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THE DECLINE AND FALL OF THE
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THE ROMAN EMPIRE
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Walker &^ Boutall sc.
THE HISTORY
OF THE
DECLINE AND FALL OF THE
ROMAN EMPIRE
EDWARD GIBBON
EDITED IN SEVEN VOLUMES
WITH INTRODUCTION, NOTES, APPENDICES^ AND INDEX
BY
J. B. BURY, M.A.
HON. LITT.D. OF DURHAM; HON. LL. D. OP EDINBURGH
CORRESPONDING MEMBER OF THE IMPERIAL ACADEMY OF SCIENCES, ST. PETERSBURG
FELLOW OF TRINITY COLLEGE, AND REGIUS PROrBaSOR OF GREEK
IN THE UNIVERSITY OF DUBLIN
VOL. L
METHUEN & CO.
36 ESSEX STREET, W.C.
LONDON
1900
Nmjo Edition
JL2^^
3 //
PREFACE OF THE AUTHOR
It is not my intention to detain the reader by expatiating
on the variety, or the importance of the subject, which I
have undertaken tQ treat ; since the merit of the choice
would serve to render the weakness of the execution still more
apparent, and still less excusable. But, as I have presumed
to lay before the Public s, first volume only ^ of tlie History
of the Decline and FaU of the Roman Empire, it wiU perhaps
be expected that I should explain, in a few words, the nature
and limits of my general plan.
The memorable series of revolutions, which, in the course
of about thirteen centuries, gradually undermined, and at
length destroyed, the solid fabric of human greatness, may,
with some propriety, be divided into the three following
periods :
I. The first of these periods may be traced from the age
of Trajan and the Antonines, when the Roman monarchy,
having attained its full strength and maturity, began to
verge towards its decline ; and will extend to the subver-
sion of the Western Empire, by the barbarians of Germany
and Scythia, the rude ancestors of the most polished nations
of modem Europe. This extraordinary revolution, which
subjected Rome to the power of a Gothic conqueror, was
completed about the beginning of the sixth century.
^ The first volume of the quarto, which is now contained in the two first
volumes of the octavo, edition.
VI
PREFACE
II. The second period of the Decline and Fall of Rome,
may be supposed to commence with the reign of Justinian,
who by his laws, as well as by his victories, restored a
transient splendour to the Eastern Empire. It will compre-
hend the invasion of Italy by the Lombards ; the conquest
of the Asiatic and African provinces by the Arabs, who
embraced the religion of Mahomet ; the revolt of the Roman
people against the feeble princes of Constantinople ; and the
elevation of Charlemagne, who, in the year 800, established
the second, or German Empire of the West.
III. The last and longest of these periods includes about
six centuries and a half; from the revival of the Western
Empire till the taking of Constantinople by the Turks and
the extinction of a degenerate race of princes, who continued
to assume the titles of Csesar and Augustus, after their
dominions were contracted to the limits of a single city ; in
which the language, as well as manners, of the ancient
Romans had been long since forgotten. The writer who
should undertake to relate the events of this period would
find himself obliged to enter into the general history of the
Crusades, as far as they contributed to the ruin of the Greek
Empire ; and he would scarcely be able to restrain his curio-
sity from making some enquiry into the state of the city of
Rome during the darkness and confusion of the middle ages.
As I have ventured, perhaps too hastily, to commit to
the press a work, which, in every sense of the word, deserves
the epithet of imperfect, I consider myself as contracting an
engagement to finish, most probably in a second volume,^ the
^ The Author, as it requently happens, took an inadequate measure of
his growing work. The remainder of the first period has filled two volumes
in quarto, being the third, fourth, fifth and sixth volumes of the octavo
edition.
PREFACE vii
first of these memorable periods; and to deliver to the
Public the complete History of the Decline and Fall of
Rome, from the age of the Antonines to the subversion of
the Western Empire. With regard to the subsequent
periods, though I may entertain some hopes, I dare not
presume to give any assurances. The execution of the
extensive plan which I have described would connect the
ancient and modem history of the World ; but it would
require many years of health, of leisure, and of perseverance.
Bentinck Street,
February i, 1776.
P.S. — The entire History, which is now published, of the
Decline and Fall of the Roman Empire in the West abun-
dantly discharges my engagements with the Public. Per-
liaps their favourable opinion may encourage me to prosecute
a work, which, however laborious it may seeui, is the most
agreeable occupation of my leisure hours,
Bentinck Street,
March 1,1781.
An Author easily persuades himself that the public
opinion is still favourable to his labours; and I have now
embraced the serious resolution of proceeding to the last
period of my original design, and of the Roman Empire,
the taking of Constantinople by the Turks, in the year one
thousand four hundred and fifty-three. The most patient
reader, who computes that three ponderous volumes ^ have
been already employed on the events of four centuries, may,
perhaps, be alarmed at the long prospect of nine hundred
years. But it is not my intention to expatiate with the
* [Containing chaps, i. to xxxviii.J
viii PEEFACE
same minuteness on the whole series of the Byzantine history.
At our entrance into this period, the reign of Justinian and
the conquests of the Mahometans will deserve and detain
our attention, and the last age of Constantinople (the Cru-
sades and the Turks) is connected with the revolutions of
Modem Europe, From the seventh to the eleventh century,
the obscure interval will be supplied by a concise narrative of
such facts as may still appear either interesting or important.
Bentinck Street,
March i, 1783,
ix
ADVERTISEMENT TO THE NOTES i
Diligence and accuracy are the only merits which an histori-
cal writer may ascribe to himself; if any merit indeed can be
assumed from the performance of an indispensable duty. I
may therefore be allowed to say that I have carefully ex-
amined all the original materials that could illustrate the
subject which I had undertaken to treat. Should I ever
complete the extensive design which has been sketched out
in the preface, I might perhaps conclude it with a critical
account of the authors consulted during the progress of the
whole work ; and, however such an attempt might incur the
censure of ostentation, I am persuaded that it would be sus-
ceptible of entertainment as well as information.
At present I shall content myself with a single observa-
tion. The Biographers, who, under the reigns of Diocletian
and Constantine, composed or rather compiled, the lives of
the emperors, from Hadrian to the sons of Carus, are usually
mentioned under the names of ^lius Spartianus, Julius Capi-
tolinus, jElius Lampridius, Vulcatius Gallicanus, Trebellius
Follio, and Flavius Vopiscus. But there is so much perplexity
in the titles of the MSS., and so many disputes have arisen
among the critics (see Fabricius Biblioth. Latin. 1. iii. c. 6)
concerning their number, their names and their respective
property, that for the most part I have quoted them without
distinction, under the general and well-known title of the
Augustan History.
^ [Which in the first quarto edition of vol. i. were printed at the end of
the volum&.j
ADVERTISEMENT TO THE FIRST OCTAVO
EDITION
The History of the Decline and Fall of the Roman Empire
is now delivered to the public in a more convenient form.
Some alterations and improvements had presented themselves
to my mind, but I was unwilling to injure or offend the pur-
^chasers of the preceding editions. The accuracy of the cor-
rector of the press has been already tried and approved ; and
perhaps I may stand excused if, amidst the avocations of a
busy writer, I have preferred the pleasures of composition
and study to the minute diligence of revising a former pub-
lication.
Bentinck Street,
April 20, 178^,
XI
PREFACE TO THE FOURTH VOLUME OF THE
QUARTO EDITION
I NOW discharge my promise^ and complete my design, of
writing the History of the Decline and Fall of the Roman
Empire, both in the West and the East. The whole period
extends from the age of Trajan and the Antonines to the
taking of Constantinople by Mahomet the Second; and
includes a review of the Crusades and the state of Rome during
the middle ages. Since the publication of the first volume,
twelve years have elapsed ; twelve years, according to my
wish, " of health, of leisure and of perseverance*". I may now
congratulate my deliverance from a long and laborious service,
and my satisfaction will be pure and perfect, if the public
favour should be extended to the conclusion of my work.
It was my first intention to have collected under one view
the numerous authors, of every age and language, from whom
I have derived the materials of this history ; and I am still
convinced that the apparent ostentation would be more than
compensated by real use. If I have renounced this idea, if I
have declined an undertaking which had obtained the appro-
bation of a master-artist,^ my excuse may be found in the
extreme difficulty of assigning a proper measure to such a
catalogue. A naked list of names and editions would not be
satisfactory either to myself or my readers : the characters of
the principal Authors of the Roman and Byzantine History
have been occasionally connected with the events which they
^ See Dr. Robertson's Preface to his History of America.
xii PREFACE
describe ; a more copious and critical enquiry might indeed
deserve, but it would demand, an elaborate volume, which
might swell by degrees into a general library of historical
writers. For the present I shall content myself with renewing
my serious protestation, that I have always endeavoured to
draw from the fountain-head ; that my curiosity, as well as a
sense of duty, has always urged me to study the originals;
and that, if they have sometimes eluded my search, I have
carefully marked the secondary evidence, on whose faith a
passage or a fact were reduced to depend.
I shall soon visit the banks of the lake of Lausanne, a
country which I have known and loved from my early youth.
Under a mild government, amidst a beauteous landskip, in a
life of leisure and independence, and among a people of easy
and elegant manners, I have enjoyed, and may again hope to
enjoy, the varied pleasures of retirement and society. But I
shall, ever glory in the name and character of an Englishman :
I am proud of my birth in a free and enlightened country ;
and the approbation of that country is the best and most
honourable reward for my labours. Were I ambitious of any
other Patron than the Public, I would inscribe this work to a
Statesman, who, in a long, a stormy, and at length an unfor-
tunate administration, had many political opponents, almost
without a personal enemy : who has retained, in his fall from
power, many faithful and disinterested friends ; and who,
under the pressure of severe infirmity, enjoys the lively vigour
of his mind, and the felicity of his incomparable temper.
Lord North will permit me to express the feelings of friend-
ship in the language of truth : but even truth and friendship
should be silent, if he still dispensed the favours of the crown.
In a remote solitude, vanity may still whisper in my ear
that my readers, perhaps, may enquire whether, in the con-
clusion of the present work, I am now taking an everlasting
farewell. They shall hear all that I know myself, all that I
PKEFACE xiii
could reveal to the most intimate friend. The motives of
action or silence are now equally balanced ; nor can I pro-
nounce, in my most secret thoughts, on which side the scale
will preponderate, I cannot dissemble that twelve ample
octavos must have tried, and may have exhausted, the indul-
gence of the Public; that, in the repetition of similar attempts,
a successful Author has much more to lose, than he can hope
to gain ; that I am now descending into the vale of years ;
and that the most respectable of my countrymen, the men
whom I aspire to imitate, have resigned the pen of history
about the same period of their lives. Yet I consider that the
annals of ancient and modern times may afford many rich and
interesting subjects ; that I am still possessed of health and
leisure; that by the practice of writing some skill and facility
must be acquired ; and that in the ardent pursuit of truth
and knowledge I am not conscious of decay. To an active
mind, indolence is more painful than labour; and the first
months of my liberty will be occupied and amused in the ex-
cursions of curiosity and taste. By such temptations I have
been sometimes seduced from the rigid duty even of a pleasing
and voluntary task : but my time will now be my own ; and
in the use or abuse of independence I shall no longer fear my
own reproaches or those of my friends. I am fairly entitled
to a year of jubilee: next summer and the following winter
will rapidly pass away; and experience only can determine
whether I shall still prefer the freedom and variety of study
to the design and composition of a regular work, which ani-
mates, while it confines, the daily application of the Author.
Caprice and accident may influence my choice; but the
dexterity of self-love will contrive to applaud either active
industry or philosophic repose.
Downing Street,
May I, 1788.
p^S.—l shall embrace this opportunitv of introducing two
xiv PJiEFACE
verbal remarks, which have not conveniently oiFered themselves
to my notice. 1. As often as I use the definitions of beyond
the Alps, the Rhine, the Danube, &c., I generally suppose
myself at Rome, and afterwards at Constantinople : without
observing whether this relative geography may agree with the
local, but variable, situation of the reader or the historian.
2. In proper names of foreign, and especially of Oriental,
origin, it should be always our aim to express in our English
version a faithful copy of the original. But this rule, which
is founded on a just regard to uniformity and truth, must
often be relaxed ; and the exceptions will be limited or en-
laarged by the custom of the language and the taste of the
interpreter. Our alphabets may be often defective : a harsh
sound, an uncouth spelling, might oiFend the ear or the eye
of our countrymen ; and some words, notoriously corrupt, are
fixed, and, as it were, naturalized in the vulgar tongue. The
prophet Mohcmvmed can no longer be stripped of the famous,
though improper appellation of Mahomet : the well-known
cities of Aleppo, Damascus and Cairo, would almost be lost
in the strange descriptions of Hakb, Demashk and AlCahira:
the titles and ofiices of the Ottoman empire are fashioned by
the practice of three hundred years ; and we are pleased to
blend the thi'ee Chinese monosyllables Cmt-fii-tzee in the
respectable name of Confucius, or even to adopt the Portu-
guese corruption of Mandarin. But I would vary the use of
Zoroaster and Zerdiisht^ as I drew my information from Greece
or Persia : since our connexion with India, the genuine Tim-
oy/r is restored to the throne of Tamerlane : our most correct
writers have retrenched the Al, the superfluous article, from
the Koran; and we escape an ambiguous termination by
adopting Moslem instead of Musulman, in the plural number.
In these, and in a thousand examples, the shades of distinc-
tion are often minute; and I can feel, where I caainot explain
the motives of my choice.
CONTENTS OF THE FIRST VOLUME
CHAPTER I
The Extent and Military Force of the Empire, in the Age
Antonines
of the
&.D.
PAOB
Introduction ... ... ... ... ,„ „, .„ ... i
Moderation of Augustus
I
Imitated by his Successors ...
3
Conquest of Britain, the First Exception to it ...
3
Conquest of Dacia, the Second Exception to it ...
5
Conquests of Trajan in the East
6
Resigned by his Successor Hadrian
7
Contrast of Hadrian and Antoninus Pius
7
Pacific System of Hadrian and the two Antonines
8
Defensive Wars of Marcus Antoninus
8
Military Establishment of the Roman Emperors ...
9
Discipline
lO
Exercises
II
The Legions under the Emperors
12
Arms
12
Cavalry
13
Auxiliaries ... .. ... ,„
14
Artillery ... .^
15
Encampment „
15
March
16
Number and Disposition of the Legions
16
Navy
17
Amount of the whole Establishment
18
\^iew of the Provinces of the Roman Empire
18
Spain
19
Gaul
» « * • < « *<< ■
19
Britain
20
Italy
20
The Danube and Illyrian Frontier
21
Rhsetia
22
Noricum and Pannonia
22
Dalmatia
22
Maesia and Dacia
23
Thrace, Macedonia, and Greece
23
Asia Minor
23
Syria, Phoenicia, and Palestine
»4 t
24
XVI
CONTENTS
A.D.
Egypt ... .„ .„
Africa ...
The Mediterranean with its Islands
General idea of the Roman Empire
PAGE
25
25
26
26
CHAPTER II
Of the Union and Internal Prosperity of the Roman Empire in the Age of
the Antonines
Principles of Government
Universal Spirit ot Toleration
Of the People ...
Of Philosophers
Of the Magistrates
In the Provinces
At Rome
Freedom of Rome
Italy
The Provinces
Colonies, and Municipal Towns
Division of the Latin and the Greek Provinces ...
General Use of both the Greek and Latin Languages
Slaves
Their Treatment ,„
Enfranchisement
Numbers . . ... ... ... .„
Populousness of the Roman Empire
Obedience and Union
Roman Monuments ...
Many of them erected at Private Expense
Example of Herodes Atticus
His Reputation
Most of the Roman Monuments for Public Use ...
Temples, Theatres, Aqueducts
Number and Greatness of the Cities of the Empire
In Italy
Gaul and Spain
Africa ... .„ ,^ .„ .«
Asia ... .„ .„ ... .„
Roman Roads .« „
Posts
Navigation
Improvement of Agriculture in the
Empire
Introduction of Fruits, &c. ...
The Vine
The Olive
Flax
Artificial Grass
General Plenty
Arts of Luxury
Western Countries
of the
28
28
28
30
31
32
32
33
34
35
35
37
39
39
39
40
41
42
43
43
43
45
45
46
46
48
48
48
49
49
50
50
51
51
52
52
52
53
53
53
53
CONTENTS xvii
PAGE
Foreign Trade 54
Gold and Silver ... ... ... ... ... ... ... 55
General Felicity 56
Decline of Courage 56
of Genius 57
Degeneracy ... .-, 58
CHAPTER III
Of the Constitution of the Roman Empire, in the Age of the Antonines
Idea of a Monarchy , 59
Situation of Augustus 59
He reforms the Senate 60
Resigns his usurped Power 60
Is prevailed upon to resume it under the Title of Emperor or
General ... ... ... ... ... ... ... ... 61
Pov/er of the Roman Generals ... ... ... ... ... 62
Lieutenants of the Emperor ... ... ... ... ... ... 53
Division of the Provinces between the Emperor and the Senate 63
The former preserves his Military Commands, and Guards, in
Rome itself ... ... ... ... ... ... ... 64
Consular and Tribunitian powers ... ... ... ... 64
Imperial Prerogatives 65
The Magistrates 66
The Senate 67
General Idea of the Imperial System 68
Court of the Emperors 68
Deification 68
Titles ol Augustus and Caesar ... ... ... ... ... 70
Character and Policy of Augustus 70
Image of Liberty for the People 71
Attempts of the Senate after the Death of Caligula 71
Image of Government for the Armies ... ... ... ... 72
Their Obedience 72
Designation of a Successor 73
OfTiberius 73
OfTitus 73
The Race of the Caesars, and Flavian Family 74
96 Adoption and Character of Trajan . . ... ... ... ... 74
117 OfHadrian 75
Adoption' of the elder and younger Verus 75
138-180 Adoption of the two Antonines 76
Character and Reign of Pius 76
. of Marcus 77
Happiness of the Romans 78
Its precarious Nature 78
Memory of Tiberius, Caligula, Nero, and Domitian 79
Pecuhar Misery of the Romans under their Tyrants .... ... 79
Insensibility of the Orientals 79
Knowledge and free Spirit of the Romans So
Extent of their Empire left them no Place of Refuge ... ,. 81
d VOL. L
xviii CONTENTS
CHAPTER IV
The Cruelty, Follies, and Murder of Commodus — Election of Pertinax —
His attempts to reform the State—His Assassination by the Prcetorian
Guards
A.D. PAGE
Indulgence of Marcus « 83
To his wife Faustina ... ... .„ .- .« ... 83
To his son Commodus « .« 84
180 Accession of the Emperor Commodus .« .« ... ... 84
Character of Commodus ... ... ... ... ... ... 85
His Return to Rome ... ... ... ... ... ... ... 85
183 Is wounded by an Assassin ... ... ... ... ... ... 86
Hatred and cruelty of Commodus towards the Senate ... .., 87
The Quintilian Brothers ... ... ... ... ... ... 87
186 The Minister Perennis 88
Revolt of Maternus ... ... ... ... ... ... ... 89
The Minister Cleander ... ... ... ... .». ... 89
His Avarice and Cruelty ,. ... 90
189 Sedition and Death of Cleander 91
Dissolute Pleasures of Commodus ... ... ... ... ... 92
His Ignorance and low Sports ... ... ... ... ... 92
Hunting of Wild Beasts 93
Commodus Displays his skill in the Amphitheatre 93
Acts as a Gladiator ... ... ... ... ,,. .^. ... 94
His Infamy and Extravagance ... ... ... ... ... 95
Conspiracy of his Domestics ... ... .^. .« ... 96
192 Death of Commodus _ ... 96
Choice of Pertinax for Emperor ... ... ,„ ... .. 96
He is acknowledged by the Praetorian Guards 97
193 And by the Senate „ ... 98
The Memory of Commodus declared infamous ... .« ... 98
Legal Jurisdiction of the Senate over the Emperors 99
Virtues of Pertinax 99
He endeavours to Reform the State 100
His Regulations ... ... ... ... .„ ... loo
His Popularity ... ... ... ,„ .„ ,^ .., loi
Discontent of the Praetorians ... .„ .„ ,^ ... loi
A Conspiracy Prevented „ ^ ... loi
193 Murder of Pertinax by the Praetorians .« ^ «. ... 102
CHAPTER V
Public Sale of the Empire to Didius jfulianus by the Prcetorian Guards
—Clodius Albinus in Britain, Pescennius Niger in Syria, and
Septimius Severus in Pannonia, declare against the Murderers of
Pertinax—Civil Wars and Victory of Severus over his three Rivals-
Relaxation of discipline — New Maxims of Government
Proportion of the Military Force to the Number of the
People
The Praetorian Guards
Their Institution „ „
103
103
Their Camp 10^
CONTENTS xix
A.D, PAGE
Strength and Confidence 104
Their specious Claims « 105
They offer the Empire to Sale 105
193 It is purchased by Julian 106
Julian is acknowledged by the Senate „ ... io6
Takes possession of the Palace ... ... ... ... ... 107
The public Discontent 107
The Armies of Britain, Syria, and Pannonia, declare against
Julian 108
Clodius Albinus in Britain 108
Pescennius Niger in Syria .. ... ,« ... log
Pannonia and Dalmatia in
193 Septimius Severus ... ... ... ... .., ... ... m
Declared Emperor by the Pannonian Legions ,. in
Marches into Italy .. .., ... 112
Advances towards Rome - 112
Distress of Julian *. ,« ■ 113
His uncertain Conduct *. ... 113
Is deserted by the Prsetorians ... .., ... *•• ... 113
Is condemned and executed by Order of the Senate 114
Disgrace of the Praetorian Guards ... ... .. .,- ... 114
Funeral and Apotheosis of Pertinax .. 115
193-197 Success of Severus against Niger and against Albinus ... 115
Conduct of the two Civil Wars 116
Arts of Severus ... ... ... -.. ... ... ••• n^
Towards Niger 116
Towards Albinus n?
Event of the Civil Wars "8
Decided by one or two Battles ... ... ..- ... -.. 118
Siege of Byzantium 119
Death of Niger and Albinus 120
Cruel Consequences of the Civil Wars 120
Animosity of Severus against the Senate 120
The Wisdom and Justice of his Government .„ 121
General Peace and Prosperity 121
Relaxation of Military Discipline 122
New Establishment of the Prastorian Guards 122
The Office of Pratorian Praefect 123
The Senate oppressed by Military Despotism 124
New Maxims of the Imperial Prerogative... .- .*. ■-* "4
CHAPTER VI •.
The Death of Severus— Tyranny of Caracalla^UsurpaHon of Macrinus
Follies of Elagahalus— Virtues of Alexander Severus— Licentiousness
of the Army — General State of the Roman Finances
Greatness and Discontent of Severus « .- 126
His wife the Empress JuUa 126
Their two sons, Caracalla and Geta « .« 127
Their mutual Aversion to each other 127
Three Emperors • ^^o
XX CONTENTS
A.D.
PAOE
208 The Caledonian War 128
Fingal and his Heroes ^29
Contrast of the Caledonians and the Romans 129
Ambition of Caracalla 130
211 Death of Scverus, and Accession of his two sons 130
Jealousy and Hatred of the two Emperors 130
Fruitless Negotiation for dividing the Empire between them ... 131
212 Murder of Geta 132
Remorse and Cruelty of Caracalla i33
Death of Papinian ^34
213 His Tyranny extended over the whole Empire 135
Relaxation of Discipline 136
217 Murder of Caracalla ^ i37
Imitation of Alexander ... ... ... ... ... ... 138
Election and Character ot Macrinus 138
Discontent of the Senate 139
of the Army 140
Macrinus attempts a Reformation of the Army ... 140
Death of the Empress Julia 141
Education, Pretensions, and Revolt of Elagabalus, called at
first Bassianus and Antoninus 141
218 Defeat and Death of Macrinus ... 143
Elagabalus writes to the Senate 143
219 Picture of Elagabalus .. 144
His Superstition , 144
His profligate and effeminate Luxury 146
Contempt of Decency, which distinguished the Roman Tyrants 147
Discontents of the Army ... ... ... ... ... ... 147
221 Alexander Severus declared Caesar... ... ... ... ... 147
222 Sedition of the Guards, and Murder of Elagabalus ... 148
Accession of Alexander Severus ... ... ... ... 148
Power of his Mother Mamsta ... ... ... ... ... 149
His wise and moderate Administration ... .. ... ... 150
Education and Virtuous Temper of Alexander ... ... ... 150
Journal of his Ordinary Life ... ... ... ... ... 151
222-235 General happiness of the Roman World ... ... ... 152
Alexander refuses the name of Antoninus ... ... ... 152
He attempts to reform the Army ... ... ... ... ... 153
Seditions of the Praetorian Guards, and Murder of Ulpian ... 153
Danger of Dion Cassius 154
Tumults of the Legions ... ... ... ... ... 155
Firmness of the Emperor 155
Defects of his Reign and Character 136
Digression on the Finances of the Empire ... ... ... 157
Establishment of the Tribute on Roman Citizens 157
Abolition of the Tribute 158
Tributes of the Provinces ... ... ... ... ... ... i^g
ofAsia 159
of Egypt, Gaul, Africa and Spain 159
of the Isle of Gyarus ... ... ... ... ... jQq
Amount of the Revenue ... 160
Taxes on Roman Citizens instituted by Augustus ... ... 160
i. The Customs ... ... ... ... ... .., igj
CONTENTS xxi
L.D. PAGE
II. The Excise 162
III. Tax on Legacies and Inheritances ... ... ... 162
Suited to the Laws and Manners ... ... ... ... ... 163
Regulations of the Emperors ... ... ... ... 164
Edict of Caracalla ... ... ... ... ... ... ... 164
The Freedom of the City given to all Provincials, for the pur-
pose of Taxation ... ... ... ... ... ... 164
Temporary Reduction of the Tribute 165
Consequences of the universal Freedom of Rome .« ... 165
CHAPTER VII
The Elevation and Tyranny of Maximin — Rebellion in Africa and Italy,
under the Authority of the Senate — Civil Wars and Seditions — Violent
Deaths of Maximin and his Son, of Maximus and Balbinus, and of the
three Gordians — Usurpation and Secular Games of Philip
The apparent Ridicule and solid Advantages of hereditary Suc-
cession ... ... ... ... ... ... ... ... 167
Want of it in the Roman Empire productive of the greatest
Calamities 168
Birth and Fortunes of Maximin 169
His Military Service and Honours 169
235 Conspiracy of Maximin 170
Murder of Alexander Severus 170
Tyranny of Maximin 171
Oppression of the Provinces 173
237 Revolt in Africa 174
Character and Elevation of the two Gordians ... ... ... 175
They solicit the Confirmation of their Authority ... ... 176
The Senate ratifies the Election of the Gordians 177
Declares Maximin a public Enemy ... ... ... 178
Assumes the Command of Rome and Italy ... ... ... 178
Prepares for a Civil War 178
237 Defeat and Death of the two Gordians i79
Election of Maximus and Balbinus by the Senate 180
Their Characters 180
Tumult at Rome 181
The younger Gordian is declared Csesar 181
Maximin prepares to attack the Senate and their Emperors ... 182
238 Marches into Italy 183
Siege of Aquileia 183
Conduct of Maximus ^84
238 Murder of Maximin and his son 185
His Portrait 185
Joy of the Roman World 186
Sedition at Rome ^86
Discontent of the Praetorian Guards 187
238 Massacre of Maximus and Balbinus 188
The third Gordian remains sole Emperor 189
Innocence and Virtues of Gordian 189
240 Administration of Misitheus ... 190
xxii CONTENTS
A.D. PAGE
242 The Persian War « ... .« ^ ... iQo
243 The Arts of Philip iQi
244 Murder of Gordian „ ,*. ^9^
Form ofa Military Republic .« .« ... ••• ■•• ^^92
Reign of Philip i93
248 Secular Games ^93
Decline of the Roman Empire ... ... ... ... •.. X93
CHAPTER VIII
Of the State of Persia after the Restoration of the Monarchy by Artaxerxes
The Barbarians of the East and of the North 195
Revolutions of Asia i95
The Persian Monarchy restored by Artaxerxes 196
Reformation of the Magian Religion ... ... ... ... 197
Persian Theology, two Principles ... ... ... ... ... 198
Religious Worship ... ... ... ... ... ... ... 200
Ceremonies and moral Precepts ... ... ... ... ... 200
Encouragement of Agriculture ... ... ... ... ... 201
Power of the Magi ... ... ... ... ... ... ... 201
Spirit of Persecution 203
Establishment of the Royal Authority in the Provinces . . . 203
Extent and Population of Persia ... ... ... ... ... 204
Recapitulation of the War between the Parthian and Roman
Empires ... ... ... ... ... ... ... ... 205
165 Cities of Seleucia and Ctesiphon 205
216 Conquest of Osrhoene by the Romans 207
230 Artaxerxes claims the Provinces of Asia, and declares War
against the Romans ... ... ... ... ... ... 208
233 Pretended Victory of Alexander Severus ... 208
More probable Account of the War 209
240 Character and Maxims of Artaxerxes ... .„ 211
Military Power of the Persians 211
Their Infantry contemptible ... ... .„ ... ... 211
Their Cavalry excellent « 212
CHAPTER IX
The State of Germany till the Invasion of the Barbarians, in the Time of
the Emperor Decius
Extent of Germany 213
Climate 214
Its Effects on the Natives 215
Origin of the Germans 216
Fables and Conjectures 217
The Germans ignorant of Letters 218
of Arts and Agriculture 218
— of the Use of Metals 220
Their Indolence ...... 2^1
Their Taste for Strong Liquors ... ... ... ... ... 222
State of Population ... ... ... ... ... ... ... 222
CONTENTS xxiii
A.D.
PAGE
German Freedom 22^
Assemblies of the People ." ." [[[ 224
Authority of the Princes and Magistrates *' 225
More Absolute over the Property, than over the Persons
of the Germans ... ... ... ... 22^
Voluntary Engagements ] 226
German Chastity [ 227
Its Probable Causes ... ,^ '" 227
J^e%j?n . • « »; '.'.'. 229
Its Effects m Peace ... ,„ ^on
• m War ., o^n
The Bards ,,„
Causes which checked the Progress of the Germans 231
Want of Arms ,. «3t
Disciphne ... ... ... ... .., ,.. ^^^ 232
Civil Dissensions of Germany ... ,.. ... . . 233
Fomented by the Policy of Rome [[] 233
Transient Union against Marcus Antoninus 234
Distinction of the German Tribes ,[, 235
Numbers ^ '" 236
CHAPTER X
The Emperors Decius, Gallus, JSmilianus, Valerian^ and Gallienus — The
General Irruption of the Barbarians — The Thirty Tyrants
248-268 The Nature of the Subject ... 237
The Emperor Philip 237
249 Services, Revolt, Victory, and Reign of the Emperor Decius ... 238
250 He marches against the Goths ... 239
Origin of the Goths from Scandinavia 239
Religion of the Goths 240
Institutions and Death of Odin 240
Agreeable, but uncertain Hypothesis concerning Odin 241
Emigration of the Goths from Scandinavia into Prussia .„ 241
from Prussia to the Ukraine « 242
The Gothic Nation increases in its March 243
Distinction of the Germans and Sarmatians 244
Description of the Ukraine 244
The Gothsinvade the Roman Provinces ... ... ... ... 245
250 Various Events of the Gothic War 246
251 Decius revives the office of Censor in the Person of Valerian 247
The Design Impracticable, and without Effect 248
Defeat and Death of Decius and his Son 249
251 Election of Gallus 250
252 Retreat of the Goths 250
Gallus purchases Peace by the Payment of an annual Tribute... 250
Popular Discontent ... ... ... ... ... ... ... 25 1
253 Victory and Revolt of iEmilianus 251
Gallus abandoned and slain 252
Valerian revenges the Death of Gallus ... 252
Is acknowledged Emperor ... ... .,, .„ ... ... 252
Character of Valerian .., 253
xxiv CONTENTS
A.D. PAGE
253-268 General Misfortunes Of the Reigns of Valerian and Gallienus 253
Inroads of the Barbarians 254
Origin and Confederacy of the Franks ... .. ... ... 254
They invade Gaul 255
Ravage Spain 256
Pass over into Africa... ... ... ... ... ... ••• 256
Origin and Renown of the Suevi 257
A mixed body of Suevi assume the name of Alemanni ... ... 257
Invade Gaul and Italy 258
Are repulsed from Rome by the Senate and People 258
The Senators excluded by Gallienus from the Military Service 258
Gallienus contracts an Alliance with the Alemanni ... ... 259
Inroads of the Goths 259
Conquest of the Bosphorus by the Goths ... ... ... ... 260
The Goths acquire a Naval Force 261
First Naval Expedition of the Goths 262
The Goths besiege and take Trebizond ... ... ... ... 262
The Second Expedition of the Goths 263
They plunder the Cities of Bithynia ... ... ... ... 263
Retreat of the Goths 265
Third Naval Expedition of the Goths 265
They pass the Bosphorus and the Hellespont ... ,.. ... 265
Ravage Greece, and threaten Italy 266
Their Divisions and Retreat... ... ... ... ... ... 266
Ruin of the Temple of Ephesus ... ... ... ... ... 267
Conduct of the Goths at Athens 268
Conquest of Armenia by the Persians 268
Valerian marches into the East ... ... ... ... ... 269
260 Is defeated and taken prisoner by Sapor. King of Persia ... 269
Sapor overruns Syria, Cilicia, and Cappadocia ... ... ... 270
Boldness and Success of Odenathus against Sapor ... ... 272
Treatment of Valerian ... ... ... ... ... ... 272
Character and Administration of Gallienus ... ... ... 273
The Thirty Tyrants ... ... ... ... ... ... ... 274
Their reat Number not more than nineteen ... ... ... 275
Character and Merit of the Tyrants ... ... ... ... 275
Their obscure Birth ... ... ... .„ ... ... ... 276
The Causes of their Rebellion ... ... ... ... ... 276
Their violent Deaths 277
Fatal Consequences of these Usurpations 277
Disorders of Sicily ... ... ... ... ... ... ... 279
Tumults of Alexandria ... ... ... ... ... ... 279
Rebellion of the Isaurians ... ... ... ... ..,. ... 280
Famine and Pestilence ... ... ... ... ... ... 281
Diminution of the Human Species... ... ... ... ... 281
CHAPTER XI
Reign of Claudius— Defeat of the Goths—Victories, Triumph and Death of
Aurelian
268 Aureolus invades Italy, is defeated, and besieged at Milan ... 283
Death of Gallienus ... .„ ... .„ ,„ 284
CONTENTS XXV
PAGE
Character and Elevation of the Emperor Claudius 285
268 Death of Aureolus ]\[ 286
Clemency and Justice of Claudius 287
He undertakes the Reformation of the Army ... ... ... 287
269 The Goths invade the Empire [[[ 288
Distress and Firmness of Claudius 289
His Victory over the Goths ]_ 289
270 Death of the Emperor, who Recommends Aurelian for his
Successor .'.. onn
The Attempt and Fall of Quintilius 291
Origin and Services of Aurelian 291
Aurehan's successful Reign [[ 292
His Severe Discipline ... ... ... ... ... 202
He concludes a Treaty with the Goths 293
He resigns to them the Province of Dacia ... .,[ ,,, 294
270 The Alemannic War ... -,nr
The Alemanni invade Italy ... ... ... ... .,. ^^^ 297
They are at last vanquished by Aurehan 297
271 Superstitious Ceremonies [\[ 298
Fortifications at Rome _,. .^. *|' 299
271 Aurelian suppresses the two Usurpers 300
Succession of Usurpers in Gaul 300
271 The Reign and Defeat of Tetricus ... .„ ]]'. ,\\ '" 301
272 Character of Zenobia '" \[\ [\ 302
Her Beauty and Learning 302
Her Valour '^ *_ ]]] 303
She revenges her Husband's Death 303
She reigns over the East and Egypt 304
272 The Expedition of Aurelian 305
The Emperor defeats the Palmyrenians in the Battles of Antiocli
and Emesa ... ... ... ... . 305
The State of Palmyra 306
It is besieged by Aurelian 307
273 Aurelian becomes Master of Zenobia and of the City 307
Behaviour of Zenobia ^, ... 308
Rebellion and ruin of Palmyra ... ... ... ... ... 309
Aurelian suppresses the Rebellion of Firmus in Egypt 309
274 Triumph of Aurelian 310
His Treatment of Tetricus and Zenobia ... ... ... ... 311
His Magnificence and Devotion 312
He suppresses a Sedition at Rome ... ... ... „. ... 313
Observations upon it ... ... ... ... ... ... ... 313
Cruelty of Aurelian ... ... ... ... ... ... ... 314
275 He marches into the East, and is Assassinated 315
CHAPTER XII
Conduct of the Army and Senate after the Death of Aurelian. — Reigns of
Tacitus, Probus, Carus and his Sons
Extraordinary Contest between the Army and the Senate for
the Choice of an Emperor 3iy
275 A peaceful Interregnum of Eight Months.., „ 318
xxvi CONTENTS
A.D. "QE
The Consul assembles the Senate 3^9
Character of Tacitus » ... •« .-• 3^9
He is elected Emperor 320
He accepts the Purple '. 3^1
Authority of the Senate ... ... ... ... ••• ••• 3^1
Their Joy and Confidence 322
276 Tacitus is acknowleged by the Army 3^3
The Alani invade Asia and are repulsed by Tacitus 323
276 Death of the Emperor Tacitus 3^4
Usurpation and Death of his Brother Florianus 324
Their Family Subsists in Obscurity 3^5
Character and Elevation of the Emperor Probus 326
His Respectful Conduct towards the Senate 326
Victories of Probus over the Barbarians 328
277 He delivers Gaul from the Invasion of the Germans 329
He carries his Arms into Germany 33°
He builds a Wall from the Rhine to the Danube 33 ^
Introduction and Settlement of the Barbarians 332
Daring Enterprise of the Franks 333
279 Revolt of Saturninus in the East ... ... ,- .- ... 334
280 of Bonosus and Proculus in Gaul .- ... ,« ... 335
281 Triumph of the Emperor Probus ... .« .« 335
His Discipline « ... .- .»• 33^
282 His Death - 33^
Election and Character of Carus 337
The Sentiments of the Senate and People 338
Carus defeats the Sarmatians and marches into the East ... 339
283 He gives Audience to the Persian Ambassadors ... ... 339
283 His victories and extraordinary Death ... ... ... ... 340
He is succeeded by his two Sons, Carinus and Numerian ... 341
284 Vices of Carinus 341
He celebrates the Roman Games ... ... ... ... ... 343
Spectacles of Rome ... ... ... ... ... ... ... 343
The Amphitheatre 344
Return of Numerian with the Army from Persia ... ... 346
Death of Numerian ... ... .. ... ... .« ... 347
284 Election of the Emperor Diocletian .« ... .„ ... 348
285 Defeat and Death of Carinus « ... 349
CHAPTER Xin
The Reign of Diocletian and his three Associates^ Maximiany GaUriuSy and
Constantius — General Re-establishment of Order and Tranquillity- — The
Persian War^ Victory ^ and Triumph — The New Form of Administra-
tion— Abdication and Retirement of Diocletian and Maximian
285 Elevation and Character of Diocletian 350
His Clemency in Victory 351
286 Association and Character of Maximian 352
292 Association oftwo Csesars, Galerius and Constantius 353
[293] Departments and Harmony of the four Princes .„ ... 354
Series of Events 355
CONTENTS xxvii
A>D. PAOS
287 State of the Peasants of Gaul .„ _ _ 355
Their Rebellion „ ._ ... 356
And Chastisement ... ... .« ,« .„ .,, ... 35(5
287 Revolt of Carausius in Britain 357
[286] Importance of Britain „ ,^ 35y
Power of Carausius 358
289 Acknowledged by the other Emperors 358
294 [293] His Death ^ 359
296 Recovery of Britain by Constantius ... .« 359
Defence of the Frontiers ... ... ... ... ... ... 360
Fortifications ^ 360
Dissensions of the Barbarians 361
Conduct of the Emperors ... .« ,« .„ ... ... 361
Valour of the Caesars ... .« ... .„ 361
Treatment of the Barbarians „ 368
Wars of Africa and Egypt ... .« .„ ... ... ... 363
296 Conduct of Diocletian in Egypt .* 363
[295] He suppresses Books of Alchymy 365
Novelty and Progress of that Art 365
The Persian War „ 366
282 Tiridates the Armenian 366
286 His Restoration to the Throne of Armenia ... .„ ... 367
State of the Country 367
Revolt of the People and Nobles 367
Story of Mamgo 368
The Persians recover Armenia „ 368
296 War between the Persians and the Romans ... .„ ... 369
Defeat of Galerius 369
His Reception by Diocletian ... .„ 370
297 Second Campaign of Galerius « ... 371
His Victory ... ... ... ... ... .„ .« ... 371
His Behaviour to his Royal Captives 371
Negotiation for Peace 372
Speech of the Persian Ambassador 372
Answer of Galerius ... ... ... ... ... ,., ... 373
Moderation of Diocletian ... ... ... ... ... ... 373
Conclusion of a Treaty of Peace ... ... ... ... ... 373
Articles of the Treaty ... ... ... ... ... ... 374
The Aboras fixed as the Limits between the Empires ... ... 374
Cession of five Provinces beyond the Tigris ... ... ... 375
Armenia 375
Iberia 376
303 Triumph of Diocletian and Maximian « ... 376
Long Absence of the Emperors from Rome 377
Their Residence at Milan 378
at Nicomedia 378
Debasement of Rome and of the Senate 379
New Bodies of Guards, Jovians and Herculians 379
Civil Magistracies laid aside 380
Imperial Dignity and Titles 381
Diocletian assumes the Diadem, and introduces the Persian
Ceremonial 382
New Form of Administration, two Augusti and two Caesars ... 383
xxviii CONTENTS
A.D. PAGE
Increase of Taxes ... ... ... ... ... .*• .-• 384
Abdication of Diocletian and Maximian 385
Resemblance to Charles V 3^5
304 Long Illness of Diocletian ... 386
His Prudence 386
Compliance of Maximian ... ... ••■ ..• 387
Retirement of Diocletian at Salona 387
His Philosophy 388
313 His Death 389
Description of Salona and the adjacent Country 389
Of Diocletian's Palace 39o
Decline of the Arts ... 39^
of Letters 39i
The new Platonists .„ 392
CHAPTER XIV
Troubles after the abdication of Diocletian — Death of Constantius —
Elevation of Const antine and Maxentius — Six Emperors at the same
time — Death of Maximian and Galerius — Victories of Constantine
over Maxentius and Licinius — Reunion of the Empire under the
Authority of Constantine
305-323 Period of Civil Wars and Confusion ... ... ... ... 394
Character and Situation of Constantius ... ,« 394
OfGalcrius 395
The two Cassars, Severus and Maximin ... ... ... ... 395
Ambition of Galerius disappointed by two Revolutions 397
274 Birth, Education, and Escape of Constantine 397
306 Death of Constantius and Elevation of Constantine ... ... 399
He is acknowledged by Galerius, who gives him only the title of
Caesar, and that of Augustus to Severus 400
The Brothers and Sisters of Constantine ... ... ... ... 400
Discontent of the Romans at the Apprehension of Taxes ... 401
306 Maxentius declared Emperor at Rome 402
Maximian reassumes the Purple ... ... ... ... ... 403
397 Defeat and Death of Severus 403
Maximian gives his daughter Fausta, and the Title of Augustus,
to Constantine ... ... ... ... ... ... ... 404
Galerius invades Italy 405
His Retr|at 407
307 Elevation of Licinius to the Rank of Augustus ... .... ... 407
Elevation of M aximin ... ... ... ... ... ... 408
308 Six Emperors 408
Misfortunes of Maximian 408
310 His Death 410
[311] Death of Galerius 410
His Dominion shared between Maximin and Licinius 411
306-312 Administration of Constantine in Gaul 412
Tyranny of Maxentius in Italy and Africa 412
312 Civil War between Constantine and Maxentius 414
Preparations ... ... ... ... ... . „ ,_. ... 415
Constantine passes the Alps .„ ... ^ ,^. ... 417
CONTENTS
XXIX
Battle of Turin „
Siege and Battle of Verona
Indolence and Fears of Maxentius ...
312 Victory of Constantine near Rome ...
His Reception
His Conduct at Rome
313 His Alliance with Licinius ...
War between Maximin and Licinius
The Defeat of Maximin
His Death
Cruelty of Licinius
Unfortunate Fate of the Empress Valeria and her Mother
314 Quarrel between Constantine and Licinius
First Civil War between them
314 Battle of Cibalis
Battle of Mardia
Treaty of Peace
315-323 General Peace and Laws of Constantine
322 The Gothic War
323 Second Civil War between Constantine and Licinius
Battle of Hadrianople
Siege of Byzantium and Naval Victory of Crispus
Battle of Chrysopolis
Submission and Death of Licinius ,« .„
324 Reunion of the Empire „.
PAOB
41S
420
421
424
425
426
426
426
427
429
430
430
431
432
432
435
436
437
438
439
440
441
INTRODUCTION
BY THE EDITOR
Gibbon is one of those few writers who hold as high a place
in the history of literature as in the roll of great historians.
He concerns us here as an historian ; our business is to con-
sider how far the view which he has presented of the decline
and fall of the Roman Empire can be accepted as faithful to
the facts, and in what respects it needs correction in the
light of discoveries which have been made since he wrote.
But the fact that his work, composed more than a hundred
years ago, is still successful with the general circle of educated
people, and has not gone the way of Hume and Robertson,
whom we laud as " classics '' and leave on the cold shelves, is
due to the singularly happy union of the historian and the
man of letters. Gibbon thus ranks with Thucydides and
Tacitus, and is perhaps the clearest example that brilliance of
style and accuracy of statement — in Livy*'s case conspicuously
divorced — are perfectly compatible in an historian.
His position among men of letters depends both on the
fact that he was an exponent of important ideas and on his
style. The appreciation of his style devolves upon the
history of literature ; but it may be interesting to illustrate
how much attention he paid to it, by alterations which he
made in his text. The first volume was published, in quarto
form, in 1776, and the second quarto edition of this volume,
which appeared in 178S, exhibits a considerable number of
xxxii
INTRODUCTION
ChangeB In
the second
variants. Having carefully collated the two editions through-
tolwSiSL?* o"t the first fourteen chapters, I have observed that, in most
cases, the changes were made for the sake not of correcting
mis-statements of fact, but of improving the turn of a sentence,
rearranging the dactyls and cretics, or securing greater accuracy
of expression. Some instances may be interesting.
InstanoBS p_ 2,
P. 10.
P. 52.
p. 59.
P. 62.
First edition.
Instead of exposing his
person and his legions to
the arrows of the Par-
thians, he satisfied himself
with the restitution of the
standards and prisoners
which were taken in the
defeat of Crassus.
The peasant or me-
chanic, imbibed the useful
prejudice . . . that, al-
though the prowess of a
private soldier, might es-
cape the notice of fame,
it would be in his power to
confer glory or disgrace
on the company, the
legion, or even the army,
to whose honours he was
associated.
The olive, in the western
world, was the companion as
well as the symbol of peace.
The general definition of
a monarchy seems to be
that of a state, &c.
On the most important
occasions^ peace and war
were seriously debated in
the senate.
Second edition.
Instead of exposing his
person and his legibns to
the arrows of the Parthians
he obtained, by an honour-
able treaty^ the restitution
of the standards and
prisoners which had been
taken in the defeat of
Crassus.
The peasant, or me-
chanic imbibed the useful
prejudice . . . that al-
though the prowess of a
private soldier must often
escape the notice of fame,
his own behaviour might
sometimes confer glory or
disgrace on the company,
the legion, or even the
army, to whose honours he
was associated.
The olive, in the western
y/oM, followed the progress
of peace of which it was
considered as the symbol.
The obvious definition
of a monarchy seems to be
that of a state, &c.
The most important resolu-
tions of peace and war
were seriously debated in
the senate.
INTRODUCTION
xxxni
P. 87,
P. 70.
P. 73.
p. 106.
p. no.
First edition*
The present greatness
of the Roman state, the
corruption of manners,
and the licence of the
soldiers, added new weight
to the advocates of
monarchy.
However the latter [i.e.
the name Caesar], was
diffused by adoption and
female alliance, Nero was
the last prince who could
claim so noble an extraction.
Which . . . ha.d just finish-
ed the conquest of Judaea.
To ascend a throne
streaming with the blood
of so near a relation.
Severus, who had suf-
ficient greatness of mind
to adopt several useful
institutions from a van-
quished enemy.
Second edition.
The present greatness
of the Roman state, the
corruption of manners,
and the licence of the
soldiers supplied new argu-
ments to the advocates of
monarchy.
However the latter was
diffused by adoption and
female alliance, Nero was
the last prince who could
allege any hereditary claim
to the honours of the Julian
line.
Which . . . had recently
achieved the conquest of
Judzea.
To ascend a throne
polluted with the recent
blood of so near a relation.
Severus, who afterwards
displayed the greatness of his
mind by adopting several
useful institutions from a
vanquished enemy.
These are a few specimens of the numerous cases in which
alterations have been made for the purpose of improving
the language. Sometimes, in the new edition, statements
are couched in a less positive form. For example : —
P 9.
P. 77-
The legions themselves
consisted of Roman citizens.
And he even conde-
scended to give lessons of
philosophy in a more
public manner than suited
the modesty of a sage or
the dignity of an emperor.
The legions themselves
were supposed to consist of
Roman citizens.
And he even conde-
scended to give lessons of
philosophy in a more
public manner than was
perhaps consistent with the
modesty of a sage or the
dignity of an emperor.
VOL. I.
XXXIV
INTRODUCTION
There are also cases, where something is added which,
without changing the general sense, renders a statement fuller,
more picturesque, or more vivid. Thus : —
P. 48.
First edition.
A sandy desert skirted
along the doubtful confine
of Syria, from the Eu-
phrates to the Red Sea.
The spirit of improve-
ment had passed the Alps
and been felt even in the
woods of Britain.
Second edition.
P. 24. A sandy desert skirted A sandy desert, alike
destitute of wood and water ^
skirts along the doubtful
confine of Syria, from the
Euphrates to the Red Sea.
The spirit of improve-
ment had passed the Alps
and been felt even in the
woods of Britain, which
were gradually cleared away
to open a free space for
convenient and elegant habita-
tions.
P. 57. The sciences of physic The sciences of physic
and astronomy were suc-
cessfully cultivated by the
Greeks; the observations of
Ptolemy and the writings of
Galen are studied by those
who have improved their
discoveries and corrected
their errors ; but if we
except the inimitable
Lucian, this age of indo-
lence passed away without
having produced a single
writer of original genius,
or who excelled in the arts of
elegant composition,
Gibijon's auto- It may be noticed in this connexion that at a later
graph annota- •'
toT'chi^w period Gibbon set to work to revise the second edition,
nf hin vrnvb
The sciences of physic
and astronomy were culti-
vated with some degree of
reputation ; but if we ex-
cept the inimitable Lucian,
an age of indolence passed
away without producing a
single writer of genius,
who deserved the attention
of posterity.
but did not get further than p. 32 of the first volume.^
His own copy with autograph marginal notes was exhibited
last year, on the occasion of the Gibbon Centenary, by the
^ It is stated that there are also unimportant annotations in vols, iv,
and vi.
INTRODUCTION xxxv
Royal Historical Society, and is to be seen in the British
Museum, The corrections and annotations are as follows : —
" To describe the prosperous condition of their empire." ^^^fj^
Read times for empire.
" And afterwards from the death of Marcus Antoninus.*"
The following note is entered : " Should I not have given the
history of that fortunate period which was interposed between
two iron ages ? Should I not have deduced the decline of
the Empire from the Civil Wars that ensued after the Fall of
Nero, or even from the tyranny which succeeded the reign of
Augustus ? Alas ! I should : but of what avail is this tardy
knowledge ? Where error is irreparable, repentance is use-
less."
"To deduce the most important circumstances of its^2— i
decline and fall : a revolution which will ever be remembered,
and is still felt by the nations of the earth." These words
are erased and the following are substituted : " To prosecute
the decline and fall of the empire of Rome : of whose
language, religion and laws the impression will be long pre-
served in our own and the neighbouring countries of Europe".
To which an observation is appended : " N.B, Mr. Hume
told me that, in correcting his history, he always laboured
to reduce superlatives, and soften positives. Have Asia and
Africa, from Japan to Morocco, any feeling or memory of the
Roman Empire ? "
On the words " rapid succession of triumphs," note :
" ExcuiisioN I. on the succession of Roman triu/mphs ".
On "bulwarks and boundaries," note: " Incertum metup.a— s
an per invidiam (Tacit. Annal. i. 11). Why must rational
advice be imputed to a base or foolish motive? To what
cause, error, malevolence, or flattery shall I ascribe the un-
worthy alternative ? Was the historian dazzled by Trajan's
conquests ? "
" On the immortality and transmigration of soul" (compare p- 6=5
p. 7=6
xxxvi INTRODUCTION
footnote). Note : " Julian assigns this Theological cause, of
whose power he himself might be conscious {Ccesares^ p. 327).
Yet I am not assured that the religion of Zamolxis subsisted
in the time of Trajan ; or that his Dacians were the same
people with the Getae of Herodotus. The transmigration
of the soul has been believed by many nations, warlike as the
Celts, or pusillanimous like the Hindoos. When speculative
opinion is kindled into practical enthusiasm, its operation
will be determined by the praevious character of the man or
the nation."
" On their destroyers than on their benefactors." Note :
" The first place in the temple of fame is due and is assigned
to the successful heroes who had struggled with adversity ;
who, after signalizing their valour in the deliverance of their
country, have displayed their wisdom and virtue in foundation
or government of a flourishing state. Such men as Moses,
Cyrus, Alfred, Gustavus Vasa, Henry IV. of Francej &c."
" The thirst of military glory will ever be the vice of the
most exalted [characters . . . but he] lamented with a sigh
that his advanced age, &c." All included within the brackets
is erased, and the following substituted : " the most exalted
minds. Late generations and far distant climates may im-
pute their calamities to the immortal author of the Iliad.
The spirit of Alexander was inflamed by the praises of
Achilles: and succeeding Heroes have been ambitious to
tread in the footsteps of Alexander. Like him the Emperor
Trajan aspired to the conquest of the East ; but the Roman
lamented with a sigh," &c.
p.u = 9 "A just preference was given to the climates of the north
over those of the south." Note: "The distinction of North
and South is real and intelligible ; and our pursuit is termin-
ated on either side by the poles of the Earth. But the
difference of East and West is arbitrary and shifts round the
globe. As the men of the North, not of the West, the
INTRODUCTION xxxvii
legions of Gaul and Germany were superior to the South-
Eastern natives of Asia and Egypt. It is the triumph of
cold over heat ; which may, however, and has been sur-
mounted by moral causes."
"A correspondent number of tribunes and centurions.''^- ^==^"
Note : " The composition of the Roman officers was very faulty.
1. It was late before a Tribune was fixed to each cohort.
Six tribunes were chosen for the entire legion which two of
them commanded by turns (Polyb. 1. vi. p. 526, edit. Schweig-
haeuser), for the space of two months. 2. One long sub-
ordination from the Colonel to the Corporal was unknown.
I cannot discover any intermediate ranks between the Tribune
and the Centurion, the Centurion and the manipularis or
private leginary [sic] . 3. As the tribunes were often
without experience, the centurions were often without educa-
tion, mere soldiers of fortune who had risen from the ranks
(eo immitior quia toleraverat, Tacit. Annal. i. 20). A body
equal to eight or nine of our batallions might be commanded
by half a dozen young gentlemen and fifty or sixty old
sergeants. Like the legions, our great ships of war may
seem ill provided with officers : but in both cases the deficiency
is corrected by strong principles of discipline and rigour."
"As in the instance of Horace and Agricola." These p. n, foot-
O ^ note 53 =
words are erased. Note : " quod mihi pareret legio Romana If ^°°^^°^^
Tribuno (Horat. Serm. 1. i. vi. 45), a worthy commander of
three and twenty from the school of Athens ! Augustus
was indulgent to Roman birth, liberis Senatorum . . . militiam.
auspicantes non tribunatum modo legionum sed et praefecturas
alarum dedit (Sueton. c. 38)."
" A league and a half above the surface of the sea." Note : ^ ^^ ^^^j_
-'• More correctly, according to Mr. Bouguer, 2500 toises 26%ft^e
(Ruffian, Supplement, tom. v. p. 304). The height of Mont
Blanc is now fixed to 2416 toises (Saussure, Voyage dans les
Alpes, tom. i. p. 495) : but the lowest ground from whence
xxxviii INTEODUCTION
it can be seen is itself greatly elevated above the level of the
sea. He who sails by the isle of TeneriiF, contemplates the
entire Pike^ from the foot to the summit.*"
theSSe'*' ^^^ Gibbon has his place in literature not only as the
and Fall gtylist, who ncver lays aside his toga when he takes up his
pen, but as the expounder of a large and striking idea in a
sphere of intense interest to mankind, and as a powerfiil
representative of certain tendencies of his age. The guid-
ing idea or "moral" of his history is briefly stated in his
epigram : " I have described the triumph of barbarism and
religion ". In other words, the historical development of
human societies, since the second century after Christ, was a
retrogression (according to ordinary views of " progress '' ),
for which Christianity was mainly to blame. This conclusion
of Gibbon tended in the same direction as the theories of
Rousseau ; only, while Rousseau dated the decline from the
day when men left Arcadia, Gibbon''s era was the death of
Marcus Aurelius,
iiB cong. We are thus taken into a region of speculation where every
wphy'S**' traveller must make his own chart. But to attempt to deny a
general truth in Gibbon''s point of view is vain ; and it is feeble
to deprecate his sneer. We may spare more sympathy than
he for the warriors and the churchmen ; but all that has since
been added to his knowledge of facts has neither reversed nor
blunted the point of the " Decline and Fall ". Optimism of
temperament may shut the eyes ; faith, wedded to some "one in-
creasing purpose " which it shrinks from grasping, may divert
from the path of facts. But for an inquirer not blinded by
religious prepossessions, or misled by comfortable sophistries,
Gibbon really expounded one of the chief data with which the
philosophy of history has to reckon. How are we to define
progress ? how recognize retrogression ? What is the end in
relation to which such words have their meaning, and is
INTRODUCTION xxxix
there a law which will explain " the triumph of barbarism
and religion ** as a necessary moment in a reasonable
process towards that end, whatever it may be? Answers
have been given since Gibbon's day, engaging to the intellect,
but always making some demand on the faith — answers
for which he would have the same smile as for Leo's
Dogmatic Epistle. There is certainly some reason for
thinking these questions insoluble. We may say at least that
the meaning of the philosophy of history is misapprehended
until it is recognized that its function is not to solve problems
but to transform them.
But, though the moral of Gibbon''s work has not lost itsoibbon'a
meaning yet, it is otherwise with the particular treatment of jj,gg^
Christian theology and Christian institutions. Our point
of view has altered, and, if Gibbon were writing now, the tone
of his " candid and rational inquiry " would certainly be
different. His manner would not be that of sometimes open,
sometimes transparently veiled, dislike ; he would rather assume
an attitude of detachment. He would be affected by that
merely historical point of view, which is a note of the present
century and its larger tolerances ; and more than half disarmed
by that wide diffusion of unobtrusive scepticism among educated
people, which seems to render offensive warfare superfluous.
The man of letters admires the fine edge of subtle sarcasm,
wielded by Gibbon with such sldll and effect ; while the
historian is interested in an historical standpoint of the last
century. Neither the historian nor the man of letters will
any longer subscribe, without a thousand reserves, to the
theological chapters of the "Decline and Fall," and no
discreet inquirer would go there for his ecclesiastical history.
Yet we need not hide the fact that Gibbon's success has in a
large measure been due to his scorn for the Church ; which,
most emphatically expressed in the theological chapters, has,
as one might say, spiced his book. The attack of a man.
xl
INTRODUCTION
his tempera-
ment
equipped with erudition, and of perfectly sober judgment,
on cherished beliefs and revered institutions, must always
excite the interest, by irritating the passions, of men. Gibbon's
classical moderation of judgment, his temperate mood, was
responsible, as well as foreign education and the influence
Lo be partly of French thought, for his attitude to Christianity and to
oxplalned by " ' *'
..,„* Mahometanism. He hated excess, and the immoderation
of the multitude. He could suffer the tolerant piety of
a learned abbe or " the fat slumbers of the Church " ; but
with the religious faith of a fanatical populace or the ardour
of its demagogues his reason was unable to sympathize. In the
spirit of Cicero or Tacitus he despised the superstitions of the
vulgar, and regarded the unmeasured enthusiasm of the
early Christians as many sober Churchmen regard the
fanaticism of Islam. He dealt out the same measure to the
opposite enthusiasm of Julian the Apostate.^ His work
was all the more effective, because he was never dogmatic
himself. His irony should not be construed as insincerity,
but rather as showing that he was profoundly — one
might say, constitutionally — convinced of the truth of that
sceptical conclusion which has been, in a different spirit,
formulated precisely by the Bishop of Oxford ; " there is no
room for sweeping denunciations or trenchant criticisms in
the dealings of a world whose falsehoods and veracities are
separated by so very thin a barrier ".
Thus Gibbon's attitude to religion, while it was conditioned
by the intellectual atmosphere of Europe in that age, was
also the expression of the man. When Dean Milman spoke
of his "bold and disingenuous attack on Christianity," ^ he
made one of those futile charges which it would be im-
possible to prove and impossible to disprove ; such imputa-
2 The influence of Gibbon*s picture of Julian can be discerned in Ibsenls
*' Emperor and Galilaean ".
^ Jji.a footnote to the Autobiography.
His reason-
able sceptl'
clim
Milman's
Ubel
INTRODUCTION xli
tions as are characteristic of theologians in the heat of con-
troversy and may be condoned to politicians in the heat of
electioneering, but in an historical critic are merely an im-
pertinence.
It has sometimes been remarked that those histories are most oit^rior
purpOBea and
readable which are written to prove a thesis. The indict- b£^^' m
ment of the Empire by Tacitus, the defence of Caesarianism o'watory
by Mommsen, Grote'*s vindication of democracy, Droysen's
advocacy of monarchy, might be cited as examples. All these
writers intended to present the facts as they took place, but
all wrote with prepossessions and opinions, in the light of
which they interpreted the events of history. Arnold Amoid-B
deliberately advocated such partiality on the ground that " the
past is reflected to us by the present and the partyman feels the
present most ". Another Oxford Regius Professor remarked
that " without some infusion of spite it seems as if history
could not be written ". On the other side stands the formula
of Ranke as to the true task of the historian : " Ich will bloss naniw'a view
sagen wie es eigentlich gewesen ist*". The Greek History of
Bishop Thirlwall, the English Constitutional History of
Bishop Stubbs himself, were written in this spirit. But the
most striking instances perhaps, because they tread with such
light feet on the treacherous ashes of more recent history,
are Ranke and Bishop Creighton. Thucydides is the most
ancient example of this historical reserve. It cannot be said Gibiioii'« pre-
^ pOSSOBSlOIlB
that Gibbon sat down to write with any ulterior purpose, but,
as we have seen, he allowed his temperament to colour his
history, and used it to prove a congenial thesis. But, while
he put things in the light demanded by this thesis, he
related his facts accurately. If we take into account the vast
range of his work, his accuracy is amazing. He laboured ao* accuracy
under some disadvantages, which are set forth in his own
Memoirs. He had not enjoyed that school and university
training in thje languages and literatures of Greece and
Oreek
Ofbbon's text
xlii INTRODUCTION
Rome which is probably the best preparation for historical
^perfect rcscarch. His knowledge of Greek was imperfect; he was
very far from having the " scrupulous ear of the well-flogged
critic^'. He has committed errors of translation, and was
capable of writing " Gregory of Nazianzen *". But such slips
are singularly few. Nor is he accustomed to take lightly
quotations at second hand ; like that famous passage of
Eligius of Noyon — ^held up by Arnold as a warning — ^which
Robertson and Hallam successively copied £:om Mosheim,
where it had appeared in a garbled form, to prove exactly the
opposite of its true meaning.
ttSnS™***" From one curious inaccuracy, which neither critics nor
editors seem to have observed, he must I think be acquitted.
In his account of the disturbances in Africa and Egypt in the
reign of Diocletian, we meet the following passage (chap,
xiii., p. 363) :—
" Julian had assumed the purple at Carthage, Achilleus
at Alexandria, and even the Blemmyes, renewed, or
rather continued their incursions into the Upper
Egypt."
Achilleus arose at this time (295-6 a.d.) as a tyrant at
Alexandria ; but that he made either at this date or at any
previous date an incursion into the Upper Egypt, there is
not a trace of evidence in our authorities. I am convinced
however that this error was not originally due to the author,
but merely a treacherous misprint, which was overlooked by
him in correcting the proof sheets, and has also escaped
the notice of his editors. By a slight change in punctua-
tion we obtain a perfectly correct statement of the situation :
"Julian had assumed the purple at Carthage, Achilleus
at Alexandria ; and even the Blemmyes renewed, or
rather continued, their incursions into the Upper
Egypt ".
INTEODUCTION xliii
I have no doubts that this was the sentence originally meant
and probably written by Gibbon, and have felt no scruple
in extirpating the inveterate error from the text,^
Gibbon^s diligent accuracv in the use of his materials Gibbon's debt
cannot be over-praised, and it will not be diminished by
giving the due credit to his French predecessor Tillemont.
The Hwtovre des Empereurs and the Memoires ecclestastigues^
laborious and exhaustive collections of material, were
addressed to the special student and not to the general
reader, but scholars may still consult them with profit. It
is interesting to find Mommsen in his later years retracting
one of his earlier judgments and reverting to a conclusion of
Tillemont. In his recent edition^ of the Laterculus of
Polemius Silvius, he writes thus : —
"L'auteur de la Notice — peritissimi Tillemontii verba
sunt (hist. 5, 699) — vivoit en Occident et ne savoit
pas trop Tetat ou estoit TOrient ; ei iuvenis contra-
dioci hodie subscriho ".
It is one of Gibbon'*s merits that he made full use of Tille-
mont, "whose inimitable accuracy almost assumes the
character of genius," as far as Tillemont guided him, up to
the reign of Anastasius I. ; and it is only just to the
mighty work of the Frenchman to impute to him a
large share in the accuracy which the Englishman achieved.
From the historical, though not from the literary, point of
V>i3\.f(AUUl^ »»».>*»*«.— — .-f — - J. J - — - \ J/' r '
279) 1- 5 ^o"^ ^^'O'' ^ ^^^® assumed an instance of " lipography ". (4). p. 328,
n. 35, " Lycius " had been already corrected (see Smith's ed.) to " Lydius ",
Probably Gibbon had his Zosimus open before him when he wrote this note,
and his pen traced Lycius because Lycia happened to occur In the very next line
of his authority. I have followed Sir William Smith's precedent in dealing
freely with the punctuation, and in modernizing the spelling of a few words.
« In the Chronica Minora (M. G. H.), vol. i., 512 5^5. See p. 533.
xliv INTEODUCTION
view. Gibbon, deserted by Tillemont, distinctly declines,
though he is well sustained through the wars of Justinian by
the clear narrative of Procopius.
HtanecBSBary Recoffnizinff that Gibbon was accurate, we do not acknow-
ledge by implication that he was always right ; for
accuracy is relative to opportunities. The discovery of
new materials, the researches of numerous scholars, in the
course of a hundred years, have not only added to our know-
ledge of facts, but have modified and upset conclusions which
Gibbon with his materials was justified in drawing. Compare
a chapter or two of Mr. Hodgkin's Italy and her Invaders
with the corresponding episode in Gibbon, and many minor
points will appear in which correction has been needful. If
Gibbon were alive and writing now, his history would be very
different. Affected by the intellectual experiences of the past
century he could not adopt quite the same historical attitude ;
and we should consequently lose the colouring of his brilliant
attack on Christianity. Again, he would have found it an
absolute necessity to learn what he insolently called that
" barbarous idiom," the German language ; and this might
have affected his style as it would certainly have affected his
matter. We dare not deplore Gibbon's limitations, for they
were the conditions of his great achievement.
SSSSf Not the least important aspect of the Decline and Fall is
history _ ^ ^
its lesson in the unity of history, the favourite theme of Mr.
Freeman, The title displays the cardinal fact that the
Empire founded by Augustus fell in 1461 ; that all the
changes which transformed the Europe of Marcus Aurelius
into the Europe of Erasmus had not abolished the name
and memory of the Empire. And whatever names
of contempt — in harmony with his thesis — Gibbon might
apply to the institution in the period of its later decline,
such as the " Lower Empire," or " Greek Empire," his title
rectified any false impressions that such language might
INTHODUCTION xlv
cause. On the continuity of the Roman Empire depended
the unity of his work. By the emphasis laid on this fact he
did the same kind of service to the study of history in England,
that Mr. Bryce has done in his Holy Roman Empire by
tracing the thread which connects the Europe of Francis the
Second with the Europe of Charles the Great.
Gibbon read widely, and had a large general knowledge of
history, which supplied him with many happy illustrations.
It is worth pointing out that the gap in his knowledge of
ancient history was the period of the Diadochi and Epigoni.
If he had been familiar with that period, he would not have
said that Diocletian was the first to give to the world the
example of a resignation of sovereignty. He would have
referred to the conspicuous case of Ptolemy Soter ; Mr. Free-
man would have added Lydiadas, the tyrant of Megalopolis.
Of the earlier example of Asarhaddon Gibbon could not have
known.
To pass from scope and spirit to method, Gibbon's New methods
of rese&rcii
historical sense kept him constantly right in dealing with his
sources, but he can hardly be said to have treated them
methodically. The growth of German erudition is one of the
leading features of the intellectual history of the nineteenth
century ; and one of its most important contributions to
historical method lies in the investigation of sources. German
scholars have indeed pressed this " Quellenkunde " further " oneuen-
than it can safely be pressed. A philologist, writing his
doctoral dissertation, will bring plausible reasons to prove
where exactly Diodorus ceased to "write out" Ephorus,
whose work we do not possess, and began to write out some-
body else, whose work is also lost to us. But, though the
method lends itself to the multiplication of vain subtleties,
it is absolutely indispensable for scientific historiography. It
is in fact part of the science of evidence. The distinction
of primary and derivative authorities might be used as a test.
xlvi INTRODUCTION
The untrained historian fails to recognize that nothing is
added to the value of a statement of Widukind by its
repetition by Thietmar or Ekkehard, and that a record in the
Continuation of Theophanes gains no further credibility from
the fact that it likewise occurs in Cedrenus, Zonaras or
Glycas.
While evidence is more systematically arranged, greater
care is bestowed on sifting and probing what our authorities
say, and in distinguishing contemporary from later witnesses.
Not a few important results have been derived from such
methods ; they enable us to trace the growth of stories. The
evidence against Faustina shrinks into nothing ; the existence
of Pope Joan is exploded. It is irrelevant to condemn a
statement of Zonaras as made by a " modem Greek '\ The
question is, where did he get it ? *
The difficult questions connected with the authorship and
compilation of the Historia Augusta have produced a chest-
ful of German pamphlets, but they did not trouble Gibbon.
The relationships of the later Greek chronicles and histories
are more difficult and intricate even than the questions
raised by the Historia Augusta, but he did not even formu-
late a prudent interrogation. Ferdinand Hirsch, twenty
years ago, cleared new roads through this forest, in which
George the Monk and the Logothete who continued him,
Leo Grammaticus and Simeon Magister, John Scylitzes,
George Cedrenus and Zonaras lived in promiscuous obscurity.
BLittner-Wobst on one side, C. de Boor on the other, have
been working eflFectually on the same lines, clearing up the
haze which surrounds George the Monk — ^the time has gone
by for calling him George Hamartolus. Another formidable
problem, that of John Malalas — with his namesake John of
® Gibbon had a notion of this, but did not apply it methodically. See in
this vol., p. 415, note 59 : '* but those modern Greeks had the opportunity of
consulting many writers which have since been lost ". And see, in general,
his Preface to the fourth volume of the quarto ed.
INTRODUCTION xlvii
Antioch, so hard to catch, — having been grappled with by
Jeep, Sotiriades and others, is now being more effectively
treated by Patzig.
Criticism, too, has rejected some sources from which Gibbon Eiampie^o
drew without suspicion. In the interest of literature we^SSS*"**'
may perhaps be glad that like Ockley he used with confidence
the now discredited Al Wakidi. Before such maintained
perfection of manner, to choose is hard ; but the chapters on
the origin of Mahometanism and its first triumphs against
the Empire would alone be enough to win perpetual literary
fiame. Without Al Wakidi's romance they would not have
been written ; and the historian, compelled to regard Gibbon's
description as he would a Life of Charles the Great based on
the monk of St. Gall, must refer the inquirer after facts to
Sprenger*'s Life of Mahomet and Weil's History of the
Caliphs.^
In connexion with the use of materials, reference may be Error of
•^ blending
made to a mode of proceeding which Gibbon has sometimes d?^J|Jt°'
adopted and which modem method condemns. It is not''*'^*'*^
legitimate to blend the evidence of two different periods in
order to paint a complete picture of an institution. Great
caution, for example, is needed in using the Greek epics,
of which the earliest and latest parts differ by a long interval,
for the purpose of pourtraying a so-called Homeric or
heroic age. A notice of Fredegarius will not be necessarily
applicable to the age of the sons and grandsons of Chlodwig,
and a custom whicli was familiar to Gregory or Venantius
7 In Mahometan history in general, it may be added, not only has advance
been made by access to new literary oriental documents, but its foundations
have been more surely grounded by numismatic researches, especially those
of Mr. Stanley Lane-Poole. This scholar's recently published handbook con-
taining tables and lists of the " Mohammadan " Dynasties is a guerdon for
which students of history must be most deeply grateful. The special histories
of Mahometan Sicily and Spain have been worked out by Amari and Dozy.
For the Mongols we have the overwhelming results of Sir Henry Howorth's
learning and devotion to his "vasty" subject.
xlviii INTEODUCTION
may have become obsolete before the days of the last Mer-
wings. It is instructive to compare Gibbon's description of
the social and political institutions of our Teutonic forefathers
with that of Bishop Stubbs. Gibbon blends together with
dexterity the evidence of Caesar and Tacitus, between whom
a century had elapsed, and composes a single picture ; whereas
Bishop Stubbs keeps the statements of the two Romans care-
fully apart, and by comparing them is able to show that in
certain respects the Germans had developed in the interval.
Gibbon's account of the military establishment of the Empire,
in the first chapter of his work, is open to a like objection.
He has blended, without due criticism, the evidence of
Vegetius with that of earlier writers.^
propesBof In the study of sources, then, our advance has been great,
criticiBm while the labours of an historian have become more arduous.
It leads us to another advance of the highest importance.
To use historical documents with confidence, an assurance
that the words of the writer have been correctly transmitted
is manifestly indispensable. It generally happens that our texts
have come down in several MSS., of different ages, and there
are often various discrepancies. We have then to determine
the relations of the MSS. to each other and their comparative
values. To the pure pliilologist this is part of the alphabet
of his profession ; but the pure historian takes time to realize
it, and it was not realized in the age of Gibbon as it is to-day.
Nothing forces upon the historian the necessity of having a
sound text so impressively as the process of comparing
different documents in order to determine whether one was
dependent on anotlier, — the process of investigating sources.
^ It may be said for Gibbon, however, that even Mommsen, in his volume
on the Provinces, has adopted this practice of blending evidence of different
dates. For the historical artist, it is very tempting, when the evidence for
any particular period is scanty ; but in the eyes of the scientific historian it
is indefensible.
INTRODUCTION xlix
In this respect we have now to be thankful for many blessings
denied to Gibbon and — so recent is our progress — denied to
Milman and Finlay. We have Mommsen's editions of improved
Jordanes and the Variae of Cassiodorius, his Chronica Minora
(still incomplete), including, for instance, Idatius, the Prospers,
Count Marcellinus ; we have Peter's Historia Augusta,
Gardthausen's Ammianus, Luetjohann's Sidonius Apolli-
naris; Duchesne's Liher Pontijicalis ; and a large number
of critical texts of ecclesiastical writers might be m.entioned.^
The Greek historians have been less fortunate. The Bonn Defective
edition of the "Byzantine Writers/' issued under the
auspices of Niebuhr and Bekker in the early part of
this century, was the most lamentably feeble production
ever given to the world by German scholars of great reputa-
tion. It marked no advance on the older folio edi-
tion, except that it was cheaper, and that one or two
new documents were included. But there is now a reason-
able prospect that we shall by degrees have a complete series
of trustworthy texts. De Boor showed the way by his and improved
•/ *' •' Greek texts
splendid edition of Theophanes and his smaller texts of
Theophylactus Simocatta and the Patriarch Nicephorus.
