The history of the decline and fall of the Roman Empire: By Edward Gibbon, Esq; ... [pt.1]

CHAP. VI. The Death of Serverus.—Tyranny of Caracalla.—Usurpation of Macrinus.—Follies of Elagabalus.—Virtues of Alexander Severus.—Licentiousness of the Army.—General State of the Roman Fi|nances.

THE ascent to greatness, however steep and dangerous, may entertain an active spirit with the consciousness and exercise of its own * 1.1 powers; but the possession of a throne could never yet afford a lasting satisfaction to an am|bitious mind. This melancholy truth was felt and acknowledged by Severus. Fortune and merit had, from an humble station, elevated him to the first place among mankind.

He had been all things, as he said himself, and all was of little value 1 1.2.

Distracted with the care, not of acquiring, but of preserving an empire, oppressed with age and infirmities, care|less of fame 2 1.3, and satiated with power, all his prospects of life were closed. The desire of per|petuating the greatness of his family, was the only remaining wish of his ambition and paternal tenderness.

Like most of the Africans, Severus was pas|sionately * 1.4 addicted to the vain studies of magic and divination, deeply versed in the interpreta|tion

of dreams and omens, and perfectly acquaint|ed 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, whilst he was gover|nor of the Lionnese Gaul 3 1.5. In the choice of a second, he sought only to connect himself with some favourite of fortune; and as soon as he had discovered that a young lady of Emesa in Syria had a royal nativity, he solicited, and obtained her hand 4 1.6. Julia Domna (for that was her name) deserved all that the stars could promise her. She possessed, even in an advanced age, the at|tractions of beauty 5 1.7, and united to a lively ima|gination, 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 prin|cipal affairs of the empire, with a prudence, that supported his authority; and with a moderation, that sometimes corrected his wild extravagancies 6 1.8. Julia applied herself to letters and philosophy, with some success, and with the most splendid

reputation. She was the patroness of every art, and the friend of every man of genius 7 1.9. The grateful flattery of the learned has celebrated her virtues; but, if we may credit the scandal of ancient history, chastity was very far from being the most conspicuous virtue of the empress Julia 8 1.10.

Two sons, Caracalla 9 1.11 and Geta, were the fruit * 1.12 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 in|fancy, a fixed and implacable antipathy for each other. Their aversion, confirmed by years, and * 1.13 fomented by the arts of their interested favour|ites, broke out in childish, and gradually in more serious, competitions; and at length di|vided the theatre, the circus, and the court, into two factions; actuated by the hopes and fears of their respective leaders. The prudent emperor endeavoured, by every expedient of advice and

authority, to allay this growing animosity. The unhappy discord of his sons clouded all his pro|spects, and threatened to overturn a throne raised with so much labour, cemented with so much blood, and guarded with every defence of arms and treasure. With an impartial hand he main|tained between them an exact balance of favour, conferred on both the rank of Augustus, with the revered name of Antoninus; and for the first time the Roman world beheld three emperors 10 1.14. * 1.15 Yet even this equal conduct served only to in|flame the contest, whilst the fierce Caracalla asserted the right of primogeniture, and the milder Geta courted the affections of the people and the soldiers. In the anguish of a disappointed father, Severus foretold, that the weaker of his sons would fall a sacrifice to the stronger; who, in his turn, would be ruined by his own vices 11 1.16.

In these circumstances the intelligence of a war * 1.17 in Britain, and of an invasion of the province by the barbarians of the North, was received * 1.18 with pleasure by Severus. Though the vigilance of his lieutenants might have been sufficient to repel the distant enemy, he resolved to embrace the honourable pretext of withdrawing his sons from the luxury of Rome, which enervated their minds and irritated their passions; and of inur|ing their youth to the toils of war and govern|ment. Notwithstanding his advanced age (for

he was above three-score), and his gout, which obliged him to be carried in a litter, he trans|ported 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 un|seen 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 at|tack, 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 legi|ons had retired, they resumed their hostile inde|pendence. Their restless spirit provoked Severus to send a new army into Caledonia, with the most bloody orders, not to subdue but to extir|pate the natives. They were saved by the death of their haughty enemy 12 1.19.

This Caledonian war, neither marked by deci|sive * 1.20 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 Seve|rus 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 re|vived in our language by a recent publication, is said to have commanded the Caledonians in that memorable juncture, to have eluded the power of Severus, and to have obtained a signal victory on the banks of the Carun, in which the son of the King of the World, Caracul, fled from his arms along the fields of his pride 13 1.21. Some|thing of a doubtful mist still hangs over these High|land traditions; nor can it be entirely dispelled by the most ingenious researches of modern cri|ticism 14 1.22: but if we could, with safety, indulge * 1.23 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 ci|vilized people, if we compared the unrelenting revenge of Severus with the generous clemency of Fingal; the timid and brutal cruelty of Cara|calla,

with the bravery, the tenderness, the ele|gant genius of Ossian; the mercenary chiefs who, from motives of fear or interest, served under the Imperial standard, with the freeborn 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 sla|very.

The declining health and last illness of Severus * 1.24 inflamed the wild ambition and black passions of Caracalla's soul. Impatient of any delay or di|vision of empire, he attempted, more than once, to shorten the small remainder of his father's days, and endeavoured, but without success, to excite a mutiny among the troops 15 1.25. 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 rigour of a judge dis|solves away in the tenderness of a parent. He deliberated, he threatened, but he could not pu|nish; and this last and only instance of mercy, was more fatal to the empire than a long series of cruelty 16 1.26. The disorder of his mind * 1.27 irritated the pains of his body; he wished im|patiently for death, and hastened the instant of it by his impatience. He expired at York in * 1.28

the sixty-fifth year of his life, and in the eigh|teenth 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 un|derstanding, 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 honours, and were cheerfully acknowledged as lawful sovereigns, by the senate, the people, and the provinces. Some pre-eminence of rank seems to have been allowed to the elder brother; but they both ad|ministered the empire with equal and independ|ent power 17 1.29.

Such a divided form of government would have * 1.30 proved a source of discord between the most affectionate brothers. It was impossible that it could long subsist between two implacable ene|mies, who neither desired nor could trust a re|conciliation. 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 eat at the same table, or slept in the same house, displayed to the pro|vinces the odious spectacle of fraternal discord. On their arrival at Rome, they immediately di|vided the vast extent of the Imperial palace 18 1.31. No communication was allowed between their apartments; the doors and passages were dili|gently fortified, and guards posted and relieved with the same strictness as in a besieged place. The emperors met only in public, in the pre|sence of their afflicted mother; and each sur|rounded by a numerous train of armed followers. Even on these occasions of ceremony, the dissi|mulation of courts could ill disguise the rancour of their hearts 19 1.32.

This latent civil war already distracted the * 1.33 whole government, when a scheme was suggested that seemed of mutual benefit to the hostile bro|thers.

It was proposed, that since it was im|possible 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 con|stantly 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 negociation, the first idea of which had filled every Roman breast with sur|prise and indignation. The mighty mass of con|quest was so intimately united by the hand of time and policy, that it required the most for|cible violence to rend it asunder. The Romans had reason to dread, that the disjointed members would soon be reduced by a civil war under the dominion of one master; but if the separation was permanent, the division of the provinces must terminate in the dissolution of an empire whose unity had hitherto remained inviolate 20 1.34.

Had the treaty been carried into execution, the sovereign of Europe might soon have been the conqueror of Asia; but Caracalla obtained an * 1.35 easier though a more guilty victory. He artfully * 1.36 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 con|trived to conceal themselves, rushed with drawn swords upon the unfortunate Geta. His distract|ed mother strove to protect him in her arms; but, in the unavailing struggle, she was wounded in the hand, and covered with the blood of her younger son, while she saw the elder animating and assisting 21 1.37 the fury of the assassins. As soon as the deed was perpetrated, Caracalla, with hasty steps, and horror in his countenance, ran towards the Praetorian camp as his only refuge, and threw himself on the ground before the statues of the tutelar deities 22 1.38. The soldiers attempted to raise and comfort him. In broken and dis|ordered words he informed them of his imminent danger and fortunate escape; insinuating that he had prevented the designs of his enemy, and de|clared his resolution to live and die with his faith|ful

troops. Geta had been the favourite of the soldiers; but complaint was useless, revenge was dangerous, and they still reverenced the son of Severus. Their discontent died away in idle murmurs, and Caracalla soon convinced them of the justice of his cause, by distributing in one lavish donative the accumulated treasures of his father's reign 23 1.39. The real sentiments of the sol|diers alone were of importance to his power or safety. Their declaration in his favour, com|manded 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 indigna|tion, the name of Geta was mentioned with de|cency, and he received the funeral honours of a Roman emperor 24 1.40. Posterity, in pity to his mis|fortune, has cast a veil over his vices. We con|sider 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 * 1.41 business, nor pleasure, nor flattery, could defend Caracalla from the stings of a guilty conscience; and he confessed, in the anguish of a tortured mind, that his disordered fancy often beheld the angry forms of his father and his brother rising

into life, to threaten and upbraid him 25 1.42. 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 invo|luntary effect of fatal necessity. But the repent|ance of Caracalla only prompted him to remove from the world whatever could remind him of his guilt, or recal 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 lament|ations, 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 busi|ness, 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 dependents, were included in the proscription; which endeavoured to reach every one who had maintained the small|est correspondence with Geta, who lamented his death, or who even mentioned his name 26 1.43.

