>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. 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. 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 Pr&aelig;torian 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.<br>
+</p>
+
+<p>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 C&aelig;sar, 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 Pr&aelig;torian 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 pr&aelig;fect 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.<br>
+</p>
+
+<p>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 Pr&aelig;torian pr&aelig;fect,
+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.<br>
+</p>
+
+<p><strong><em>Chapter XIV: Six Emperors At The Same Time,
+Reunion Of The Empire. -- Part II.</em></strong><br>
+</p>
+
+<p>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.<br>
+</p>
+
+<p>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. 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. 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 C&aelig;sar'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.<br>
+</p>
+
+<p>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.<br>
+</p>
+
+<p>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 C&aelig;sar 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. 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 C&aelig;sar,
+and, notwithstanding the prayers as well as arguments of
+Galerius, exacted, almost by violence, the equal title of
+Augustus. 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.<br>
+</p>
+
+<p>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. 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 Pr&aelig;torian
+guards; and those troops, who dreaded the severity of the old
+emperor, espoused the party of Maxentius. 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. 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, 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 C&aelig;sar, 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.<br>
+</p>
+
+<p>The last years of Galerius were less shameful and unfortunate;
+and though he had filled with more glory the subordinate station
+of C&aelig;sar 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. 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; 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. 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.<br>
+</p>
+
+<p>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. 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. *<br>
+</p>
+
+<p>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. 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. 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 <strong><em>free gift</em></strong> 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. 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. 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
+<strong><em>one</em></strong> 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; 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 <strong><em>he</em></strong>
+<strong><em>alone</em></strong> 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.<br>
+</p>
+
+<p>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. 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 Rh&aelig;tia;
+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. 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.<br>
+</p>
+
+<p>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 Pr&aelig;torian 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.<br>
+</p>
+
+<p>The whole force of Constantine consisted of ninety thousand
+foot and eight thousand horse; 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. 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.<br>
+</p>
+
+<p><strong><em>Chapter XIV: Six Emperors At The Same Time,
+Reunion Of The Empire. -- Part III.</em></strong><br>
+</p>
+
+<p>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. 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. 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. 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.<br>
+</p>
+
+<p>From Milan to Rome, the &AElig;milian 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. 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. 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.<br>
+</p>
+
+<p>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, he indulged
+himself in a vain confidence which deferred the remedies of the
+approaching evil, without deferring the evil itself. The rapid
+progress of Constantine 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 Pr&aelig;torian 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.
+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.<br>
+</p>
+
+<p>The celerity of Constantine's march has been compared to the
+rapid conquest of Italy by the first of the C&aelig;sars; 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. It was
+with equal surprise and pleasure, that on his arrival at a place
+called Saxa Rubra, about nine miles from Rome, he discovered the
+army of Maxentius prepared to give him battle. 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 Pr&aelig;torians, 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. 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. 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.<br>
+</p>
+
+<p>In the use of victory, Constantine neither deserved the praise
+of clemency, nor incurred the censure of immoderate rigor. 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. 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
+<strong><em>Augusti</em></strong> who governed the Roman world.
+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.<br>
+</p>
+
+<p>The final abolition of the Pr&aelig;torian 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 Pr&aelig;torians
+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. 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. 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.<br>
+</p>
+
+<p>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. 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.<br>
+</p>
+
+<p>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 <strong><em>extinguishing</em></strong>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. 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
+C&aelig;sar, 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. 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." 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. 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 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.<br>
+</p>
+
+<p>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, 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 C&aelig;sar. 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 C&aelig;sar, 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 &AElig;mona, on the
+frontiers of Italy, to the statues of Constantine, became the
+signal of discord between the two princes.<br>
+</p>
+
+<p>The first battle was fought near Cibalis, a city of Pannonia,
+situated on the River Save, about fifty miles above Sirmium. 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 C&aelig;sar on Valens,
+his general of the Illyrian frontier.<br>
+</p>
+
+<p><strong><em>Chapter XIV: Six Emperors At The Same Time,
+Reunion Of The Empire.</em> --</strong> Part IV.<br>
+</p>
+
+<p>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. 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 <strong><em>two</em></strong>
+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." 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 C&aelig;sars 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.<br>
+</p>
+
+<p>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. 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. 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." 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;
+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.<br>
+</p>
+
+<p>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 C&aelig;sar
+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. 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 M&aelig;otis 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; 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, 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. 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.<br>
+</p>
+
+<p>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. 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. 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. 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 Pir&aelig;us, 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. 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.<br>
+</p>
+
+<p>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.<br>
+</p>
+
+<p>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 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 C&aelig;sar on Martinianus, who exercised
+one of the most important offices of the empire.<br>
+</p>
+
+<p>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. 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. 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. 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. 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.<br>
+</p>
+
+<p>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.<br>
+</p>
+
+<p><strong>Chapter XV: Progress Of The Christian
+Religion.</strong><br>
+</p>
+
+<p><strong><em>Part I.</em></strong><br>
+</p>
+
+<p>The Progress Of The Christian Religion, And The Sentiments,
+Manners, Numbers, And Condition Of The Primitive Christians.