Mendelssohn's Zosimus, and Reifferscheid's Anna Comnena
stand beside them. Haury promises a Procopius, and we
are expecting from Seger a long desired John Scylitzes, the
greater part of whose text, though existing in a MS. at
Paris, has never been printed and can only be inferred by a
comparison of the Latin translation of Gabius with the
chronicle of Cedrenus who copied him with faithful servility.
The legends of the Saints, though properly outside the JJ^ej^t-gon^
domain of the historian proper, often supply him with valu- ^**"*"
able help. For " Culturgeschichte " they are a direct source.
Finlay observed that the Acta Sanctorum contain an un-
^ Especially the Corpus Ecclesiasticorum Latinorum.
d VOL I.
1
INTEODUCTION
New
Material.
Examples ;
(1) Namis-
matics
Seals
(2) Oojaatlta
ti
clonal
history
explored mine for the social life of the Eastern Empire.
But before they can be confidently dealt with, trained
criticism must do its will on the texts ; the relations between
the various versions of each legend must be defined and the
tradition in each case made clear. The task is huge; the
libraries of Europe and Hither Asia are full of these holy
tales. But Usener has made a good beginning and Krumbacher
has rendered the immense service of pointing out precisely
what the problems axe}^
Besides improved methods of dealing with the old material,
much new material of various kinds has been discovered,
since the work of Gibbon. To take one department, our
coins have increased in number. It seems a pity that he
who worked at his Spanheim with such diligence was not
able to make use of Eckhel's great work on Imperial
coinage which began to appear in 1792 and was completed
in 1798. . Since then we have had Cohen, and the special
works of Saulcy and Sabatier. M. Schlumberger^s splendid
study of Byzantine sigillography must be mentioned in the
same connexion."
The constitution and history of the Principate, and the
provincial government of the early Emperors, have been
'° Usener, Der heilige Theodosios, i8go. Krumbacher, Studien zu den
Legenden des heiligen Theodosios, 1892. It is worth while to state briefly
what the chief problem is. The legends of the Saints were collected,
rehandled, cleansed of casual heresy, and put into literary form in the tenth
century (towards its close according to Vasilievski) by Sytneon Metaphrastes.
Most of our MSS. are derived from the edition of Symeon ; but there are
also extant, some, comparatively few, containing the original pre-Symeonic
versions, which formed the chief literary recreation of ordinary men and
women before the tenth century. The problem is to collect the materials
for a critical edition of as many legends as have been preserved in their
original form. When that is done, we shall have the data for fully appreciat-
ing the methods of Symeon. As for the text Krumbacher points out that
what we want is a thoroughgoing study of the Grammar of the MSS.
1^ M. Schlumberger followed up this work by an admirable monograph on
Nicephorus Phocas, luxuriously illustrated; and we are looking forward to
the appearance of a companion work on Basil II.
INTRODUCTION li
placed on an entirely new basis by Mommsen and his school."
The Romisches Staatsrecht is a fabric for whose rearing was
needed not only improved scholarship but an extensive
collection of epigraphic material. The Corpus of Latin Epigraphy
Inscriptions is the keystone of the work.
Hence Gibbon**s first chapters are somewhat " out of date *".
But on the other hand his admirable description of the
change from the Principate to absolute Monarchy, and the
system of Diocletian and Constantine, is still most valuable.
Here inscriptions are less illustrative, and he disposed of much
the same material as we, especially the Codex Theodosianus.
New light is badly wanted, and has not been to any extent
forthcoming, on the respective contributions of Diocletian
and Constantine to the organization of the new monarchy.
As to the arrangement of the provinces we have indeed ajjj^^j^s*"'
precious document in the Verona List (published by Mommsen),
which, dating from 297 a.d., shows Diocletian''s reorganiza-
tion. The modifications which were made between this year
and the beginning of the fifth century when the Notitia
Dignitatum was drawn up, can be largely determined not
only by lists in Rufus and Ammianus, but, as far as the
eastern provinces are concerned, by the Laterculus of
Polemius Silvius. Thus, partly by critical method applied
to Polemius, partly by the discovery of a new document, we
are enabled to rectify the list of Gibbon, who adopted the
simple plan of ascribing to Diocletian and Constantine the
detailed organization of the Notitia. Otherwise our know-
ledge of the changes of Diocletian has not been greatly
augmented ; but our clearer conception of the Principate and
its steady development towards pure monarchy has reflected
^2 The first volume of Mr. Pelham's history of the Empire, which is ex-
pected shortly, will show, when compared with Merivale, how completely
our knowledge of Roman institutions has been transformed within a very
recent period.
lii INTRODUCTION
light on Diocletian's system ; and the tendencies of the
third century, though still obscure at many points, have
been made more distinct. The year of the Gordians is still
as great a puzzle as ever ; but the dates of Alexandrine
coins with the tribunician years give us here, as elsewhere,
limits of which Gibbon was ignorant. While speaking of the
third century, I may add that Calpurnius Siculus, whom
Gibbon claimed as a contemporary of Carinus, has been
restored by modem criticism to the reign of Nero, and this
error has vitiated some of Gibbon's pages.
The constitutional history of the Empire from Diocletian
forward has still to be written systematically. Some note-
worthy contributions to this subject have been made by
Russian scholars.
3) Law Gibbon's forty-fourth chapter is still not only famous, but
admired by jurists as a brief and brilliant exposition of the
principles of Roman law. To say that it is worthy of the
subject is the best tribute that can be paid to it. A series
of foreign scholars of acute legal ability has elaborated the
study of the science in the present century ; I need only
refer to such names as Savigny and Jhering. A critical
edition of the Corpus juris Romani by Mommsen himself has
Gaiiw been one of the chief contributions. The manuscript of
Gaius is the new discovery to be recorded ; and we can
imagine with what interest Gibbon, were he restored to
earth, would compare in Gneist's parallel columns the Institu-
tions with the elder treatise.
But whoever takes up Gibbon's theme now will not be
content with an exposition of the Justinianean Law. He
must go on to its later development in the subsequent
oraco centuries, in the company of Zacharia von Lingenthal and
Heimbach. Such a study has been made possible and
comparatively easy by the magnificent works of Zacharia ;
Ecioga among whose achievements I may single out his restoration of
INTRODUtJTION liii
the Ecloga, which used to be ascribed to Leo VI., to its true
author Leo III. ; a discovery which illuminated in a most wel-
come manner the Isaurian reformation. It is interesting to
observe that the last work which engaged him even on his
death-bed was an attempt to prove exactly the same thing for
the military treatise known as the Tactics of Leo VI. Here
too Zacharia thinks that Leo was the Isaurian, while the
received view is that he was the " Philosopher ".
Having illustrated by examples the advantages open to an
historian of the present day, which were not open to Gibbon,
for dealing with Gibbon''s theme, — improved and refined
methods, a closer union of philology with history, and
ampler material — we may go on to consider a general defect
in his treatment of the Later Empire, and here too exhibit,
by a few instances, progress made in particular departments.
Gibbon ended the first half of his work with the so-called oibbon'B
treatment o:
fall of the Western Empire in 476 a.d.— a date which hasgjp^?*''
been fixed out of regard for Italy and Rome, and should
strictly be 480 a.d. in consideration of Julius Nepos. Thus
the same space is devoted to the fii'st three hundred years
which is allowed to the remaining nine hundred and eighty.
Nor does the inequality end here. More than a quarter of
the second half of the work deals with the first two of these
ten centuries. The mere statement of the fact shows that
the history of the Empire from Heraclius to the last Grand
Comnenus of Trebizond is merely a sketch with certain
episodes more fully treated. The personal history and
domestic policy of all the Emperors, from the son of Heraclius
to Isaac Angelus, are compressed into one chapter. This mode
of dealing with the subject is in harmony with the author's con-
temptuous attitude to the "Byzantine" or "Lower" Empire.
But Gibbon*'s account of the internal history of the Fake im-
"^ presslon as tc
Empire after Heraclius is not only superficial ; it gives an fffiSSJf ^^
liv INTRODUCTION
entirely false impression of the facts. If the materials had
been then as well sifted and studied as they are even to-day,
he could not have failed to see that beneath the intrigues
and crimes of the Palace there were deeper causes at work,
and beyond the revolutions of the Capital City wider issues
implied. The cause for which the Iconoclasts contended
involved far more than an ecclesiastical rule or usage ; it
meant, -and they realized, the regeneration of the Empire.
Or, to take another instance : the key to the history of the
tenth and eleventh centuries, is the struggle between the
Imperial throne and the great landed interest of Asia Minor ; ^^
the accession of Alexius Commenus marked the final victory
of the latter. Nor had Gibbon any conception of the great
ability of most of the Emperors from Leo the Isaurian to
Basil 11.5 or, we might say, to Constantine the conqueror
of Armenia. The designation of the story of the later
Empire as a " uniform tale of weakness and misery " ^* is one
and aa to Its of the most uutruc, and most effective, iudgments ever uttered
weakness ' ? J o
by a thoughtfiil historian. Before the outrage of 1204, the
Empire was the bulwark of the West.^^
Reaction Agajust Gibbon"'s point of view there has been a gradual
reaction which may be said to have culminated within the
Finiay-s last ten years. It was begun by P'inlay, whose unprosperous
speculations in Greece after the Revolution prompted him to
seek for the causes of the insecurity of investments in land,
and, leading him back to the year 146 B.C., involved him in
^ This has been best pointed out by C. Neumann.
" Chap, xlviii. ad init.j where a full statement of his view of the later
Empire will be found.
^° I need not repeat here what I have said elsewhere, and what many
others have said (recently Mr. Frederic Harrison in two essays in his volume
entitled The Meaning of History) as to the various services of the Empire to
Europe. They are beginning to be generally recognized and they have been
brought out in Mr. C. W. Oman's brief and skilful sketch of the " By/antine
Empire "(1892).
History
INTRODUCTION Iv
a history of the "Byzantine Empire" which embedded a
history of Greece.^** The great value of Finlay's work lies not
only in its impartiality and in his trained discernment of the
commercial and financial facts underlying the superficial history
of the chronicles, but in its full and trustworthy narration of
the events. By the time that Mr. Tozer^s edition appeared
in 1876, it was being recognized that Gibbon*'s word on the
later Empire was not the last. Meanwhile Hertzberg was other re.
, searches
going over the ground in Germany, and Gfrorer, whose
ecclesiastical studies had taken him into those regions, had
written a good deal of various value. Hirsch*'s Byzantmi^che
Studien had just appeared, and Rambaud's V Empire grec au
x^e siecle. M. Sathas was bringing out his Bibliotheca Graeca
medii aevi — including two volumes of Psellus — and was begin-
ning his Documents inedits. Professor Lambros was working
at his Athens in the Twelfth Century and preparing his editio
princeps of the great Archbishop Akominatos. Hopf had
collected a mass of new materials from the archives of southern
cities. In England, Freeman was pointing out the true position
of New Rome and her Emperors in the history of Europe.
These tendencies have increased in volume and velocity
within the last twenty years. They may be said to have
reached their culminating point in the publication of Professor
Krumbacher's History of Byzantine Literature,^''^ The im-Knunhaciit:
portance of this work, of vast scope and extraordinary accuracy,
can only be fully understood by the specialist. It has already
promoted and facilitated the progress of the study in an in-
calculable measure ; and it was soon followed by the inaugura-
ls Since then a Greek scholar, K. Paparrigopulos, has covered the whole his-
tory of Greece from the earliest times to the present century, in his 'Icrop^a
Tov 'EW-nvtKov $9vovs. The same gigantic task, but in a more popular form,
Mas been undertaken and begun by Professor Lambros, but is not yet finished.
^ Geschichte der byzantinischen Litteratur (565-1453), i8gi.
Ivi INTRODUCTION
tion of a journal, entirely devoted to works on "Byzantine"
subjects, by the same scholar. The Byzantmische Zeitschrift
would have been impossible twenty-five years ago and nothing
shows more surely the turn of the tide. Professor Krum-
bacher's work seems likely to form as important an epoch as
that of Ducange.
Suf Meanwhile in a part of Europe which deems itself to have
rtmfentf^ received the torch from the Emperors as it has received their
torch from the Patriarchs, and which has always had a special
regard for the city of Constantine, some excellent work was
being done. In Russia, Muralt edited the chronicle of
George the monk and his Continuers, and compiled Byzantine
Fasti. The Journal of the Ministry of Public Instruction is
the storehouse of a long series of most valuable articles
dealing, from various sides, with the history of the later
Empire, by those indefatigable workers Uspenski and Vasi-
lievski. At length, in 1894, Krumbacher's lead has been
followed, and the Vizantiski Vremervnik^ a Russian counter-
part of the Byzantmische Zeitschrift^ has been started under
the joint editorship of Vasilievski and Regel, and is clearly
destined, with the help of Veselovski, Kondakov, Bieliaiev and
the rest of a goodly fellowship, to make its mark.
re"?rch°' After thls general sketch of the new prospects of later
Examples °^ Imperial history, it will be useful to show by some examples
what sort of progress is being made, and what kind of work
has to be done. I will first take some special points of
interest connected with Justinian. My second example shall
be the topography of Constantinople ; and my third the large
field of literature composed in colloquial Greek. Lastly, the
capital defect of the second half of Gibbon's work, his in-
adequate treatment, or rather his neglect, of the Slavs, wil
serve to illustrate our historical progress.
INTRODUCTION Ivii
New liffht has been cast, from more than one side, on the (D J^tinian.
" ' ' (a) Procoplus
reign of Justinian where there are so many uncertain and smf^**
interesting places. The first step that methodical history
had to take was a thoroughgoing criticism of Procopius, and
this was more than half done by Dahn in his elaborate
monograph. The double problem of the " Secret History "
has stimulated the curiosity of the historian and the critic.
Was Procopius the author ? and in any case, are the state-
ments credible ? Gibbon has inserted in his notes tlie worst
bits of the scandals which far outdid the convivium quinqua-
ginta meretricum described by Burchard, or the feast of
Sophonius Tigellinus ; and he did not hesitate to believe them.
Their credibility is now generally questioned, but the historian
of Caesarea is a much more interesting figure if it can be
shown that he was the author. From a careful comparison
of the Secret History with the works of Procopian authorship,
in point of style, Dahn concluded that Procopius wrote it.
Ranke argued against this view and maintained that it was
the work of a malcontent who had obtained possession of a
private diary of Procopius, on which framework he constructed
the scandalous chronicle, imitating successfully the Procopian
style.^^
The question has been placed on a new footing by Haury ; ^® ^^ diBcovery
and it is very interesting to find that the solution depends on
the right determination of certain dates. The result is
briefly as follows : —
Procopius was a malcontent who hated Justinian and all
his works. He set himself the task of writing a history of
his time, which, as the secretary of Belisarius, he had good
opportunities of observing. He composed a narrative of
the military events, in which he abstained from committing
IS I was seduced by this hypothesis of Ranke (Later Roman Empire, i.
363), but no longer believe in it.
i» Procopiana, 1891.
Iviii INTRODUCTION
himself, so that it could be safely published in his own life-
time. Even here his critical attitude to the government is
sometimes clear. He allows it to be read between the lines
that he regarded the reconquest of Africa and Italy as
calamities for those countries ; which thus came under an
oppressor, to be stripped by his governors and tax gatherers.
But the domestic administration was more dangerous ground,
on which Procopius could not tread without raising a voice
of bitter indignation and hatred. So he dealt with this in a
book which was to be kept secret during his own life and
bequeathed to friends who might be trusted to give it to the
world at a suitable time. The greater part of the Military
History, which treated in seven Books the Persian, Vandalic,
and Gothic wars, was finished in 54:5 a.d., and perhaps read
to a select circle of friends ; at a later time some additions
were made, but no changes in what had been already written.
The Secret History, as Haury has proved from internal
evidence, was written in 550.^^ About three years later the
Military History received an eighth Book, bringing the story
down to the end of the Gothic war. Then the work came
under the notice of Justinian, who saw that a great historian
had arisen ; and Procopius, who had certainly not described
the wars for the purpose of pleasing the Emperor, but had
sailed as close to the wind as he dared, was called upon to
undertake the disagreeable task of lauding the oppressor. An
Imperial command was clearly the origin of the De Aedi-
ficiis (560 A.D.), in which the reluctant writer adopted the
plan of making adulation so fulsome, that, except to
Justinian's vanity, he might appear to be laughing in his
^ One of the author's points is that Justinian was the real ruler during the
nominal reign of Justin, who was an " ass ". Hence he dates Justinian's
administration (not of course his Imperial years) from 518. The conse-
quence of this important discovery of Haury, which he has proved up to the
hilt, is that the work was written in 550 (not, as before believed, in 559) —
the thirty-second year of Justinian*s administration.
INTEODUCTION lix
sleeve. At the very beginning of the treatise he has a sly
allusion to the explosives which were lying in his desk, un-
known to the Imperial spies.
Such is the outline of the literary motives of Procopius as
we must conceive them, now that we have a practical certainty
that he, and no other, wrote the Secret History. For
Haury's dates enable us, as he points out, to argue as follows :
If Procopius did not write the book, it was obviously written
by a forger, who wished it to pass as a Procopian work. But
in 550 no forger could have had the close acquaintance with
the Military History which is exhibited by the author of the
Anecdota, And moreover the identity of the introduction
of the eighth Book of the Military History with that of
the Secret History, which was urged by Ranke as an objection
to the genuineness of the latter work, now tells decisively
in favour of it. For if Procopius composed it in 553, how
could a forger, writing in 550, have anticipated it ? And if
the forger composed it in 550, how are we to explain its
appearance in a later work of Procopius himself.? These
considerations put it beyond all reasonable doubt that
Procopius was the author of the Secret History ; for this
assumption is the only one which supplies an intelligible
explanation of the facts.
Another puzzle in connexion with Justinian lay in certain i^) '^ito-
r^ -^ _ ^ phllus' Life ot
biographical details relating to that emperor and his family, ^f^*^"**"
which Alemanni, in his commentary on the Secret History,
quoted on the authority of a Life of Justinian by a certain
Abbot Theophilus, said to have been the Emperor's preceptor.
Of these biographical notices, and of Justinian's preceptor
Theophilus, we otherwise knew nothing ; nor had any one,
since Alemanni, seen the Biography. Gibbon and other
historians accepted without question the statements quoted
by Alemanni ; though it would have been wiser to treat theni
with more reserve, until some data for criticizing them
Ix INTRODUCTION
were discovered. The puzzle of Alemannrs source, the
S'^rrycfLife of Theophilus, was solved by Mr. Bryce, who dis-
covered in the library of the Barberini palace at Rome the
original text from which Alemanni drew his information.^^
It professes to be an extract from a Slavonic work, containing
the Life of Justinian up to the thirtieth year of his reign,
composed by Bogomil, abbot of the monastery of St. Alexander
in Dardania. This extract was translated by Marnavich,
Canon of Sebenico (afterwards Bishop of Bosnia, 1631-1689),
a friend of Alemanni, and some notes were appended by the
same scholar. Bogomil is the Slavonic equivalent of the
Greek Theophihis, which was accordingly adopted by
Alemanni in his references, Mr. Bryce has shown clearly
that this document, interesting as it is in illustrating how
Slavonic legends had grown up round the name of Justinian,
is worthless as history, and that there is no reason to suppose
that such a person as the Dardanian Bogomil ever existed.
We are indeed met by a new problem, which, however, is of
no serious concern to the practical purposes of history. How
did Marnavich obtain a copy of the original Life, from which
he made the extract, and which he declares to be preserved in
the library of the monks who profess the rule of St. Basil on
Mount Athos ? Does the original still exist, on Mount
Athos or elsewhere ? or did it ever exist ?
The wars of Justinian ^^ in the west have been fully and
admirably related by Mr. Hodgkin, with the exception of the
obscure conquest of Spain, on which there is too little to be
said and nothing further seems likely to come to light. In
regard to the ecclesiastical policy of Justinian there is still a
field for research.
^^ The Life of Justinian by Theophilus, in the English Historical Review.
Vasil'ev has given an account of Mr. Bryce's article in the Vizantiski Vrem-
ennik^ i., 469 sqq.
22 The Persian and Lazic Wars have been related \n detail in my Later
Roman Empire, vol. i.
INTRODUCTION Ixi
As for the study of the ereat work of Anthemius, which (?) sancta
. JO 5 Sophia, and
brings us to the general subject of Byzantine art, much has^^*""**"^
been done within the last half century. Gibbon had nothing
to help him for the buildings of Constantinople that could
compare with Adam's splendid work which he consulted for
the buildings of Spalato. We have now Salzenberg**s luxuri-
ous work, Alt-christliche Baudenkmale von Constantmopelj
published just fifty years ago by the Prussian government,
with plates which enable us to make a full study of the
architecture of St. Sophia. A few months ago a complete
and scholarly English study of this church by Messrs. Lethaby
and Swainson appeared. Other churches, too, especially
those at Ravenna, have received careful attention ; De Vogue*'s
admirable work on the architecture of Syria is well known ;
but Strzygovski has only too good reason for complaining
that the study of Byzantine architecture, as a whole, has not
yet properly begun. A large work on the churches of Greece,
which two English scholars are preparing, ought to do much
to further the cause which Strzygovski has at heart, and to
which he has made valuable contributions himself.^ More
progress is perhaps being made in the study of miniature
painting and iconography ; and in this field the work of the
Russian student Kondakov is the most noteworthy.
The study of works of architecture in ancient cities, like g.^Jgj *^p°
Athens, Rome, or Constantinople, naturally entails a study of nS^fe*"^ '
the topography of the town; and in the case of Constanti-
nople this study is equally important for the historian.
Little progress of a satisfactory kind can be made until either
Constantinople passes under a European government, or a
complete change comes over the spirit of Turkish administra-
tion. The region of the Imperial Palace and the ground
^ His new work on the reservoirs of Constantinople may be specially
mentioned.
Ixii INTRODUCTION
between the Hippodrome and St. Sophia must be excavated
before certainty on the main points can be attained. Labarte's
a priori reconstruction of the plan of the palace, on the
basis of the Cerimonies of Constantine Porphyrogennetos and
scattered notices in other Greek writers, was wonderfully in-
genious and a certain part of it is manifestly right, though
there is much which is not borne out by a more careful
examination of the sources. The next step was taken by a
Bieuaiev Russian scholar Bieliaiev who has recently published a most
valuable study on the Cerimonies,^* in which he has tested the
reconstruction of Labarte and shown us exactly where we
are, — what we know, and what with our present materials
we cannot possibly know. Between Labarte and Bieliaiev the
whole problem was obscured by the unscholarly work of
Paspates, the Greek antiquarian ; whose sole merit was that
he kept the subject before the world. As the acropolis is
the scene of so many great events in the history which Gibbon
recorded, it is well to warn the reader that our sources make
it absolutely certain that the Hippodrome adjoined the
Palace; there was no public space between them. The
Augusteum did not lie, as Paspates asserted, between the
Palace and the Hippodrome, ^^ but between the north side of
the Hippodrome and St. Sophia.
** Byzantina. Ocherki, materialy, i zamietki po Vizantiskim drevnostiam,
1891-3. I must not omit to mention Dr. Mordtmann's valuable Esquisse
topographique (1892), and N. Destunis has made noteworthy contributions
to the subject.
25 With blameworthy indiscretion I accepted this false view of PaspatSs,
in my Later Roman Empire, without having gone methodically into the
sources. I was misled by the fame won by the supposed "topographical
discoveries " of this diligent antiquarian and by his undeservedly high
reputation ; this, however, is no excuse, and unfortunately the error has
vitiated my account of the Nika revolt. I have gone into the theory of
Paspates in the Scottish Review (April, 1894), where he is treated too leniently.
His misuse of authorities is simply astounding. I may take the opportunity
of saying that I hope to rewrite the two volumes of my Later Roman
Empire and correct, so far as I may be able, its many faults. A third volume,
dealing with the ninth century, will, I hope, appear at a not too distant date.
INTKODUCTION Ixiii
On the trades and industries of the Imperial City, on the The booh of
trade corporations and the minute control exercised over
them by the government, new light has been thrown by M.
Nicole''s discovery and publication of the Prefect's Book, a
code of regulations drawn up by Leo VI. The demes of
Constantinople are a subject which needs investigation.
They are certainly not to be regarded as Gibbon and his
successors have regarded them, as mere circus parties. They
must represent, as Uspenski points out in the opening number
of the new Vizantiski VremenniJCy organized divisions of the
population.
A field in which the historian must wander to breathe the(3)"vuigM-
spirit and learn the manner of the mediaeval Greek world is^"®''^^*^"
that of the romance, both prose and verse, written in the
vulgar tongue. This field was closed to Gibbon, but the
labours of many scholars, above all Legrand, have rendered it
now easily accessible. Out of a large number of interesting
things I may refer especially to two. One is the epic of
Digenes Akritas, the Roland or Cid of the Later Empire, a Digeneg
poem of the tenth century, which illustrates the life of
Armatoli and the border warfare against the Saracens in the
Cilician mountains. The other is the Book of the Conquest
of the Morea,^^ a mixture of fiction and fact, but invaluable Tha chronicle
of llorea
for realizing the fascinating though complicated history of
the "Latin'' settlements in Greece. That history was set
aside by Gibbon, with the phrase, " I shall not pursue the niBtory of
•^ ' . GreBce after
obscure and various dynasties that rose and fell on thecSnqa^
continent or in the isles," though he deigns to give a page or
two to Athens.^^ But it is a subject with unusual possibilities
^ The Greek and the French versions were published by Buchon, un-
critically. A new edition of the Greek text is promised by Dr. John Schmitt.
27 The history of mediaeval Athens has been recorded at length in an
attractive work by Gregorovius, the counterpart of his great history of
mediaeval Rome.
Ixiv INTRODUCTION
for picturesque treatment, and out of which. Gibbon, if he
had apprehended the opportunity, and had possessed the
materials, would have made a brilliant chapter. Since
Finlay, who entered into this episode of Greek history
with great fulness, the material has been largely increased
by the researches of Hopf.^^
(4) Th« suvB As I have already observed, it is perhaps on the Slavonic
S^LatJr'^*^ side of the history of the Empire that Gibbon is most
^ * conspicuously inadequate. Since he wrote, various causes
have combined toincreaseour knowledge of Slavonic antiquity.
The Slavs themselves have engaged in methodical investiga-
tion of their own past; and, since the entire or partial
emancipations of the southern Slavs from Asiatic rule, a
general interest in Slavonic things has grown up throughout
Europe. Gibbon dismissed the history of the First Bulgarian
Kingdom, from its foundation in the reign of Constantine
Pogonatus to its overthrow by the second Basil, in two
pages. To-day the author of a history of the Empire on the
same scale would find two hundred a strict limit. Gibbon
tells us nothing of the Slavonic missionaries, Cyril and
Methodius, round whose names an extensive literature has
been formed. It is only in recent years that the geography
of the lUyrian peninsula has become an accessible subject of
study.
ylv^a^""^' 1^^^ investigation of the history of the northern peoples
who came under the influence of the Empire has been
stimulated by controversy, and controversy has been animated
(Dsiavain and cvcu embittered by national pride. The question of
Slavonic settlements in Greece has been thoroughly ventilated,
^ For a full account of Vulgar-griechische Litteratur, I may refer to
Krumbacher's Gesch. der Byz. Litt. Here it is unnecessary to do more
than indicate its existence and importance. I may add that the historian
cannot neglect the development of the language, for which these romances
(and other documents) furnish ample data. Here the Greeks themselves
have an advantage, and scholars like Hatzidakes, Psicharfes, and Jannarea
are in this field doing work of the best kind.
Greece
INTEODUCTION Ixv
because Fallmerayer excited the scholarship of Hellenes and
Philhellenes to refute what they regarded as an insulting
paradox.2^ So, too, the pride of the Roumanians was irritated
by Roesler, who denied that they were descended from the (g origin of
inhabitants of Trajan's Dacia and described them as later ^^uaM
immigrants of the thirteenth century. PiX arose against
him ; then Hermuzaki argued for an intermediate date.
The best Hungarian scholar of the day joined the fray, on
the other side ; and the contention became bitter between
Vlach and Magyar, the Roumanian pretensions to Sieben-
biirgen — "Dacia irredenta" — sharpening the lances of the
foes. The Roumanians have not come out of their " question *"
as well as the Hellenes. Hungary too has its own question. (3)TTgro-
^ -^ T- Finnfc or
Are the Magyars to be ethnically associated with the Finns or S^hi'*'°'^^°
given over to the family of the Turks, whom as champions ^™^^"*'**
of Christendom they had opposed at Moh^cz and Varna.?
It was a matter of pride for the Hungarian to detach him-
self from the Turk; and the evidence is certainly on his
side. Hunfalvy^s conclusions have successfully defied the
assaults of Vdmbery.^ Again in Russia there has been a (4) origin of
_ ■' *-* the Russian
long and vigorous contest, — the so-called Norman or K^^kmuc
Varangian question. No doubt is felt now by the impartial *™®^"°°
judge as to the Scandinavian origin of the princes of Kiev,
and that the making of Russia was due to Northmen or
Varangians. Kunik and Pogodin were reinforced by
Thomsen of Denmark ; and the pure Slavism of Ilovaiski ^^
^ Fallmerayer's thesis that there was no pure Hellenic blood in Greece was
triumphantly refuted. No one denies that there was a large Slavonic
element in the country parts, especially of the Peloponnesus.
^ In a paper entitled, The Coming of the Hungarians, in the Scottish
Review of July, 1892, I have discussed the questions connected with early
Magyar history, and criticized Hunfalvy's Magyarorszag Ethnographiija
(1876) and V^mlDery's A magyarok eredete (1882). One of the best works
dealing with the subject has been written by a Slav (C. Grot).
5^ Ilovaiski's work Istorija Rossii, vol. i. (Kiev period), is, though his main
thesis is a mistake, most instructive.
e VOL. I.
Ixvi INTEODUCTION
and Gedeonov, though its champions were certainly able, is a
lost cause.
SriJSS^ From such collisions sparks have flown and illuminated
SShSrtlS dark corners. For the Slavs the road was first cleared by
Safarik. The development of the comparative philology of
the Indo-Germanic tongues has had its effect ; the Slavonic
languages have been brought into line, chiefly by the life-
work of Miklosich ; and the science is being developed by
such scholars as Jagic and Leskien. The several countries
of the Balkan lands have their archaeologists and archaeological
journals; and the difficulty which now meets the historian
is not the absence but the plenitude of philological and
historical literature.
m«» curly A word may be added about the Hungarians, who have
tho Magyars ^^^ \yeen so successful with their early history as the Slavs.
Until the appearance of Hunfalvy, their methods were ante-
diluvian, and their temper credulous. The special work of
Jdszay, and the first chapters of Szalay*'s great History of
Hungary, showed no advance on Katona and Pray, who were
consulted by Gibbon. All believed in the Anonymous
Scribe of King Bela ; Jdszay simply transcribed him. Then
Roesler came and dispelled the illusion. Our main sources
now are Constantine Porphyrogennetos, and the earlier
Asiatic traveller Ibn Dasta, who has been rendered accessible
by Chwolson.^^ The linguistic researches of Ahlquist,
Hunfalvy and others into Vogul, Ostjak and the rest of the
Ugro-Finnic kindred, must be taken into account by the
critic who is dealing with those main sources. The Chazars,
to whom the Hungarians were once subject, the Patzinaks,
who drove the Magyars from " Lebedia ^ to " Atelkuzu " and
^ Chwolson, Izviestiia o Chozarach, Burtasach, Bolgarach, Madiarach^
Slavaniach, i Rusach.
INTRODUCTION Ixvii
from "Atelkuzu" to Pannonia, and other peoples of the
same kind, have profited by these investigations.
The foregoing instances will serve to give a general idea of
the respects in which Gibbon's history might be described as
behind date. To follow out all the highways and byways of"
progress would mean the usurpation of at least a volume by
the editor. What more has to be said, must be said briefly
in ' notes and appendices. That Gibbon is behind date in^
many details, and in some departments of importance, simply
signifies that we and our fathers have not lived in an^
absolutely incompetent world. But in the main things he is-
still our master, above and beyond " date '\ It is needless-
to dwell on the obvious qualities which secure to him im-
munity from the common lot of historical writers, — such as
the bold and certain measure of his progress through the ages ;
his accurate vision, and his tact in managing perspective ; his
discreet reserves of judgment and timely scepticism; the
immortal affectation of his unique manner. By virtue of"
these superiorities he can defy the danger with which the
activity of successors must always threaten the worthies of
the past. But there is another point which was touched on in-
an earlier page and to which here, in a different connexion,,
we may briefly revert. It is well to realize that the greatest-
history of modem times was written by one in whom a dis-
trust of enthusiasm was deeply rooted.^ This cynicism was
not inconsistent with partiality, with definite prepossessions^
with a certain spite. In fact it supplied the antipathy
which the artist infused when he mixed his most effective
colours. The conviction that enthusiasm is inconsistent with
intellectual balance was engrained in his mental constitu-
^ And who regarded history as ** little more than the register of the crimes^
follies and misfortunes of mankind " (see below, p. 77).
i-xviii INTEODUCTION
tion, and confirmed by study and experience. It might be
reasonably maintained that zeal for men or causes is an
historian's marring, and that " reserve sympathy '''' — the
principle of Thucydides — is the first lesson he has to learn.
But without venturing on cany generalization we must
consider Gibbon''s zealous distrust of zeal as an essential
and most suggestive characteristic of the " Decline and
Fall^
THE HISTORY
OP THE
DECLINE AND FALL OF THE EOMAN EMPIEE
CHAPTER I
The Extent and Military Force of the Empire in the Age of the
Anionines
In the second century of the Christian ^ra, the empire of Rome rntrodnctioo
comprehended the fairest part of the earth, and the most
civilized portion of mankind. The frontiers of that extensive
monarchy were guarded by ancient renown and disciplined
valour. The gentle, but powerful, influence of laws and manners
had gradually cemented the union of the provinces. Their
peaceful inhabitants enjoyed and abused the advantages of
wealth and luxury. The image of a free constitution was
preserved with decent reverence. The Roman senate appeared
to possess the sovereign authority, and devolved on the em-
perors all the executive powers of government. During a
happy period of more than fourscore years, the public adminis- ad. ss-iso
tration was conducted by the virtue and abihties of Nerva,
Trajan, Hadrian, and the two Antonines. It is the design of
this and of the two succeeding chapters, to describe the prosper-
ous condition of their empire ; and afterwards, from the death
of Marcus Antoninus, to deduce the most important circum-
stances of its decline and fall : a revolution which will ever be
remembered, and is still felt by the nations of the earth.
The principal conquests of the Romans were achieved under Moderatioo
the republic ; and the emperors, for the most part, were satisfied °* ^^^*^*^
with preserving those dominions which had been acquired by
the policy of the senate, the active emulation of the consuls, and
the martial enthusiasm of the people. The seven first centuries
were filled with a rapid succession of triumphs ; but it was
reserved for Augustus to relinquish the ambitious design of
1 VOL. I.
2 THE DECLINE AND FALL
subduing the whole earth, and to introduce a spirit of moderation
into the public councils. Inclined to peace by his temper and
situation, it was easy for him to discover that Rome, in her
present exalted situation, had much less to hope than to fear
from the chance of arms ; and that, in the prosecution of remote
wars, the undertaking became every day more difficult, the
event more doubtful, and the possession more precarious and
less beneficial. The experience of Augustus added weight to
these salutary reflections, and eflectually convinced him that^ by
the prudent vigour of his counsels, it would be easy to secure
every concession which the safety or the dignity of Rome might
require from the most formidable barbarians. Instead of expos-
ing his person and his legions to the arrows of the Parthians,
be obtained, by an honourable treaty, the restitution of the
standards and prisoners which had been taken in the defeat
of Crassus.i
His generals, in the early part of his reign, attempted the
reduction of Ethiopia and Arabia Felix. They marched near
a thousand miles to the south of the tropic ; but the heat of the
climate soon repelled the invaders and protected the unwarlike
natives of those sequestered regions.^ The northern countries
of Europe scarcely deserved the expense and laboiu* of conquest.
The forests and morasses of Germany were filled with a hardy
race of barbarians, who despised life when it was separated from
freedom ; and though, on the first attack, they seemed to yield
to the weight of the Roman power, they soon, by a signal act of
despair, regained their independence, and reminded Augustus of
the vicissitude of fortune.^ On the death of that emperor his
testament was publicly read in the senate. He bequeathed, as
a valuable legacy to his successors, the advice of confining the
empire within those limits which nature seemed to have placed
iDion Cassius (1. liv. p. 736 [8]) with the annotations of Reimar, who as
collected all that Roman vanity has left upon the subject. The marble of Ancyra,
on which Augustus recorded his own exploits, asserts that he compelled the Parthians
to restore the ensigns of Crassus.
-Strabo (1. xvi. p. 780), Pliny the elder (Hist. Natur. 1. vi. 32, 35 [28, 29])
and Dion Cassius (1. liii. p. 723 [29], and 1. liv. p. 734 [6] ) have left us very
curious details concerning these wars. The Romans made themselves masters of
Mariaba, or Merab, a city of Arabia Felix, well known to the Orientals (see
Abulfeda and the Nubian geography, p. 52). They were arrived within three
days' journey of the Spice country, the rich object of their invasion. [See Momm-
sen, Romiscke Gesckickte, v. p. 608 sqq.l
3 By the slaughter of Varus and his three legions. See the first book of the
Annals of Tacitus. Sueton. in August, c. 23, and Velleius Paterculus, 1. ii. c.
t\y, &c. Augustus did not receive the melancholy news with all the temper and
firmness that might have been expected from his character.
OF THE ROMAN EMPIRE 3
as its permanent bulwarks and boundaries ; on the west the
Atlantic ocean ; the Rhine and Danube on the north ; the
Euphrates on the east ; and towards the south the sandy deserts
of Arabia and Africa.*
Happily for the repose of mankind, the moderate system imitated
recommended by the wisdom of Augustus was adopted by the «mot3^"
fears and vices of his immediate successors. Engaged in the
pursuit of pleasure or in the exercise of tyranny, the first Caesars
seldom showed themselves to the armies, or to the provinces ;
nor were they disposed to suffer that those triumphs which their
indolence neglected should be usurped by the conduct and
valour of their lieutenants. The military fame of a subject was
considered as an insolent invasion of the Imperial prerogative ;
and it became the duty, as well as interest, of every Rcf^an
general, to guard the frontiers intrusted to his care, without as-
piring to conquests which might have proved no less fatal to
himself than to the vanquished barbarians.^
The only accession which the Roman empire received diiring conquert
the first century of the Christian lera was the province of Britain. wa?th^
In this single instance the successors of Caesar and Augustus SS u^i^
were persuaded to follow the example of the former, rather than
the precept of the latter. The proximity of its situation to the
coast of Gaul seemed to invite their arms ; the pleasing, though
doubtfrilj intelligence of a pearl fishery attracted their avarice ; ^
and as Britain was viewed in the light of a distinct and insulated
world, the conquest scarcely formed any exception to the general
system of continental measures. After a war of about forty
years, undertaken by the most stupid,"^ maintained by the most
dissolute, and terminated by the most timid of all the emperors.
*Tacit. Annal. 1. ii. [i. ii]. Dion Cassius, 1. Ivi. p. 832 [33], and the speech of
Augustus himself, in Julian's Caesars. It receives great light from the learned
notes of his French translator, M. Spanheim.
5 Germanicus, Suetonius Paulinus. and Agricola were checked and recalled
in the course of their victories. Corbulo was put to death. Military merit, as it
is admirably expressed by Tacitus, was, in the strictest sense of the word,
imperatoria virtus.
6 Caesar himself conceals that ignoble motive ; but it is mentioned by Suetonius,
c. 47. The British pearls proved, however, of httle value, on account of their
dark and livid colour. Tacitus observes, with reason (in Agricola, c. 12), that it
was an inherent defect. ** Ego facilius crediderim, naturam margaritis deesse
quam nobis avaritiam."
7 Claudius, Nero, and Domitian. A hope is expressed by Pomponius Mela, 1.
iil. c. 6 (he wrote under Claudius), that, by the success of the Roman arms, the
island and its savage inhabitants would soon be better known. It is amusing
enough to peruse such passages in the midst of London.
4 THE DECLINE AND FALL
the far greater part of the island submitted to the Roman yoke.^
The various tribes of Britons possessed valour without conduct,
and the love of freedom without the spirit of union. They took up
arms with savage fierceness, they laid them down, or turned
them against each other with wild inconstancy ; and while they
fought singly, they were successively subdued. Neither the
fortitude of Caractacus, nor the despair of Boadicea, nor the
fanaticism of the Druids, could avert the slaveiy of their country,
or resist the steady progress of the Imperial generals, who
maintained the national glory, when the throne was disgraced
by the weakest or the most vicious of mankind. At the very
time when Domitian, confined to his palace, felt the terrors
which he inspired, his legions, under the command of the
virtuous Agricola, defeated the collected force of the Caledonians
at the foot of the Grampian hills ; ^ and his fleets, venturing to
explore an unknown and dangerous navigation, displayed the
Roman arms round every part of the island. The conquest
of Britain was considered as already achieved ; and it was the
design of Agricola to complete and ensure his success by the
easy reduction of Ireland, for which, in his opinion, one legion
and a few auxiharies were sufficient, i** The western isle might
be improved into a valuable possession, and the Britons would
wear their chains with the less reluctance, if the prospect and
example of freedom was on every side removed from before
their eyes.
But the superior merit of Agricola soon occasioned his removal
from the government of Britain ; and for ever disappointed this
rational, though extensive, scheme of conquest. Before his
departure the prudent general had provided for security as well
as for dominion. He had observed that the island is almost
divided into two unequal parts by the opposite gulfs or, as they
are now called, the Friths of Scotland. Across the narrow interval
of about forty miles he had drawn a line of military stations,
which was afterwards fortified, in the reign of Antoninus Pius, by
a turf rampart, erected on foundations of stone.^^ This wall
8 See the admirable abridgment, given by Tacitus, in the Life of Agricola, and
copiously, though perhaps not completely, illustrated by our own antiquarians,
Camden and Horsley. [See Appendix 2.]
^ [There is no good ground for the identification of mons Graupius with the
Grampian hills. The date of the battle was 84 or 85 A.D. ; the place is quite
uncertain.]
^^ The Irish writers, jealous of their national honour, are extremely provoked on
this occasion, both with Tacitus and with Agricola. [Agricola's design was not
carried out because Domitian refused to send the additional legion.]
11 See Horsley's Britannia Romana. 1. i. c. 10.
OF THE EOMAN EMPIRE 5
of Antoninus, at a small distance beyond the modem cities of
Edinburgh and Glasgow^ was fixed as the limit of the Roman
province. The native Caledonians preserved, in the northern ex-
tremity of the island, their wild independence, for which they
were not less indebted to their poverty than to their valour.
Their incursions were frequently repelled and chastised; but
their country was never subdued.^^ 'Yhe masters of the fairest
and most wealthy climates of the globe turned with contempt
from gloomy hills assailed by the winter tempest, from lakes
conceaded in a blue mist, and from cold and lonely heaths, over
which the deer of the forest were chased by a troop of naked
barbarians. 12
Such was the state of the Roman frontiers, and such the coMuBBt of
maxims of Imperial policy, from the death of Augustus to theaecoiKiei*
accession of Trajan, That virtuous and active prince had re- [SD.Toiioe]
ceived the education of a soldier, and possessed the talents of a
general.!* The peacefril system of his predecessors was inter-
rupted by scenes of war and conquest ; and the legions^ after a
long interval, beheld a military emperor at their head. The first
exploits of Trajan were against the Dacians. the most warlike of
men, who dwelt beyond the Danube, and who, during the reign
of Domitian, had insulted, with impimity, the majesty of Rome.^^
To the strength and fierceness of barbarians they added a con-
tempt for life, which was derived from a warm persuasion of the
immortality and transmigration of the soul.^^ Decebalus, the
Dacian king, approved himself a rival not unworthy of Trajan ;
nor did he despair of his own and the public fortune, till, by the
confession of his enemies, he had exhausted every resource both
of valour and policy. ^^ This memorable war, with a very short
suspension of hostilities, lasted five years ; and as the emperor
could exert, without control, the whole force of the state, it was
terminated by the absolute submission of the barbarians. ^^ The
new province of Dacia, which formed a second exception to the
12 The poet Buchanan celebrates, with elegance and spirit (see his Sylvae, v.),
the unviolated independence of his native country. But, if the single testimony of
Richard of Cirencester was su6&cient to create a Roman province of Vespasiana to
the north of the wall, that independence would be reduced within very narrow limits.
isSee Appian (in Proosm. [5] ) and the uniform imagery of C5ssian's poems,
which, according to every hypothesis, were composed by a native Caledonian.
14 See Pliny's Panegyric, which seems founded on facts.
15 Dion Cassius, 1. Ixvii. [6 ei sqq,].
1" Herodotus, 1. iv, c. 94. Julian in the Csesars, with Spanheim's observations.
17 Plin. Epist. viii. 9,
iSDion Cassius, 1. Ixviii. p.i 1123, 1131 [6 and 14]. Julian, in Csesaribus.
Eutropius, viii. 2, 6. Aurelius Victor in Epitome. [See Appendix 3,]
6 THE DECLINE AND FALL
precept of Augustus, was about thirteen hundred miles in circum-
ference. Its natural boundaries were the Dniester, the Theiss, or
Tibiscus, the Lower Danube, and the Euxine Sea. The vestiges of
a military road may still be traced from the banks of the Danube
to the neighbourhood of Bender, a place famous in modem history,
and the actual frontier of the Turkish and Russian Empires. ^^
Conquests of Trajan was ambitious of fame; and as long as mankind shall
eaS continue to bestow more liberal applause on their destroyers than
on their benefactors, the thirst of military glory will ever be the
vice of the most exalted characters. The praises of Alexander,
transmitted by a succession of poets and historians, had kindled a
dangerous emulation in the mind of Trajan. Like him, the Roman
emperor undertook an expedition against the nations of the east,
but he lamented with a sigh that his advanced age scarcely left
him any hopes of equalling the renown of the son of Philip. 2?
Yet the success of Trajan, however transient, was rapid and
specious. The degenerate Parthians, broken by intestine discord,
fled before his arms. He descended the river Tigris in triumph,
from the mountains of Armenia to the Persian gulf. He enjoyed
the honour of being the first, as he was the last, of the Roman
generals, who ever navigated that remote sea. His fleets ravished
the coasts of Arabia ; and Trajan vainly flattered himself that he
was approaching towards the confines of India, ^^ Every day the
astonished senate received the intelligence of new names and new
nations that acknowledged his sway. They were informed that
the kings of Bosphorus, Colchos, Iberia, Albania, Osrhoene, and
even the Parthian monarch himself, had accepted their diadems
from the hands of the emperor ; that the independent tribes of
the Median and Carduchian hills had implored his protection ;
and that the rich countries of Armenia, Mesopotamia, and
Assyria, were reduced into the state of provinces. 22 But the
death of Trajan soon clouded the splendid prospect ;23 and it was
^^ See a Memoir of M. d'Anville, on the Province of Dacia, in the Acad^mie des
Inscriptions, torn, xxviii. ; p. 444-468. [The region east of theAluta, corresponding
to the modern Walachia, was not included in Dacia, but went with the province
of Lower Moesia. See Domaszewski, Epigr. Mittheilungen, xiii. p. 137. The limits
of Dacia are incorrect in the map in this volume. They should follow the line of
the Carpathians in the south-east and east, excluding Walachia and Moldavia.]
2^ Trajan's sentiments are represented in a very just and lively manner in the
Caesars of Julian. [The date of the beginning of the Parthian War is 114 A.D.]
21 Eutropius and Sextus Rufus have endeavoured to perpetuate the illusion.
See a very sensible dissertation of M. Freret, in the Acad^mie des Inscriptions,
torn. xxi. p. 55.
® Dion Cassius, 1. Ixviii. [18 et sqq,'\ ; and the Abbreviators.
^[117 A.D. A triumph in honour of this eastern expedition was celebrated
after the emperor's death. On inscriptions he is called DivtLs Traianus Parthicus^
instead oi Divus Traianus (Schiller, Gesch. der rdtn. Kaiserzeit, i. 563).]
OF THE EOMAN EMPIEE 7
justly to be dreaded that so many distant nations would throw
off the unaccustomed yoke, when they were no longer restrained
by the powerful hand which had imposed it.
It was an ancient tradition that, when the Capitol was founded itesigneii by
by one of the Roman kings, the god Terminus (who presided Hadrian"**'
over boundaries, and was represented according to the fashion of
that age by a large stone) alone, among all the inferior deities,
refused to yield his place to Jupiter himself A favourable in-
ference was drawn from his obstinacy, which was intei-preted by
the augurs as a sure presage that the boundaries of the Roman
power would never recede. ^^ During many ages, the predic-
tion, as it is usual, contributed to its own accomplishment. But
though Terminus had resisted the majesty of Jupiter, he sub-
mitted to the authority of the emperor Hadrian. 25 The re-
signation of all the eastern conquests of Trajan was the first
measure of his reign. He restored to the Parthians the election
of an independent sovereign ; withdrew the Roman garrisons from
the provinces of Armenia, Mesopotamia, and Assyria ; and, in
compliance with the precepts of Augustus, once more established
the Euphrates as the frontier of the empire.^ Censure, which
arraigns the pubhc actions and the private motives of princes,
has ascribed to envy a conduct which might be attributed to the
prudence and moderation of Hadrian. The various character of
that emperor, capable, by turns, of the meanest and the most
generous sentiments, may afford some colour to the suspicion. It
was, however, scarcely in his power to place the superiority of
his predecessor in a more conspicuous light, than by thus con-
fessing himself unequal to the task of defending the conquests
of Trajan.
The martial and ambitious spirit of Trajan formed a very sm- con*^^*^^^
gular contrast with the moderation of his successor. The restless Antoninus
activity of Hadrian was not less remarkable when compared with
the gentle repose of Antoninus Pius. The life of the former
was almost a perpetual journey ; and as he possessed the various
talents of the soldier, the statesman, and the scholar, he gratified
his curiosity in the discharge of his duty. Careless of the dif-
24 Ovid Fast. 1. ii. ver. 667. See Livy [i. 55] , and Dionysius of Halicarnassus,
under the reign of Tarquin. ^ ^ .
25 St. Augustin is highly delighted with the proof of the weakness of Terminus,
and the vanity of the Augurs. See De Civitate Dei, iv. 29. [The loss of trans-
Rhenane Germany was a previous instance of the retreat of Terminus.]
26 See the Augustan History, p. 5 [i. 9]- Jerome's Chronicle, and all the
Epitomisers. It is somewhat surprising, that this memorable event should be
omitted by Dion, or rather by Xiphilin. [See Appendix 3.
8 THE DECLINE AND FALL
ference of seasons and of climates, he marched on foot, and bare-
headed, over the snows of Caledonia, and the sultry plains of the
Upper Egjrpt ; nor was there a province of the empire which, in
the course of his reign, was not honoured with the presence of
the monarch.27 But the tranquil life of Antoninus Pius was spent
in the bosom of Italy ; and, during the twenty-three years that
he directed the public administration, the longest journeys of
that amiable prince extended no farther than from his palace
in Rome to the retirement of his Lanuvian villa. ^8
Pttciflc ^B- Notwithstanding this difference in their personal conduct, the
drian andthe general system of Augustus was equally adopted and uniformly
ainea puTsucd by Hadrian and by the two Antonines. They persisted
in the design of maintaining the dignity of the empire, without
attempting to enlarge its limits. By every honourable expedient
they invited the friendship of the barbarians ; and endeavoured
to convince mankind that the Roman power, raised above the
temptation of conquest, was actuated only by the love of order
and justice. During a long period of forty-three years their
virtuous labours were crowned with success ; and, if we except a
few sHght hostilities that served to exercise the legions of the
frontier, the reigns of Hadrian and Antoninus Pius offer the fair
prospect of universal peace. ^9 The Roman name was revered
among the most remote nations of the earth. The fiercest
barbarians frequently submitted their differences to the arbitra-
tion of the emperor ; and we are informed by a contemporary
liistorian that he had seen ambassadors who were refused the
honour which they came to solicit, of being admitted into the
rank of subjects.^o
DefeiiBive Thc tcrror of the Roman arms added weight and dignity to
sKuftAn- the moderation of the emperors. They preserved peace by a
toniniu constant preparation for war ; and while justice regulated their
conduct, they announced to the nations on their confines that
27 Dion, 1. Ixix. p. 115 [9]. Hist. August, p. 5, 8 [i. 10 and 16]. If all our
historians were lost, medals, inscriptions, and other monuments, would be
sufficient to record the travels of Hadrian. [See Diirr, Die Reisen des Kaisers
Hadrian, 1881.]
28 See the Augustan History and the Epitomes. [Date : 138-161 A.D.]
29 We must, however, remember that, in the time of Hadrian, a rebellion of
the Jews raged with religious fury, though only in a single province. Pausanias
(1. viii. c. 43), mentions two necessary and successful wars, conducted by the
generals of Pius, ist. Against the wandering Moors, who were driven into the
solitudes of Atlas. 2d, Against the Brigantes of Britain, who had invaded the
Roman province. Both these wars (with several other hostilities) are mentioned
in the Augustan History, p. 19 [iii. 5].
3^ Appian of Alexandria, in the preface to his History of the Roman Wars [7],
OF THE ROMAN EMPIEE 9
they were as little disposed to endure as to offer an injury. The
military strength, which it had been sufficient for Hadrian and
the elder Antoninus to display, was exerted against the Parthians
and the Germans by the emperor Marcus. The hostilities of
the barbarians provoked the resentment of that philosophic
monarch, and, in the prosecution of a just defence, Marcus and
his generals obtained many signal victories, both on the Euphrates
and on the Danube.^^ The military establishment of the Roman
empire, which thus assured either its tranquillity or success, will
now become the proper and important object of our attention.
In the purer ages of the commonwealth, the use of arms was Miutary
reserved for those ranks of citizens who had a country to love, a of tie Roman
property to defend, and some share in enacting those laws which ^^^^^'^^
it was their interest, as well as duty, to maintain. But in
proportion as the public freedom was lost in extent of conquest,
war was gradually improved into an art, and degraded into
a trade. ^^ The legions themselves, even at the time when they
were recruited m the most distant provinces, were supposed
to consist of Roman citizens. That distinction was generally
considered either as a legal qualification or as a proper recom-
pense for the soldier ; but a more serious regard was paid to the
essential merit of age, strength, and military stature. ^^ In
all levies, a just preference was given to the climates of the
north over those of the south ; the race of men bom to the
exercise of arms was sought for in the country rather than in
cities, and it was very reasonably presumed that the hardy
occupations of smiths, carpenters, and huntsmen would supply
more vigour and resolution than the sedentary trades which are
employed in the service of luxury.^ After every qualification of
property had been laid aside, the armies of the Roman emperors
were still commanded, for the most part, by officers of a liberal
birth and education ; but the common soldiers, like the mercenary
31 Dion, 1. Ixxi. Hist. August, in Marco [iv. 9, 12, 17, 20, 22, Sec], The Parthian
victories gave birth to a crowd of contemptible historians, whose memory has been
rescued from oblivion, and exposed to ridicule, in a very lively piece of criticism of
Lucian.
32 The poorest rank of soldiers possessed above forty pounds sterling (Dionys.
Halicam. iv. 17), a very high qualification, at a time when money was so scarce,
that an ounce of silver was equivalent to seventy pouiid weig:ht of brass. The
populace, excluded by the ancient constitution, were ^^idiscriminately admitted
by Marius. See Sallust. de Bell. Jugurth. c. 91 [86].
33 Cgesar formed his legion Alauda of Gauls and strangers ; but it was during
the licence of civil war ; and after the victory he gave them the freedom of the
city, for their reward. [It was really formed, B.C. 55 ; Suetonius, Jul. 34.]
3^ See Vegetius de Re Mihtari, 1. i. c. 9-j.
10 THE DECLINE AND FALL
troops of modern Europe, were drawn from the meanest, and
very frequently from the most profligate, of mankind.
That public virtue, which among the ancients was denominated
patriotism, is derived from a strong sense of our own interest in
the preservation and prosperity of the free government of which
we are members. Such a sentiment, which had rendered the
legions of the republic almost invincible, could make but a
very feeble impression on the mercenary servants of a despotic
prince ; and it became necessary to supply that defect by other
motives, of a different, but not less forcible nature, — honour
and religion. The peasant, or mechanic, imbibed the useful
prejudice that he was advanced to the more dignified profession
of anus, in which his rank and reputation would depend on his
own valour ; and that, although the prowess of a private soldier
must often escape the notice of fame, his own behaviour might
sometimes confer glory or disgrace on the company, the legion,
or even the army, to whose honours he was associated. On his
first entrance into the service, an oath was administered to him
with every circumstance of solemnity. He promised never to
desert his standard, to submit his own will to the commands of
his leaders, and to sacrifice his life for the safety of the emperor
and the empire. ^^ The attachment of the Roman troops to
their standards was inspired by the united influence of religion
and of honour. The golden eagle, which glittered in the front
of the legion, was the object of their fondest devotion ; nor was
it esteemed less impious than it was ignominious, to ajjandon
that sacred ensign in the hour of danger. ^6 These motives,
which derived their strength from the imagination, were en-
forced by fears and hopes of a more substantial kind. Regular
pay, occasional donatives, and a stated recompense, after the
appointed term of service, alleviated the hardships of the
military life,^"^ whilst, on the other hand, it was impossible for
33 The oath of service and fidelity to the emperor was annually renewed by
the troops, on the first of January.
36 Tacitus calls the Roman Eagles, Bellorum Deos. They were placed in a
chapel in the camp, and with the other deities received the reUgious worship of
the troops.
87 See Gronovius de Pecunia vetere, I. iii. p. 120, &c. The emperor Domitian
raised the annual stipend of the legionaries to twelve pieces of gold, which, in
his time, was equivalent to about ten of our guineas. This pay, somewhat
higher than our own, had been, and was afterwards, gradually increased, accord-
ing to the progress of wealth and military government. After twenty years'
service, the veteran received three thousand denarii (about one hundred pounds
sterling), or a proportionable allowance of land. The pay and advantages of the
guards were, in general, about double those of the legions.
OF THE EOMAN EMPIEE 11
cowardice or disobedience to escape the severest punishment.
The centurions were authorized to chastise with blows, the
generals had a right to punish with death ; and it was an inflex-
ible maxim of Roman discipline, that a good soldier should
dread his officers far more than the enemy. From such laudable
arts did the valour of the Imperial troops receive a degree of
firmness and docility^ unattainable by the impetuous and ir-
regular passions of barbarians.
And yet so sensible were the Romans of the imperfection of Exercises
valour without skill and practice, that, in their language, the
name of an army was borrowed from the word which signified
exercise. 3^ Military exercises were the important and unre-
mitted object of their discipline. The recruits and young
soldiers were constantly trained, both in the morning and m
che evening, nor was age or knowledge allowed to excuse the
veterans from the daily repetition of what they had completely
learnt. Large sheds were erected in the winter-quarters of the
troops, that their useful labours might not receive any interrup-
tion from the most tempestuous weather ; and it was carefully
observed, that the arms destined to this imitation of war should
be of double the weight which was required in real action.^^
It is not the purpose of this work to enter into any minute
description of the Roman exercises. We shall only remark that
they comprehended whatever could add strength to the body,
activity to the limbs, or grace to the motions. The soldiers
were diligently instructed to march, to run, to leap, to swim,
to carry heavy burdens, to handle every species of arms that
was used either for offence or for defence, either in distant
engagement or in a closer onset ; to form a variety of evolutions ;
and to move to the sound of flutes in the Pyrrhic or martial dance.^
In the midst of peace, the Roman troops familiarised themselves
with the practice of war ; and it is prettily remarked by an
ancient historian who had fought against them, that the
effusion of blood was the only circumstance which distinguished
a field of battle from a field of exercise.*^ It was the policy
s« Exercitus ah exercitando, Varro de Lingui LatiniL, 1. iv. [v. 87 ed. L. Miiller].
Cicero in Tusculan, 1. ii. 37. There is room for a very interesting^ work, which
should lay open the connexion between the languages and manners of nations.
.39 Vegetius, 1. i. c. n, and the rest of bis first book.
^JThe Pyrrhic Dance is extremely well illustrated by M. le Beau, in the
Academic des Inscriptions, tom. xxxv, p. 262, &c. That learned academician,
in a series of memoirs, has collected all the passages of the ancients that relate
to the Roman legion.
41 Joseph, de Bell. Judaico, 1. iii. c. 5. We are indebted to this Jew for some
very curious details of Roman discipline.
12
THE DECLINE AND FALL
The legions
nnder the
emperors
Aims
of the ablest generals, and even of the emperors themselves, to
encourage these military studies by their presence and example ;
and we are informed that Hadrian, as well as Trajan, frequently
condescended to instruct the inexperienced soldiers, to reward
the diligent, and sometimes to dispute with them the prize of
superior strength or dexterity.*^ Under the reigns of those
princes, the science of tactics was cultivated with success ; and as
long as the empire retained any vigour, their military instructions
were respected as the most perfect model of Roman discipline.
Nine centuries of war had gradually introduced into the service
many alterations and improvements. The legions, as they are
described by Polybius,^^ \^ t^g time of the Punic wars, differed
very materially from those which achieved the victories of
Caesar, or defended the monarchy of Hadrian and the Antonines.
The constitution of the Imperial legion may be described in a
few words.** The heavy armed infantry, which composed
its principal strength,*^ was divided into ten cohorts, and
fifty-five companies, under the orders of a correspondent number
of tribunes and centurions. The first cohort, which always
claimed the post of honour and the custody of the eagle,
was formed of eleven hundred and five soldiers, the most ap-
proved for valour and fidelity. The remaining nine cohorts
consisted each of five hundred and fifty-five ; and the whole
body of legionaiy infantry amounted to six thousand one hundred
men. Their arms were uniform, and admirably adapted to the
nature of their service : an open helmet, with a lofty crest ; a
breast-plate, or coat of mail ; greaves on their legs, and an
ample buckler on their left arm. The buckler was of an oblong
and concave figure, four feet in length, and two and a half in
breadth, framed of a light wood, covered with a bull's hide, and
strongly guarded with plates of brass. Besides a lighter spear,
the legionary soldier grasped in his right hand the formidable
pilum, a ponderous javelin, whose utmost length was about six
42piin. Panegyr. c. 13. Life of Hadrian, in the Augustan History [i. 14].
[Fragments of a speech which Hadrian delivered to his soldiers at Lambaesis in
Africa have been found in an inscription, C. I. L. viii. 2532.]
^See an admirable digression on the Roman discipline, in the sixth book of
his history [19-42].
^Vegetius de Re Militari, 1. ii. c. 5, &c. Considerable part ofhis very perplexed
abridgment was taken from the regulations of Trajan and Hadrian ; and the
legion, as he describes it, cannot suit any other age of the Roman empire.
*5Vegetius de Re Militari, 1. ii. c. i. In the purer age of Cassar and Cicero,
the word miles was almost confined to the infantry. Under the Lower Empire,
and in the times of chivalry, it was appropriated almost as exclusively to the men
at arms, who fought on horseback. [This account of the army demands some
corrections. See Appendix 4.]
OF THE ROMAN EMPIRE 13
feet;, and which was terminated by a massy triangular point of
steel of eighteen inches. *^ This instrument was indeed much
inferior to om* modern fire-arms ; since it was exhausted by a
single discharge, at the distance of only ten or twelve paces.
Yet, when it was launched by a firm and skilful hand, there was
not any cavalry that durst venture within its reach, nor any
shield or corslet that could sustain the impetuosity of its weight.
As soon as the Roman had darted his pilum, he drew his sword,
and rushed forwards to close with the enemy. It was a short
well-tempered Spanish blade, that carried a double edge, and
was alike suited to the purpose of striking or of pushing ; but
the soldier was always instructed to prefer the latter use of his
weapon, as his own body remained less exposed, whilst he
inflicted a more dangerous wound on his adversary,*"^ The
legion was usually drawn up eight deep ; and the regular dis-
tance of three feet was left between the files as well as ranks.^^
A body of troops, habituated to preserve this open order, in a
long front and a rapid charge, found themselves prepared to
execute every disposition which the circumstances of war, or the
skill of their leader, might suggest. The soldier possessed a free
space for his arms and motions, and sufficient intervals were
allowed, through which seasonable reinforcements might be
introduced to the relief of the exhausted combatants.*^ The
tactics of the Greeks and Macedonians were formed on very
different principles. The strength of the phalanx depended on
sixteen ranks of long pikes, wedged together in the closest
array. ^^ But it was soon discovered, by reflection as well as by
the event, that the strength of the phalanx was unable to
contend with the activity of the legion. ^^
The cavalry, without which the force of the legion would have cavairy
remained imperfect, was divided into ten troops or squadrons ;
the first, as the companion of the first cohort, consisted of an
hundred and thirty-two men ; whilst each of the other nine
amounted only to sixty-six. The entire establishment formed a
46 In the time of Polybius and Dionysius of Halicarnassus (1. v. c. 45) the steel
point of thepilum seems to have been much longer. In the time of Vegetius
»t was reduced to a foot or even nine inches, I have chosen a medium.
*7 For the legionary arms, see Lipsius de Militia Romani, 1. iii. c. 2-7.
48 See the beautiful comparison of Virgil, Georgic. ii. v. 279.
49 M. Guichard, M6moires Militaires, torn. i. c. 4, and Nouveaux M^moires,
torn. i. p. 293-311, has treated the subject like a scholar and an officer.
50 See Arrian's Tactics [12] . With the true partiality of a Greek, Arrian rather
chose to describe the phalanx of which he had read, than the legions which he
had commanded.
BJ Polyb. 1. xvii. [xviii. i%l.
14 THE DECLINE AND FALL
regiment, if we may use the modern expression, of seven hundred
and twenty-six horse, naturally connected with its respective
legion, but occasionally separated to act in the line, and to com-
pose a part of the wings of the army.''^ The cavalry of the emperors
was no longer composed, like that of the ancient republic, of the
noblest youths of Rome and Italy, who, by performing their mili-
tary service on horseback, prepared themselves for the offices of
senator and consul ; and solicited, by deeds of valour, the futm*e
suffrages of their countrymen.^^ Since the alteration of manners
and government, the most wealthy of the equestrian order were
engaged in the administration of justice, and of the revenue ; ^^
and whenever they embraced the profession of arms, they were
immediately intrusted with a troop of horse, or a cohort of foot.^^
Trajan and Hadrian formed their cavalry from the same pro-
vinces, and the same class of their subjects, which recruited the
ranks of the legion. The horses were bred, for the most part, in
Spain or Cappadocia. The Roman troopers despised the complete
armour with which the cavalry of the East was encumbered.
Their more useful arms consisted in a helmet, an oblong shield,
light boots, and a coat of mail, A javelin, and a long broad
sword, were their principal weapons of offence. The use of
lances and of iron maces they seemed to have borrowed from
the barbarians. ^^
Anxuiaries The Safety and honour of the empire was principally intrusted
to the legions, but the policy of Rome condescended to adopt
every useful instrument of war. Considerable levies were regu-
larly made among the provincials, who had not yet deserved the
honourable distinction of Romans. Many dependent prmces
and communities, dispersed round the frontiers, were permitted,
for a while, to hold their freedom and security by the tenure of
military service. ^"^ Even select troops of hostile barbarians were
52 Veget. de Re Militari, I. ii. c. 6. His positive testimony, which might be
supported by circumstantial evidence, ought surely to silence those critics who
refuse the Imperial legion its proper body of cavsdry. [But his testimony must
be treated with great caution.]
^See Livy almost throughout, particularly xlii. 6i.
5* Plin. Hist. Natur. xxxiii. 2. The true sense of that very curious passage
was first discovered and illustrated by M. de Beaufort, R^publique Romaine, 1.
iL c- Z.
55 As in the instance of Horace and Agricola. This appears to have been a
defect in the Roman discipline; which Hadrian endeavoured to remedy by
ascertaining the legal age of a tribune. [For the equiies, compare Mommsen, Staats-
recht, iii. 476-569.]
^ See Aixian's Tactics [4].
w Such, in particular, was the state of the Baravians. Tacit. Germania, «. 29,
OF THE ROMAN EMPIRE 15
frequently compelled or persuaded to consume their dangerous
valour in remote climates, and for the benefit of the state. ^^ All
these were included under the general name of auxiliaries ; and
howsoever they might vary according to the difference of times
and circumstanceSj their numbers were seldom much inferior to
those of the legions themselves. ^^ Among the auxiliaries, the
bravest and most faithful bands were placed under the command
of praefects and centurionSj and severely trained in the arts of
Roman discipline ; but the far greater part retained those arms,
to which the nature of their country, or their early habits of life,
more peculiarly adapted them. By this institution, each legion,
to whom a certain proportion of auxiliaries was allotted, contained
within itself every species of lighter troops, and of missile
weapons ; and was capable of encountering every nation with
the advantages of its respective arms and disciplined^ Nor was
the legion destitute of what, in modern language, would be
styled a train of artillery. It consisted in ten military engines Artjuary
of the largest, and fifty-five of a smaller size ; but all of which,
either in an oblique or horizontal manner, discharged stones and
darts with irresistible violence. ^^
The camp of a Roman legion presented the appearance of a Encampmen
fortified city.^^ As soon as the space was marked out, the
pioneers carefully levelled the ground, and removed every im-
pediment that might interrupt its perfect regularity. Its form
was an exact quadrangle ; and we may calculate, that a square
of about seven hundred yards was sufficient for the encampment
of twenty thousand Romans ; though a similar number of our
own troops would expose to the enemy a front of more than
treble that extent. In the midst of the camp, the prsetorium,
58 Marcus Antoninus obliged the vanquished Quadi and Marcomanni to
supply him with a large body of troops, which he immediately sent into Britain.
Dion Cassius, 1. Ixxi. [i6].
5S Tacit. Annal. iv. 5. Those who fix a regular proportion of as many foot,
and twice as many horse, confound the auxiliaries of the emperors with the Italian
allies of the republic. [See Appendix 4.]
60 Vegetius, ii. 2. Arrian, in his order of march and battle against the Alani.
^ The subject of the ancient machines is treated with great knowledge and
ingenuity by the Chevalier Folard (Polybe, torn. ii. p. 233-290). He prefers them
in many respects to our modern cannon and mortars. We may observe that
the use of them in the field gradually became more prevalent, in proportion as
personal valour and military skill declined with the Roman empire. When men
were no longer found, their place was supplied by machines. See Vegetius, ii. 25.
Arrian.
^2 Vegetius finishes his second book, and the description of the legion, with
the following emphatic words: " Universa quse in quoque belli genera necessaria
esse creduntur, secum legio debet ubique portare, ut in quovis loco fixerit castra,
armatam facial civitatem ".
16 THE DECLINE AND FALL
or general's quarters, rose above the others ; the cavalry, the
infantry, and the auxiliaries occupied their respective stations ;
the streets were broad and perfectly straight, and a vacant space
of two hundred feet was left on all sides, between the tents and
the rampart. The rampart itself was usually twelve feet high,
armed with a line of strong and intricate palisades, and defended
by a ditch of twelve feet in depth as well as in breadth. This
important labour was performed by the hands of the legionaries
themselves ; to whom the use of the spade and the pick-axe was
no less familiar than that of the sword or pilum. Active valour
may often be the present of nature ; but such patient diligence
can be the fruit only of habit and disciplined^
March Whenever the trumpet gave the signal of departure, the camp
was almost instantly broken up, and the troops fell into their
ranks without delay or con&sion. Besides their arms, which
the legionaries scarcely considered as an encumbrance, they
were laden with their kitchen furniture, the instruments of
fortification, and the provision of many days.^* Under this
weight, which would oppress the delicacy of a modem soldier,
they were trained by a regular step to advance, in about six
hours, near twenty miles.^^ On the appearance of an enemy,
they threw aside their baggage, and, by easy and rapid evolu-
tions, converted the column of march into an order of battle.®^
The slingers and archers skirmished in the front ; the auxiliaries
formed the first line, and were seconded or sustained by the
strength of the legions ; the cavalry covered the flanks, and
the military engines were placed in the rear.
Nmnberand Such werc the arts of war, by which the Roman emperors
ofSJ?ieffi°M defended their extensive conquests, and preserved a military
spirit, at a time when every other virtue was oppressed by luxury
and despotism. If, in the consideration of their armies, we
pass from their discipline to their numbers, we shall not find it
easy to define them with any tolerable accuracy. We may
compute, however, that the legion, which was itself a body of six
thousand eight hundred and thirty-one Romans, might, with its
attendant auxiUaries, amount to about twelve thousand five
88 For the Roman Castraraetation, see Polybius, 1. vi. {2.7 et sgq.'] with Lipsius
de Militia Romani, Joseph, de Bell. Jud. L iii. c. 5. Vegetius, i. ai-25, iii. 9, and
M^moires de Guichard, torn. i. c. i.
w Cicero in Tusculan, ii. 37 [16].— Joseph, de Bell. Jud. 1. iii. 5. Frontinus, iv. i.
«5 Vegetius, i. 9. See Memoires de l'Acad6mie des Inscriptions, torn. xxv. p.
187.
^6 See those evolutions admirably well explained by M. Guichard, Nouveaux
M6moires, torn. i. p. 141-234.
OF THE EOMAN EMPIRE 17
hundred men. The peace establishment of Hadrian and his
successors was composed of no less than thirty of these formidable
brigades ; and most probably formed a standing force of three
hundred and seventy-five thousand men. Instead of being
confined within the walls of fortified cities, which the Romans
considered as the refuge of weakness or pusillanimity, the legions
were encamped on the banks of the great rivers, and along the
frontiers of the barbarians. As their stations, for the most part,
remained fixed and permanent, we may venture to describe the
distribution of the troops. Three legions were sufficient for
Britain. The principal strength lay upon the Rhine and
Danube, and consisted of sixteen legions, in the following pro-
portions ; two in the Lower, and three ii'. the Upper Gei-many ;
one in Rhaetia, one in Noricum, four in Pannonia, three in Maesia,
and two in Dacia. The defence of the Euphrates was intrusted
to eight legions, six of whom were planted in Syria, and the other
two in Cappadocia. With regard to Egypt, Africa and Spain, as
they were far removed from any important scene of war, a single
legion maintained the domestic tranquillity of each of those
great provinces. Even Italy was not left destitute of a military
force. Above twenty thousand chosen soldiers, distinguished
by the titles of City Cohorts and Prsetorian Guards, watched
over the safety of the monarch and the capital. As the authors
of almost eveiy revolution that distracted the empire, the
Praetorians will very soon and very loudly demand our attention ;
but, in their arms and institutions, we cannot find any circum-
stance which discriminated them from the legions, unless it
were a more splendid appearance, and a less rigid discipline.^'^
The navy maintained by the emperors might seem inadequate Nary
to their greatness ; but it was fully sufficient for every useful
purpose of government. The ambition of the Romans was con-
fined to the land ; nor was that warlike people ever actuated
by the enterprising spirit which had prompted the navigators of
Tyre, of Carthage, and even of Marseilles, to enlarge the bounds
of the world, and to explore the most remote coasts of the ocean.
To the Romans the ocean remained an object of terror rather
than of curiosity ; ^^ the whole extent of the Mediterranean,
«7 Tacitus (Annal. iv. 5) has given us a state of the legions under Tiberius ;
and Dion Cassius (1. Iv, p. 794 [23]) under Alexander Severus. I have en-
deavoured to fix on the proper medium between these two periods. See likewise
Lipsius do Magnitudine Romana, I. i. c. 4, 5. [On the author's procedure here,
see Appendix 4. On the Praetorian Guards see below, p. 104.]
68 The Romans tried to disguise, by the pretence of religious awe, their
ignorance and terror. See Tacit. Germania, c. 34,
2 VOL. I.
18
THE DECLINE AND FALL
after the destruction of Carthage and the extu-pation of the
pirateSj was included within their provinces. The policy of the
emperors was directed only to preserve the peaceful dominion of
that sea^ and to protect the commerce of their subjects. With
these moderate views, Augustus stationed two permanent fleets
In the most convenient ports of Italy, the one at Ravenna, on the
Adriatic, the other at Misenum, in the bay of Naples. Experi-
ence seems at length to have convinced the ancients that,
as soon as their galleys exceeded two, or at the most three
ranks of oars, they were suited rather for vain pomp than for
real service. Augustus himself, in the victory of Actium, had
seen the superiority of his own light frigates (they were called
Libumians) over the lofty but unwieldy castles of his rival. ^^
Of these Libumians he composed the two fleets of Ravenna and
Misentmi, destined to command, the one the eastern, the other
the western division of the Mediterranean ; and to each of the
squadrons he attached a body of several thousand marines.