Helvius Pertinax, son to the prince of that name, lost his life by an unseasonable witticism 27 1.44. It was a sufficient crime of Thrasea Priscus, to be descended from a family in which the love of liberty seemed an hereditary quality 28 1.45. The particular causes of calumny and suspicion were at length exhausted; and when a senator was accused of being a secret enemy to the govern|ment, 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.

The execution of so many innocent citizens * 1.46 was bewailed by the secret tears of their friends and families. The death of Papinian, the Prae|torian praefect, was lamented as a public cala|mity. 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 virtues and abilities, Severus, on his death-bed, had con|jured him to watch over the prosperity and union

of the Imperial family 29 1.47. The honest labours of Papinian served only to inflame the hatred which Caracalla had already conceived against his fa|ther's minister. After the murder of Geta, the Praefect was commanded to exert the powers of his skill and eloquence in a studied apology for that atrocious deed. The philosophic Seneca had condescended to compose a similar epistle to the senate, in the name of the son and assassin of Agrippina 30 1.48;

That it was easier to commit than to justify a parricide,

was the glorious reply of Papinian 31 1.49, who did not hesitate be|tween the loss of life and that of honour. Such intrepid virtue, which had escaped pure and un|sullied from the intrigues of courts, the habits of business, and the arts of his profession, reflects more lustre on the memory of Papinian, than all his great employments, his numerous writings, and the superior reputation as a lawyer, which he has preserved through every age of the Roman jurisprudence 32 1.50.

It had hitherto been the peculiar felicity of the Romans, and in the worst of times their con|solation, * 1.51 that the virtue of the emperors was active, and their vice indolent. Augustus, Tra|jan, Hadrian, and Marcus, visited their exten|sive 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 villas, was confined to the senatorial and equestrian orders 33 1.52. But Caracalla was the common enemy of mankind. He left the capi|tal (and he never returned to it) about a year * 1.53 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 every province was by turns the scene of his rapine and cruelty. The senators, compelled by fear to attend his capricious motions, were obliged to provide daily entertainments at an immense expence, which he abandoned with con|tempt to his guards; and to erect, in every city, magnificent palaces and theatres, which he either disdained to visit, or ordered to be immediately thrown down. The most wealthy families were ruined by partial fines and consiscations, and the great body of his subjects oppressed by ingenious and aggravated taxes 34 1.54. In the midst of peace, and upon the slightest provocation, he issued his commands, at Alexandria in Egypt, for a gene|ral 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 either the number or the crime of the sufferers; since, as he coolly inform|ed

the senate, all the Alexandrians, those who had perished and those who had escaped, were alike guilty 35 1.55.

The wise instructions of Severus never made * 1.56 any lasting impression on the mind of his son, who, although not destitute of imagination and eloquence, was equally devoid of judgment and humanity 36 1.57. One dangerous maxim, worthy of a tyrant, was remembered and abused by Cara|calla,

To secure the affections of the army, and to esteem the rest of his subjects as of lit|tle moment 37 1.58.

But the liberality of the father had been restrained by prudence, and his indulgence to the troops was tempered by firm|ness and authority. The careless profusion of the son was the policy of one reign, and the in|evitable ruin both of the army and of the em|pire. The vigour of the soldiers, instead of be|ing confirmed by the severe discipline of camps, melted away in the luxury of cities. The exces|sive increase of their pay and donatives 38 1.59 exhaust|guards

ed the state to enrich the military order, whose modesty in peace, and service in war, is best secured by an honourable poverty. The demean|or 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 * 1.60 such a 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 depart|ment was intrusted to Adventus, an experienced rather than an 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 favour varied with the caprice of the emperor, and his life might depend on the slightest sus|picion, or the most casual circumstance. Malice or fanaticism had suggested to an African, deeply

skilled in the knowledge of futurity, a very dan|gerous 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 ma|gistrate, who had received the most pressing in|structions to inform himself of the successors of Caracalla, immediately communicated the exa|mination of the African to the Imperial court, which at that time resided in Syria. But, not|withstanding the diligence of the public messen|gers, a friend of Macrinus found means to apprize 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 dispatch the ordinary affairs, and to report the more important busi|ness 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 cen|turion. 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 pretence 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 Ro|mans 39 1.61. The grateful soldiers forgot his vices, remembered only his partial liberality, and oblig|ed the senate to prostitute their own dignity and that of religion by granting him a place among the gods. Whilst he was upon earth, Alexan|der * 1.62 the Great was the only hero whom this god deemed worthy his admiration. He assumed the name and ensigns of Alexander, formed a Mace|donian phalanx of guards, persecuted the dis|ciples of Aristotle, and displayed with a puerile enthusiasm the only sentiment by which he dis|covered any regard for virtue or glory. We can easily conceive, that after the battle of Narva, and the conquest of Poland, Charles the Twelfth (though he still wanted the more elegant accom|plishments of the son of Philip) might boast of having rivalled his valour and magnanimity: but in no one action of his life did Caracalla express the faintest resemblance of the Macedonian hero, except in the murder of a great number of his own and of his father's friends 40 1.63.

After the extinction of the house of Severus, * 1.64 the Roman world remained three days without a

master. The choice of the army (for the autho|rity of a distant and feeble senate was little regarded) hung in an 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 be|gan to assert their legal claim to fill the vacancy of the Imperial throne. Adventus, however, the senior praefect, conscious of his age and infirmi|ties, of his small reputation, and his smaller abilities, resigned the dangerous honour to the crafty ambition of his colleague Macrinus, whose well-dissembled grief removed all suspicion of his being accessary to his master's death 41 1.65. The troops neither loved nor esteemed his character. They cast their eyes around in search of a com|petitor and at last yielded with reluctance to his promises of unbounded liberality and indulgence. A short time after his accession, he conferred on * 1.66 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 favour of the army, and secure the doubtful throne of Macrinus.

The authority of the new sovereign had been * 1.67 ratified by the cheerful submission of the senate and provinces. They exulted in their unexpect|ed

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 con|sidered as a fundamental maxim of the constitu|tion, that the emperor must be always chosen in the senate, and the sovereign power, no longer exercised by the whole body, was always dele|gated to one of its members. But Macrinus was not a senator 42 1.68. The sudden elevation of the Praetorian praesects betrayed the meanness of their origin; and the equestrian order was still in possession of that great office, which commanded with arbitrary sway the lives and fortunes of the senate. A murmur of indignation was heard, that a man whose obscure 43 1.69 extraction had never been illustrated by any signal service, should dare to invest himself with the purple, instead of be|stowing it on some distinguished senator, equal

in birth and dignity to the splendour of the Im|perial station. As soon as the character of Ma|crinus was surveyed by the sharp eye of discon|tent, some vices, and many defects, were easily discovered. The choice of his ministers was in many instances justly censured, and the dissatis|fied people, with their usual candour, accused at once his indolent tameness and his excessive seve|rity 44 1.70.

His rash ambition had climbed a height where it was difficult to stand with firmness, and im|possible * 1.71 to fall without instant destruction. Train|ed 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 em|peror, 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 re|former was only wanting: and such was the pe|culiar 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 per|haps have enjoyed the dark prospect of the distress and calamities which he bequeathed to his suc|cessors.

In the management of this necessary reforma|tion, * 1.72 Macrinus proceeded with a cautious pru|dence, which would have restored health and vigour to the Roman army, in an easy and almost imperceptible manner. To the soldiers already engaged in the service, he was constrained to leave the dangerous privileges and extravagant pay given by Caracalla; but the new recruits were received on the more moderate though liberal establishment of Severus, and gradually formed to modesty and obedience 45 1.73. One fatal error destroyed the salutary effects of this judi|cious 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 quar|ters, the troops viewed their strength and num|bers, communicated their complaints, and re|volved in their minds the advantages of another revolution. The veterans, instead of being flat|tered by the advantageous distinction, were alarm|ed 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 labours were increased while its rewards were diminished by a covetous and un|warlike sovereign. The murmurs of the army swelled with impunity into seditious clamours; and the partial mutinies betrayed a spirit of dis|content 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 vi|cissitudes * 1.74 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. Not|withstanding the respectful civility expressed by the usurper towards the widow of Severus, she descended with a painful struggle into the con|dition of a subject, and soon withdrew herself by a voluntary death from the anxious and humiliat|ing dependence 46 1.75. 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 favour, accompanied by her two daughters, Soaemias and Mamaea, 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 honourable mi|nistry of high priest of the Sun; and this holy vocation, embraced either from prudence or su|perstition, contributed to raise the Syrian youth to the empire of Rome. A numerous body of troops was stationed at Emesa; and, as the se|vere discipline of Macrinus had constrained them to pass the winter encamped, they were eager to revenge the cruelty of such unaccustomed hard|ships. The soldiers, who resorted in crowds to the temple of the Sun, beheld with veneration and delight the elegant dress and figure of a young pontiff: they recognised, or they thought that they recognised, 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 emis|saries 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) * 1.76 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 mili|tary order 47 1.77.