+*<br>
+</p>
+
+<p>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.<br>
+</p>
+
+<p>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
+<strong><em>faults</em></strong> 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 <strong><em>by
+whom</em></strong>, but likewise <strong><em>to
+whom</em></strong>, 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. *<br>
+</p>
+
+<p>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.<br>
+</p>
+
+<p>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, 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. 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. 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. According to the maxims of universal toleration, the
+Romans protected a superstition which they despised. The polite
+Augustus condescended to give orders, that sacrifices should be
+offered for his prosperity in the temple of Jerusalem; 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. 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. 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.<br>
+</p>
+
+<p>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. 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.<br>
+</p>
+
+<p>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.<br>
+</p>
+
+<p>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. 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. 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, 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.<br>
+</p>
+
+<p>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.<br>
+</p>
+
+<p><strong><em>Chapter XV: Progress Of The Christian Religion. --
+Part II.</em></strong><br>
+</p>
+
+<p>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,
+<strong><em>that</em></strong> 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: <strong><em>that</em></strong>, 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: 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,
+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.<br>
+</p>
+
+<p>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. 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. 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. They still enjoyed the comfort of making
+frequent and devout visits to the <strong><em>Holy
+City</em></strong>, 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 &AElig;lia Capitolina, a
+new city on Mount Sion, 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.<br>
+</p>
+
+<p>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. 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. 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. 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.<br>
+</p>
+
+<p>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. 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. 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. 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.
+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.<br>
+</p>
+
+<p>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. 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. 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,
+of whom the most celebrated appear to have been the Basilidians,
+the Valentinians, the Marcionites, and, in a still later period,
+the Manich&aelig;ans. Each of these sects could boast of its
+bishops and congregations, of its doctors and martyrs; 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. The success of the Gnostics was rapid and
+extensive. 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.<br>
+</p>
+
+<p>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
+d&aelig;mons were the authors, the patrons, and the objects of
+idolatry. 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 d&aelig;mons 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 d&aelig;mon assuming the name and
+attributes of Jupiter, another of &AElig;sculapius, a third of
+Venus, and a fourth perhaps of Apollo; and that, by the advantage
+of their long experience and &aelig;rial 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 d&aelig;mon, and
+as an act of rebellion against the majesty of God.<br>
+</p>
+
+<p><strong><em>Chapter XV: Progress Of The Christian Religion. --
+Part III.</em></strong><br>
+</p>
+
+<p>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. 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. 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. 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. When the
+bride, struggling with well-affected reluctance, was forced into
+hymen&aelig;al pomp over the threshold of her new habitation, or
+when the sad procession of the dead slowly moved towards the
+funeral pile; 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; 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. 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 d&aelig;mons. 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.<br>
+</p>
+
+<p>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.<br>
+</p>
+
+<p>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.<br>
+</p>
+
+<p>II. The writings of Cicero 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. 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 C&aelig;sars, 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.<br>
+</p>
+
+<p>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.
+<strong>1</strong>. The general system of their mythology was
+unsupported by any solid proofs; and the wisest among the Pagans
+had already disclaimed its usurped authority. <strong>2</strong>.