Besides these two ports, which may be considered as the prin-
cipal seats of the Roman navy, a very considerable force was
stationed at Frejus, on the coast of Provence, and the Euxine
was guarded by forty ships, and three thousand soldiers. To all
these we add the fleet which preserved the communication be-
tween Gaul and Britain, and a great number of vessels con-
stantly maintained on the Rhine and Danube, to harass the
country, or to intercept the passage of the barbarians.*^** If we
review this general state of the Imperial forces, of the cavalry as
well as infentry, of the legions, the auxiliaries, the guards,
and the navy, the most liberal computation will not allow us to
fix the entire establishment by sea and by land at more than
four hundred and fifty thousand men . a military power which,
however formidable it may seem, was equalled by a monarch of
the last century, whose kingdom was confined within a single
province of the Roman empire. "^^
We have attempted to explain the spirit which moderated,
and the strength which supported, the power of Hadrian and
the Antonines. We shall now endeavour, with clearness and
precision, to describe the provinces once united under their
69 Plutarch, in Marc. Anton [66]. And yet if we may credit Orosius, these
monstrous castles were no more than ten feet above the water, vi. 19. [They had
two ranks of oars.]
70 See Lipsius, de Magnitud. Rom. 1. i. c. 5. The sixteen last chapters of
Vegetius relate to naval affairs. [See Appendix 5-]
71 Voltaire, Sifecle de Louis XIV. c. 29. It must, however, be remembered,
that France still feels that extraordinary effort.
OF THE ROMAN EMPIEE 19
sway, but, at present, divided into so many independent and
hostile statesJ2
Spain, the western extremity of the empire, of Europe, and spaw
of the ancient world, has, in every age, invariably preserved
the same natural limits ; the Pyrenean mountains, the Mediter-
ranean, and the Atlantic Ocean. That great peninsula, at
present so unequally divided between two sovereigns, was
distributed by Augustus into three provinces, Lusitania, Baetica,
and TarraconensisJ^ The kingdom of Portugal now fills the place
of the warlike country of the Lusitanians ; and the loss sustained
by the former, on the side of the East, is compensated by an
accession of territory towards the North. The confines of
Grenada and Andalusia correspond with those of ancient Bsetica.
The remainder of Spain — Gallicia, and the Asturias, Biscay, and
Navarre, Leon, and the two Castilles, Murcia, Valencia, Catalonia,
and Arragon, — all contributed to form the third and most con-
siderable of the Roman governments, which, from the name of
its capital, was styled the province of Tarragona. ^^ Of the
native barbarians, the Celtiberians were the most powerful, as
the Cantabrians and Asturians proved the most obstinate. Con-
fident in the strength of their mountains, they were the last who
submitted to the arms of Rome, and the first who threw off the
yoke of the Arabs.
Ancient Gaul, as it contained the whole country between the gaiu
P3a'enees, the Alps, the Rhine, and the Ocean, was of greater
extent than modern France. To the dominions of that powerful
monarchy, with its recent acquisitions of Alsace and Lorraine,
we must add the duchy of Savoy, the cantons of Switzerland, the
four electorates of the Rhine, and the territories of Liege, Lux-
emburg, Hainault, Flanders and Brabant. When Augustus gave
laws to the conquests of his father, he introduced a division of
Gaul equally adapted to the progress of the legions, to the
course of the rivers, and to the principal national distinctions,
which had comprehended above an hundred independent states. ^^
73 [This list of the provinces is incomplete. For full list see Appendix 6.]
73 [Bsetica was divided from Tairaconensis by the saltus Castulonensis,']
74 See Strabo, 1. ii. [Rather iii. p. i66.] It is natural enough to suppose, that
Arragon is derived from Tarraconensis, and several modems who have written in
Latin use those words as synonymous. It is, however, certain, that the Arragon,
a little stream which falls from the Pyrenees into the Ebro, first gave its name to
a country, and gradually to a kingdom. See d'Anville, G^ographie du Moyen
Age, p. i8i.
76 One hundred and fifteen cities appear in the Notitia of Gaul ; and it is well
known that this appellation was applied not only to the capital town, but to the
whole territory of each state. But Plutarch and Appan increase the number of
tribes to three or four hundred.
20 THE DECLINE AND FALL
The sea-coast of the Mediterranean, Languedoc, Provence^ and
Dauphin6, received their provincial appellation from the colony
of Narbonne. The government of Aquitaine was extended from
the Pyrenees to the Loire. The country between the Loire and
the Seine was styled the Celtic Gaul, and soon borrowed a new
denomination from the celebrated colony of Lugdunum, or Lyons.
The Belgic lay beyond the Seine, and in more ancient times had
been bounded only by the Rhine ; but a little before the age of
Caesar, the Germans, abusing their superiority of valour, had
occupied a considerable portion of the Belgic territory. The
Roman conquerors very eagerly embraced so flattering a circum-
stance, and the Gallic frontier of the Rhine, from Basil to
Leyden, received the pompous names of the Upper and the
Lower Germany. ^^ Such, under the reign of the Antonines,
were the six provinces of Gaul ; the Narbonnese, Aquitaine,
the Celtic, or Lyonnese, the Belgic, and the two Germanics.
Britain We havc already had occasion to mention the conquest of
Britain, and to fix the boundary of the Roman province in this
island. It comprehended all England, Wales, and the Lowlands
of Scotland, as far as the Friths of Dumbarton and Edinburgh.
Before Britain lost her freedom, the country was irregularly
divided between thirty tribes of barbarians, of whom the most
considerable were the Belgae in the West, the Brigantes in the
North, the Silures in South Wales, and the Iceni in Norfolk and
Suffolk.^"^ As far as we can either trace or credit the resemblance
of manners and language, Spain, Gaul and Britain were peopled
by the same hardy race of savages. Before they yielded to the
Roman arms, they often disputed the field, and often renewed
the contest. After their submission they constituted the
western division of the European provinces, which extended
from the columns of Hercules to the wall of Antoninus,"^^ and
from the mouth of the Tagus to the sources of the Rhine and
Danube.
Italy Before the Roman conquest, the country which is now called
Lombardy was not considered as a part of Italy. It had been
occupied by a powerfiil colony of Gauls, who, settling them-
selves along the banks of the Po, from Piedmont to Romagna,
cari'ied their arms and diffused their name from the Alps to the
^8 D'Anville, Notice de I'Ancienne Gaule. [These frontier districts received
their names when the true province of Germany, between Rhine and Elbe, which
had been won by Drusus, was lost by the defeat of Varus in 9 A.D.]
^ Whitaker's History of Manchester, vol. i. c. 3.
78 [A rampart from the Clyde to the Forth built in the reign of Antoninus
Pius by the prefect Lollius Urbicus. For this wall see Stuart's Caledonia.]
OF THE ROMAN EMPIKE 21
Apennine. The Ligurians dwelt on the rocky coasts which now
forms the republic of GenoaJ^ Venice was yet unborn ; but the
territories of that state, which lie ' o the east of the Adige, were
inhabited by the Venetians,^** T^ e middle part of the peninsula,
that now composes the duchy oi^ Tuscany and the ecclesiastical
state, was the ancient seat of the Etruscans and Umbrians ; to
the former of whom Italy was indebted for the first rudiments
of a civilized life.^^ The Tiber rolled at the foot of the seven
hills of Rome, and the country of the Sabines, the Latins^ and
the Volsci, from that river to the frontiers of Naples, was the
theatre of her infant victories. On that celebrated ground the
first consuls deserved triumphs, their successors adorned villas,
and their posterity have erected convents.^^ Capua and Cam-
pania possessed the immediate territory of Naples ; the rest of
the kingdom was inhabited by many warlike nations, the Marsi,
the Samnites, the Apulians, and the Lucanians ; and the sea-
coasts had been covered by the flourishing colonies of the Greeks.
We may remark, that when Augustus divided Italy into eleven
regions, the little province of Istria was annexed to that seat of
Roman sovereignty.^^
The European provinces of Rome were protected by the course mie Dimube
of the Rhine and the Danube, The latter of those mighty rrontier
streams, which rises at the distance of only thirty miles from the
former, flows above thirteen hundred miles, for the most part to
the south-east, collects the tribute of sixty navigable rivers, and
is, at length, through six mouths, received into the Euxine,
which appears scarcely equal to such an accession of waters.^*
The provinces of the Danube soon acquired the general appella-
tion of Illyricum, or the lUyrian frontier,^^ and were esteemed
the most warlike of the empire ; but they deserve to be more
particularly considered under the names of Rhaetia, Noricum,
7» [We shall find late Greek historians calling the Genoese Ligurians (Aiyoupiot),
It sounds odd, but serves to remind us that the great city of Liguria did not
preserve the ancient name of the territory like her eastern rival, the great city of
Venetia.]
8t»The Italian Veneti, though often confounded with the Gauls, were more
probably of Illyrian origin. See M. Freret, M^moires de I'Acad^mie des In-
scriptions, torn, xviii.
81 See Mafifei Verona illustrata, 1. .
82 The first contrast was observed by the ancients. See Florus, i. ii. The
second must strike every modern traveller.
83 Pliny (Hist. Natur, 1. iii. [6]) follows the division of Italy, by Augustus.
fi^Toumefort, Voyages en Grfece et Asie Mineure, lettre xviii.
85 The name of Illyricum originally belonged to the sea-coast of the Adriatic,
and was gradually extended by the Romans from the Alps to the Euxine Sea.
See Severini Pannonia, 1. i. c. 3.
22
THE DECLINE AND FALL
Rbaetla
Norlcum and
Fannoola
Dalmatla
JSsiBia, and
Dacla
Pamionia^ Dalmatia, Dacia, Maesia, Thrace, Macedonia, and
Greece.
The province of Rhsetia, which soon extinguished the name
of the VindelicianSj extended from the summit of the Alps to
the banks of the Danube ; from its source, as far as its conflux
with the Inn. The greatest part of the flat country is subject
to the elector of Bavaria ; the city of Augsburg is protected by
tlie constitution of the German empire ; the Grisons are safe in
their mountains ; and the country of T3T0I is ranked among the
numerous provinces of the house of Austria.
The wide extent of territory which is included between the
Inn, the Danube, and the Save, — Austria, St3nia, Carinthia,
Camiola, the Lower Hungary and Sclavonia, — was known to the
ancients under the names of Noricum and Pannonia. In their
original state of independence their fierce inhabitants were in-
timately connected. Under the Roman government they were
fi'equently united, and they still remain the patrimony of a
single family. They now contain the residence of a German
prince, who styles himself Emperor of the Romans^ and form
the centre, as well as strength, of the Austrian power. It may
not be improper to observe, that, if we except Bohemia, Moravia,
the northern skirts of Austria, and a part of Hungary, between
the Theiss and the Danube, all the other dominions of the house
of Austria wer^ comprised within the limits of the Roman
empire,
Dalmatia, to which the name of Illyricum more properly be-
longed, was a long, but narrow tract, between the Save and the
Adriatic. The best part of the sea-coast, which still retains its
ancient appellation, is a province of the Venetian state, and the
seat of the little republic of Ragusa. The inland parts have
assumed the Sclavonian names of Croatia and Bosnia ; the former
obeys an Austrian governor, the latter a Turkish pasha ; but the
whole country is still infested by tribes of barbarians, whose
savage independence irregularly marks the doubtful limit of the
Christian and Mahometan power.^^
After the Danube had received the waters of the Theiss and
the Save, it acquired, at least among the Greeks, the name of
Ister.^^ It formerly divided Maesia and Dacia, the latter of
86 A Venetian traveller, the Abbate Fortis, has lately given us some account of
those very obscure countries. But the geography and antiquities of the western
Illyricum can be expected only from the munificence of the emperor, its sovereign.
[See Mr. Jackson's work entitled Dalmatia, the Quarnero, and Istria.]
87 The Save rises near the confines of /stria, and was considered by the more
early Greeks as the principal stream of the Danube,
OF THE EOMAN EMPIRE 23
which, as we have akeady seen, was a conquest of TrajaOj and
the only province beyond the river. If we inquire into the
present state of those countries, we shall find that, on the left
hand of the Danube, Temeswar and Transylvania have been
annexed, after many revolutions, to the crown of Hungary ;
whilst the principalities of Moldavia .and Wallachia acknowledge
the supremacy of the Ottoman Porte. On the right hand of the
Danube, Maesia, which during the middle ages was broken into
the barbarian kingdoms of Servia and Bulgaria, is again united
in Turkish slavery.
The appellation of Roumelia, which is still bestowed by theihrac. uace-
Turks on the extensive countries of Thrace, Macedonia, and Grew©
Greece, preserves the memory of their ancient state under the
Roman empire. ^^ In the time of the Antonines, the martial
regions of Thrace, from the mountains of Haemus and Rhodope
to the Bosphorus and the Hellespont, had assumed the form of
a province. Notwithstanding the change of masters and of
religion, the new city of Rome, founded by Constan tine on the
banks of the Bosphorus, has ever since remained the capital of a
great monarchy. The kingdom of Macedonia, which, under the
reign of Alexander, gave laws to Asia, derived more solid
advantages from the policy of the two Philips ; and, with its
dependencies of Epirus and Thessaly, extended from the ^gean
to the Ionian sea. When we reflect on the fame of Thebes and
Argos, of Sparta and Athens, we can scarcely persuade ourselves
that so many immortal republics of ancient Greece were lost in
a single province of the Roman empire, which, from the superior
influence of the Achaean league, was usually denominated the
province of Achaia.
Such was the state of Europe under the Roman emperors, abu Minor
The provinces of Asia, without excepting the transient conquests
of Trajan, are ail comprehended within the limits of the Turkish
power. But instead of following the arbitrary divisions of
despotism and ignorance, it will be safer for us, as well as more
agreeable, to observe the indelible characters of nature. The
name of Asia Minor is attributed, with some propriety, to the
peninsula which, confined between the Euxine and the Medi-
terranean, advances from the Euphrates towards Europe. The
most extensive and flourishing district westward of Mount Taurus
88 [Thrace is Eastern Roumelia ; Macedonia and Greece, Western Roumelia,
Since Greece became independent, one hears less of Western Roumelia, but the
name is still applicable to Macedonia; Greece has severed her connexion with the
usurped inheritance of New Rome. Only the Eastern Roumelia will as a rule be
found marked on maps. See Appendix 7.]
24 THE DECLINE AND FALL
and the river Halys, was dignified by the Romans with the
exclusive title of Asia. The jurisdiction of that province
extended over the ancient monarchies of Troy, Lydia, and
Phrygia, the maritime countries of the Pamphylians, Lycians,
and Carians^ and the Grecian colonies of loniaj which equalled
in arts, though not in arms, the glory of their parent. The
kingdoms of Bithynia and Pontus possessed the northern side of
the peninsula from Constantinople to Trebizond. On the op-
posite side the province of Cilicia was terminated by the
mountains of S3rria: the inland country, separated from the
Roman Asia by the river Halys, and from Armenia by the
Euphrates, had once formed the independent kingdom of
Cappadocia. In this place we may observe that the northern
shores of the Euxine, beyond Trebizond in Asia and beyond the
Danube in Europe, acknowledged the sovereignty of the em-
perors, and received at their hands either tributary princes or
Roman garrisons. Budzak, Crim Tartary, Circassia, and Min-
grelia, are the modem appellations of those savage countries.®^
Under the successors of Alexander, S3nia was the seat of the
Seleucidse, who reigned over Upper Asia, till the successful re-
volt of the Parthians confined their dominions between the
Euphrates and the Mediterranean. When Syria became sub-
ject to the Romans, it formed the eastern frontier of their
empire ; nor did that province, in its utmost latitude, know any
other bounds than the mountains of Cappadocia to the north,
and, towards the south, the confines of Egypt and the Red Sea.
Phoenicia and Palestine were sometimes annexed to, and some-
times separated from, the jurisdiction of Syria. The former of
these was a narrow and rocky coast ; the latter was a territory
scarcely superior to Wales, either in fertility or extent. Yet
Phoenicia and Palestine will for ever live in the memory of man-
kind ; since America, as well as Europe, has received letters
from the one, and religion from the other.®** A sandy desert,
^^ See the Periplus of Arrian. He examined the coasts of the Euxine, when he
was governor of Cappadocia.
*** The progress of religion is well known. The use of letters was introduced
among the savages of Europe about fifteen hundred years before Christ ; and
the Europeans carried them to America, about fifteen centuries after the Christian
aera. But in a period of three thousand years, the Phoenician alphabet received
considerable alterations, as it passed through the hands of the Greeks and
Romans. [The date here given for the introduction of the Phcenician alphabet
to Europe, that is, among the Greeks, is much too early. The earliest date that
can be plausibly maintained is the tenth century, the latest, the eighth. But
there are traces of hieroglyphic writing at Mycenae, and Mr. Arthur Evans's
discoveries in Crete pomt to the use not only of hieroglyphics, but of a syllabary
(like the Cyprian) centuries before the introduction of the Phcenician letters.]
OF THE ROMAN EMPIRE 25
alike destitute of wood and water, skirts along the doubtful
confine of Syria, from the Euphrates to the Red Sea. The
wandering life of the Arabs was inseparably connected with
their independence, and wherever, on some spots less barren than
the rest, they ventured to form any settled habitations, they soon
became subjects to the Roman empire.^^
The geographers of antiquity have frequently hesitated to Egypt
what portion of the globe they should ascribe Egypt. ^^ By its
situation that celebrated kingdom is included within the
immense peninsula of Africa ; but it is accessible only on the
side of Asia, whose revolutions, in almost every period of history,
Egypt has humbly obeyed. A Roman praefect was seated on
the splendid throne of the Ptolemies ; and the iron sceptre of the
Mamalukes is now in the hands of a Turkish pasha. The Nile
flows dowTi the country, above five hundred miles from the tropic
of Cancer to the Mediten*anean, and marks, on either side, the
extent of fertility by the measure of its inundations. Cyrene,
situated towards the west and along the sea-coast, was first a
Greek colony, afterwards a province of Egypt, and is now lost
in the desert of Bai'ca.
From C3Tene to the ocean, the coast of Africa extends above Africa.
fifteen hundred miles ; yet so closely is it pi'essed between the
Mediterranean and the Sahara, or sandy desert, that its breadth
seldom exceeds fourscore or an hundred miles. The eastern
division was considered by the Romans as the more peculiar and
proper province of Africa. Till the arrival of the Phoenician
colonies, that fertile country was inhabited by the Libyans, the
most savage of mankind. Under the immediate jurisdiction of
Carthage it became the centre of commerce and empire; but the
republic of Carthage is now degenerated into the feeble and
disorderly states of Ti-ipoli and Tunis. The military government
of Algiers oppresses the wide extent of Numidia, as it was once
united under Massinissa and Jugurtha : but in the time of
Augustus the limits of Numidia were contracted ; and at least
two-thirds of the countiy acquiesced in the name of Mauritania,
with the epithet of Csesariensis.^^ The genuine Mauritania, or
31 Dion Cassius, Ixviii. p. 1131 [14].
^Ptolemy and Strabo, with the modem geographers, fix the Isthmus of Suez
as the boundary of Asia and Africa. Dionysius, Mela, Pliny, Sallust, Hirtius, and
Solinus, have preferred for that purpose the western branch of the Nile, or even
the great Catabathmus, or descent, which last would assign to Asia not only Egypt,
but part of Libya, [For Roman Egypt see Mr. J. G. Milne's History oi Egypt
under Roman Rule, 1898.]
33 [The boundary between Maur. Caes, and Maur. Ting, was the river
Mulucha.]
26 THE DECLINE AND FALL
country of the Moors, which, from the ancient city of Tingi, or
Tangier, was distinguished by the appellation of Tingitana, is
represented by the modem kingdom of Fez. Sallh, on the Ocean,
so infamous at present for its piratical depredations, was noticed
by the Romans, as the extreme object of their power, and almost
of their geography. A city of their foundation may still be
discovered near Mequinez, the residence of the barbarian whom
we condescend to style the Emperor of Morocco ; but it does not
appear that his more southern dominions, Morocco itself, and
Segelmessa, were ever comprehended within the Roman
province. The western parts of Africa are intersected by the
branches of Mount Atlas, a name so idly celebrated by the fancy
of poets ;^* but which is now diffused over the immense ocean
that rolls between the ancient and the new continent. ^^
The Meditflir- Having now finished the circuit of the Roman empire, we may
ita tiiands obscrvc that Africa is divided from Spain by a narrow strait of
about twelve miles, through which the Atlantic flows into the
Mediterranean. The colunms of Hercules, so famous among
the ancients, were two mountains which seemed to have been
torn asunder by some convulsion of the elements ; and at the
foot of the European mountain the fortress of Gibraltar is
now seated. The whole extent of the Mediterranean Sea, its
coasts and its islands, were comprised within the Roman
dominion. Of the larger islands, the two Baleares, which
derive their names of Majorca and Minorca from their respective
size, are subject at present, the former to Spain, the latter to
Great Britain. It is easier to deplore the fate than to describe
the actual condition of Corsica. Two Italian sovereigns assume
a regal title from Sardinia and Sicily. Crete, or Candia, with
Cyprus, and most of the smaller islands of Greece and Asia, have
been subdued by the Turkish arms ; whilst the little rock of
Malta defies their power, and has emerged, under the govern-
ment of its mihtary Order, into fame and opulence.
General idea This long enumeration of provinces, whose broken fragments
empire^"*" ^^^vc formcd SO many powerful kingdoms, might almost induce
us to forgive the vanity or ignorance of the ancients. Dazzled
'^The long range, moderate height, and gentle declivity of Mount Atlas (see
Shaw's Travels, p. 5) are very unlike a solitary mountain which rears its head into
the clouds, and seems to support the heavens. The peak of Teneriff, on the
contrary, rises a league and a half above the surface of the sea, and, as it was
frequently visited by the Phoenicians, might engage the notice of the Greek poets.
See Buffon, Histoire Naturelle, torn. i. p. 312. Histoire des Voyages, torn. ii.
^^ M. de Voltaire, tom, xiv. p. 297, unsuppM"ted by either fact or probability,
has generously bestowed the Canary Islands on the Roman empire. [In recent
OF THE EOMAN EMPIRE 27
with the extensive sway, the irresistible strength, and the real
or affected moderation of the emperors, they permitted them-
selves to despise, and sometimes to forget, the outlying coun-
tries which had been left in the enjoyment of a barbarous
independence ; and they graduaUy assumed the licence of
confounding the Roman monarchy with the globe of the
earth.9^ But the temper, as well as knowledge, of a modern
historian require a more sober and accurate language. He
may impress a juster image of the greatness of Rome by observ-
ing that the empire was above two thousand miles in breadth,
from the wall of Antoninus and the northern limits of Dacia to
Mount Atlas and the tropic of Cancer; that it extended in
length more than three thousand miles, from the Western Ocean
to the Euphrates ; that it was situated in the finest part of the
Temperate Zone, between the twenty-fourth and fifty-sixth
degrees of northern latitude ; and that it was supposed to con-
tain above sixteen hundred thousand c^juare miles, for the most
part of fertile and well-cultivated land.^^
years the history and geography of the Roman Africa have been explored by
French scholars. Tissot, G^ographie compar^e de la province romaine d'Afrique,
1884-8 ; Fastes de la province d'Afrique, 1885 ; Cagnat, L'arm^e romaine d'Afrique,
1893 ; may be mentioned.]
''^Bergier, Hist, des Grands Chemins, 1. iii. c. i, 2, 3, 4: a very useful collec-
tion.
87 See Templeman's Survey of the Globe; but I distrust both the doctor's
learning and his maps.
28 THE DECLINE AND FALL
OHAPTER II
Of the Union and Internal Prosperity of the Roman Empire, in the
Age of the Antonines
prtoeipiea of ^'^ ^ ^*^*- ^^^nc by the rapidity or extent of conquest that we
government should estimate the greatness of Rome. The sovereign of the
Russian deserts commands a larger portion of the globe. In
the seventh summer after his passage of the Hellespont,
Alexander erected the Macedonian trophies on the banks of
the Hyphasis. ^ Within less than a century, the irresistible
Zingis, and the Mogul princes of his race, spread their cruel
devastations and transient empire from the sea of China to the
confines of Egypt and Germany.* But the firm edifice of
Roman power was raised and preserved by the wisdom of ages.
The obedient provinces of Trajan and the Antonines were
united by laws and adorned by arts. They might occasionally
suffer from the partial abuse of delegated authority ; but the
general principle of government was wise, simple, and bene-
ficent. They enjoyed the religion of their ancestors, whilst in
civil honours and advantages they were exalted, by just degrees,
to an equality with their conquerors.
oniveraai I. The poHcy of the emperors and the senate, as far as it
"SSluin concerned religion, was happily seconded by the reflections of
the enlightened, and by the habits of the superstitious, part of
their subjects. The various modes of worship which prevailed
in the Roman world were all considered by the people as equally
true ; by the philosopher as equally false ; and by the magis-
trate as equally useful. And thus toleration produced not only
mutual indulgence, but even religious concord.
ofthepeopie The supcrstitioH of the people was not embittered by any
mixture of theological rancour ; nor was it confined by the
chains of any speculative system. The devout polytheist, though
fondly attached to his national rites, admitted with implicit
^ They were erected about the midway between Labor and Dahli. The con-
quests of Alexander in Hindostan were confined to the Punjab, a country watered
by the five great streams of the Indus. [Alexander reached the Hyphasis in the
eighth summer {B.C. 326) after his passage of the Hellespont (B.C. 334).]
2 See M. de Guignes Histoire des Huns, 1. xv. xvi. and xvii.
OF THE EOMAN EMPIRE 29
faith the different religions of the earth.^ Fear, gratitude, and
curiosity, a dream or an omen, a singular disorder, or a distant
journey, perpetually disposed him to multiply the articles of his
belief, and to enlarge the list of his protectors. The thin
texture of the pagan mythology was interwoven with various
but not discordant materials. As soon as it was allowed that
sages and heroes, who had lived or who had died for the benefit
of their country, were exalted to a state of power and immortal-
ity, it was universally confessed that they deserved, if not the
adoration, at least the reverence of all mankind. The deities
of a thousand groves and a thousand streams possessed in peace
their local and respective influence ; nor could the Roman who
deprecated the wrath of the Tiber deride the Egyptian who
presented his oiFering to the beneficent genius of the Nile.
The visible powers of Nature, the planets, and the elements,
were the same throughout the universe. The invisible governors
of the moral world were inevitably cast in a similar mould of
fiction and allegory. Every virtue, and even vice, acquired its
divine representative ; every art and profession its patron, whose
attributes in the most distant ages and countries were uniformly
derived from the character of their peculiar votaries. A republic
of gods of such opposite tempers and interests required, in
every system, the moderating hand of a supreme magistrate,
who, by the progress of knowledge and of flattery, was gradually
invested with the sublime perfections of an Eternal Parent and
an Omnipotent Monarch.* Such was the mild spirit of anti-
quity, that the nations were less attentive to the difference
than to the resemblance of their religious worship. The Greek,
the Roman, and the Barbarian, as they met before their respec-
tion altars, easily persuaded themselves that, under various
names and with various ceremonies, they adored the same
deities. The elegant mythology of Homer gave a beautiful
and almost a regular form to the polytheism of the ancient
world.''
3 There is not any writer who describes in so lively a manner as Herodotus,
the true genius of Polytheism. The best commentary may be found in Mr. Hume's
Natural History of Religion ; and the best contrast in Bossuet's Universal History.
Some obscure traces of an intolerant spirit appear in the conduct of the Egyptians
(see Juvenal, Sat. xv.) ; and the Christians as well as Jews, who lived under the
Roman empire, formed a very important exception ; so important indeed, that
the discussion will require a distinct chapter of this work.
* The rights, power, and pretensions of the sovereign of Olympus are very
clearly described in the xvth book of the Iliad : in the Greek original, I mean ;
for Mr. Pope, without perceiving it, has improved the theology of Homer.
*See for instance, Caesar de Bell. Gall. vi. 17. Within a century or two the
Gauls themselves applied to their gods the names of Mercury, Mars, Apollo, &c.
HopheTi
30 THE DECLINE AND FALL
of^hiio. The philosophers of Greece deduced their morals from the
nature of man rather than from that of God. They meditated,
however, on the Divine Nature as a very curious and important
speculation, and in the profound inquiry they displayed the
strength and weakness of the human understanding,® Of the
four most celebrated schools, the Stoics and the Platonists en-
deavoured to reconcile the jarring interests of reason and piety.
They have left us the most sublime proofs of the existence and
perfections of the first cause ; but, as it was impossible for them
to conceive the creation of matter, the workman in the Stoic
philosophy was not sufficiently distinguished from the work ;
whilst, on the contrary, the spiritual God of Plato and his
disciples resembled an idea rather than a substance. The
opinions of the Academics and Epicureans were of a less re-
ligious cast ; but, whilst the modest science of the former induced
them to doubt, the positive ignorance of the latter urged them
to deny, the providence of a Supreme Ruler. The spirit of
inquiry, prompted by emulation and supported by freedom, had
divided the public teachers of philosophy into a variety of
contending sects ; but the ingenuous youth, who from every
part resorted to Athens and the other seats of learning in the
Roman empire, were alike instructed in every school to reject
and to despise the religion of the multitude. How, indeed,
was it possible that a philosopher should accept as divine truths
the idle tales of the poets, and the incoherent traditions of
antiquity ; or that he should adore, as gods, those imperfect beings
whom he must have despised, as men ! Against such unworthy
adversaries, Cicero condescended to employ the arms of reason
and eloquence ; but the satire of Lucian was a much more
adequate as well as more efficacious weapon. We may be well
assured that a writer conversant with the world would never
have ventured to expose the gods of his country to public
ridicule, had they not already been the objects of secret con-
tempt among the pohshed and enlightened orders of society.*^
Notwithstanding the fashionable irreligion which prevailed in
the age of the Antonines, both the interests of the priests and
the credulity of the people were sufficiently respected. In their
writings and conversation the philosophers of antiquity asserted
^ The admirable work of Cicero de Natur^ Deorum, is the best clue we have to
guide us through the dark and profound abyss. He represents with candour, and
confutes with subtlety, the opinions c^ the philosophers.
7 I do not pretend to assert that, in this irreligious age, the natural terrors of
superstition, dreams, omens, apparitions, &c., had lost their efficacy.
OF THE EOMAN EMPIRE 31
the independent dignity of reason; but they resigned their actions
to the commands of law and of custom. Viewing with a smile of
pity and indulgence the various errors of the vulgarj they diligently
practised the ceremonies of their fathers, devoutly frequented
the temples of the gods ; and, sometimes condescending to act a
part on the theatre of superstition, they concealed the sentiments
of an Atheist under the sacerdotal robes. Reasoners of such a
temper were scarcely inclined to wrangle about their respective
modes of faith or of worship. It was indifferent to them what
shape the folly of the multitude might choose to assume ; and
they approached, with the same inward contempt and the same
external reverence, the altars of the Libyan, the Olympian, or
the Capitoline Jupiter.^
It is not easy to conceive from what motives a spirit of per-J^*j^*^«™»8^
secution could introduce itself into the Roman councils. The
magistrates could not be actuated by a blind though honest
bigotry, since the magistrates were themselves philosophers ; and
the schools of Athens had given laws to the senate. They could
not be impelled by ambition or avarice, as the temporal and
ecclesiastical powers were united in the same hands. The
pontiffs were chosen among the most illustrious of the senators ;
and the office of Supreme Pontiff was constantly exercised by
the emperors themselves. They knew and valued the advan-
tages of religion, as it is connected with civil government. They
encouraged the public festivals which humanize the manners of
the people. They managed the arts of divination as a con-
venient instrument of policy ; and they respected, as the firmest
bond of society, the useful persuasion that, either in this or in a
future life, the crime of perjury is most assuredly punished by
the avenging gods.® But, whilst they acknowledged the general
advantages of religion, they were convinced that the various
modes of worship contributed alike to the same salutary purposes ;
and that, in every country, the form of superstition which had
received the sanction of time and experienoe was the best
adapted to the climate and to its inhabitants. Avarice and taste
very frequently despoiled the vanquished nations of the elegant
8 Socrates, Epicurus, Cicero, and Plutarch, always inculcated a decent reverence
for the religion of their own country, and of mankind. The devotion of Epicurus
was assiduous and exemplary. Diogen. Laert. x. lo. [In this passage nothing is said
of the devotion of Epicurus, rijs fiw yap vphs Btovs do-idTTjTor . . . SlKkkto^ 17 Stddea-t^
seems to have been mistranslated.]
9 Polybius, 1. vi. c. 56. Juvenal, Sat, xiH., laments that in his time this
apprehension had lost much of its effect
32
THE DECLINE AND FALL
Id the pro-
Tincea
at Rome
statues of their gods and the rich ornaments of their temples ; i^
but, in the exercise of the religion which they derived from
their ancestors, they uniformly experienced the indulgence, and
even protection, of the Roman conquerors. The province of
Gaul seems, and indeed only seems, an exception to this universal
toleration. Under the specious pretext of abolishing human
sacrifices, the emperors Tiberius and Claudius suppressed the
dangerous power of the Druids ;ii but the priests themselves,
their gods, and their altars, subsisted in peaceful obscurity till
the final destruction of Paganism.^^
Rome, the capital of a great monarchy, was incessantly filled
with subjects and strangers from every part of the world,^® who
all introduced and enjoyed the favourite superstitions of their
native country.^* Every city in the empire was justified in
maintaining the purity of its ancient ceremonies ; and the Roman
senate, using the common privilege, sometimes interposed to
check this inundation of foreign rites. The Eg3^tian supei*sti-
tion, of all the most contemptible and abject, was fi'equently
prohibited ; the temples of Serapis and Isis demolished, and
their wor'shippers banished from Rome and Italy.^^ But the
zeal of fanaticism prevailed over the cold and feeble efforts of
policy. The exiles returned, the proselytes multiplied, the
temples were restored with increasing splendour, and Isis and
Serapis at length assumed their place among the Roman deities.^^
Nor was this indulgence a departure from the old maxims of
government. In the purest ages of the commonwealth, Cybele
IP See the fate of Syracuse, Tarentum, Ambracia, Corinth, &c., the conduct of
Verres, in Cicero (Actio ii. Oral. 4), and the usual practice of governors, in the
viiith Satire of Juvenal.
i^Sueton. in Claud. [25]— Plin. Hist Nat. xxx. i.
12 Pelloutier Hisloire des Celtes, torn. vi. p. 230-252.
18 Seneca Consolat. ad Helviam, p. 74 [6]. Edit. Lips.
i^Dionysius Halicarn. Antiquitat. Roman., 1. ii. [i. p. 275, Reiske], ,
'^ In the year of Rome 701, the temple of Isis and Serapis was demolished by
the order of the senate (Dion Cassius, 1. xl. p. 252 [47] ), and even by the hands of
the consul (Valerius Maximus, i, 3). [But this passage in Valerius refers to the first
demolition in B.C. 219.] After the death of Caesar, it was restored at the public ex-
pense (Dion, 1. xlvii. p. 501 [15]). When Augustus was in Egypt, he revered the
majesty of Serapis (Dion, 1. Ii. p. 647 [i6] ) ; but in the i^omasrium of Rome, and
a mile round it, he prohibited the worship of the Egyptian gods (Dion, 1. liii. p.
697 [2], 1. Hv. p. 735 [6]). They remained, however, very fashionable under his
reign (Ovid, de Art. Amand. 1, i. [77] ) and that of his successor, till the justice of
Tiberius was provoked to some acts of severity. (See Tacit. Annal. ii. 85, Joseph.
Antiquit. 1. xviii. c. 3.)
i^Tertullian in Apologetic, c. 6, p. 74. Edit. Havercamp. I am inclined to
attribute their establishment to the devotion of the Flavian family.
OF THE ROMAN EMPIRE 33
and ^sculapius had been invited by solemn embassies ;i^ and it
was customary to tempt the protectors of besieged cities by the
promise of more distinguished honours than they possessed in
their native country. ^^ Rome gradually became the common
temple of her subjects; and the freedom of the city was be-
stowed on all the gods of mankind.^^
II. The narrow policy of preserving without any foreign Freedom of
mixture the pure blood of the ancient citizenSj had checked
the fortune, and hastened the ruin, of Athens and Sparta. The
aspiring genius of Rome sacrificed vanity to ambition, and
deemed it more prudent, as well as honourable, to adopt virtue
and merit for her own wheresoever they were found, among
slaves or strangers, enemies or barbarians. 2<> During the
most flourishing aera of the Athenian commonwealth the number
of citizens gradually decreased from about thirty ^i to twenty-
one thousand,22 If, on the contrary, we study the growth of
the Roman republic, we may discover that, notwithstanding the
incessant demands of wars and colonies, the citizens, who, in
the first census of Servius Tullius, amounted to no more than
eighty-three thousand, ^3 were multiplied, before the com
mencement of the social war, to the nuriiber of four hundred and
sixty-three thousand men able to bear arms in the service of their
country.2* When the allies of Rome claimed an equal share of
honours and privileges, the senate indeed preferred the chance of
arms to an ignominious concession. The Samnites and the
Lucanians paid the severe penalty of their rashness ; but the rest
of the Italian states, as they successively returned to their duty,
were admitted into the bosom of the republic,^^ and soon con-
tributed to the ruin of public freedom. Under a democratical
17 See Livy, I. xi. [12] and xxix. [11].
18 Macrob. Saturnalia, 1. iii. c. 9. He gives us a form of evocation.
18 Minucius Felix in Octavio, p. 54. Arnobius, 1. vi. p. 115.
20 Tacit. Annal. xi. 24. The Orbis Romanus of the learned Spanheim is a
complete history of the progressive admission of Latium, Italy, and the provinces
to the freedom of Rome.
21 Herodotus, v. 97. It should seem, however, that be followed a large and
popular estimation.
22 Athenaeus Deipnosophist. 1. vi. p. 272, Edit. Casaubon. Meursius de Fortune
Attici, 0. 4. [For the population of Athens, see Clinton's Fasti Hellenici, vol. i.
p. 381, and Boeckh's Staatshaushaltung der Athener. But new light has been
thrown on the Athenian as on other ancient populations by Beloch. He estimates
the population of Athens c. 431 B.C. at 35,000.]
23 [Perhaps about 20,000. See Mommsen, Hist, of Rome, i. 436, Eng. Tr.]
24 See a very accurate collection of the numbers of ^ch Lustrum in M. de Beau-
fort, R6publique Romaine, 1. iv. c. 4.
^ Appian de Bell, civil. 1. i. [53] . Velleius Paterculus, 1. ii. c, 15, 16, 17,
3 VOLo I.
34 THE DECLINE AND FALL
government the citizens exercise the powers of sovereignty ;
and those powers will be first abused, and afterwards lost, if
they are committed to an unwieldy multitude. But, when the
popular assemblies had been suppressed by the administration
of the emperors, the conquerors were distinguished from the
vanquished nations only as the first and most honourable order
of subjects; and their increase, however rapid, was no longer
exposed to the same dangers. Yet the wisest princes who
adopted the maxims of Augustus guarded with the strictest
care the dignity of the Roman name, and diffused the freedom
of the city with a prudent liberality. ^^
Italy Till the privileges of Romans had been progressively extended
to all the inhabitants of the empire, an important distinction
was preserved between Italy and the provinces. The former
was esteemed the centre of public unity, and the firm basis of
the constitution. Italy claimed the birth, or at least the re-
sidence, of the emperors and the senate.^^ The estates of
the Italians were exempt from taxes, their persons from the
arbitrary jurisdiction of governors. Their municipal corpora-
tions, formed after the perfect model of the capital,28 were
intrusted, under the immediate eye of the supreme power, with
the execution of the laws. From the foot of the Alps to the
extremity of Calabria, all the natives of Italy were bom citizens
of Rome. Their partial distinctions were obliterated, and they
insensibly coalesced into one great nation, united by language,
manners, and civil institutions, and equal to the weight of a
powerful empire. The republic gloried in her generous policy,
and was frequently rewarded by the merit and semces of her
adopted sons. Had she always confined the distinction of
Romans to the ancient families within the walls of the city,
that immortal name would have been deprived of some of its
noblest ornaments. Virgil was a native of Mantua ; Horace
was inclined to doubt whether he should call himself an Apulian
or a Lucanian ; it was in Padua that an historian was found
28 Maecenas had advised him to declare, by one edict, all his subjects citizens.
But we may justly suspect that the Historian Dion was the author of a counsel, so
much adapted to the practice of his own age, and so little to that of Augustus.
27 The senators were obliged to have one-third of their own landed property in
Italy. See Plin. 1. vi. ep. 19. The qualification was reduced by Marcus to one-
fourth. Since the reign of Trajan, Italy had sunk nearer to the level of the
provinces.
28 [This statement is too strong. The municipal constitutions of the Italian
towns were hardly created in a day. The old constitutions were modified by the
new relation with Rome, but not abolished.]
OF THE ROMAN EMPIRE 35
worthy to record the majestic series of Roraan victories. The
patriot family of the Catos emerged from Tusculum ; and the
little town of Arpinum claimed the double honour of producing
Marius and Cicero, the former of whom deserved, after Romulus
and Camillus, to be styled the Third Founder of Rome ; and
the latter, after saving his country from the designs of Catihne,
enabled her to contend with Athens for the palm of elo-
quence.^^
The provinces of the empire (as they have been described in The pro-
the preceding chapter) were destitute of any public force or
constitutional freedom. In Etruria, in Greece/*^ and in
Gaul,3i it was the first care of the senate to dissolve those
dangerous confederacies which taught mankind that, as the
Roman arms prevailed by division, they might be resisted by
union. Those princes whom the ostentation of gratitude or
generosity permitted for a while to hold a precarious sceptre
were dismissed from their thrones, as soon as they had per-
formed their appointed task of fashioning to the yoke the
vanquished nations. The free states and cities which had
embraced the cause of Rome were rewarded with a nominal
alliance, and insensibly sunk into real servitude. The public
authority was everywhere exercised by the ministers of the
senate and of the emperors, and that authority was absolute
and without control. But th,e same salutary maxims of govern-
ment, which had secured the peace and obedience of Italy, were
extended to the most distant conquests. A nation of Romans
was gradually formed in the provinces, by the double expedient
of introducing colonies, and of admitting the most faithful and
deserving of the provincials to the freedom of Rome.
"Wheresoever the Roman conquers, he inhabits," is a very coiomeB and
just observation of Seneca,^^ confirmed by history and experi- ^wns^^
ence. The natives of Italy, allured by pleasure or by interest,
hastened to enjoy the advantages of victory ; and we may
remark that, about forty years after the reduction of Asia,
eighty thousand Romans were massacred in one day by the
29 The first part of the Verona lUustrata of the Marquis Maffei gives the
clearest and most comprehensive view of the state of Italy under the Csesars.
30 See Pausanias, 1. vii. [i6]. The Romans condescended to restore the names
of those assemblies, when they could no longer be dangerous.
31 They are frequently mentioned by Caesar. The Abh6 Dubos attempts, with
very little success, to prove that the assemblies of Gaul were continued under the
emperors. Histoire de I'Etablissement de la Monarchic Franjoise, 1. i. c. 4.
[These assemblies did exist in Gaul as well as in other provinces. See E. Carette,
Les assemblies provinciales de la Gaule romaine, 1895.]
32 Seneca in Consolat. ad Helviam, c. 6.
36 THE DECLINE AND FALL
cruel orders of Mithridates.^^ These voluntary exiles were en-
gaged for the most part in the occupations of commerce, agri-
culture, and the farm of the revenue. But after the legions
were rendered permanent by the emperors, the provinces were
peopled by a race of soldiers ; and the veterans, whether they
received the reward of their service in land or in money, usually
settled with their families in the country where they had honour-
ably spent their youth. Throughout the empire, but more parti-
cularly in the western parts, the most fertile districts and the
most convenient situations were reserved for the establishment
of colonies ; some of which were of a civil and others of a
mihtary nature. In their manners and internal policy, the
colonies formed a perfect representation of their great parent ;
and [as] they were soon endeared to the natives by the ties of
friendship and alliance, they effectually diffused a reverence
for the Roman name, and a desire which was seldom disap-
pointed of sharing, in due time, its honours and advantages.^^
The municipal cities msensibly equalled the rank and splendour
of the colonies ; and in the reign of Hadrian it was disputed
which was the preferable condition, of those societies which had
issued from, or those which had been received into, the bosom
of Rome.^^ The right of Latium, as it was called, conferred on
the cities to which it had been granted a more partial favour.
The magistrates only, at the expiration of their office, assumed
the quality of Roman citizens ; but as those offices were annual,
in a few years they circulated round the principal families. ^^
Those of the provincials who were permitted to bear arms in the
legions ; ^"^ those who exercised any civil employment ; all, in a
word, who performed any public service, or displayed any personal
ssMemnon apud Photium, c. 33 [c. 31; Miiller, F.H.G.^ iii. p. 542]. Valer.
Maxim, ix. 2. Plutarch [Sulla, 24] and Dion Cassius [fr. 99; vol. i. p. 342, ed.
Melber] swell the massacre to 150,000 citizens ; but I should esteem the smaller
number to be more than sufficient.
34 Twenty-five colonies were settled in Spain (see Phn. Hist. Natur. iii. 3, 4, iv.
35) : and nine in Britain, of which London, Colchester, Lincoln, Chester, Gloucester,
and Bath, still remain considerable cities (see Richard of Cirencester, p. 36, and
Whitaker's History of Manchester, 1. i. c. 3). [The authority of Richard of
Cirencester on Roman Britain is of no value. See Appendix 2.]
35Aul. Gell. Nodes Atticas, xvi. 13. The Emperor Hadrian expressed his
surprise that the cities of Utica, Gades, and Italica, which already enjoyed the
rights of Municipia, should solicit the title of colonies. Their example, however,
became fashionable, and the empire was filled with honorary colonies. See
Spanheim, de Usu Nuraismatum, Dissertat. xiii. [For colonies, municipal towns
and the right of Latium, see Appendix 8.]
36 Spanheim, Orbis Roman, c. 8. p. 62.
37Aristid, iii Romse Encomio, tom. i. p. 218. Edit. Jebb.
OF THE ROMAN EMPIRE 37
talents, were rewarded with a present, whose value was continu-
ally diminished by the increasing liberality of the emperors.
Yet even in the age of the Antonines, when the freedom of the
city had been bestowed on the greater number of their subjects,
it was still accompanied with very solid advantages. The bulk
of the people acquired, with that title, the benefit of the Roman
laws, particularly in the interesting articles of marriage, testa-
ments, and inheritances ; and the road of fortune was open to
those whose pi*etensions were seconded by favour or merit. The
grandsons of the Gauls who had besieged Julius Caesar in Alesia
commanded legions, governed provinces, and were admitted into
the senate of Rome.^^ Their ambition, instead of disturbing the
tranquillity of the state, was intimately connected with its safety
and greatness.
So sensible were the Romans of the influence of language over Division of
national manners, that it was their most serious care to extend, tkeOMek*^
with the progress of their arms, the use of the Latin tongue.
39
provinces
The ancient dialects of Italy, the Sabine, the Etruscan, and the
Venetian, sunk into oblivion ; but in the provinces, the east was
less docile than the west to the voice of its victorious preceptors.
This obvious difference mai-ked the two portions of the empire
with a distinction of colours, which, though it was in some degree
concealed during the meridian splendour of prosperity, became
gradually more visible as the shades of night descended upon
the Roman world. The western countries were civilized by the
same hands which subdued them. As soon as the barbarians
were reconciled to obedience, their minds were opened to any
new impressions of knowledge and politeness. The language of
Virgil and Cicero, though with some inevitable mixture of cor-
ruption, was so universally adopted in Africa, Spain, Gaul,
Britain, and Pannonia, ^^ that the faint traces of the Punic or
Celtic idioms were preserved only in the mountains, or among
the peasants. *i Education and study insensibly inspired the
38 Tacit. Annal. xi. 23, 24. Hist. iv. 74.
39 See Plin. Hist. Natur. ill. 5. Augustin. de Civitate Dei, xix. 7. Lipsius de
pronunciatione Linguas Latinae, c. 3.
*o Apiileius and Augustin will answer for Africa ; Strabo for Spain and Gaul ;
Tacitus, in the life of Agricola, for Britain ; and Velleius Paterculus, for Pannonia.
To them we may add the language of the Inscriptions. [The statement in the
text needs modification especially in regard to Britain.]
*i The Celtic was preserved in the mountains of Wales, CornwaU, and Armorica
We may observe that Apuleius reproaches an African youth, who lived among the
populace, with the use of the Punic; whilst he had almost forgot Greek, and
neither could nor -would speak Latin. (Apolog. p_. 596.) The greater part of St,
AustiE*s congregatioTS were strangers to the Punic.
38 THE DECLINE AND FALL
natives of those countries with the sentiments of Romans ; and
Italy gave fashions, as well as laws, to her Latin provincials.
They solicited with more ardour, and obtained with more facility,
the freedom and honours of the state ; supported the national
dignity in letters^^ ^nd in arms ; and, at length, in the person of
Trajan, produced an emperor whom the Scipios would not have
disowned for their countryman. The situation of the Greeks
was very different from that of the barbarians. The former had
been long since civilized and corrupted. They had too much
taste to relinquish their language, and too much vanity to adopt
any foreign institutions. Still preserving the prejudices, after
they had lost the virtues, of their ancestors, they affected to
despise the unpolished manners of the Roman conquerors, whilst
they were compelled to respect their superior wisdom and
power. *^ Nor was the influence of the Grecian language and
sentiments confined to the narrow limits of that once celebrated
country. Their empire, by the progress of colonies and con-
quest, had been diffused from the Hadriatic to the Euphrates and
the Nile. Asia was covered with Greek cities, and the long
reign of the Macedonian kings had introduced a silent revolution
into Syria and Egypt. In their pompous courts those princes
united the elegance of Athens with the luxixry of the East, and
the example of the court was imitated, at an humble distance,
by the higher ranks of their subjects. Such was the general
division of the Roman empire into the Latin and Greek lan-
guages. To these we may add a third distinction for the body
of the natives in Syria, and especially in Egjrpt. The use of
their ancient dialects, by secluding them from the commerce of
mankind, checked the improvements of those barbarians.** The
slothful effeminacy of the former exposed them to the contempt,
the sullen ferociousness of the latter excited the aversion, of the
conquerors. *5 Those nations had submitted to the Roman
power, but they seldom desired or deserved the freedom of the
city ; and it was remarked that more than two hundred and
*2 Spain alone produced Columella, the Senecas, Lucan, Martial, and Quintiliar
[but not, as far as we know, Silius Italicus, who, if his name really connected him
with Italica, must have been Italicanus\.
*s There is not, I believe, from Dionysius to Libanius, a single Greek critic who
mentions Virgil or Horace. They seem ignorant that the Romans had any good
writers.
** The curious reader may see in Dupin (Bibhoth^que Eccl^siastique, torn. xix.
p. I, c. 8), how much the use of the Syriac and Egyptian languages was still
preserved.
*° See Juvenal, Sat. iii. and xv. Ammian. Marcellin. xxii. 16.
nse
of both lan-
goages
OF THE ROMAN EMPIEE 39
thirty years elapsed after the ruin of the Ptolemies, before an
Egyptian was admitted into the senate of Rome. ^^
It is a just though trite observation, that victorious Rome was General
herself subdued by the arts of Greece. Those immortal writers
who still command the admiration of modern Europe soon be-
came the favourite object of study and imitation in Italy and the
western provinces. But the elegant amusements of the Romans
were not suffered to interfere with their sound maxims of policy.
Whilst they acknowledged the charms of the Greek, they asserted
the dignity of the Latin, tongue, and the exclusive use of the
latter was inflexibly maintained in the administration of civil as
well as military government.*'^ The two languages exercised at
the same time their separate jurisdiction throughout the empire:
the former, as the natural idiom of science ; the latter, as the
legal dialect of public transactions. Those who united letters
with business were equally conversant with both; and it was
almost impossible, in any province, to find a Roman subject,
of a liberal education, who was at once a stranger to the Greek
and to the Latin language.
It was by such institutions that the nations of the empire in- slaves
sensibly melted away into the Roman name and people. But
there still remained, in the centre of every province and of every
family, an unhappy condition of men who endured the weight,
without sharing the benefits, of society. In the fi'ee states of
antiquity the domestic slaves were exposed to the wanton rigour Their treat
of despotism. The perfect settlement of the Roman empire was ""'
preceded by ages of violence and rapine. The slaves consisted,
for the most part, of barbarian captives, taken in thousands by
the chance of war, purchased at a vile price,*^ accustomed to a
life of independence, and impatient to break and to revenge their
fetters. Against such internal enemies, whose desperate in-
surrections had more than once reduced the republic to the brink
of destruction,*® the most severe regulations ^^ and the most cruel
treatment seemed almost justified by the great law of self-
preservation. But when the principal nations of Europe, Asia,
*fiDion Cassiiis, 1. Ixxvi. p. 1275 [$]. The first instance happened under the
reign of Septimius Sevenis.
*7 See Valerius Maximus, 1. ii. c. 2, n. 2. The Emperor Claudius disfranchised
an eminent Grecian for not understanding Latin. He was probably in some
public office. Suetonius in Claud, c. 16.
48 In the camp of LucuUus, an ox sold for a drachma, and a slave for four
drachmae, or about three shillings. Plutarch, in LucuU. p. 580 [14]. [Compare
Dureau de la Malle, Econ. Pol. des Romains, i. 15.]
49 Diodorus Siculus in Eclog. Hist. 1. xxxiv. and xxxvi. Florus, iii. 19, 20.
fsoSee a remarkable instance of severity, in Cicero in Verrem^ v. 3.
menc
40 THE DECLINE AND FALL
and Africa were united under the laws of one sovereign, the
source of foreign supplies flowed with much less abundance, and
the Romans were reduced to the milder but more tedious method
of propagation. In their numerous families, and particularly in
their country estates, they encouraged the marriage of their
slaves. The sentiments of nature, the habits of education, and
the possession of a dependent species of property, contributed
to alleviate the hardships of servitude.^^ The existence of a
slave became an object of greater value, and though his happi-
ness still depended on the temper and circumstances of the
master, the humanity of the latter, instead of being restrained by
fear, was encouraged by the sense of his own interest. The
progress of manners was accelerated by the virtue or policy of
the emperors ; and by the edicts of Hadrian and the Antonines
the protection of the laws was extended to the most abject part
of mankind. The jurisdiction of life and death over the slaves,
a power long exercised and often abused, was taken out of
private hands, and resei*ved to the magistrates alone. The sub-
terraneous prisons were abolished ; and, upon a just complaint of
intolerable treatment, the injured slave obtained either his
deliverance or a less cruel master.^^
EnftancMae- Hopc, the bcst comfort of our imperfect condition, was
not denied to the Roman slave ; and, if he had any opportunity
of making himself either useful or agreeable, he might very
naturally expect that the dihgence and fidelity of a few years
would be rewarded with the inestimable gift of freedom. The
benevolence of the master was so frequently prompted by the
meaner suggestions of vanity and avarice, that the laws found
it more necessary to restrain than to encourage a profuse and
undistinguishing liberality, which might degenerate into a very
dangerous abuse.^^ It was a maxim of ancient jurisprudence,
that a slave had not any countiy of his own ; he acquired with
his liberty an admission into the political society of which his
patron was a member. The consequences of this maxim would
have prostituted the privileges of the Roman city to a mean
and promiscuous multitude. Some seasonable exceptions were
therefore provided ; and the honourable distinction was confined
^ See in Gruler, and the other collectors, a great number of inscriptions
addressed by slaves to their wives, children, fellow-servants, masters, &c. They
are all most probably of the Imperial age.
63 See the Augustan History [i, i8], and a dissertation of M. de Burigny, in
the^xxxvth volume of the Academy of Inscriptions, upon the Roman slaves.
53 See another dissertation of M. de Burigny in the xxxviith volume, on the
Roman freedmen.
OF THE ROMAN EMPIRE 41
to such slaves only as, for just causes, and with the approbation
of the magistrate, should receive a solemn and legal manumis-
sion. Even these chosen freedmen obtained no more than the
private rights of citizens, and were rigorously excluded from
civil or military honours. Whatever might be the merit
or fortune of their sons, they likewise were esteemed unworthy
of a seat in the senate ; nor were the traces of a servile
origin allowed to be completely obliterated till the third
or fourth generation.^^ Without destroying the distinction
of ranks, a distant prospect of freedom and honours was pre-
sented, even to those whom pride and prejudice almost dis-
dained to number among the human species.
It was once proposed to discriminate the slaves by a peculiar Numiiers
habit, but it was justly apprehended that there might be some
danger in acquainting them with their own numbers.^^ Without
interpreting, in their utmost strictness, the liberal appellations of
legions and myriads, ^^ we may venture to pronoimce that the
proportion of slaves, who were valued as property, was more con-
siderable than that of servants, who can be computed only as an
expense.^''^ The youths of a promising genius were instructed in
the arts and sciences, and their price was ascertained by the
degree of their skill and talents. ^^ Almost every profession,
either liberal ^^ or mechanical, might be found in the household
of an opulent senator. The ministers of pomp and sensuality
were multiplied beyond the conception of modern luxury.^^ It
was more for the interest of the merchant or manufacturer to
purchase than to hire his workmen ; and in the country slaves
were employed as the cheapest and most laborious instruments
of agriculture. To confirm the general observation, and to dis-
play the multitude of slaves, we might allege a variety of par-
ticular instances. It was discovered, on a very melancholy
occasion, that fourhundred slaves were maintained ina single palace
54Spanheim. Orbis Roman. 1. i. c. i6. p. 124, &c.
55 Seneca de dementia, 1. i. c. 24. The original is much stronger, "Quantum
periculum immineret si servi nostri numerare nos coepissent".
56 See Pliny (Hist. Natur. 1. xxxiii.) and Athenaeus (Deipnosophist, 1. vi. p. 272).
The latter boldly asserts that he knew very many (Tra/ATroAAoi) Romans who
possessed, not for use, but ostentation, ten and even twenty thousand slaves.
57 In Paris there are not more than 43,700 domestics of every sort, and not a
twelfth part of the inhabitants. Messange, Recherches sur la Population, p. 186.
58 A learned slave sold for many hundred pounds sterling ; Atticus always bred
and taught them himself. Cornel. Nepos in Vit. c. 13.
59 Many of the Roman physicians were slaves. See Dr. Middleton's Disserta-
tion and Defence. [On the state of Physicians among the Old Romans, 1734.]
fio Their ranks and offices are very copiously enumerated by Pignorius de
Servis. [For whole subject cp. Wallcn, Hist, de I'Esclavage.]
42 THE DECLINE AND FALL
of Rome.^i The same number of four hundred belonged to an
estate, which an African widow, of a very private condition, re-
signed to her son, whilst she reserved for herself a much larger
share of her property.^^ A freedman, under the reign of Augustus,
though his fortune had suffered great losses in the civil wars, left
behind him three thousand six hundred yoke of oxen, two hundred
and fifty thousand head of smaller cattle, and, what was almost
included in the description of cattle, four thousand one hundred
and sixteen slaves. ^^
poptaouanesB The number of subjects who acknowledged the laws of Rome,
empire of citizcns, of proviHcials, and of slaves, cannot now be fixed with
such a degree of accuracy as the importance of the object would
deserve.^ We are informed that, when the emperor Claudius
exercised the office of censor, he took an account of six millions
nine hundred and forty-five thousand Roman citizens, who, with
the proportion of women and children, must have amounted to
about twenty millions of souls. The multitude of subjects of an
inferior rank was uncertain and fluctuating. But, after weighing
with attention eveiy circumstance which could influence the
balance, it seems probable that there existed, in the time of
Claudius, about twice as many provincials as there were citizens,
of either sex and of every age ; and that the slaves were at least
equal in number to the free inhabitants of the Roman world.
The total amount of this imperfect calculation would rise to
about one hundred and twenty millions of persons : a degree of
population which possibly exceeds that of modern Europe, ^^ and
forms the most numerous society that has ever been united
under the same system of government.
81 Tacit. Annal. xiv. 43. They all were executed for not preventing their master's
murder.
^^Apuleius in Apolog. p. 548. Edit, Delphin.
*3 Plin. Hist. Natur. L xxxiii. 47.
" [The subject of the population of the Roman empire has been discussed in
detail in Bureau de la Malle's Economie Politique, on which work Merivale's
investigation is based (History of the Romans under the Empire, chap. 39).
Merivale reckons the entire population under Augustus, "including both sexes,
all ages and every class of inhabitants," at eighty-five millions, of which forty fall
to the European, forty-five to the Asiatic provinces. In the present day the total
population of these European lands is two and a half times as great. Gibbon's
calculation is, on any theory, far too large.]
85 Compute twenty miUions in France, twenty-two in Germany, four in
Hungary, ten in Italy with its islands, eight in Great Britain and Ireland, eight
*n Spain and Portugal, ten or twelve in the European Russia, six in Poland, six
in Greece and Turkey, four in Sweden, three in Denmark and Norway, four in
the Low Countries. The whole would amount to one hundred and five, or one
hundred and seven milUons. See Voltaire, de I'Histoire G^n^rale. [The present
population of Europe is somewhat about three hundred and fifty millions.]
OF THE ROMAN EMPIRE 43
Domestic peace and union were the natural consequences of obedience and
the moderate and comprehensive policy embraced by the
Romans. If we turn our eyes towards the monarchies of Asia,
we shall behold despotism in the centre and weakness in the
extremities ; the collection of the revenue, or the administration
of justice, enforced by the presence of an army; hostile bar-
barians, established in the heart of the country, hereditary
satraps usurping the dominion of the provinces and subjects,
inclined to rebellion, though incapable of freedom. But the
obedience of the Roman world was uniform, voluntary, and
permanent. The vanquished nations, blended into one great
people, resigned the hope, nay even the wish, of resuming their
independence, and scarcely considered their own existence as
distinct from the existence of Rome. The established authority
of the emperors pervaded without an effort the wide extent of
their dominions, and was exercised with the same facility on
the banks of the Thames, or of the Nile, as on those of the
Tiber. The legions were destined to serve against the public
enemy, and the civil magistrate seldom required the aid of a
military force. ^^ In this state of general security, the leisure
as well as opulence both of the prince and people were devoted to
improve and to adorn the Roman empire.
Among the innumerable monuments of architecture con- Bomon monn-
structed by the Romans, how many have escaped the notice of
history, how few have resisted the ravages of time and bar-
barism ! And yet even the majestic ruins that are still scattered
over Italy and the provinces would be sufficient to prove that
those countries were once the seat of a polite and powerful
empire. Their greatness alone, or their beauty, might deserve
our attention ; but they are rendered more interesting by two
important circumstances, which connect the agreeable history
of the arts with the more useful history of human manners.
Many of those works were erected at private expense, and
almost all were intended for public benefit.
It is natural to suppose that the greatest number, as well as Many of them
the most considerable of the Roman edifices, were raised by the private Jx-
emperorSj who possessed so unbounded a command both of men ^^"^^
and money. Augustus was accustomed to boast that he had
found his capital of brick, and that he had left it of raarble.^'^
66 Joseph de Bell. Judaico. 1. ii. c. i6. The oration of Agrippa, or rather of
the historian, is a fine picture of the Roman empire.
^ Sueton. in August, c. 28. Augustus built in Rome the temple and forum
of Mars the Avenger ; the Temple of Jupiter Tonans in the capitol ; that of
44 THE DECLINE AND FALL
The strict economy of Vespasian was the source of his magnifi-
cence. The works of Trajan bear the stamp of his genius.
The public monuments with which Hadrian adorned every
province of the empire were executed not only by his orders,
but under his immediate inspection. He was himself an artist;
and he loved the arts, as they conduced to the glory of the
monarch. They were encouraged by the Antonines^ as they
contributed to the happiness of the people. But if the emperors
were the first, they were not the only architects of their
dominions. Their example was universally imitated by their
principal subjects, who were not afraid of declaring that they
had spirit to conceive, and wealth to accomplish, the noblest
undertakings. Scarcely had the proud structure of the Coli-
seum been dedicated at Rome, before the edifices of a smaller scale
mdeed, but of the same design and materials, were erected for
the use, and at the expense, of the cities of Capua and
Verona. ^^ The inscription of the stupendous bridge of Alcantara
attests that it was thrown over the Tagus by the contribution
of a few Lusitanian communities. When Pliny was intrusted
with the government of Bith3niia and Pontus, provinces by no
means the richest or most considerable of the empire, he found
the cities within his jurisdiction striving with each other in
every useful aqd ornamental work that might deserve the
curiosity of strangers or the gratitude of their citizens. It was
the duty of the Proconsul to supply their deficiencies, to direct
their taste, and sometimes to moderate their emulation . ^^
The opulent senators of Rome and the provinces esteemed it
an honour, and almost an obligation, to adorn the splendour of
their age and country ; and the influence of fashion very fi-e-
quently supplied the want of taste or generosity. Among a
crowd of these private benefactors, we may select Herodes
Atticus, an Athenian citizen, who lived in the age of the
Antonines. Whatever might be the motive of his conduct,
his magnificence would have been worthy of the greatest
kings.
Apollo Palatine, with public libraries ; the portico and basilica of Caius" and
Lucius ; the porticoes of Livia and Octavia, and the theatre of Marcellus. The
example of the sovereign was imitated by his ministers and generals ; and his
friend Agrippa left behind him the immortal monument of the Pantheon.
**8SeeMaffei, Verona illustrata, . iv. p. 68.
69 See the xth book o( Pliny's Epistles. He mentions the following works,
carried on at the expense of the cities. At Nicomedia, a new forum, an aqueduct,
and a canal, left unfinished by a king ; at Nice, a Gymnasium and a theatre,
which had already cost near ninety thousand pounds ; baths at Prusa and
Claudiopolis ; and an aqueduct of sixteen miles in length for the use of Sinope.
OF THE ROMAN EMPIRE 45
The family of Herod, at least after it had been favoured by Exampio of
fortune, was lineally descended from Cimon and Miltiades, Attfci^^
Theseus and Cecrops, iEacus and Jupiter. But the posterity of
so many gods and heroes was fallen into the most abject state.
His grandfather had suffered by the hands of justice, and Julius
Atticus, his father, must have ended his life in poverty and
contempt, had he not discovered an immense treasure buried
under an old house, the l&st remains of his patrimony. According
to the rigour of law, the emperor might have asserted his claim ;
and the prudent Atticus prevented, by a frank confession, the
officiousness of informers. But the equitable Nerva, who then
filled the throne, refused to accept any part of it, and commanded
him to use, without scruple, the present of fortune. The cautious
Athenian still insisted that the treasure was too considerable for
a subject, and that he knew not how to iise it. Abuse it then,
replied the monarch, with a good-natured peevishness ; for it is
your owaJ^ Many will be of opinion that Atticus literally
obeyed the emperor s last instructions, since he expended the
greatest part of his fortune, which was much increased by an
advantageous marriage, in the service of the Public. He had
obtained for his son Herod the prefecture of the free cities of
Asia; and the young magistrate, observing that the town of
Troas was indifferently supplied with water, obtained from the
munificence of Hadrian three hundred myriads of drachms (about
a hundred thousand pounds) for the construction of a new aque-
duct. But in the execution of the work the charge amounted to
more than double the estimate, and the officers of the revenue be-
gan to murmur, till the generous Atticus silenced their complaints
by requesting that he might be permitted to take upon himself
the whole additional expense. ^^
The ablest preceptors of Greece and Asia had been invited by Hiereputa-
liberal rewards to direct the education of young Herod. Their
pupil soon became a celebrated orator in the useless rhetoric of
that age, which, confining itself to the schools, disdained to visit
either the Forum or the Senate. He was honoured with the
consulship at Rome ; but the greatest part of his life was spent in
a philosophic retirement at Athens, and his adjacent villas ;
70 Hadrian afterwards made a very equitable regulation, which divided all
treasure trove between the right of property and that of discovery. Hist. August,
p. 9 [i. i8].
'1 Philostrat. in Vit. Sophist. 1. ii. p. 548. [We cannot implicitly trust the
statements of Philostratus, the biographer of Herodes, for he was also the
biographer of ApoUonius of Tyana.]
46 THE DECLINE AND FALL
perpetually surrounded by sophists, who acknowledged, without
reluctance, the superiority of a rich and generous rivalJ^ xij^
monuments of his genius have perished ; some remains still pre-
serve the fame of his taste and munificence : modem travellers
have measured the remains of the stadium which he constructed
at Athens. It was six hundred feet in length, built entirely of
white marble, capable of admitting the whole body of the people,
and finished in four years, whilst Herod was president of the
Athenian games. To the memory of his wife Regilla he dedi-
cated a theatre, scarcely to be paralleled in the empire : no wood
except cedar very curiously carved, was employed in any part of
the building. The Odeum, designed by Pericles for musical per-
formances and the rehearsal of new tragedies, had been a trophy of
the victory of the arts over Barbaric greatness ; as the timbers
employed in the construction consisted chiefly of the masts of
the Persian vessels. Notwithstanding the repairs bestowed on
that ancient edifice by a king of Cappadocia, it was again fallen
to decay. Herod restored its ancient beauty and magnificence.'^^
Nor was the liberaHty of that illustrious citizen confined to
the walls of Athens. The most splendid ornaments bestowed
on the temple of Neptune in the Isthmus, a theatre at Corinth,
a stadium at Delphi, a bath at Thermopylae, and an aqueduct
at Canusium in Italy, were insufficient to exhaust his treasures.
The people of Epirus, Thessaly, Euboea, Boeotia, and Peloponnesus,
experienced his favours ; and many inscriptions of the cities of
Greece and Asia gratefiilly style Herodes Atticus their patron
and benefactor.74
Most of the In the commonwealths of Athens and Rome, the modest
ineStofor^"'^" Simplicity of private houses announced the equal condition of
temple^* ' fircedom ; whilst the sovereignty of the people was represented
a^uedSs, in the majestic edifices destined to the public use:''^^ nor was
this republican spirit totally extinguished by the introduction of
wealth and monarchy. It was in works of national honour and
benefit that the most virtuous of the emperors affected to dis-
play their magnificence. The golden palace of Nero excited a
72Aulus Gellius, in Noct Attic, i. a, ix. ■£, xviii. lo, xix. 12. Phitostrat. p.
564 [ii. 14].
7S [The Odeum of Herodes is here wrongly distinguished from his theatre
and confounded with the Odeum of Pericles. The latter, which has disappeared,
was close to the Theatre of Dionysus, but on the east side ; that of Herodes, of
which there are still ample remains, was on the west (S. W. of the Acropolis).]
74 See Philostrat. 1. ii. p. 548, 560 [3 sqq?\ . Pausanias 1. i. [19] and vii. 20. The life
of Herodes, in the xxxth volume of the Memoirs of the Academy of Inscriptions.
^f* It is particularly remarked of Athens by Dicseajchus, de Statu GraecJEe, p. 8,
nter Geographos Minores, edit. Hudson.
fito.
OF THE EOMAN EMPIEE 47
just indignation, but the vast extent of groiind which had been
usurped by his selfish luxury was more nobly filled under the
succeeding reigns by the Coliseum, the baths of Titus, the
Claudian portico, and the temples dedicated to the goddess of
Peace and to the genius of Rome. '^^ These monuments of
architecture, the property of the Roman people, were adorned
with the most beautiful productions of Grecian painting and
sculpture ; and in the temple of Peace a very curious library
was open to the curiosity of the learned. At a small distance
from thence was situated the Forum of Trajan. It was sur-
rounded with a lofty portico in the form of a quadrangle, into
which four triumphal arches opened a noble and spacious en-
trance : in the centre arose a column o-f marble, whose height
of one hundred and ten feet denoted the elevation of the hill that
had been cut away. This column, which still subsists in its
ancient beauty, exhibited an exact repr esentation of the Dacian
victories of its founder. The veteran soldier contemplated the
story of his own campaigns, and, by an easy illusion of national
vanity, the peaceful citizen associated Jaimself to the honours of
the triumph. All the other quarters of the capital, and all the
provinces of the empire, were embellished by the same liberal
spirit of public magnificence, and were filled with amphitheatres,
theatres, temples, porticos, triumphal ai-ches, baths and aqueducts,
all variously conducive to the healtli, the devotion, and the
pleasures of the meanest citizen. The last mentioned of those
edifices deserve our peculiar attention. The boldness of the en-
terprise, the solidity of the execution, and the uses to which they
were subservient, rank the aqueducts; among the noblest monu-
ments of Roman genius and power, "^rhe aqueducts of the capital
claim a just pre-eminence; but the curious traveller, who, without
the light of history, should examine those of Spoleto, of Metz, or
of Segovia, would very naturally conclude that those provincial
towns had formerly been the residence of some potent monarch.
The solitudes of Asia and Africa were once covered with flourishing
cities, whose populousness, and even whose existence, was derived
from such artificial supplies of a perennial stream of fresh water. ^"^
76 Donatus de Roma Vetere, 1. iii. c. 4, s, 6, Nardini Roma Antica, 1. iii. n,
12, 13, and an MS. description of ancient Rome, by Bernardus Oricellarius, or
Rucellas, of which I obtained a copy from the hbrary of the Canon Ricardi at
Florence. Two celebrated pictures of Timanthes and of Protogenes are men-
tioned by Pliny [xxxv. 36] as in the Temple of Peace ; and the Laocoon was
fomid in the baths of Titus. [The Temple of Peace was erected by Vespasian.]
''■^ Montfaucon, 1' Antiquity ExpHqu^e, torn. iv. p. 2. 1. i. c. 9. Fabretti has
composed a very learned treatise on the aqueducts of Rome. [The chief work on
the aqueducts now is Lanciani's Le acque e gh acquedotti di Roma antica, 1S90.
There is a good account in Hodgkin's Italy and her Invaders, vol. iv. bk. v, c. vi.]
48 THE DECLINE AND FALL
Nnmber and We havc computcd the inhabitants, and contemplated the
fjrcitilsof public workSj of the Roman empire. The observation of the
e empire j^^^j^jj^gj. ^^^ grcatness of its cities will serve to confirm the
former and to multiply the latter. It may not be unpleasing to
collect a few scattered instances relative to that subject, without
forgetting, however, that, from the vanity of nations and the
poverty of language, the vague appellation of city has been
indifferently bestowed on Rome and upon Laurentum. I.
In Italy Ancient Italy is said to have contained eleven htrndred and ninety-
seven cities ; and, for whatsoever aera of antiquity the expression
might be intended, ^^ there is not any reason to believe the coimtry
less populous in the age of the Antonines, than in that of Romu-
lus. The petty states of Latium were contained within the metro-
polis of the empire, by whose superior influence they had been
atti-acted. Those parts of Italy which have so long languished
under the lazy tyranny of priests and viceroys had been afllicted
only by the more tolerable calamities of war; and the first symp-
toms of decay which ihei/ experienced were amply compensated by
the rapid improvements of the Cisalpine Gaul. The splendour of
Verona may be traced in its remains : yet Verona was less cele-
Ganiand brated than Aquileia or Padua, Milan or Ravenna. II. The
^'^ " spirit of improvement had passed the Alps, and been felt even
in the woods of Britain, which were gradually cleared away to
open a free space for convenient and elegant habitations. York
was the seat of government ; London was already enriched by
commerce ; and Bath was celebrated for the salutary effects of
its medicinal waters. Gaul could boast of her twelve hundred
cities ; "^^ and, though, in the northern parts, many of them, without
excepting Paris itself, were little more than the rude and imper-
fect to^vnships of a rising people^ the southern provinces imitated
the wealth and elegance of Italy. ^** Many were the cities of
Gaul, Marseilles, Aries, Nismes, Narbonne, Toulouse, Bor-
deaux, Autun, Vienne, Lyons, Langres, and Treves, whose
ancient condition might sustain an equal, and perhaps advan-
tageous, comparison with their present state. With regard to
Spain, that country flourished as a province, and has declined as a
kingdom. Exhausted by the abuse of her strength, by America,
and by superstition, her pride might possibly be confounded, if
78 JEUsLU Hist. Var. 1. ix" c. i6. He lived in the time of Alexander Sevenis.
See Fabricius. Biblioth. Graeca, 1. iv. c. 21.
79 Joseph de Bell. Jud. ii. 16. The number, however, is mentioned and should
be received with a degree of latitude.