Whilst a conspiracy of women and eunuchs was * 1.78 concerted with prudence, and conducted with rapid vigour, Macrinus, who, by a decisive mo|tion, might have crushed his infant enemy, floated between the opposite extremes of terror and security, which alike fixed him inactive at Antioch. A spirit of rebellion diffused itself through all the camps and garrisons of Syria, successive detachments murdered their officers 48 1.79, and joined the party of the rebels; and the tardy restitution of military pay and privileges was im|puted to the acknowledged weakness of Macri|nus. At length he marched out of Antioch, to meet the increasing and zealous army of the young pretender. His own troops seemed to take the field with faintness and reluctance; but, in the heat of the battle 49 1.80, the Praetorian guards, * 1.81 almost by an involuntary impulse, asserted the

superiority of their valour and discipline. The rebel ranks were broken; when the mother and grandmother of the Syrian prince, who, accord|ing to their eastern custom, had attended the army, threw themselves from their covered cha|riots, and, by exciting the compassion of the soldiers, endeavoured 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 occu|pations 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 be|trayed his own cause by a shameful and precipi|tate flight. His cowardice served only to pro|tract his life a few days, and to stamp deserved ignominy on his misfortunes. It is scarcely ne|cessary to add, that his son Diadumenianus was involved in the same fate. As soon as the stub|born Praetorians could be convinced that they fought for a prince who had basely deserted them, they surrendered to the conqueror; the contend|ing parties of the Roman army mingling tears of joy and tenderness, united under the banners of the imagined son of Caracalla, and the East ac|knowledged with pleasure the first emperor of Asiatic extraction.

The letters of Macrinus had condescended to inform the senate of the slight disturbance occa|sioned by an impostor in Syria, and a decree im|mediately * 1.82 passed, declaring the rebel and his fa|mily 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 to 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 profes|sions of virtue and moderation; the shining ex|amples of Marcus and Augustus, he should ever consider as the great rule of his administration; and he affected to dwell with pride on the strik|ing 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 Aure|lius Antoninus, son of Antoninus and grandson of Severus, he tacitly asserted his hereditary claim to the empire; but, by assuming the tribunitian and proconsular powers before they had been conferred on him by a decree of the senate, he offended the delicacy of Roman prejudice. This new and injudicious violation of the constitution

was probably dictated either by the ignorance of his Syrian courtiers, or the fierce disdain of his military followers 50 1.83.

As the attention of the new emperor was di|verted * 1.84 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 sa|cerdotal robes of silk and gold, after the loose flowing fashion of the Medes and Phoenicians; his head was covered with a lofty tiara, his nu|merous collars and bracelets were adorned with gems of an inestimable value. His eyebrows were tinged with black, and his cheeks painted with an artificial red and white 51 1.85. The grave senators confessed with a sigh, that, after having long experienced the stern tyranny of their own countrymen, Rome was at length humbled be|neath the effeminate luxury of Oriental de|spotism.

The Sun was worshipped at Emesa, under the * 1.86 name of Elagabalus 52 1.87, 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 grati|tude, 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 Elagaba|lus (for he presumed as pontiff and favourite to adopt that sacred name) was dearer to him than all the titles of Imperial greatness. In a solemn pro|cession 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 Elaga|balus were celebrated with every circumstance of cost and solemnity. The richest wines, the most extraordinary victims, and the rarest aromatics, were profusely consumed on his altar. Around the altar a chorus of Syrian damsels performed their lascivious dances to the sound of barbarian music, whilst the gravest personages of the state and army, clothed in long Phoenician tunics, of|ficiated in the meanest functions, with affected zeal and secret indignation 53 1.88.

To this temple, as to the common centre of religious worship, the Imperial fanatic attempted to remove the Ancilia, the Palladium 54 1.89, and all the sacred pledges of the faith of Numa. A crowd of inferior deities attended in various sta|tions the majesty of the god of Emesa; but his court was still imperfect, till a female of distin|guished 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, adored 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 em|pire 55 1.90.

A rational voluptuary adheres with invariable * 1.91 respect to the temperate dictates of nature, and improves the gratifications of sense by social in|tercourse, endearing connections, and the soft colouring of taste and the imagination. But Ela|gabalus (I speak of the emperor of that name),

corrupted by his youth, his country, and his for|tune, 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 attitudes and sauces, served to revive his languid appetites. New terms and new inventions in these sciences, the only ones cultivated and pa|tronised by the monarch 56 1.92, signalized his reign, and transmitted his infamy to succeeding times: A capricious prodigality supplied the want of taste and elegance; and whilst Elagabalus la|vished away the treasures of his people in the wildest extravagance, his own voice and that of his flatterers applauded a spirit and magnificence unknown to the tameness of his predecessors. To confound the order of seasons and climates 57 1.93, 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 deli|cious amusements. A long train of concubines, and a rapid succession of wives, among whom was a vestal virgin, ravished by force from her

sacred asylum 58 1.94, 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 dishonoured the principal dig|nities of the empire by distributing them among his numerous lovers; one of whom was publicly invested with the title and authority of the em|peror's, or, as he more properly styled himself, of the empress's husband 59 1.95.

It may seem probable, the vices and follies of * 1.96 Elagabalus have been adorned by fancy, and blackened by prejudice 60 1.97. Yet confining our|selves to the public scenes displayed before the Roman people, and attested by grave and con|temporary historians, their inexpressible infamy surpasses that of any other age or country. The licence of an eastern monarch is secluded from the eye of curiosity by the inaccessible walls of his seraglio. The sentiments of honour and gal|lantry 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 with|out 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 * 1.98 to condemn in others the same disorders which they allow in themselves; and can readily disco|ver some nice difference of age, character, or station, to justify the partial distinction. The li|centious 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 him|self by his own vices, had provided another and surer support of her family. Embracing a fa|vourable moment of fondness and devotion, she had persuaded the young emperor to adopt Alex|ander, * 1.99 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 ty|rant'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 exe|cute by force what he had been unable to compass by fraud, and by a despotic sentence degraded his cousin from the rank and honours of Caesar. The message was received in the senate with silence, and in the camp with fury. The Prae|torian guards swore to protect Alexander, and to revenge the dishonoured majesty of the throne. The tears and promises of the trembling Elaga|balus, who only begged them to spare his life, and to leave him in the possession of his beloved Hierocles, diverted their just indignation; and they contented themselves with empowering their praefects to watch over the safety of Alexander, and the conduct of the emperor 61 1.100.

It was impossible that such a reconciliation should last, or that even the mean soul of Elaga|balus * 1.101 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 mur|dered, 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 in|dignant Praetorians, his mutilated corpse dragged through the streets of the city, and thrown into the Tyber. His memory was branded with eter|nal infamy by the senate; the justice of whose decree has been ratified by posterity 62 1.102.

In the room of Elagabalus, his cousin Alexan|der * 1.103 was raised to the throne by the Praetorian guards. His relation to the family of Severus, whose name he assumed, was the same as that of his predecessor; his virtue and his danger had already endeared him to the Romans, and the eager liberality of the senate conferred upon him, in one day, the various titles and powers of the

Imperial dignity 63 1.104. 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 eleva|tion of Alexander, Mamaea remained the sole re|gent of her son and of the empire.

In every age and country, the wiser, or at least * 1.105 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 he|reditary monarchies, however, and especially in those of modern Europe, the gallant spirit of chivalry, and the law of succession, have accus|tomed us to allow a singular exception; and a woman is often acknowledged the absolute sove|reign of a great kingdom, in which she would be deemed incapable of exercising the smallest em|ployment, civil or military. But as the Roman emperors were still considered as the generals and magistrates of the republic, their wives and mo|thers, although distinguished by the name of Au|gusta, were never associated to their personal ho|nours; and a female reign would have appeared an inexpiable prodigy in the eyes of those primi|tive Romans, who married without love, or loved without delicacy and respect 64 1.106. The haughty

Agrippina aspired, indeed, to share the honours of the empire, which she had conferred on her son; but her mad ambition, detested by every citizen who felt for the dignity of Rome, was disappointed by the artful firmness of Seneca and Burrhus 65 1.107. The good sense, or the indifference, of succeeding princes, restrained them from of|fending 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 for ever from the senate, and devoting to the infernal gods, the head of the wretch by whom this sanction should be violated 66 1.108. The substance, not the pageantry, of power was the object of Mamaea's manly am|bition. She maintained an absolute and lasting empire over the mind of her son, and in his af|fection the mother could not brook a rival. Alexander, with her consent, married the daugh|ter of a Patrician; but his respect for his father|in-law, and love for the empress, were incon|sistent with the tenderness or interest of Mamaea. The Patrician was executed on the ready accu|sation

of treason, and the wife of Alexander driven with ignominy from the palace, and banished into Africa 67 1.109.