+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. 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. 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.<br>
+</p>
+
+<p>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, 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. 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. 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 Asmon&aelig;an
+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.<br>
+</p>
+
+<p>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.<br>
+</p>
+
+<p><strong><em>Chapter XV: Progress Of The Christian Religion. --
+Part IV.</em></strong><br>
+</p>
+
+<p>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. By the same analogy it was inferred, that this long period
+of labor and contention, which was now almost elapsed, 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 <strong><em>New Jerusalem</em></strong>, 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. The assurance of such a Millennium
+was carefully inculcated by a succession of fathers from Justin
+Martyr, and Iren&aelig;us, who conversed with the immediate
+disciples of the apostles, down to Lactantius, who was preceptor
+to the son of Constantine. 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. 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.<br>
+</p>
+
+<p>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. All these were only so many
+preparatory and alarming signs of the great catastrophe of Rome,
+when the country of the Scipios and C&aelig;sars 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 &AElig;tna, 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.<br>
+</p>
+
+<p>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. 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. But it was unanimously
+affirmed, that those who, since the birth or the death of Christ,
+had obstinately persisted in the worship of the d&aelig;mons,
+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.<br>
+</p>
+
+<p>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.<br>
+</p>
+
+<p>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, has claimed an uninterrupted succession of
+miraculous powers, the gift of tongues, of vision, and of
+prophecy, the power of expelling d&aelig;mons, of healing the
+sick, and of raising the dead. The knowledge of foreign languages
+was frequently communicated to the contemporaries of
+Iren&aelig;us, though Iren&aelig;us himself was left to struggle
+with the difficulties of a barbarous dialect, whilst he preached
+the gospel to the natives of Gaul. 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. 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
+d&aelig;mons 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 d&aelig;mon was heard to confess
+that he was one of the fabled gods of antiquity, who had
+impiously usurped the adoration of mankind. 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 Iran&aelig;us, 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. 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.<br>
+</p>
+
+<p>The miracles of the primitive church, after obtaining the
+sanction of ages, have been lately attacked in a very free and
+ingenious inquiry, 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. 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 Iren&aelig;us. 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 <strong><em>some
+period</em></strong> in which they were either suddenly or
+gradually withdrawn from the Christian church. Whatever &aelig;ra
+is chosen for that purpose, the death of the apostles, the
+conversion of the Roman empire, or the extinction of the Arian
+heresy, 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.<br>
+</p>
+
+<p>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 d&aelig;mons, 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.<br>
+</p>
+
+<p><strong><em>Chapter XV: Progress Of The Christian Religion. --
+Part V.</em></strong><br>
+</p>
+
+<p>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. *<br>
+</p>
+
+<p>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. 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.<br>
+</p>
+
+<p>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. 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. 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.<br>
+</p>
+
+<p>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.<br>
+</p>
+
+<p>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. *<br>
+</p>
+
+<p>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. 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; 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. 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.<br>
+</p>
+
+<p>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. 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. 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. 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; 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. A few of
+these, among whom we may reckon the learned Origen, judged it the
+most prudent to disarm the tempter. 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. 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. Such are the
+early traces of monastic principles and institutions, which, in a
+subsequent age, have counterbalanced all the temporal advantages
+of Christianity.<br>
+</p>
+
+<p>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. 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; but it was impossible that the
+Christians, without renouncing a more sacred duty, could assume
+the character of soldiers, of magistrates, or of princes. 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. 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.<br>
+</p>
+
+<p><strong><em>Chapter XV: Progress Of The Christian Religion. --
+Part VI.</em></strong><br>
+</p>
+
+<p>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.<br>
+</p>
+
+<p>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 to
+the respective standards of their own policy. The few who have
+pursued this inquiry with more candor and impartiality, are of
+opinion, 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
+<strong><em>prophets</em></strong>, 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. 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
+<strong><em>bishops</em></strong> and the
+<strong><em>presbyters</em></strong>; 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
+<strong><em>episcopal</em></strong>
+<strong><em>presbyters</em></strong> guided each infant
+congregation with equal authority and with united counsels.<br>
+</p>
+
+<p>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. The advantages of this episcopal form of government,
+which appears to have been introduced before the end of the first
+century, 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, 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. 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. 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.<br>
+</p>
+
+<p>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 Ach&aelig;an 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. 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.<br>
+</p>
+
+<p>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. 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. 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.<br>
+</p>
+
+<p>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. 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. 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 <strong><em>one</em></strong>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 <strong><em>two</em></strong> most eminent among
+the apostles; 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. 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. 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. 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 <strong><em>their</em></strong> 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.<br>
+</p>
+
+<p>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. 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.<br>
+</p>
+
+<p><strong><em>Chapter XV: Progress Of The Christian Religion. --
+Part VII</em></strong><br>
+</p>
+
+<p>I. The community of goods, which had so agreeably amused the
+imagination of Plato, and which subsisted in some degree among
+the austere sect of the Essenians, 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. 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. 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, and to
+acquire some merit by resigning a superfluous treasure, which
+must so soon be annihilated with the world itself. 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. 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. 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. 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; 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. 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.<br>
+</p>
+
+<p>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. 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.