80 Plin. Hist. Natur. iii. 5.
OF THE ROMAN EMPIEE 49
we required such a list of three hundred and sixty cities as Pliny
has exhibited under the reign of Vespasian, ^i III. Three hun- Africa
dred African cities had once acknowledged the authority of Car-
thage, ^2 nor is it likely that their numbers diminished under the
administration of the emperors : Carthage itself rose with new
splendour from its ashes ; and that capital, as well as Capua and
Corinth, soon recovered all the advantages which can be separated
from independent sovereignty. IV. The provinces of the east
present the contrast of Roman magnificence with Turkish barbar- Ania
ism. The ruins of antiquity, scattered over uncultivated fields, and
ascribed by ignorance to the power of magic, scarcely afford a
shelter to the oppressed peasant or wandering Arab. Under the
reign of the Caesars, the proper Asia alone contained five hundred
populous cities, ^^ enriched with all the gifts of nature, and
adorned with all the refinements of art. Eleven cities of Asia
had once disputed the honour of dedicating a temple to Tiberius,
and their respective merits were examined by the senate.^
Four of them were immediately rejected as unequal to the bur-
den ; and among these was Laodicea, whose splendour is still
displayed in its ruins. ^^ Laodicea collected a very considerable
revenue from its flocks of sheep, celebrated for the fineness of
their wool, and had received, a little before the contest, a legacy
of above four hundred thousand pounds by the testament of a
generous citizen. ^^ If such was the poverty of Laodicea, what
must have been the wealth of those cities, whose claim appeared
preferable, and particularly of Pergamus, of Smyrna, and of Ephe-
sus, who so long disputed with each other the titular primacy of
Asia ? s'' The capitals of Syria and Egypt held a still superior rank
81 Plin. Hist. Natur. iii. 3, 4. iv. 35. The list seems authentic and accurate :
the division of the provinces and the difTei-ent condition of the cities are minutely
distinguished.
82Strabon. Geograph. 1. xvii. p. 1189.
83 Joseph, de Bell. Jud. ii. 16. Philostrat. in Vit. Sophist. 1. ii. p. 548. Edit
Olear. [Life of Herodes, 3.]
84 Tacit. Annal. iv. 55. I have taken some pains in consulting and comparing
modern travellers, with regard to the fate of those eleven cities of Asia ; seven
or eight are totally destroyed, Hypsepe, Tralles, Laodicea, Ilium, Halicarnassus,
Miletus, Ephesus, and we may add Sardis. Of the remaining three, Pergamus
is a straggling village of two or three thousand inhabitants ; Magnesia, under
the name of Guzel-hissar, a town of some consequence ; and Smyrna, a great
city, peopled by a hundred thousand souls. But even at Smyrna, while the Franks
have maintained commerce, the Turks have ruined the arts.
85 See a very exact and pleasing description of the ruins of Laodicea, in
Chandler's Travels through Asia Minor, p. 225, &c.
86 Strabo, 1. xii. p. 866. He had studied at Tralles.
87 See a dissertation of M. de Bose, Mem. de I'Acad^mie, torn, xviii. Aristides
pronounced an oration which is still extant, to recommend concord to the rival cities.
4 VOL. L
50 THE DECLINE AND FALL
in the empire : Antioch and Alexandria looked down with disdain
on a crowd of dependent cities, ^^ and yielded with reluctance to
the majesty of Rome itself
Roman roadB All thcsc citics werc connccted with each other, and with the
capital, by the public highways, which, issuing from the Forum
of Rome, traversed Italy, pervaded the provinces, and were ter-
minated only by the frontiers of the empire. If we carefully
trace the distance from the wall of Antoninus to Rome, and from
thence to Jerusalem, it will be found that the great chain of
communication, from the north-west to the south-east point of
the empire, was drawn out to the length of four thousand and
eighty Roman miles.^^ The public roads were accurately
divided by milestones, and ran in a direct line from one
city to another, with very little respect for the obstacles
either of nature or private property. Mountains were per-
forated, and bold arches thrown over the broadest and most
rapid stireams.®** The middle part of the road was raised
into a terrace which commanded the adjacent country, consisted
of several strata of sand, gravel, and cement and was paved with
large stones, or, in some places near the capital, with granite. ^^
Such was the solid construction of the Roman highways, whose
firmness has not entirely yielded to the effort of firteen centuries.
They united the subjects of the most distant provinces by an easy
and familiar intercourse ; but their primary object had been to
facilitate the marches of the legions ; nor was any country con-
sidered as completely subdued, till it had been rendered, in all
its parts, pervious to the arms and authority of the conqueror.
Port! The advantage of receiving the earliest intelligence, and of con-
veying their orders with celerity, induced the emperors to estab-
lish, throughout their extensive dominions, the regular institution
88 The inhabitants of Egypt, exclusive of Alexandria, amounted to seven
millions and a half (Joseph, de Bell. Jud. ii. i6). Under the military government
of the Mamalukes, Syria was supposed to contain sixty thousand villages (Histoire
de Timur Bee, I. v. c. 20).
88 The following Itinerary may serve to convey some idea of the direction of
the road, and of the distance between the principal towns. I. From the wall of
Antoninus to York, 222 Roman miles. II. London 227. III. Rhutupiae or
Sandwich 67. IV. The navigation to Boulogne 45. V. Rheims 174. VI. Lyons
330. VII. Milan 324. VIII. Rome 426. IX. Brundusium 360. X. The
navigation to Dyrrachium 40. XI. Byzantium 711. XII. Ancyra 283. XIII.
Tarsus 301. XIV. Antioch 141. XV. Tyre 252. XVI. Jerusalem 168. In all
4080 Roman, or 3740 English miles. See the Itineraries published by Wesseling,
his annotations; Gale and Stukeley for Britain, and M. d'Anville for Gaul and Italy.
^Montfaucon {I'Antiquit^ Expliqu^e, tom. iv. p. 2. 1. i. c. 5.) has described
the bridges of Narni, Alcantara, Nismes, &c,
^ Bergier. Histoire des grands Chemins de I'Empire Remain, 1. ii. c. 1-28.
OF THE ROMAN EMPIRE 61
of posts.^2 Houses were everywhere erected at the distance only
of five or six miles ; each of them was constantly provided with
forty horses, and, by the help of these relays, it was easy to
travel an hundred miles in a day along the Roman roads.^^ xhe
use of the posts was allowed to those who claimed it by an Im-
perial mandate ; but, though originally intended for the public
service, it was sometimes indulged to the business or conveniency
of private citizens.^* Nor was the communication of the Roman Navigation
empire less free and open by sea than it was by land. The
provinces surrounded and enclosed the Mediterranean ; and Italy,
in the shape of an immense promontory, advanced into the midst
of that great lake. The coasts of Italy are, in general, destitute
of safe harbours ; but human industry had corrected the defici-
encies of nature ; and the artificial port of Ostia, in particular,
situate at the mouth of the Tiber, and formed by the Emperor
Claudius, was an useful monument of Roman greatness.®^ From
this port, which was only sixteen miles from the capital, a favour-
able breeze frequently carried vessels in seven days to the
columns of Hercules, and in nine or ten to Alexandria in Egypt.^^
Whatever evils either reason or declamation have imputed impMvmieDi
to extensive empire, the power of Rome was attended withintlv
some beneficial consequences to mankind ; and the same free- conntrieB
dom of intercourse which extended the vices, diffused likewise
the improvements, of social life. In the more remote ages of
antiquity, the world was unequally divided. The east was in
the immemorial possession of arts and luxuiy ; whilst the west
was inhabited by rude and warlike barbarians, who either dis-
dained agriculture, or to whom it was totally unknown. Under
the protection of an established government, the productions of
happier climates and the industry of more civilized nations
were gradually introduced into the western countries of Europe ;
92Procopius in Hist. Arcana, c. 30, Bergier Hist, des grands Chemins, I.
iv. Codex Theodosian, 1. viii. tit. v. vol. ii. p. 506-563, with Godefroy's learned
commentary.
93 In the time of Theodosius, Csesarius, a magistrate of high rank, went post
from Antioch to Constantinople. He began his journey at night, was in Cappa-
docia (165 miles from Antioch) the ensuing evening, and arrived at Constantinople
the sixth day about noon. The whole distance was 725 Roman, or 665 English
fliiles. See Libanius Oral. xxii. and the Itineraria, p. 572-581. [For the post-
system or cursus puilicus see the article under this title in Smith's Diet, of Anti-
quities ; and Hudemann's Gesch. des rom. Postwesens.]
84 Pliny, though a favourite and a minister, made an apology for granting
post horses to his wife on the most urgent business, Epist. x. 121, 122.
w Bergier Hist, des grands Chemins, 1. iv. c. 49,
wplin. Hist. Natur. xix i. [From Puteoli, Pliny says.]
THE DECLINE AND FALL
and the natives were encouraged, by an open and profitable
commerce, to multiply the former as well as to improve the
latter. It would be almost impossible to enumerate all the
articles, either of the animal or the vegetable reign, which were
successively imported into Europe from Asia and Egypt ; ^^ but
it will not be unworthy of the dignity, and much less of the
utility, of an historical work, slightly to touch on a few of the
Introduction principal heads. 1, Almost all the flowers, the herbs, and the
of£niiti.,&c. |.j.^.^g ^^^^ ^^^ ^ ^yj. European gardens are of foreign ex-
traction, which, in many cases, is betrayed even by their
names : the apple was a native of Italy, and, when the
Romans had tasted the richer flavour of the apricot, the peach,
the pomegranate, the citron, and the orange, they contented
themselves with applying to all these new fruits the common
denomination of apple, discriminating them from each other
by the additional epithet of their country. 2. In the time of
Homer, the vine grew wild in the island of Sicily and most
probably in the adjacent continent; but it was not improved
by the skill, nor did it afford a liquor grateful to the taste, of
the savage inhabitants.^^ A thousand years aftei^wards, Italy
could boast that, of the fourscore most generous and celebrated
wines, more than two-thirds were produced from her soil. ®^
The blessing was soon communicated to the Narbonnese pro-
vince of Gaul ; but so intense was the cold to the north of the
Cevennes, that, in the time of Strabo, it was thought impossible
to ripen the grapes in those parts of Gaul. ^^° This difficulty,
however, was gradually vanquished ; and there is some reason
to believe that the vineyards of Burgundy are as old as the age
of the Antonines. ^^^ 3. The olive, in the western world,
followed the progress of peace, of which it was considered as
the symbol. Two centuries after the foundation of Rome,
both Italy and Africa were strangers to that usefril plant ; it
was naturalized in those countries; and at length carried into
The Tine
The olive
^ It is not improbable that the Greeks and Phoenicians introduced some new
arts and productions into the neighbourhood of Marseilles and Gades.
98 See Homer Odyss. i. ix. v. 358.
»Plin. Hist. Nalur. I. xiv. [11].
iw Strab. Geograph. 1. iv. p. 223. The intense cold of a Gallic winter was al-
mpst proverbial among the ancients. [Compare Cicero, de Rep., iii. 9.]
i*'^ In the beginning of the ivth century, the orator Eumenius (Panegyric. Veter.
viii. 6. edit. Delphin. [Incerti, Grat. Actio Constantino Aug., viii. 6 ed. B^hrens])
speaks of the vines in the territory of Autun, which were decayed through age, and
the first plantation of which was totally unknown. The Pagus Arebrignus is sup-
posed by M. d'Anville to be the district of Beaune, celebrated, even at present,
for one of the tirst growths of Burgundy.
OF THE ROMAN EMPIEE 53
the heart of Spain and Gaul. The timid errors of the ancients,
that it required a certain degree of heat, and could only flourish
in the neighbourhood of the sea, were insensibly exploded by
industry and experience. ^^^^ 4. The cultivation of flax was fim
transported from Egypt to Gaul, and enriched the whole
country, however it might impoverish the particular lands on
which it was sown. ^^^ 5. The use of artificial grasses became Artificial
familiar to the farmers both of Italy and the provinces, parti-
ctdarly the Lucerne, which derived its name and origin from
Media, i*^* The assured supply of wholesome and plentiful
food for the cattle during winter multiplied the number of the
flocks and herds, which in their turn contributed to the fertility
of the soil. To all these improvements may be added an
assiduous attention to mines and fisheries, which, by employing
a multitude of laborious hands, serve to increase the pleasures
of the rich and the subsistence of the poor. The eleeant General
treatise of Columella describes the advanced state of the
Spanish husbandry, under the reign of Tiberius ; and it may
be observed that those famines which so frequently afflicted
the infant republic were seldom or never experienced by the
extensive empire of Rome. The accidental scarcity, in any
single province, was immediately relieved by the plenty of its
more fortunate neighbours.
Agricultm*e is the foundation of manufactures ; since the An* of
productions of nature are the materials of art. Under the ^^'^^^
Roman empire, the labour of an industrious and ingenious
people was variously, but incessantly, employed in the service of
the rich. In their dress, their table, their houses, and their
furniture, the favourites of fortune united every refinement of
conveniency, of elegance, and of splendour, whatever could
soothe their pride or gratify their sensuality. Such refinements,
under the odious name of luxury, have been severely arraigned
by the moralists of every age ; and it might perhaps be more
conducive to the virtue, as well as happiness, of mankind, if all
possessed the necessaries, and none the superfluities, of life. But
in the present imperfect condition of society, luxury, though it
may proceed from vice or folly, seems to be the only means that
can correct the unequal distribution of property. The diligent
mechanic, and the skilful artist, who have obtained no share in
loapiin. Hist. Natur. L xv. [i],
lospiin. Hist. Natur. 1. xix. [i, 2].
104 See the agreeable Essays on Agriculture by Mr. Harte, in which he has
collected all that the ancients and moderns have said of lucerne.
54 THE DECLINE AND FALL
the division of the earth, receive a voluntary tax from the
possessors of land ; and the latter are prompted, by a sense of
interest, to improve those estates, with whose produce they may
purchase additional pleasures. This operation, the particular
effects of which are felt in every society, acted with much more
diffusive energy in the Roman world. The provinces would soon
have been exhausted of their wealth, if the manufactures and
commerce of luxury had not insensibly restored to the industrious
subjects the sums which were exacted from them by the arms
and authority of Rome. As long as the circulation was confined
within the bounds of the empire, it impressed the political
machine with a new degree of activity, and its consequences,
sometimes beneficial, could never become pernicious.
Foreign But it is no easy task to confine luxury within the limits of an
empire. The most remote countries of the ancient world were
ransacked to supply the pomp and delicacy of Rome. The
forest of Scythia afforded some valuable furs. Amber was
brought over land from the shores of the Baltic to the Danube ;
and the barbarians were astonished at the price which they
received in exchange for so useless a commodity. ^'^^ There was
a considerable demand for Babylonian carpets, and other manu-
factures of the East ; but the most important and unpopular
branch of foreign trade was carried on with Arabia and India.
Every year, about the time of the summer solstice, a fleet of an
hundred and twenty vessels sailed from Myos-hormos, a port of
Egypt, on the Red Sea. By the periodical assistance of the
monsoons, they traversed the ocean in about forty days. The
coast of Malabar, or the island of Ceylon,^**® was the usual term
of their navigation, and it was in those markets that the
merchants from the more remote countries of Asia expected
their arrival. The return of the fleet of Egypt was fixed to the
months of December or January ; and as soon as their rich cargo
had been transported on the backs of camels from the Red Sea
to the Nile, and had descended that river as far as Alexandria,
it was poured, without delay, into the capital of the empire. ^**^
The objects of oriental traffic were splendid and trifling : silk, a
108 Tacit. Germania, c.45. Plin. Hist. Natur. xxxvii. 11 [7]. The latter observed,
with some humour, that even fashion had not yet found out the use of amber.
Nero sent a Roman knight to purchase great quantities on the spot, where it was
produced ; the coast of modern Prussia.
^^ Called Taprobana by the Romans, and Screndib by the Arabs. It was dis-
covered under the reign of Claudius, and gradually became the principal mart of
the east.
iwpiin. Hist. Natur. 1. vj. [33]. Strabo, 1. xvii. [p. 798].
OF THE ROMAN EMPIRE 55
pound of which was esteemed not inferior in value to a pound
of gold ; 1*^8 precious stones, among which the pearl claimed the
first rank after the diamond ; ^^^ and a variety of aromatics, that
were consumed in religious worship and the pomp of funerals.^i**
The labour and risk of the voyage was rewarded with almost in-
credible profit ; but the profit was made upon Roman subjects,
and a few individuals were enriched at the expense of the Public.
As the natives of Arabia and India were contented with the pro-
ductions and manufactures of their own country, silver, on the oow and
side of the Romans, was the principal, if not the only, instrument ^^^^^
of commerce. It was a complaint worthy of the gravity of the
senate, that, in the purchase of female ornaments, the wealth of
the state was irrecoverably given away to foreign and hostile
nations, m The annual loss is computed, by a writer of an
inquisitive but censorious temper^ at upwards of eight hundred
thousand pounds sterling.^^^ Such was the style of discontent,
brooding over the dark prospect of approaching poverty. And
yet, if we compare the proportion between gold and silver, as it
stood in the time of Pliny, and as it was fixed in the reign of
Constantine, we shall discover within that period a very con-
siderable increase.^^^ There is not the least reason to suppose
that gold was become more scarce ; it is therefore evident that
108 Hist. August, p. 224 [xxvi. 45] . A silk garment was considered as an
ornament to a woman, but as a disgrace to a man.
109 The two great pearl fisheries were the same as at present, Ormuz and Cape
Comorin. As well as we can compare ancient with modern geography, Rome
.was supplied with diamonds from the mine of Sumelpur, in Bengal, which is
described in the Voyages de Tavemier, torn. ii. p. 281. [See Appendix 9.]
"0 [But the use of aromatic spices among the Romans fras by no means con-
fined to these purposes,]
m Tacit. Annal. iii. 53. In a speech of Tiberius, [The statement in the
text is an exaggeration and must be considerably modified, as also the subsequent
remark about the plentifulness of the precious metals. Silver was not the only,
though it seems to have been the chief, commodity sent to the east ; and there
was certainly, as Merivale admits, a distinct though gradual diminution in the
amount of gold and silver in circulation in the second century. Yet in regard to
the first question, Gibbon had grasped facts ; the spirit of his observation is
right. " Two texts of Pliny assert the constant drain of specie to the East ; and
the assertion is confirmed by the circumstances of the case, for the Indians and
the nations beyond India, who transmitted to the West their silks and spices,
cared little for the wines and oils of Europe, still less for the manufactures in
wool and leather which formed the staples of commerce in the Mediterranean. . . .
The difficulty of maintaining the yield of the precious metals is marked in the
severe regulations of the late emperors, and is further attested by the progressive
debasement of the currency." (Merivale, Hist, of the Romans, cap. 68, vol. viii.
p. 352). Cp. Finlay, History of Greece, i. 49, 50.]
"2 piin. Hist. Natur. xii. 18. In another place he computes half that sum ;
Quingenties HS for India exclusive of Arabia.
113 xhe proportion which was i to 10, and 12^, rose to i4f , the legal regulation
of Constantine. See Arbuthnot's Table of ancient Coins, c. v.
felicity
66 THE DECLINE AND FALL
silver was grown more common ; that whatever might be the
amount of the Indian and Arabian exports, they were far from
exhausting the wealth of the Roman world ; and that the pro-
duce of the mines abundantly supplied the demands of commerce.
Notwithstanding the propensity of mankind to exalt the past,
and to depreciate the present, the tranquil and prosperous state
of the empire was warmly felt, and honestly confessed, by the
General provincials as well as Romans. " They acknowledged that the
true principles of social life, laws, agriculture, and science, which
had been first invented by the wisdom of Athens, were now
firmly established by the power of Rome, under whose auspicious
influence the fiercest barbarians were united by an equal govern-
mient and common language. They affirm that, with the
improvement of arts, the human species was visibly multiplied.
They celebrate the increasing splendour of the cities, the
beautiful face of the country, cultivated and adorned like an
immense garden ; and the long festival of peace, which was en-
joyed by so many nations, forgetful of their ancient animosities,
and delivered from the apprehension of future danger/* i^*
Whatever suspicions may be suggested by the air of rhetoric and
declamation which seems to prevail in these passages, the
substance of them is perfectly agreeable to historic truth.
Decline of It was scarccIy possible that the eyes of contemporaries should
discover in the public felicity the latent causes of decay and
corruption. This long peace, and the uniform government of
the Romans, introduced a slow and secret poison into the vitals
of the empire. The minds of men were gradually reduced to the
same level, the fire of genius was extinguished, and even the
military spirit evaporated. The natives of Europe were brave
and robust. Spain, Gaul, Britain, and Illyricum supplied the
legions with excellent soldiers, and constituted the real strength
of the monarchy. Their personal valour remained, but they no
longer possessed that public courage which is nourished by the
love of independence, the sense of national honour, the presence
of danger, and the habit of command. They received laws and
governors from the will of their sovereign, and trusted for their
defence to a mercenary army. The posterity of their boldest
leaders was contented with the rank of citizens and subjects.
The most aspiring spirits resorted to the court or standard of the
emperors ; and the deserted provinces, deprived of political
11* Among many other passages, see Pliny (Hist. Natur. iii. 5.), Aristides (de
Urbe Rorai) and Tertullian (de Anim^, c. 30.)
eonrag* ;
OF THE ROMAN EMPIRE 67
strength or union, insensibly sunk into the languid indifference
of private life.
The love of letters, almost inseparable from peace and refine- •«K«nina
mont, was fashionable among the subjects of Hadrian and the
Antonines, who were themselves men of learning and curiosity.
It was diffused over the whole extent of their empire ; the most
northern tribes of Britons had acquired a taste for rhetoric ;
Homer as well as Virgil were transcribed and studied on the
banks of the Rhine and Danube ; and the most liberal rewards
sought out the faintest glimmerings of hterary merit. ^^^ The
sciences of physic and astronomy were successfnlly cultivated by
the Greeks ; the observations of Ptolemy and the writings of
Galen are studied by those who have improved their discoveries
and corrected their errors ; but, if we except the inimitable
Lucian, this age of indolence passed away without having pro-
duced a single writer of original genius or who excelled in the
arts of elegant composition. The authority of Plato and Aristotle,
of Zeno and Epicurus, still reigned in the schools, and their sys-
tems, transmitted with blind deference from one generation of
disciples to another, precluded every generous attempt to exer-
cise the powers, or enlarge the limits, of the human mind. The
beauties of the poets and orators, instead of kindling a fire like
their own, inspired only cold and servile imitations : or, if any
ventured to deviate from those models, they deviated at the same
time from good sense and propriety. On the revival of letters,
the youthful vigour of the imagination after a long repose,
national emulation, a new religion, new languages, and a new
world, called forth the genius of Europe. But the provincials of
Rome, trained by a uniform artificial foreign education, were en-
gaged in a very unequal competition with those bold ancients,
who, by expresssing their genuine feelings in their native tongue,
had already occupied every place of honour. The name of Poet
iif* Herodes Atticus gave the sophist Polemo above eight thousand poiinds for
three declamations. See Philostrat. 1. i. p. 558 [Life of Herodes, 7]. The An-
tonines founded a school at Athens, in which professors of grammar, rhetoric,
politics, and the four great sects of philosophy, were maintained at the public ex-
pense for the instruction of youth. The salary of a philosopher was ten thousand
drachmae, between three and four hundred pounds a year. Similar establishments
were formed in the other great cities of the empire. See Lucian in Eunuch, torn.
ii. p. 353, edit. Reitz. Philostrat. 1. ii. p. 566. Hist. August, p. 21 [iii., 11]. Dion
Cassius, 1. Ixxxi. p. 1195 [31] . Juvenal himself, in a morose satire, which in every line
betrays his own disappointment and envy, is obliged, however, to say— O Juvenes,
circumspicit et agitat [/eg. stimulat] vos, Materiamque sibi Ducis indulgentia
quaerit. — Satlr. vii. 20. [Vespasian was the first to appoint salaried professors ip
Rome ; Stretoijius, in Vespas. 18.]
58 THE DECLINE AND FALL
was almost forgotten ; that of Orator was usurped by the sophists.
A cloud of critics, of compilers, of commentators, darkened the
face of learning, and the decline of genius was soon followed by
the corruption of taste.
DtgBasracy The sublimc Longinus, who in somewhat a later period, and
in the court of a Syrian queen, preserved the spirit of ancient
Athens, observes and laments this degeneracy of his contem-
poraries, which debased their sentiments, enervated their
courage, and depressed their talents. '' In the same manner,"
says he, " as some children always remain pigmies, whose infant
limbs have been too closely confined ; thus our tender minds,
fettered by the prejudices and habits of a just servitude, are
unable to expand themselves, or to attain that well-proportioned
greatness which we admire in the ancients, who, living under a
popular government, wrote with the same freedom as they
acted." ^^^ This diminutive stature of mankind, if we pursue
the metaphor, was daily sinking below the old standard, and
the Roman world was indeed peopled by a race of pigmies,
when the fierce giants of the north broke in and mended the
puny breed. They restored a manly spirit of freedom ; and,
after the revolution of ten centuries, freedom became the happy
parent of taste and science.
i^^Longin. de Sublira. c. 43, p. 229 edit. ToU. Here too we may say of
Longinus, "his own example strengthens all his laws". Instead of proposing
his sentiments with a manly boldness, he insinuates them with the most guarded
caution, puts them into the mouth of a friend, and, as far as we can collect from
a corrupted text, makes a show of refuting them himself. [The author calls him
"sublime" in allusion to the work On Sublimity, Treplv^ous. But the author-
ship of this able and striking treatise is very doubtful ; it is certain that it was not
written by Zenobia's Longinus.]
OF THE EOMAN EMPIEE 59
CHAPTER III
Of the Constiiuiion of the Roman EmpirBj in the Age of the
Antonines
The obvious definition of a monarchy seems to be that of a state, weaof a
in which a single person, by whatsoever name he may be dis-
tinguished, is intrusted with the execution of the lawSj the
management of the revenue, and the command of the army.
But unless public liberty is protected by intrepid and vigilant
guardians, the authority of so formidable a magistrate will soon
degenerate into despotism. The influence of the clergy, in an
age of superstition, might be usefully employed to assert the
rights of mankind ; but so intimate is the connexion between
the throne and the altar, that the banner of the chm-ch has very
seldom been seen on the side of the people. A martial nobility
and stubborn commons, possessed of arms, tenacious of property,
and collected into constitutional assemblies, form the only
balance capable of preserving a free constitution against enter-
prises of an aspiring prince.
Every barrier of the Roman constitution had been levelled situation of
by the vast ambition of the dictator ; every fence had been "^^ ^
extirpated by the cruel hand of the triumvir. After the victory
of Actium, the fate of the Roman world depended on the will
of Octavianus, surnamed Caesar by his uncle's adoption, and
afterwards Augustus, by the flattery of the senate. ^ The
conqueror was at the head of forty-four veteran legions,^ con-
scious of their own strength and of the weakness of the con-
stitution, habituated during twenty years' civil war to every act
of blood and violence, and passionately devoted to the house
of Caesar, from whence alone they had received and expected
the most lavish rewards. The provinces long oppressed by the
ministers of the republic, sighed for the government of a single
1 [His original name was C. Octavius, hence Merivale usually (incorrectly)
speaks of him as Octavius. For he ceased to be an Octavius, and became a
Julius, by his uncle's adoption; his full name in 44 B.C. was C. Julius Caesar
Octavianus. The title Augusttis was conferred Jan. 16, 27 e.g.]
» OrQsii;s, vi. i8.
60
THE DECLINE AND FALL
He reforms
the senate
Kealgns hiji
nsorped
power
person, wbo would be the master, not the accomplice, of those
petty t3Tants. The people of Rome, viewing with a secret
pleasure the humiliation of the aristocracy, demanded only
bread and public shows, and were supplied with both by the liberal
banc! ^^ Augustus. The rich and polite Italians, who had
almost universally embraced the philosophy of Epicurus, enjoyed
the present blessings of ease and tranquillity, and suffered not
the pleasing dream to be interrupted by the memory of their
old tumultuous freedom. With its power, the senate had lost
its dignity ; many of the most noble families were extinct.
The republicans of spirit and ability had perished in the field
of battle, or in the proscription. The door of the assembly
had been designedly left open for a mixed multitude of more
than a thousand persons, who reflected disgrace upon their rank,
instead of deriving honour from it.^
The reformation of the senate, was one of the first steps in
which Augustus laid aside the tyrant, and professed himself the
father of his country. He was elected censor ; and, in concert
with his faithful Agrippa, he examined the list of the senators,
expelled a few members,^ whose vices or whose obstinacy re-
quired a public example, persuaded near two hundred to prevent
the shame of an expulsion by a voluntary retreat, raised the
qualification of a senator to about ten thousand poimds, created
a sufficient number of patrician families, and accepted for himself
the honourable title of Prince of the Senate, which had always
been bestowed by the censors on the citizen the most eminent
for his honours and services.^ But, whilst he thus restored the
dignity, he destroyed the independence of the senate. The
principles of a free constitution are irrecoverably lost, when the
legislative power is nominated by the executive.
Before an assembly thus modelled and prepared, Augustus pro-
nounced a studied oration, which displayed his patriotism, and
disguised his ambition. '^He lamented, yet excused, his past
conduct. Filial piety had required at his hands the revenge of
his father s murder ; the humanity of his own nature had some-
times given way to the stem laws of necessity, and to a forced
connexion with two unworthy colleagues : as long as Antony
8 Julius Caesar introduced soldiers, strangers and half-barbarians, into the senate.
(Sueton. in Caasar. c 80.) The abuse became still more scandalous after his
death.
* [But Dion, as Milman pointed out, says that he erased no senator's name
from the hst ; see next note.]
5 Dion Cassius, 1. iii. p. 693 [42] , Suetonius in August, c. 35. [But see Appen-
dix 10.]
OF THE ROMAN EMPIRE 61
lived, the republic forbad him to abandon her to a degenerate
Roman and a barbarian queen. He was now at liberty to satisfy
his duty and his inclination. He solemnly restored the senate
and people to all their ancient rights; and wished only to mingle
with the crowd of his fellow-citizenSj and to share the blessings
which he had obtained for his country." ®
It would require the pen of Tacitus (if Tacitus had assisted at is prevailed
this assembly) to describe the various emotions of the senate ;?i^6 it under
those that were suppressed, and those that were affected. It emperor or
was dangerous to trust the sincerity of Augustus ; to seem to ^*'^*
distrust it was still more dangerous. The respective advantages
of monarchy and a republic have often divided speculative
inquirers ; the present greatness of the Roman state, the corrup-
tion of manners, and the licence of the soldiers^ supplied new
arguments to the advocates of monarchy ; and these general
views of government were again warped by the hopes and fears
of each individual. Amidst this confusion of sentiments, the
answer of the senate was unanimous and decisive. They
refused to accept the resignation of Augustus ; they conjured
him not to desert the republic which he had saved. After a
decent resistance the crafty tyrant submitted to the orders of
the senate ; and consented to receive the government of the
provinces, and the general command of the Roman armies, under
the well-knownnamesof PROCONSULandlMPERATOR.''' But he would
receive them only for ten years. Even before the expiration of
that period, he hoped that the wounds of civil discord would be
completely healed, and that the republic, restored to its pristine
health and vigour, would no longer require the dangerous inter-
position of so extraordinary a magistrate. The memory of this
comedy, repeated several times during the life of Augustus, was
preserved to the last ages of the empire by the peculiar pomp
with which the perpetual monarchs of Rome always solemnized
the tenth years ef their reign. ^
'Dion, 1. iiii. p. 6983 [3], gives us a prolix and bombastic speech on this great
occasion. I have borrowed from Suetonius and Tacitus the general language of
Augustus
7 Imperator (from which we have derived emperor) signified under the republic
no more than general, and was emphatically bestowed by the soldiers, when on
the field of battle they proclaimed their victorious leader worthy of that title.
When the Roman emperors assumed it in that sense, they placed it after their name,
and marked how often they had taken it. [Thus, as an imperial title, imperator
preceded the emperor's name, but Imp, Hi. after his name meant that he was
saluted Imperator by his troops for the third time, on the occasion of his second
victory after his accession.]
8 Dion, I. Iiii. p. 703. etc. [11, cp. 16.]
62 THE DECLINE AND FALL
Pj^OTofth* Without any violation of the principles of the constitution,
generaiB the general of the Roman armies might receive and exercise an
authority almost despotic over the soldiers, the enemies, and the
subjects of the republic. With regard to the soldiers, the
jealousy of freedom had, even from the earhest ages of Rome,
given way to the hopes of conquest, and a just sense of miUtary
discipline. The dictator, or consul, had a right to command the
service of the Roman youth, and to punish an obstinate or
cowardly disobedience by the most severe and ignominious
penalties, by striking the offender out of the list of citizens, by
confiscating his property, and by selling his person into slavery.^
The most sacred rights of freedom, confirmed by the Porcian and
Sempronian laws, were suspended by the military engagement.
In his camp the general exercised an absolute power of life and
death ; his jurisdiction was not confined by any forms of trial or
rules of proceeding, and the execution of the sentence was
immediate and without appeal. ^^ The choice of the enemies of
Rome was regularly decided by the legislative authority. The
most important resolutions of peace and war were seriously
debated in the senate, and solenmly ratified by the people. But
when the arms of the legions were carried to a great distance
from Italy, the generals assumed the liberty of directing them
against whatever people, and in whatever manner, they judged
most advantageous for the public service. It was from the
success, not from the justice, of their enterprises, that they
expected the honours of a triumph. In the use of victory,
especially after they were no longer controlled by the commis-
sioners of the senate, they exercised the most unbounded
despotism. When Pompey commanded in the East, he rewarded
his soldiers and allies, dethroned princes, divided kingdoms,
founded colonies, and distributed the treasures of Mithridates.
On his return to Rome he obtained, by a single act of the senate
and people, the universal ratification of all his proceedings.^^
*Liv. Epitom. 1. xiv. Valer. Maxim, vi. 3.
10 See in the viiith book of Livy, the conduct of Manlius Torquatus and Papi-
rius Cursor. They violated the laws of nature and humanity, but they asserted
those of military discipline ; and the people, who abhorred the action, were obliged
to respect the principle.
11 By the lavish but unconstrained suffrages of the people, Pompey had ob-
tained a military command scarcely inferior to that of Augustus. Among the
extraordinary acts of power executed by the former, we may remark the founda-
tion of twenty-nine cities, and the distribution of three or four millions sterling
to his troops. The ratification of his acts met with some opposition and delays
in the senate. See Plutarch, Appian, Dion Cassius. and the first book of the
epistles to Atticus.
OF THE ROMAN EMPIRE 63
Such was the power over the soldiers, and over the enemies of
Rome, which was either granted to, or assumed by, the generals
of the republic. They were, at the same time, the governors, or
rather monarchs, of the conquered provinces, united the civil
with the military character, administered justice as well as the
finances, and exercised both the executive and legislative power
of the state.
From what has been already observed in the first chapter of Lieutenants
this work, some notion may be formed of the armies and pro- p'ror ""^
vinces thus intrusted to the ruling hand of Augustus. But, as it
was impossible that he could personally command the legions of
so many distant frontiers, he was indulged by the senate, as
Pompey had already been, in the permission of devolving the
execution of his great office on a sufficient number of lieutenants.
In rank and authority these officers seemed not inferior to the
ancient proconsuls ; but their station was dependent and pre-
carious. They received and held their commissions at the will
of a superior, to whose auspicious influence the merit of their
action was legally attributed.^^ They were the representatives
of the emperor. The emperor alone was the general of the
republic, and his jurisdiction, civil as well as military, extended
over all the conquests of Rome. It was some satisfaction, how-
ever, to the senate that he always delegated his power to the
members of their body. The imperial lieutenants were of con-
sular or praetorian dignity ; the legions were commanded by
senators, and the praefecture of Egypt was the only important
trust committed to a Roman knight.
Within six days after Augustus had been compelled to accept DiWBion of
so very liberal a grant, he resolved to gratiiy the pride of the between S'e"
senate by an easy sacrifice. He represented to them that they tS^aenatl^
had enlarged his powers, even beyond that degree which might
be required by the melancholy condition of the times. They
had not permitted him to refuse the laborious command of the
armies and the frontiers ; but he must insist on being allowed
to restore the more peaceful and secure provinces to the mild
administration of the civil magistrate. In the division of the
provinces Augustus provided for his own power and for the dignity
of the republic. The proconsuls of the senate, particularly those
13 Under the commonwealth, a triumph could only be claimed by the general,
who was authorized to take the Auspices in the name of the people. By an exact
consequence, drawn from this principle of policy and religion, the triumph was
reserved to the emperor, and his most successful lieutenants were satisfied with
some marks of distinction, which, under the name of triumphal honours, were
invented in their favour. [On the provincial governors see Appendix lo.]
64 THE DECLINE AND FALL
of Asia, Greece, and Africa, enjoyed a more honourable char-
acter than the lieutenants of the emperor, who commanded in
Gaul or Syria. The former were attended by lictors, the latter
by soldiers, A law was passed that, wherever the emperor was
present, his extraordinary commission should supersede the or-
dinary jurisdiction of the governor ; a custom was introduced,
that the new conquests belonged to the imperial portion ; and
it was soon discovered that the authority of the Prince, the
favovu-ite epithet of Augustus, was the same in every part of the
empire.
The former In return for this imaginary concession, Augustus obtained an
liB^mfutery important privilege, which rendered him master of Rome and
raSdMn^ Italy. By a dangerous exception to the ancient maxims, he was
authorized to preserve his military command, supported by a
numerous body of guards, even in time of peace, and in the heart
of the capital. 13 His command, indeed, was confined to those
citizens who were engaged in the service by the military oath ;
but such was the propensity of the Romans to servitude, that the
oath was voluntarily taken by the magistrates, the senators, and
the equestrian order, till the homage of flattery was insensibly
converted into an annual and solemn protestation of fidelity.
Consular and Although Augustus considered a military force as the firmest
powers foundation, he wisely rejected it as a very odious instrument, of
government. It was more agreeable to his temper, as well as to
his policy, to reign under the venerable names of ancient magis-
tracy, and artfully to collect in his own person all the scattered
rays of civil jurisdiction. With this view, he permitted the senate
to confer upon him, for his life, the powers of the consular ^^ and
tribunitian offices/^ which were, in the same manner, continued
to all his successors. The consuls had succeeded to the kings of
Rome, and represented the dignity of the state. They superin-
tended the ceremonies of religion, levied and commanded the
legions, gave audience to foreign ambassadors, and presided in
the assemblies both of the senate and people. The general
18 [The praetorian guards and the fleets (at Ravenna and Misenura) were the
two exceptions to the principle that Italy was outside the jurisdiction of the /m-
perator] .
1* Cicero {de Legibus, iii. 3. ) gives the consular office the name of Regia potestas :
and Polybius (1. vi. c. 3.) observes three powers in the Roman constitution. The
monarchical was represented and exercised by the consuls. [But see Appendix 10. ]
it'As the tribunitian power (distinct from the annual office) was first invented
for the dictator Caesar (Dion, I xliv, p. 384 [5]), we may easily conceive, that it
was given as a reward for having so nobly asserted, by arms, the sacred rights of
the tribunes and people. See his own commentaries, de Bell. Civil. 1. i.
OF THE ROMAN EMPIRE 65
control of the finances was intrusted to their care ; and, though
they seldom had leisure to administer justice in person^ they
were considered as the supreme guardians of law, equity, and the
public peace. Such was their ordinary jurisdiction ; but, when-
ever the senate empowered the first magistrate to consult the
safety of the commonwealth, he was raised by that degree above
the laws, and exercised, in the defence of liberty, a temporary
despotism.-^® The character of the tribunes was, in every respect,
different from that of the consuls. The appearance of the former
was modest and humble ; but their persons were sacred and in-
violable. Their force was suited rather for opposition than for
action. They were instituted to defend the oppressed, to pardon
offences, to arraign the enemies of the people, and, when they
judged it necessary, to stop, by a single word, the whole machine
of government. As long as the republic subsisted, the dangerous
influence which either the consul or the tribune might derive
from their respective jurisdiction was diminished by several im-
portant restrictions. Their authority expired with the year in
which they were elected ; the former office was divided between
two, the latter among ten persons ; and, as both in their private
and public interest they were adverse to each other, their mutual
conflicts contributed, for the most part, to strengthen rather than
to destroy the balance of the constitution. But when the con-
sular and tribunitian powers were united,^'' when they were vested
for life in a single person, when the general of the ai-my was, at the
same time, the minister of the senate and the representative of
the Roman people, it was impossible to resist the exercise, nor
was it easy to define the limits, of his imperial prerogative.
To these accumulated honours the policy of Augustus soon impBrfai pr*.
added the splendid as well as important dignities of supreme
pontiff, and of censor.^^ By the former he acquired the manage-
ment of the religion, and by the latter a legal inspection over
the manners and fortunes, of the Roman people. If so many
distinct and independent powers did not exactly unite with
each other, the complaisance of the senate was prepared to
16 Augustus Kcercised nine annual consulships without interruption. He then
most artfully refused that magistracy as well as the dictatorship, absented himself
from Rome, and waited till the fatal effects of tumult and faction forced the senate
to invest him with a perpetual consulship. Augustus, as well as his successors,
affected, however, to conceal so invidious a title. [See Appendix lo, p. 455.]
" [But observe that the tribunate (as the author afterwards points out) was not
discontinued, though, overshadowed by the tribunicia fotestas of the emperor,
it lost all political significance.]
18 [See Appendix 10. ]
5 VOL. I,
trates
66 THE DECLINE AND FALL
supply every deficiency by the most ample and extraordinary
concessions. The emperors^ as the first ministers of the republic,
were exempted from the obligation and penalty of many incon-
venient laws : they were authorized to convoke the senate, to
make several motions in the same day, to recommend candidates
for the honours of the state, to enlarge the bounds of the city,
to employ the revenue at their discretion, to declare peace and
war, to ratify treaties ; and by a most comprehensive clause,
they were empowered to execute whatsoever they should judge
advantageous to the empire, and agreeable to the majesty of
thingrs private or public, human or divine. ^^
pemagiB- When all the various powers of executive government were
committed to the Imperial magistrate^ the ordinary magistrates of
the commonwealth languished in obscurity, without vigour, and
almost without business. The names and forms of the ancient
administration were preserved by Augustus with the most anxious
care. The usual number of consuls, praetors, and tribimes^o
were annually invested with their respective ensigns of office,
and continued to discharge some of their least important func-
tions. Those honours still attracted the vain ambition of the
Romans ; and the emperors themselves, though invested for life
with the powers of the consulship, ^^ frequently aspired to the
title of that annual dignity, which they condescended to share
with the most illustrious of their fellow-citizens. ^^ In the elec-
tion of these magistrates, the people, during the reign of
Augustus, were permitted to expose all the inconveniences of a
wild democracy. That artful prince, instead of discovering the
19 See a fragment of a Decree of the Senate, conferring on the Emperor
Vespasian all the powers granted to his predecessors, Augustus, Tiberius, and
Claudius. This curious and important monument is published in Gruter's
Inscriptions, No. ccxlii. [Corp. Insc. Lat. vi. 930. This document is known as
the lex de imperio Vespasiani.']
20 Two consuls were created on the Calends of January; but in the course of
the year others were substituted in their places, till the annual number seems to
have amounted to no less than twelve. The praetors were usually sixteen or
eighteen (Lipsius in Excurs. D, ad. Tacit. Annal. 1. i.). I have not mentioned
the .^diles or Quaestors. Officers of the police or revenue easily adapt themselves
to any form of government. In the time of Nero the tribunes legally possessed
the right of intercession, though it might be dangerous to exercise it {Tacit. Annal.
xvi. 26). In the time of Trajan, it was doubtful whether the tribuneship was an
office or a name (Plin. Epist. 123) [But it still existed in the 5th century, being
mentioned in the Theodosian Code.]
21 [See above note 11.]
22 The tyrants themselves were ambitious of the consulship. The virtuous princes
were moderate in the pursuit, and exact in the discharge, of it. Trajan revived
the ancient oath, and swore before the consul's tribiTnal that he would observe the
laws (Plin. Panegyric, c. 64).
OF THE KOMAN EMPIEE 67
least symptom of impatience, humbly solicited their suffrages
for himself or his friends^ and scrupulously practised all the
duties of an ordinary candidate. ^^ But we may venture to as-
cribe to his councils the first measure of the succeeding reign,
by which the elections were transferred to the senate. 2* The
assemblies of the people were for ever abolished, and the em-
perors were delivered from a dangerous multitude, who, without
restoring liberty, might have disturbed, and perhaps endangered,
the established government.
By declaring themselves the protectors of the people, Marius The aeuate
and Caesar had subverted the constitution of their country. But
as soon as the senate had been humbled and disarmed, such
an assembly, consisting of five or six hundred persons, was found
a much moi*e tractable and useful instrument of dominion. It
was on the dignity of the senate that Augustus and his suc-
cessors founded their new empire ; and they affected, on every
occasion, to adopt the language and principles of Patricians. In
the administration of their own powers, they frequently con-
sulted the great national council, and seemed to refer to its decision
the most important concerns of peace and war. Rome, Italy,
and the intei*nal provinces were subject to the immediate
jurisdiction of the senate. With regard to civil objects, it was
the supreme court of appeal ; with regard to criminal matters, a
tribunal, constituted for the trial of all offences that were com-
mitted by men in any public station, or that affected the peace
and majesty of the Roman people. The exercise of the judicial
power became the most frequent and serious occupation of the
senate ; and the important causes that were pleaded before them
afforded a last refuge to the spirit of ancient eloquence. As a
council of state, and as a court of justice, the senate possessed
very considerable prerogatives ; but in its legislative capacity, in
which it was supposed virtually to represent the people, the
rights of sovereignty were acknowledged to reside in that
assembly- Every power was derived from their authority, every
law was ratified by their sanction. Their regular meetings were
held on three stated days in every month, the Calends, the
33 Quoties Magistratuum Comitiis interesset, tribus cum candidatis suis circui-
bat ; supplicabatque more solemni, Ferebat et ipse suffragium in tribubus, ut
unus e populo. Suetonius in August, c. 56.
i**Tuin primum Comitia e campo ad patres translata sunt. Tacit. Annal. i. 15.
The word ^«zw«OT seems to allude to some faint and unsuccessful efforts, which
were made towards restoring them to the people. [One formality was still left to
the popular assembly — the renuntiatio of the elected candidates. Gibbon's infer-
ence iro-m primum is hardly tenable ; but he is right in so far that Augustus had
prepared tne way for the change of Tiberius.]
68
THE DECLINE AND FALL
General Idea
of the Imperi-
al system
Court of the
emperon
Deification
Nones, and the Ides. The debates were conducted with decent
freedom ; and the emperors themselves^ who gloried in the
name of senators, sat, voted, and divided with their equals.
To resume, in a few words, the system of the Imperial govern-
ment, as it was instituted by Augustus, and maintained by those
princes who understood their own interest and that .of the
people, it may be defined an absolute monarchy disguised by
the forms of a commonwealth. The masters of the Roman world
surrounded their throne with darkness, concealed their irresistible
strength, and humbly professed themselves the accountable
ministers of the senate, whose supreme decrees they dictated and
obeyed. 25
The face of the court corresponded with the forms of the
administration. The emperors, if we except those tyrants whose
capricious folly violated every law of nature and decency, dis-
dained that pomp and ceremony which might offend their
countrymen, but could add nothing to their real power. In
all the offices of life, they affected to confound themselves
with their subjects, and maintained with them an equal inter-
course of visits and entertainments. Their habit, their palace,
their table, were suited only to the rank of an opulent
senator. Their family, however numerous or splendid, was
composed entirely of their domestic slaves and freedmen.^^
Augustus or Trajan would have blushed at employing the
meanest of the Romans in those menial offices which, in the
household and bedchamber of a limited monarch, are so eagerly
solicited by the proudest nobles of Britain.
The deification of the emperors ^^ is the only instance in
which they departed from their accustomed pioidence and
modesty. The Asiatic Greeks were the first inventors, the
successors of Alexander's the first objects, of this servile and
25 Dion Cassius (1, liii. p. 703-714 [12-18]) has given a very loose and partial
sketch of the Imperial system. To illustrate and often to correct him» I have
mentioned Tacitus, examined Suetonius, and consulted the following modems :
the Abb6 de la BMterie in the M^moires de I'Acad^mie des Inscriptions, torn,
xix. xxi. xxiv. xxv. xxvii. Beaufort, R^publique Romaine, torn. i. p. 255-275.
The dissertations of Noodt and Gronovius, de lege Regia : printed at Leyden,
in the year 1731. Gravina de Imperio Romano, p. 479-544 of his Opuscula.
Maffei Verona lUustrata, p. i, p. 245, &c.
^A weak prince will always be governed by his domestics. The power of
slaves aggravated the shame of the Romans ; and the senate paid court to a
Pallas or a Narcissus. There is a chance that a modern favourite may be a
gentleman.
27 See a treatise of Van Dale de Consecratione Principum. It would be easier
for me to copy, than it has been to verify, the quotations of that learned Dutch-
man.
28 [And Alexander himself.]
OF THE ROMAN EMPIEE 69
impious mode of adulation. It was easily transferred from the
kings to the governors of Asia ; and the Roman magistrates
very frequently were adored as provincial deities^ with the
pomp of altars and temples, of festivals and sacrifices. ^^ It was
natural that the emperors should not refuse what the proconsuls
had accepted ; and the divine honours which both the one and
the other received from the provinces attested rather the
despotism than the servitude of Rome. But the conquerors
soon imitated the vanquished nations in the arts of flattery;
and the imperious spirit of the first Caesar too easily consented
to assume, during his life time, a place among the tutelar deities
of Rome. The milder temper of his successor declined so
dangerous an ambition, which was never afterwards revived,
except by the madness of Caligula and Domitian. Augustus
permitted indeed some of the provincial cities to erect temples
to his honour, on condition that they should associate the
worship of Rome with that of the sovereign ; he tolerated
private superstition, of which he might be the object ; ^^ but he
contented himself with being revered by the senate and people
in his human character, and wisely left to his successor
the care of his public deification. A regular custom was in-
troduced, that, on the decease of eveiy emperor who had
neither lived nor died like a tyrant, the senate by a solemn
decree should place him in the number of the gods : and the
ceremonies of his apotheosis were blended with those of his
funeral. This legal, and, as it should seem, injudicious pro-
fanation, so abhorrent to our stricter principles, was received
with a very faint murmur ^^ by the easy nature of Polytheism ;
but it was received as an institution, not of religion, but of
policy. We should disgrace the virtues of the Antonines by
comparing them with the vices of Hercules or Jupiter. Even
the characters of Csesar or Augustus were far superior to those
of the popular deities. But it was the misfortune of the former
to live in an enlightened age, and their actions were too faith-
fully recorded to admit of such a mixture of fable and mystery
as the devotion of the vulgar requires. As soon as their
29 See a dissertation of the Abb6 Mongault in the first volume of the Academy
of Inscriptions. [For the whole subject see the admirable article of Mr, Purser
on^/i?^Af^JZJ, in thenewedit. of Smith's Dictionary of Greek and Roman Antiquities.]
80 Jurandasque tuum per nomen ponimus aras, says Horace to the emperor
himself, and Horace was well acquainted with the court of Augustus,
31 See Cicero in Philippic, i. 6. Julian in Csesaribus, Inque Deflm templis
jurabit Roma per umbras, is the indignant expression of Lucan ; but it is a
patriotic rather than a devout indignation.
70 THE DECLINE AND FALL
divinity was established by law, it sunk into oblivion, without
contributing either to their own fame or to the dignity of
succeeding princes.
Titieaof In the consideration of the Imperial government, we have
cZT"''"'^ frequently mentioned the artful founder, under his well-known
title of Augustus, which was not however conferred upon him
till the edifice was almost completed. The obscure name of
Octavianus he derived from a mean family in the little town of
Aricia. It was stained with the blood of the proscriptions ;
and he was desirous, had it been possible, to erase all memory
of his former life. The illustrious surname of Caesar he had
assumed, as the adopted son of the dictator ; but he had too
much good sense either to hope to be confounded, or to wish to
be compared, Avith that extraordinary man. It was proposed
[27B.O.] in the senate to dignify their minister with a new appel-
lation ; and after a very serious discussion, that of Augustus
was chosen, among several others, as being the most expressive
of the character of peace and sanctity which he uniformly
affected. 22 Augustus was therefore a personal, Ccesar a family
distinction. The former should naturally have expired with the
prince on Avhom it was bestowed ; and however the latter was
diffused by adoption and female alliance, Nero was the last
prince who could allege any hereditary claim to the honom'S of
the Julian line. But, at the time of his death, the practice of
a century had inseparably connected those appellations with the
Imperial dignity, and they have been preserved by a long suc-
cession of emperors, — Romans, Greeks, Franks, and Germans, —
from the fall of the republic to the present time. A distinction
was, however, soon introduced. The sacred title of Augustus
was always reserved for the monai-ch, whilst the name of Caesar
was more freely communicated to his relations ; and, from the
reign of Hadrian at least, was appropriated to the second
person in the state, who was considered as the presumptive heir
of the empire.
Character and Tlic tender rcspcct of Augustus for a free constitution which
§.^t2Suui he had destroyed can only be explained by an attentive con-
sideration of the character of that subtle tyrant. A cool head,
an unfeeling heart, and a cowardly disposition, prompted him
at the age of nineteen to assume the mask of livpocrisy, which
he never aftei'wards laid aside. With the same hand, and pro-
32 Dion Cassius, 1. liii. p. 710 [16] with the curious Annotations of Reiraar.
[Augustus, rendered in Greek by 2e^ao■Tos, cast a certain religious halo over the
head of the emperor, cp. Dion loc. cit]
OF THE EOMAN EMPIRE 71
bably with the same temper^ he signed the proscription of
Cicero and the pardon of Cinna. His virtues, and even his
vices, were artificial ; and according to the various dictates of
his interest, he was at first the enemy, and at last the father, of
the Roman world. ^^ When he framed the artful system of the
Imperial authority, his moderation was inspired by his fears.
He wished to deceive the people by an image of civil liberty,
and the armies by an image of civil government. i
I. The death of Csesar was ever before his eyes. He had image of
lavished wealth and honours on his adherents ; but the most theja^op"
favoured friends of his uncle were in the number of the con-
spirators. The fidelity of the legions might defend his authority
against open rebellion, but their vigilance could not secure his
person from the dagger of a determined republican ; and the
RomanSj who revered the memory of Brutus,^* would applaud the
imitation of his virtue. Caesar had provoked his fate as much
by the ostentation of his power as by his power itself. The
consul or the tribune might have reigned in peace. The title
of king had armed the Romans against his life. Augustus was
sensible that mankind is governed by names ; nor was he de-
ceived in his expectation that the senate and people would sub-
mit to slavery, provided they were respectfully assured that they
still enjoyed their ancient freedom. A feeble senate and ener-
vated people cheerfully acquiesced in the pleasing illusion, as
long as it was supported by the virtue, or by even the prudence,
of the successors of Augustus. It was a motive of self-preserva-
tion, not a principle of liberty, that animated the conspirators
against Caligula, Nero, and Domitian. They attacked the per-
son of the tyrant, without aiming their blow at the authority of
the emperor.
There appears, indeed, ofie memorable occasion, in which the Attempt oi
senate,"^fter seventy years of patience, made an ineffectual after u?e*
attempt to reassume its long-forgotten rights. When the throne cauguia
was vacant by the mm'der of Caligula, the consuls convoked
that assembly in the Capitol, condemned the memory of the
Caesars, gave the watchword liberty to the few cohorts who
« As Octavianus advanced to the banquet of the Cassars, his colour changed
like that of the chameleon ; pale at first, then red, afterwards black, he at last
assumed the mild livery of Venus and the Graces (Caesars, p. 309). This image,
employed by Julian in his ingenious fiction, is just and elegant; but, when he con-
siders this change of character as real, and ascribes it to the power of philosophy,
he does too much honour to philosophy and to Octavianus.
34 Two centuries after the establishment of monarchy, the emperor Marcus
Antoninus recommends the character of Brutus as a perfect model of Roman virtue.
72
THE DECLINE AND FALL
Image of
government
lor the
armies
Their
ubedlence
faintly adhered to their standard, and during eight and forty
hours, acted as the independent chiefs of a free commonwealth.
But while they dehberated, the praetorian guards had resolved.
The stupid Claudius, brother of Germanicus, was already in their
camp, invested with the Imperial purple, and prepared to sup-
port his election by arms. The dream of liberty was at an end ;
and the senate awoke to all the horrors of inevitable servitude.
Deserted by the people, and threatened by a military force, that
feeble assembly was compelled to ratify the choice of the prae-
torians, and to embrace the benefit of an amnesty, which
Claudius had the prudence to offer, and the generosity to ob-
serve. ^^
II. The insolence of the armies inspired Augustus with fears
of a still more alarming nature. The despair of the citizens
could only attempt what the power of the soldiers was, at any
time, able to execute. How precarious was his own authority
over men whom he had taught to violate every social duty ! He
had heard their seditious clamours ; he dreaded their calmer
moments of reflection. One revolution had been purchased by
immense rewards ; but a second revolution might double those
rewards. The troops professed the fondest attachment to the
house of Caesar ; but the attachments of the multitude are
capricious and inconstant. Augustus summoned to his aid
whatever remained in those fierce minds of Roman prejudices ;
enforced the rigour of discipline by the sanction of law ; and,
interposing the majesty of the senate between the emperor and
the army, boldly claimed their allegiance as the first magistrate
of the republic'3^
During a long period of two hundred and twenty years, from
the establishment of this artful svstem to the death of Com-
modus, the dangers inherent to a military government were, in
a great measure, suspended. The soldiers were seldom roused to
that fatal sense of their own strength, and of the weakness of
the civil authority, which was, before and afterwards, productive
of such dreadful calamities. Caligula and Domitian were assas-
sinated in their palace by their own domestics : ^"^ the convul-
se It is much to be regretted that we have lost the part of Tacitus which treated
of that transaction. We are forced to content ourselves with the popular rumours
of Josephus, and the imperfect hints of Dion and Suetonius.
^Augustus restored the ancient severity of discipline. After the civil wars,
he dropped the endearing name of Fellow-Soldiers, and called them only Soldiers
(Sueton. in August, c. 25). See the use Tiberius made of the senate in the
mutiny of the Pannonian legions (Tacit. Annal. i. [25] ).
^ [Caligula was slain by officers of the praetorian guards.]
OF THE ROMAN EMPIRE 73
sions which agitated Rome on the death of the former were
confined to the walls of the city. But Nero involved the whole
empire in his ruin. In the space of eighteen months four
princes perished by the sword ; and the Roman world was
shaken by the fury of the contending armies. Excepting only
this short, though violent, eruption of military licence, the two
centuries from Augustus to Commodus passed away, unstained
with civil blood, and undisturbed by revolutions. The emperor
was elected by the authority of the senate and the consefit of the
soldiers.^^ The legions respected their oath of fidelity ; and it
requires a minute inspection of the Roman annals to discover
three inconsiderable rebellions, which were all suppressed in a
few months, and without even the hazard of a battle.^^
In elective monarchies, the vacancy of the throne is a moment Desiguation of
big with danger and mischief. The Roman emperors, desirous
to spare the legions that interval of suspense, and the temptation
of an irregular choice, invested their designed successor with so
large a share of present power, as should enable him, after their
decease, to assume the remainder without suffering the empire
to perceive the change of masters. Thus Augustus, after all his or TiberiM
fairer prospects had been snatched from him by untimely deaths,
rested his last hopes on Tiberius, obtained for his adopted son
the censorial and tribunitian powers, and dictated a law, by
which the future prince was invested with an authority equal to
his own over the provinces and the armies.*** Thus Vespasian
subdued the generous mind of his eldest son. Titus was adored o'Tit^B
by the eastern legions, which, under his command, had recently
achieved the conquest of Judea. His power was dreaded, and,
as his virtues were clouded by the intemperance of youth, his
designs were suspected. Instead of listening to such unworthy
suspicions, the prudent monarch associated Titus to the full
powers of the Imperial dignity ; and the grateful son ever
approved himself the humble and faithful minister of so indulgent
a father.^i
38 These words seem to have been the constitutional language. See Tacit.
Annal. xiii. 4.
39 The first was Camillus Scribonianus, who took up arms in Dalmatia against
Claudius, and was deserted by his own troops in five days ; the second, L.
Antonius, in Germany, who rebelled against Domitian ; and the third, Avidius
Cassius, in the reign of M. Antoninus. The two last reigned but a few months
and were cut off by their own adherents. We may observe, that both Camillu
and Cassius coloured their ambition with the design of restoring the republic
a task, said Cassius, peculiarly reserved for his name and family.
^0 Velleius Patercidus, l.ii c. 121. Sueton. in Tiber, c. 20,
4iSueton. in Tit. c. 6. Plin. in Prsefat. Hist. Natur.
74
THE DECLINE AND FALL
The race of The ffood scnse of Vespasian enffaffed him indeed to embrace
and the every measure that might connrm his recent and precarious
famuy" elcvation. The mihtary oath^ and the fidelity of the troops, had
been consecrated, by the habits of an hundred years, to the
name and family of the Csesars ; and, although that family had
been continued only by the fictitious rite of adoption, the Romans
still revered, in the person of Nero, the grandson ofGermanicus,
and the lineal successor of Augustus. It was not without re-
luctance and remorse that the praetorian guards had been per-
suaded to abandon the cause of the tyrant.*^ The rapid down-
fall of Galba, Otho, and Vitellius, taught the armies to consider
the emperors as the creatures of iheir will, and the instruments
of their licence. The birth of Vespasian was mean ; his grand-
father had been a private soldier, his father a petty officer of the
revenue,*^ his own merit had raised him, in an advanced age, to
the empire ; but his merit was rather useful than shining, and
his virtues were disgraced by a strict and even sordid parsimony.
Such a prince consulted his true interest by the association of a
son whose more splendid and amiable character might turn the
public attention from the obscure origin to the future glories of
the Flavian house. Under the mild administration of Titus, the
Roman world enjoyed a transient felicity, and his beloved
memory served to protect, above fifteen years, the vices of his
brother Domitian.
AD. 96. Nerva had scarcely accepted the purple from the assassins of
«h^acter of Domitian before he discovered that his feeble age was unable to
stem the torrent of public disorders which had multiplied under
the long tyranny of his predecessor. His mild disposition was
respected by the good ; but the degenerate Romans required a
more vigorous character, whose justice should strike terror into
the guilty. Though he had several relations, he fixed his choice
on a stranger. He adopted Trajan, then about forty years of
age, and who commanded a powerful army in the Lower
Germany ; and immediately, by a decree of the senate, declared
him his colleague and successor in the empire.** It is sincerely
to be lamented, that, whilst we are fatigued with the disgustful
relation of Nero's crimes and follies, we are reduced to collect
the actions of Trajan from the glimmerings of an abridgment, or
^^ This idea is frequently and strongly inculcated by Tacitus. See Hist. i. $. i6.
ii. 76.
^ The emperor Vespasian, with his usual good sense, laughed at the Genealo-
gists, who deduced his family from Flavius, the founder of Reate (his native
country), and one of the companions of Hercules. Sueton. in Vespasian, i. 12.
■*^Dio. 1. Ixviii. p. 1121 [3]. Plin. Secund. in Panegyric. [7]
Trajan
A.D. 98
OF THE ROMAN EMPIRE 75
the doubtful light of a panegyric. There remains, however, one
panegyric far removed beyond the suspicion of flattery. Above
two hundred and fifty yeais after the death of Trajan, the senate,
in pouring out the customary acclamations on the accession of a
new emperor, wished that he might surpass the felicity of
Augustus, and the virtue of Trajan .^^
We may readily believe that the father of his country hesitated ad. m.
whether he ought to intrust the various and doubtful character °^ "*'*"*°
of his kinsman Hadrian with sovereign power. In his last
moments, the arts of the empress Plotina either fixed the
irresolution of Trajan, or boldly supposed a fictitious adoption, ^^
the truth of which could not be safely disputed ; and Hadrian
was peaceably acknowledged as his lawful successor. Under
his reign, as has been already mentioned, the empire flourished
in peace and prosperity. He encouraged the arts, reformed the
laws, asserted military discipline, and visited all his provinces in
person. His vast and active genius was equally suited to the
most enlarged views and the minute details of civil policy. But
the ruling passions of his soul were curiosity and vanity. As
they prevailed, and as they were attracted by different objects,
Hadrian was, by turns, an excellent prince, a ridiculous sophist,
and a jealous tyrant. The general tenor of his conduct deserved
praise for its equity and moderation. Yet, in the first days of his
reign, he put to death four consular senators, his personal
enemies, and men who had been judged worthy of empire ; and
the tediousness of a painful illness rendered him, at last, peevish
and cruel. The senate doubted whether they should pronounce
him a god or a tyrant ; and the honours decreed to his memory
were granted to the prayers of the pious Antoninus.*^
The caprice of Hadrian influenced his choice of a successor. Adoption of
After revolving in his mind several men of distinguished merits younger
whom he esteemed and hated, he adopted JEiius Verus, a gay
and voluptuous nobleman, recommended by uncommon beauty
to the lover of Antinous.*^ But whilst Hadrian was delighting
45 Felicior Augusto, mELIOR Trajano. Eutrop. viii. 5.
^ Dion (1. Ixix. p. 1249 [i]) affirms the whole to have been a fiction, on the
authority of bis father, who being governor of the province where Trajan died,
had very good opportunities of sifting this mysterious transaction. Yet Dodwell
(Praelect. Camden, xvii.) has maintained, that Hadrian was called to the certain
hope of the empire during the life-time of Trajan,
47 Dion, 1. Ixx. p. 1 171 [i]. Aurel. Victor [13].
4B The deification of Antinous, his medals, statutes, temples, city, oracles, and
constellation, are well known, and still dishonour the memory of Hadrian. Yet
we may remark, that of the first fifteen emperors Claudius was the only one whose
taste in love was entirely correct. For the honours of Antinous, seeSpanheim,
Commentaires sur les Caesars de Julien, p. 80.
76
THE DECLINE AND FALL
Adoption of
the two
Antoulnes
himself with his own applause^ and the acclamations of the
soldiers, whose consent had been secured by an immense donative,
the new Caesar ^^ was ravished from his embraces by an untimely
death. He left only one son. Hadrian commended the boy to
the gratitude of the Antonines. He was adopted by Pius; and,
on the accession of Marcus, was invested with an equal share of
sovereign power. Among the many vices of this younger Varus,
he possessed one virtue — a dutiful reverence for his wiser colleague,
to whom he willingly abandoned the ruder cares of empire.
The philosophic emperor dissembled his follies, lamented his
early death, and cast a decent veil over his memory.
As soon as Hadrian's passion was either gratified or dis-
appointed, he resolved to deserve the thanks of posterity by
placing the most exalted merit on the Roman throne. His dis-
cerning eye easily discovered a senator about fifty years of age,
blameless in all the offices of hfe; and a youth of about seventeen,
whose riper years opened the fair prospect of every virtue : the
elder of these was declared the son and successor of Hadrian, on
condition^ however, that he himself should immediately adopt
the younger. The two Antonines (for it is of them that we are now
speaking) governed the Roman world forty-two years with the
same invariable spirit of wisdom and virtue. Although Pius
had two sons, ^^ he preferred the welfare of Rome to the interest
of his family, gave his daughter Faustina in marriage to young
Marcus, obtained from the senate the tribunitian and proconsular
powers, and, with a noble disdain, or rather ignorance, of jealousy,
associated him to all the labours of government. Marcus, on the
other hand, revered the character of his benefactor, loved him
as a parent, obeyed him as his sovereign, ^^ and, after he was no
more, regulated his own administration by the example and
ra.axims of his predecessor. Their united reigns are possibly the
only period of history in which the happiness of a great people
was the sole object of government.
characterand Titus Antouiuus Pius had been justly denominated a second
Numa. The same love of religion, justice, and peace, was the
distinguishing characteristic of both princes. But the situation
of the latter opened a much larger field for the exercise of those
**• Hist. August, p. 13 [ii. 1]. Aurelius Victor in Epitora. [9].
■''^ Without the help of medals and inscriptions, we should be ignorant of this
fact, so honourable to the memory of Pius, [But see Hist. Aug. iii. i. 7. We
have their names from coins.]
^1 During the twenty-three years of Pius's reign, Marcus was only two nights
absent from the palace, and even those were at different times. Hist. August, p. 25.
[iv. 7.]
A.D. 138-180
OF THE EOMAN EMPIRE 77
virtues, Numa could only prevent a few neighbouring villages
from plundering each others harvests. Antoninus diffused
order and tranquillity over the greatest part of the earth. His
reign is marked by the rare advantage of furnishing very few
materials for history ; which is, indeed, little more than the
register of the crimes, follies, and misfortunes of mankind. In
private life he was an amiable as well as a good man. The
native simplicity of his virtue was a stranger to vanity or affec-
tation. He enjoyed with moderation the conveniences of his
fortune, and the innocent pleasures of society ; ^2 and the bene-
volence of his soul displayed itself in a cheerful serenity of
temper.
The virtue of Marcus Aurelius Antoninus was of a severer otMarcTia
and more laborious kind. ^^ It was the well-earned harvest of
many a learned conference, of many a patient lecture, and many
a midnight lucubration. At the age of twelve years he em-
braced the rigid system of the Stoics, which taught him to
submit his body to his mind, his passions to his reason ; to con-
sider virtue as the only good, vice as the only evil, all things
external as things indifferent. ^* His Meditations, composed in
the tumult of a camp, are still extant ; and he even condescended
to give lessons on philosophy, in a more public manner than was
perhaps consistent with the modesty of a sage or the dignity
of an emperor. ^^ But his life was the noblest commentary on
the precepts of Zeno. He was severe to himself indulgent to
the imperfection of others, just and beneficent to all man-
kind. He regretted that Avidius Cassius, who excited a rebellion
in Syria, had disappointed him, by a voluntary death, of the
52 He was fond of the theatre and not insensible to the charms of the fair sex.
Marcus Antoninus, i. 16. Hist. August, p. 20. 21 [iii. 8 and 11]. Julian in
Caesar.
^3 The enemies of Marcus charged him with hypocrisy ai^d with a want of that
simplicity which distinguished Pius and even Verus (Hist. Aug. p. 34 [iii. 29]).
This suspicion, unjust as it was, may serve to accoimt for the superior applause
bestowed upon personal qualifications, in preference to the social virtues. Even
Marcus Antoninus has been called a hypocrite ; but the wildest scepticism never
insinuated that Csesar might possibly be a coward, or TuUy a fool. Wit and val-
our are qualifications more easily ascertained than humanity or the love of jus-
tice.
w Tacitus has characterized, in a few words, the principles of the Portico:
Doctores sapientise secutus est, qui sola bona quse honesta, mala tantum quae
turpia ; potentiam, nobilitatem, caeteraque extra animum, neque bonis neque
malis adnumerant. Tacit. Hist. iv. 5.
55 Before he went on the second expedition against the Germans, he read
lectures of philosophy to the Roman people, during three days. He had already
done the same in the cities of Greece and Asia. Hist. August, p. 41, in Cassio,
c. 3.
78 THE DECLINE AND FALL
pleasure of converting an enemy into a friend ; and he justified
the sincerity of that sentiment, by moderating the zeal of the
senate against the adherents of the traitor. ^^ War he detested,
as the disgrace and calamity of human nature ; but when the
necessity of a just defence called upon him to take up arms, he
readily exposed his person to eight winter campaigns on the
frozen banks of the Danube, the severity of which was at last
fatal to the weakness of his constitution. His memory was
revered by a grateful posterity, and above a century after his
death many persons preserved the image of Marcus Antoninus
among those of their household gods. ^^
HappineBiof If a man were called to fix the period in the history of the
°™"*^ world during which the condition of the human race was most
happy and prosperous, he would, without hesitation, name that
which elapsed from the death of Domitian to the accession of
Commodus. The vast extent of the Roman empire was
governed by absolute power, under the guidance of vir-
tue and wisdom. The armies were restrained by the fiim but
gentle hand of four successive emperors, whose characters and
authority commanded involuntary respect. The forms of the
civil administration were carefully preserved by Nerva, Trajan,
Hadrian, and the Antonines, who delighted in the image of
liberty, and were pleased with considering themselves as the ac-
countable ministers of the laws. Such princes deserved the honour
of restoring the republic, had the Romans of their days been
capable of enjoying a rational freedom.
Its precarious The labours of thcsc monarchs were over-paid by the immense
^ "* reward that inseparably waited on their success ; by the honest
pride of virtue, and by the exquisite delight of beholding the
general happiness of which they were the authors. A just but
melancholy reflection embittered, however, the noblest of human
enjoyments. They must often have recollected the instability
of a happiness which depended on the character of a single man.
The fatal moment was perhaps approaching, when some licentious
youth, or some jealous tyrant, would abuse, to the destruction,
that absolute power which they had exerted for the benefit of
their people. The ideal restraints of the senate and the laws
might serve to display the virtues, but could never coiTect the
vices, of the emperor. The militaiy force was a blind and irre-
sistible instrument of oppression ; and the corruption of Roman
manners would always supply flatterers eager to applaud, and
''^Dio. 1. Ixxi. p. 1190 [23], Hist. August, in Avid. Cassio [8].
57 Hist. August, in Marc. Antonin. c. 18.
OF THE ROMAN EMPIRE 79
ministers prepared to serve, the fear or the avarice, the lust or
the cruelty, of their masters.
These gloomy apprehensions had been abeady justified byMamoryof
the experience of the Romans. The annals of the emperors cauVnS!
exhibit a strong and various picture of human nature, which we DoStSi
should vainly seek among the mixed and doubtful characters of
modem history. In the conduct of those monarchs we may
trace the utmost lines of vice and virtue ; the most exalted per-
fection and the meanest degeneracy of our own species. The
golden age of Trajan and the Antonines had been preceded by
an age of iron. It is almost superfluous to enumerate the un-
worthy successors of Augustus. Their unparalleled vices, and
the splendid theatre on which they were acted, have saved
them from oblivion. The dark unrelenting Tiberius, the furious
Caligula, the stupid Claudius, the profligate and cruel Nero, the
beastly Vitellius,^^ and the timid inhuman Domitian, are con-
demned to everlasting infamy. During fourscore years (ex-
cepting only the short and doubtful respite of Vespasian's
reign),^^ Rome groaned beneath an unremitting tyranny, which
extemiinated the ancient families of the republic^ and was
fatal to almost every virtue and every talent that arose in that
unhappy period.
Under the reign of these monsters ^^ the slavery of the Romans Pecuuar
was accompanied with two peculiar circumstances, the oneSieSmLs
occasioned by their former liberty, the other by their extensive ^^u^^
conquests, which rendered their condition more wretched than
that of the victims of tyranny in any other age or country.
From these causes were derived, 1. The exquisite sensibihty of
the sufferers ; and 2. The impossibility of escaping from the
hand of the oppressor.
I. When Persia was governed by the descendants of Sefi, a inaenaiidiity
race of princes whose wanton cruelty often stained their divan, tei^iSaiia
their table, and their bed with the blood of their favourites,
there is a saying recorded of a young nobleman, That he never
^svitellius consumed in mere eating at least six millions of our money, in
about seven months. It is not easy to express his vices with dignity, or even
decency. Tacitus fairly calls him a hog ; but it is by substituting for a coarse
word a very fine image. " At Vitellius, umbraculis hortorum abditus, ut ignava
animalia, quibus si cibum suggeras jacent torpentque, prasterita, instantia, futura,
pari obUvJone dimiserat. Atque ilium nemore Aricino desidem et marcentem,'' &c.
Tacit. Hist. iii. 36, ii. 95. Sueton. in Vitell. c. 13. Die, Cassius, 1. Ixv. p. 1062 [3].
5* The execution of Helvidiiis Priscus and of the virtuous Eponina disgraced
the reign of Vespasian.
^^ [But there is another side to this picture, which may be seen by studying
Mommsen's volume on the provinces].