Notwithstanding this act of jealous cruelty, as * 1.110 well as some instances of avarice, with which Mamaea is charged; the general tenour 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 mo|ment was debated and determined. The cele|brated Ulpian, equally distinguished by his know|ledge 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 public admi|nistration, and to supply their places with men of virtue and ability. Learning, and the love of justice, became the only recommendations for civil offices. Valour, and the love of discipline,

the only qualifications for military employ|ments 68 1.111.

But the most important care of Mamaea and * 1.112 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 A|lexander of the advantages of virtue, the plea|sure of knowledge, and the necessity of labour. 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 * 1.113 exhibits a pleasing picture of an accomplished emperor 69 1.114, and with some allowance for the dif|ference of manners, might well deserve the imi|tation 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 accept|able 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 por|tion of time was always set apart for his favourite 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 Alex|ander, who was tall, active, and robust, sur|passed most of his equals in the gymnastic arts. Refreshed by the use of the bath and a slight din|ner, he resumed, with new vigour, 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 an|swered 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 gla|diators,

so frequently summoned to the tables of the rich and luxurious Romans 70 1.115. 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 mys|teries, pronouncing the same salutary admoni|tion;

Let none enter those holy walls, unless he is conscious of a pure and innocent mind 71 1.116.

Such an uniform tenour of life, which left * 1.117 not a moment for vice or folly, is a better proof of the wisdom and justice of Alexander's govern|ment, than all the trifling details preserved in the compilation of Lampridius. Since the ac|cession of Commodus, the Roman world had ex|perienced, during a 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 pro|vinces, relieved from the oppressive taxes in|vented by Caracalla and his pretended son, flou|rished in peace and prosperity, under the admi|nistration of magistrates, who were convinced by experience, that to deserve the love of the sub|jects, was their best and only method of obtain|ing the favour of their sovereign. While some gentle restraints were imposed on the innocent luxury of the Roman people, the price of pro|visions, 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 popu|lace. The dignity, the freedom, the authority of the senate were restored; and every virtuous senator might approach the person of the empe|ror, without fear, and without a blush.

The name of Antoninus, ennobled by the vir|tues * 1.118 of Pius and Marcus, had been communi|cated by adoption to the dissolute Verus, and by descent to the cruel Commodus. It became the honourable 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 laboured to restore the glories and felicity of the age of the genuine Antonines 72 1.119.

In the civil administration of Alexander, wis|dom * 1.120 was enforced by power, and the people, sensible of the public felicity, repaid their bene|factor 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, con|firmed

by long impunity, rendered them impa|tient of the restraints of discipline, and careless of the blessings of public tranquility. In the execution of his design the emperor affected to display his love, and to conceal his fear, of the army. The most rigid oeconomy in every other branch of the administration, supplied a fund of gold and silver for the ordinary pay and the ex|traordinary rewards of the troops. In their marches he relaxed the severe obligation of car|rying 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, splen|did armour, and shield enriched with silver and gold. He shared whatever fatigues he was obliged to impose, visited, in person, the sick and wounded, preserved an exact register of their services and his own gratitude, and expressed, on every occasion, the warmest regard for a body of men, whose welfare, as he affected to declare, was so closely connected with that of the state 73 1.121. By the most gentle arts he laboured 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 power|ful than themselves. But his prudence was vain, his courage fatal, and the attempt towards a re|formation served only to inflame the ills it was meant to cure.

The Praetorian guards were attached to the * 1.122 youth of Alexander. They loved him as a ten|der 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 con|sidered 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 a civil war raged, during three days, in Rome, whilst the life of that excellent minister was de|fended 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. Epa|gathus, the principal leader of the mutiny, was removed from Rome, by the honourable employ|ment 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 ab|sence, Alexander ventured to inflict the tardy, but deserved punishment of his crimes 74 1.123. Under the reign of a just and virtuous prince, the tyran|ny 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 * 1.124 Pannonian legions with the spirit of ancient dis|cipline. Their brethren of Rome, embracing the common cause of military licence, demanded the head of the reformer. Alexander, however, instead of yielding to their seditious clamours, shewed a just sense of his merit and services, by appointing him his colleague in the consulship, and defraying from his own treasury the expence of that vain dignity: but as it was justly appre|hended, that if the soldiers beheld him with the ensigns of his office, they would revenge the in|sult 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 con|fulship at his villas in Campania 75 1.125.

The lenity of the emperor confirmed the in|solence * 1.126 of the troops; the legions imitated the example of the guards, and defended their pre|rogative of licentiousness with the same furious obstinacy. The administration of Alexander was an unavailing struggle against the corruption of his age. In Illyricum, in Mauritania, in Ar|menia, in Mesopotamia, in Germany, fresh mu|tinies perpetually broke out; his officers were murdered, his authority was insulted, and his life at last sacrificed to the fierce discontents of the army 76 1.127. One particular fact well deserves to * 1.128 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 expe|dition, the particulars of which we shall here|after relate, the punishment of some soldiers, who had been discovered in the baths of women, ex|cited a sedition in the legion to which they be|longed. 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 intro|duced by his impure predecessor, and of main|taining the discipline, which could not be relaxed without the ruin of the Roman name and em|pire. Their clamours interrupted his mild ex|postulation.

Reserve your shouts, 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 77 1.129, if those in|deed who disclaim the laws of Rome deserve to be ranked among the meanest of the peo|ple.

His menaces inflamed the fury of the legion, and their brandished arms already threat|ened his person.

Your courage, resumed the intrepid Alexander, would be more nobly dis|played in the field of battle; me you may de|stroy, you cannot intimidate; and the severe justice of the republic would punish your crime, and revenge my death.

The legion still per|sisted in clamorous sedition, when the emperor pronounced, with a loud voice, the decisive sen|tence,

Citizens! lay down your arms, and de|part 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 dis|cipline, yielded up their arms and military en|signs, and retired in confusion, not to their camp, but to the several inns of the city. Alexander enjoyed, during thirty days, the edifying spec|tacle

of their repentance; nor did he restore them to their former rank in the army, till he had punished with death those tribunes whose connivance had occasioned the mutiny. The grateful legion served the emperor, whilst living, and revenged him when dead 78 1.130.

The resolutions of the multitude generally de|pend * 1.131 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 the singular transaction had been investigated by the penetration of a philosopher, we should discover the secret causes which on that occasion autho|rized the boldness of the prince, and command|ed 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 in|ferior to the purity of his intentions. His vir|tues, as well as the vices of Elagabalus, con|tracted a tincture of weakness and effeminacy from the soft climate of Syria, of which he was a native; though he blushed at his foreign ori|gin, and listened with a vain complacency to the flattering genealogists, who derived his race from

the ancient stock of Roman nobility 79 1.132. The pride and avarice of his mother cast a shade on the glories of his reign; and by exacting from his riper years the same dutiful obedience which she had justly claimed from his unexperienced youth, Mamaea exposed to public ridicule both her son's character and her own 80 1.133. The fatigues of the Persian war irritated the military discon|tent; the unsuccessful event degraded the repu|tation of the emperor as a general, and even as a soldier. Every cause prepared, and every cir|cumstance hastened, a revolution, which distract|ed the Roman empire with a long series of in|testine calamities.

The dissolute tyranny of Commodus, the civil wars occasioned by his death, and the new max|ims * 1.134 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. This internal change, which undermined the foundations of the empire, we have endeavoured to explain with some degree of order and perspicuity. The personal characters of the emperors, their vic|tories, 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 im|portant edict of Antoninus Caracalla, which com|municated to all the free inhabitants of the em|pire the name and privileges of Roman citizens. His unbounded liberality flowed not, however, from the sentiments of a generous mind; it was the forbid result of avarice, and will naturally be illustrated by some observations on the finances of that state, from the victorious ages of the com|monwealth to the reign of Alexander Severus.

The siege of Veii in Tuscany, the first con|siderable * 1.135 enterprise of the Romans, was protracted to the tenth year, much less by the strength of the place than by the unskilfulness of the be|siegers. The unaccustomed hardships of so many winter campaigns, at the distance of near twenty miles from home 81 1.136, required more than common encouragements; and the senate wisely prevented

the clamours 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 citi|zens 82 1.137. 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 expence of the Romans themselves. That high-spirited peo|ple (such is often the generous enthusiasm of freedom) cheerfully submitted to the most exces|sive but voluntary burdens, in the just confidence that they should speedily enjoy the rich harvest of their labours. 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 * 1.138 two millions sterling, and the Roman people, the sovereign of so many nations, was for ever delivered from the weight of taxes 83 1.139. The in|creasing revenue of the provinces was found suffi|cient 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 emer|gency of the state 84 1.140.