+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
+<strong><em>agap</em></strong>, 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. 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. 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. 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.<br>
+</p>
+
+<p>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.<br>
+</p>
+
+<p>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. A milder
+sentiment was embraced in practice as well as in theory, by the
+purest and most respectable of the Christian churches. 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. 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.<br>
+</p>
+
+<p>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
+<strong><em>human</em></strong> 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; 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.<br>
+</p>
+
+<p>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 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, 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.<br>
+</p>
+
+<p>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.<br>
+</p>
+
+<p>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. 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. 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.<br>
+</p>
+
+<p><strong><em>Chapter XV: Progress Of The Christian Religion. --
+Part VIII.</em></strong><br>
+</p>
+
+<p>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, 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. 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 <strong><em>Christians</em></strong>. Within
+fourscore years after the death of Christ, 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.<br>
+</p>
+
+<p>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. The splendor and dignity of the queen of the East, the
+acknowledged populousness of C&aelig;sarea, Seleucia, and
+Alexandria, and the destruction of two hundred and fifty thousand
+souls in the earthquake which afflicted Antioch under the elder
+Justin, 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. 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.<br>
+</p>
+
+<p>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 Theraput&aelig;, 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. 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. 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.
+The body of the natives, a people distinguished by a sullen
+inflexibility of temper, 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. 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.<br>
+</p>
+
+<p>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, 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
+<strong><em>another people</em></strong>, 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. 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. 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.<br>
+</p>
+
+<p>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; 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. 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. 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.
+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. 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.<br>
+</p>
+
+<p>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." 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
+&AElig;thiopia, was not attempted with any degree of success till
+the sceptre was in the hands of an orthodox emperor. Before that
+time, the various accidents of war and commerce might indeed
+diffuse an imperfect knowledge of the gospel among the tribes of
+Caledonia, and among the borderers of the Rhine, the Danube, and
+the Euphrates. Beyond the last-mentioned river, Edessa was
+distinguished by a firm and early adherence to the faith. 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.<br>
+</p>
+
+<p><strong><em>Chapter XV: Progress Of The Christian Religion. --
+Part IX.</em></strong><br>
+</p>
+
+<p>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, 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.<br>
+</p>
+
+<p>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.<br>
+</p>
+
+<p>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. 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. 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."<br>
+</p>
+
+<p>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 <strong><em>every order</em></strong>of men in
+Bithynia had deserted the religion of their ancestors. 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. 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. 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.<br>
+</p>
+
+<p>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.<br>
+</p>
+
+<p>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.<br>
+</p>
+
+<p>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. 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, 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 <strong><em>invulnerable</em></strong>
+heroes with a useless weight of cumbersome and brittle armor.<br>
+</p>
+
+<p>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, d&aelig;mons 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, or at least a
+celebrated province of the Roman empire, 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. 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. 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 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 C&aelig;sar, 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 and historians of that
+memorable age.<br>
+</p>
+
+<p>End Of Vol. I.</p>
+</body>
+</html>
+
+
diff --git a/old/dfre110.zip b/old/dfre110.zip
new file mode 100644
index 0000000..5b326f0
--- /dev/null
+++ b/old/dfre110.zip