80 THE DECLINE AND FALL
departed from the sultan's presence without satisfying himself
whether his head was still on his shoulders. The experience of
every day might almost justify the scepticism of Rustan.^i Yet
the fatal sword, suspended above him by a single thread, seems
not to have disturbed the slumbers, or interrupted the tran-
quillity, of the Persian. The monarch's frown, he well knew,
could level him with the dust ; but the stroke of lightning or
apoplexy might be equally fatal ; and it was the part of a wise
man to forget the inevitable calamities of human life in the en-
joyment of the fleeting hour. He was dignified with the appel-
lation of the king's slave ; had, perhaps, been purchased from
obscure parents, in a country which he had never known ; and
was trained up from his infancy in the severe discipline of the
seraglio.^2 fjis name, his wealth, his honours, were the gift of
a master, who might, without injustice, resume what he had
bestowed. Rustan's knowledge, if he possessed any, could only
serve to confirm his habits by prejudices. His language aflForded
not words for any form of government, except absolute mon-
archy. The history of the East informed him that such had
ever been the condition of mankind.^^ The Koran, and the
interpreters of that divine book, inculcated to him that the
sultan was the descendant of the prophet, and the vicegerent of
heaven ; that patience was the first virtue of a Mussulman, and
unUmited obedience the great duty of a subject.
Knowledge The minds of the Romans were veiy differently prepared for
TOirit?? the slavery. Oppressed beneath the weight of their own corruption
™ and of military violence, they for a long while presei'ved the sen-
timents, or at least the ideas, of their freebom ancestors. The
education of Helvtdius and Thrasea, of Tacitus and Pliny, was
the same as that of Cato and Cicero. From Grecian philosa|)hy
they had imbibed the justest and most liberal notions of the dignity
of human natui*e and the origin of civil society. The history of
their own country had taught them to revere a free, a virtuous,
and a victorious commonwealth ; to abhor the successful crimes
of Caesar and Augustus ; and inwardly to despise those tyrants
whom they adored with the most abject flattery. As magistrates
and senators, they were admitted into the great council which
^1 Voyage de Chardin en Perse, vol. iii. p. 293.
•52 The practice of raising slaves to the great offices of state is still more
common among the Turks than among the Persians. The miserable countries
of Georgia and Circassia supply rulers to the greatest part of the East.
''s Chardin says that European travellers have diffused among the Persians
some ideas of the freedom and mildness of our governments. They have done
them 3. very ill office.
OF THE EOMAj^ EMPIRE 81
had once dictated laws to the earth, whose name gave still a
sanction to the acts of the monarchy and whose authority was so
often prostituted to the vilest purposes of tyranny. Tiberius,
and those emperors who adopted his maxims, attempted to dis-
guise their murders by the fonnalities of justice, and perhaps
enjoyed a secret pleasure in rendering the senate their accomplice
as well as their victim. By this assembly the last of the Romans
were condemned for imaginary crimes and real virtues. Their
infamous accusers assumed the language of independent patriots,
who arraigned a dangerous citizen before the tribimal of his
country ; and the public service was rewarded by riches and
honours.^* The servile judges professed to assert the majesty of
the commoiiwealth, violated in the person of its first magistrate^^^
whose clemency they most applauded when they trembled the
most at his inexorable and impending cruelty.^^ The tjnrant
beheld their baseness with just contempt, and encountered their
secret sentiments of detestation with sincere and avowed hatred
for the whole body of the senate.
11. The division of Europe into a number of independent Extent of
states, connected, hoAvever, with each other, by the general re- le/t thom no
semblance of religion^ language and manners, is productive of refuge
the most beneficial consequences to the liberty of mankind. A
modem tyrant, who should find no resistance either in his own
breast or in his people, would soon experience a gentle restraint
from the example of his equals, the dread of present censure,
the advice of his allies, and the apprehension of his enemies.
The object of his displeasure, escaping from the narrow limits of
his dominions, would easily obtain, in a happier climate, a secure
refuge, a new fortune adequate to his merit, the freedom of
complaint, and perhaps the means of revenge. But the empire
of the Romans filled the world, and, when that empire fell into
the hands of a single person^ the world became a safe and
6* They alleged the example of Scipio and Cato (Tacit. Annal. iii. 66.)
Marcellus Eprius and Crispius Vibius had acquired two millions and a half under
Nero. Their wealth, which aggravated their crimes, protected them under
Vespasian. See Tacit. Hist. iv. 43. Dialog, de Orator, c. 8. For one accusation,
Regulus, the just object of Pliny's satire, received from the senate the consular
ornaments, and a present of sixty thousand pounds.
^ The crime of majesty was formerly a treasonable offence against the Roman
people. As tribunes of the people, Augustus and Tiberius applied it to their own
persons, and extended it to an infinite latitude.
66 After the virtuous and unfortimate widow of Germanicus had been put 10
death, Tiberius received the thanks of the senate for his clemency. She had
not been publicly strangled ; nor was the body drawn with a hook to the Gemonise,
where those of common malefactors were exposed. See Tacit. Annal. vi. 25.
Sueton. in Tiberio. c. 53.
6 * VOL. I.
82 THE DEg%JNE AND FALL
dreary prison for his enetAies. The slave of Imperial despotism^
whether he was condemned to drag his gilded chain in Rome
and the senate^ or to wear out a life of exile on the barren rock
of Seriphus, or the frozen banks of the Danube, expected his
fate in silent despair.^'^ To resist was fatal, and it was impos-
sible to fly. On every side he was encompassed with a vast
extent of sea and land, which he could never hope to traverse
without being discovered, seized, and restored to his irritated
master. Beyond the frontiers, his anxious view could discover
nothing, except the ocean, inhospitable deserts, hostOe tribes of
barbarians, of fierce manners and unknown language, or de-
pendent kings, who would gladly purchase the emperor's pro-
tection by the sacrifice of an obnoxious fugitive. ^^ '^Wherever
you are," said Cicero to the exiled Marcellus, '^^ remember that
you are equally within the power of the conqueror." ^^
^ Seriphus was a small rocky island in the ^gean Sea, the inhabitants of which
were despised for their ignorance and obscurity. The place of Ovid's exile is well
known by his just but unmanly lamentations. It should seem that he only re-
ceived an order to leave Rome in so many days, and to transport himself to Tomi.
Guards and gaolers were unnecessary.
^ Under Tiberius, a Roman knight attempted to flv to the Parthians. He was
stopt in the straits of Sicily ; but so little danger did there appear in the example,
that the most jealous of tyrants disdained to punish it. Tacit. Annal. vi. 14.
69 Cicero ad Familiares, iv. 7.
OF THE ROMAl^MPIRE 83
CHAPTEB IV
The cruelty, follies, and murder of Commodtis — Election of Pertincut
— his attempts to reform the State — his assassination hy the Pre-
torian Guards
The mildness of Marcus, which the rigid discipHne of the Stoics indulgence of
was unable to eradicate, formed, at the same time, the most
amiable, and the only defective, part of his character. His
excellent understanding was often deceived by the unsuspect-
ing goodness of his heart. Artful men, who study the passions
of princes and conceal their own, approached his person in the
disguise of philosophic sanctity, and acquired riches and honours
by affecting to despise them. ^ His excessive indulgence to his
brother,^ his wife, and his son, exceeded the bounds of private
virtue, and became a public injury, by the example and con-
sequences of their vices.
Faustina, the daughter of Pius and the wife of Marcus, has ^ ^^?
been as much celebrated for her gallantries as for her beauty.
The grave .simplicity of the philosopher was ill calculated to
engage her wanton levity, or to fix that unbounded passion for
variety which often discovered personal merit in the meanest
of mankind.^ The Cupid of the ancients was, in general, a
very sensual deity ; and the amours of an empress, as they exact
on her side the plainest advances, are seldom susceptible of
much sentimental delicacy. Marcus was the only man in the
empire who seemed ignorant or insensible of the irregularities
of Faustina; which, according to the prejudices of every age,
reflected some disgrace on the injured husband. He promoted
iSee the complaints of Avidius Cassius. Hist. August, p. 45 [vi. 14]. These
are, it is true, the complaints of faction ; but even faction exaggerates, rather
than invents.
8 [L. Verus, his brother by adoption.]
3 [Siquidera] Faustinam satis constat [constet]apud Cayetam, ^owf/^Vzoww sibi at
nauticas et gladiatorias elegisse. Hist. August, p. 30 [iv. 19] . Lampridius explains
the sort of merit which Faustina chose, and the conditions which she exacted. Hist.
August, p. 102 [xvii, 5 ]. [There is no trustworthy evidence for the truth of these
charges] .
84
THE DECLINE AND FALL
to hla flon
Cotnmodiu
AccesBlon of
the emperor
ComiDodafi
several of her lovers to posts of honour and profit/ and^ during
a connexion of thirty years, invariably gave her proofs of the
most tender confidence, and of a respect which ended not with
her life. In his Meditations he thanks the gods, who had be-
stowed on him a wife so faithful, so gentle, and of such a
wonderful simplicity of manners.^ The obsequious senate, at his
earnest request, declared her a goddess. She was represented
in her temples, with the attributes of Juno, Venus, and Ceres ;
and it was decreed that, on the day of their nuptials, the youth
of either sex should pay their vows before the altar of their
chaste patroness.^
The monstrous vices of the son have cast a shade on the purity
of the father s virtues. It has been objected to Marcus, that he
sacrificed the happiness of millions to a fond partiality for a
worthless boy ; and that he chose a successor in his own family
rather than in the republic. Nothing, however, was neglected
by the anxious father, and by the men of virtue and learning
whom he sunmioned to his assistance, to expand the narrow
mind of young Commodus, to correct his growing vices, and to
render him worthy of the throne for which he was designed.
But the power of instruction is seldom of much efficacy, except
in those happy dispositions where it is almost superfluous. The
distasteful lesson of a grave philosopher was, in a moment,
obliterated by the whisper of a profligate favourite ; and Marcus
himself blasted the fruits of this laboured education, by admitting
his son, at the age of fourteen or fifteen, to a full participation of
the Imperial power. He lived but four years afterwards ; but he
lived long enough to repent a rash measure, which raised the
impetuous youth above the restraint of reason and authority.
Most of the crimes which disturb the internal peace of society
are produced by the restraints which the necessary, but unequal,
laws of property have imposed on the appetites of mankind, by
confining to a few the possession of those objects that are coveted
by many. Of all our passions and appetites, the love of power
is of the most imperious and unsociable nature, since the pride
of one man requires the submission of the multitude. In the
■1 Hist. August, p. 34 [iv, 29].
oMeditat. 1. i. [17]. The world has laughed at the credulity of Marcus; but
Madame Dacier assures us (and we may credit a lady) that the husband will
always be deceived, if the wife condescends to dissemble.
^Dio. Cassius, 1. Ixxi. p. 1195 [31]. Hist. August, p. 33. [iv. 26]. Com-
mentaire de Spanheim sur les Caesars de Julien, p, 289. The deification of
Faustina is the only defect which Julian's criticism is able to discover in the all-
accomplished character of Marcus.
OF THE ROMAN EMPIEE 85
tumult of civil discord the laws of society lose their force, and
their place is seldom supplied by those of humanity. The
ardour of contention, the pride of victory, the despair of success,
the memory of past injuries, and the fear of future dangers, all
contribute to inflame the mind, and to silence the voice of pity.
From such motives almost every page of history has been
stained with civil blood ; but these motives will not account for
the unprovoked cruelties of Commodus, who had nothing to
wish, and everything to enjoy. The beloved son of Marcus a. d. iso
succeeded to his father, amidst the acclamations of the senate
and armies ; '^ and when he ascended the throne, the happy
youth saw round him neither competitor to remove, nor enemies
to punish. In this calm elevated station it was sui-ely natural
that he should prefer the love of mankind to their detestation,
the mild glories of his five predecessors to the ignominious fate
of Nero and Domitian.
Yet Commodus was not, as he has been represented, a tiger character of
bom with an insatiate thirst of human blood, and capable, from '^^^'^^^^
his infancy, of the most inhuman actions. ^ Nature had formed
him of a weak, rather than a wicked, disposition. His simpli-
city and timidity rendered him the slave of his attendants, who
gradually corrupted his mind. His cruelty, which at first
obeyed the dictates of others, degenerated into habit, and at
length became the ruling passion of his soul.^
Upon the death of his father Commodus found himself em- HereturnBto
barrassed with the command of a great army, and the conduct
of a difficult war against the Quadi and Marcomanni.^*^ The
servile and profligate youths whom Marcus had banished soon
regained their station and influence about the new emperor.
They exaggerated the hardships and dangers of a campaign in
the wild countries beyond the Danube ; and they assured the
7 Commodus was the first Porfhyrogenitus (born since his father's accession
to the throne). By a new stram of flattery, the Egyptian medals date by the years
of his life ; as if they were synonymous to those of his reign. Tillemont. Hist,
des Empereurs, tom. ii. p. 752. [The claim of Commodus to be nobilissivius
omnium frincipum, {Corp. Insc. Lat. v. 4867) was well grounded. He could
point to five emperors as his ancestors. His imperial name was M. Aurelius
Commodus Antoninus. He had been made a Csesar in 166, and Imperator in 176
A.D. at the age of 15.]
8 Hist. August, p. 46 [vii. i] .
9 Dion Cassius, 1. Ixxii. p. 1203 [i] .
10 According to TertuUian {Apolog, c. 25.) he died at Sirmium. But the situation
of Vindobona, or Vienna, where both the Victors place his death, is better adapted
to the operations of the war against the Marcomanni and Quadi. [Date 17th
March, 180 A.D.]
86 THE DECLINE AND FALL
indolent prince that the terror of his name and the arms of
his lieutenants would be sufficient to complete the conquest of
the dismayed barbarianSj or to impose such conditions as were
more advantageous than any conquest. By a dexterous applica-
tion to his sensual appetites, they compared the tranquillity, the
splendour, the refined pleasures of Rome with the tumult of a
Pannonian camp, which afforded neither leisure nor materials
for luxury.ii Commodus listened to the pleasing advice; but
whilst he hesitated between his own inclination and the awe
which he still retained for his father's coimsellors, the summer
insensibly elapsed, and his triumphal entry into the capital was
deferred till the autumn. His graceful person,!^ popular address,
and imagined virtues attracted the public favour ; the honour-
able peace which he had recently granted to the barbarians
diffused an universal joy ; ^^ his impatience to revisit Rome was
fondly ascribed to the love of his country ; and his dissolute
course of amusements was faintly condemned in a prince of
nineteen years of age.
During the three first years of his reign, the forms, and even
the spirit, of the old administration were maintained by those
faithful counsellors, to whom Marcus had recommended his son,
and for whose wisdom and integrity Commodus still entertained
a reluctant esteem. The young prince and his profligate fa-
vourites reveled in all the license of sovereign power ; but his
hands were yet unstained with blood ; and he had even displayed
a generosity of sentiment, which might perhaps have ripened
into solid virtue. ^^ A fatal incident decided his fluctuating
character.
iswomided Onc evening, as the emperor was returning to the palace
^awin through a dark and naiTOw portico in the amphitheatre,^^ an
" Herodian, 1. i. p. 12 [6].
^ Herodian, 1. i. p. 16 [7].
13 This universal joy is well described (from the medals as well as historians)
by Mr. Wotton, Hist, of Rome, p. 192, 193. [The terms of the peace were that
the Marcomanni and Quadi should not approach nearer than 150 Roman miles to
the Danube, should pay a tribute of corn, and furnish a conungent of recruits,
and should not make war on the Vandals, Buri, and Jazyges, who were Rotnan
subjects. The treaty was a good one if Commodus had been strong enough to
insist on its execution. Its articles were not carried out, yet the peace was
not disturbed.]
1* Manilius, the confidential secretary of Avidius Cassius, was discovered after
he had lain concealed for several years. The emperor nobly relieved the public
anxiety by refusing to see him, and burning his papers without opening them,
Dion Cassius, 1. Ixxii. p. 1209.
"See Maffei degli Amphitheatri, p. 126.
OF THE EOMAN EMPIRE 87
assassin^ who waited his passage, rushed upon him with a drawn
swordj loudly exclaiming. The senate sends you this. The menace
prevented the deed ; the assassin was seized by the guards,
and immediately revealed the authors of the conspiracy. It had
been formed, not in the state, but within the walls of the palace.
Lucilia, the emperor's sister, and widow of Lucius Verus, im-
patient of the second rank, and jealous of the reigning empress,
had armed the mm-derer against her brothers life. She had
not ventured to communicate the black design to her second
husband, Claudius Pompeianus, a senator of distinguished merit
and unshaken loyalty ; but among the crowd of her lovers (for
she imitated the manners of Faustina) she found men of despe-
rate fortunes and wild ambition, who were prepared to serve her
more violent as well as her tender passions. The conspirators
experienced the rigour of justice, and the abandoned princess
was punished, first with exile, and afterwards with death. ^^
But the words of the assassin sunk deep into the mind of Hatred and
CommoduSj and left an indelible impression of fear and hatred cSSmodnB
against the whole body of the senate. Those whom he had seS ^
dreaded as importunate ministers, he now suspected as secret
enemies. The Delators, a race of men discouraged, and almost
extinguished, under the former reigns, again became formidable
as soon as they discovered that the emperor was desirous of find-
ing disaffection and treason in the senate. That assembly, whom
Marcus had ever considered as the great council of the nation,
was composed of the most distinguished of the Romans ; and
distinction of every kind soon became criminal. The possession
of wealth stimulated the diligence of the informers ; rigid virtue
implied a tacit censure of the irregularities of Commodus ; im-
portant services implied a dangerous superiority of merit, and
the friendship of the father always insured the aversion of the
son. Suspicion was equivalent to proof ; trial to condemnation.
The execution of a considerable senator was attended with the
death of all who might lament or revenge his fate ; and when
Commodus had once tasted human blood, he became incap-
able of pity or remorse.
Of these innocent victims of tyranny, none died more lamented TheQuintuian
than the two brothers of the Quintilian family, Maximus and
Condianus, whose fraternal love has saved their names from
oblivion, and endeared their memory to posterity. Their studies
and their occupations, their pm*suits and their pleasm'es, were
16 Dio. 1. Ixxii. p. 1205 [4] Herodian, 1. i. p. 16 [8] Hist. August, p. 46 [vii. 4.]
[The would-be assassin was Claudius Pompeianus Quintianus, Lucilla's stepson,]
88 THE DECLINE AND FALL
still the same. In the enjoyment of a great estate, they never
admitted the idea of a separate interest : some fragments are
now extant of a treatise ^^ which they composed in common ; and
in every action of life it was observed that their two bodies were
animated by one soul. The Antonines, who valued their virtues
and delighted in their union, raised them, in the same year, to
the consulship ; and Marcus afterwards intrusted to their joint
care the civil administration of Greece, and a great militaiy
command, in which they obtained a signal victory over the
Germans. The kind cruelty of Commodus united them in
death.18
The minister The tyrant's rage, after having shed the noblest blood of the
PerenniB senate, at length recoiled on the principal instrument of his
cruelty. Whilst Commodus was immersed in blood and luxury,
he devolved the detail of the public business on Perennis ; a
servile and ambitious minister, who had obtained his post by
the murder of his predecessor, but who possessed a considerable
share of vigour and ability. By acts of extortion, and the for-
feited estates of the nobles sacrificed to his avarice, he had
accumulated an immense treasure. The Praetorian guards were
under his immediate command ; and his son, who already dis-
covered a mihtary genius, was at the head of the Illyrian
legions. Perennis aspired to the empire ; or what, in the eyes
of Commodus, amounted to the same crime, he was capable of
aspiring to it, had he not been prevented, surprised, and put to
A.D. 186 death. The fall of a minister is a very trifling incident in the
^^^^ general history of the empire ; but it was hastened by an
extraordinary circumstance, which proved how much the nerves
of discipline were already relaxed. The legions of Britain, dis-
contented with the administration of Perennis, formed a deputa-
tion of fifteen hundred select men, with instructions to march to
Rome, and lay theu* complaints before the emperor. These
military petitioners, by their own determined behaviom*, by in-
flaming the divisions of the guards, by exaggerating the strength
of the British army, and by alarming the fears of Commodus, ex-
acted and obtained the minister s death, as the only redress ol
their grievances. ^^ This presumption of a distant army, and
17 [On agriculture.]
18 In a note upon the Augustan History, Casaubon has collected a number of
particulars concerning these celebrated brothers. See p. 94 of his learned com-
mentary.
IS Die. 1. Ixxii. p. 1210 [9]. Herodian, 1. i. p. 22 [9]. Hist. August, p. 48
[vii. 6. 1-5] . Dion gives a much less odious character of Perennis, than the
OF THE ROMAN EMPIRE 89
their discovery of the weakness of government, was a sure
presage of the most dreadful convulsions.
The negligence of the public administration was betrayed Kavoit of
soon afterwards by a new disorder, which arose from the smallest
beginnings. A spmt of desertion began to prevail among the
troops, and the deserters, instead of seeking their safety in flight
or concealment, infested the highways. Maternus, a private
soldier, of a dai'ing boldness above his station, collected these
bands of robbers into a little army, set open the prisons, invited
the slaves to assert theu' freedom, and plundered with impunity
the rich and defenceless cities of Gaul and Spain. The governors
of the provinces, who had long been the spectators, and perhaps
the partners, of his depredations, were, at length, roused from
their supine indolence by the threatening commands of the
emperor. Maternus found that he was encompassed, and fore-
saw that he must be overpowered. A gi'eat effort of despair
was his last resource. He ordered his followers to disperse, to
pass the Alps in small parties and various disguises, and to
assemble at Rome, during the licentious tumult of the festival
of Cybele.2^ To murder Commodus, and to ascend the vacant
throne, was the ambition of no vulgar robber. His measures
were so ably concerted that his concealed troops already filled
the streets of Rome. The envy of an accomplice discovered [isr Ad.]
and ruined this singular enterprise in the moment when it was
ripe for execution.^^
Suspicious princes often promote the last of mankind, from a The minister
vain persuasion that those who have no dependence except on
their favour will have no attachment except to the person of
their benefactor. Cleander, the successor of Perennis, was a
Phrygian by birth ; of a nation, over whose stubborn but
servile temper blows only could prevail.^^ He had been sent
from his native country to Rome, in the capacity of a slave. As
a slave he entered the imperial palace, rendered himself useful
other historians. His moderation is almost a pledge of his veracity. [The policy
of Perennis, which caused his fall, aimed at ousting the senators from military
appointments and substituting men of the Equestrian order. The intervention of
the Britannic legions rests on Dion. Date 185, cp. Miiller, Hermes, 18, p. 623 sqqj]
20 During the second Punic war, the Romans imported from Asia the worship of
the mother of the gods. Her festival, the Megalesia, began on the fourth of April,
and lasted six days. The streets were crowded with mad processions, the theatres
with spectators, and the public tables with unbidden guests. Order and police
were suspended, and pleasure was the only serious business of the city. See Ovid
de Fastis, 1. iv. i8g, &c.
2lHerodian, 1. i. p. 23, 28 [10].
22 Cicero pro Flacco, c. 37
and cruelty
90 THE DECLINE AND FALL
to his master s passions, and rapidly ascended to the most exalted
station which a subject could enjoy. His influence over the
mind of Commodus was much greater than that of his predecessor ;
Hifl avarice for Cleandcr was devoid of any ability or virtue which could
inspire the emperor with envy or distrust. Avarice was the
reigning passion of his soul, and the great principle of his
administration. The rank of consul, of Patrician, of senator, was
exposed to public sale ; and it would have been considered as
disaffection if any one had refused to purchase these empty
and disgraceful honours with the greatest part of his fortune.^^
In the lucrative provincial employments the minister shared with
the governor the spoils of the people. The execution of the laws
was venal and arbitrary. A wealthy criminal might obtain not
only the reversal of the sentence by which he was justly con-
demned ; but might likewise inflict whatever punishment he
pleased on the accuser, the witnesses, and the judge.
By these means Cleander, in the space of three years, had
accumulated more wealth than had ever yet been possessed by
any freedman.^* Commodus was perfectly satisfied with the
magnificent presents which the artful courtier laid at his feet in
the most seasonable moments. To divert the public envy,
Cleander, under the emperor s name, erected baths, porticos,
and places of exercise, for the use of the people.^^ He flattered
himself that the Romans, dazzled and amused by this apparent
liberality, would be less affected by the bloody scenes which
were daily exhibited ; that they would forget the death of
Byrrhus, a senator to whose superior merit the late emperor
had granted one of his daughters ; and that they would for-
give the execution of Arrius Antoninus, the last representative
of the name and virtues of the Antonines. The former, with
more integrity than prudence, had attempted to disclose to his
brother-in-law the true character of Cleander. An equitable
sentence pronounced by the latter, when proconsul of Asia,
against a worthless creature of the favourite, proved fatal to
28 One of these dear-bought promotions occasioned a current bon mot, that
Julius Solon was banished into the senate. [In one year there were no less than
twenty-five consuls.]
2-1 Dion (1. Ixxii. p. 1213 [i^]) observes that no freedman had possessed riches
equal to those of Cleander. The fortune of Pallas amounted, however, to upwards
of five and twenty hundred thousand pounds — ter millies.
^Dion, 1. Ixxii. p. 1213 [12]. Herodian, 1. i. p. 29 [12]. Hist. August, p.
52 [vii. 17]. These baths were situated near the /'t^r/'a Capena. See Nardini
Roma Antica, p. 79.
OF THE ROMAN EMPIRE 91
him. 26 Aftei the fall of Perennis the terrors of Commodus had,
for a shoi't time, assumed the appearance of a return to virtue.
He repealed the most odious of his acts, loaded his memory
with the public execration, and ascribed to the pernicious
counsels of that wicked raiinister all the errors of his inex-
perienced youth. But his repentance lasted only thirty days ;
and, under Oleander's tyranny, the administration of Perennis
was often regretted.
Pestilence and famine contributed to fill up the measure of sedition; and
^ death of
the calamities of Rome.^^ The first could only be imputed to ^^^j^^m
the just indignation of the gods ; but a monopoly of com, sup-
ported by the riches and power of the minister, was considered
as the immediate cause of the second. The popular discontent,
after it had long circulated in whispers, broke out in the as-
sembled circus. The people quitted their favourite amusements
for the more delicious pleasure of revenge, rushed in crowds
towards a palace in the suburbs, one of the emperor's retire-
ments, and demanded, with angry clamours, the head of the
public enemy. Oleander, who commanded the Praetorian
guards,^^ ordered a body of cavalry to sally forth and disperse
the seditious multitude. The multitude fled with precipitation
towards the city ; several were slain, and many more were
trampled to death ; but, when the cavalry entered the streets
their pursuit was checked by a shower of stones and darts from
the roofs and windows of the houses. The foot guards,^^ who
had been long jealous of the prerogatives and insolence of the
Prsetorian cavalry, embraced the party of the people. The
tumult became a regular engagement, and threatened a general
massacre. The Praetorians at length gave way, oppressed with
numbers ; and the tide of popular fury returned with redoubled
26 Hist. August, p. 48.
27Herodian, 1. i. p. 28 [12]. Dion, 1. Ixxii. p. 1215 [14]. The latter says,
that two thousand persons died every day at Rome, during a considerable length
of time. [The pestilence was probably a new outbreak of the same plague
which had ravaged the Empire under Marcus.]
38 Tuncque priraum tres praefecti prsetorio fuere : inter quos libertinus. From
some remains of modesty, Oleander declined the title, whilst he assumed the
powers, of Prastorian PrEcfect. As the other freedmen were styled, from their
several departments, a rationibus, ab epistolis ; Cleander called himself afugione,
as intrusted with the defence of his master's person. Salmasius and Casaubon
seem to have talked very idly upon this passage.
2»oiT^s7rdAewsTre<oi a-Tpartwrat. Herodian, 1. i. p. 31 [12] . It IS doubtful
whether he means the Prsetorian infantry, or the cohortes urbanae, a body of six
thousand men, but whose rank and discipline were not equal to their numbers.
Neither Tillemont nor Wotton choose to decide this question. [Doubtless the
cohortes urbanee.']
92 THE DECLINE AND FALL
violence against the gates of the palace, where Commodus lay
dissolved in luxury, and alone unconscious of the civil war. It
was death to approach his person with the unwelcome news.
He would have perished in this supine security had not two women,
his eldest sister Fadilla, and Marcia the most favoured of his
concubines, ventured to break into his presence. Bathed in
tears, and with dishevelled hair, they threw themselves at his
feet, and, with all the pressing eloquence of fear, discovered to
the affrighted emperor the crimes of the minister, the rage of
the people, and the impending ruin which in a few minutes
would burst over his palace and person. Commodus started
from his dream of pleasure, and commanded that the head of
Cleander should be thrown out to the people. The desired
spectacle instantly appeased the tumult ; and the son of Marcus
might even yet have regained the affection and confidence of
his subjects.^**
DiBBointe But every sentiment of virtue and humanity was extinct in the
?oSJdM mind of Commodus. Whilst he thus abandoned the reins of
empire to these unworthy favourites, he valued nothing in
sovereign power except the unbounded licence of indulging his
sensual appetites. His houi'S were spent in a seraglio of three
hundi-ed beautiful women and as many boys, of every rank and
of every province ; and, wherever the arts of seduction proved
ineffectual, the brutal lover had recourse to violence. The
ancient historians ^^ have expatiated on these abandoned scenes
of prostitution, which scorned every restraint of nature or
modesty ; but it would not be easy to translate their too faithful
descriptions into the decency of modern language. The intervals
Hifliporance of lust wcrc filled up With the basest amusements. The in-
sports fluence of a polite age and the labour of an attentive education
had never been able to infuse into his rude and brutish mind
the least tincture of learning ; and he was the first of the Roman
emperors totally devoid of taste for the pleasures of the under-
standing. Nero himself excelled, or affected to excel, in the
elegant arts of music and poetry ; nor should we despise his
pursuits, had he not converted the pleasing relaxation of a
leisure hour into the serious business and ambition of his life.
But Commodus, from his earliest infancy, discovered an aversion
to whatever was rational or liberal, and a fond attachment to
so Dion Cassius, 1. Ixxii. p. 1215 [13]. Herodian, 1, i, p. 32 [13] Hist. August,
p. 48 [vii. 7].
'1 Sororibus suis constupratis. Ipsas concubinas suas sub oculis suis stuprari
jubebat. Nee irruentium in se juvenum carebat infamiA, omni parte corporis
^tque ore in sexum utrumque pollutus. Hist. August, p. 47 [vii. 5].
OF THE ROMAN EMPIEE 93
the amusements of the populace, — the sports of the circus and
amphitheatre, the combats of gladiators, and the hunting of
wild beasts. The masters in every branch of learning, whom
Marcus provided for his son, were heard with inattention and
disgust ; whilst the Moors and Parthians, who taught him to
dart the javelin and to shoot with the bow, found a disciple
who delighted in his application, and soon equaled the most
skilful of his instructors in the steadiness of the eye and the
dexterity of the hand.
The servile crowd, whose fortune depended on their master's Hunting of
vices, applauded these ignoble pursuits. The perfidious voice of *^
flattery reminded him that, by exploits of the same nature, by
the defeat of the Nemean lion, and the slaughter of the wild
boar of Erymanthus, the Grecian Hercules had acquired a place
among the gods, and an immortal memory among men. They
only forgot to observe that, in the first ages of society, when the
fiercer animals often dispute with man the possession of an un-
settled country, a successful war against those savages is one of
the most innocent and beneficial labours of heroism. In the
civilized state of the Roman empire the wild beasts had long
since retired from the face of man and the neighbourhood of
populous cities. To surprise them in their solitary haunts, and
to transport them to Rome, that they might be slain in pomp by
the hand of an emperor, was an enterprise equally ridiculous for
the prince and oppressive for the people.^2 Ignorant of these
distinctions, Commodus eagerly embraced the glorious resem-
blance, and styled himself (as we still read on his medals) ^^ the
Roman Hercules. The club and the lion's hide were placed by
the side of the throne amongst the ensigns of sovereignty ; and
statues were erected, in which Commodus was represented in
the character and with the attributes of the God whose valour
and dexterity he endeavoured to emulate in the daily course of
his ferocious amusements. ^^
Elated with these praises, which gradually extinguished the commodus
innate sense of shame, Commodus resolved to exhibit, before the buE in tue^
eyes of the Roman people, those exercises which till then he had theatr©
82 The African lions, when pressed by hunger, infested the open villages and
cultivated country ; and they infested them with impunity. The royal beast was
reserved for the pleasures of the emperor and the capital ; and the unfortunate
peasant, who killed one of them, though in his own defence, incurred a very heavy
penalty. This extraordinary game law was mitigated by Honorius, and finally
repealed by Justinian. Codex Theodos. torn. v. p, 92, et Comment. Gothofred.
33Spanheim de Numismat. Dissertat. xii. tom. ii. 493. [Here. Comm., and on
Alexandrine coins 'VbifxoXov 'HpoKAea] .
34 Dion, 1. Ixxii.p. I2i6[i5]. Hist. August, p. 49 [vii. 8].
94 THE DECLINE AND FALL
decently confined within the walls of his palace and to the pre-
sence of a few favourites. On the appointed day the various
motives of flattery, fear, and curiosity, attracted to the amphi-
theatre an innumerable multitude of spectators ; and some
degree of applause was deservedly bestowed on the uncommon skill
of the Imperial performer. Whether he aimed at the head or heart
of the animalj the wound was alike certain and mortal. With
arrows, whose point was shaped into the form of a crescent,
Commodus often intercepted the rapid career and cut asunder
the long bony neck of the ostrich.^^ A panther was let loose ;
and the archer waited till he had leaped upon a trembling male-
factor. In the same instant the shaft flew, the beast dropt dead,
and the man remained unhurt. The dens of the amphitheatre
disgorged at once a hundred lions ; a hundred darts from the
unerring hand of Commodus laid them dead as they ran raging
round the Arena. Neither the huge bulk of the elephant nor
the scaly hide of the rhinoceros could defend them from his
stroke. ^Ethiopia and India yielded their most extraordinary
productions ; and several animals were slain in the amphitheatre
which had been seen only in the representations of art, or per-
haps of fancy. 3^ In all these exhibitions, the surest precautions
were used to protect the person of the Roman Hercules from the
desperate spring of any savage who might possibly disregard the
dignity of the emperor and the sanctity of the god.^^
Actsaaa But the meanest of the populace were affected with shame
and indignation, when they beheld their sovereign enter the
lists as a gladiator, and glory in a profession which the laws and
manners of the Romans had branded with the justest note of
infamy.38 He chose the habit and arms of the Secutor, whose
combat with the Retiarius formed one of the most lively scenes
in the bloody sports of the amphitheatre. The Secutor was ai*med
S5 The ostrich's neck is three feet long, and composed of seventeen vertebrae.
See Bnffon Hist. Naturelle.
36 Commodus killed a camelopardalis or giraffe (Dion, 1. Ixxii p. 1211 [10])
the tallest, the most gentle, and the most useless- of the large quadrupeds. Tlus
singular animal, a native only of the interior parts of Africa, has not been seen in
Europe since the revival of letters, and though M. de Buffon (Hist. Naturelle.
tom. xiii.) has endeavoured to describe, he has not ventured to delineate, the
giraffe.
^ Herodian, 1, i. p. 37 [15]. Hist. August, p. 50 [vii. 11],
38 The virtuous, and even the wise, princes forbade the senators and knights to
embrace this scandalous profession, under pain of infamy, or what was more
dreaded by those profligate wretches, of exile. The tyrants allured them to dis-
honour by threats and rewards. Nero once produced, in the arena, forty
senators and sixty knights. See Lipsius, Saturnalia. I. ii. c. 2. He has happily
corrected a passage of Suetonius, in Nerone, c. la.
gladiator
OF THE ROMAN EMPIEE 95
with an helmet, sword, and buckler ; his naked antagonist had
only a large net and a trident ; with the one he endeavoured to
entangle, with the other to dispatch, his enemy. If he missed
the first throw he was obliged to fly from the pursuit of the
Secutor till he had prepared his net for a second cast.^^ The
emperor fought in this character seven hundred and thirty-five
several times. These glorious achievements were carefully re-
corded in the public acts of the empire ; and, that he might
omit no circumstance of infamy, he received from the common
fund of gladiators a stipend so exorbitant that it became a new
and most ignominious tax upon the Roman people.^** It may
be easily supposed that in these engagements the master of the
world was always successful : in the amphitheatre his victories
were not often sanguinary ; but when he exercised his skill in
the school of gladiators, or his own palace, his wretched
antagonists were frequently honoured with a mortal wound from
the hand of Commodus, and obliged to seal their flattery with
their blood.^^ He now disdained the appellation of Hercules, his infamy
The name of Paulus, a celebrated Secutor, was the only one gSnc©
which delighted his ear. It was inscribed on his colossal statues,
and repeated in the redoubled acclamations ^ of the mournful
and applauding senate.^^ Claudius Pompeianus, the virtuous
husband of Lucilla, was the only senator who asserted the honour
of his rank. As a father he permitted his sons to consult their
safety by attending the amphitheatre. As a Roman he declared
that his own life was in the emperor's hands, but that he would
never behold the son of Marcus prostituting his person and
dignity. Notwithstanding his manly resolution, Pompeianus
escaped the resentment of the tyrant, and, with his honour, had
the good fortune to preserve his life.**
Commodus had now attained the summit of vice and infamy,
39 Lipsius, 1. ii. c. 7, 8. Juvenal in the eighth satire gives a picturesque de-
scription of this combat.
40 Hist. August, p. so[vii. ii], Dion, 1. Ixxii. p. 1220 [19]. He received, for
each time, decies^ about /"8000 pounds sterling,
^ Victor tells us that Commodus only allowed his antagonists a leaden weapon,
dreading most probably the consequences of their despair. {C^sar., 4.]
*2 They were obliged to repeat six hundred and twenty-six times, Paulus, first
of the Secutors, &c.
*s Dion, 1. Ixxii. p. 1221 [20] . He speaks of his own baseness and danger.
^ He mixed however some prudence with his courage, and passed the greatest
part of his time in a country retirement ; alleging his advanced age, and the
weakness of his eyes. "I never saw him in the senate," says Dion, "except during
the short reign of Pertinax." All his infirmities had suddenly left him, and they
returned as suddenly upon the murder of that excellent prince. Dion, 1. Ixxiii. p,
1227 [3].
96
THE DECLINE AND FALL
Amidst the acclamations of a flattering court, he was unable to
disguise from himself that he had deserved the contempt and
hatred of every man of sense and virtue in his empire. His
ferocious spirit was irritated by the consciousness of that hatred,
by the envy of every kind of merit, by the just apprehension of
danger, and by the habit of slaughter which he contracted in his
conspiracy of daily amuscments. Histoiy has preserved a long list of consular
hia domaflliM ggjj^tors sacrificcd to his wanton suspicion, which sought out,
with peculiar anxiety, those unfoi-tunate persons connected,
however remotely, with the family of the Antonines, without
sparing even the ministers of his crimes or pleasures.^^ His
cruelty proved at last fatal to himself He had shed with im-
punity the noblest blood of Rome : he perished as soon as he
was dreaded by his own domestics. Marcia, his favourite con-
cubine, Eclectus, his chamberlain, and Laetus, his Praetorian
praefectj alarmed by the fate of their companions and predecessors,
resolved to prevent the destruction which every hour hung over
their heads, either from the mad caprice of the tyrant, or the sudden
indignation of the people. Marciaseized the occasion of presenting
a draught of wine to her lover, after he had fatigued himself
with hunting some wild beasts. Commodus retired to sleep ; but
whilst he M^as labouring with the effects of poison and drunken-
ness, a robust youth, by profession a wrestler, entered his
chamber, and strangled him without resistance. The body was
secretly conveyed out of the palace, before the least suspicion
was entertained in the city, or even in the court, of the emperor's
death. Such was the fate of the son of Marcus, and so easy was
it to destroy a hated tyrant, who, by the artificial powers of
government, had oppressed, during thirteen years, so many
millions of subjects, every one of whom was equal to their
master in personal strength and personal abilities. ^^
The measures of the conspirators were conducted with the
deliberate coolness and celerity which the greatness of the
occasion required. They resolved instantly to fill the vacant
throne with an emperor whose character would justify and
^5 The prasfects were changed almost hourly or daily ; and the caprice of
Cominodus was often fat;U to his most favoured chamberlains. Hist. August. 46,
51 [vii. 14 and 15].
^ Dion, 1. Ixxii. p. 1222 [22]. Herodian, 1. i. p. 43. Hist. August, p. 52. [vii.
17]. [The situation on the death of Commodus has been well compared with the
situation on the death of Nero. The general joy at deliverance from tyranny,
the measures taken by the senate in branding the memory of the fallen tyrant,
were alike; and Pertinax, the successor of Commodus, closely resemblefl Galba,
the successor of Nero, in age, respectability, good intentions, and unfitness for
the imperial power (Schiller, i. 668).]
Death of
Commodus
A.D. 192.
Slat De-
cember
Choice of
Pertinax
for emperor
OF THE ROMAN EMPIRE 97
maintain the action that had been committed. They fixed on
Pertinax, praefect of the city, an ancient senator of consular rank,
whose conspicuous merit had broke through the obscurity of his
birth, and raised him to the first honours of the state. He had
successively governed most of the provinces of the empire ; and
in all his great employments, military as well as civil, he had
uniformly distinguished himself, by the firmness, the prudence,
and the integrity of his conduct.^'' He now remained almost
alone of the friends and ministers of Marcus ; and, when, at a
late hour of the night, he was awakened with the news that the
chamberlain and the praefect were at his door, he received them
with intrepid resignation, and desired they would execute their
master s orders. Instead of death, they offered him the throne
of the Roman world. During some moments he distrusted their
intentions and assurances. Convinced at length of the death of
Commodus, he accepted the purple with a sincere reluctance,
the natural effect of his knowledge both of the duties and of
the dangers of the supreme rank.*^
Laetus coijducted without delay his new emperor to the camp He i« ackaow-
of the Praetorians, diffusing at the same time through the city a prateriw**'*
seasonable report that Commodus died suddenly of an apoplexy ; '^"^^
and that the virtuous Pertinax had already succeeded to the
throne. The guards were rather surprised than pleased with
the suspicious death of a prince whose indulgence and hberality
they alone had experienced ; but the emergency of the occasion,
the authority of their praefect, the reputation of Pertinax, and
the clamours of the people, obliged them to stifle their secret
*'' Pertinax was a native of Alba Pompeia, in Piedmont, and son of a timber
merchant. The order of his employments (it is marked by Capitolinus) well
deserves to be set down as expressive of the form of government and manners of
the age. i. He was a centurion. 2. Prasfect of a cohort in Sjnria, in the Parthian
war, and in Britain. 3. He obtained an A/a, or squadron of horse, in Msesia. 4.
He was commissary of provisions on the ^milian way. [This refers to the distri-
bution of alimentary state charity. Alimentary institutions had been founded by
Nerva and Trajan. See Desjardins, De tabulis alimentariis, 1854; Hirschfeld,
Romische Verwaltungsgeschichte, 113 sqg,"] S- He commanded the fleet upon the
Rhine. 6. He was procurator of Dacia, with a salary of about 1600/. a year. 7.
He commanded the Veterans of a legion. 8. He obtained the rank of senator.
9. Of praetor, 10. With the command of the first legion in Rhsetia and Noricum.
II. He was consul about the year 175. 12. He attended Marcus into the east.
13. He commanded an army on the Danube. 14. He was consular legate of
Maesia. 15. Of Dacia. 16. Of Syria. 17. Of Britain. 18. He had the care of
the public provisions at Rome. ig. He was proconsul of Africa. 20. Prsefect of
the city. Herodian (1. i. p. 48 [ii. i]) does justice to his disinterested spirit ; but
Capitolinus, who collected every popular rumour, charges him with a great fortune
acquired by bribery and corruption. [He is a favourite with the historian Dion
Cassius. His full name was P. Helvius Pertinax, and he was born in 126 A.D.]
^^ Julian, in the Caesars, taxes him with being accessary to the death of
Commodus.
7 VOL. I,
98 THE DECLINE AND FALL
discontents, to accept the donative promised by the new
emperor, to swear allegiance to him, and, with joyful acclama-
tions and laurels in their hands, to conduct him to the senate-
house, that the military consent might be ratified by the civil
authority,
and by the This important night was now far spent ; with the dawn of day,
193, iBt Jan- and the commencement of the new year, the senators expected a
summons to attend an ignominious ceremony. In spite of all
remonstrances, even of those of his creatures who yet preserved
any regard for prudence or decency, Commodus had resolved to
pass the night in the gladiators* school, and from thence to take
possession of the consulship, in the habit and with the attendance
of that infamous crew. On a sudden, before the break of day,
the senate was called together in the temple of Concord, to
meet the guards, and to ratify the election of a new emperor.
For a few minutes they sat in silent suspense, doubtful of
their unexpected deliverance, and suspicious of the cruel artifices
of Commodus : but, when at length they were assured that the
tyrant was no more, they resigned themselves to all the trans-
ports of joy and indignation. Pertinax, who modestly repre-
sented the meanness of his extraction, and pointed out several
noble senators more deserving than himself of the empire, was
constrained by their dutiful violence to ascend the throne, and
received all the titles of Imperial power, confirmed by the most
The memory sinccrc VOWS of fidelity. The memory of Commodus was branded
declared in with ctcmal infamy. The names of tyrant, of gladiator, of
public enemy, resounded in every comer of the house. They
decreed in tumultuous*^ votes, that his honours should be reversed,
his titles erased from the public monuments, his statues thrown
down, his body dragged with a hook into the stripping-room of
the gladiators, to satiate the public fury ; and they expressed
some indignation against those officious servants who had already
presumed to screen his remains fi-om the justice of the senate.
But Pertinax could not refuse those last rites to the memory of
Marcus and the tears of his first protector Claudius Pompeianus,
who lamented the cruel fate of his brother-in-law, and lamented
still more that he had deserved it.^^
*9[By this epithet Gibbon alludes to the rhythmical acclamations which were the
usage in the proceedings of the senate. In the adclamationes graves recorded here
by Lampridius, the words hostis and parricide recur as a sort of refrain.]
'" Capitolinus gives us the particulars of these tumultuary votes, which were
moved by one senator, and repeated, or rather chaunted, by the whole body.
Hist. August, p. 52. [vii. 18].
OF THE EOMAN EMPIRE 99
These effusions of impotent rage against a dead emperor, Legaj juris.
whom the senate had flattered when alive with the most abject aenat^ over *
servility, betrayed a just but ungenerous spirit of revenge. The ^*°*^®""
legality of these decrees was, however, supported by the prin-
ciples of the Imperial constitution. To censure, to depose, or
to punish with death, the first magistrate of the republic who
had abused his delegated trust, was the ancient and undoubted
prerogative of the Roman senate ;^^ but that feeble assembly
was obliged to content itself with inflicting on a fallen tyrant
that public justice from which, during his life and reign, he had
been shielded by the strong arm of military despotism.
Pertinax found a nobler way of condemning his predecessor's virtnos of
memory, — by the contrast of his ovm virtues with the vices of * "
Commodus. On the day of his accession he resigned over to
his wife and son his whole private fortune ; ^^ that they might
have no pretence to solicit favours at the expense of the state.
He refused to flatter the vanity of the former with the title of
Augusta, or to corrupt the inexperienced youth of the latter by
the rank of Caesar. Accurately distinguishing between the
duties of a parent and those of a sovereign, he educated his son
with a severe simplicity, which, while it gave him no assured
prospect of the throne, might in time have rendered him worthy
of it. In public the behaviour of Pertinax was grave and affable.
He lived with the virtuous part of the senate ^^ (and, in a private
station, he had been acquainted with the true character of each
individual), without either pride or jealousy ; considered them as
friends and companions, with whom he had shared the dangers
of the t3n'anny, and with whom he wished to enjoy the security of
the present time. He very frequently invited them to familiar
entertainments, the frugality of which was ridiculed by those
who remembered and regretted the luxurious prodigality of
Commodus. ^^
^ The senate condemned Nero to be put to death more majorum. Sueton. c. 49.
^2 [This act has considerable significance in the history of the exchequer of
the Roman Empire. Antoninus Pius had ah-eady acted in the same way, making
over his private property to his daughter Faustina. The principle involved was
the separatipn of the Emperor's private purse from the Jiscus, or public money
which came to him as Emperor. This separation was systematically carried out
by Septimius Severus.]
^ [The note of the policy of Pertinax was the restoration of the authority of
the senate, which, during the preceding century, had been gradually becoming less
and less. He assumed the title princeps senaius, and things looked hke a return
of the system of Augustus.]
"^ Dion (1. Ixxiii. p. 122 [3]) speaks of these entertainments, as a senator who
had supped with the emperor; Capitoliuus {Hist. August, p. 58 [viii. 12]) like
a slave who had received his intelligence from one of the sculUons.
100
THE DECLINE AND FALL
He en-
deavours to
reform the
state
Hlfl regnla-
t]onii
To heal, as far as it was possible^ the wounds inflicted by the
hand of tyranny, was the pleasing, but melancholy, task of Per-
tinax. The innocent victims who yet survived were recalled from
exile, released from prison, and restored to the full possession
of their honours and fortunes. The unburied bodies of murdered
senators (for the cruelty of Commodus endeavoured to extend
itself beyond death) were deposited in the sepulchres of their
ancestors ; their memory was justified ; and every consolation
was bestowed on their ruined and afflicted families. Among
these consolations, one of the most grateful was the punishment
of the Delators, the common enemies of their master, of virtue,
and of their country. Yet, even in the inquisition of these legal
assassins, Pertinax proceeded with a steady temper, which gave
everything to justice, and nothing to popular prejudice and
resentment.
The finances of the state demanded the most vigilant care of
the emperor. Though every measure of injustice and extortion
had been adopted which could collect the property of the sub-
ject into the coffers of the prince, the rapaciousness of Com-
modus had been so very inadequate to his extravagance that,
upon his death, no more than eight thousand pounds were found
in the exhausted treasury,^^ to defray the current expenses of
government, and to discharge the pressing demand of a liberal
donative, which the new emperor had been obliged to promise to
the Praetorian guards. Yet, under these distressed circumstances,
Pertinax had the generous firmness to remit all the oppressive
taxes invented by Commodus, and to cancel all the unjust claims
of the treasury; declaring, in a decree of the senate, "that he
was better satisfied to administer a poor republic with innocence,
than to acquire riches by the ways of tyranny and dishonour"
Economy and industry he considered as the pure and genuine
sources of wealth ; and from them he soon derived a copious
supply for the public necessities. The expense of the house-
hold was immediately reduced to one half. All the instruments
of luxury Pertinax exposed to public auction,^® gold and silver
plate, chariots of a singular construction, a superfluous wardrobe
of silk and embroidery, and a great number of beautiful slaves
^^ Decies. The blameless economy of Pius, left his successors a treasure of
vicies replies millies^ above two and twenty millions sterling. Dion, 1. Ixxiii. p.
i23i[8].
^6 Besides the design of converting these useless ornaments mto money, Dion
(1. Ixxiii. p. 1229 [5]) assigns two secret motives of Pertinax. He wished to expose
the vices of Commodus. and to discover by the purchasers those who most re-
sembled him.
OF THE ROMAN EMPIRE 101
of both sexes ; excepting only, with attentive humanity, those
who were bom in a state of freedom, and had been ravished
from the arms of their weeping parents. At the same time
that he obliged the worthless favourites of the t3rrant to resign
a part of their ill-gotten wealth, he satisfied the just creditors of
the state, and unexpectedly discharged the long arrears of honest
services. He removed the oppressive restrictions which had been
laid upon commerce, and granted all the imcultivated lands in
Italy and the provinces to those who would improve them ; with
an exemption from tribute during the term of ten years. ^'^
Such an uniform conduct had already secured to Pertinax thcandpopn-
uoblest reward of a sovereign, the love and esteem of his people. ^
Those who remembered the virtues of Marcus were happy to
contemplate in their new emperor the features of that bright
original, and flattered themselves that they should long enjoy
the benign influence of his administration. A hasty zeal to
reform the corrupted state, accompanied with less prudence
than might have been expected from the years and experience
of Pertinax, proved fatal to himself and to his country. Hia
honest indiscretion united against him the servile crowd, who
found their private benefit in the public disorders, and who pre-
ferred the favour of a tyrant to the inexorable equality of the
laws.^s
Amidst the general joy the sullen and angry countenance of Discontent or
the Praetorian guards betrayed their inward dissatisfaction. They toJiam
had reluctantly submitted to Pertinax ; they dreaded the strict-
ness of the ancient discipline, which he was preparing to restore ;
and they regretted the licence of the former reign. Their dis-
contents were secretly fomented by Laetus, their prefect, who
found, when it was too late, that his new emperor would reward
a servant, but would not be ruled by a favourite. On the third
day of his reign, the soldiers seized on a noble senator, with a
design to carry him to the camp, and to invest him with the
imperial purple. Instead of being dazzled by the dangerous
honour, the affrighted victim escaped from their violence, and
took refuge at the feet of Pertinax. A short time afterwards a conspiracy
Sosius Falco, one of the consuls of the year, a rash youth,^^ ^^t prevented
57 Though Capitolinus has picked up many idle tales of the private life of Per-
tinax, he joins with Dion and Herodian in admiring his public conduct [viii. 13].
58 Leges, rem surdam, inexorabilem esse. T. Liv. ii. 3.
59 If we credit Capitolinus (which is rather difficult) Falco behaved with the
most petulant indecency to Pertinax on the day of his accession. The wise
emperor only admonished him of his youth and inexperience. Hist. August, p. 55
[viii. 5].
102 THE DECLINE AND FALL
of an ancient and opulent family, listened to the voice of
ambition ; and a conspiracy was formed during a short absence
of Pertinax, which was crushed by his sudden return to Rome
and his resolute behaviour. Falco was on the point of being
justly condemned to death as a public enemy, had he not been
saved by the earnest and sincere entreaties of the injured
emperor ; who conjured the senate that the purity of his reign
might not be stained by the blood even of a guilty senator.
Murder of Thesc disappointments served only to irritate the rage of the
tt« pr»- Praetorian guards. On the twenty-eight of March^ eighty-six days
M3, Biai-ch 28 Only after the death of Conunodus, a general sedition broke out
in the camp^ which the officers wanted either power or inclination
to suppress. Two or three hundred of the most desperate
soldiers marched at noon-day, with arms in their hands and fory
in their looks, towards the Imperial palace. The gates were
thrown open by their companions upon guard ; and by the
domestics of the old coiul, who had already formed a secret
conspiracy against the life of the too virtuous emperor. On the
news of their approach, Pertinax, disdaining either flight or con-
cealment, advanced to meet his assassins ; and recalled to their
minds his own innocence, and the sanctity of their recent oatL
For a few moments they stood in silent suspense, ashamed of
their atrocious design, and awed by the venerable aspect and
majestic firmness of their sovereign, till at length, the despair of
pardon reviving their fury, a barbarian of the country of
Tongres^o levelled the first blow against Pertinax, who was
instantly dispatched with a multitude of wounds. His head,
separated from his body, and placed on a lance, was carried in
triumph to the Praetorian camp, in the sight of a mournful and
indignant people, who lamented the imworthy fate of that
excellent prince, and the transient blessings of a reign, the
memory of which could serve only to aggravate their appi-oaching
misfortunes.**^
» The modem bishopric of Liege. This soldier probably belonged to the Bata-
vian horse-guards, who were mostly raised in the Duchy of Guddrw ind the
neighbourhood, and were distinguished by their valour, and by the boldne^is with
which they swam their horses across the broadest and most rapid rivets. Tacit
Hist. IV. la. Dion, 1. Iv. p. 797 [24]. Upsius de magnitudine Romana, L i
c. 4.
^P^??/o°'| ^f}^- P-. "32 [lo]- Herodian, I ii. p. 60. [5], HisL Angusf. p.
S8 [vm. Ill Victor in Epiiom.. and in Oesarib. EuiropI^. TOi. 16.
OF THE ROMAN EMPIRE 103
CHAPTER V
Public sate of the empire to JDidius Julianus by the Prceiorian
Guards — Clodius Albinus in Britain, Pescennius Niger in Syria,
arid Septimius Severus in Pannonia, declare against the mur-
derers of Pertinax — Civil wars, and victory of Severus over his
three rivals ^Relaxation of discipline — New maxims of govern-
ment
The power of the sword is more sensibly felt in an extensive Proportion oi
monarchy than in a small community. It has been calculated fJ^SftlfSe
by the ablest politicians that no state, without being soon ex-^e^"*
hausted, can maintain above the hundredth part of its members
in arms and idleness. But, although this relative proportion
may be uniform, its influence over the rest of the society will vary
according to the degree of its positive strength. The advan-
tages of military science and discipline cannot be exerted, unless
a proper number of soldiers are united into one body, and
actuated by one soul. With a handiul of men, such an union
would be ineffectual ; with an unwieldy host, it would be im-
practicable ; and the powers of the machine would be alike
destroyed by the extreme minuteness, or the excessive weighty
of its springs. To illustrate this observation we need only re-
flect that there is no superiority of natural strength, artificial
weapons, or acquired skill, which could enable one man to keep
in constant subjection one hundred of his fellow-creatures : the
tjrrant of a single town, or a small district, would soon discover
that an hundred armed followers were a weak defence against
ten thousand peasants or citizens ; but an hundred thousand well-
disciplined soldiers will command, with despotic sway, ten
millions of subjects ; and a body of ten or fifteen thousand
guards will strike terror into the most numerous populace that
ever crowded the streets of an immense capital.
The Praetorian bands, whose licentious fury was the first The Pnrtoriwi
symptom and cause of the decline of the Roman empire, '^**'^*^
scarcely amounted to the last mentioned number.^ They de-Thairin»uta-
1 * They were originally nine or ten thousand men {for Tacitus and Dion are not
agreed upon the subject), divided into as many cohorts, Vitellius increased them
* Since this note was written, the work of Borghesi on the history of the
Praetorian Prefects has been completed (mainly by E. Cuq) and published as voL
X. of his collected works, in two parts, 1897. It contains a hst of the prefects,
both before and after Constantine, with the evidence set out in full.
104
THE DECLINE AND FALL
Their camp
Tbelr
Btre.
and
confldonce
rived their institution from Augustus. That crafty tyrant,
sensible that laws might colour, but that arms alone could
maintain, his usurped dominion, had gradually formed this
powerful body of guards, in constant readiness to protect his
person, to awe the senate, and either to prevent or to crush the
first motions of rebellion. He distinguished these favoured
troops by a double pay, and superior privileges ; but, as their
formidable aspect would at once have alarmed and irritated the
Roman people, three cohorts only were stationed in the capital ;
whilst the remainder was dispersed in the adjacent towns of
Italy.2 But after fifty years of peace and servitude, Tiberius
ventured on a decisive measure, which for ever riveted the
fetters of his country. Under the fair pretences of relieving
Italy from the heavy burden of military quarters, and of intro-
ducing a stricter discipline among the guards.
he assembled
them at Rome, in a permanent camp,^ which was fortified with
skilful care,* and placed on a commanding situation.^
Such formidable servants are always necessary, but often
fatal, to the throne of despotism. By thus introducing the
Praetorian guards, as it were, into the palace and the senate, the
emperors taught them to perceive their own strength, and the
weakness of the civil government ; to view the vices of their
masters with familiar contempt, and to lay aside that reveren-
tial awe which distance only, and mystery, can preserve towards
an imaginary power. In the luxurious idleness of an opulent
city, their pride was nourished by the sense of their irresistible
weight ; nor was it possible to conceal from them that the
person of the sovereign, the authority of the senate, the public
to sixteen thousand, and, as far as we can learn from inscriptions, they never after-
wards sunk much below that number. See Lipsius de magnitudine Romans, i. 4.
[The last statement must be modified. The Prsetorian guard was a reorganisation
of the bodyguard of the generals of the republic. Augustus fixed the Praetorium
in Rome, and determined, as the number of the guard, nine cohorts, each cohort
consisting of a thousand men. A tenth cohort was subsequently added, but the
exact date of this addition is not clear. Vitellius, as Gibbon says (Tacitus, Hist.
ii. 93), increased the number to sixteen ; but Vespasian restored the original nine
(Aurelius Victor, Caes. 40, 24, cp. Zosimus ii. 17). There is some evidence in in-
scriptions suggesting that there were twelve cohorts between the reign of Gaius
and that of Vitellius. For number of praefects, see Appendix 11,]
^Sueton. in August, c. 49.
* Tacit. Annal. iv. 2. Suet, in Tiber, c. 37. Dion Cassius, I. Ivii, p. 867 [19].
* In the civil war between Vitellius and Vespasian, the Praetorian camp was
attacked and defended with all the machines used in the siege of the best fortified
cities. Tacit. Hist. iii. 84.
* Close to the walls of the city, on the broad summit of the Quirinal and Vimi-
nal hills. See Nardini, Roma Antica, p. 174. Donatus de Romft Antique, p. 46
[Not on the hills, but to the east of them.]
OF THE EOMAN EMPIRE 105
treasure, and the seat of empire, were all in their hands.
To divert the Praetorian bands from these dangerous reflections
the firmest and best established princes were obliged to mix
blandishments with commands, rewards with punishments, to
flatter their pride, indulge their pleasures, connive at their
irregularities, and to purchase their precarious faith by a liberal
donative ; which, since the elevation of Claudius, was exacted
as a legal claim on the accession of every new emperor.*'
The advocates of the guards endeavoured to justify by argu-Theirapwioiw
ments the powdr which they asserted by arms ; and to maintain "^ "^'
that, according to the purest principles of the constitution, their
consent was essentially necessary in the appointment of an
emperor. The election of consuls, of generals, and of magistrates,
however it had been recently usurped by the senate, was the
ancient and undoubted right of the Roman peopled But where
was the Roman people to be found ? Not surely amongst the
mixed multitude of slaves and strangers that filled the streets of
Rome ; a servile populace, as devoid of spirit as destitute of pro-
perty. The defenders of the state, selected from the flower of
Italian youth,® and trained in the exercise of arms and virtue,
were the genuine representatives of the people, and the best
entitled to elect the military chief of the republic. These asser-
tions, however defective in reason, became unanswerable, when
the fierce Praetorians increased their weight, by throwing, like
the barbarian conqueror of Rome, their swords into the scale.®
The Praetorians had violated the sanctity of the throne, by the They offer the
atrocious murder of Pertinax ; they dishonoured the majesty oflSJ''
it, by their subsequent conduct. The camp was without a
leader, for even the praefect Laetus, who had excited the tempest,
prudently declined the public indignation. Amidst the wild
disorder, Sulpicianus, the emperor's father-in-law, and governor
fi Claudius, raised by the soldiers to the empire, was the first who gave a dona-
tive. He gave quina dena, 120/. (Sueton in Claud, c. lo) : when Marcus, with his
colleague Lucius Verus, took quiet possession of the throne, he gave vicena, 160/.
to each of the guards. Hist. August, p. 25 pv. 7]. (Dion, Ixxiii. p. 1231 [8].)
We may form some idea of the amount of these sums, by Hadrian's complaint,
that the promotion of a Caesar had cost him ter millies, two millions and a half
sterling.
7 Cicero de Legibus, iii. 3. The first book of Livy, and the second of Dionysius
of Halicarnassus, show the authority of the people, even in the election of the
kings.
8 They were originally recruited in Latium, Etruria, and the old colonies (Tacit,
AnnaL iv. 5). The emperor Otho compliments their vanity, vrith the flattering
titles of Italias Alumni, Romana vera juventus. Tacit. Hist. i. 84.
9 In the siege of Rome by the Gauls. See Livy, v. 48. Plutarch, in Camill. p.
*43 [29]-
106 THE DECLINE AND FALL
of the city, who had been sent to the camp on the first alarm ot
mutiny, was endeavouring to calm the fury of the multitude^ when
he was silenced by the clamorous return of the murderers, bearing
on a lance the head of Pertinax. Though history has accus-
tomed us to observe every principle and every passion yielding
to the imperious dictates of ambition, it is scarcely credible that,
in these moments of horror, Sulpicianus should have aspired to
ascend a throne polluted with the recent blood of so near a
relation, and so excellent a prince. He had already begun to
use the only effectual argument, and to treat for the Imperial
dignity ; but the more prudent of the Praetorians, apprehensive
that, in this private contract, they should not obtain a just price
for so valuable a commodity, ran out upon the ramparts ; and,
with a loud voice, proclaimed that the Roman world was to be
disposed of to the best bidder by public auction.^**
itu This infamous offer, the most insolent excess of military licence,
KSSS'i.ix^ diffused an universal grief, shame, and indignation throughout
28 ' the city. It reached at length the ears of Didius Julianus, a
wealthy senator, who, regardless of the public calamities, was
indulging himself in the luxury of the table.^^ His wife and his
daughter, his freedmen and his parasites, easily convinced him
that he deserved the throne, and earnestly conjured him to em-
brace so fortunate an opportunity. The vain old man hastened
to the Praetorian camp, where Sulpicianus was still in treaty with
the guards ; and began to bid against him from the foot of the
rampart. The unworthy negotiation was transacted by faithful
emissaries, who passed alternately from one candidate to the
other, and acquainted each of them with the offers of his rival.
Sulpicianus had already promised a donative of five thousand
drachms (above one hundred and sixty pounds) to each soldier ;
when Julian, eager for the prize, rose at once to the sum of six thou-
sand two hundred and fifty drachms, or upwards of two hundred
pounds sterling. The gates of the camp were instantly thrown
open to the purchaser ; he was declared emperor, and received
an oath of allegiance from the soldiers^ who retained humanity
enough to stipulate that he should pardon and forget the com-
petition of Sulpicianus.
SSw^edged ^* ^^ ^^^ incumbent on the Praetorians to fiilfil the condi-
by tiie aenate tions of thc salc. They placed their new sovereign, whom they
^*Dion, 1. Ixxiii. p. 1234 [11]. Herodian, 1. ii. p. 63 [6]. Hist. August, p. 60
Six. 2]. Though the three historians agree that it was in fact an auction, Hero-
ian alone affirms that it was proclaimed as such by the soldiers.
^ Spartianus softens the most odious parts of the character and elevation of Julian .
OF THE EOMAN EMPIRE 107
served and despised, in the centre of their ranks, surrounded
him on every side with their shields, and conducted him in close
order of battle through the deserted streets of the city. The
senate was commanded to assemble, and those who had been the
distinguished friends of Pertinax, or the personal enemies of
Julian, found it necessary to affect a more than common share of
satisfaction at this happy revolution.^^ After Julian had filled
the senate house with armed soldiers, he expatiated on the
freedom of his election, his own eminent virtues, and his fidl
assurance of the affections of the senate. The obsequious
assembly congratulated their own and the public felicity ;
engaged their allegiance, and conferred on him all the several
branches of the Imperial power. ^^ From the senate Julian was Takes
conducted by the same military procession, to take possession of SfS pjSw? **
the palace. The first objects which struck his eyes were the
abandoned tioink of Pertinax, and the frugal entertainment
prepared for his supper. The one he viewed with indifference ;
the other with contempt. A magnificent feast was prepared by
his order, and he amused himself till a very late hour, with dice,
and the performances of Pylades, a celebrated dancer. Yet it
was observed that, after the crowd of flatterers dispersed, and
left him to darkness, solitude, and terrible reflection, he passed
a sleepless night ; revolving most probably in his mind his own
rash folly, the fate of his virtuous predecessor, and the doubtful
and dangerous tenure of an empire, which had not been ac-
quired by merit, but purchased by money.^^
He had reason to tremble. On the throne of the world he me pubuc
found himself without a friend, and even without an adherent. *"**=<'°''''**
The guards themselves were ashamed of the prince whom their
avarice had persuaded them to accept ; nor was there a citizen
who did not consider his elevation with horror, as the last
insult on the Roman name. The nobihty, whose conspicuous
station and ample possessions exacted the strictest caution, dis-
sembled their sentiments, and met the affected civility of the
12 Dion Cassius, at that time praetor, had been a personal enemy to Julian,
1. Ixxiii. p. 1235 [i^l*
*3 Hist. August, p. 6i [ix. 3, 3]. We learn from thence one curious circum-
stance, that the new emperor, whatever had been his birth, was immediately
aggregated to the number of Patrician families. [His imperial name was M.
Didius Severus Julianus. His wife, Mallia Scantilla, and his daughter, Didia
Clara, received the title of Augusta (Hist. Aug. ix. 3). Pertinax had declined that
honour for his consort.]
1^ Dion, 1. Ixxiii. p. 1235 [13]. Hist. August, p. 61 [ix. 3, 10]. I have endeavoured
to blend into one consistent story, the seeming contradickons of the two writers.
108 THE DECLINE AND FALL
emperor with smiles of complacency and professions of duty.
But the people^ secure in their numbers and obscurity, gave a
free vent to their passions. The streets and public places of
Rome resounded with clamours and imprecations. The enraged
multitude affronted the person of Julian^ rejected his liberality,
and, conscious of the impotence of their own resentment, they
called aloud on the legions of the frontiers to assert the violated
majesty of the Roman empire.
Tn» amieB of The public discontent was soon diffused from the centre to
s?ri2j"iiid the frontiers of the empire. The armies of Britain, of Syria, and
dSSe'* of Illyricum, lamented the death of Pertinax, in whose company,
jSiuS* or under whose command, they had so often fought and con-
quered. They received with surprise, with indignation, and
perhaps with envy, the extraordinary intelligence that the
Praetorians had disposed of the empire by public auction ; and
they sternly refused to ratify the ignominious bargain. Their
immediate and unanimous revolt was fatal to Julian, but it was
fatal at the same time to the public peace ; as the generals of
the respective armies, Clodius Albinus, Pescennius Niger, and
Septimius Severus, were still more anxious to succeed than to
revenge the murdered Pertinax. Their forces were exactly
balanced. Each of them was at the head of three legions,!^
with a numerous train of auxiliaries ; and, however different in
their characters, they were all soldiers of experience and capa-
city.
ciodiue Clodius Albinus,^® governor of Britain, surpassed both his
Britain compctitors in the nobility of his extraction, which he derived
from some of the most illustrious names of the old republic.^'^
But the branch, from whence he claimed his descent, was sunk
into mean circumstances, and transplanted into a remote pro-
vince. It is difficult to form a just idea of his true character.
Under the philosophic cloak of austerity, he stands accused of
concealing most of the vices which degrade human nature.^^
But his accusers are those venal writers who adored the fortune
of Severus, and trampled on the ashes of an unsuccessful rival.
Virtue, or the appearances of virtue, recommended Albinus to
the confidence and good opinion of Marcus ; and his preserving
i^Dion, 1. Ixxiii. p. 1235 [14].
1® [D. Clodius Septimus Albinus.]
17 The Postumian and the Cejonian ; the former of whom was raised to the
consulship in the fifth year after its institution.
18 Spartianus in his undigested collections, mixes up all the virtues and all the
vices that enter into the human composition, and bestows them on the same
object. Such, indeed, are many of the cb-HractCiS In the Augustan history.
OF THE ROMAN EMPIRE 109
with the son the same interest which he had acquired with
the father is a proof at least that he was possessed of a very
flexible disposition. The favour of a tyrant does not always
suppose a want of merit in the object of it ; he may^ without
intending it, reward a man of worth and ability, or he may find
such a man useful to his ,own service. It does not appear that
Albinus served the son of Marcus, either as the minister of his
cruelties, or even as the associate of his pleasures. He was em-
ployed in a distant honourable command, when he received a
confidential letter from the emperor, acquainting him of the
treasonable designs of some discontented generals, and authoriz-
ing him to declare himself the guardian and successor of the
throne, by assuming the title and ensigns of Caesar.^^ The
governor of Britain wisely declined the dangerous honour, which
would have marked him for the jealousy, or involved him in the
approaching ruin, of Commodus. He courted power by nobler,
or, at least, by more specious, arts. On a premature report of
the death of the emperor, he assembled his troops ; and, in an
eloquent discourse, deplored the inevitable mischiefs of des-
potism, described the happiness and glory which their ancestors
had enjoyed under the consular government, and declared his
firm resolution to reinstate the senate and people in their legal
authority. This popular harangue was answered by the loud
acclamations of the British legions, and received at Rome with
a secret murmur of applause. Safe in the possession of his little
world, and in the command of an army less distinguished indeed
for discipline than for numbers and valour,20 Albinus braved the
menaces of Commodus, maintained towards Pertinax a stately
ambiguous reserve, and instantly declared against the usurpation
of Julian. The convulsions of the capital added new weight to
his sentiments, or rather to his professions, of patriotism. A
regard to decency induced him to decline the lofty titles of
Augustus and Emperor, and he imitated perhaps the example of
Galba, who, on a similar occasion, had styled himself the
Lieutenant of the senate and people. ^i
Personal merit alone had raised Pescennius Niger 22 from an peicennim
obscure birth and station to the government of Syria; a lucra- syiil*^
19 Hist. August, p. So, 84 [xii. 2, and 6, 4, 5].
20 Pertinax, who governed Britain a few years before, had been left for dead
in a mutinv of the soldiers. Hist. August. ^. 54 [viii. 3]. Yet they Joved and
regretted him ; admirantibus earn virtutem cui irascebantur.
21 Sueton. in Galb. c. 10. [Legatum se senatus ac pop. R. professus est.]
23 [C. Pescennius Niger Justus.]
no THE DECLINE AND FALL
tive and impoi-tant command, which in times of civil confusion
gave him a near prospect of the throne. Yet his parts seem to
have been better suited to the second than to the first rank ; he
was an unequal rival, though he might have approved himself an
excellent lieutenant, to Severus, who afterwards displayed the
greatness of his mind by adopting several useful institutions
from a vanquished enemy-^^ In his goveniment, Niger ac-
quired the esteem of the soldiers and the love of the provincials.
His rigid discipline fortified the valour and confirmed the
obedience of the former, whilst the voluptuous Syrians were less
delighted with the mild firmness of his administration than with
the affability of his manners and the apparent pleasure with
which he attended their frequent and pompous festivals. 2* As
soon as the intelligence of the atrocious murder of Pertinax had
reached Antioch, the wishes of Asia invited Niger to assume the
Imperial purple and revenge his death. The legions of the
eastern frontier embraced his cause ; the opulent but unarmed
provinces, from the frontiers of Ethiopia ^^ to the Hadriatic,
cheerfully submitted to his power ; and the kings beyond the
Tigris and the Euphrates congratulated his election, and offered
him their homage and services. The mind of Niger was not
capable of receiving this sudden tide of fortune ; he flattered
himself that his accession would be undisturbed by competition,
and unstained by civil blood ; and whilst he enjoyed the vain
pomp of triumph, he neglected to secure the means of victory.
Instead of entering into an effectual negotiation with the
powerful armies of the West, whose resolution might decide, or
at least must balance, the mighty contest ; instead of advancing
without delay towards Rome and Italy, where his presence was
impatiently expected,^** Niger trifled away in the luxury of
Antioch those irretrievable moments which were diligently
improved by the decisive activity of Severus. ^'^
28 Hist. August, p. 76 fxi. 7] .
-^ Herod. 1. ii. p. 68 [7] . The Chronicle of John Malala, of Antioch, shows the
zealous attachment of his countrymen to these festivals, which at once gratified
their superstition, and their love of pleasure.
25 A king of Thebes, in Egypt, is mentioned in the Augustan History, as an ally,
and, indeed, as a personal friend of Niger. If Spartianus is not, as I strongly
suspect, mistaken, he has brought to light a dynasty of tributary princes totally
unknown to history.
38 Dion, 1. Ixxiii. p. 1238 [15]. Herod, L ii. p. 67 [7]. A verse in every one's
mouth at that time, seems to express the general opinion of the three rivals;
Optimus est Ni^er, bonus Afer. pessimus Aldus. Hist. August, p. 75 [xi. 8]. [The
verse was originally in Greek, but the Latin of Spartianus was innocent of the
fajse quantity which Gibbon ascribes to it. It ran optimus est Fvsc-us, &c.]
27 Herodian, 1. ii. p. 71 [8],
OF THE ROMAN EMPIRE 111
The country of Pannonia and Dalmatian which occupied the Pannonta and
space between the Danube and the Hadriatic, was one of the
last and most difficult conquests of the Romans. In the defence
of national freedom, two l^undred thousand of these barbarians
had once appeared in the field, alarmed the declining age of
Augustus, and exercised the vigilant prudence of Tiberius at
the head of the collected force of the empire,^^ The Pannonians
yielded at length to the arms and institutions of Rome. Their
recent subjection, however, the neighbourhood, and even the
mixture of the unconquered tribes, and perhaps the climate,
adapted, as it has been observed, to the production of great
bodies and slow minds,^^ all contributed to preserve some remains
of their original ferocity, and, under the tame resemblance of
Roman provincials, the hardy features of the natives were still
to be discerned. Their warlike youth afforded an inexhaustible
supply of recruits to the legions stationed on the banks of the
Danube, and which, from a perpetual warfare against the
Germans and Sarmatians, were deservedly esteemed the best
troops in the service.