History has never perhaps suffered a greater or * 1.141 more irreparable injury, than in the loss of the curious register bequeathed by Augustus to the senate, in which that experienced prince so ac|curately balanced the revenues and expences of the Roman empire 85 1.142. Deprived of this clear and comprehensive estimate, we are reduced to collect a few imperfect hints from such of the an|cients as have accidentally turned aside from the splendid to the more useful parts of history. We are informed that, by the conquests of Pom|pey, the tributes of Asia were raised from fifty to * 1.143 one hundred and thirty-five millions of drachms; or about four millions and a half sterling 86 1.144. * 1.145 Under the last and most indolent of the Ptole|mies, the revenue of Egypt is said to have amounted to twelve thousand five hundred ta|lents; a sum equivalent to more than two mil|lions and a half of our money, but which was afterwards considerably improved by the more exact oeconomy of the Romans, and the increase of the trade of Aethiopia and India 87 1.146. Gaul * 1.147 was enriched by rapine, as Egypt was by com|merce, and the tributes of those two great pro|vinces have been compared as nearly equal to

each other in value 88 1.148. The ten thousand Eu|boic or Phoenician talents, about four millions sterling 89 1.149, which vanquished Carthage was con|demned * 1.150 to pay within the term of fifty years, were a slight acknowledgment of the superiority of Rome 90 1.151, 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 pro|vince 91 1.152.

Spain, by a very singular fatality, was the Peru * 1.153 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 labour in their own mines for the benefit of strangers, form an exact type of the more recent history of Spanish America 92 1.154. 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 Car|thagena which yielded every day twenty-five

thousand drachms of silver, or about three hun|dred thousand pounds a year 93 1.155. Twenty thou|sand pound weight of gold was annually received from the provinces of Asturia, Gallicia, and Lusitania 94 1.156.

We want both leisure and materials to pursue * 1.157 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 ste|rility. 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 amount|ed indeed to no more than one hundred and fifty drachms, or about five pounds: but Gyarus was a little island, or rather a rock, of the Aegean sea, destitute of fresh water and every necessary of life, and inhabited only by a few wretched fishermen 95 1.158.

From the saint glimmerings of such doubtful * 1.159 and scattered lights, we should be inclined to believe, 1st, That (with every fair allowance for

the difference of times and circumstances) the general income of the Roman provinces could seldom amount to less than fifteen or twenty millions of our money 96 1.160; and, 2dly, That so ample a revenue must have been fully adequate to all the expences of the moderate government instituted by Augustus, whose court was the mo|dest family of a private senator, and whose mili|tary 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 * 1.161 both these conclusions, the latter of them at least is positively disowned by the language and con|duct of Augustus. It is not easy to determine whether, on this occasion, he acted as the com|mon father of the Roman world, or as the op|pressor 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 fre|quently intimated the insufficiency of the tri|butes, and the necessity of throwing an equitable proportion of the public burden upon Rome and Italy. In the prosecution of this unpopular de|sign, 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 pro|perty of the Roman citizens, who had been ex|empted from any kind of contribution above a century and a half.

I. In a great empire like that of Rome, a * 1.162 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 influ|ence of commerce and arts. In the reign of Augustus and his successors, duties were im|posed on every kind of merchandise, which through a thousand channels flowed to the great centre of opulence and luxury; and in what|soever manner the law was expressed, it was the Roman purchaser, and not the provincial mer|chant, who paid the tax 97 1.163. 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 produc|tions raised or manufactured by the labour of the subjects of the empire, were treated with more indulgence than was shewn to the pernicious, or at least the unpopular commerce of Arabia and

India 98 1.164. There is still extant a long but im|perfect catalogue of eastern commodities, which about the time of Alexander Severus were subject to the payment of duties; cinnamon, myrrh, pepper, ginger, and the whole tribe of aromatics, a great variety of precious stones, among which the diamond was the most remarkable for its price, and the emerald for its beauty 99 1.165: Parthian and Babylonian leather, cottons, silks, both raw and manufactured, ebony, ivory, and eunuchs 100 1.166. 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 * 1.167 was general. It seldom exceeded one per cent.; but it comprehended whatever was sold in the markets or by public auction, from the most con|siderable purchases of lands and houses, to those minute objects which can only derive a value from their infinite multitude and daily consump|tion. Such a tax, as it affects the body of the people, has ever been the occasion of clamour and discontent. An emperor well acquainted

with the wants and resources of the state, was obliged to declare by a public edict, that the support of the army depended in a great measure on the produce of the excise 101 1.168.

III. When Augustus resolved to establish a * 1.169 permanent military force for the defence of his government against foreign and domestic ene|mies, he instituted a peculiar treasury for the pay of the soldiers, the rewards of the veterans, and the extraordinary expences of war. The ample revenue of the excise, though peculiarly appro|priated 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 Au|gustus with his usual temper. He candidly re|ferred the whole business to the senate, and ex|horted them to provide for the public service by some other expedient of a less odious nature. They were divided and perplexed. He insinu|ated to them, that their obstinacy would oblige him to propose a general land-tax and capitation. They acquiesced in silence 102 1.170. The new impo|sition 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 an hundred pieces of gold 103 1.171; nor could it be exacted from the nearest of kin on the father's side 104 1.172. When the rights of nature and poverty were thus secured, it seemed reasonable, that a stranger, or a distant relation, who acquired an unexpected accession of fortune, should cheerfully resign a twentieth part of it, for the benefit of the state 105 1.173.

Such a tax, plentiful as it must prove in every * 1.174 wealthy community, was most happily suited to the situation of the Romans, who could frame their arbitrary wills, according to the dictates of reason or caprice, without any restraint from the modern fetters of entails and settlements. From various causes the partiality of paternal affection often lost its influence over the stern patriots of the commonwealth, and the dissolute nobles of the empire; and if the father bequeathed to his son the fourth part of his estate, he removed all ground of legal complaint 106 1.175. But a rich child|less old man was a domestic tyrant, and his power increased with his years and infirmities. A ser|vile crowd, in which he frequently reckoned praetors and consuls, courted his smiles, pam|pered 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 descrip|tions of satire, was divided between two parties, the hunters and their game 107 1.176. 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 vir|tuous gratitude. Cicero, who had so often de|fended the lives and fortunes of his fellow-citi|zens, was rewarded with legacies to the amount of an hundred and seventy thousand pounds 108 1.177; nor do the friends of the younger Pliny seem to have been less generous to that amiable orator 109 1.178. Whatever was the motive of the testator, the treasury claimed, without distinction, the twen|tieth 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, * 1.179 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 ap|plauded his magnanimity; but they diverted him

from the execution of a design, which would have dissolved the strength and resources of the republic 110 1.180. Had it indeed been possible to realize this dream of fancy, such princes as Tra|jan and the Antonines would surely have em|braced with ardour 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 inter|pretations, antiquated claims, and the insolent vexation of the farmers of the revenue 111 1.181. For it is somewhat singular, that, in every age, the best and wisest of the Roman governors per|severed in this pernicious method of collecting the principal branches at least of the excise and customs 112 1.182.

The sentiments, and, indeed, the situation of * 1.183 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 im|positions introduced by Augustus, the twentieth on inheritances and legacies was the most fruit|ful, 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 citi|zens, though charged, on equal terms 113 1.184, with the payment of new taxes, which had not affect|ed them as subjects, derived an ample compensa|tion from the rank they obtained, the privileges they acquired, and the fair prospect of honours and fortune that was thrown open to their ambi|tion. But the favour, which implied a distinc|tion, * 1.185 was lost in the prodigality of Caracalla, and the reluctant provincials were compelled to assume the vain title, and the real obligations, of Roman citizens. Nor was the rapacious son of Severus contented with such a measure of taxation, as had appeared sufficient to his moderate predecessors. Instead of a twentieth, he exacted a tenth of all legacies and inheritances; and during his reign (for the ancient proportion was restored after his death) he crushed alike every part of the empire under the weight of his iron sceptre 114 1.186.

When all the provincials became liable to the * 1.187 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 pre|tended 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 into|lerable grievance, by reducing the tributes to a thirtieth part of the sum exacted at the time of his accession 115 1.188. 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 his|tory, we shall be too often summoned to explain the land-tax, the capitation, and the heavy con|tributions 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 * 1.189 the centre of government, a national spirit was preserved by the ancient, and insensibly imbibed by the adopted, citizens. The principal com|mands 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 honours 116 1.190. 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 qua|lified to act as lawyers and magistrates. The rougher trade of arms was abandoned to the pea|sants 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 mili|tary discipline. With bloody hands, savage manners, and desperate resolutions, they some|times guarded, but much oftener subverted, the throne of the emperors.

Notes

• * 1.1

  Greatness and dis|content of Severus.
• 1 1.2

  Hist. August. p. 71.