The Pannonian array was at this time commanded by Septimius septiinina
SeveruSj a native of Africa, who, in the gradual ascent of private
honours, had concealed his daring ambition, which was never
diverted from its steady course by the allurements of pleasure,
the apprehension of danger, or the feelings of humanity.^**
On the first news of the murder of Pertinax, he assembled his
troops, painted in the most lively colours the crimCj the insolence,
and the weakness of the Praetorian guards, and animated the
legions to arms and to revenge. He concluded (and the perora-
tion was thought extremely eloquent) with promising every
soldier about four hundred pounds ; an honourable donative,
double in value to the infamous bribe with which Julian had declared
purchased the enipire.^i The acclamations of the army im- the Pan-
mediately saluted Severus with the names of Augustus, Pertinax, Jj^""^
and Emperor ; and he thus attained the lofty station to which April is'
28 See an account of that memorable war in Velleius Paterculus, ii. 1 19, &c. , who
served in the army of Tiberius.
29 Such is the reflection of Herodian, 1. ii. p. 74 [9]. Will the modern Austrians
allow the influence ?
*" In the letter to Albinus, already mentioned, Commodus accuses Severus as
one of the ambitious generals who censured his conduct, and wished to occupy his
place. Hist. August, p. 80 [xii. 2].
31 Pannoma was too poor to supply such a sum. It was probably promised in
the camp, and paid at Rome, after the victory. In fixing the sum, I have adopted
the conjecture of Casaubon. See Hist. August, p. 65 [x, 5]. Comment, p. 115.
112 THE DECLINE AND FALL
he was invited by conscious merit and a long ti'ain of dreams
and omens, the fruitful offspring either of his superstition oi
policy. 32
The new candidate for empire saw and improved the peculiar
advantage of his situation. His province extended to the
Julian Alps, which gave an easy access into Italy ; and he
remembered the saying of Augustus, That a Pannonian army
Marehesinto might in ten days appear m sight of Rome.^^ By a celerity
proportioned to the greatncBs of the occasion, he might reason-
ably hope to revenge Pertinax, punish Julian, and receive the
homage of the senate and people, as their lawful emperor,
before his competitors, separated from Italy by an immense
tract of sea and land, were apprized of his success, or even of
his election. During the whole expedition^ he scarcely allowed
himself any moments for sleep or food ; marching on foot, and
in complete armour, at the head of his colunms, he insinuated
himself into the confidence and affection of his troops, pressed
their diligence, revived their spirits, animated their hopes, and
was well satisfied to share the hardships of the meanest soldier,
whilst he kept in view the infinite superiority of his reward.
Advancw The wTetched Julian had expected, and thought himself
Rome prepared, to dispute the empire with the governor of SjTia;
but in the invincible and rapid approach of the Parmonian
legions, he saw his inevitable ruin.^* The hasty arrival of
every messenger increased his just apprehensions. He was
successively informed that Severus had passed the Alps ; that
the Italian cities, unwilling or unable to oppose his progress,
had received him with the wannest professions of joy and duty ;
that the important place of Ravenna had surrendered without
resistance, and that the Hadriatic fleet was in the hands of the
conqueror. The enemy was now within two hundred and fifty
32 Herodian, 1. il p. 78 [11]. Severus was declared emperor on the banks of
the Danube, either at Carnuntum, according to Spartianus (Hist. August, p. 65
[x. s] ) or else at Sabaria, according to Victor [Cass. xx. i] . Mr. Hume, in supposing
that the birth and dignity of Severus were too much inferior to the Imperial crown,
and that he marched into Italy as general only, has not considered this transaction
with his usual accuracy. (Essay on the original contract. ) [The date in Hist. Aug.
is idibtis Augustis, but Baronius (followed by Pagi, Gibbon, Clinton and De
Ceuleneer) amended idibus April., 13th April.]
33 Velleius Paterculus, 1. ii. c. iii. We must reckon the march from the
nearest verge of Pannonia, and extend the sight of the city, as far as two hundred
miles.
34 [Schiller remarks that the events which attended the elevation of Vespasian
repeat themselves in that of Severus. His march recalls the march of Antonius
Primus with the Pannonis^O legions. Julianus neglected to occupy the Alpine
passes.]
OF THE EOMAN EMPIRE 113
miles of Rome ; and every moment diiaiuished the narrow span
of life and empire allotted to Julian.
He attempted, howevei-, to prevent, or at least to protract, DiBtrewof
his ruin. He implored the venal faith of the Praetorians, filled ^^^^^
the city with unavailing preparations for war, drew lines round
the suburbs, and even strengthened the fortifications of the
palace ; as if those last intrenchments could be defended,
without hope of relief, against a victorious invader. Fear and
shame prevented the guards from deserting his standard ; but
they trembled at the name of the Pannonian legions, commanded
by an experienced general, and accustom.ed to vanquish the
barbarians on the frozen Danube.^^ They quitted, with a sigh,
the pleasures of the baths and theatres, to put on arms, whose
use they had almost forgotten, and beneath the weight of
which they were oppressed. The unpractised elephants, whose
uncouth appearance, it was hoped, would strike terror into the
army of the north, threw their unskilful riders ; and the awk-
ward evolutions of the marines, drawn fi'om the fleet of Misenum,
were an object of ridicule to the populace; whilst the senate
enjoyed, with secret pleasure, the distress and weakness of the
usurper. 3^
Every motion of Julian betrayed his trembling perplexity, hib unoertam
He insisted that Severus should be declared a public enemy by '=°^'^"'*
the senate. He entreated that the Pannonian general might be
associated to the empire. He sent public ambassadors of con-
sular rank to negotiate with his rival ; he dispatched private
assassins to take away his life. He designed that the Vestal
virgins, and all the colleges of priests, in their sacerdotal habits,
and bearing before them the sacred pledges of the Roman re-
ligion, should advance, in solemn procession, to meet the
Pannonian legions ; and, at the same time, he vainly tried to
interrogate, or to appease, the fates, by magic ceremonies, and
unlawful sacrifices.3^
Severus, who dreaded neither his arms nor his enchantments, is deserted by
guarded himself from the only danger of secret conspiracy by torians"
the faithful attendance of six hundred chosen men, who never
quitted his person or their cuirasses, either by night or by day,
during the whole march. Advancing with a steady and rapid
35 This is not a puerile figure of rhetoric, but an allusion to a real fact recorded
by Dion, 1. Ixxi. p. ii8i [7]. It probably happened more than once.
3^ Dion, 1. Ixxiii. p. 1238 [16]. Herodian. 1. ii. p. 81 [11]. There is no surer
proof of the military skill of the Romans, than their first surmounting the idle
terror, and afterwards disdaining the dangerous use, of elephants in war.
37 Hist. August, p. 62, 63 [ix. 5, 6].
8 VOL. I.
114 THE DECLINE AND FALL
course, he passed^ without difficulty, the defiles of the Apennine,
received into his party the troops and ambassadors sent to retard
his progress, and made a short halt at Interamna, about seventy
miles from Rome. His victory was already secure; but the
despair of the Praetorians might have rendered it bloody ; and
Severus had the laudable ambition of ascending the throne
without drawing the sword.^^ His emissaries, dispersed in the
capital, assured the guards that, provided they would abandon
their worthless prince, and the perpetrators of the murder of
Pertinax, to the justice of the conqueror, he would no longer
consider that melancholy event as the act of the whole body.
The faithless Prsetorians, whose resistance was supported only
by sullen obstinacy, gladly complied with the easy conditions,
seized the greatest part of the assassins, and signified to the
senate that they no longer defended the cause of Julian. That
assembly, convoked by the consul, imanimously acknowledged
Severus as lawful emperor, decreed divine honours to Pertinax,
and pronounced a sentence of deposition and death against his
and con- unfortunate successor. Julian was conducted into a private
eJSecfby apartment of the baths of the palace, and beheaded as a common
M^te! a!d criminal, after having purchased, with an immense treasure, an
193, June 2 anxious and precarious reign of only sixty-six days.^^ The
almost incredible expedition of Severus, who, in so short a space
of time, conducted a numerous army from the banks of the
Danube to those of the Tiber, proves at once the plenty of
provisions produced by agricultiu'e and commerce, the goodness
of the roads, the discipline of the legions, and the indolent
subdued temper of the provinces.***
Disgrace of The first cares of Severus were bestowed on two measures, the
S^da *" one dictated by policy, the other by decency ; the revenge, and
the honours due to the memory of Pertinax. Before the new
emperor entered Rome, he issued his commands to the Prae-
38 Victor [Caes. 19] and Eutropius, viii. 17, mention a combat near the
Milvian Bridge, the Ponte Molle, unknown to the better and more ancient
writers.
3»Dion, 1. Ixxiii. p. 1240 [17]. Herodian, 1. ii. p. 83 [12]. Hisi. August, p.
63 [ix. 9].
*^ From these sixty-six days, we must first deduct sixteen, as Pertinax was
murdered on the 28th of March, and Severus most probably elected on the 13th of
April. {See Hist. August, p. 65, and Tillemont Hist, des Empereurs, torn. iii. p.
393, Note 7.) We cannot allow less than ten days after his election, to put a
numerous army in motion. Forty days remain for this rapid march, and, as we
may compute about eight hundred miles from Rome to the neighbourhood of
Vienna, the army of Severus marched twenty miles every day, without halt or inier-
mission.
OF THE ROMAN EMPIRE 116
torian guards, directing them to wait his arrival on a large plain
near the city, without arms, but in the habits of ceremony in
which they were accustomed to attend their sovereign. He was
obeyed by those haughty troops, whose contrition was the eflFect
of their just terrors. A chosen part of the Illyrian army en-
compassed them with leveled spears. Incapable of flight or
resistance, they expected their fate in silent consternation.
Severus mounted die tribunal, sternly reproached them with
perfidy and cowardice, dismissed them with ignominy from the
trust which they had betrayed, despoiled them of their splendid
ornaments, and banished them, on pain of death, to the distance
of an hundred miles from the capital. During the transaction,
another detachment had been sent to seize their arms, occupy
their camp, and prevent the hasty consequences of their despair.*^
The funeral and consecration of Pertinax was next solemnized
with every circumstance of sad magnificence.*^ The senate, Punerai and
with a melancholy pleasure, performed the last rites to that pe?^S*" *"
excellent prince, whom they had loved and stOl regretted. The
concern of his successor was probably less sincere. He esteemed
the virtues of Pertinax, but those virtues would for ever have
confined his ambition to a private station. Severus pronounced
his funeral oration with studied eloquence, inward satisfaction,
and well-acted sorrow ; and by this pious regard to his memory,
convinced the credulous multitude that he alone was worthy to
snpply his place. Sensible, however, that arms, not ceremonies,
must assert his claim to the empire, he left Rome at the end
of thirty days, and, without suffering himself to be elated by this
easy victory, prepared to encoimter his more formidable rivals.
The uncommon abilities and fortune of Severus have induced sncceM of
an elegant historian to compare him with the first and greatest alaStNigtr
of the Caesars.^3 xhe parallel is, at least, imperfect. Where StiSS*"^*
shall we find, in the character of Severus, the commanding
superiority of soul, the generous clemency, and the various
genius, which could reconcile and unite the love of pleasure,
the thirst of knowledge, and the fire of ambition ? ^ In one
*iDk)n, L Ixxiv. p. 1241 [i], Herodian, I. il p. 84 [13].
**Dion, L bcxiv. p. 1244 [4], who assisted at the ceremony as a senator, gives
a most pompous description of it.
« Herodian, 1. iii, p. 112 [7, 7].
^Though it is not, most assuredly, the intention of Lucan to exalt the
character of Cassar, yet the idea he gives of that hero, in the tenth book of the Phar-
salia, where he describes him, at the same time, makin^r love to Cleopatra,
sustaining a siege against the power of Egypt, and conversing with the sages of
the counUy, is, in reality, the noblest panegyric
116
THE DECLINE AND FALL
Conduct of
the two
civil wars.
Aria of
Sevenu
A.D. 1^3-197 instance only, they may be compared, with some degree of pro-
priety, in the celerity of their motion, and their civil victories.
In less than four years,^^ Severus subdued the riches of the east,
and the valour of the west. He vanquished two competitors of
reputation and ability, and defeated numerous armies, provided
with weapons and discipline equal to his own. In that age, the
art of fortification and the principles of tactics, were well undei^
stood by all the Roman generals ; and the constant superiority
of Severus was that of an artist, who uses the same instruments
with more skill and industry than his rivals. I shall not, how-
ever, enter into a minute narrative of these military operations ;
but as the two civO wars against Niger and against Albinus,
were almost the same in their conduct, event, and consequences,
I shall collect into one point of view the most striking circum-
stances, tending to develop the character of the conqueror, and
the state of the empire.
Falsehood and insincerity, unsuitable as they seem to the
dignity of public transactions, offend us with a less degrading
idea of meanness than when they are found in the intercourse
of private life. In the latter, they discover a want of courage ;
in the other, only a defect of power ; and, as it is impossible for
the most able statesmen to subdue millions of followers and
enemies by their own personal strength, the world, under the
name of policy, seems to have granted them a very liberal in-
dulgence of craft anti dissimulation. Yet the arts of Severus
cannot be justified by the most ample privileges of state-reason.
He promised only to betray, he flattered only to ruin ; and
however he might occasionally bind himself by oaths and
treaties, his conscience, obsequious to his interest, always re-
leased him from the inconvenient obligation. ^^
If his two competitors, reconciled by their common danger,
had advanced upon him without delay, perhaps Severus would
have sunk under their united effort. Had they even attacked
him at the same time, with separate views and separate armies,
the contest might have been long and doubtful. But they fell,
singly and successively, an easy prey to the arts as well as arms
of their subtle enemy, lulled into security by the moderation of
his professions, and overwhelmed by the rapidity of his action.
He first marched against Niger, whose reputation and power he
the most dreaded : but he declined any hostile declarations,
** Reckoning from his election, April 13, 193, to the death of Albinus, February
19, 197. See Tillemont's Chronology.
■•* Herodian, 1. ii, p. 85 [13].
toward
Niger
or THE ROMAN EMPIRE 117
suppressed the name of his antagonist, and only signified to
the senate and people his intention of regulating the eastern
provinces. In private he spoke of Niger, his old friend and
intended successor,*^ with the most affectionate regard, and
highly applauded his generous design of revenging the murder
of Pertinax. To punish the vile usurper of the throne was the
duty of every Roman general. To persevere in arms, and to
resist a lawful emperor, acknowledged by the senate, would
alone render him criminal.*® The sons of Niger had fallen into
his hands among the children of the provincial governors, de-
tained at Rome as pledges for the loyalty of their parents.*'* As
long as the power of Niger inspired terror, or even respect, they
were educated with the most tender care, with the children of
Severus himself; but they were soon involved in their father s
ruin, and removed, first by exile, and afterwards by death, from
the eye of public compassion.^**
Whilst Severus was engaged in his eastern war, he had reason towards
to apprehend that the governor of Britain might pass the sea
and the Alps, occupy the vacant seat of empire, and oppose
his return with the authority of the senate and the forces of the
West. The ambiguous conduct of Albinus, in not assuming the
Imperial title, lefl room for negotiation. Forgetting at once
his professions of patriotism and the jealousy of sovereign power,
he accepted the precarious rank of Caesar, as a reward for his
fatal neutrality. Till the first contest was decided, Severus
treated the man whom he had doomed to destruction with
every mark of esteem and regard. Even in the letter in which
he announced his victory over Niger he styles Albinus the
brother of his soul and empire, sends him the affectionate saluta-
tions of his wife Julia, and his young family, and entreats him to
presei've the armies and the republic faithful to their common
interest. The messengers charged with this letter were in-
structed to accost the Caesar with respect, to desire a private
audience, and to plunge their daggers into his heart.^^ The
^ Whilst Severus was very dangerously ill, it was industriously given out that he
intended to appoint Niger and Albinus his successors. As he could not be sincere
with respect to both, he might not be so with regard to either. Yet Severus carried
his hypocrisy so far as to profess that intention in the memoirs of his own life.
^ Hist. August, p. 65 [x. 8, 7 ; and cp. 6].
^This practice, invented by Commodus, proved very useful to Severus. He
found, at Rome, the children of many of the principal adherents of his rivals;
and he employed them more than once to intimidate, or seduce, the parents.
^ Herodian, I. iii. p. 96. Hist. August, p. 67, 63 [x. 8, 9].
^ Hist. August, p. 81 [xii, 7]. Spartianus has inserted this curious letter at full
len^b.
118 THE DECLINE AND FALL
conspiracy was discovered, and the too credulous A.lbinus at
length passed over to the continent, and prepared for an unequal
contest with his rival, who rushed upon him at the head of a
veteran and victorious army.
Events of the The militaij labours of Sevcrus seem inadequate to the im-
civiiwarB portance of his conquests. Two engagements, the one near
the Hellespont, the other in the narrow defiles of Cilicia, de-
[194 A.D.] cided the fate of his Syrian competitor ; and the troops of Europe
asserted their usual ascendant over the effeminate natives of
Asia. 52 xiie battle of Lyons, where one hundred and fifty thou-
sand Romans ^^ were engaged, was equally fatal to Albinus. The
{197 A.D.] valour of the British army maintained, indeed, a sharp and doubt-
ful contest with the hardy discipline of the Illyrian legions.
The fame and person of Severus appeared, during a few moments,
irrecoverably lost, till that warlike prince rallied his fainting
troops, and led them on to a decisive victory.^* The war was
finished by that memorable day.
one o?*ti? The civil wars of modem Europe have been distinguished, not
battles Qjiiy by the fierce animosity, but likewise by the obstinate per-
severance, of the contending factions. They have generally
been justified by some principle, or, at least, coloured by some
pretext, of religion, freedom, or loyalty. The leaders were
nobles of independent property and hereditary influence. The
troops fought like men interested in the decision of the quarrel ;
and as military spirit and party zeal were strongly diffused
throughout the whole community, a vanquished chief was im-
mediately supplied with new adherents, eager to shed their
blood in the same cause. But the Romans, after the fall of the
republic, combated only for the choice of masters. Under the
standard of a popular candidate for empire, a few enlisted
from affection, some from fear, many from interest, none from
principle. The legions, uninfiamed by party zeal, were allured
into civil war by liberal donatives, and still more liberal promises.
A defeat, by disabling the chief from the performance of his
engagements, dissolved the mercenary allegiance of his followers,
Hud left them to consult their own safety by a timely deser-
tion of an unsuccessfiil cause. It was of little moment to the
provinces under whose name they were oppressed or governed ;
f^^ Consult the third book of Herodian, and the seventy-fourth book of Dion
Cassias.
^3 Uion, 1. Ixxv. p. 1260 [6].
**Dion, 1. Ixxv. p. ia6i [6]. Herodian, 1. iii. p. no [7]. Hist. Augfust. p.
68 [x. 11]. The battle was fought in the plain of Trevou-x, three or four leaji^ies
♦rom Lyons. See TiUemont, torn. iii. p. 406, note 18.
OF THE ROMAN EMPIRE 119
they were driven by the impulsion of the present power^ and as
soon as that power yielded to a superior force, they hastened to
implore the clemency of the conqueror, who, as he had an
immense debt to discharge, was obliged to sacrifice the most
guilty countries to the avarice of his soldiers. In the vast ex-
tent of the Roman empire there were few fortified cities
capable of protecting a routed army ; nor was there any person,
or family, or order of men, whose natural interest, unsupported
by the powers of government, was capable of restoring the cause
of a sinking party.^**
Yet, in the contest between Niger and Severus, a single city Biegvjf
deserves an honourable exception. As Byzantium was one of ^^
the greatest passages from Europe into Asia, it had been
provided with a strong garrison, and a fleet of five hundred
vessels was anchored in the harbour.^® The impetuosity of
Severus disappointed this prudent scheme of defence ; he left
to his generals the siege of Byzantium, forced the less guarded
passage of the Hellespont, and, impatient of a meaner enemy,
pressed forward to encounter his rival. Byzantium, attacked by
a numerous and increasing army, and afterwards by the whole
naval power of the empire, sustained a siege of three years, and
remained faithful to the name and memory of Niger. The
citizens and soldiers (we know not from what cause) were
animated with equal fury ; several of the principal officers of
Niger, who despaired of, or who disdained a pardon, had thrown
themselves into this last refuge ; the fortifications were esteemed
impregnable, and, in the defence of the place, a celebrated
engineer displayed all the mechanic powers known to the
ancients. ^^ Byzantium, at length, surrendered to famine. The [a dobs]
magistrates and soldiers were put to the sword, the walls
demolished, the privileges suppressed, and the destined capital
of the East subsisted only as an open village, subject to the
insulting jurisdiction of Perinthus. The historian Dion, who had
admired the flourishing, and lamented the desolate, state of
Byzantium, accused the revenge of Severus for depriving the
*5 Montesquieu, Considerations sur la Grandeur et la Decadence des Remains,
c. zii,
*6 Most of these, as may be supposed, were small open vessels ; some, however,
were galleys of two, and a few of three, ranks of oars.
^ The engineer's name was Priscus. His skill saved his life, and he was taken
into the service of the conqueror. For the particular facts of the siege consult
Dion Cassius (1. lxx[i]v. p. 1251 [11-13]) and Herodian (1. iii. p. 95 [6]) : for the
theory of It, the fanciful Chevalier de Folard may be looked into. See P(^ybe,
torn, i. p, 76,
120
THE DECLINE AND FALL
Death of
If Iger and
AlBlnos.
Cmel conBa-
nences of
&
e cItU
wars
AnlmoBlty of
Severua
against the
senate
Roman people of the strongest bulwark against the barbarians
of Pontus and Asia.^^ The truth of this observation was but too
well justified in the succeeding age, when the Gothic fleets
covered the Euxine, and passed through the undefended
Bosphorus into the centre of the Mediterranean.
Both Niger and Albinus were discovered and put to death in
their flight from the field of battle. Their fate excited neither
sui-prise nor compassion. They had staked their lives against
the chance of empire, and suffered what they would have
inflicted ; nor did Severus claim the arrogant superiority of
suffering his rivals to live in a private station. But his un-
forgiving temper, stimulated by avarice, indulged a spirit of
revenge, where there was no room for apprehension. The most
considerable of the provincials, who, without any dislike to the
fortunate candidate, had obeyed the governor under whose
authority they were accidentally placed, were punished by
death, exile, and especially by the confiscation of their estates.
Many cities of the East were stript of their ancient honours, and
obliged to pay, into the treasuj-y of Severus, four times the
amount of the sums contributed by them for the service of Niger.^^
Till the final decision of the war, the cruelty of Severus was,
in some measure, restrained by the uncertainty of the event and
his pretended reverence for the senate. The head of Albinus,
accompanied with a menacing letter, announced to the Romans
that he was resolved to spare none of the adherents of his un-
fortunate competitors. He was irritated by the just suspicion
that he had never possessed the affections of the senate, and
he concealed his old malevolence under the recent discovery of
some treasonable correspondencies. Thirty-five senators, how-
ever, accused of having favoured the party of Albinus, he freely
pardoned ; and, by his subsequent behaviour, endeavoured to
convince them that he had forgotten, as well as forgiven, their
supposed offences. But, at the same time, he condemned
forty-one ^^ other senators, whose names history has recorded ;
58 Notwithstanding the authority of Spartianus and some modern Greeks, we
may be assured, from Dion and Herodian, that Byzantium, many years after the
death of Severus, lay in ruins. [But the statement of Spartianus (xiii. i), that
Severus repented of his harshness, owing (ostensibly?) to the intercession of Cara-
calla, is confirmed by the legend 'A.vruu'eivLa 2B^ao■T(i, on Byzantine coins ; Eckhel,
ii. 32 (cp. Schiller, i. 713). Not Byzantium, but its fortifications, were demolished.]
'*^ Dion, 1. Ixxiv. p. 1250 fS] .
^iDion (1. Ixxv. p. 1262 [8]), only twenty-nine senators are mentioned by him,
but forty-one are named m the Augustan History, p. 69 [x. 13] , among whom were
e,» r^f .K^ ««™« «f D-.,.««-.^iys Herodian (L iii. p. 115 [8]) '
[It is safer here to follow Dion.]
six of the name of Pescennius.
the cruelties of Severus.
OF THE ROMAN EMPIRE 121
their wives, children, and clients, attended them in death, and
the noblest provincials of Spain and Gaul were involved in the
same ruin. Such rigid justice, for so he termed it, was, in the
opinion of Severus, the only conduct capable of ensuring peace
to the people, or stability to the prince ; and he condescended
slightly to lament that, to be mild, it was necessary that he
should first be cruel. ^^
The true interest of an absolute monarch generally coincides mii wisdon:
with that of his people. Their numbers, their wealth, their SfjJJSS^ **^
order, and their security, are the best and only foundations of "^*"*
his real greatness ; and, were he totally devoid of virtue, prudence
might supply its place, and would dictate the same rule of
conduct. Severus considered the Roman empire as his property,
and had no sooner secured the possession, than he bestowed his
care on the cxdtivation and improvement of so valuable an
acquisition. Salutary laws, executed with inflexible firmness,
soon corrected most of the abuses with which, since the death
of Marcus, every part of the government had been infected. In
the administration of justice, the judgments of the emperor
were characterized by attention, discernment, and impartiality :
and, whenever he deviated from the strict line of equity, it was
generally in favour of the poor and oppressed ; not so much
indeed from any sense of humanity, as from the natural pro-
pensity of a despot to humble the pride of greatness, and to
sink all his subjects to the same common level of absolute
dependence. His expensive taste for building, magnificent
shows, and, above all, a constant and liberal distribution of corn General peace
and provisions, were the surest means of captivating the peri§^°^'
affection of the Roman people.^^ The misfortunes of civil
discord were obliterated. The calm of peace and prosperity was
once more experienced in the provinces, and many cities,
restored by the munificence of Severus, assumed the title of his
colonies, and attested by public monuments their gratitude and
felicity. ®3 fhe fame of the Roman arms was revived by that
«i Aurelius Victor [Caes. 20, 13].
62 Dion, 1. Ixxvi. p. 1272 [i]. Hist. August, p. 67 [x. 8] . Severus celebrated
the secular games with extraordinary magnificence, and he left in the public
granaries a provision of com for seven years, at the rate of 75,000 modii,
or about 2500 quarters per day. I am persuaded that the granaries of Severus
were supplied for a long term, but I am not less persuaded that policy on one
hand, and admiration on the other, magnified the hoard far beyond its true contents.
63 See Spanheim's treatise of ancient medals, the inscriptions, and our learned
travellers Spon and Wheeler, Shaw, Pocock, &c., who, in Africa, Greece, and
Asia, have found more monuments of Severus, than of any other Roman emperor
whatsoever,
122 THE DECLINE AND FALL
warlike and successful emperor, ^^ and he boasted, with a .just
pride, that, having received the empire oppressed with foreign
and domestic wars, he leit it estabhshed in profound, universal
and honourable peace.^^
BeiazatioD of Although the wounds of civil war appeared completely healed,
SipSL its mortal poison still lurked in the vitals of the constitution.
Severus possessed a considerable share of vigour and ability ; but
the daring soul of the first Caesar, or the deep policy of Augustus,
were scarcely equal to the task of curbing the insolence of the
victorious legions. By gratitude, by misguided policy, by seem-
ing necessity, Severus was induced to relax the nerves of disci-
pline.^^ The vanity of his soldiers was flattered with the honour of
wearing gold rings ; their ease w^as indulged in the permission of
living with their wives in the idleness of quarters. He increased
their pay beyond the example of former times, and taught them
to expect, and soon to claim, extraordinary donatives on eveiy
public occasion of danger or festivity. Elated by success, ener-
vated by luxury, and raised above the level of subjects by their
dangerous privileges,^^ they soon became incapable of military
fatigue, oppressive to the country, and impatient of a just sub-
ordination. Their officers asserted the superiority of rank by a
more profuse and elegant luxury. There is still extant a letter
of Severus, lamenting the licentious state of the army, and ex-
horting one of his generals to begin the necessary reformation
from the tribunes themselves ; since, as he justly observes, the
officer who has forfeited the esteem, will never command the
obedience, of his soldiers.^^ Had the emperor pursued the train
of reflection, he would have discovered that the primary cause
of this general corruption might be ascribed, not indeed to the
example, but to the pernicious indulgence, however, of the com-
mander-in-chief.
Neweatftb- The Praetorians, who murdered their emperor and sold the
llabment of
tbe Pnetorian
guards
^ Ilri carried his victorious arms to Seleucia and Ctesiphon, the capitals of the
Parthian monarchy. I shall have occasion to mention this war in its proper place.
6^ Eiiam in Briiannis, was his own just and emphatic expression. Hist.
August. 73 [x. 23].
t"* HcTodian, 1. iii. p. 115 [8]. Hist. August, p. 68 [x. 12]. [The popularity of
S -verus and his son Caracalla with the soldiers is illustrated by the vast number
of inscriptions in their honour. It is true that disciphne was in some respects
relaxed ; but in other respects the efficacy of the army was improved.]
''"' Upon the insolence and privileges of the soldiers [praetorian guards], the i6th
satire, falsely ascribed to Juvenal, may be consulted ; the style and circumstances
of it would induce me to believe that it was composed under the reign of Severus or
that of his son. [The opinion of modern scholars inclines to regard it as genuine.]
*^Hist. August, p. 75 [xi. 3].
OF THE EOMAN EMPIRE 123
empire, had received the just punishment of their treason ; but
the necessary, though dangerous, institution of guards was soon
restored on a new model by Severus, and increased to four times
the ancient number.^** Formerly these troops had been recruited
in Italy; and, as the adjacent provinces gradually imbibed the
softer mannei-s of Rome, the levies were extended to Macedonia,
Noricum and Spain. In the room of these elegant troops, better
adapted to the pomp of courts than to the uses of war, it was
established by Severus, that, from all the legions of the frontiers,
the soldiers most distinguished for strength, valour, and fidelity,
should be occasionally draughted, and promoted, as an honour
and reward, into the more eligible service of the guardsJ^ By
this new institution, the Italian youth were diverted from the
exercise of arms, and the capital was terrified by the strange
aspect and manners of a multitude of barbarians. But Severus
flattered himself that the legions would consider these chosen
Praetorians as the representatives of the whole military order ;
and that the present aid of fifty thousand men, superior in arms
and appointments to any force that could be brought into the
field against them, would for ever crush the hopes of rebellion,
and secure the empire to himself and his posterity.
The command of these favoured and formidable troops soon The office
became the first office of the empire. As the government de- praer^t^^
generated into military despotism, the Praetorian praefect, who
in his origin had been a simple captain of the guards, was
placed, not only at the head of the array, but of the finances,
and even of the law. In every department of administration, he
represented the person, and exercised the authority, of the
emperor. The first praefect who enjoyed and abused this
immense power was Plautianus, the favourite minister of
Severus. His reign lasted above ten years, till the marriage of
his daughter with the eldest son of the emperor, which seemed
to assure his fortune, proved the occasion of his ruin."^^ The
animosities of the palace, by irritating the ambition and alarm-
68Herodian, L iii, p. 131 [13].
70 Dion, 1. Ixxiv, p. 1243 [2]. [It was the policy of Severus (the African) to
level the distinctions which had subsisted between Italy and the provinces. Some
acts of Hadrian had ah-eady pointed in the same direction. See Appendix 11.
Caracalla, as we shall see, carried the policy to its logical end.]
^ One of his most daring and wanton acts of power was the castration of a
hundred free Romans, some of them married men, and even fathers of families ;
merely that his daughter, on her marriage with the young emperor, might be
attended by a train of eunuchs worthy of an Eastern queen. Dion, 1. Ixxvi, p.
1271 [i]. [The daughter's name was Fulvia Plautilla. Caracalla hated her.].
124 THE DECLINE AND FALL
ing the fears of Plautianus, threatened to produce a revolution,
and obliged the emperor^ who still loved him, to consent with
reluctance to his death. "^2 After the fall of Plautianus, an
eminent lawyer, the celebrated Papinian, was appointed to
execute the motley office of Praetorian praefect.^^
The aemite Till the reign of Severus, the virtue, and even the good sense
SiStl^** ^^ of the emperors had been distinguished by their zeal or affected
despotiam i-gverence for the senate, and by a tender regard to the nice
frame of civil policy instituted by Augustus. But the youth of
Severus had been trained in the implicit obedience of camps,
and his riper years spent in the despotism of military command.
His haughty and inflexible spirit could not discover, or would
not acknowledge, the advantage of preserving an intermediate
power, however imaginary, between the emperor and the army.
He disdained to profess himself the servant of an assembly that
detested his person and trembled at his frown ; he issued his
commands, where his request would have proved as effectual ;
assumed the conduct and style of a sovereign and a conqueror,
and exercised, without disguise, the whole legislative as well as
the executive power.
Nftwmaiima The victorv ovcr the senate was easy and incrlorious. Every
ripreroga- eye and every passion were directed to the supreme magistrate,
who possessed the arms and treasure of the state ; whilst the
senate, neither elected by the people, nor guarded by the
military force, nor animated by public spirit, rested its declining
authority on the frail and crumbling basis of ancient opinion
The fine theory of a republic insensibly vanished, and made way
for the more natural and substantial feelings of monarchy. As the
freedom and honours of Rome were successftilly communicated to
the provinces, in which the old government had been either un-
known, or was remembered with abhorrence, the tradition of re
publican maxims was gradually obliterated. The Greek historians
of the age of the Antonines ^* observe, with a malicious pleasure,
that, although the sovereign of Rome, in compliance with an obso-
lete prejudice, abstained from the name of king, he possessed the
full measure of regal power. In the reign of Severus, the senate
was filled with polished and eloquent slaves from the eastern pro-
j
7» Dion, I. Ixxvi. p. 1274 [4]. Herodian. 1. iii. p. 122, 129 [12]. The grammarian
of Alexandria seems, as it is not unusual, much better acquainted with this
mysterious transaction ; and more assured of the guilt of Plautianus than the
Roman senator ventures to be. [Date 205 A.D.]
' [But not alone. He shared th« office with Maecius l^isetus.]
7*Appian in Prooem. [6],
OF THE ROMAN EMPIRE 125
vinces, who justified personal flattery by speculative principles of
servitude. These new advocates of prerogative were heard with
pleasure by the court, and with patience by the people^ when they
inculcated the duty of passive obedience, and descanted on the
inevitable mischiefs of freedom. The lawyers and the historians
concurred in teaching that the Imperial authority was held, not
by the delegated commission, but by the iiTevocable resignation,
of the senate ; that the emperor was freed from the restraint
of civil laws, could command by his arbitraiy will the lives and
fortunes of his subjects, and might dispose of the erapii*e as of
his private patrimony. '^^ The most eminent of the civil lawyers,
and particularly Papinian, Paulus, and Ulpian, flourished under
the house of Severus ; and the Roman jurisprudence, having
closely united itself with the system of monarchy, was supposed
to have attained its full maturity and perfection.
The contemporaries of Severus, in the enjoyment of the peace
and glory of his reign^ forgave the cruelties by which it had been
introduced. Posterity, who experienced the fatal eiFect of his
maxims and example, justly considered him as the principal
author of the decline of the Roman empire.'^
"^^ Dion Cassius seems to have written with no other view, than to form these
opinions into an historical system. The Pandects will show how assiduously the
lawyers, on their side, labonrcd in the cause of prerogative,
"^^ [Cp. Appendix ii.]
126 THE DECLINE AND FALL
CHAPTER VI
The death of Severus — Tyranny of Caracalla — Usurpation of
Macrinus — Follies of Elagahalus — Firiues of Alexander
Severus — Licetitioimiess of the army — General state of the
Roman Finances
GreatnesaandTHE ascciit to ffreatncss, howevcr steep and daneerous, may
Severus enteitaui an active spirit with the consciousness and exercise of
its own powers : but the possession of a throne could never yet
afford a lasting satisfaction to an ambitious mind. This melan-
choly truth was felt and acknowledged by Severus. Fortune
and merit had, from an humble station, elevated him to the first
place among mankind. He had been "all things," as he said
himself, "and all was of little value ".^ Distracted with the
care, not of acquiring, but of preserving, an empire, oppressed
with age and infirmities, careless of fame,^ and satiated with
power, all his prospects of life were closed. The desire of per-
petuating the greatness of his family was the only remaining
wish of his ambition and paternal tenderness.
Hu wife the Like most of the Africans, Severus was passionately addicted
to the vain studies of magic and divination, deeply versed in
the interpretation of dreams and omens, and perfectly acquainted
with the science of judicial astrology ; which, in almost every
age except the present, has maintained its dominion over the
mind of man. He had lost his first wife whilst he was governor
of the Lyonnese Gaul.^ 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 j he solicited and obtained her hand.^ Julia
1 Hist. August, p. 71 [x. 18]. " Omnia fiii, et nihil expedit."
*Dion Cassius, 1. Ixxvi. p. 1284 [16].
8 About the year i86. M. de TiUemont 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 (1. Ixxiv. p. 1243 [3]).
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 TiUemont imagine that marriages were consummated in the Temple of Venus
at Rome ? Hist, des Empereurs, torn. iii. p. 389. Note 6^
* Wist. August, p. 65 [x. 3].
Empress Jnlla
OF THE ROMAN EMPIRE 127
Donina (for that was her name) deserved all that the stars
could promise her. She possessed^ even in an advanced age, the
attractions of beauty,^ and united to a lively imagination a firm-
ness of mind, and strength of judgment, seldom bestowed on
her sex. Her amiable qualities never made any deep impres-
sion on the dark and jealous temper of her husband ; but, in
her son's reign, she administered the principal affairs of the
empire with a prudence that supported his authority ; and with
a moderation that sometimes corrected his wild extravagancies.^
Julia appUed herself to letters and philosophy with some success,
and with the most splendid reputation. She was the patroness
of every art, and the friend of every man of genius.^ The
grateful flattery of the learned has celebrated her virtues ; but, if
we may credit the scandal of ancient history, chastity was very
far from being the most conspicuous virtue of the Empress Julia.^
Two sons, Caracalla ^ and Geta, were the fruit of this marriage, iheir two
and the destined heirs of the empire. The fond hopes of theSaS*^
father, and of the Roman world, were soon disappointed by
these vain youths, who displayed the indolent security of hered-
itaiy princes, and a presumption that fortune would supply
the place of merit and application. Without any emulation of
virtue or talents, they discovered, almost from their infancy, a
fixed and implacable antipathy for each other.
Their aversion, confirmed by yeara, and fomented by the arts XheJr mataai
of their interested favourites, broke out in childish, and gradu- each other
ally in more serious, competitions ; and at length divided the
theatre, the circus, and the court, into two factions, actuated
by the hopes and fears of their respective leaders. The prudent
emperor endeavoured, by evei-y expedient of advice and author-
ity, to allay this growing animosity. The unhappy discord of
his sons clouded all his prospects, and threatened to overturn a
throne raised with so much labour, cemented with so much
blood, and guarded with every defence of arms and treasure.
With an impartial hand he maintained between them an exact
B Hist. August, p. 8s [xiii. lo].
« Dion Cassius, 1. Ixxvii. p. 1304, 1312 [18 and Ixxviii. 4] .
7 See a Dissertation of Menage, at the end of his edition of Diogenes Laertius,
de Foeminis Philosophis.
SDion, 1. Kxvi. p. 1285 [16]. Aurelius Victor [Caesar, xx. 23].
9 Bassianus was his first name, as it had been that of his maternal grandfather.
During his reign he assumed the appellation of Antoninus, which is employed by
lawyers and ancient historians. [But see next note.] After his death, the public
indignation loaded him with the nick-names of Tarantus and Caracalla. The first
was borrowed from a celebrated Gladiator, the second from a long Gallic gown
wliich be distributed to the people of Romt [Hist. Aug. x, 11.]
128
THE DECLINE AND FALL
Three
emperors
The Cale-
donian war,
A.D. 208
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.^o Yet even this
equal conduct served only to inflame the contest, whilst
the fierce Caracalla asserted the right of primogeniture,
and the milder Geta courted the affections of the people
and the soldiers. In the anguish of a disappointed father,
Severus foretold that the weaker of his sons would fall a
sacrifice to the stronger; who, in his turn, would be ruined
by his own vices.^^
In these circumstances the intelligence of a war in Britain,
and of an invasion of the province by the barbarians of the
North, was received with pleasure by Severus. Though the
vigilance of his lieutenants might have been sufficient to repel
the distant enemy, he resolved to embrace the honourable pre-
text of withdrawing his sons from the luxury of Rome, which
enervated their minds and irritated their passions, and of inuring
their youth to the toils of war and government. Notwithstand-
ing his advanced age (for he was above threescore), and his
gout, which obliged him to be carried in a litter, he transported
himself in person into that remote island, attended by his two
sons, his whole court, and a formidable army. He immediately
passed the walls of Hadrian and Antoninus, and entered the
enemy's country, with the design of completing the long-at-
tempted conquest of Britain. He penetrated to the northern
extremity of the island without meeting an enemy. But the
concealed ambuscades of the Caledonians, who hung unseen on
the rear and flanks of his army, the coldness of the climate, and
the severity of a winter march across the hills and morasses of
Scotland, are reported to have cost the Romans above fifty
10 The elevation of Caracalla is fixed by the accurate M. de Tillemont to the
year 198 ; the association of Geta, to the year 208. [Caracalla (the proper form
is Caracallus) was made Caesar in 196 at Viminacium, imperator under the name
M. Aurelius Antoninus in 197, and finally Augustus with " tribunician power"
in 198 {in the tenth year of his age). It is to be observed that on his first eleva-
tion Severus associated his name with the memory of Pertinax, and he appears
on inscriptions as L. Septimius Severus Pertinax Augustus. But afterwards he
resolved to affiliate his family to the more august house of the Antonines. In
Imperial style he was the son of Marcus and brother of Commodus ; both he
and his sons were Antonines. He even thought of perpetuating Antoninus (like
Augustus) as a synonym of the Imperial title. See Spartianus, Geta, ii. 2, in
animo habuit Severus ut otnnes deinceps principes quemadmodum Augusti, ita
etiam Antonini dicerentur idque amore Marci^ &c. As for the association of
Geta as Augustus, it must be placed in Sept. or Oct. 209 A.D, ; cp. Corp. Ins.
Att. iii. p. 9.]
11 Herodian, 1. Hi. p. 130 [13]. The lives of Caracalla and Geta, in the
Augustan History.
OF THE ROMAN EMPIRE 129
thousand men.12 The Caledonians at length yielded to the
powerful and obstinate attack, sued for peace, and surrendered
a part of their arms, and a large tract of teiTitory.^^ But their
apparent submission lasted no longer than the present terror.
As soon as the Roman legions had retired, they resumed their
hostile independence. Their restless spirit provoked Severus to
send a new army into Caledonia, with the most bloody orders,
not to subdue, but to extirpate the natives. They were saved
by the death of their haughty enemy. 1*
This Caledonian war, neither marked by decisive events, nor wngai und
attended with any important consequences, would ill deserve our
attention ; but it is supposed, not without a considerable degree
of probability, that the invasion of Severus is connected with the
most shining period of the British history or fable. Fingal,
whose fame, with that of his heroes and bards, has been revived
in our language by a recent publication, is said to have com-
manded the Caledonians in that memorable juncture, to have
eluded the power of Severus, and to have obtained a signa
victory on the banks of the Carun, in which the son of the King
of the World, Caracul, fled from his arms along the fields of his
pride.^^ Something of a doubtful mist still hangs over these
Highland traditions; nor can it be entirely dispelled by the contrart of
most ingenious researches of modem criticism : ^^ but if we doniana and
could, with safety, indulge the pleasing supposition that Fingal
lived, and that Ossian sung, the striking contrast of the situation
and manners of the contending nations might amuse a philo-
sophic mind. The parallel would be little to the advantage of
the more civilized people, if we compared the unrelenting
revenge of Severus with the generous clemency of Fingal ; the
12 [An exaggeration of Dion Cassius, Ixxvi. 13. That some battles of im-
portance were fought is proved by an inscription discovered some years ago
{Ephem. Epig, iv. p. 327).]
13 [The wall of Antoninus Pius had been abandoned ; but Severus seems to have
renewed the wall of Hadrian from Tunnocelum to Segedunum. Hist. Aug. x. 18, 2.
Muro per transversam insulam ducto utrinque ad finem oceani munivit. Whence
he got the name Britannicus Maximus.'l
"Dion, 1. Ixxvi. p. 1280, &c. [12]. Herodian, I iii. p. 132, &c. [14].
1^ Ossian's Poems, vol. i. p. 175.
16 That the Caracul of Ossian is the Caracalla of the Roman history, is,
perhaps, the only point of British antiquity in which Mr. Macpherson and Mr.
Whitaker are of the same opinion ; and yet the opinion is not without difficulty.
In the Caledonian war, the son of Severus was known only by the appellation of
Antoninus ; and it may seem strange that the Highland bard should describe him
by a 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, 1. Ixxviii. p. 1317 [9]- Hist. August, p. 89 [xiii. 9],
Aurel. Victor [epit. 21]. Euseb. in Chron. ad ann. 214.
9 VOL. I.
130 THE DECLINE AND FALL
timid and brutal cruelty of Caracalla, with the bravery, the
tenderaess, the elegant genius of Ossian; the mercenary chiefs
Avho, 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 slavery.
AmMtionof The declining health and last illness of Severus inflamed the
^'^'■^ wild ambition and black passions of Caracallas soul. Impatient
of any delay or division of empire, he attempted, more than
once, to shorten the small remainder of his father's days, and
endeavoured, but without success, to excite a mutiny among the
troops.^^ The old emperor had often censured the misguided
lenity of Marcus, who, by a single act of justice, might have
saved the Romans from the tyranny of his worthless son. Placed
in the same situation, he experienced how easily the rigour of a
judge dissolves away in the tenderness of a parent. He deliber-
ated, he threatened, but he could not punish; and this last and
only instance of mercy was more fatal to the empire than a long
series of cruelty.^^ The disorder of his mind irritated the pains
of his body; he wished impatiently for death, and hastened the
Death of instant of it by his impatience. He expired at York in the
w«135'n*o/ sixty-fifth year of his life, and in the eighteenth of a glorious
Aj)*^i!°'"' and successful reign. In his last moments he recommended
4thp«brMi7 concord to his sons, and his sons to the army. The salutary
advice never reached the heart, or even the understanding, of
the impetuous youths ; but the more obedient troops, mindful of
their oath of allegiance, and of the authority of their deceased
master, resisted the solicitations of Caracalla, and proclaimed
both brothers emperors of Rome. The new princes soon left the
Caledonians in peace, returned to the capital, celebrated their
fathers 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 administered the
empire with equal and independent power.^^
jeaioniyand Such a divided form of government would have proved a
hatred of the
tvro emperorB
17 Dion, 1. Ixxvi. p. 1282 [14]. Hist. August, p. 72 [x. 20]. Aurel. Victor.
18 Dion, 1. Ixxvi. p. 1283 [14I. Hist. August, p. 89 [xiii. 11, 3].
19 Dion, 1. Ixxvi. p. 1284 [15]. Herodian, 1. iii. p. 135 [15]. [The title Pont
Max. seems to have been reserved for the elder brother ; Geta is only Poni, on
coins and inscriptions. Eckhel, vii. 330.]
OF THE ROMAN EMPIRE 131
source of discord between the most affectionate brothers. It
was impossible that it could long subsist between two implacable
enemies, who neither desired nor could trust a reconciliation.
It was visible that one only could reign, and that the other
must fall ; and each of them, judging of his rival's designs by his
own, guarded his life with the most jealous vigilance from the
repeated attacks of poison or the sword. Their rapid journey
through Gaul and Italy, during which they never ate at the
same table, or slept in the same house, displayed to the provinces
the odious spectacle of fraternal discord. On their arrival at
Rome, they immediately divided the vast extent of the Imperial
palace.20 No communication was allowed between their apart-
ments ; the doors and passages were diligently fortified, and
guards posted and relieved with the same strictness as in a
besieged place. The emperors met only in public, in the
presence of their afflicted mother ; and each surrounded by a
numerous train of armed followers. Even on these occasions of
ceremony, the dissimulation of courts could ill disguise the
rancour of their hearts. 21
This latent civil war already distracted the whole government, FruitieBB ne-
when a scheme was suggested that seemed of mutual benefit to §iTidin°Ahe
the hostile brothers. It was proposed, that, since it was impos- tween^them
sible 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 in-
ferior to Rome itself in wealth and greatness ; that numerous
** Mr. Hume is justly surprised at a passage of Herodian {1. iv. p. 139 [i] ), who,
on this occasion, represents the Imperial palace as equal in extent to [greater
than] the rest of Rome. The whole region of the Palatine Mount on which it was
built occupied, at most, a circumference of eleven or twelve thousand feet. (See
the Notitia and Victor, in Nardini's Roma Antica.) But we should recollect that
the opulent senators had almost sun"ounded the city with their extensive gardens
and suburb palaces, the greatest part of which had been gradually confiscated by
the emperors. If Geta resided in the gardens that bore his name on the Jani-
culum and if Caracalla inhabited the gardens of Mascenas on the Esquiline, the
rival brothers were separated from each other by the distance of several miles ;
and yet the intermediate space was filled by the Imperial gardens of Sallust, of
Lucullus, of Agrippa, of Domitian, of Caius, &c. , all skirting round the city, and
all connected with each other, and with the palace, by bridges thrown over the
Tiber and the streets. But this explanation of Herodian would require, though it
ill deserves, a particular dissertation, illustrated by a map of ancient Rome. [See
Hume, Essay on Populousness of Ancient Nations. — Milman.]
31 Herodian, 1, iv. p. 139 [i].
132
THE DECLINE AND FALL
Murder of
Geta,
A.D.Z12,
Pebniary27
armies should be constantly encamped on either side of the
Thracian Bosphorus, to guard the frontiers of the rival monarchies;
and that the senators of European extraction should acknowledge
the sovereign of Rome, whilst the natives of Asia followed the
emperor of the East. The tears of the empress Julia interrupted
the negotiation, the first idea of which had filled every Roman
breast with surprise and indignation. The mighty mass of
conquest was so intimately connected by the hand of time and
policy, that it required the most forcible violence to rend it
asunder. The Romans had reason to dread that the disjointed
members would soon be reduced by a civil war under the
dominion of one master ; but, if the separation was permanent,
the division of the provinces must terminate in the dissolution
of an empire whose unity had hitherto remained inviolate.^^
Had the treaty been carried into execution, the sovereign of
Europe might soon have been the conqueror of Asia ; but Cara-
calla obtained an easier though a more guilty victory. He art-
fully listened to his mother s entreaties, and consented to meet
his brother in her apartment, on terms of peace and reconcilia-
tion. In the midst of their conversation, some centurions, who
had contrived to conceal themselves, rushed with drawn swords
upon the unfortunate Geta. His distracted mother strove to
protect him in her arms ; but in the unavailing struggle, she was
wounded in the hand, and covered with the blood of her younger
son, while she saw the elder animating and assisting 23 the fury
of the assassins. As soon as the deed was perpetrated, Caracalla,
with hasty steps and hoiTor in his countenance, ran towards the
Praetorian camp, as his only refuge, and threw himself on the
ground before the statues of the tutelar deities.^* The soldiers
22Herodian, 1. iv. p. 144 [4]. [Yet, in this proposal, we can see foreshadowed
the geographical division of the Empire among two or more Emperors, which was
made a principle of government by Diocletian. The tendency to disruption be-
tween the eastern and western groups of provinces had been already seen in the
revolt of Avidius Cassius, and the " tyranny " of Pescennius Niger. In fact, at the
elevation of Severus, the four sovereignties of Diocletian, — the four Praefectures of
Constantine— are shadowed forth, (i) Albinus in Gaul; (2) Julianus in Italy;
(3) Severus in the Illyrian Peninsula ; {4) Niger in Asia, are, in a sense, fore-
runners of Constantine, Maximian, Galerius, and Diocletian respectively.]
23 Caracalla consecrated, in the temple of Serapis, the sword, with which, as he
boasted, he had slain his brother Geta. Dion, 1. Ixxvii. p. 1307 [23].
2^ Herodian, 1. iv. p. 147 [4]. In every Roman camp there was a small
chapel near the head-quarters, in which the statues of the tutelar deities were
preserved and adored ; and we may remark that the eagles, and other military
ensigns, were in the first rank of these deities ; an excellent institution, which
confirmed discipline by the sanction of religion. See Lipsius de Militift RomanS.,
iv. 5, T. 2.
OF THE ROMAN EMPIRE 133
attempted to raise and comfort him. In broken and disordered
words he informed them of his imminent danger and fortunate
escape : insinuating that he had prevented the designs of his
enemy, and declared his resolution to live and die with his faith-
ful troops, Geta had been the favourite of the soldiers ; but
complaint was useless, revenge was dangerous, and they still rever-
enced the son of Severus, Their discontent died away in idle
murmurs, and Caracalla soon convinced them of the justice of
his cause, by distributing in one lavish donative the accumulated
treasures of his father's reign.^^ The real sentiments of the
soldiers alone were of importance to his power or safety. Their
declaration in his favour commanded the diViti^ professions oi\he
senate. The obsequious assembly was always prepared to ratify
the decision of fortune ; but as Caracalla wished to assuage the
first emotions of public indignation, the name of Geta was
mentioned with decency, and he received the funeral honours
of a Roman emperor.^^ Posterity, in pity to his misfortune, has
cast a veil over his vices. We consider that young prince as
the innocent victim of his brother s ambition, without recollect-
ing that he himself wanted power, rather than inclination, to
consummate the same attempts of revenge and murder.
The crime went not unpunished. Neither business, nor Eemona and
pleasure, nor flattery, could defend Caracalla from the stings of cSlcaii
a guilty conscience ; and he confessed, in the anguish of a tor-
tiu-ed mind, that his disordered fancy often beheld the angry
forms of his father and his brother rising into life, to threaten and
upbraid him.^^ The consciousness of his crime should have in-
duced him to convince mankind, by the virtues of his reign,
that the bloody deed had been the involuntary effect of fatal
necessity. But the repentance of Caracalla only prompted him
to remove from the world whatever could remind him of his
guilt, or recall the memory of his murdered brother. On his
return from the senate to the palace, he found his mother in the
company of several noble matrons, weeping over the untimely
fate of her younger son. The jealous emperor threatened them
with instant death : the sentence was executed against Fadilla,
the last remaining daughter of the Emperor Marcus ; and even
the afflicted Julia was obliged to silence her lamentations, to
3»Herodian, 1. iv. p. 148 [4]. Dion, 1. Ixxvii. p. 1289 [3].
^ Geta was placed among the gods. Sit divus, dum non sit vivus, said his
brother. Hist. August, p. 91 [xiv. 2, 8]. Some marks of Geta's consecration are
still found upon medals.
27 Dion, 1. Ixxvii. p. 1301 [15] .
134 THE DECLINE AND FALL
suppress her sighs, and to receive the assassin with smiles of joy
and approbation. It was computed that, under the vague ap-
pellation of the friends of Geta, above twenty thousand persons
of both sexes suffered death. His guards and freedmen, the
ministers of his serious business, and the companions of his looser
hours, those who by his interest had been promoted to any com-
mands in the army or provinces, with the long connected chain
of their dependants, were included in the proscription ; which
endeavoured to reach every one who had maintained the
smallest correspondence with Geta, who lamented his death,
or who even mentioned his name.^^ Helvius Pertinax, son to the
prince of that name, lost his life by an unseasonable witticism.29
It was a sufficient crime of Thrasea Priscus to be descended
from a family in which the love of liberty seemed an hereditary
quality.so The particular causes of calumny and suspicion were
at length exhausted ; and when a senator was accused of being
a secret enemy to the government, the emperor was satisfied
with the general proof that he was a man of property and virtue.
From this well-gromided principle, he frequently drew the most
bloody inferences.
pft*^ftn ^^^ execution of so many innocent citizens was bewailed by
the secret tears of their friends and families. The death of
Papinian, the Praetorian praBfect,^^ was lamented as a public
calamity. During the last seven years of Severus, he had exer-
cised the most important offices of the state, and, by his salutary
influence, guided the emperor's steps in the paths of justice and
moderation. In full assurance of his virtue and abilities, Severus,
on his deathbed, had conjured him to watch over the prosperity
and union of the Imperial family.^^ The honest labours of
Papinian served only to inflame the hatred which Caracalla had
already conceived against his father's minister. After the
murder of Geta, the praefect was commanded to exert the powers
*SDion, 1. Ixxvii. p. 1290 [4]. Herodian, L iv. p. 150 [6]. Dion (p. 1298
[Ixxvii. 12] ) says that the comic poets no longer durst employ the name of Geta
in their plays, and that the estates of those who mentioned it in Uieir testaments
were confiscated.
2» Caracalla had assumed the names of several conquered nations ; Pertinax
observed, that the name of Geiicus (he had obtained some advantage over the
Goths or Getee) would be a proper addition to Parthicus, Alemannicus, &c. Hist.
August, p. 89 [xiii. 10, 6].
30 Dion, 1. Ixxvii. p. 1291 [5]. He was probably descended from Helvidius
Priscus, and Thrasea Psetus, those patriots whose firm, but useless and unseason-
able, virtue has been immortalized by Tacitus.
31 [Dion says that Caracalla, on his accession, had deposed Papinian from this
office ; and Dion was in a position to know.]
82 It is said that Papinian was himself a relation of the empress Julia.
OF THE ROMAN EMPIRE 135
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.33 "That it was easier to commit than to justify
a parricide/* was the glorious reply of Papinian,^* who did not
hesitate between the loss of life and that of honour. Such in-
trepid virtue, which had escaped pure and unsullied 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 supe-
rior reputation as a lawyer, which he has preserved through every
age of the Roman jurisprudence.^^
It had hitherto been the peculiar felicity of the Romans, and ms tyranny
in the worst of times their consolation, that the virtue of the th« whole
emperors was active, and their vice indolent. Augustus, Trajan, ^"^^
Hadrian, and Marcus, visited their extensive dominions in
person, and their progress was marked by acts of wisdom and
beneficence. The tyranny of Tiberius, Nero, and Domitian, who
resided almost constantly at Rome, or in the adjacent villas,
was confined to the senatorial and equestrian orders.^® But
Caracalla was the common enemy of mankind. He left the a,d. 21s
capital (and he never returned to it) ^"^ about a year after the
murder of Geta. The rest of his reign was spent in the several
provinces of the empire, particularly those of the East, and
every province was, by turns, the scene of his rapine and cruelty.
The senators, compelled by fear to attend his capricious
motions, were obliged to provide daily entertainments at an
immense expense, which he abandoned with contempt to his
guards ; and to erect, in every city, magnificent palaces and
theatres, which he either disdained to visit, or ordered to be
immediately thi'own down. The most wealthy families were
ruined by partial fines and confiscations, and the great body of
his subjects oppressed by ingenious and aggravated taxes.^^ In
33 Tacit. Annal. xiv. 2.
"Hist. August, p. 88 [xiii. 8, 5].
35 With regard to Papinian, see Heineccius's Historia Juris Romani, 1. 330, &c.
[The true cause of Papinian's execution was probably that he was highly un-
popular with the soldiers, whose wishes Caracalla was always ready to humour.]
38 Tiberius and Domitian never moved from the neighbourhood of Rome.
Nero made a short journey into Greece. " Et laudatonim Principum usus ex
sequo quamvis procul agentibus. Sasvi proximis ingniunt." Tacit. Hist. iv. 75.
37 [There is a coin, however, which suggests that Caracalla returned to Italy
and Rome in 214 A.D., after his successful campaigns on the Rhine and Neckar ;
Eckhel, vii. 211. 1
38 Dion, 1. Ixxvii. p. 1294 [9].
136 THE DECLINE AND FALL
the midst of peace, and upon the shghtest provocation, he
issued his commands, at Alexandria in Egypt, for a general
massacre. From a secure post in the temple of Serapis, he
viewed and directed the slaughter of many thousand citizens,
as well as strangers, without distinguishing either the number
or the crime of the sufferers ; since, as he coolly informed the
senate, all the Alexandrians, those who had perished and those
who had escaped, were alike guilty. ^^
Eeiaiation of The wise instructions of Severus never made any lasting
*"^''"^* impression on the mind of his son, who, although not destitute
of imagination and eloquence, was equally devoid of judgment
and humanity.^^ One dangerous maxim, worthy of a tyrant,
was remembered and abused by Caracalla, "To secure the
affections of the army, and to esteem the rest of his subjects
as of little moment ".^^ But the liberality of the father had
been restrained by prudence, and his indulgence to the troops
was tempered by firmness and authority. The careless profusion
of the son was the policy of one reign, and the inevitable ruin
both of the army and of the empire. The vigour of the soldiers,
instead of being confirmed by the severe discipline of camps,
melted away in the luxury of cities. The excessive increase of
their pay and donatives ^2 exhausted the state to enrich the
38 Dion, 1. Ixxvii. p. 1307 [23]. Herodian, 1. iv. p. 158 [9]. The former
represents it as a cruel massacre, the latter as a perfidious one too. It seems
probable that the Alexandrians had irritated the tyrant by their railleries, and
perhaps by their tumults. [The punishment of Alexandria, which was given
over to the soldiers to plunder, was hardly such an act of caprice as Gibbon
represents it. The harshness of Caracalla to that city was inherited from Severus ;
under both reigns Alexandrine coins are very rare. There seem to have been
serious conspiracies in Egypt, which demanded summary dealing.]
*>Dion, 1. Ixxvii. p. 1296 [n].
41 Dion, 1. Ixxvi. p. 1284 [15]. M. Wotton (Hist, of Rome, p. 3^0) suspects
that this maxim was invented by Caracalla himself and attributed to his father.
42 Dion {1. Ixxviii. p. 1343 [36] ) informs us that the extraordinary gifts of
Caracalla to the army amounted annually to seventy millions of drachmas {about
two millions three hundred and fifty thousand pounds). There is another passage
in Dion, concerning the military pay, infinitely curious ; were it not obscure,
imperfect, and probably corrupt. The best sense seems to be, that the Praetorian
guards received twelve hundred and fifty drachmse (forty pounds) a year. (Dion,
1. Ixxvii. p. 1307 [24] . ) 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
drachmas (Gronovius de Pecunia Veteri, 1. iii. c. 2). These successive augmenta-
tions ruined the empire, for, with the soldiers' pay, their numbers too were in-
creased. We have seen the Praetorians alone increased from 10,000 to 50,000
men. [It has been pointed oufby Guizot that Gibbon misunderstood the passage
of Dion, which refers not to the annual pay of soldiers, but to the recompense
given at the end of their term of service. But, as Valois saw, the numbers seem
to be transposed, for the praetorians received a larger sum than the legionaries.]
OF THE EOMAN EMPIRE 137
military order, whose modesty in peace, and service in war, is
best secured by an honourable poverty. The demeanour 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, aflPected to imitate the dress and manners of a common
soldier.
It was impossible that such a character and such a conduct as Murder of
that of Caracalla coidd inspire either love or esteem ; but, as ad. a? '
long aS his vices were beneficial to the armies, he was secure 8th March
from the danger of rebellion. A secret conspiracy, provoked by
his own jealousy, was fatal to the tyrant. The Praetorian
prefecture was divided between two ministers. The military
department 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 suspicion, or the most casual circum-
stance. Malice or fanaticism had suggested to an African,
deeply skilled in the knowledge of futm*ity, a very dangerous
prediction, that Macrinus and his son were destined to reign
over the empire. The report was soon diffused through the
province ; and, when the man was sent in chains to Rome, he
still asserted, in the presence of the prsefect of the city, the
faith of his prophecy. That magistrate, who had received the
most pressing instructions to inform himself of the successors of
Caracalla, immediately communicated the examination of the
African to the Imperial court, which at that time resided in
Syria. But notwithstanding the diligence of the public
messengers, a friend of Macrinus found means to 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
prsefect, directing him to dispatch the ordinary affairs, and to
report the more important business that might be contained in
them. Macrinus read his fate and resolved to prevent it. He
inflamed the discontents of some inferior officers, and employed
the hand of Martialis, a desperate soldier, who had been refused
the rank of centmon. The devotion of Caracalla had prompted
him to make a pilgrimage from Edessa to the celebrated temple
of the Moon at Carrhse. He was attended by a body of cavalry;
*3 [8th April, see Clinton ad ann.j
138 THE DECLINE AND FALL
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 Romans.** The grateful soldiers
forgot his vices, remembered only his partial liberality, and
obliged the senate to prostitute their own dignity and that of
religion by granting him a place among the gods. Whilst he
iiMiuii«i of was upon earth, Alexander the Great was the only hero whom
*^'*" " this god deemed worthy his admiration. He assumed the name
and ensigns of Alexander, formed a Macedonian phalanx of
guards,*^ persecuted the disciples of Aristotle, and displayed
with a puerile enthusiasm the only sentiment by which he
discovered any regard for virtue or glory. We can easily
conceive that, after the battle of Narva and the conquest of
Poland, Charles the Twelfth (though he still wanted the more
elegant accomplishments 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 fiiends.*^
KjctioBMid After the extinction of the house of Severus, the Roman
MMTiniu world remained three days without a master. The choice of
the army (for the authority of a distant and feeble senate was
little regarded) hung in anxious suspense ; as no candidate pre-
sented himself whose distinguished birth and merit could engage
their attachment and unite their suffrages. The decisive weight
of the Praetorian guards elevated the hopes of their praefects,
and these powerful ministers began to assert their legal claim to
fill the vacancy of the Imperial throne. Adventus, however,
the senior prsefect, conscious of his age and infirmities, of his
"Dion, I Ixxviii. p. 1312 [5, 4]. Herodian, L iv. p. 168 [13]. [Gibbon does
not give this emperor due credit for his ability as an administrator {carrying out
his father's policy) and his important military works.]
^ [Those who have studied the question say that Caracalla's development of the
phalanx was, under the circumstances of the empire, a benefit and a necessity.
Hadrian had already pointed the way to this tactical change.]
**The fondness of Caracalla for the name and ensigns of Alexander, is still
preserved on the medals of that emperor. See Spanheim, de Usu Numismatum.
Dissertat. xii. Herodian (1. iv. p. 154 [8]) had seen very ridiculous pictures, in
which a figure was drawn with one side of the face like Alexander, and the other
like Caracalla. [Admiration for Alexander as an ideal was a feature of the age.
Sulla and Hannibal were also special favourites of Caracalla.]
OF THE ROMAN EMPIRE 139
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 acces-
sory to his master s death.^"^ The troops neither loved nor es-
teemed his character. They cast their eyes around in search
of a competitor, and at last yielded with reluctance to his pro-
mises of unbounded liberality and indulgence. A short time
after his accession he conferred on his son Diadumenianus, at a.d. m.
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 ratified by the DiMontent of
cheerful submission of the senate and provinces. They ex-
ulted in their unexpected deliverance from a hated tyrant, and
it seemed of little consequence to examine into the virtues of
the successor of Caracalla. But as soon as the first transports of
joy and surprise had subsided, they began to scrutinize the
merits of Macrinus with a critical severity, and to arraign the
hasty choice of the army. It had hitherto been considered as
a fundamental maxim of the constitution that the emperor must
always be chosen in the senate, and the sovereign power, no
longer exercised by the whole body, was always delegated to
one of its members. But Macrinus was not a senator.*^ The
sudden elevation of the Praetorian praefects betrayed the mean-
ness of their origin ; and the equestrian order was still in pos-
session of that great office, which commanded with arbitraiy
sway the lives and fortunes of the senate. A mui-mur of in-
dignation was heard, that a man, whose obscure ^^ extraction
^7 Herodian, 1. iv. p. 169 [14]. Hist. August, p. 94 [xv. 4] .
*8 [M. Opellius {Opilius in Hist. Aug.) Antoninus Diadumenianus nobiliss.
Caesar. Macrinus himself took the name of Severus.]
<fl Dion, 1. Ixxxix. p. 1350 [i]. Elagabalus reproached his predecessor, with
daring to seat himself on the throne ; though, as Praetorian prasfect, he could
not have been admitted into the senate after the voice of the crier 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 pre-
served the prsefecture with the rank of senator, and even with the consulship.
[Macrinus was the first man of equestrian order who became emperor.]
50 He was a native of Cassarea, in Numidia, and began his fortune by serving
in the household of Plautian, from whose ruin he narrowly escaped. His enemies
asserted that he was born a slave^ and had exercised, among other infamous pro-
fessions, that of Gladiator. The fashion of aspersing the birth and condition of an
adversary seems to have lasted from the time of the Greek orators to the learned
grammarians of the last age.
140 THE DECLINE AND FALL
had never been illustrated by any signal service, should dare to
invest himself with the purple, instead of bestowing it on some
distinguished senator, equal in birth and dignity to the splendour
of the Imperial station. As soon as the character of Macrinus
was surveyed by the sharp eye of discontent, some vices, and
many defects, were easily discovered. The choice of his
ministers was in several instances justly censured, and the dis-
satisfied people, with their usual candour, accused at once his
indolent tameness and his excessive severity. ^^
and the army His rash ambition had climbed a height where it was difficult
to stand with firmness, and impossible to fall without instant
destruction. Trained in the arts of courts and the forms of civil
business, he trembled in the presence of the fierce and undis-
ciplined multitude, over whom he had assumed the command :
his military talents were despised, and his personal courage sus-
pected : a whisper that circulated in the camp, disclosed the
fatal secret of the conspiracy against the late emperor, aggravated
the guilt of murder by the baseness of hypocrisy, and heightened
contempt by detestation. To alienate the soldiers, and to pro-
voke inevitable ruin, the character of a reformer was only
wanting ; and such was the peculiar hardship of his fate, that
Macrinus was compelled to exercise that invidious office. The
prodigality of Caracalla had left behind it a long train of ruin
and disorder : and, if that worthless tyrant had been capable of
reflecting on the sure consequences of his own conduct, he would
perhaps have enjoyed the dark prospect of the distress and
calamities which he bequeathed to his successors,
uaorinniat- In the management of this necessary reformation, Macrinus
j£??™*/"' proceeded with a cautious prudence 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, establish-
ment of Severus, and gradually formed to modesty and obedi-
ence.^^ One fatal error destroyed the salutary effects of this
H Both Dion and Herodian speak of the virtues and vices of Macrinus 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.
^3 Dion, 1. Ixxviii. p. 1336 [28]. 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.
th« army
OF THE EOMAN EMPIRE 141
judicious plan. The numerous army, assembled in the East by
the late emperor, instead of being immediately dispersed by
Macrinus through the several provinces, was suffered to remain
united in S)Tia during the winter that followed his elevation.
In the luxurious idleness of their quarters, the troops viewed
their strength and numbers, communicated their complaints, and
revolved in their minds the advantages of another revolution.
The veterans, instead of being flattered by the advantageous
distinction, were alarmed by the first steps of the emperor,
which they considered as the presage of his future intentions.
The recruits, with sullen reluctance, entered on a service, whose
labours were increased while its rewards were diminished by a
covetous and unwarlike sovereign. The murmurs of the army
swelled with impunity into seditious clamours ; and the partial
mutinies betrayed a spirit of discontent and disaffection, that
waited only for the slightest occasion to break out on every side
into a general rebellion. To minds thus disposed the occasion
soon presented itself.
The Empress Julia had experienced all the vicissitudes ofreathoftt*
fortune. From an humble station, she had been raised to great- ^¥<i"/tton,
ness, only to taste the superior bittei-ness of an exalted rank. Kd*?eTo1ti'f
She was doomed to weep over the death of one of her sons, and cmA u^it
over the life of the other. The cruel fate of Caracalla, though her ISSlSnSi"^
good sense must have long taught her to expect it, awakened
the feelings of a mother and of an empress. Notwithstanding the
respectful civility expressed by the usurper towards the widow
of Severus, she descended with a painful struggle into the con-
dition of a subject, and soon withdrew herself by a voluntary
death from the anxious and humiliating dependence.^^ Julia
Msesa, 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,
Sosemias and Mamsea, each of whom was a widow, and each had
an only son. Bassianus, for that was the name of the son of
Sosemias, was consecrated to the honourable ministry of high
priest of the Sun ; and this holy vocation, embraced either from
prudence or superstition, contributed to raise the Syrian youth
to the empire of Rome. A numerous body of troops were
stationed at Emesa ; and, as the severe disciplinje of Macrinus
had constrained them to pass the winter encamped, they were
eager to revenge the cruelty of such unaccustomed hardships.
58 Dion, 1. Ixxviii. p. 1330 [23]. The abridgment of Xiphilin, though less
particular, is in this place clearer than the original.
142 THE DECLINE AND FALL
The soldiers, who resorted in crowds to the temple of the Sun,
beheld with veneration and delight the elegant dress and figure
of the young pontiff : they recognized, or thought that they recog-
nized, the features of Caracalla, whose memory they now adored.
The artful Msesa 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 re-
semblance, of Bassianus with the great original. The young
Antoninus (for he had assumed and polluted that respectable
A.D. 213 name) was declared emperor by the troops of Emesa, asserted his
"*^ " hereditary right, and called aloud on the armies to follow the
standard of a young and liberal prince, who had taken up arms to
revenge his father s death and the oppression of the military order.^^
D.ftatand Whilst a conspiracy of women and eunuchs was concerted
itocrinni with prudencc, and conducted with rapid vigour, Macrinus, who
by a decisive motion might have crushed his infant enemy,
floated between the opposite extremes of terror and security,
which alike fixed him inactive at Antioch. A spirit of rebellion
diffused itself through all the camps and garrisons of Syria,
successive detachments murdered their officers,^^ and joined the
party of the rebels ; and the tardy restitution of military pay
and privileges was imputed to the acknowledged weakness of
Macrinus. At length he marched out of Antioch, to meet the
increasing and zealous army of the young pretender. His own
troops seemed to take the field with faintness and reluctance ;
AjD. as but, in the heat of battle," the Praetorian guards, almost by an
" [The temple of the Sun was rich.]
55 According to Lampridius (Hist. August, p. 135 [xviii. 60]) Alexander Severus
lived twenty-nine years, three months, and seven days. As he was killed March
19- 33s, he was born December 12, 205, and was consequently about this time
thirteen years old, as his elder cousin might be about seventeen. This computa-
tion suits much better the history of the young princes than that of Herodian (1. v.
p. 181 [3] ), who represents them as three years younger ; whilst, by an opposite
error of chronology, he lengthens the reign of Elagabalus two years beyond its real
duration. For the particulars of the conspiracy, see Dion, 1. Ixxviii. p. 1339 [31].
Herodian, 1. v. p. 184 [3]. [The author's conclusion is probably mistaken.
Alexander was born October i, 208, and was thus thirteen and a half years old on
his elevation in March, 222 (Aur. Victor, Cses. 24, i). The statement of Lam-
pridius may well be a slip.]
'^^ By a most dangerous proclamation of the pretended Antoninus, every soldier
who brought in his officer's head became entitled to his private estate, as well as
to his military commission.
57 Dion. 1. Ixxviii. p. 1344 [37]. Herodian, 1. v. p. 186 [4]. The battle was
fought near the village of Imms^, about two and twenty miles from Antioch.
OF THE EOMAN EMPIEE 143
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, according to their eastern
custom, had attended the army, threw themselves from their
covered chariots, 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 occupation had been confined to female cares
and the soft luxury of Asia, displayed the talents of an able
and experienced general. The battle still raged with doubtful
violence, and Macrinus might have obtained the victory, had he
not betrayed his own cause by a shameful and precipitate flight.
His cowardice served only to protract his life a few days, and to
stamp deserved ignominy on his misfortunes. It is scarcely
necessary to add that his son Diadumenianus was in-
volved in the same fate. As soon as the stubborn Praetorians
could be convinced that they fought for a prince who had
basely deserted them, they suiTcndered to the conqueror ;
the contending parties of the Roman army, mingling
tears of joy and tenderness, united under the banners of the
imagined son of Caracalla, and the East^^ acknowledged with
pleasure the first emperor of Asiatic extraction.
The letters of Macrinus had condescended to inform the EiagataiTu
senate of the slight disturbance occasioned by an impostor in senau
Syria, and a decree immediately passed, declaring the rebel and
his family public enemies ; with a promise of pardon, however,
to such of his deluded adherents as should merit it hy 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 professions of
virtue and moderation ; the shining examples of Marcus and
Augustus he should ever consider as the great rule of his
58 [In this episode, the opposition between East and West was probably an
important element.]
144
THE DECLINE AND FALL
Fictupe of
Ela«&DtiTlS,
A.D. 219
Hliflupergtl-
tlon
administration ; and he affected to dwell with pride on the
striking resemblance of his own age and fortunes with those of
Augustus, who in the earliest youth had revenged by a successful
war the murder of his father. By adopting the style of Marcus
Aurelius Antoninus, son of Antoninus, and grandson of Severus,
he tacitly asserted his hereditary claim to empire ; but, by
assuming the tribunitian and proconsular powers ^^ before they
had been confeiTed 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 S3a*ian courtiers, or the fierce disdain of his
military followers. ^°
As the attention of the new emperor was diverted by the
most trifling amusements, he wasted many months in his
luxurious progress from Syria to Italy, passed at Nicomedia the
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 im-
mediate order over the altar of Victory in the senate-house, con-
veyed to the Romans the just but unworthy resemblance of his
person and manners. He was drawn in his sacerdotal robes of silk
and gold, after the loose flowing fashion of the Medes and Phoeni-
cians ; his head was covered with a lofty tiara, his numerous collars
and bracelets were adorned with gems of an inestimable value.
His eye-brows were tinged with black, and his cheeks painted
with an artificial red and white.^^ The grave senators confessed
with a sigh, that, after having long experienced the stem t3rranny
of their own countrymen, Rome was at length humbled beneath
the effeminate luxury of Oriental despotism.
The sun was worshipped at Emesa under the name of Elaga-
balus,62 and under the form of a black conical stone, which, as
it was universally believed, had fallen from heaven on that
sacred place. To this protecting deity, Antoninus, not without
some reason, ascribed his elevation to the throne. The display
of superstitious gratitude was the only serious business of his
^'^ {Pius felix proconsul trib. pot. was the form stereotyped by Caracalla. The
senate conferred the title Augusta on Julia Maesa.]
^^Dion, 1. Ixxix. p. 1353 [4].
« Dion, 1. Ixxix. p. 1363 [14]. Herodian, 1. v. p. 189 [5].
s'iThis name is derived by the learned, from two Syriac words, Ela, a god, and
Gabal, to form, the forming, or plastic God ; a proper, and even happy epithet for
the Sun. Wotton's History of Rome, p. 378. [The newer derivation is al gebal,
" the mountam ". The Greeks made the name into //etio-ga.ba\o3 by a tempting
popular etymology.]
OF THE EOMAN EMPIRE 145
reign. The triumph of the god of Emesa over all the religions
of the earth, was the great object of his zeal and vanity; and
the appellation of Elagabalus (for he presumed as pontiff and
favourite to adopt that sacred name) was dearer to him than all
the titles of Imperial greatness. ^^ In a solemn procession through
the streets of Rome, the way was strewed with gold dust ; the
black stone, set in precious gems, was placed on a chariot drawn
by six milk-white horses richly caparisoned. The pious em-
peror held the reins, and, supported by his ministers, moved
slowly backwards, that he might perpetually enjoy the felicity
of the divine presence. In a magnificent temple raised on the
Palatine Mount, the sacrifices of the god Elagabalus were
celebrated with every circumstance of cost and solemnity. The
richest wines, the most extraordinary victims, and the rarest
aromatics, were profusely consumed on his altar. Around the
altar a chorus of Syrian damsels performed their lascivious
dances to the sound of barbarian music, whilst the gravest
personages of the state and army, clothed in long Phoenician
tunics, officiated in the meanest functions, with affected zeal and
secret indignation.^*
To this temple, as to the common centre of religious worship,
the Imperial fanatic attempted to remove the Ancilia, the
Palladium,^^ and all the sacred pledges of the faith of Numa.
A crowd of inferior deities attended in various stations the
majesty of the god of Emesa ; but his court was still imperfect,
till a female of distinguished rank was admitted to his bed.
Pallas had been first chosen for his consort ; but, as it was
dreaded that 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 transpoiled with solemn pomp from
Carthage to Rome, and the day of these mystic nuptials was a
general festival in the capital and throughout the empire.^"^
« [His imperial name was M. Aurelius Antoninus, that of his reputed father.]
fi^Herodian, 1. v. 190 [$].
*5 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
[xvii. 6].
MfThat is, the Phoenician settlers in Africa; for Astarte was a S3n:ian goddess.]
«7Dion, 1. Ixxix. p, 1360 [12]. Herodian, 1. v. p. 193 [6], The subjects of
the empire were obliged to make liberal presents to the new-married couple ; and
whatever they had promised during the life of Elagabalus was carefully exacted
under the administration of Mamsea.
10 VOL. I.
146 THE DECLINE AND FALL
HiB profligate A rational voluptuary adheres with invariable respect to the
ll^i^-^' temperate dictates of natm-e, and improves the gratifications of
sense by social intercourse, endearing connexions, and the soft
colouring of taste and imagination. But Elagabalus (I speak of
the emperor of that name), coiTupted by his youth, his country,
and his fortune, abandoned himself to the grossest pleasures
with ungoverned fury, and soon found disgust and satiety in the
midst of his enjoyments. The inflammatory powers of art were
summoned to his aid : the confused multitude of women, of
wines, and of dishes, and the studied variety of attitudes and
sauces, served to revive his languid appetites. New terms and
new inventions in these sciences, the only ones cultivated and
patronized by the monarch, ^^ signalized his reign, and trans-
mitted his infamy to succeeding times. A capricious prodigality
supplied the want of taste and elegance ; and, whilst Elagabalus
lavished away the treasures of his people in the wildest extrava-
gance, 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, ^^ to sport with
the passions and prejudices of his subjects, and to subvert every
law of nature and decency, were in the number of his most
delicious amusements. A long train of concubines, and a rapid
succession of wives, among whom was a vestal virgin, ravished
by force from her sacred asylum,''^ were insufficient to satisfy the
impotence of his passions. The master of the Roman world
affected to copy the dress and manners of the female sex, pre-
ferred the distaff to the sceptre, and dishonoured the principal
dignities of the empire by distributing them among his numerous
lovers ; one of whom was publicly invested with the title and
authority of the emperor's, or, as he more properly styled
himself, of the empress's husband.^^
^ 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. iii [xvii. 29].
^8 He never would eat sea-fish except at a great distance from the sea ; he then
would distribute vast quantities of the rarest sorts, brought at an immense expense,
to the peasants of the inland country. Hist. August, p. 109 [xvii. 23].
70 Dion, 1. Ixxix. p. 1358 [9]. Herodian, 1. v. p. 192 [6].
" Hierocles enjoyed that honour ; but he would have been supplanted by one
Zoticus, had he not contrived, by a potion, to enervate the powers of his rival, who,
being found on trial unequal to his reputation, was driven with ignominy from the
palace. Dion, 1. Ixxix. p. 1363, 1364 [15, 16]. A dancer was made prasfect of
the city, a charioteer praefect of the watch, a barber praefect of the provisions.
These three ministers, with many inferior officers, were all recommended enormi-
tate membrorum. Hist. August, p. 105 [xvii. 12].
OF THE ROMAN EMPIRE 147
It may seem probable the vices and follies of Elagabalus have J''"*®^^*^^
been adorned by fancy and blackened by prejudice.'^^ Yet, con- which distin-
fining ourselves to the public scenes displayed before the Roman S^maSi
people, and attested by grave and contemporaiy historians, their
inexpressible infamy sui-passes 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 the seraglio. The senti-
ments of honour and gallantry have introduced a refinement of
pleasure, a regard for decency, and a respect for the public
opinion, into the modern courts of Europe ; but the corrupt and
opulent nobles of Rome gratified every vice that could be
collected from the mighty conflux of nations and manners.
Secure of impunity, careless of censure, they lived without re-
straint 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 luxuiy.
The most worthless of mankind are not afraid to condemn in?^^*=f"i*^i^*=°'
others the same disorders which they allow in themselves ; and
can readily discover some nice difference of age, character, or
station, to justify the partial distinction. The licentious soldiers,
who had raised to the throne the dissolute son of Caracalla,
blushed at their ignominious choice, and turned with disgust from
that monster, to contemplate with pleasure the opening virtues
of his cousin Alexander, the son of Mamsea. The crafty Maesa,
sensible that her grandson Elagabalus must inevitably destroy
himself by his own vices, had provided another and surer sup-
port of her family. Embracing a favourable moment of fondness
and devotion, she had persuaded the young emperor to adopt
Alexander, and to invest him with the title of Caesar, that his Alexander
own divine occupations might be no longer interrupted by the ciM-edOMsar,
care of the earth. In the second rank, that amiable prince soon ^'°' ^
acquired the affections of the public, and excited the tyrant's
jealousy, who resolved to terminate the dangerous competition
either by corrupting the manners, or by taking away the life, of his
rival. His arts proved unsuccessful ; his vain designs were con-
stantly discovered by his own loquacious folly, and disappointed
by those virtuous and faithful servants whom the prudence of
Mamsea had placed about the person of her son. In a hasty
sally of passion, Elagabalus resolved to execute by force what he
had been unable to compass by fraud, and by a despotic sentence
^2 Even the credulous compiler of his Life, in the Augustan History (p. iii [z^.
30]), is inclined to suspect that his vices may have been exaggerated.
148 THE DECLINE AND FALL
degraded his cousin from the rank and honours of C^sar. The
message was received in the senate with silence, and in the
camp with fury. The Praetorian guards swore to protect Alex-
ander, and to revenge the dishonoured majesty of the throne.
The tears and promises of the trembling Elagabalus, who only
begged them to spare his life, and to leave him in the possession
of his beloved Hierocles, diverted their just indignation ; and
they contented themselves with empowering their praefects to
watch over the safety of Alexander and the conduct of the
emperorJ^
Sedition of It was impossible that such a reconciliation should last, or that
andmarderof evcn the mean soul of Elagabalus could hold an empire on such
ajS^2S2^' humiliatine terms of dependence. He soon attempted, by a
lOthMarch , *= . ,. . j. 1.1, i. r xi. u- T^i,
dangerous experiment, to try the temper or the soidiers. Ihe
report of the death of Alexander, and the natural suspicion that
he had been murdered, inflamed their passions into fury, and the
tempest of the camp could only be appeased by the presence
and authority of the popular youth. Provoked at this new in-
stance of their affection for his cousin, and their contempt for his
person, the emperor ventured to punish some of the leaders of
the mutiny. His unseasonable severity proved instantly fatal to
his minions, his mother, and himself. Elagabalus was massacred
by the indignant Pi-aetorians, his mutilated corpse dragged
through the streets of the city^ and thrown into the Tiber.
His memory was branded with eternal mtamy by the senate ;
the justice of whose decree has been ratified by postentyj^
AccesBionof In the room of Elagabalus, his cousin Alexander was raised to
B^?f?S**' the throne by the Praetorian guards. His relation to the family
of Severus, whose name he assumed,^^ was the same as that of
73 Dion, 1. Ixxix. p. 1366 [19]. Herodian, 1. v. p. 195 201 [S], Hist.
August, p. 105 [xvii. 13]. The last of the three historians [Lampridius] seeras to
have followed the best authors in his account of the revolution. [His chief autho-
rity was Marius Maximus.]
74 The asra of the death of Elagabalus, and of the accession of Alexander, has
employed the learning and ingenuity of Pagi, Tillemont, Valsecchi, Vignoli, and
Torre, bishop of Adria. The question is most assuredly intricate ; but I still adhere
to the authority of Dion, the truth of whose calculations is undeniable, and the
purity of whose text is justified by the agreement of Xiphilin, Zonaras, and Ced-
renus. 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 tribunii an power?
We shall reply, with the learned Valsecchi, that the usurpation of Macrinus was
annihilated, and that the son of Caracalla dated^is reign from his father's death.
After resolving this great difficulty, the smaller knots of this question may be easily
untied, or cut asunder. [Exact date uncertain, but probably falls in the first haif
of March, 222 ; cp., however, Clinton, FasH Romani, i. 234, 236. Eckhel, 8, 430.]
'"[M. Aurelius Severus Alexander.]
OF THE ROMAN EMPIEE 149
his preaecessor ; his virtue and his dangei* had already endeared
him to the Romans, and the eager liberality of the senate con-
ferred upon him, in one day, the various titles and powers of the
Imperial dignity J^ But, as Alexander was a modest and dutiful
youth of only seventeen years of age, the reins of government
were in the hands of two women, of his mother Mamaea, and of
Maesa, his grandmother. After the death of the latter, who
survived but a short time the elevation of Alexander, Mamaea
remained the sole regent of her son and of the empire.
In every age and country, the wiser, or at least the stronger. Power of his
of the two sexes, has usui*ped the powers of the state, and con- iiLnia
fined the other to the cares and pleasui'es of domestic life. In
hereditary monarchies, however, and especially in those of
modem Europe, the gallant spirit of chivalry, and the law of
succession, have accustomed us to allow a singular exception ;
and a woman is often acknowledged the absolute sovereign of a
great kingdom, in which she would be deemed incapable of
exercising the smallest employment, civil or military. But as
the Roman emperors were still considered as the generals and
magistrates of the republic, their wives and mothers, although
distinguished by the name of Augusta, were never associated to
their personal honours ; and a female reign would have appeared
an inexpiable prodigy in the eyes of those primitive Romans,
who married without love, or loved without delicacy and re-
spect.'^'' 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 BuiThus.'^'s The good sense, or the indifference, of
succeeding princes, restrained them from offending the prejudices
of their subjects; and it was reserved for the profligate Elagabalus
to disgrace the acts of the senate with the name of his mother
Soaemias, who was placed by the side of the consuls, and sub-
scribed, as a regular member, the decrees of the legislative
assembly. Her more prudent sistei*, Mamaea, declined the use-
7«Hist. August, p. 114. [xvii. i]. By this unusual precipitation, the senate
meant to confound the hopes of pretenders, and prevent the factions of the
armies.
^Metellus Numidicus, the censor, acknowledged to the Roman people, in a
public oration, that, had kind Nature allowed us to exist without the help ot woman,
we should be delivered from a very troublesome companion ; and he could recom-
mend matrimony only as the sacrifice of private pleasure to public duty. Aulus
Gellius, i. 6.
78 Tacit. Annal. xiii. $. [After A^ippina, the title Augfusta had no politipal
significance.]
150 THE DECLINE AND FALL
less 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 violatedJ^ The substance, not the pageantry, of
power was the object of Mamaea's manly ambition. She main^
tained an absolute and lasting empire over the mind of her son,
and in his affection the mothei- could not brook a rival. Alex-
ander, with her consent, married the daughter of a Patrician ; ^c
but his respect for his father-in-law, and love for the empress,
were inconsistent with the tenderness or interest of Mamsea.
The patrician was executed on the ready accusation of treason,
and the wife of Alexander driven with ignominy from the
palace, and banished into Africa. ^^
wiaeand Notwithstanding this act of jealous cruelty, as well as some
moderate ad- o ii.i-.* .ii.i i
miniBtration mstanccs 01 avance, wjth which Mamaea is charged, the general
tenor of her administration was equally for the benefit of her
son and of the empire. With the approbation of the senate, she
chose sixteen of the wisest and most virtuous senators, as a per-
petual council of state, before whom every public business of
moment was debated and determined. The celebrated Ulpian,
equally distinguished by his knowledge of, and his respect for,
the laws of Rome, was at their head ; and the prudent firmness
of this aristocracy restored order and authority to the govern-
ment. As soon as they had purged the city from foreign super-
stition and luxury, the remains of the capricious tyranny of
Elagabalus, they applied themselves to remove his worthless
creatures from every department of public administration, and
to supply their places with men of virtue and ability. Learning,
and the love of justice, became the only recommendations for
civil offices ; valour, and the love of discipline, the only
qualifications for militaiy employments.^^
Education But the most important care of Mamaea and her wise coun-
and virtuous
temper of
Alexander 79 Hist. Au^St. p. I02, 107 [xvii. 4 and 18] .
80 [Sallustia Barbia Orbiana, daughter of Sallustius Macrinus, who conspired
against the life of Alexander. Gibbon is too ready to assume that Mamsea was to
blame.]
81 Dion, 1. Ixxx. p. 1369 [2]. Herodian, 1. vi. p. 206 [i]. Hist. August, p.
131 [xviii. 49]. Herodian represents the patrician as innocent. The Augustan
History, on the authority of Dexippus, condemns him as guilty of a conspiracy
against the life of Alexander. It is impossible to pronounce between them : but
Dion is an irreproachable witness of the jealousy and cruelty of Mamsea towards
the young empress, whose hard fate Alexander lamented, but durst not oppose.
82 Herodian, I vi. p. 203 [i]. Hist. August, p. 119 [xviii. 15]. 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 separateljf
piven and taken down in writmg.
OF THE ROMAN EMPIRE 151
sellers was to foiin the character of the young emperor, on whose
personal qualities the happiness or misery of the Roman world
must ultimately depend. The fortunate soil assisted, and even
prevented, the hand of cultivation. An excellent understanding
soon convinced Alexander of the advantages of virtue, the 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 exhibits ajomnaiofh
pleasing picture of an accomplished emperor,*^ and, with some " *^ *
allowance for the difference of manners, might well deserve the
imitation of modei'n princes. Alexander rose eai'ly ; the first
moments of the day were consecrated to private devotion, and
his domestic chapel was filled with the images of those heroes
who, by improving or reforming human life, had deserved the
grateful reverence of posterity. But, as he deemed the service
of mankind the most acceptable worship of the gods, the
greatest part of his morning hours was employed in his council,
where he discussed public affairs, and determined private causes,
with a patience and discretion above his years. The dryness of
business was relieved by the charms of litei*ature ; and a portion
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 Alexander, who was tall, active, and robust, sur-
passed most of his equals in the gymnastic ai^ts. Refreshed by
the use of the bath and a slight dinner, 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 answered the multitude of letters,
memorials, and petitions, that must have been addressed to the
master of the greatest part of the world. His table was served
with the most frugal simplicity ; and, whenever he was at liberty
to consult his own inclination, the company consisted of a few
select friends, men of learning and virtue, amongst whom Ulpian
was constantly invited. Their conversation was familiar and
83 See his life in the Augustan History. The undistinguishing compiler has
buried these interesting anecdotes under a load of trivial and unmeaning circum-
stances.
152 THE DECLINE AND FALL
instructive ; and the pauses were occasionally enlivened by the
recital of some pleasing composition, which supplied the place
of the dancers, comedians, and even gladiators, so frequently
summoned to the tables of the rich and luxurious Romans.^
The dress of Alexander w^as plain and modest, his demeanour
courteous and affable : at the proper hours his palace was open
to all his subjects, but the voice of a crier was heard, as in the
Eleusinian mysteries, pronouncing the same salutary admonitionT
"Let none enter these holy walls, unless he is conscious of a
pure and innocent mind ".^^
Ganeraihap- Such an unifoi*m tenor of life, which left not a moment for vice
Lman°worid, or foUy, is a better proof of the wisdom and justice of Alexander s
A.D. 222-285 goyemmcnt than all the trifling details preserved in the com-
pilation of Lampridius. Since the atccession of Conunodus the
Roman world had experienced, 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
provinces, relieved from the oppressive taxes invented by
Caracalla and his pretended son, flourished in peace and pros-j
perity under the administration of magistrates, who were con-;',
vinced by experience that to deserve the love of the subjects
was their best and only method of obtaining the favour of their
sovereign. While some gentle restraints were imposed on the
innocent luxmy of the Roman people, the price of provisions
and the interest of money were reduced by the paternal care
of Alexander, whose prudent liberality, without distressing the
industrious, supplied the wants and amusements of the populace.
The dignity, the freedom, the authority of the senate was
restored ; and every virtuous senator might approach the person
of the emperor without a fear and without a blush.
Alexander re- The name of Antouinus, ennobled by the virtues of Pius and
<rf;AntoniSna MaTCus, had been communicated by adoption to the dissolute
Verus, and by descent to the cruel Gsmmodus, 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 con-
duct he laboured to restore the glories and felicity of the age of
the genuine Anton ines.^*'
** See the 13th Satire of Juvenal. s^Hist. August p. 119 [xviii. 18]. ■;
88 See in the Hist. August, p. 116, 117 [xviii. 6-11], the whole contest betwee^^i
Alexander and the senate, extracted from the journals of that assembly. It
OF THE ROMAN EMPIRE 158
In the civil administration of Alexander, wisdom was en- He att«mpti
forced by power, and the people, sensible of the public felicity^ tho'lm?
repaid their benefactor with their love and gratitude. There
still remained a greater, a more necessary, but a more difficult
enterprise : the reformation of the military order, whose interest
and temper, confirmed by long impunity, rendered them im-
patient of the restraints of discipline, and careless of the blessings
of public tranquilHty. In the execution of his design the
emperor affected to display his love, and to conceal his fear, of
the army. The most rigid economy in every other branch of
the administration supplied a fund of gold and silver for the
ordinary pay and the extraordinary rewards of the troops. In
their marches he relaxed the severe obligation of carrying
seventeen days' provision on their shoulders. Ample magazines
were formed along the public roads, and as soon as they entered
the enemy's country, a numerous train of mules and camels
Waited on their haughty laziness. As Alexander despaired of
correcting the luxury of his soldiers, he attempted, at least, to
direct it to objects of martial pomp and ornament, fine horses.
Splendid armoiu:, and shields enriched with silver and gold. He
shared whatever fatigues he was obliged to impose, visited, in
person, the sick and wounded, preserved an exact register of
their services and his own gratitude, and expressed, on every
occasion, the warmest regard for a body of men, whose welfare,
as he affected to declare, was so closely connected with that of
the state. ^"^ By the most gentle arts he 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 reformation served only to
inflame the ills it was meant to cure.
The Praetorian guards were attached to the youth of Alexander. Sieuttoiu
They loved him as a tender pupil, whom they had saved from atori^lpiaidB.
tyiant's fury, and placed on the Imperial throne. That amiable of uipiM
ice was sensible of the obligation ; but, as his gratitude was
L'ained within the limits of reason and justice, they soon
\e more dissatisfied with the virtues of Alexander than they
)pned on the sixth of March, probably of the year 233, when the Romans had
led, ahnost a twelvemonth, the blessings of his reign. Before the appellation
Itoninus was offered him as a title of honour, the senate waited to see whether
Inder would not assume it as a family name.
-It was a favourite saying of the emperor's, Se milites magis servare, quam
sei^sum ; quod salus publica in his esset. Hist. August, p. 130 [xviii. 47].
154 THE DECLINE AND FALL
had ever been with the vices of Ela^abalus. Their prsefect, the
wise Ulpian, was the friend of the laws and of the people ; he
was considered as the enemy of the soldiers, and to his per-
nicious counsels every scheme of reformation was imputed.
Some trifling accident blew up their discontent into a ftu-ious
mutiny ; and a civil war raged, during three days, in Rome,
whilst the life of that excellent minister was defended by the
grateful people. ^^ Terrified, at length, by the sight of some
houses in flames, and by the threats of a general conflagration,
the people yielded with a sigh, and left the virtuous but un-
fortunate Ulpian to his fate. He was pursued into the Imperial
palace, and massacred at the feet of his master, who vainly strove
to cover him with the purple, and to obtain his pardon from the
inexorable soldiers. Such was the deplorable weakness of
government that the emperor was unable to revenge his
murdered friend and his insulted dignity, without stooping to
the arts of patience and dissimulation. Epagathus, the principal
leader of the mutiny, was removed from Rome, by the honour-
able employment of praefect of Egypt ; from that high rank he
was gently degraded to the government of Crete ; and when,
at length, his popularity among the guards was effaced by time
and absence, Alexander ventured to inflict the tardy, but
deserved, punishment of his crimes. ^^ Under the reign of a just
and virtuous prince, the tyranny of the army threatened with
instant death his most faithful ministers, who were suspected
of an intention to correct their intolerable disorders. The
nangerof historian Dion Cassius had commanded the Pannonian legions
with the spirit of ancient discipline. 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, showed a just sense of his merit and
services, by appointing him his colleague in the consulship,
and defraying from his own treasury the expense of that vain
dignity ; but, as it was justly apprehended that if the soldiers
beheld him with the ensigns of his office they would revenge
88 [Gibbon has fallen into error by confusing different occasions. There is no
reason to suppose that Ulpian's life was in danger during the street bat^s be- »
tween the populace and guaras. They disobeyed his discipline then, but itfcas in '
a later mutiny, directed against himself, that he was slain. See Zonarasr^i. 15 j
and Dion, Ixxx. 2.] jfir, ».
80 Though the author of the life of Alexander (Hist. August, p. 132 [xvSg5i])i*
mentions the sedition raised against Ulpian by the soldiers, he conc«ls the
catastrophe, as it might discover a weakness in the administration of hShero.
From this designed omission, we may judge of the weight and candouri^ that
aythor, ^
OF THE EOMAN EMPIEE 155
the insult in his bloodj the nominal first magistrate of the states
retired^ by the emperors advice, from the city, and spent the
greatest part of his consulship at his villas in Campania. ^^
The lenity of the emperor confii'med the insolence of the Timiuitaof
troops; the legions imitated the example of the guards, and ^^'^^^eions
defended their prerogative of licentiousness with the same
furious obstinacy. The administration of Alexander was an
unavailing struggle against the corruption of his age. In
Illyricum, in Mauritania, in Armenia, in Mesopotamia, in
Germany, fresh mutinies perpetually broke out ; his officers were
murdered, his authority was insulted, and his life at last
sacrificed to the fierce discontents of the army.^^ One particular FimnesB of
fact well deserves to be recorded, as it illustrates the manners of *^® «™p«'°=
the troops, and exhibits a singular instance of their return to a
sense of duty and obedience. Whilst the emperor lay at Antioch,
in his Persian expedition, the particulars of which we shall
hereafter relate, the punishment of some soldiers, who had been
discovered in the baths of women, excited a sedition in the
legion to which they belonged. Alexander ascended his
tribunal, and with a modest firmness represented to the armed
multitude the absolute necessity, as well as his inflexible resolu-
tion, of correcting the vices introduced by his impure predecessor,
and of maintaining the discipline, which could not be relaxed
without the ruin of the Roman name and empire. Their
clamours interrupted his mild expostulation. " 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,^^ if those indeed who disclaim the laws of Rome deserve
to be ranked among the meanest of the people." His menaces
inflamed the fury of the legion, and their brandished arms al-
ready threatened his person. "Your courage," resumed the
30 For an account of Ulpian's fate and his own danger, see the mutilated con-
clusion of Dion's History, 1. Ixxx. p. 1371 [4].
91 Annotat. Reimar. ad Dion Cassius, 1. Ixxx. p. 1369 [2].
32 Julius Caesar had appeased a sedition with the same word, Quirites: which,
thus opposed to Soldiers, was used in a sense of contempt, and reduced the
offenders to the less honourable condition of mere citizens. Tacit. Annal. i. 43.
[The truth of this anecdote of Alexander's firmness has been suspected by recent
historians, and Schiller suggests that it may have been due to the ambiguity of the
name Severus. It is clear that, if the story is true, Alexander was consciously iipi-
tatin|^ Julii;s.j
156 THE DECLINE AND FALL
intrepid Alexander, " would be more nobly displayed in the field
of battle ; me you may destroy, you cannot intimidate ; and the
severe justice of the republic would punish your crime and
revenge my death." The legion still persisted in clamorous
sedition, when the emperor pronounced, with a loud voice, the
decisive sentence, " Citizens ! lay down your arms, and depart
in peace to your respective habitations". The tempest was
instantly appeased ; the soldiers, filled with grief and shame,
silently confessed the justice of their punishment and the
power of discipline, yielded up their arms and military ensigns,
and retired in confusion, not to their camp, but to the several
inns of the city. Alexander enjoyed, during thirty days, the
edifying spectacle of their repentance ; nor did he restore them
to their former rank in the army, till he had punished with
death those tribunes whose connivance had occasioned the
mutiny. The grateful legion served the emperor whilst living,
and revenged him when dead.^^
Defects of hiB The rcsolutions of the multitude generally depend on a
character niomcnt ; 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 authorized the boldness of the prince and commanded
the obedience of the troops ; and perhaps, if it had been related
by a judicious historian, we should find this action, worthy of
Caesar himself, reduced nearer to the level of probability and the
common standard of the character of Alexander Severus. The
abilities of that amiable prince seem to have been inadequate to
the difficulties of his situation, the firmness of his conduct
inferior to the purity of his intentions. His virtues, as well as
the vices of Elagabalus, contracted a tincture of weakness and
effeminacy from the soft climate of Syria, of which he was a
native ; though he blushed at his foreign origin, and listened
with a vain complacency to the flattering genealogists, who
derived his race from the ancient stock of Roman nobility.®*
The pride and avarice of his mother cast a shade on the glories
of his reign ; and by exacting from his riper years the same
dutiful obedience which she had justly claimed from his unex-
95 Hist. August, p. 132 [xviii. 54].
9* From the Metelli. Hist. August, p. 129 [xviii. 44]. The choice was judici-
ous. In one short period of twelve years, the Metelli could reckon seven consul-
ships, and five triumphs. See Velleius Paterculus, ii. 11, and the Fasti,
OF THE EOMAN EMPIRE 157
perienced youth, Mamaea exposed to public ridicule both her
son's character and her own.^^ The fatigues of the Persian war
irritated the military discontent ; the unsuccessful event de-
graded the reputation of the emperor as a general, and even
as a soldier. Every cause prepared, and every circumstance
hastened, a revolution, which distracted the Roman empire with
a long series of intestine calamities.
The dissolute tyranny of Commodus, the civil wars occasioned DigreBBionon
by his death, and the new maxims of policy introduced by the thJ empiw °
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 victories, laws, follies and fortunes, can interest
us no further than as they are connected with the general
history of the Decline and Fall of the monarchy. Our constant
attention to that great object will not suffer us to overlook a
most important edict of Antoninus Caracalla, which communi-
cated to all the free inhabitants of the empire the name and
privileges of Roman citizens. His unbounded liberality flowed
not, however, from the sentiments of a generous mind ; it was
the sordid result of avarice,^^ and will naturally be illustrated
by some observations on the finances of that state, from the
victorious ages of the commonwealth to the reign of Alexander
Severus.
The siege of Veil in Tuscany, the first considerable enterprise Esubuih-
of the Romans, was protracted to the tenth year, much less by "'^
the strength of the place than by the unskilfulness of the
besiegers. The unaccustomed hardships of so many winter
95 The life of Alexander, in the Augustan History, is the mere idea of a perfect
prince, an awkward imitation of the Cyropasdia. The account of his reign, as
given by Herodian, is rational and moderate, consistent with the general history of
the age ; and, in some of the most invidious particulars, confirmed by the decisive
fragments of Dion. Yet from a very paltry prejudice, the greater number of our
modem writers abuse Herodian, and copy the Augustan History. See Mess, de
Tillemont and Wotton. From the opposite prejudice, the Emperor Julian (in
Csesarib. p. 315) dwells with a visible satisfaction on the effeminate weakness of
the Syrian, and the ridiculous avarice of his mother.
^ [Schiller is possibly right in bis view (i. 751) that military, not financial, con-
siderations were the chief motive in determining Caracalla's edict. Italy was no
longer able to recruit the legions, and the auxilia were gradually taking their place,
while the Germans were stepping into the place of the auxilia. The extension of
citizenship was also expedient, in face of the barbarians who were pressing into the
empire,]
158 THE DECLINE AND FALL
campaigns, at the distance of near twenty miles from home,^^
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 citizens.^^ During more than two hundred
years after the conquest of Veii, the victories of the republic
added less to the wealth than to the power of Rome. The
states of Italy paid their tribute in military service only, and the
vast force, both by sea and land, which was exerted in the
Punic wars, was maintained at the expense of the Romans them-
selves. That high-spirited people (such is often the generous
enthusiasm of freedom) cheerfully submitted to the most
excessive but voluntary burdens, in the just confidence that they
should speedily enjoy the rich harvest of their labours. Their
expectations were not disappointed. In the course of a few
and aboution vcars, the richcs of Syracuse, of Carthage, of Macedonia, and of
Sn KSmw?"*^^ Asia, were brought in triumph to Rome. The treasures of
citizen* Perseus alone amounted to near two millions sterling, and the
Roman people, the sovereign of so many nations, was for ever
delivered from the weight of taxes.^^ The increasing revenue
of the provinces was found sufficient to defray the ordinary
establishment of war and government, and the superfluous mass
of gold and silver was deposited in the temple of Saturn, and
reserved for any unforeseen emergency of the state. ^''^
Tribntei of History has never perhaps suffered a greater or more irrepar-
the provinces ^^^q injury than in the loss of that curious register bequeathed
by Augustus to the senate, in which that experienced prince so
accurately balanced the revenues and expenses of the Roman
empire. ^*^i Deprived of this clear and comprehensive estimate,
we are reduced to collect a few imperfect hints from such of the
^■^ 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 com-
bated the popular opinion and the authority of two popes, and has removed Veii
from Civit^ Castellana, to a little spot called Isola, in the midway between Rome
and the lake Bracciano. [It is now known to be Isola Farnese.]
^^ See the 4th [c. 59] and 5th [c. 7] books of Livy. In the Roman census, pro-
perty, power and taxation, were commensurate with each other.
^^ Plin. Hist. Natur. 1. xxxiii. c. 3. Cicero de Officiis, ii. 22. Plutarch, in P.
iEmil. p. 27s [38].
^^'^See a fine description of this accumulated wealth of ages, in Lucan's Phars.
1. iii. V. iss. &c.
101 Tacit, in Annal. i. ii. It seems to have existed in the time of Appian. [The
Breviarium Imperii; op. Dion, Ivi. 33.]
OF THE EOMAN EMPIRE 159
ancients as have accidently turned aside from the splendid to
the more useful parts of history. We are informed that^ by the of Asia
conquests of Pompey^ the tributes of Asia were raised from
fifty to one hundred and thirty-five millions of drachms, or about
four millions and a half sterling.^^^ Under the last and mostofEeypt
indolent of the Ptolemies, the revenue of Egypt is said to have
amounted to twelve thousand five hundred talents ; a sum
equivalent to more than two millions and a half of our money,
but which was afterwards considerably improved by the more
exact economy of the Romans, and the increase of the trade of
Ethiopia and India. ^^^^ Gaul was enriched by rapine, as Egypt of Qaui
was by commerce, and the tributes of those two great provinces
have been compared as nearly equal to each other in value. ^^'^ TheofAWca
ten thousand Euboic or Phoenician talents, about four millions
sterling, ^*^^ which vanquished Carthage was condemned to pay
within the term of fifty years, were a slight acknowledgment of
the superiority of Rome,^^^ and cannot bear the least proportion
with the taxes afterwards raised both on the lands and on the
persons of the inhabitants, when the fei'tile coast of Africa was
reduced into a province. ^^'^
Spain, by a very singular fatality, was the Peru and Mexico of spain
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.i^^ The Phoenicians were acquainted only
with the sea coast of Spain ; avarice as well as ambition carried
the arms of Rome and Carthage into the heart of the country,
and almost every part of the soil was found pregnant with
copper, silver, and gold. Mention is made of a mine near
Carthagena which yielded every day twenty-five thousand
drachms of silver, or about three hundred thousand pounds a
102 Plutarch, in Pompeio, p. 642 [45. There is little doubt that Plutarch means
they were raised to eighty-five millions.]
103 Strabo, 1. xvii. p. 798.
10^ Velleius Paterculus, 1. ii. u. 39. He seems to give the preference to the revenue
of Gaul.
105 The Euboic, the Phoenician, and Alexandrian talents, were double in weight
to the Attic. See Hooper on ancient weights and measures, p. iv. c. 5. It is very
probable that the same talent was carried from Tyre to Carthage. [The ratio of
the Euboic to the Attic talent after the time of Solon was about 4 to 3.]
io« Polyb. 1. XV. c. 2.
107 Appian in Punicis, p. 84.
108 Diodorus Siculus, 1. v. [37]. Cadiz was built by the Phoenicians a Uttle more
than a thousand years before Christ. See Veil. Patercui. i. 2.
160 THE DECLINE AND FALL
year.io® Twenty thousand pounds weight of gold was annually
received from the provinces of Asturia, Gallicia, and Lusi-
tania.ii<>
oftneiBioof We want both leisure and materials to pursue this curious
Gyarns inquiry through the many potent states that were annihilated in
the Roman empire. Some notion, however, may be formed of
the revenue of the provinces where considerable wealth had
been deposited by nature, or collected by man, if we observe the
severe attention that was directed to the abodes of solitude and
sterility. Augustus once received a petition from the inhabitants
of Gyarus, humbly praying that they might be relieved from
one third of their excessive impositions. Their whole tax
amounted indeed to no more than one hundred and fifty
drachms, or about five pounds ; but Gyarus was a little island, or
rather a rock, of the ^gean Sea, destitute of fresh water and
every necessary of life, and inhabited only by a few wretched
fishermen. ^^^
Amount of the From the faint glimmerings of such doubtful 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 ; ^^^ and,
2ndly, That so ample a revenue must have been fully adequate
to all the expenses of the moderate government instituted by
Augustus, whose court was the modest family of a private
senator, and whose military establishment was calculated for the
defence of the frontiers, without any aspiring views of conquest,
or any serious apprehension of a foreign invasion.
Taxes on Notwithstanding the seeming probability of both these con-
zens insti- * clusions, thc latter of them at least is positively disowned by
AuluBti the language and conduct of Augustus. It is not easy to
detei-mine whether, on this occasion, he acted as the common
father of the Roman world, or as the oppressor of liberty ;
whether he wished to relieve the provinces, or to impoverish
i<* Strabo, 1. iii. p. 148.
uo plin. Hist. Natur. 1. xxxiii. c. 3. He mentions likewise a silver mine in Dal-
matia, that yielded every day fifty pounds to the state.
11^ Strabo, 1. x. p. 485. Tacit. Annal. iii. 6g, and iv. 30. See in Tournefort
(Voyages au Levant, Lettre viii.) a very lively picture of the actual misery of
Gyarus.
"^Lipsius de magnitudine Romani (1. ii. c. iii.) 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. [For the inquiry touching the revenue
of the empire we have not sufficient data to make even an approximate estimate.]
OF THE ROMAN EMPIRE 161
the senate and the equestrian order. But no sooner had he
assumed the reins of government than he frequently intimated
the insufficiency of the tributes, and the necessity of throwing
an equitable proportion of the public burden upon Rome and
Italy. In the prosecution of this impopular design, he advanced,
however, by cautious and well-weighed steps. The introduction
of customs was followed by the establishment of an excise, and
the scheme of taxation was completed by an artful assessment
on the real and personal property of the Roman citizens, who
had been exempted from any kind of contribution above a
century and a half.
I. In a great empire like that of Rome, a natural balance ofTheciitomi
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 indus-
trious provinces by the gentle influence of commerce and arts.
In the reign of Augustus and his successors,^^^ duties were
imposed on every kind of merchandise, which through a
thousand channels flowed to the great centre of opulence and
luxury ; and in whatsoever manner the law was expressed, it
was the Roman purchaser, and not the provincial merchant, who
paid the tax.^^^ The rate of the customs varied from the eighth
to the fortieth part of the value of the commodity ; and we
have a right to suppose that the variation was directed by the
unalterable maxims of policy : that a higher duty was fixed on
the articles of luxury than on those of necessity, and that the
productions raised or manufactured by the labour of the subjects
of the empire were treated with more indulgence than was
shown to the pernicious, or at least the unpopular, commerce of
Arabia and India. ^^^ There is still extant a long but imperfect
catalogue of eastern commodities, which about the time of
Alexander Severus were subject to the payment of duties :
cinnamon, myrrh, pepper, ginger, and the whole tribe of
aromatics ; a great variety of precious stones, among which the
diamond was the most remarkable for its price, and the
emerald for its beauty : ^^^ Parthian and Babylonian leather,
lis [But also in force before.]
"4 Tacit. Annal, xiii. 31.
115 See Pliny (Hist Natur. 1. vi. c. 28, 1. xii. c. 18), His observation, that the
Indian commodities were sold at Rome at a hundred times their original price,
may give us some notion of the produce of the customs, since that original price
amounted to more than eight hundred thousand pounds.
116 Xhe ancients were unacquainted with the art of cutting diamonds.
11 VOL. I.
162 THE DECLINE AND FALL
cottons, silks, both raw and manufactured, ebony, ivory, and
eunuchs. 11^ We may observe that the use and value of those
effeminate slaves gradually rose with the decline of the empire.
Theeicue II. The excise, introduced by Augustus after the civil wars,
was extremely moderate, but it was general.^^^ It seldom
exceeded one per cent ; but it comprehended whatever was sold
in the markets or by public auction, from the most considerable
purchases of land and houses to those minute objects which can
only derive a value from their infinite multitude and daily con-
sumption. 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. ^^^
Toi on lega- HI. When Augustus resolved to establish a permanent
iiieSttncea military force for the defence of his government against foreign
and domestic enemies, he instituted a peculiar treasury for the
pay of the soldiers, the rewards of the veterans, and the extra-
ordinary expenses of war. The ample revenue of the excise,
though peculiarly appropriated to those uses, was found in-
adequate. 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 miu'raurs were received by Augustus
with his usual temper. He candidly referred the whole busi-
ness to the senate, and exhorted them to provide for the public
service by some other expedient of a less odious nature. They
were divided and perplexed. He insinuated to them that their
obstinacy would oblige him to propose a general land-tax and
capitation. They acquiesced in silence.^^^ The new imposition
on legacies and inheritances was however mitigated by some
restrictions. It did not take place unless the object was of a
certain value, most probably of fifty or an hundred pieces of
gold : 121 nor could it be exacted from the nearest of kin on the
U7M. Bouchaud, in his treatise de rimp6t chez les Remains, has transcribed
this catalogue from the Digest, and attempts to illustrate it by a very prolix com-
mentary.
"8 Ht was imposed in Rome and Italy ; but cannot be proved for the provinces.]
"8 Tacit. Annal. i. 78. Two years afterwards, the reduction of the poor king-
dom of Cappadocia gave Tiberius a pretence for diminishing the excise to one
half ; but the relief was of a very short duration.
120 Dion Cassius, 1. Iv. p. 799 [25], 1. Ivi. p. 825 [28]. [This tax was introduced
6 A.D.]
121 The sum is only fixed by conjecture.
OF THE ROMAN EMPIRE 163
father s side.^^^ When the rights of nature and property were thus
secured, it seemed reasonable that a stranger, or a distant relation,
who acquired an unexpected accession of fortune, should cheer-
fully resign a twentieth part of it for the benefit of the state.^^s
Such a tax, plentiful as it must prove in every wealthy com- snited to ih«
raunity, was most happily suited to the situation of the Romans, manners
who could frame their arbitrary wills, according to the dictates
of reason or caprice, without any restraint from the modem
fetters of entails and settlements. From various causes, the
partiality of paternal affection often lost its influence over the
stem 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 complamt.i^*
But a rich childless old man was a domestic t)rrantj and his
power increased with his years and infirmities. A servile crowd,
in which he frequently reckoned praetors and consuls, courted
his smiles, pampered his avarice, applauded his follies, served
his passions, and waited with impatience for his death. The
arts of attendance and flattery were formed into a most lucrative
science ; those who professed it acquired a peculiar appellation ;
and the whole city, according to the lively descriptions of satire,
was divided between two parties, the hunters and their game.^^s
Yet while so many unjust and extravagant wills were every day
dictated by cunning, and subscribed by folly, a few were the
result of rational esteem and virtuous gratitude. Cicero, who
had so often defended the lives and fortunes of his fellow-
citizens, was rewarded with legacies to the amount of an hundred
and seventy thousand pounds ; ^26 nor do the friends of the
younger Pliny seem to have been less generous to that amiable
orator. 127 Whatever was the motive of the testator, the treasury
claimed, without distinction, the twentieth part of his estate ;
and in the course of two or three generations, the whole property
of the subject must have gradually passed through the coiFers of
the state.
122 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 gradu-
ally undermined by humanity, and finally abolished by Justinian.
128 piin. Panegyric, c. 37. [The tax was known as vicesima hereditaitumt= ^ per
cent.]
12* See Heineccius in the Antiquit. Juris Romani, 1. ii.
125 Horat. 1. ii. Sat. v. Petron. c. 116, &c. Plin. 1. ii. Epist. 20.
136 Cicero in Philipp. ii. c. 16.
1^ 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 disinherited by his mother (v. i)
164 THE DECLINE AND FALL
In the first and golden years of the reign of Nero, that prince,
from a desire of popularity, and perhaps from a blind impulse of
benevolence, conceived a wish of abolishing the oppression of
?f SJ^^JJ. t^e customs and excise. The wisest senators applauded his
^^"^ magnanimity : but they diverted him from the execution of a
design which would have dissolved the strength and resources
of the republic.^28 jjad it indeed been possible to realize this
dream of fancy, such princes as Trajan and the Antonines would
surely have embraced with ardour the glorious opportunity of
conferring so signal an obligation on mankind. Satisfied, how-
ever, with alleviating the public burden, they attempted not to
remove it. The mildness and precision of their laws ascertained
the rule and measm*e of taxation, and protected the subject of
every rank against arbitrary interpretations, antiquated claims,
and the insolent vexation of the farmers of the revenue. ^^^
For it is somewhat singular that, in every age, the best and
wisest of the Roman governors persevered in this pernicious
method of collecting the principal branches at least of the excise
and custoras.^^**
Edict of oara- The sentiments, and indeed the situation, of Caraealla were
very different from those of the Antonines. Inattentive, or
rather averse, to the welfare of his people, he foimd himself
under the necessity of gratifying the insatiate avarice which he
had excited in the army. Of the several impositions introduced
by Augustus, the twentieth on inheritances and legacies was
the most fruitful as well as the most comprehensive. As its
influence was not confined to Rome or Italy, the produce con-
tinually increased with the gradual extension of the Roman City.
The new citizens, though charged on equal terms ^^^ with the
payment of new taxes which had not affected them as subjects,
derived an ample compensation from the rank they obtained,
the privileges they acquired, and the fair prospect of honours
Th« fraedom and fortune that was thrown open to their ambition. But the
given to au favour which implied a distinction was lost in the prodigality of
cijofJortoe Caraealla, and the reluctant provincials were compelled to
Etion** assume the vain title and the real obligations of Roman citizens.
Nor was the rapacious son of Severus contented with such a
128 Tacit. Annal. xiii. 5c. Esprit des Loix, 1. xii. c. 19.
1-9 See Pliny's Panegyric, the Augustan History, and Burman. de Vectigal.
passim.
'30 The tributes (properly so called) were not farmed ; since the good princes
often remitted many millions of arrears.
131 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.
the
OF THE ROMAN EMPIRE 165
measure of taxation as had appeared sufRcient to his moderate
predecessors. Instead of a twentieth, he exacted a tenth of all
legacies and inheritances ; and dm*ing his reign (for the ancient
proportion was restored after his death) he crushed alike every
part of the empire under the weight of his iron sceptre.^^^
When all the provincials became liable to the peculiar imposi- Temporarr
tions of Roman citizens, they seemed to acquire a legal exemp- tribute
tion from the tributes which they had paid in their former con-
dition of subjects. Such were not the maxims of government
adopted by Caracalla and his pretended son. The old as well as
the new taxes were, at the same time, levied in the provinces.
It was reserved for the virtue of Alexander to relieve them in a
great measure from this intolerable grievance, by reducing the
tributes to a thirtieth part of the sum exacted at the time of his
accession.^^^ It is impossible to conjecture the motive that en-
gaged him to spare so trifling a remnant of the public evil ; but
the noxious weed, which had not been totally eradicated, again
sprang up with the most luxuriant growth, and in the succeeding
age darkened the Roman world with its deadly shade. In the
course of this history, we shall be too often summoned to explain
the land-tax, the capitation, and the heavy contributions of corn,
wine, oil, and meat, which were exacted from the provinces for
the use of the court, the army, and the capital.
As long as Rome and Italy were respected as the centre of coMeqaencei
government, a national spirit was preserved by the ancient, and aai freedom oj
insensibly imbibed by the adopted, citizens. The principal
commands of the army were filled by men who had received a
liberal education, were well instructed in the advantages of laws
and letters, and who had risen by equal steps through the
regular succession of civil and military honours.^^ To their
influence and example we may partly ascribe the modest obedi-
ence of the legions during the two fiist centuries of the Imperial
history.
But when the last enclosure of the Roman constitution was
trampled down by Caracalla, the separation of possessions gradu-
ally succeeded to the distinction of ranks. The more polished
citizens of the internal provinces were alone qualified to act as
132 Dion, I. Ixxvii. p. 1295 [9]. [The tax was reduced again to 5 per cent,
by Macrinus. By the sixth century it had altogether disappeared.]
1*3 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 [xviii. 39], with the commentary of Salmasius.
18* See the lives of Agricola, Vespasian, Trajan, Severus, and his three com-
petitors ; and indeed of all the eminent men of those times.
166 THE DECLINE AND FALL
lawyers and magistrates. The rougher trade of arms vas
abandoned to the peasants and barbarians of the frontiers, who
knew no country but their camp, no science but that of war, no
civil laws, and scarcely those of military discipline. With bloody
hands, savage manners, and desperate resolutions, they some-
times guarded, but much oftener subverted, the throne of the
emperors.
OF THE ROMAN EMPIRE 167
CHAPTER VII
The elevatiouj and tyranny , of Maximin— Rebellion in Africa and
Italy, under the authority of the Senate — Civil Wars and Sedi-
tions— Violent Deaths of Maximin and his Son, of Maximus and
Balbinus, and of the three Gordians — Usurpation and Secular
Games of Philip
Of the various forms of government which have prevailed in The apparent
the world, an hereditary monarchy seems to present the fairest
scope for ridicule. Is it possible to relate without an indignant
smile^ that, on the father s decease, the property of a nation,
like that of a drove of oxen, descends to his infant son, as yet
unknown to mankind and to himself, and that the bravest
warriors and the wisest statesmen, relinquishing their natural
right to empire, approach the royal cradle with bended knees
and protestations of inviolable fidelity ? Satire and declamation
may paint these obvious topics in the most dazzling coloui's, but
our more serious thoughts will respect a useful prejudice, that
establishes a rule of succession, independent of the passions of
mankind ; and we shall cheerfully acquiesce in any expedient
which deprives the multitude of the dangerous, and indeed the
ideal, power of giving themselves a master.
In the cool shade of retirement, we may easily devise imagin- and roiu
ary forms of government, in which the sceptre shall be con-SfhwedftMy
stantly bestowed on the most worthy by the free and incoxTupt *™*'^^"*°'*
suffrage of the whole community. Experience overturns these
airy fabrics, and teaches us that in a large society the election of
a monarch can never devolve to the wisest or to the most
numerous part of the people. The army is the only order of
men sufficiently united to concur in the same sentiments, and
powerful enough to impose them on the rest of their fellow-
citizens ; but the temper of soldiers, habituated at once to
violence and to slavery, renders them very unfit guardians of a
legal or even a civil constitution. Justice, humanity, or politi-
cal wisdom, are qualities they are too little acquainted with in
themselves to appreciate them in others. Valour will acquire
168 THE DECLINE AND FALL
their esteem, and liberality will purchase their suffrage ; but the
first of these merits is often lodged in the most savage breasts ;
the latter can only exert itself at the expense of the public ; and
both may be turned against the possessor of the throne by the
ambition of a daring rival.
Want of It in The Superior prerogative of birth, when it has obtained the
empire pro- sanctiOD of time and popular opinion, is the plainest and least
greateit iuvldious of all distiuctions among mankind. The acknowledged
** right extinguishes the hopes of faction, and the conscious
security disarms the cruelty of the monarch. To the firm
establishment of this idea we owe the peaceful succession and
mild administration of European monarchies. To the defect of
it we must attribute the frequent civil wars, through which an
Asiatic despot is obliged to cut his way to the throne of his
fathers. Yet, even in the East, the sphere of contention is
usually limited to the princes of the reigning house, and, as soon
as the more fortimate competitor has removed his brethren, by the
sword and the bow-string, he no longer entertains any jealousy
of his meaner subjects. But the Roman empire, after the autho-
rity of the senate had sunk into contempt, was a vast scene of
confusion. The royal, and even noble, families of the provinces
had long since been led in triumph before the car of the haughty
republicans. The ancient families of Rome had successively
fallen beneath the tyranny of the Csesars ; and, whilst those
princes were shackled by the forms of a commonwealth, and
disappointed by the repeated failure of their posterity,^ it was
impossible that any idea of hereditary succession should have
taken root in the minds of their subjects. The right to the
throne, which none could claim from birth, every one assumed
from merit. The daring hopes of ambition were set loose ft'om
the salutary restraints of law and prejudice, and the meanest of
mankind might, without folly, entertain a hope of being raised
by valour and fortune to a rank in the army, in which a single
crime would enable him to wrest the sceptre of the world from
his feeble and unpopular master. After the murder of Alex-
ander Severus and the elevation of Maximin, no emperor could
think himself safe upon the throne, and every barbarian peasant
of the frontier might aspire to that august but dangerous sta-
tion.
1 There had been no example of three successive generations on the throne ; only
three instances of sons who succeeded their fathers. The marriages of Csesars (not-
withstanding the permission, and the frequent practice, of divorces) were generally"
unfiruitfuL
OF THE ROMAN EMPIRE 169
About thirty-two years before that event, the emperor Birth and for-
Severus, returning from an Eastern expedition, halted in Thrace, Maximin
to celebrate, with military games, the birthday of his younger
son, Geta. The country flocked in crowds to behold their sove-
reign, and a young barbarian of gigantic stature earnestly
solicited, in his rude dialect, that he might be allowed to con-
tend for the prize of wrestling. As the pride of discipline
would have been disgraced in the overthrow of a Roman soldier
by a Thracian peasant, he was matched with the stoutest
followers of the camp, sixteen of whom he successively laid on
the ground. His victory was rewarded by some trifling gifts,
and a permission to enlist in the troops. The next day the
happy barbarian was distinguished above a crowd of recruits,
dancing and exulting after the fashion of his country. As soon
as he perceived that he had attracted the emperor's notice, he
instantly ran up to his horse, and followed him on foot, without
the least appearance of fatigue, in a long and rapid career.
'^Thracian," said Severus, with astonishment, "art thou dis-
posed to wrestle after thy race ? " " Most willingly. Sir," re-
plied the unwearied youth, and, almost in a breath, overthrew
seven of the strongest soldiers in the army. A gold collar was
the prize of his matchless vigour and activity, and he was
immediately appointed to serve in the horse-guards who always
attended on the person of the sovereign.^
Maximin, for that was his name, though bom on the terri- Hismmtaiy
tories of the empire, descended from a mixed race of barbarians. ho^Ss"^
His father was a Goth, and his mother of the nation of the
Alani.3 He displayed on every occasion avaloiu* equal to his
strength; and his native fierceness was soon tempered or dis-
guised by the knowledge of the world. Under the reign of
Severus and his son, he obtained the rank of centurion, with the
favour and esteem of both those princes, the former of whom
was an excellent judge of merit. Gratitude forbade Maximin
to serve under the assassin of Caracalla, Honour taught him to
decline the effeminate insults of Elagabalus. On the accession
of Alexander he returned to court, and was placed by that
prince in a station useful to the service and honourable to him-
self. The fourth legion, to which he was appointed tribune,
soon became, under his care, the best disciplined of the whole
army. With the general applause of the soldiers, who bestowed
on their favourite hero the names of Ajax and Hercules, he was
2 Hist. August, p. 138 [xix. i] ,
* [His father's name was Micca, his mother's Hababa.]
170 THE DECLINE AND FALL
successively promoted to the first military command/ and had
not he still retained too much of his savage origin, the emperor
might perhaps have given his own sister in marriage to the son
of Maximin.**
Conspiracy of Instead of securing his fidelity, these favours served only to
MajElmin [nflame the ambition of the Thracian peasant, who deemed his
■^ fortune inadequate to his merit as long as he was constrained
to acknowledge a superior. Though a stranger to real wisdom,
he was not devoid of a selfish cunning, which showed him that
the emperor had lost the affection of the army, and taught him
to improve their discontent to his own advantage. It is easy
for faction and calumny to shed their poison on the administra-
tion of the best of princes, and to accuse even their virtues by art-
fully confounding them with those vices to which they bear the
nearest affinity. The troops listened with pleasure to the
emissaries of Maximin. They blushed at their own ignominious
patience, which, during thirteen years, had supported the vexa-
tious discipline imposed by an effeminate Syrian, the timid
slave of his mother and of the senate. It was time, they cried,
to cast away that useless phantom of the civil power, and to
elect for their prince and general a real soldier, educated in
camps, exercised in war, who would assert the glory and distribute
among his companions the treasm-es of the empire. A great
army was at that time assembled on the banks of the Rhine,
under the command of the emperor himself, who, almost im-
mediately after his return from the Persian war, had been obliged
to march against the barbarians of Germany. The important
care of training and reviewing the new levies was intrusted to
Maximin. One day, as he entered the field of exercise, the
troops either from a sudden impulse or a formed conspiracy,
saluted him emperop, silenced by their loud acclamations his
obstinate refiisal, and hastened to consummate their rebellion
by the murder of Alexander Severus.
AJ>.235, The circumstances of his death are variously related. The
Murder of writcrs who supposc that he died in ignorance of the ingratitude
seveniB and ambition of Maximin affirm that, after taking a frugal re-
past in the sight of the army, he retired to sleep, and that about
the seventh hoiu* of the day a party of his own guards broke
*Hist. August, p. 140 [xix. 6]. Herodian, 1. vi. p. 223 [8]. Aurelius Victor.
By comparing these authors, it should seem, that Maximin had the particular
command of the Triballian horse, with the general commission of disciplining the
recruits of the whole army. His Biographer ought to have marked, with more
care, his exploits, and the successive steps of his military promotions.
*See the original letter of Alexander Severus, Hist. August, p. 149 [xix. 29].
OF THE HOMAN EMPIKE 171
into the Imperial tent, and, with many woundSj assassinated
their virtuous and unsuspecting prince.^ If we credit anotlier,
and indeed a more probable, account, Maximin was invested
with the purple by a numerous detachment, at the distance of
several miles from the head quarters, and he trusted for success
rather to the secret wishes than to the public declarations of the
great army. Alexander had sufficient time to awaken a faint -^
sense of loyalty among his troops; but their reluctant pro-
fessions of fidelity quickly vanished on the appearance of
Maximin, who declared himself the friend and advocate of the
military order, and was unanimously acknowledged emperor of
the Romans by the applauding legions. The son of Mamsea, be-
trayed and deserted, withdrew into his tent, desirous at least to
conceal his approaching fate from the insults of the multitude.
He was soon followed by a tribune and some centurions, the
ministers of death ; but instead of receiving with manly resolu-
tion the inevitable stroke, his unavailing cries and entreaties
disgraced the last moments of his life, and converted into con-
tempt some portion of the just pity which his innocence and
misfortunes must inspire. His mother, Mamsea, whose pride
and avarice he loudly accused as the cause of his ruin, perished
with her son. The most faithful of his friends were sacinficed
to the first fury of the soldiers. Others were reserved for the
more deliberate cruelty of the usurper, and those who experienced
mildest treatment were stripped of their employments and
ignominiously driven from the court and army.^
The former tyrants Caligula and Nero, Commodus and TvraunT of
Caracalla, were all dissolute and unexperienced youths,^ educated
in the purple, and corrupted by the pride of empire, the luxury
6 Hist. August, p. 135 [xviii. 61] . I have softened some of the most improbable
circumstances of this wretched biographer. From this ill-worded narration, it
should seem that, the prince's buffoon having accidently entered the tent, and
awakened the slumbering monarch, the fear of punishment urged him to persuade
the disaffected soldiers to commit the murder, [The place of the event was doubt-
less Mainz or its neighbourhood (so the Chronicle of Jerome, based on the Canon
of Eusebius), but L^mpridius, Hist. Aug. xviii. 59, and Aurelius Victor, Caesar,
xxiv. 4, strangely place the assassination at Sicilia in Britain. I do not profess to
understand either Britain or Sicilia. Schiller guesses a confusion with Vicus Brit-
annicus, Bretzenheim near Mainz.]
7 Herodian, 1. vi. p. 223-227 [8 and 9. The date of Alexander's death is March
(18, or 19 according to Borghesi) 235. Maximin was acknowledged by the Senate
on the 25th. J. Lbhrer (de C. Julio Vero Maximino, 1883) has sought to fix the
date as Feb. 10.]
8 Caligula, the eldest of the four, was only twenty-five years of age when he
ascended the throne ; Caracalla was twenty-three, Commodus nineteen, and Nero
no more than seventeen.
172 THE DECLINE AND FALL
of Rome, and the perfidious voice of flattery. The cruelty of
Maximin ^ was derived from a different source, the fear of con-
tempt. Though he depended on the attachment of the soldiers,
who loved him for virtues like their own, he was conscious that
his mean and barbarian origin, his savage appearance, and his
total ignorance of the arts and institutions of civil life,^'* formed
a very unfavourable contrast with the amiable manners of the
unhappy Alexander. He remembered that, in his hiunbler
fortune, he had often waited before the doors of the haughty
nobles of Rome, and had been denied admittance by the in-
solence of their slaves. He recollected too the friendship of a
few who had relieved his poverty, and assisted his rising hopes.
But those who had spumed, and those who had protected, the
Thracian, were guilty of the same crime, the knowledge of his
original obscurity. For this crime many were put to death ;
and by the execution of several of his benefactors Maximin
published, in characters of blood, the indelible history of his
baseness and ingratitude.^^
The dark and sanguinary soul of the tyrant was open to every
suspicion against those among his subjects who were the most
distinguished by their birth or merit. Whenever he was alarmed
with the sound of treason, his cruelty was unbounded and unre-
lenting. A conspiracy against his life was either discovered or
imagined, and Magnus, a consular senator, was named as the
principal author of it. Without a witness, without a trial, and
without an opportunity of defence, Magnus, with four thousand
of his supposed accomplices, were put to death. Italy and the
whole empire were infested with innumerable spies and in-
formers. On the slightest accusation, the first of the Roman
• [His imperial name is C. Julius Venis Maximinus.]
^0 It appears that he was totally ignorant of the Greek language ; which, from
its universal use in conversation and letters, was an essential part of every liberal
education. [His Latin was very imperfect.]
11 Hist. August, p. 141 [xix. 8]. Herodian, 1. vii. p. 337 [i]. The latter of
these historians has been most unjustly censured for sparing the vices of Maximin.
[Gibbon is unfair to Maximin (though afterwards indeed, p. 183, in the name of
' ' the candid severity of history, ' he partially retracts his harsh judgment). Maxi-
min was a rude soldier, but he was thoroughly well meaning and capable. He
was equal to the emergencies of the empire, and able to cope with the dangers on
the Rhine and the Danube, with which Alexander had not the strength to deal.
Like Septimius Sevenis, he had no sympathy with the senate, with Italy, or with
the populace of Rome. For him the army was the fopulus Romanus. The intense
hatred, however, which the senate conceived for him was chiefly due to the some-
what tyrannical rule of his praetorian prsefect, Vitalian, who governed at Rome
while the emperor defended the frontiers. Numerous inscriptions testify to Maii-
min's activity in every province in repairing and extending roads.]
OF THE ROMAN EMPIEE 173
nobles, who had governed provinces, commanded armies, and
been adorned with the consular and triumphal ornaments, were
chained on the public carriages, and hurried away to the em-
peror s presence. Confiscation, exile, or simple death, were
esteemed uncommon instances of his lenity. Some of the
unfortunate sufferers he ordered to be sewed up in the hides of
slaughtered animals, others to be exposed to wild beasts, others
again to be beaten to death with clubs. During the three years
of his reign he disdained to visit either Rome or Italy. His
camp, occasionally removed from the banks of the Rhine to
those of the Danube, was the seat of his stem despotism, which
trampled on every principle of law and justice, and was supported
by the avowed power of the sword.^^ No man of noble birth,
elegant accomplishments, or knowledge of civil business, was
suffered near his person ; and the court of a Roman emperor
revived the idea of those ancient chiefs of slaves and gladiators,
whose savage power had left a deep impression of terror and
detestation.^^
As long as the cruelty of Maximin was confined to the Sfi'JSfJtocef
illustrious senators, or even to the bold adventurers who in the
court or army expose themselves to the caprice of fortune, the
body of the people viewed their sufferings with indifference, or
perhaps with pleasure. But the tyrant's avarice, stimulated by
the insatiate desires of the soldiers, at length attacked the
public property.^* Every city of the empire was possessed of an
independent revenue, destined to purchase corn for the multi-
tude, and to supply the expenses of the games and entertain-
ments. By a single act of authority, the whole mass of wealth
was at once confiscated for the use of the Imperial treasury. The
temples were stripped of their most valuable offerings of gold
and silver, and the statues of gods, heroes, and emperors, were
melted down and coined into money. These impious orders
12 The wife of Maximin, by insinuating wise counsels with female gentleness,
sometimes brought back the tyrant to the way of truth and humanity. See Am-
mianus Marcellinus, xiv. i [8], where he alludes to the fact which he had more fully
related under the reign of the Gordians. We may collect from the medals, that
Paullina was the name of this benevolent empress ; and from the title of Diva, that
she died before Maximin. (Valesius ad loc. cit. Ammian. ) Spanheim de U. et
P. N. tom. ii. p. 300.
13 He was compared to Spartacus and Athenio. Hist. August, p. 141 [xix. 9].
1* [This is put rather unfairly. Money was wanted for the military operations on
the frontiers ; and one can feel little indignation that the amusements of the popu-
lace should have been postponed for the defence of the empire. Gibbon hardly
seems to realize that Maximin's warfare was serious, and that his organization of
the frontier defences was of capital importance.]
April
174 THE DECLINE AND FALL
could not be executed without tumults and massacres, as in
many places the people chose rather to die in the defence of
their altars than to behold in the midst of peace their cities
exposed to the rapine and cruelty of war. The soldiers them-
selves, among whom this sacrilegious plunder was distributed,
received it with a blush ; and, hardened as they were in acts of
violence, they dreaded the just reproaches of their friends and
relations. Throughout the Roman world a general cry of indig-
nation was heard, imploring vengeance on the common enemy
of human kind ; and at lengthy by an act of private oppression,
a peaceful and unarmed province was driven into rebellion
against him.^^
j^oitin The procurator of Africa was a servant worthy of such a
j^^p^* master, who considered the fines and confiscations of the rich as
one of the most fruitful branches of the Imperial revenue. An
iniquitous sentence had been pronounced against some opulent
youths of that country, the execution of which would have
stripped them of far the greater part of their patrimony. In this
extremity, a resolution that must either complete or prevent
their ruin was dictated by despair. A respite of three days,
obtained with difficulty from the rapacious treasurer, was em-
ployed in collecting from their estates a great number of slaves
and peasants blindly devoted to the commands of their lords,
and armed with the rustic weapons of clubs and axes. The
leaders of the conspiracy, as they were admitted to the audience
of the procurator, stabbed him with the daggers concealed
under their garments, and, by the assistance of their tumultuary
train, seized on the little town of Thysdrus,^^ and erected the
standard of rebellion against the sovereign of the Roman empire.
They rested their hopes on the hatred of mankind against
Maximin, and they judiciously resolved to oppose to that de-
tested tyrant an emperor whose mild virtues had already ac-
quired the love and esteem of the Romans, and whose authority
over the province would give weight and stability to the enter-
prise. Gordianus,!"^ their proconsul, and the object of their
choice, refused, with unfeigned reluctance, the dangerous
15 Herodian, 1. vii. p. 238 [3]. Zosiraus, 1. i. p. 15 [13]-
16 In the fertile territory of Byzacium, one hundred and fifty miles to the south
of Carthage. This city was decorated, probably b^ the Gordians, with the title of
colony, and with a fine amphitheatre, which is still in a very perfect state. See
Ttinerar. Wesseling, p. 59, and Shaw's Travels, p. 117. [Thy^drus is now El-
Djemm. This revolt took place in spring 238. Eckhel, vii. 293. The chronology
of the events of this year is hopelessly perplexing and uncertain. See App. 12.]
1^ [M. Antonius Gordianus.]
OF THE EOMAN EMPIRE 175
honour, and begged with tears that they should suffer him to
terminate in peace a long and innocent life, without staining his
feeble age with civil blood. Their menaces compelled him to
accept the Imperial purple, his only refuge indeed against the
jealous cruelty of Maximin ; since, according to the reasoning of
tyrants, those who have been esteemed worthy of the throne
deserve death, and those who deliberate have already re-
belled.i8
The family of Gordianus was one of the most illustrious of the character and
Roman senate. On the father s side he was descended from the SiVtSfr**^
Gracchi; on his mothers, from the emperor Trajan. A great '***'***"
estate enabled him to support the dignity of his birth, and in
the enjoyment of it he displayed an elegant taste and beneficent
disposition. The palace in Rome formerly inhabited by the
great Pompey had been, during several generations, in the
possession of Gordian's family.i^ It was distinguished by ancient
trophies of naval victories, and decorated with the works of
modem painting. His villa on the road to Prseneste was
celebrated for baths of singular beauty and extent, for three
stately rooms of an hundred feet in length, and for a magnificent
portico, supported by two hundred columns of the four most
curious and costly sorts of marble.^o The public shows ex-
hibited at his expense, and in which the people were entertained
with many himdreds of wild beasts and gladiators,^! seem to
surpass the fortune of a subject; and, whilst the liberality of
other magistrates was confined to a few solemn festivals in
Rome, the magnificence of Gordian was repeated, when he was
sedile, every month in the year, and extended, during his consul-
ship, to the principal cities of Italy. He was twice elevated to
1^ Herodian, I. vii. p. 239 [4]. Hist. August, p. 153 [xx. 7].
^9 Hist. August, p. 152 [xx. 3]. The celebrated house of Pompey in carinis^
was usurped by Marc Antony, and consequently became, after the Triumvir's
death, a part of the Imperial domain. The emperor Trajan allowed and even en-
couraged the rich senators to purchase those magnificent and useless palaces (Plin.
Panegyric, c. 50) ; and it may seem probable, that on this occasion, Pompey's
house came into the possession of Gordian*s great-grandfather.
20 The Claudian, the Numidian, the Carystian, and the Synnadian. The
colours of Roman marbles have been faintly described and imperfectly distinguished.
It appears, however, that the Carystian was a sea green, and that the marble of
Synnada was white mixed with oval spots of purple [rose-red]. See Salmasius ad
Hist. August, p. 164 [xx. 32, 2]. [The Numidian was a yellow crocus.]
2^ Hist. August, p. 151, 152 [xx. 3 and 4]. He sometimes gave five hundred
pair of Gladiators, never less than one hundred and fifty. He once gave for the
use of the Circus one hundred Sicilian, and as many Cappadocian horses. The
animals designed for hunting were chiefly bears, boars, bulls, stags, elks, wild
asses, &c. Elephants and lions seem to have been appropriated to Imperial mag-
nificence.
176 THE DECLINE AND FALL
the last-mentioned dignity, by Caraealla and by Alexander ; for
he possessed the uncommon talent of acquiring the esteem of
virtuous princeSj without alanning the jealousy of tyrants. His
long life was innocently spent in the study of letters and the
peaceful honours of Rome ; and, till he was named proconsul of
Africa by the voice of the senate and the approbation of Alex-
ander,22 he appears prudently to have declined the command of
annies and the government of provinces. As long as that
emperor lived, Africa was happy under the administration of his
worthy representative ; after the barbarous Maximin had usurped
the throne, Gordianus alleviated the miseries which he was
unable to prevent. When he reluctantly accepted the purple,
he was above fourscore years old ; a last and valuable remains
of the happy age of the Antonines, whose virtues he revived in
his own conduct, and celebrated in an elegant poem of thirty
books. With the venerable proconsul, his son, who had ac-
companied him into Africa as his lieutenant, was likewise de-
clared emperor. His manners were less pure, but his character
was equally amiable with that of his father. Twenty-two
acknowledged concubines, and a library of sixty-two thousand
volumes, attested the variety of his inclinations ; and from the
. productions which he left behind him, it appears that both the
one and the other were designed for use rather than for ostenta-
tion.23 The Roman people acknowledged in the features of the
younger Gordian the resemblance of Scipio Africanus, recollected
with pleasure that his mother was the grand-daughter of
Antoninus Pius, and rested the public hope on those latent
virtues which had hitherto, as they fondly imagined, lain con-
cealed in the luxurious indolence of a private life.
Theyaoucit As soon as the Gordians had appeased the first tumult of a
tionofthoir popular election they removed their court to Carthage. They
were received with the acclamations of the Africans, who
honoured their virtues, and who, since the visit of Hadrian, had
never beheld the majesty of a Roman emperor. But these vain
acclamations neither strengthened nor confirmed the title of the
Gordians. They were induced by principle, as well as interest,
to solicit the approbation of the senate ; and a deputation of the
^2 See the original letter, in the Augustan History, p. 152 [xx. 5^, which at once
shows Alexander's respect for the authority of the senate, and his esteem for the
proconsul appointed by that assembly.
^ By each of his concubines, the younger Gordian left three or four children.
His literary productions, though less numerous, were by no means contemp-
tible.
OF THE EOMAN EMPIRE 177
noblest provincials was sent, without delay, to Rome, to relate
and justify the conduct of their coimtrymen, who, having long
suffered with patience, were at length resolved to act with
vigour. The letters of the new princes were modest and
respectful, excusing the necessity which had obliged them to
accept the Imperial title, but submitting their election and their
fate to the supreme judgment of the senate.^^
The inclinations of the senate were neither doubtful nor The senate
divided. The birth and noble alliances of the Gordians had election of
intimately connected them with the most illustrious houses of
Rome. Their fortune had created many dependants in that
assembly, their merit had acquired many friends. Their mild
administration opened the flattering prospect of the restoration,
not only of the civil but even of the republican government.
The terror of military violence, which had first obliged the senate
to forget the mm'der of Alexander, and to ratify the election of
a barbarian peasant,^^ now produced a contrary effect, and pro-
voked them to assert the injured rights of freedom and humanity.
The hatred of Maximin towards the senate was declared and
implacable ; the tamest submission had not appeased his fury,
the most cautious innocence would not remove his suspicions ;
and even the care of their own safety urged them to share the
fortune of an enterprise, of which (if unsuccessftd) they were
sure to be the first victims. These considerations, and perhaps
others of a more private nature, were debated in a previous
conference of the consuls and the magistrates. As soon as their
resolution was decided, they convoked in the temple of Castor
the whole body of the senate, according to an ancient form of
secrecy ,2^ calculated to awaken their attention and to conceal
their decrees. " Conscript fathers,*' said the consul Syllanus,
'^the two Gordians, both of consular dignity, the one your
proconsul, and the other your lieutenant, have been declared
emperors by the general consent of Africa. Let us return
thanks," he boldly continued, " to the youth of Thysdrus ; let
us return thanks to the faithful people of Carthage, our generous
deliverers firom a horrid monster. — Why do you hear me thus
coolly, thus timidly ? Why do you cast these anxious looks on
24 Herodian, 1. vii. p- 243 [6]. Hist. August, p. 144 [xix. 14].
25 Quod tamen patres, dum periculosum existimant inermes armato resistere,
approbaverunt. Aurelius Victor [Caesar. 25].
26 Even the servants of the house, the scribes, &c., were excluded, and their
office was filled by the senators themselves. We are obliged to the Augustan
History, p. 157 [xx. 12] , for preserving this curious example of the old discipline
of the commonwealth.
12 VOL. L
178 THE DECLINE AND FALL
each other ? why hesitate ? Maximin is a public enemy ! may
his enmity soon expire with him^^^ and may we long enjoy the
prudence and felicity of Gordian the father, the valour and con-
stancy of Gordian the son ! " 28 Xhe noble ardour of the consul
anddeciaxea revivcd the languid spirit of the senate. By an unanimous
pttbuc enemy decree the election of the Gordians was ratified ; Maximin, his
son, and his adherents were pronounced enemies of their country,
and liberal rewards were offered to whomsoever had the courage
and good fortune to destroy them.
Aaiumeethe During the cmpcror s absence a detachment of the Praetorian
iSSSSd**' guards remained at Rome, to protect, or rather to command,
^^^ the capital. The praefect Vitalianus had signalized his fidelity
to Maximin by the alacrity with which he had obeyed, and
even prevented, the cruel mandates of the tyrant. His death
alone could rescue the authority of the senate, and the lives of
the senators, from a state of danger and suspense. Before their
resolves had transpired, a quaestor and some tribunes were com-
missioned to take his devoted hfe. They executed the order
with equal boldness and success ; and, with their bloody daggers
in their hands, ran through the streets, proclaiming to the
people and the soldiers the news of the happy revolution. The
enthusiasm of Hberty was seconded by the promise of a large
donative in lands and money ; the statues of Maximin were
thrown down ; the capital of the empire acknowledged, with
transport, the authority of the two Gordians and the senate ; ^^
and the example of Rome was followed by the rest of Italy.
and prepares A new Spirit had ariscn in that assembly, whose long patience
had been insulted by wanton despotism and military hcence.