  Omnia fui et nihil expedit.
• 2 1.3

  Dion Cassius, l. lxxvi. p. 1284.
• * 1.4

  His wife the em|press Ju|lia.
• 3 1.5

  About the year 186, M. de Tillemont is miserably embarrassed with a passage of Dion, in which the empress Faustina, who died in the year 175, is introduced as having contributed to the marriage of Severus and Julia (l. lxxiv. p. 1243.). The learned compiler forgot, that Dion is relating, not a real fact, but a dream of Severus; and dreams are circumscribed to no limits of time or space. Did M. de Tillemont imagine that marriages were consummated in the temple of Venus at Rome? Hist. des Empereurs, tom. iii. p. 389. Note 6.
• 4 1.6

  Hist. August. p. 65.
• 5 1.7

  Hist. August. p. 85.
• 6 1.8

  Dion Cassius, l. lxxvii. p. 1304. 1314.
• 7 1.9

  See a Dissertation of Menage, at the end of his edition of Dio|genes Laertius, de Foeminis Philosophis.
• 8 1.10

  Dion, l. lxxvi. p. 1285. Aurelius Victor.
• 9 1.11

  Bassianus was his first name, as it had been that of his maternal grandfather. During his reign he assumed the appellation of An|toninus, which is employed by lawyers and ancient historians. Af|ter his death, the public indignation loaded him with the nick-names of Tarantus and Caracalla. The first was borrowed from a cele|brated Gladiator, the second from a long Gallic gown which he dis|tributed to the people of Rome.
• * 1.12

  Their two sons, Ca|racalla and Geta.
• * 1.13

  Their mu|tual aver|sion to each other.
• 10 1.14

  The elevation of Caracalla is fixed by the accurate M. de Til|lemont to the year 198: the association of Geta to the year 208.
• * 1.15

  Three em|perors.
• 11 1.16

  Herodian, l. iii. p. 130. The lives of Caracalla and Geta, in the Augustan History.
• * 1.17

  The Cale|donian war.
• * 1.18

  A. D. 208.
• 12 1.19

  Dion, l. lxxvi. p. 1280, &c. Herodian, l. iii. p. 132, &c.
• * 1.20

  Fingal and his heroes.
• 13 1.21

  Ossian's Poems, vol. i. p. 175.
• 14 1.22

  That the Caracul of Ossian is the Caracalla of the Roman His|tory, is, perhaps, the only point of British antiquity in which Mr. Macpherson and Mr. Whitaker are of the same opinion; and yet the opinion is not without difficulty. In the Caledonian war, the son of Severus was known only by the appellation of Antoninus; and it may seem strange, that the Highland bard should describe him by a nick-name, invented four years afterwards, scarcely used by the Romans till after the death of that emperor, and seldom employed by the most ancient historians. See Dion, l. lxxvii. p. 1317. Hist. August. p. 89. Aurel. Victor. Euseb. in Chron. ad ann. 214.
• * 1.23

  Contrast of the Cale|donians and the Romans.
• * 1.24

  Ambition of Cara|calla.
• 15 1.25

  Dion, l. lxxvi. p. 1282. Hist. August. p. 71. Aurel. Vic|tor.
• 16 1.26

  Dion, l. lxxvi. p. 1283. Hist. August. p. 89.
• * 1.27

  Death of Severus, and acces|sion of his two sons.
• * 1.28

  A. D. 4th Febru|ary.
• 17 1.29

  Dion, l. lxxvi. p. 1284. Herodian, l. iii. p. 135.
• * 1.30

  Jealousy and hatred of the two emperors.
• 18 1.31

  Mr. Hume is justly surprised at a passage of Herodian (l. iv. p. 139.), who, on this occasion, represents the Imperial palace, as equal in extent to the rest of Rome. The whole region of the Pala|tine Mount on which it was built, occupied, at most, a circum|ference of eleven or twelve thousand feet (See the Notitia and Vic|tor, in Nardini's Roma Antica). But we should recollect that the opulent senators had almost surrounded the city with their extensive gardens and suburb palaces, the greatest part of which had been gra|dually confiscated by the emperors. If Geta resided in the gardens that bore his name on the Janiculum; and if Caracalla inhabited the gardens of Maecenas on the Esqueline, the rival brothers were separated from each other by the distance of several miles; and yet the intermediate space was filled by the Imperial gardens of Sallust, of Lucullus, of Agrippa, of Domitian, of Caius, &c. all skirting round the city, and all connected with each other, and with the pa|lace, by bridges thrown over the Tiber and the streets. But this explanation of Herodian would require, though it ill deserves, a par|ticular dissertation, illustrated by a map of ancient Rome.
• 19 1.32

  Herodian, l. iv. p. 139.
• * 1.33

  Fruitless negocia|tion for di|viding the empire be|tween them.
• 20 1.34

  Herodian, l. iv. p. 144.
• * 1.35

  Murder of Geta.
• * 1.36

  A. D. 212. 27th Fe|bruary.
• 21 1.37

  Caracalla consecrated, in the temple of Serapis, the sword, with which, as he boasted, he had slain his brother Geta. Dion, l. lxxvii. p. 1307.
• 22 1.38

  Herodian, l. iv. p. 147. In every Roman camp there was a small chapel near the head-quarters, in which the statues of the tu|telar deities were preserved and adored; and we may remark, that the eagles, and other military ensigns, were in the first rank of these deities: an excellent institution, which confirmed discipline by the sanction of religion. See Lipsius de Militia Romana, iv. 5. v. 2.
• 23 1.39

  Herodian, l. iv. p. 148. Dion, l. lxxvii. p. 1289.
• 24 1.40

  Geta was placed among the gods. Sit divus, dum non sit vivus, said his brother. Hist. August. p. 91. Some marks of Geta's con|secration are still found upon medals.
• * 1.41

  Remorse and cruel|ty of Cara|calla.
• 25 1.42

  Dion, l. lxxvii. p. 1307.
• 26 1.43

  Dion, l. lxxvii. p. 1290. Herodian, l. iv. p. 150. Dion (p. 1298.) says, that the comic-poets no longer durst employ the name of Geta in their plays, and that the estates of those who men|tioned it in their testaments, were consiscated.
• 27 1.44

  Caracalla had assumed the names of several conquered nations; Pertinax observed, that the name of Geticus (he had obtained some advantage of the Goths or Getae) would be a proper addition to Parthicus, Alemannicus, &c. Hist. August. p. 89.
• 28 1.45

  Dion, l. lxxvii. p. 1291. He was probably descended from Helvidius Priscus, and Thrasea Paetus, those patriots whose firm, but useless and unseasonable virtue, has been immortalized by Ta|citus.
• * 1.46

  Death of Papinian,
• 29 1.47

  It is said that Papinian was himself a relation of the empress Julia.
• 30 1.48

  Tacit. Annal. xiv. ii.
• 31 1.49

  Hist. August. p. 88.
• 32 1.50

  With regard to Papinian, see Heineccius's Historia Juris Ro|mani, l. 330, &c.
• * 1.51

  His tyran|ny extend|ed over the whole em|pire.
• 33 1.52

  Tiberius and Domitian never moved from the neighbourhood of Rome. Nero made a short journey into Greece.

  Et laudato|rum Principum usus ex aequo quamvis procul agentibus. Saevi proximis ingruunt.

  Tacit. Hist. iv. 75.
• * 1.53

  A. D. 213.
• 34 1.54

  Dion, l. lxxvii. p. 1294.
• 35 1.55

  Dion, l. lxxvii. p. 1307. Herodian, l. iv. p. 158. The for|mer represents it as a cruel massacre, the latter as a perfidious one too. It seems probable, that the Alexandrians had irritated the ty|rant by their railleries, and perhaps by their tumults.
• * 1.56

  Relaxation of disci|pline.
• 36 1.57

  Dion, l. lxxvii. p. 1296.
• 37 1.58

  Dion, l. lxxvi. p. 1284. Mr. Wotton (Hist. of Rome, p. 330.) suspects that this maxim was invented by Caracalla himself, and attributed to his father.
• 38 1.59

  Dion (l. lxxviii. p. 1343.) informs us, that the extraordinary gifts of Caracalla to the army amounted annually to seventy mil|lions of drachmae (about two millions three hundred and fifty thou|sand pounds). There is another passage in Dion, concerning the military pay, infinitely curious; were it not obscure, imperfect, and probably corrupt. The best sense seems to be, that the Praetorian received twelve hundred and fifty drachmae (forty pounds) a year (Dion, l. lxxvii. p. 1307.). Under the reign of Augustus, they were paid at the rate of two drachmae, or denarii, per day, 720 a year (Tacit. Annal. i. 17.). Domitian, who increased the soldiers pay one fourth, must have raised the Praetorians to 960 drachmae (Gronovius de Pecuniâ Veteri, l. iii. c. 2.). These suc|cessive augmentations ruined the empire, for, with the soldiers pay, their numbers too were increased. We have seen the Praetorians alone increased from 10,000 to 50,000 men.
• * 1.60

  Murder of Caracalla. A. D. 217. 8th March.
• 39 1.61

  Dion, l. lxxviii. p. 1312. Herodian, l. iv. p. 168.
• * 1.62

  Imitation of Alex|ander.
• 40 1.63

  The fondness of Caracalla for the name and ensigns of Alex|ander, is still preserved on the medals of that emperor. See Span|heim, de Usu Numismatum, Dissertat. xii. Herodian (l. iv. p. 154.) had seen very ridiculous pictures, in which a figure was drawn, with one side of the face like Alexander, and the other like Caracalla.
• * 1.64

  Election and cha|racter of Macrinus.
• 41 1.65

  Herodian, l. iv. p. 169. Hist. August. p. 94.
• * 1.66

  A. D. 217. March 11.
• * 1.67

  Discontent of the se|nate,
• 42 1.68

  Dion, l. lxxxviii. p. 1350. Elagabalus reproached his pre|decessor, with daring to seat himself on the throne; though, as Prae|torian Praefect, he could not have been admitted into the senate after the voice of the cryer had cleared the house. The personal favour of Plautianus and Sejanus had broke through the established rule. They rose indeed from the equestrian order; but they preserved the praesecture with the rank of senator, and even with the consulship.
• 43 1.69

  He was a native of Caesarea, in Numidia, and began his for|tune by serving in the household of Plautian, from whose ruin he narrowly escaped. His enemies asserted, that he was born a slave, and had exercised, among other infamous professions, that of Gla|diator. The fashion of aspersing the birth and condition of an adver|sary, seems to have lasted from the time of the Greek orators, to the learned grammarians of the last age.
• 44 1.70

  Both Dion and Herodian speak of the virtues and vices of Ma|crinus, with candour and impartiality; but the author of his life, in the Augustan History, seems to have implicitly copied some of the venal writers, employed by Elagabalus, to blacken the memory of his predecessor.
• * 1.71

  and the ar|my.
• * 1.72

  Macrinus attempts a reforma|tion of the army.
• 45 1.73

  Dion, l. lxxxiii. p. 1336. The sense of the author is as clear as the intention of the emperor; but M. Wotton has mistaken both, by understanding the distinction, not of veterans and recruits, but of old and new legions. History of Rome, p. 347.
• * 1.74

  Death of the em|press Julia. Education, pretensi|ons, and revolt of Elagaba|lus, called at first Bas|sianus and Antoni|nus.
• 46 1.75

  Dion, l. lxxviii. p. 1330. The abridgment of Xiphilin, though less particular, is in this place clearer than the original.
• * 1.76

  A. D. 218. May 16.
• 47 1.77

  According to Lampridius (Hist. August. p. 135.), Alexander Severus lived twenty-nine years, three months, and seven days, As he was killed March 19, 235, he was born December 12, 205, and was consequently about this time thirteen years old, as his elder cousin might be about seventeen. This computation suits much better the history of the young princes, than that of Herodian (l. v. p. 181.), who represents them as three years younger; whilst, by an opposite error of chronology, he lengthens the reign of Ela|gabalus two years beyond its real duration. For the particulars of the conspiracy, see Dion, l. lxxviii. p. 1339. Herodian, l. v. p. 184.
• * 1.78

  Defeat and death of Macrinus.
• 48 1.79

  By a most dangerous proclamation of the pretended Anto|ninus, every soldier who brought in his officer's head, became en|titled to his private estate, as well as to his military commission.
• 49 1.80

  Dion, l. lxxviii. p. 1345. Herodian, l. v. p. 186. The battle was fought near the village of Immae, about two and twenty miles from Antioch.
• * 1.81

  A. D. 218. 7th June.
• * 1.82

  Elagaba|lus writes to the se|nate.
• 50 1.83

  Dion, l. lxxix. p. 1353.
• * 1.84

  Picture of Elagaba|lus. A. D. 219.
• 51 1.85

  Dion, l. lxxix. p. 1363. Herodian, l. v. p. 189.
• * 1.86

  His super|stition.
• 52 1.87

  This name is derived by the learned from two Syriac words, Ela a God, and Cabal to form, the forming, or plastic God, a proper, and even happy epithet for the Sun. Wotton's History of Rome, p. 378.
• 53 1.88

  Herodian, l. v. p. 190.
• 54 1.89

  He broke into the sanctuary of Vesta, and carried away a statue, which he supposed to be the Palladium; but the vestals boasted, that, by a pious fraud, they had imposed a counterfeit image on the profane intruder. Hist. August. p. 103.
• 55 1.90

  Dion. l. lxxix. p. 1360. Herodian, l. v. p. 193. The sub|jects of the empire were obliged to make liberal presents to the new|married couple; and whatever they had promised during the life of Elagabalus, was carefully exacted under the administration of Ma|maea.
• * 1.91

  His profli|gate and effeminate luxury.
• 56 1.92

  The invention of a new sauce was liberally rewarded; but if it was not relished, the inventor was confined to eat of nothing else, till he had discovered another more agreeable to the Imperial palate. Hist. August. p. 111.
• 57 1.93

  He never would eat sea-fish except at a great distance from the sea; he then would distribute vast quantities of the rarest sorts, brought at an immense expence, to the peasants of the inland country. Hist. Aug. p. 109.
• 58 1.94

  Dion, l. lxxix. p. 1358. Herodian, l. v. p. 192.
• 59 1.95

  Hierocles enjoyed that honour; but he would have been sup|planted by one Zoticus, had he not contrived, by a potion, to ener|vate the powers of his rival, who being found on trial unequal to his reputation, was driven with ignominy from the palace. Dion, l. lxxix. p. 1363, 1364. A dancer was made praefect of the city, a charioteer praefect of the watch, a barber praefect of the provisions. These three ministers, with many inferior officers, were all recom|mended, enormitate membrorum. Hist. August. p. 105.
• * 1.96

  Contempt of decency which dis|tinguished the Roman tyrants.
• 60 1.97

  Even the credulous compiler of his life, in the Augustan his|tory (p. 111.), is inclined to suspect that his vices may have been exaggerated.
• * 1.98

  Discon|tents of the army.
• * 1.99

  Alexander Severus declared Caesar. A. D. 221.
• 61 1.100

  Dion, l. lxxix. p. 1365. Herodian, l. v. p. 195—201. Hist. August. p. 105. The last of the three historians seems to have fol|lowed the best authors in his account of the revolution.
• * 1.101

  Sedition of the guards, and mur|der of Ela|gabalus. A. D. 222. 10 March.
• 62 1.102

  The aera of the death of Elagabalus, and of the accession of Alexander, has employed the learning and ingenuity of Pagi, Tillemont, Valsecchi, Vignoli, and Torre bishop of Adria. The question is most assuredly intricate; but I still adhere to the autho|rity of Dion; the truth of whose calculations is undeniable, and the purity of whose text is justified by the agreement of Xiphilin, Zonaras, and Cedrenus. Elagabalus reigned three years, nine months, and four days, from his victory over Macrinus, and was killed March 10, 222. But what shall we reply to the medals, undoubtedly genuine, which reckon the fifth year of his tribuni|tian power? We shall reply with tho learned Valsecchi, that the usurpation of Macrinus was annihilated, and that the son of Cara|calla dated his reign from his father's death. After resolving this great difficulty, the smaller knots of this question may be easily untied, or cut asunder.
• * 1.103

  Accession of Alex|ander Se|verus.
• 63 1.104

  Hist. August. p. 114. By this unusual precipitation, the se|nate meant to confound the hopes of pretenders, and prevent the factions of the armies.
• * 1.105

  Power of his mother Mamaea.
• 64 1.106

  Metellus Numidicus, the censor, acknowledged to the Roman people, in a public oration, that had kind Nature allowed us to exist without the help of women, we should be delivered from a very troublesome companion; and he could recommend matrimony, only as the sacrifice of private pleasure to public duty. Aulus Gel|lius, i. 6.
• 65 1.107

  Tacit. Annal. xiii. 5.
• 66 1.108

  Hist. August. p. 102. 107.
• 67 1.109

  Dion, l. lxxx. p. 1369. Herodian, l. vi. p. 206. Hist. Au|gust. p. 131. Herodian represents the Patricians as innocent. The Augustan History, on the authority of Dexippus, condemns him, as guilty of a conspiracy against the life of Alexander. It is impos|sible to pronounce between them: but Dion is an irreproachable witness of the jealousy and cruelty of Mamaea toward the young empress, whose hard fate Alexander lamented, but durst not op|pose.
• * 1.110

  Wise and moderate admini|stration.
• 68 1.111

  Herodian, l. vi. p. 203. Hist. August. p. 119. The latter insinuates, that when any law was to be passed, the council was assisted by a number of able lawyers and experienced senators, whose opinions were separately given, and taken down in writing.
• * 1.112

  Education and virtu|ous temper of Alex|ander.
• * 1.113

  Journal of his ordi|nary life.
• 69 1.114

  See his life in the Augustan History. The undistinguishing compiler has buried these interesting anecdotes under a load of tri|rial and unmeaning circumstances.
• 70 1.115

  See the 13th Satire of Juvenal.
• 71 1.116

  Hist. August. p. 119.
• * 1.117

  General happiness of the Roman world. A. D. 222—235.
• * 1.118

  Alexander refuses the name of Antoni|nus.
• 72 1.119

  See in the Hist. August. p. 116, 117, the whole contest be|tween Alexander and the senate, extracted from the journals of that assembly. It happened on the sixth of March, probably of the year 223, when the Romans had enjoyed, almost a twelvemonth, the blessings of his reign. Before the appellation of Antoninus was offered him as a title of honour, the senate waited to see whether Alexander would not assume it, as a family name.
• * 1.120

  He at|tempts to reform the army.
• 73 1.121

  It was a favourite saying of the emperor's, Se milites magis servare, quam seipsum; quod salus publica in his esset. Hist. Au|gust. p. 130.
• * 1.122

  Seditions of the Prae|torian guards, and mur|der of Ul|pian.
• 74 1.123

  Though the author of the life of Alexander (Hist. August. p. 132.) mentions the sedition raised against Ulpian by the soldiers, he conceals the catastrophe, as it might discover a weakness in the administration of his hero. From this designed omission, we may judge of the weight and candour of that author.
• * 1.124

  Danger of Dion Cas|sius.
• 75 1.125

  For an account of Ulpian's fate and his own danger, see the mutilated conclusion of Dion's History, l. lxxx. p. 1371.
• * 1.126

  Tumults of the le|gions.
• 76 1.127

  Annot. Reimar. ad Dion Cassius, l. lxxx. p. 1369.
• * 1.128

  Firmness of the em|peror.
• 77 1.129

  Julius Caesar had appeased a sedition with the same word Qui|rites; which thus opposed to Soldiers, was used in a sense of contempt, and reduced the offenders to the less honourable condition of mere citizens. Tacit. Annal. i. 43.
• 78 1.130

  Hist. August. p. 132.
• * 1.131

  Defects of his reign and cha|racter.
• 79 1.132

  From the Metelli. Hist. August. p. 119. The choice was judicious. In one short period of twelve years, the Metelli could reckon seven consulships and five triumphs. See Velleius Pater|culus, ii. 11. and the Fasti.
• 80 1.133

  The life of Alexander, in the Augustan History, is the mere idea of a perfect prince, an awkward imitation of the Cyropaedia. The account of his reign, as given by Herodian, is rational and moderate, consistent with the general history of the age; and, in some of the most invidious particulars, confirmed by the decisive fragments of Dion. Yet from a very platry prejudice, the greater number of our modern writers abuse Herodian, and copy the Au|gustan History. See Mess. de Tillemont and Wotton. From the opposite prejudice, the emperor Julian (in Caesarib. p. 315.) dwells with a visible satisfaction on the effeminate weakness of the Syrian, and the ridiculous avarice of his mother.
• * 1.134

  Digression on the fi|nances of the empire.
• * 1.135

  Establish|ment
• 81 1.136

  According to the more accurate Dionysius, the city itself was only an hundred stadia, or twelve miles and a half from Rome; though some out-posts might be advanced farther on the side of Etruria. Nardini, in a professed treatise, has combated the popular opinion and the authority of two popes, and has removed Veii from Civita Castellana, to a little spot called Isola, in the midway be|tween Rome and the lake Bracciano.
• 82 1.137

  See the 4th and 5th books of Livy. In the Roman Census, property, power, and taxation, were commensurate with each other.
• * 1.138

  and aboli|tion of the tribute on Roman ci|tizens.
• 83 1.139

  Plin. Hist. Natur. l. xxxiii. c. 3. Cicero de Offic. ii. 22. Plutarch. in P. Aemil. p. 275.
• 84 1.140

  See a fine description of this accumulated wealth of ages, in Lucan's Phars. l. iii. v. 155, &c.
• * 1.141

  Tributes of the pro|vinces
• 85 1.142

  Tacit. in Annal. i. 11. It seems to have existed in the time of Appian.
• * 1.143

  of Asia,
• 86 1.144

  Plutarch. in Pompeio, p. 642.
• * 1.145

  of Egypt,
• 87 1.146

  Strabo, l. xvii. p. 798.
• * 1.147

  of Gaul,
• 88 1.148

  Velleius Paterculus, l. ii. c. 39. he seems to give the prefer|ence to the revenue of Gaul.
• 89 1.149

  The Euboic, the Phoenician, and Alexandrian talents, were double in weight to the Attic. See Hooper of ancient weights and measures, p. iv. c. 5. It is very probable, that the same talent was carried from Tyre to Carthage.
• * 1.150

  of Africa,
• 90 1.151

  Polyb. l. xv. c. 2.
• 91 1.152

  Appian in Punicis, p. 84.
• * 1.153

  of Spain,
• 92 1.154

  Diodorus Siculus, l. v. Cadiz was built by the Phoenicians a little more than a thousand years before Christ. See Vell. Pa|terc. i. 2.
• 93 1.155

  Strabo, l. iii. p. 148.
• 94 1.156

  Plin. Hist. Natur. l. xxxiii. c. 3. He mentions likewise a silver mine in Dalmatia, that yielded every day fifty pounds to the state.
• * 1.157

  of the isle of Gyarus.
• 95 1.158

  Strabo, l. x. p. 485. Tacit. Annal. iii. 69. and iv. 30. See in Tournefort (Voyages au Levant, Lettre viii.) a very lively pic|ture of the actual misery of Gyarus.
• * 1.159

  Amount of the re|venue.
• 96 1.160

  Lipsius de magnitudine Romanâ (l. ii. c. 3.) computes the revenue at one hundred and fifty millions of gold crowns; but his whole book, though learned and ingenious, betrays a very heated imagination.
• * 1.161

  Taxes on Roman ci|tizens in|stituted by Augustus.
• * 1.162

  The cus|toms.
• 97 1.163

  Tacit. Annal. xiii. 31.
• 98 1.164

  See Pliny (Hist. Natur. l. vi. c. 23. l. xii. c. 18.). His ob|servation, that the Indian commodities were sold at Rome at a hun|dred times their original price, may give us some notion of the pro|duce of the customs, since that original price amounted to more than eight hundred thousand pounds.
• 99 1.165

  The ancients were unacquainted with the art of cutting dia|monds.
• 100 1.166

  M. Bouchaud, in his treatise de l'Impot chez les Romains, has transcribed this catalogue, from the Digest, and attempts to il|lustrate it by a very prolix commentary.
• * 1.167

  The ex|cise.
• 101 1.168

  Tacit. Annal. i. 78. Two years afterwards, the reduction of the poor kingdom of Cappadocia gave Tiberius a pretence for diminishing the excise to one half; but the relief was of very short duration.
• * 1.169

  Tax on le|gacies and inherit|ances.
• 102 1.170

  Dion Cassius, l. lv. p. 794. l. lvi. p. 825.
• 103 1.171

  The sum is only fixed by conjecture.
• 104 1.172

  As the Roman law subsisted for many ages, the Cognati, or relations on the mother's side, were not called to the succession. This harsh institution was gradually undermined by humanity, and finally abolished by Justinian.
• 105 1.173

  Plin. Panegyric. c. 37.
• * 1.174

  Suited to the laws and man|ners.
• 106 1.175

  See Heineccius in the Antiquit. Juris Romani, l. ii.
• 107 1.176

  Horat. l. ii. Sat. v. Petron. c. 116, &c. Plin. l. ii. Epist. 20.
• 108 1.177

  Cicero in Philipp. ii. c. 16.
• 109 1.178

  See his epistles. Every such will gave him an occasion of displaying his reverence to the dead, and his justice to the living. He reconciled both, in his behaviour to a son who had been disin|herited by his mother (v. 1.).
• * 1.179

  Regulati|ons of the emperors.
• 110 1.180

  Tacit. Annal. xiii. 50. Esprit des Loix, l. xii. c. 19.
• 111 1.181

  See Pliny's Panegyric, the Augustan History, and Burman de Vectigal. passim.
• 112 1.182

  The tributes (properly so called) were not farmed; since the good princes often remitted many millions of arrears.
• * 1.183

  Edict of Caracalla.
• 113 1.184

  The situation of the new citizens is minutely described by Pliny (Panegyric, c. 37, 38, 39). Trajan published a law very much in their favour.
• * 1.185

  The free|dom of the city given to all the provinci|als, for the purpose of taxation.
• 114 1.186

  Dion, l. lxxvii. p. 1295.
• * 1.187

  Tempora|ry reduc|tion of the tribute.
• 115 1.188

  He who paid ten aurei, the usual tribute, was charged with no more than the third part of an aureus, and proportional pieces of gold were coined by Alexander's order. Hist. August. p. 127. with the commentary of Salmasius.
• * 1.189

  Conse|quences of the univer|sal free|dom of Rome.
• 116 1.190

  See the lives of Agricola, Vespasian, Trajan, Severus, and his three competitors; and indeed of all the eminent men of those times.