The senate assumed the reins of government, and, with a calm
intrepidity, prepared to vindicate by arms the cause of freedom.
Among the consular senators recommended by their merit and
services to the favour of the emperor Alexander, it was easy to
select twenty, not unequal to the conmnand of an army and the
conduct of a war.^o To these was the defence of Italy intrusted.
Each was appointed to act in his respective department,
authorized to enrol and discipline the Italian youth, and in-
structed to fortify the ports and highways against the impending
^ [The true text has a confident future ; difacient ut esse iam desinat Gibbon
renders \\faciant which stood in the edition which he used.]
28 This spirited speech, translated from the Augustan historian, p. 156 [xx. 11],
seems transcribed by him from the original registers of the senate.
23 Herodian, 1. vii. p. 244 [6].
2** [Compare Herodian, viii. 5, 5, with Zosimus, i. 14, and Hist. Aug. xxi. 10.]
OF THE ROMAN EMPIRE 179
invasion of Maximin. A number of deputies, chosen from the
most illustrious of the senatorian and equestrian orders, were
despatched at the same time to the governors of the several
provinces, earnestly conjuring them to fly to the assistance of
their country, and to remind the nations of their ancient ties of
friendship with the Roman senate and people. The general
respect with which these deputies were received, and the zeal
of Italy and the provinces in favoiu" of the senate, sufficiently
prove that the subjects of Maximin were reduced to that un-
common distress, in which the body of the people has more to
fear from oppression than from resistance. The consciousness of
that melancholy truth inspires a degree of persevering fury
seldom to be found in those civil wars which are artificially
supported for the benefit of a few factious and designing
leaders. ^^
For, while the cause of the Gordians was embraced with such Defeat and
diffusive ardour, the Gordians themselves were no more. The two ctonUaM
feeble court of Carthage was alarmed with the rapid approach 3rd ji^'[238,
of Capelianus, governor of Mauritania,^^ who, with a small ^ ^
band of veterans ^^ and a fierce host of barbarians, attacked a
faithfiil but unwarlike province. The younger Gordian sallied
out to meet the enemy at the head of a few guards, and a
numerous undisciplined multitude, educated in the peaceful
luxury of Carthage. His useless valour served only to procure
him an honourable death in the field of battle. His aged father,
whose reign had not exceeded thirty-six days, put an end to his
life on the first news of the defeat. Carthage, destitute of
defence, opened her gates to the conqueror, and Africa was
exposed to the rapacious cruelty of a slave, obliged to satisfy his
unrelenting master with a large account of blood and treasure.^*
31 Herodian, 1. vii. p. 247 [7], 1. viii. p. 277 [6]. Hist. August, p. 156-158 [xx.
13 j^^.]. [See Corp. Insc. Lat. iii. 1422, 1423, 1456.]
32 [Not of Mauritania, but of Numidia. See C. I. L. viii. 2170.]
33 [The legion iii. Augusta.]
34 Herodian, I. vii. p. 254 [9] . Hist. August, p. 158-160 [xx. 15 sgg.'] . We
may observe that one month and six days for the reign of Gordian is a just cor-
rection of Casaubon and Panvinius, instead of the absurd reading of one year and
six months. See Commentar. p. 193. Zosimus relates, 1. i. p. 17 [16] . that the two
Gordians perished by a tempest in the midst of their navigation. A strange ignor-
ance of history, or a strange abuse of metaphors ! [The date of the death of the
Gordians is now known to be 238, but the month is uncertain. See Appendix 12.
The meeting of the senate is stated to have taken place on the 9th June or July
(see next note). It is clear that this meeting followed quickly on the news from
Africa ; the words of Capitolinus are — senatus praetrepidus in aedem Concordiae
concurrit. Thus the view of Eckhel and Clinton that the Gordians fell in April,
or March, 238, implies the rejection of this date.]
180
THE DECLINE AND FALL
the senate
Mh July
Election of The fatc of the Gordians filled Rome with just, but unexpected,
Baibin^by teiTor. The senate, convoked in the temple of Concord, affected
to transact the common business of the day ; and seemed to de-
cline, with trembling anxiety, the consideration of their own,
and the public, danger. A silent consternation prevailed on the
assembly, till a senator, of the name and family of Trajan,
awakened his brethren from their fatal lethargy. He represented
to them that the choice of cautious dilatory measures had been
long since out of their power ; that Maximin, implacable by
nature and exasperated by injuries, was advancing towards Italy,
at the head of the military force of the empire ; and that their
only remaining alternative was either to" meet him bravely in
the field, or tamely to expect the tortures and ignominious death
reserved for unsuccessful rebellion. "We have lost," continued
he, " two excellent princes ; but, unless we desert ourselves, the
hopes of the republic have not perished with the Gordians.
Many are the senators whose virtues have deserved, and whose
abilities would sustain, the Imperial dignity. Let us elect two
emperors, one of whom may conduct the war against the public
enemy, whilst his colleague remains at Rome to direct the civil
administration. I cheerfully expose myself to the danger and
envy of the nomination, and give my vote in favour of Maximus
and Balbinus. Ratify my choice, conscript fathers, or appoint,
in their place, others more worthy of the empire." The general
apprehension silenced the whispers of jealousy; the merit of the
candidates was universally acknowledged ; and the house re-
sounded with the sincere acclamations of " Long life and victory
to the Emperors Maximus and Balbinus. You are happy in the
judgment of the senate ; may the republic be happy under your
administration ! " ^5
The virtues and the reputation of the new emperors justified
the most sanguine hopes of the Romans. The various nature of
their talents seemed to appropriate to each his peculiar depart-
ment of peace and war, without leaving room for jealous emula-
tion. Balbinus was an admired orator, a poet of distinguished
fame, and a wise magistrate, who had exercised with innocence
and applause the civil jurisdiction in almost all the interior
provinces of the empire. His birth was noble, ^^ his fortune
s^See the Augustan History, p. 166 [xxi. i], from the registers of the senate;
the (kite is confessedly faulty, but the coincidence of the Apollinarian games
enables us to correct it. [lunias in Hist. Aug. xxi. i, is supposed to be a mere
slip of the pen for lulias.]
^ He was descended from Cornelius Balbus, a noble Spaniard, and the adopted
son of Theophanes the Greek historian. Balbus obtained the freedom of Rome by
Their char^
acte»
OF THE EOMAN EMPIRE 181
affluent, his manners liberal and affable. In him, the love of
pleasure was corrected by a sense of dignity, nor had the habits
of ease deprived him of a capacity for business. The mind
of Maximus s'' was formed in a rougher mould. By his valour
and abilities he had raised himself from the meanest origin to
the first employments of the state and army. His victories over
the Sarmatians and the Germans, the austerity of his life, and
the rigid impartiality of his justice whilst he was praefect of the
city, commanded the esteem of a people whose affections were
engaged in favour of the more amiable Balbinus. The two
colleagues had both been consul (Balbinus had twice enjoyed
that honourable office), both had been named among the twenty
lieutenants of the senate ; and, since the one was sixty and the
other seventy-four years old,^^ they had both attained the full
maturity of age and experience.
After the senate had conferred on Maximus and Balbinus an Tumoit at
equal portion of the consular and tribunitian powers, the title of yoSige/***
Fathers of their country, and the joint office of Supreme Pontiff^ dSrJd^^
they ascended to the Capitol to return thanks to the gods, *'****^
protectors of Rome.^^ The solemn rites of sacrifice were dis-
turbed by a sedition of the people. The licentious multitude
neither loved the rigid Maximus, nor did they sufficiently fear the
mild and humane Balbinus. Their increasing numbers sur-
rounded the temple of Jupiter ; with obstinate clamours they
asserted their inherent right of consenting to the election of
their sovereign : and demanded, with an apparent moderation,
that, besides the two emperors chosen by the senate, a third
should be added of the family of the Gordians, as a just return
of gratitude to those princes who had sacrificed their lives for the
republic. At the head of the city guards and the youth of the
the favoiir of Pompey, and preserved it by the eloquence of Cicero (see Orat. pro
Cornel, Balbo). The friendship of Csesar (to whom he rendered the most impor-
tant secret services in the civil war) raised him to the consulship and the pontificate,
honours never yet possessed by a stranger. The nephew of this Balbus triumphed
over the Garamantes. See Dictionnaire de Bayle, au mot Balbus, where he dis-
tinguishes the several persons of that name, and rectifies, with his usual accuracy,
the mistakes of former writers concerning them. [The full name of Balbinus was
D. Caelius Calvinus Balbinus.]
37 [M. Clodius Pupienus Maximus (on coins Pupienus, in African inscriptions
Pupienius).]
38 Zonaras, 1. xii. p. 622 [17]. But little dependence is to be had on the autho-
rity of a modern Greek, so grossly ignorant of the history of the third century that
he creates several imaginary emperors, and confounds those who really existed.
3* Herodian, 1. vii. p. 256 [10] , supposes that the senate was at first convoked •
in the Capitol, and is very eloquent on the occasion. The Augustan History, p^
166 [xxi. 3] , seems much more authentic.
182 THE DECLINE AND FALL
equestrian order, Maximus and Balbinus attempted to cut their
way through the seditious multitude. The multitude, armed
with sticks and stones, drove them back into the Capitol. It is
prudent to yield, when the contest, whatever may be the issue
of it, must be fatal to both parties. A boy, only thirteen years
of age, the grandson of the elder and nephew of the younger
Gordian, was produced to the people, invested with the orna-
ments and title of Caesar.^*^ The tumult was appeased by this
easy condescension ; and the two emperors, as soon as they
had been peaceably acknowledged in Rome, prepared to defend
Italy against the common enemy.
Maxiinin pre- Whilst in Romc and Africa revolutions succeeded each other
atSAe with such amazing rapidity, the mind of Maximin was agitated
thSS^em^*^ by the most furious passions. He is said to have received the
peron ncws of the rebellion of the Gordians, and of the decree of the
senate against him, not with the temper of a man^ but the rage
of a wild beast ; which, as it could not discharge itself on the
distant senate, threatened the life of his son, of his friends,
and of all who ventured to approach his person. The grateful in-
telligence of the death of the Gordians was quickly followed by
the assurance that the senate, laying aside all hopes of pardon
or accommodation, had substituted in their room two emperors,
with whose merit he could not be unacquainted. Revenge was
the only consolation left to Maximin, and revenge could only be
obtained by arms. The strength of the legions had been
assembled by Alexander from all parts of the empire. Three
successful campaigns against the Germans and the Sarmatians *^
had raised their fame, confirmed their discipline, and even in-
creased their numbers, by filling the ranks with the flower of
the barbarian youth. The life of Maximin had been spent in
war, and the candid severity of history cannot refuse him the
valour of a soldier, or even the abilities of an experienced
general.*^ It might naturally be expected that a prince of such
a character, instead of suffering the rebellion to gain stability by
delay, should immediately have marched from the banks of the
" [It is worthy of notice that he was not adopted as son by either of the Augusti,
as was usual in sUch cases.]
** [On the Rhine against the Germans 235 and 236, on the Danube against Sar-
matians and Dacians in 237. Hence the titles Germanicus, Dacicus, SarTttaticus
which his son also bore.]
*2 In Herodian, L vii. p. 249 [8], and in the Augustan History [xix. 18 ; xx. 14]
we have three several orations of Maximin to his army, on the rebellion of Africa
and Rome : M. de Tillemont has very justly observed, that they neither agree with
each other, nor with truth. Histoire des Erapereurs, tom. iii. p. 799.
OF THE ROMAN EMPIRE 183
Danube to those of the Tiber, and that bis victorious army,
instigated by contempt for the senate, and eager to gather the
spoils of Italy, should have burned with impatience to finish the
easy and lucrative conquest. Yet, as far as we can trust to the
obscure chronology of that period,^^ it appears that the operations
of some foreign war deferred the Italian expedition till the
ensuing spring. From the prudent conduct of Maximin, we may
leam that the savage features of his character have been exag-
gerated by the pencil of party; that his passions, however
impetuous, submitted to the force of reason ; and that the
barbarian possessed something of the generous spirit of Sylla,
who subdued the enemies of Rome before he suffered himself to
revenge his private injuries.**
When the troops of Maximin, advancing ^ in excellent order^ jtochMi^
arrived at the foot of the Julian Alps, they were terrified by 238. tebniarj
the silence and desolation that reigned on the frontiers of Italy.
The villages and open towns had been abandoned, on their
approach, by the inhabitants, the cattle was driven away, the
provisions removed or destroyed, the bridges broken down, nor
was anything left which could afford either shelter or subsist-
ence to an invader. Such had been the wise orders of the
generals of the senate, whose design was to protract the war,
to ruin the army of Maximin by the slow operation of famine,
and to consimie his strength in the sieges of the principal cities
of Italy, which they had plentifully stored with men and pro-
visions from the deserted coimtry. Aquileia received and with-
stood the first shock of the invasion. The streams that issue Bie«(rf
from the head of the Hadriatic gulf, swelled by the melting of
the winter snows,*^ opposed an unexpected obstacle to the arms
^ The carelessness of the writers of that age leaves us in a singular perplexity.
I. We know that Maximus and Balbinus were killed during the Capitoline games.
Herodian, 1. viii. p. 285 [8]. The authority of Censorinus (de Die Natali,_c. 18)
enables us to fix those games with certainty to the year 238, but leaves us in ignor-
ance of the month or day. 2. The election of Gordian by the senate is fixed, with
equal certainty, to the 27th of May ; but we are at a loss to discover, whether it
was in the same or the preceding year. Tillemont and Muratori, who maintain
the two opposite opinions, bring into the field a desultory troop of authorities,
conjectures and probabilities. The one seems to draw out, the other to contract,
the series of events, between those periods, more than can be well reconciled to
reason and history. Yet it is necessary to choose between them. [See further
Appendix 12.]
•iVelleius Paterculus, L ii. c. 24. The president de Montesquieu (m his
dialogue between Sylla and Eucrates) expresses the sentiments of the dictator in
a spirited and even sublime manner.
« [From Sirmium.]
« Muratori {Annali d'ltalia, torn. ii. p. 294) thinks the melting of the snows
suits better with the months of June or July, than with that of February. The
184 THE DECLINE AND FALL
of Maximin. At length, on a singular bridge, constructed, with
art and difficulty, of large hogsheads, he transported his army to
the opposite bank, rooted up the beautiful vineyards in the
neighbourhood of Aquileia, demolished the suburbs, and employed
the timber of the buildings in the engines and towers with which
on every side he attacked the city. The walls, fallen to decay
during the security of a long peace, had been hastily repaired
on this sudden emergency ; but the firmest defence of Aquileia
consisted in the constancy of the citizens ; all ranks of whom,
instead of being dismayed, were animated by the extreme
danger, and their knowledge of the tyrant's unrelenting temper.
Their courage was supported and directed by Crispinus and
Menophilus, two of the twenty lieutenants of the senate, who,
with a small body of regular ti'oops, had thrown themselves
into the besieged place. The army of Maximin was repulsed in
repeated attacks, his machines destroyed by showers of artificial
fire ; and the generous enthusiasm of the Aquileians was
exalted into a confidence of success, by the opinion that Belenus,
their tutelar deity, combated in person in the defence of his dis-
tressed worshippers.*^
Conduct of The Emperor Maximus, who had advanced as far as Ravenna
to secure that important place, and to hasten the military pre-
parations, beheld the event of the war in the more faithful
mirror of reason and policy. He was too sensible that a single
town could not resist the persevering efforts of a great army ;
and he dreaded lest the enemy, tired with the obstinate re-
sistance of Aquileia, should on a sudden reUnquish the fi-uitless
siege and march directly towards Rome. The fate of the empire
and the cause of freedom must then be committed to the chance
of a battle ; and what arms could he oppose to the veteran
legions of the Rhine and Danube ? Some troops newly levied
among the generous but enervated youth of Italy, and a body of
opinion of a man who passed his life between the Alps and the Apennines is un-
doubtedly of great weight ; yet I observe, i. That the long winter, of which
Muratori takes advantage, is to be found only in the Latin version, and not in the
Greek text, of Herodian. 2. That the vicissitude of suns and rains, to which the
soldiers of Maximin were exposed (Herodian, 1. viii. p. 277 [5]), denotes the spring
rather than the summer. We may observe likewise, that these several streams, as
they melted into one, composed the Timavus, so poetically (in every sense of the
word) described by Virgil. They are about twelve miles to the east of Aquileia.
See Cluver. Italia Antiqua, tom. i. p. 189, &c.
*7 Herodian, 1. viii. p. 272 [3]. The Celtic deity was supposed to be Apollo,
and received under that name the thanks of the senate. A temple was likewise
built to Venus the Bald, in honour of the women of Aquileia, who had given up
their hair to make ropes for the military engines.
Maxlmns
OF THE EOMAN EMPIRE 185
German auxiliaries, on whose firmness, in the hour of trial, it was
dangerous to depend. In the midst of these just alarms, the
stroke of domestic conspiracy punished the crimes of Maximin
and delivered Rome and the senate from the calamities
that would surely have attended the victory of an enraged
barbarian.
The people of Aquileia had scarcely experienced any of the Murder of
common miseries or a siege ; their magazines were plentiiully wb son,
supplied, and several fountains within the walls assured them April '
of an inexhaustible resource of fresh water. The soldiers of
Maximin were, on the contrary, exposed to the inclemency of
the season, the contagion of disease, and the horrors of famine.
The naked country was ruined, the rivers filled with the slain and
polluted with blood. A spirit of despair and disaffection began
to diffuse itself among the troops ; and, as they were cut off from
all intelligence, they easily believed that the whole empire had
embraced the cause of the senate, and that they were left as
devoted victims to perish under the impregnable walls of
Aquileia. The fierce temper of the tyrant was exasperated by
disappointments, which he imputed to the cowardice of his
army ; and his wanton and ill-timed cruelty, instead of striking
terror, inspii*ed hatred and a just desire of revenge. A party of
Praetorian guards, who trembled for their wives and children in
the camp of Alba, near Rome, executed the sentence of the
senate. Maximin, abandoned by his guards, was slain in his
tent, with his son (whom he had associated to the honours of
the purple), Anulinus the praefect, and the principal ministers of
his tyranny.^^ The sight of their heads, borne on the point of
spears, convinced the citizens of Aquileia that the siege was at
an end ; the gates of the city were thrown open, a liberal market
was provided for the hungry troops of Maximin, and the whole
ai*my joined in solemn protestations of fidelity to the senate and
people of Rome, and to their lawful emperors Maximus and
Balbinus. Such was the deserved fate of a brutal savage, hib portrait
destitute, as he has generally been represented, of every senti-
ment that distinguishes a civilized, or even a human, being.
The body was suited to the soul. The stature of Maximin
exceeded the measure of eight feet, and circumstances almost
^Herodian, 1. viii. p. 279 [5]. Hist. August, p. 146 [xix. 23]. The duration
of Maximin's reign has not been defined with much accuracy, except by Eutropius,
who allows him three years and a few days (1. ix. i) ; we may depend on the
integrity of the text, as the Latin original is checked by the Greek version of
Pseanius (see Appendix i).
186 THE DECLINE AND FALL
incredible are related of his matchless strength and appetite.*'
Had he lived in a less enlightened age, tradition and poetry
might well have described him as one of those monstrous giants,
whose supernatural power was constantly exerted for the destruc-
tion of mankind.
Joy of the It is easier to conceive than to describe the universal joy of the
man wo ^Q^jj^n world on the fall of the tyrant, the news of which is said
to have been carried in four days from Aquileia to Rome. The
return of Maximus was a triumphal procession ; his colleague
and young Gordian went out to meet him, and the three princes
made their entry into the capital, attended by the ambassadors
of almost all the cities of Italy, saluted with the splendid offerings
of gratitude and superstition, and received with the unfeigned
acclamations of the senate and people, who persuaded themselves
that a golden age would succeed to an age of iron.^** The
conduct of the two emperors corresponded with these expecta-
tions. They administered justice in person ; and the rigour of
the one was tempered by the other s clemency. The oppressive
taxes with which Maximin had loaded the rights of inheritance
and succession were repealed, or at least moderated. Discipline
was revived, and with the advice of the senate many wise laws
were enacted by their Imperial ministers, who endeavoured to
restore a civil constitution on the ruins of military tjranny.
" What reward may we expect for delivering Rome from a
monster ? *' was the question asked by Maximus, in a moment of
freedom and confidence. Balbinus answered it without hesita-
tion, "The love of the senate, of the people, and of all mankind".
"Alas r* replied his more penetrating colleague, "Alas! I dread
the hatred of the soldiers, and the fatal effects of their resent-
ment." ^^ His apprehensions were but too well justified by the
event.
Sedition at Whilst Maximus was preparing to defend Italy against the
common foe, Balbinus, who remained at Rome, had been engaged
in scenes of blood and intestine discord. Distnist and jealousy
reigned in the senate ; and even in the temples where they
** Eight Roman feet and one third, which are equal to above eight English feel, as
the two measures are to each other in the proportion of 967 to 1000. See Graves's
discourse on the Roman foot. We are told that Maximin could drink in a day an
amphora (or about seven gallons) of wine and eat thirty or forty pounds of meat. He
could move a loaded waggon, break a horse's leg with his fist, crumble stones in his
hand, and tear up small trees by the roots. See his Life in the Augustan History.
™See the congratulatory letter of Claudius Julianus the consul, to the two
emperors, in the Augustan History [xxi. 17].
*> Hist. Augfust. p. 171 [xxi. 15].
Komo
OF THE ROMAN EMPIRE 187
assembled every senator carried either open or concealed arms.
In the midst of their deliberations, two veterans of the guards,
actuated either by curiosity or a sinister motive, audaciously
thrust themselves into the house, and advanced by degrees
beyond the altar of Victory. Gallicanus, a consular, and
Maecenas, a praetorian senator, viewed with indignation their
insolent intrusion : di'awing their daggers, they laid the spies,
for such they deemed them, dead at the foot of the altar, and
then, advancing to the door of the senate, imprudently exhorted
the midtitude to massacre the Praetorians as the secret adherents
of the tjrrant. Those who escaped the first fuiy of the tumult
took refuge in the camp, which they defended with superior
advantage against the reiterated attacks of the people, assisted
by the numerous bands of gladiators, the property of opulent
nobles. The civil war lasted many days, with infinite loss and
confusion on both sides. When the pipes were broken that
supphed the camp with water, the Praetorians were reduced to
intolerable distress; but, in their turn, they made desperate salHes
into the city, set fire to a great number of houses, and filled the
streets with the blood of the inhabitants. The emperor Balbinus
attempted, by ineffectual edicts and precarious truces, to re-
concile the factions of Rome. But their animosity, though
smothered for a while, burnt with redoubled violence. The
soldiers, detesting the senate and the people, despised the weak-
ness of a prince who wanted either the spirit or the power to
command the obedience of his subjects. ^2
After the tyrant's death his formidable army had acknowledged. Discontent of
from necessity rather than from choice, the authority of Maximus, gnlrdT
who transported himself without delay to the camp before
Aquileia. As soon as he had received their oath of fidelity he
addressed them in terms full of mildness and moderation ;
lamented rather than arraigned the wild disorders of the times,
and assured the soldiers that, of all their past conduct, the
senate would remember only their generous desertion of the
tyrant and their voluntary return to their duty. Maximus en-
forced his exhortations by a liberal donative, purified the camp
by a solemn sacrifice of expiation, and then dismissed the legions
to their several provinces, impressed, as he hoped, with a lively
sense of gratitude and obedience.^^ But nothing could reconcile
the haughty spirit of the Praetorians. They attended the em-
perors on the memorable day of their public entry into Rome ;
»Herodian, I viii, p. 258 [is], *« Jierodian, I viii. p. 213 [7],
188 THE DECLINE AND FALL
but, amidst the general acclamations, the sullen dejected
countenance of the guards sufficiently declared that they con-
sidered themselves as the object, rather than the partners, of the
triumph. When the whole body was united in their camp, those
who had served under Maximin, and those who had remained at
Rome, insensibly communicated to each other their complamts
and apprehensions. The emperors chosen by the army had
perished with ignominy ; those elected by the senate were
seated on the throne.^* The long discord between the civil and
military powers was decided by a war in which the former had
obtained a complete victory. The soldiers must now learn a
new doctrine of submission to the senate ; and, whatever
clemency was affected by that politic assembly, they dreaded a
slow revenge, coloured by the name of discipline, and justified
by fair pretences of the public good. But their fate was still in
their own hands ; and, if they had courage to despise the vain
terrors of an impotent republic, it was easy to convince the world
that those who were masters of the arms were masters of the
authority of the state.
Maaaiicre of When the scuatc elected two princes, it is probable that, be-
Baibintu sides the declared reason of providing for the various emergen-
cies of peace and war, they were actuated by the secret desire
of weakening by division the despotism of the supreme magis-
trate. Their policy was effectual, but it proved fatal both to
their emperors and to themselves. The jealousy of power was
soon exasperated by the difference of character. Maximus
despised Balbinus as a luxurious noble, and was in his turn
disdained by his colleague as an obscure soldier. Their silent
discord was imderstood rather than seen ; ^^ but the mutual con-
sciousness prevented them from uniting in any vigorous measures
of defence against their common enemies of the Praetorian camp.
^.g8. The whole city was employed in the Capitoline games, and the
emperors were left almost alone in the palace. On a sud-
den they were alarmed by the approach of a troop of desperate
assassins. Ignorant of each other's situation or designs, for they
already occupied very distant apartments, afraid to give or to
"4 The observation had been made imprudently enough in the acclamations of
the senate, and with regard to the soldiers it carried the appearance of a wanton
insult. Hist. August, p. 170 [xxi. 12].
55 DiscordiEe tacitae et quae intelligerentur potius quam viderentur. Hist.
August, p. 170 [xxi. 14]. This well chosen expression is probably stolen from
some better writer. [On the coins, however, we see awwr f»a^K«j, coneordia Augg.,
&c. It was arranged that Balbinus should undertake the war on the Danube,
Pupienus that on the Euphrates.]
OF THE EOMAN EMPIRE 189
receive assistance^ they wasted the important moments in idle
debates and fruitless recriminations. The arrival of the guards
put an end to the vain strife. They seized on these emperors
of the senate, for such they called them with malicious contempt,
stripped them of their garments, and dragged them in insolent
triumph through the streets of Rome, with a design of inflicting
a slow and cruel death on these unfortunate princes. The fear
of a rescue from the faithful Germans of the Imperial guards
shortened their tortures ; and their bodies, mangled with a
thousand wounds, were left exposed to the insults or to the pity
of the populace.^^
In the space of a few months six princes had been cut off by The third
the sword. Gordian, who had already received the title of ma^BToL^"
CsGsar, was the only person that occurred to the soldiers as ^^^^^°^
proper to fill the vacant throne.^''^ They carried him to the camp
and unanimously saluted him Augustus and Emperor.^^ His
name was dear to the senate and people ; his tender age pro-
mised a long impunity of military licence ; and the submission
of Rome and the provinces to the choice of the Praetorian guards
saved the republic, at the expense indeed of its freedom and
dignity, from the horrors of a new civil war in the heart of the
capital. ^^
As the third Gordian was only nineteen years of age at the innocence and
time of his death, the history of his life, were it known to us GordSi'^
with greater accuracy than it really is, would contain little more
than the account of his education and the conduct of the minis-
ters who by turns abused or guided the simplicity of his inex-
perienced youth. Immediately after his accession he fell into
the hands of his mother's eunuchs, that pernicious vermin of the
East, who, since the days of Elagabalus, had infested the Roman
palace. By the artful conspiracy of these wretches an impene-
56 Herodian, 1. viii. p. 287, 288 [8]. [The date is probably August ; see
Appendix 12. Gibbon accepted isth July.]
67 Quia non alius erat in praesenti, is the expression of the Augustan History
[xxi. 14].
68 [Before 29th August, as is proved by Alexandrine coins.]
59Quintus Curtius (1. x. c. 9), pays an elegant compliment to the emperor of
the day, for having, by his happy accession, extinguished so many fire-brands,
sheathed so many swords, and put an end to the evils of a divided government.
After weighing with attention every word of the passage, I am of opinion that it
suits better with the elevation of Gordian than with any other period of the Roman
History. In that case, it may serve to decide the age of Quintus Curtius, Those
who place him under the first Caesars argue from the purity of his style, but are
embarrassed by the silence of Quintilian in his accurate list of Roman historians.
rit is now generally agreed to place Curtius in the reign of Nero ; but of his life we
know nothing.]
190 THE DECLINE AND FALL
trable veil was drawn between an innocent prince and his
oppressed subjects, the viituous disposition of Gordian was
deceived, and the honours of the empire sold without his know-
ledge, though in a very public manner, to the most worthless of
mankind. We are ignorant by what fortunate accident the
emperor escaped from this ignominious slavery, and devolved
his confidence on a minister whose wise counsels had no object
except the glory of the sovereign and the happiness of the
people. It should seem that love and learning introduced Misi-
A.D. 240, theus ^^ to the favour of Gordian, The young prince married the
tionofMiri- daughter of his master of rhetoric, and promoted his father-
*"" m-law to the first offices of the empire. Two admirable letters
that passed between them are still extant. The minister, with the
conscious dignity of virtue, congratulates Gordian that he is de-
livered from the tyranny of the eunuchs,^^ and still more, that
he is sensible of his deliverance. The emperor acknowledges,
with an amiable confiision, the errors of his past conduct ; and
laments, with singular propriety, the misfortune of a monarch
from whom a venal tribe of courtiers perpetually labour to con-
ceal the truth.®2
TiiePerBiaii The life of Misithcus had been spent in the profession of
letters, not of arms ; yet such was the versatile genius of that
great man that, when he was appointed Praetorian prsefect, he
discharged the mihtary duties of his place with vigour and
abihty. The Persians had invaded Mesopotamia, and threatened
Antioch. By the persuasion of his father-in-law, the young
emperor quitted the luxury of Rome, opened, for the last time
recorded in history, the temple of Janus, and marched in person
into the East.^^ On his approach with a great army, the Persians
withdrew their garrisons from the cities which they had already
^ [The true name of this minister was C. Furius Sabinius Aquila Timesitheus.
His name occurs on inscriptions. Gibbon calls him Misitheus after the Augustan
History. The marriage of Gordian with his daughter, Tranquillina, is placed too
early by Gibbon (240 A.D.). Alexandrine coins prove that it took place in the
fourth tribunate of the emperor, between 30th August 241 and 29th August 242.]
^ Hist. August, p. 161 [xx. 24 and 25] . From some hints in the two letters, I
should expect that the eunuchs were not expelled the palace without some degree
of gentle violence, and that young Gordian rather approved of, than consented to,
their disgrace.
•2 Duxit uxorem filiam Misithei, quem causd eloquentise dignum parenteia suA
putavit ; et prasfectum statim fecit ; post quod non puerile jam et contemptibile
videbatiu: imperium [ib. 23] .
63 [The army of Gordian halted on its way and cleared Thrace of barbarian
invaders, Alans, Goths, and Sarmatians. It has been conjectured that on this
occasion Viminacium was made a colonia.]
OF THE ROMA]!T EMPIRE 191
taken, and retired from the Euphrates to the Tigris/* Gordian
enjoyed the pleasure of announcing to the senate the first
success of his arms, which he ascribed with a becoming modesty
and gratitude to the wisdom of his father and prsefect. During
the whole expedition, Misitheus watched over the safety and
discipline of the army ; whilst he prevented their dangerous
murmurs by maintaining a regular plenty in the camp, and by
establishing ample magazines of vinegar, bacon, straw, barley,
and wheat, in all the cities of the frontier. ^^ But the prosperity
of Gordian expired with Misitheus, who died of a flux, not with-
out very strong suspicions of poison. Philip, his successor in a^ 21s,
the praefecture, was an Arab by birth, and consequently, in the puup
earher part of his life, a robber by profession. His rise from so
obscure a station to the first dignities of the empire seems to
prove that he was a bold and able leader. But his boldness
prompted him to aspire to the throne, and his abOities were
employed to supplant, not to serve, his indulgent master. The
minds of the soldiers were irritated by an artificial scarcity,
created by his contrivance in the camp ; and the distress of the
army was attributed to the youth and incapacity of the prince.
It is not in our power to trace the successive steps of the secret
conspiracy and open sedition which were at length fatal to
Gordian, A sepulchral monument was erected to his memory M"^*" <>'
on the spot^^ where he was killed, near the conflux of the^D^'
Euphrates with the little river Aboras.^^ The fortunate Philip,
raised to the empire by the votes of the soldiers, found a ready
obedience from the senate and the provinces.^^
^ [The successes were due to the abilities of Timesitheus. Carrhae and Nisibis,
which, along with Hatra, had been taken by Sapor in his invasion of 241 A.D.,
were recovered, and the Roman army, having defeated the Persians at Resaina,
prepared to march on Ctesiphon.]
05 Hist. August, p. 162 [xx. 27] . Aurelius Victor fCsesar. 27] . Porphyrins in
Vit. Plotin. ap. Fabricium Biblioth. Grsec. I. iv. c. 36 [c. 3, p. 103, ed. Westermann
and Boissonade] . The philosopher Plotinus accompanied the army, prompted by
the love of knowledge, and by the hope of penetrating as far as India.
*® About twenty miles from the little town of Circesium, on the frontier of the
two empires. [Eutropius, ix. 2, 3.]
^ The inscription (which contained a very singular pun) was erased by the order
of Licinius, who claimed some degree of relationship to Philip (Hist. August, p.
165 [xx. 34] ) ; but the tumulus or mound of earth which formed the sepulchre,
still subsisted in the time of Julian. See Aramian. Marcellin. xxiii. 5. [The pun
to which Gibbon refers was on the name of Philip. Gordian is described as the
conqueror of various peoples. "Victori Persarum, victori, &c. — sad non victori
Philipporum." It seems that Gordian had suffered a reverse in some skirmish with
the Alans near Philippi.]
*8 Aurelius Victor. Eutrop. ix. 2. Orosius, vii. 20. Ammianus Marcellinus,
xxiii. 5. Zosimus, 1. i. p. 19 [19]. Philip, who was a native of Bostra. was about
forty years of age. [His name was M. Julius Philippus.]
192 THE DECLINE AND FALL
roiTO^a We cannot forbear transcribing the ingenious, though some-
repnbuo what fanciful, description, which a celebrated writer of our own
times has traced of the miHtary government of the Roman
empire. " What in that age was called the Roman empire was
only an irregular republic, not unlike the aristocracy ^^ of
Algiers,*^** where the militia, possessed of the sovereignty,
creates and deposes a magistrate, who is styled a Day. Perhaps,
indeed, it may be laid down as a general rule, that a military
government is, in some respeetSj more republican than mon-
archical. Nor can it be said that the soldiers only partook of
the government by their disobedience and rebellions. The
speeches made to thera by the emperors, were they not at
length of the same nature as those formerly pronounced to the
people by the consuls and the tribunes ? And although the
armies had no regular place or forms of assembly, though their
debates were short, their action sudden, and their resolves
seldom the result of cool reflection, did they not dispose, with
absolute sway, of the public fortune ? What was the emperor,
except the minister of a violent government, elected for the
private benefit of the soldiers ?
''When the army a elected Philip, who was Praetorian
praefect to the third Gordian, the latter demanded that he might
remain sole emperor; he was unable to obtain it. He requested
that the power might be equally divided between them ; the
array would not Hsten to his speech. He consented to be
degraded to the rank of Caesar; the favour was refused him!
He desired, at least, he might be appointed Praetorian praefect;
his prayer was rejected. Finally, he pleaded for his life. The
army, in these several judgments, exercised the supreme magis-
tracy." According to the historian, whose doubtful narrative the
president De Montesquieu has adopted, Philip, who, during the
whole transaction, had preserved a sullen silence, was inclined to
spare the innocent life of his benefactor; till, recoUecting that his
innocence might excite a dangerous compassion in the Roman
world, he commanded, without regard to his suppliant cries, that
he should be seized, stript, and led away to instant death.
After a moment's pause the inhuman sentence was executed. ^^
^® Can the epithet of Aristocracy be applied, with any propriety, to the govern-
ment of Algiers ? Every military government floats between the extremes of abso-
lute monarchy and wild democracy.
70 The military republic of the Mamalukes in Egypt would have afforded M. de
Montesquieu (see Considerations sur la Grandeur et la Decadence des Romains, c.
i6) a juster and more noble parallel.
^The Augustan History {p. 163, 164 [xx. 30]) cannot, in this instance, be re-
conciled with itself or with probability. How could Philip condemn his predecessor^
OF THE ROMAN EMPIRE 193
On his return from the East to RomCj Philip, desirous ofReimiof
obliterating the memory of his crimes, and of captivating the '
affections of the people, solemnized the secular games with
infinite pomp and magnificence. Since their institution or
revival by AugustuSj'^2 t^gy j^^j been celebrated by Claudius, by
Domitian, and by Severus, and were now renewed, the fifth
time, on the accomplishment of the full period of a thousand
years from the foundation of Rome. Every circumstance of the secular
secular games was skilfully adapted to inspire the superstitious ms, April a
mind with deep and solemn reverence. The long interval
between them ^^ exceeded the term of human life ; and, as none
of the spectators had already seen them, none could flatter
themselves with the expectation of beholding them a second
time. The mystic sacrifices were performed, during three
nights, on the banks of the Tiber ; and the Campus Martins
resounded with music and dances, and was illuminated with
innumerable lamps and torches. Slaves and strangers were ex-
cluded from any participation in these national ceremonies. A
chorus of twenty-seven youths, and as many virgins, of noble
families, and whose parents were both alive, implored the pro-
pitious gods in favour of the present, and for the hope of the
rising generation ; requesting, in religious hymns, that, accord-
ing to the faith of their ancient oracles, they would still maintain
the virtue, the felicity, and the empire of the Roman people."^*
The magnificence of PhiUp's shows and entertainments dazzled
the eyes of the multitude. The devout were employed in the
rites of superstition, whilst the reflecting few revolved in their
anxious minds the past history and the future fate of the empire.
Since Romulus, with a small band of shepherds and outlaws, DeoUne of the
Roman
empire
and yet consecrate his memory? How could he order his public execution, and
yet, in his letters to the senate, exculpate himself from the guilt of his death?
Philip, though an ambitious usurper, was by no means a mad tyrant. Some chrono-
logical difficulties have likewise been discovered by the nice eyes of Tillemont and
Muratori, in this supposed association of Philip to the empire.
■^2 The account of the last supposed celebration, though in an enlightened period
of history, was so very doubtful and obscure, that the alternative seems not doubt-
ful. When the popish jubilees, the copy of the secular games, were invented by
Boniface VIII. , the crafty pope pretended that he only revived an ancient institu-
tion. See M. le Chais, Lettres sur les Jubilfe. • [The celebrations of the Secular
Games under Augustus in B.C. 17, and under Severus in a.d, 204, are fully dis-
cussed by Mommsen in the Ephemeris Epigraphica, viii. p. 225 sqq. , 1899 (Com-
mentaria ludreum sascularium quintorum et septimorum), on the basis of large
fragments of the Acta of both these festivals, discovered m excavations in 1890.]
'3 Either of a hundred, or a hundred and ten years. Varro and Livy adopted
the former opinion, but the infallible authority of the Sybil consecrated the latter
(Censorinus de Die Natal, c. 17). The emperors Claudius and Philip, however, did
not treat the oracle with implicit respect.
■''* The idea of the secular games is best understood from the poem of Horace, and
the description of Zosimus, 1. ii. p. 167 [5], &c. [Milliarium Sseculum is on the coins.]
13 VOL. I.
194 THE DECLINE AND FALL
fortified himself on the hills near the Tiber, ten centuries had
already elapsedJ^ During the four first ages, the Romans, in
the laborious school of poverty, had acquired the virtues of war
and government : by the vigorous exertion of those virtues, and
by the assistance of fortune, they had obtained, in the course of
the three succeeding centuries, an absolute empire over many
countries of Europe, Asia, and Africa. The last three hundred
years had been consumed in apparent prosperity and internal
decline. The nation of soldiers, magistrates, and legislators,
who composed the thirty-five tribes of the Roman people, was
dissolved into the common mass of mankind, and confounded
with the millions of servile provincials, who had received the
name, without adopting the spirit, of Romans. A mercenary
army, levied among the subjects and barbarians of the frontier,
was the only order of men who preserved and abused their
independence. By their tumultuary election, a Syrian, a Goth,
or an Arab, was exalted to the throne of Rome, and invested
with despotic power over the conquests and over the country of
the Scipios.
The limits of the Roman empire still extended from the
Western Ocean to the Tigris, and from Mount Atlas to the
Rhine and the Danube. To the undisceming eye of the vulgar,
Philip appeared a monarch no less powerful than Hadrian or
Augustus had formerly been. The form was still the same, but
the animating health and vigour were fled, The industry oi
the people was discouraged and exhausted by a long series of
oppression. The discipline of the legions, which alone, after
the extinction of every other virtue, had propped the greatness
of the state, was corrupted by the ambition, or relaxed by the
weakness, of the emperors. The strength of the frontiers, which
had always consisted in arms rather than in fortifications, was
insensibly undermined ; and the fairest provinces were left ex-
posed to the rapaciousness or ambition of the barbarians, who soon
discovered the decline of the Roman empire.
7S The received calculation of Varro assigns to the foundation of Rome an asra
that corresponds with the 754th year before Christ. But so little is the chronology
of Rome to be depended on in the more early ages, that Sir Isaac Newton has
brought the same event as low as the year 627,
OF THE ROMAN EMPIRE 195
CHAPTBE VIII
Of the State of Persia after the Restoration of the Monarchy hy
Artaxerxes^
Whenever Tacitus indulges himself in those beautiful episodes. The tar-
in which he relates some domestic transaction of the Germans EaetSd of**
or of the Parthians, his principal object is to relieve the atten-*^*****
tion of the reader from a uniform scene of vice and misery.
From the reign of Augustus to the time of Alexander Sevems,
the enemies of Rome were in her bosom — the tyrants, and the
soldiers ; and her prosperity had a very distant and feeble interest
in the revolutions that might happen beyond the Rhine and the
Euphrates. But, when the military order had levelled in wild
anarchy the power of the prince, the laws of the senate, and even
the discipline of the camp, the barbarians of the North and of the
East, who had long hovered on the frontier, boldly attacked the
provinces of a declining monarchy. Their vexatious im-oads were
changed into formidable irruptions, and, after a long vicissitude
of mutual calamities, many tribes of the victorious invaders
established themselves in the provinces of the Roman empire.
To obtain a clearer knowledge of these great events we shall
endeavour to form a previous idea of the character, forces, and
designs of those nations who avenged the cause of Hannibal
and Mithridates.
In the more early ages of the world, whilst the forest that ^®J^^***"^
covered Europe afforded a retreat to a few wandering savages,
the inhabitants of Asia were already collected into populous
cities, and reduced under extensive empires, the seat of the arts,
of luxury and of despotism. The Assyrians reigned over the
East, 2 till the sceptre of Ninus and Semiramis dropt from the
1 [On the sources for Eastern affairs see Appendix 13 ; on the Zend Avesta and
Persian religion, Appendix 14.]
2 An ancient chronologist quoted by Velleius Paterculus (1. i. c. 6) observes that
the Assyrians, the Medes, the Persians, and the Macedonians, reigned over Asia
one thousand nine hundred and ninety-five years, from the accession of Ninus to
the defeat of Antiochus by the Romans. As the latter of these great events
happened 189 years before Christ, the former may be placed 2184 years before the
same aera. The Astronomical Observations, found at Babylon by Alexander, went
196 THE DECLINE AND FALL
hands of their enervated successors. The Medes and the Baby-
lonians divided their power, and were themselves swallowed up
in the monarchy of the Persians, whose anus could not be con-
fined within the narrow limits of Asia. Followed, as it is said,
by two millions of men, Xerxes, the descendant of Cyrus, in-
vaded Greece. Thirty thousand soldierSj under the command of
Alexander, the son of Philip, who was intrusted by the Greeks
with their glory and revenge, were sufficient to subdue Persia.
The princes of the house of Seleucus usurped and lost the Mace-
donian command over the East. About the same time that, by
an ignominious treaty, they resigned to the Romans the countiy
on this side Mount Taurus, they were driven by the Parthians,
an obscure horde of Scythian origin, from all the provinces of
Upper Asia. The formidable power of the Parthians, which
spread from India to the frontiers of Syria, was in its turn sub-
verted by Ardshir,^ or Artaxerxes; the founder of a new dynasty,
which, under the name of Sassanides, governed Persia till the
invasion of the Arabs. This great revolution, whose fatal in-
fluence was soon experienced by the Romans, happened in the
fourth year of Alexander Severus, two hundi*ed and twenty-six
years after the Christian ser&A
The perflian Artaxcrxcs had served with great reputation in the armies of
Sored b/Ix- Artaban, the last king of the Parthians, and it appears that he
*^8rxe3 ^^g driven into exile and rebellion by royal ingratitude, the
customary reward for superior merit. His birth was obscure,
and the obscurity equally gave room to the aspersions of his
enemies, and the flattery of his adherents. If we credit the
scandal of the former, Artaxerxes sprang from the illegitimate
commerce of a tanner's wife with a common soldier. ^ The latter
represents him as descended from a branch of the ancient kings
of Persia, though time and misfortune had gradually reduced his
fifty years higher. [Babylonian history begins in the fourth chiliad B.C. ; Assyrian
barely in the 14th century. The second and greater Assyrian empire was founded
by Assur-n^ir-pal and Salmanassar II. bis son in the ninth century.]
8 [Ardeshlr is the approved transliteration.]
* In the five hundred and thirty-eighth year of the asra of Seleucus. See Agathias,
1. ii. p. 63 [27]. This great event (such is the carelessness of the Orientals) is
placed by Eutychius as high as the tenth year of Commodus, and by Moses of
Chorene as low as the reign of Phihp. Ammianus Marcellinus has so servilely
copied (xxiii. 6) his ancient materials, which are indeed very good, that he describes
the family of the Arsacides as still seated on the Persian throne in the middle of
the fourth century.
^ The tanner's name was- Babec ; the soldier's, Sassan ; from the former Artax-
erxes obtained the surname of Babegan ; from the latter all his descendants have
been styled Sassanides. [Ardeshlr IV. was the son of Bd.bag, the eleventh prince of
Pars or Persis. BAbag&n means " son of Bibag
OF THE ROMAN EMPIRE 197
ancestors to the humble station of private citizens.^ As the
Uneal heir of the monarchy, he asserted his right to the throne,
and challenged the noble task of delivering the Persians from
the oppression under which they groaned above five centuries
since the death of Darius. The Parthians were defeated in
three great battles. In the last of these their king Artaban
was slain, and the spirit of the nation was for ever broken.^
The authority of Artaxerxes was solemnly acknowledged in a
great assembly held at Balch in Khorasan. Two younger
branches of the royal house of Arsaces were confoimded among
the prostrate satraps. A third, more mindful of ancient grandeur
than of present necessity, attempted to retire with a numerous
train of vassals^ towards their kinsman, the king of Armenia ;
but this little army of deserters was intercepted and cut off
by the vigilance of the conqueror, ^ who boldly assumed the
double diadem, and the title of King of Kings, which had been
enjoyed by his predecessor. ^ But these pompous titles, instead
of gratifying the vanity of the Persian, served only to admonish
him of his duty, and to inflame in his soul the ambition of re-
storing, in their full splendour, the religion and empire of Cyrus.
I. During the long servitude of Persia under the Macedonian Reformation
and the Parthian yoke, the nations of Europe and Asia had religion ^
mutually adopted and corrupted each other's superstitions. The
ArsacideSj indeed, practised the worship of the Magi ; but they
disgraced and polluted it with a various mixture of foreign
idolatry. The memory of Zoroaster, the ancient prophet and
philosopher of the Persians, ^^ was still revered in the East ; but
the obsolete and mysterious language in which the Zendavesta
6 D'Herbelot, Bibliothfeque Orientale, Ardshir,
7 Dion Cassius, 1. Ixxx. [3]. Herodian, 1. vi. p. 207 [2]. Abiilpharagius
Dynast, p. 80. [The battle was fought at Hormuz, between Behbehan and Schusch-
ter. The approved spelling of Artaban is Ardevfin. He was the fifth Parthian
king of that name.]
8 See Moses Chorenensis, 1. ii. c. 65-71.
9 [Ardeshlr IV. of the small kingdom of Persis became, when he overthrew the
Parthian monarchy, Ardeshlr I. of the great kingdom of Persia. His title was
' ' King of Kings of Eran and Turan ". The Parthians were not completely quelled,
though they had lost their king, till 232 a.d.]
10 Hyde and Prideaux, working up the Persian legends and their own conjec-
tures into a very agreeable story, represent Zoroaster as a contemporary of Darius
Hystaspis. But it is sufficient to observe that the Greek writers, who lived almost
in the same age, agree in placing the aera of Zoroaster many hundred, or even
thousand, years before their own time. The judicious criticism of Mr. Moyle per-
ceived, and maintained against his uncle Dr. Prideaux, the antiquity of the Persian
prophet. See his work, vol. ii. [Of Zarathustra or Zoroaster himself we know
nothing. All the stories about him are mere fables ; and it cannot be determined
whether he was a god made into a man, or a man who really lived.]
198 THE DECLINE AND FALL
was composedj ^^ opened a field of dispute to seventy sects,
who variously explained the fundamental doctrines of their
religion, and were all equally derided by a crowd of infidels, who
rejected the divine mission and miracles of the prophet. To
suppress the idolaters, re-unite the schismatics, and confute the
unbelievers by the infallible decision of a general council, the
pious Artaxerxes summoned the Magi from all parts of his do-
minions. These priests, who had so long sighed in contempt
and obscurity, obeyed the welcome summons ; and on the ap-
pointed day appeared to the number of about eighty thousand.
But as the debates of so tumultuous an assembly could not have
been directed by the authority of reason, or influenced by the
art of policy, the Persian synod was reduced, by successive opera-
tions, to forty thousand, to four thousand, to four hundred, to
forty, and at last to seven Magi, the most respected for their
learning and piety. One of these, Erdaviraph, a young but holy
prelate, received from the hands of his brethren three cups of
soporiferous wine. He drank them off, and instantly fell into a
long and profound sleep. As soon as he waked, he related to
the king and to the believing multitude his journey to Heaven,
and his intimate conferences with the Deity. Every doubt was
silenced by this supernatural evidence ; and the articles of the
faith of Zoroaster were fixed with equal authority and precision. ^^
A short delineation of that celebrated system will be found use-
ful, not only to display the character of the Persian nation, but
to illustrate many of their most important transactions, both in
peace and war, with the Roman empire. ^^
Persian The great and fundamental article of the system was the
twoViScipie* celebrated doctrine of the two principles; a bold and injudicious
attempt of Eastern philosophy to reconcile the existence of
moral and physical evil with the attributes of a beneficent
Creator and Governor of the world. The first and original Being,
11 That ancient idiom was called the Zertd, The language of the commentary,
the Pehlvi, though much more modern, has ceased many ages ago to be a living
tongue. [It was spoken in the western regions of Iran, Zend in the eastern.] This
fact alone (if it is allowed as authentic) sufficiently warrants the antiquity of
those writings, which M. d'Anquetil has brought into Europe, and translated into
French. [On the Zend Avesta see Appendix 14,]
12 Hyde de Religione veterum Pers. c. 21.
1* I have principally drawn this account from the Zendavesta of M. d'Anquetil^
and the Sadder, subjoined to Dr. Hyde's treatise. It must, however, be confessed,
that the studied obscurity of a prophet, the figurative style of the East, and the
deceitful medium of a French or Latin version, may have betrayed us into error
and heresy, in this abridgment of Persian theology. [Unfortunately the Sadder
is a late compilation, — post-Mahometan.]
OF THE ROMAN EMPIRE 199
in whom, or by whom, the universe exists, is denominated in
the writings of Zoroaster, Time without bounds ; but it must be
confessed that this infinite substance seems rather a meta-
physical abstraction of the mind than a real object endowed
with self-consciousness, or possessed of moral perfections. ^^ From
either the blind or the intelligent operation of this infinite Time,
which bears but too near an affinity with the Chaos of the
Greeks, the two secondary but active principles of the universe
were from all eternity produced, Ormusd and Ahriman, each of
them possessed of the powers of creation, but each disposed, by
his invariable nature, to exercise them with different designs.^^
The principle of good is eternally absorbed in light : the principle
of evil eternally buried in darkness. The wise benevolence of
Ormusd formed man capable of virtue, and abundantly provided
his fair habitation with the materials of happiness. By his
vigilant providence, the motion of the planets, the order of the
seasons, and the temperate mixture of the elements are pi'e-
served. But the malice of Ahriman has long since pierced
Ormusd's egg; or, in other words, has violated the harmony of
his works. Since that fatal eruption, the most minute particles
of good and evil are intimately intermingled and agitated to-
gether, the rankest poisons spring up amidst the most salutary
plants ; deluges, earthquakes, and conflagrations attest the con-
flict of Nature ; and the little world of man is perpetually shaken
by vice and misfortune. Whilst the rest of human kind are led
away captives in the chains of their infernal enemy, the faithful
Persian alone reserves his religious adoration for his friend and
protector Ormusd, and fights under his banner of light, in the
full confidence that he shall, in the last day, share the glory of
his triumph. At that decisive period the enlightened wisdom
of goodness will render the power of Oi*musd superior to the
furious malice of his rival. Ahriman and his followers, disarmed
and subdued, will sink into their native darkness ; and virtue
will maintain the eternal peace and harmony of the universe.^®
1* [This doctrine is not Zoroastrian. Late systems endeavoured to overcome the
duahsm, and unify the two principles by assuming a higher principle — space, or
time, or fate — from which both sprang.]
1^ [Ahura Mazda and Angra Mainya. The law was revealed by Ahura Mazda
to Zarathustra (Zoroaster).]
1* The modern Parsees (and in some degree the Sadder) exalt Ormusd into the
first and omnipotent cause, whilst they degrade Ahriman into an inferior but
rebellious spirit. Their desire of pleasing the Mahometans may have contributed
to refine their theological system. [The doctrine of the future triumph of Ormusd
is not in the Zendavesta.]
200 THE DECLINE AND FALL
Beii^ui The theology of Zoroaster was darkly comprehended by
foreigners, and even by the far greater number of his disciples ;
but the most careless observers were struck with the philosophic
simplicity of the Persian worship. " That people/' says Herodo-
tus,^^ "rejects the use of temples, of altars, and of statues, and
smiles at the folly of those nations, who imagine that the gods
are sprung from, or bear any affinity with, the human nature. The
tops of the highest mountains are the places chosen for sacrifices.
Hymns and prayers are the principal worship ; the Supreme
God who fills the wide circle of heaven, is the object to whom
they are addressed." Yet, at the same time, in the true spirit
of a polytheist, he accuses them of adoring Earth, Water, Fire,
the Winds, and the Sun and Moon. But the Persians of every
age have denied the charge, and explained the equivocal con-
duct which might appear to give a colour to it. The elements,
and more particularly Fire, Light, and the Sun, whom they called
Mithra, were the objects of their religious reverence, because they
considered them as the purest symbols, the noblest productions,
and the most powerful agents of the Divine Power and Nature.^^
ceremonifli Evcrv modc of reliffion, to make a deep and lasting impression
and moral .t. u ■ j 1 ■ u j- iT ■ • •
precepti on the human mind, must exercise our obedience by enjoimng
practices of devotion, for which we can assign no reason ; and
must acquire our esteem, by inculcating moral duties analogous
to the dictates of our own hearts. The religion of Zoroaster
was abundantly provided with the former, and possessed a
sufficient portion of the latter. At the age of puberty the faith-
ful Persian was invested with a mysterious girdle, the badge of
the divine protection ; and from that moment all the actions of
his life, even the most indifferent or the most necessary, were
sanctified by their peculiar prayers, ejaculations, or genuflexions ;
the omission of which, under any circumstances, was a grievous
sin, not inferior in guilt to the violation of the moral duties.
The moral duties, however, of justice, mercy, liberality, &c,, were
in their turn required of the disciple of Zoroaster, who wished
to escape the persecution of Ahriman, and to live with Ormusd in
a blissful eternity, where the degree of felicity will be exactly
proportioned to the degree of virtue and piety. ^^
1' Herodotus, I. i. c. 131. But Dr. Prideaux thinks, with reason, that the use
of temples was afterwards permitted in the Magian religion.
18 Hyde de Relig. Pers. c. 8. Notwithstanding all their distinctions and pro-
testations, which seem sincere enough, their tyrants, the Mahometans, have con-
stantly stigmatized them as idolatrous worshippers of the fire.
1* See the Sadder, the smallest part of which consists of moral precepts. The
ceremonies enjoined are infinite and trifling. Fifteen genuflexions, prayers, &c.,
OF THE ROMAN EMPIRE 201
But there are some remarkable instances in which Zoroaster Encourage,
lays aside the prophet, assumes the legislator, and discovers a at^cuunre
liberal concern for private and public happiness, seldom to be
found among the grovelling or visionary schemes of superstition.
Fasting and celibacy, the common means of purchasing the
divine favour, he condemns with abhorrence, as a criminal
rejection of the best gifts of providence. The saint, in the
Magian religion, is obliged to beget children, to plant useful
trees, to destroy noxious animals, to convey water to the dry
lands of Persia, and to work out his salvation by pursuing all the
labours of agriculture. We may quote from the Zend Avesta a
wise and benevolent maxim, which compensates for many an
absurdity. " He who sows the ground with care and diligence
acquires a greater stock of religious merit than he could gain by
the repetition often thousand prayers." 20 jn the spring of every
year a festival was celebrated, destined to represent the primitive
equality, and the present connexion, of mankind. The stately
kings of Persia, exchanging their vain pomp for more genuine
greatness, freely mingled with the humblest but most useful of
their subjects. On that day the husbandmen were admitted,
without distinction, to the table of the king and his satraps.
The monarch accepted their petitions, inquired into their
grievances, and conversed with them on the most equal terms.
'*^From your labours," was he accustomed to say (and to say
with truth, if not with sincerity), "from your labours we receive
our subsistence ; you derive your tranquillity from our vigilance .
since, therefore, we are mutually necessary to each other, let us
live together like brothers in concord and love." 21 Such a
festival must indeed have degenerated, in a wealthy and despotic
empire, into a theatrical representation ; but it was at least a
comedy well worthy of a royal audience, and which might some-
times imprint a salutary lesson on the mind of a young prince.
Had Zoroaster, in all his institutions, invariably supported this pg^erofthe
exalted character, his name would deserve a place with those of Magi
Numa and Confucius, and his system would be justly entitled to
all the applause which it has pleased some of our divines, and
even some of our philosophers, to bestow on it. But in that
motley composition, dictated by reason and passion, by enthusi-
asm and by selfish motives, some useful and sublime truths were
were required whenever the devout Persian cut his nails or made water ; or as
often as he put on the sacred girdle. Sadder, Art. 14, 50, 60.
20 Zend Avesta, torn. i. p. 224, and Precis du Syst^me de Zoroastre, tom. ill.
ai Hvde de Religione Persarum, c. 19.
202 THE DECLINE AND FALL
disgraced by a mixture of the most abject and dangerous super-
stition. The Magi, or sacerdotal order, were extremely numerous,
since, as we have already seen, fourscore thousand of them were
convened in a general council. Their forces were multiplied by
discipUne. A regular hierarchy was diffused through all the
provinces of Persia ; and the Archimagus, who resided at Balch,
was respected as the visible head of the church, and the lawful
successor of Zoroaster.22 The property of the Magi was very
considerable. Besides the less invidious possession of a large
tract of the most fertile lands of Media, ^^ they levied a general
tax on the fortunes and the industry of the Persians.^* " Though
your good works," says the interested prophet, '^ exceed in
number the leaves of the trees, the drops of rain, the stars in
the heaven, or the sands on the sea-shore, they will all be un-
profitable to you, unless they are accepted by the destowj or
priest. To obtain the acceptation of this guide to salvation, you
must faithfully pay him tithes of all you possess, of your goods, of
your lands, and of your money. If the destour be satisfied, your
soul will escape hell tortiu-es ; you will secure praise in this
world and happiness in the next. For the destours are the
teachers of religion ; they know all things, and they deliver all
men.
25
These convenient maxims of reverence and implicit faith were
doubtless imprinted with care on the tender minds of youth ;
since the Magi were the masters of education in Persia, and to
their hands the children even of the royal family were intrusted.^^
The Persian priests, who were of a speculative genius, preserved
and investigated the secrets of Oriental philosophy ; and acquired,
either by superior knowledge or superior art, the reputation of
being well versed in some occult sciences, which have derived
their appellation from the Magi.'^''^ Those of more active dis-
positions mixed with the world in courts and cities ; and it is
22 Id. c. 28. Both H)[de and Prideaux affect to apply to the Magian, the terras
consecrated to the Christian, hierarchy.
23 Ammian. Marcellin. xxiii. 6. He informs us (as far as we may credit him) of
two curious particulars; i, that the Magi derived some of their most secret
doctrines from the Indian Brachmans ; and, 2, that they were a tribe or family, as
well as order.
2* The divine institution of tithes exhibits a singular instance of conformity be-
tween the law of Zoroaster and that of Moses. Those who cannot otherwise
account for it may suppose, if they please, that the Magi of the latter times in-
serted so useful an interpolation into the writings of their prophet.
» Sadder, Art. 8.
26 Plato in Alcibiad [37] .
27 Pliny (Hist. Natur. 1. xxx. c. i) observes that magic held mankind by the
triple chain of religion, of physic, and of astronomy.
OF THE ROMAN EMPIRE 208
observed that the administration of Artaxerxes was in a great
measure directed by the counsels of the sacerdotal order, whose
dignity, either from policy or devotion, that prince restored to
its ancient splendour.^s
The first counsel of the Magi was agreeable to the unsociable spirit of
genius of then* faith,^^ to the practice of ancient kings,^^ and
even to the example of their legislator, who had fallen a victim
to a religious war excited by his own intolerant zeal.^^ By an
edict of Artaxerxes, the exercise of every worship, except that
of Zoroaster, was severely prohibited. The temples of the
Parthians, and the statues of their deified monarchs, were thrown
down with ignominy. ^^ The sword of Aristotle (such was the
name given by the Orientals to the polytheism and philosophy
of the Greeks) was easily broken ; ^^ the flames of persecution
soon reached the more stubborn Jews and Christians ; ^* nor did
they spare the heretics of their own nation and religion. The
majesty of Ormusd, who was jealous of a rival, was seconded by
the despotism of Artaxerxes, who could not suffer a rebel ; and
the schismatics within his vast empire were soon reduced to the
inconsiderable number of eighty thousand.^^ This spirit of
persecution reflects dishonour on the religion of Zoroaster ; but,
as it was not productive of any civil commotion, it served to
strengthen the new monarchy by uniting all the various inhabi-
tants of Persia in the bands of religious zeal.
II. Artaxerxes, by his valour and conduct, had wrested the Jj**^^^^"**^
sceptre of the East from the ancient royal family of Parthia. JJ^^p^r^*''*'*
There still remained the more difficult task of establishing,^"*
throughout the vast extent of Persia, a uniform and vigorous
administration. The weak indulgence of the Arsacides had
resigned to their sons and brothers the principal provinces and
the greatest offices of the kingdom, in the nature of hereditary
28 Agathias, 1. iv. p. 134 [24. As nothing is said here of the Magi, it has been
supposed by Sir Wm. Smith that Gibbon meant to refer to ii. 26,]
29 Mr. Hume, in the Natiiral History of Religion, sagaciously remarks that
the most refined and philosophic sects are constantly the most intolerant.
30 Cicero de Legibus, ii. 10. Xerxes, by the advice of the Magi, destroyed the
temples of Greece.
31 Hyde de Rel. Persar. c. 23, 24. D'Herbelot, Bibliothfeque Orientale, Zerduskt
Life of Zoroaster in torn. ii. of the Zendavesta.
32 Compare Moses of Chorene, 1. ii. c. 74, with Ammian. MarcelliiL xxiii. 6.
Hereafter I shall make use of these passages.
^ Rabbi Abraham, in the Tarikh Schickard, p. 108, 109.
^Basnage, Histoire des Juifs, 1. viii. c. 3. Sozomen, 1. i. c, i [leg. 9; this
passage refers to the persecution of Sapor II.]. Manes, who suffered an igno-
minious death, may be deemed a Magian, as well as a Christian, heretic.
^^Hyde de Religione Persar. c. 21.
204 THE DECLINE AND FALL
possessions. The vitaxce, or eighteen most powerful satraps,
were permitted to assume the regal title, and the vain pride of
the monarch was dehghted with a nominal dominion over so
many vassal kings. Even tribes of barbarians in their mountains,
and the Greek cities of Upper Asia/^ within their walls, scarcely
acknowledged, or seldom obeyed, any superior; and the Parthian
empire exhibited, under other names, a lively image of the feudal
system ^^ which has since prevailed in Europe. But the active
victor, at the head of a numerous and disciplined army, visited
in person every province of Persia. The defeat of the boldest
rebels and the reduction of the strongest fortifications^^ diffused
the terror of his arms and prepared the way for the peaceful
reception of his authority. An obstinate resistance was fatal to
the chiefs ; but their followers were treated with lenity.^® A
cheerful submission was rewarded with honours and riches ; but
the prudent Artaxerxes, suffering no person except himself to
assume the title of king, abolished every intermediate power
Ertentajd^ bctwcen the throne and the people. His kingdom, nearly equal
feMia in extent to modem Persia, was, on every side, bounded by
the sea or by great rivers, — by the Euphrates, the Tigris, the
Araxes, the Oxus, and the Indus ; by the Caspian Sea and the
Gulf of Persia.^'* That country was computed to contain, in the
^ These colonies were extremely numerous. Seleucus Nicator founded thirty-
nine cities, all named from himself, or some of his relations (see Appian in Syriac.
p. 124 [57]). The sera of Seleucus {still in use among the eastern Christians)
appears as late as the year 508, of Christ 196, on the medals of the Greek cities
within the Parthian empire. See Moyle's works, vol. i. p. 273, &c., and M. Freret.
M^m. de I'Acad^mie, torn. xix.
37 The modem Persians distinguish that period as the dynasty of the kings of
the nations. See Plin. Hist. Nat. vi. 25.
38 Eutychius (torn. i. p. 367, 371, 375) relates the siege of the Island of Mesene
in the Tigris, with some circumstances not unlike the story of Nisus and Scylla.
39 Agathias, u. p. 64 [26]. The princes of Segestan defended their independence
during many years. As romances generally transport to an ancient period the events
of their own time, it is not impossible that the fabulous exploits of Rustan Prince
of Segestan may have been grafted on this real history.
*o We can scarcely attribute to the Persian monarchy the sea coast of Gedrosia
or Macran, which extends along the Indian Ocean from Cape Jask (the promontory
Capella) to Cape Goadel. In the time of Alexander, and probably many ages after-
wards, it was thinly inhabited by a savage people of Ichthyophagi, or Fishermen,
who knew no arts, who acknowledged no master, and who were divided by inhos-
pitable deserts from the rest of the world. (See Arrian de Reb. Indicis [26]. ) In the
twelfth century, the little town of Taiz (supposed by M. d'Anville to be the Tesa
of Ptolemy) was peopled and enriched by the resort of the Arabian merchants.
(See Geographia Nubiens. p. 58, and d'Anville G^ographie Ancienne, torn. ii. p.
283.) In the last age the whole country was divided between three princes, one
Mahometan and two Idolaters, who maintained their independence against Ihe
successors of Shaw Abbas. (Voyages de Tavernier, part i. 1. v. p. 635.)
OF THE ROMAN EMPIRE 206
last century, five hundred and fifty-four cities^ sixty thousand
villages, and about forty millions of souls. *^ If we compare the
administration of the house of Sassan with that of the house of
Sesi, the political influence of the Magian with that of the
Mahometan religion, we shall probably infer that the kingdom
of Artaxerxes contained at least as great a number of cities,
villages, and inhabitants. But it must likewise be confessed
that in every age the want of harbours on the sea coast, and the
scarcity of fresh water in the inland provinces, have been very
unfavourable to the commerce and agriculture of the Persians ;
who, in the calculation of their numbers, seem to have indulged
one of the meanest, though most common, artifices of national
vanity.
As soon as the ambitious mind of Artaxerxes had triumphed Rocapituia.
over the resistance of his vassals, he began to threaten the watb between
neighbouring states, who, during the long slumber of his pre-and^man°
decessors, had insulted Persia with impunity. He obtained some *"*
easy victories over the wild Scythians and the effeminate
Indians ; but the Romans were an enemy who, by their past
injuries and present power, deserved the utmost efforts of his
arms. A forty years* tranquillity, the fruit of valour and modera-
tion, had succeeded the victories of Trajan. During the period
that elapsed from the accession of Marcus to the reign of
Alexander, the Roman and the Parthian empires were twice
engaged in war ; and, although the whole strength of the
Arsacides contended with a part only of the forces of Rome, the
event was most commonly in favour of the latter. Macrinus,
indeed, prompted by his precarious situation and pusillanimous
temper, purchased a peace at the expense of near two millions
of our money ; *2 but the generals of Marcus, the emperor
Severus, and his son, erected many trophies in Armenia,
Mesopotamia, and Assyria. Among their exploits, the im-
perfect relation of which would have unseasonably inteiTupted
the more important series of domestic revolutions, we shall only
mention the repeated calamities of the two great cities of
Seleucia and Ctesiphon.
Seleucia, on the western bank of the Tigris, about forty-five ciues
miles to the north of ancient Babylon, was the capital of the ct«iiphon
4iChardin, torn. iii. c. i, 2, 3. [The number seems too high. At the present
time the population of Iran and Turan (including Afghanistan, Beluchistan, &c.) is
said to be between fifteen and sixteen millions.]
*2Dion, 1. xxviii. p. 133S [27. Two hundred million sesterces. Yet the coins
of 218 A.D. boast of a Victoria Parthica.]
206 THE DECLINE AND FALL
Macedonian conquests in Upper Asia.43 Many ages after the
fall of their empire, Seleucia reUined the genuine characters of
a Grecian colony — arts^ military virtue, and the love of freedom.
The independent repubhc was governed by a senate of three
hundred nobles ; the people consisted of six hundred thousand
citizens ; the walls were strong, and, as long as concord prevailed
among the several orders of the state, they viewed with con-
tempt the power of the Parthian : but the madness of faction
was sometimes provoked to implore the dangerous aid of the
common enemy, who was posted almost at the gates of the
colony.** The Parthian monarchs, like the Mogul sovereigns
of Hindostan, delighted in the pastoral life of their Scythian
ancestors ; and the Imperial camp was frequently pitched in the
plain of Ctesiphon, on the eastern bank of the Tigris, at the
distance of only three miles from Seleucia.*^ The innumerable
attendants on luxury and despotism resorted to the court, and
the httle village of Ctesiphon insensibly swelled into a great
city.*^ Under the reign of Marcus, the Roman generals
penetrated as far as Ctesiphon and Seleucia.*^ They were
received as friends by the Greek colony; they attacked as
A.D. 165 enemies the seat of the Parthian kings ; yet both cities ex-
perienced the same treatment. The sack and conflagration of
Seleucia, with the massacre of three hundred thousand of the
inhabitants, tarnished the glory of the Roman triumph.*^
Seleucia, already exhausted by the neighbourhood of a too
A.D; 198 powerful rival, sunk under the fatal blow ; but Ctesiphon, in
about thirty-three years, had sufficiently recovered its strength
to maintain an obstinate siege against the emperor Severus.
The city was, however, taken by assault ; the king, who de-
*8 For the precise situation of Babylon, Seleucia, Ctesiphon, Modain, pnd Bag-
dad, cities often confounded with each other, see an excellent Geographical Tract
of M. d'Anville, in M^m. de I'Acad^mie, torn. xxx.
« Tacit. Annal. vi. 42. Plin. Hist. Nat. yi. 26.
** This may be inferred from Strabo, 1. xvi. p. 743.
-i^That most curious traveller, Bernier (see Hist, de Voyages, tom. x.), who
followed the camp of Aurengzebe from Delhi to Cashmir, describes with great
accuracy the immense moving city. The guard of cavalry consisted of 35,000 men,
that of infantry of 10,000. It was computed that the camp contained 150,000
horses, mules, and elephants ; 50,000 camels, 50,000 oxen, and between ^00,000
and 400,000 persons. Almost all Delhi followed the court, whose magnificeuce
supported its industry.
" [These successes were achieved by Avidius Cassius. He took Nisibis, and
Dausara near Edessa. The Parthians were defeated at Europos in Cyrrhestica.]
*8Dion, 1. Ixxi. p. 1178 [2]. Hist. August, p. 38 [v. 8J. Eutrop. viii. 10.
Euseb. in Chronic, [ann. 2180]. Quadratus (quoted in the Augustan History)
attempted to vindicate the Romans by alleging that the citizens of Seleucia had
first violated their faith.
OF THE ROMAN EMPIEE 207
fended it in person, escaped with precipitation ; an hundred
thousand captives and a rich booty rewarded the fatigues of
the Roman soldiers.^^ Notwithstanding these misfortunes,
Ctesiphon succeeded to Babylon and to Seleucia as one of the
great capitals of the East.^^ ju summer, the monarch of Persia
enjoyed at Ecbatana the cool breezes of the mountains of Media ;
but the mildness of the climate engaged him to prefer Ctesiphon
for his winter residence.
From these successful inroads the Romans derived no real or conquertof
lasting benefit ; nor did they attempt to preserve such distant tS Romans
conquests^ separated from the provinces of the empire by a
lax'ge tract of intermediate desert. The reduction of the king-
dom of Osrhoene was an acquisition of less splendour indeed,
but of a far more solid advantage. That little state occupied
the northern and most fertile part of Mesopotamia, between the
Euphrates and the Tigris. Edessa, its capital, was situated
about twenty miles beyond the former of those rivers, and the
inhabitants, since the time of Alexander, were a mixed race
of Greeks, Arabs, Syrians, and Armenians.^i The feeble
sovereigns of Osrhoene, placed on the dangerous verge of two
contending empires, were attached from inclination to the
Parthian cause ; but the superior power of Rome exacted from
them a reluctant homage, which is still attested by their
medals.^2 After the conclusion of the Parthian war imder
Marcus, it was judged prudent to secure some substantial pledges
of their doubtful fidelity. Forts were constructed in several
parts of the country, and a Roman garrison was fixed in the
strong town of Nisibis. During the troubles that followed the
death of Commodus, the princes of Osrhoene attempted to
shake off the yoke ; but the stem policy of Severus confirmed
their dependence,^^ and the perfidy of Caracalla completed the
easy conquest. Abgarus, the last king ^* of Edessa, was sent in A.D.216
chains to Rome, his dominions reduced into a province, and his
«Dion, 1. Ixxv. p. 1263 [9]. Herodian, 1. iii. p. 120 [9]. Hist. Augustp. 70
[x. 16. Hiemali prope tempore, which fixes the capture to end of 197 or beginning
of 198 A.D.]
fio [Ctesiphon was restored by Sapor II.]
51 The polished citizens of Antioch called those of Edessa mixed barbarians.
It was, however, some praise, that, of the three dialects of the Syriac, the purest
and most elegant {the Aramaean) was spoke at Edessa. This remark M. Bayer
,{Hist. Edess. p. 5) has borrowed from George of Malatia, a Syrian writer.
52 [Compare Eckhel, iii, 514.] ^ », t^ u 1 * j *
53 Dion, 1. Ixxv. p. 1248, 1249, 1250 [i, 2, 3]. M, Bayer has neglected to use
ihis most important passage.
54 \B£i^Ueus was the title. J
208
THE DECLINE AND FALL
Arfcaxerxei
claimi the
provincei of
Asia, and de-
clares war
against the
Romanfi,
A.D. 230
Pretendttd
victory of
Alexander
Several,
A.D. 233
capital dignified with the rank of colony ; ^^ and thus the
Romans^ about ten years before the fall of the Parthian
monarchy, obtained a firm and permanent establishment beyond
the Euphrates.56
Prudence as well as glory might have justified a war on the
side of Artaxerxes, had his views been confined to the defence
or the acquisition of a useful frontier. But the ambitious Per-
sian openly avowed a far more extensive design of conquest;
and he thought himself able to support his lofty pretensions by
the arms of reason as well as by those of power. Cyrus, he
alleged, had first subdued, and his successors had for a long time
possessed, the whole extent of Asia^ as far as the Propontis and
the ^gean Sea ; the provinces of Caria and Ionia, under their
empire, had been governed by Persian satraps ; and all Egypt, to
the confines of Ethiopia, had acknowledged their sovereignty.^^
Their rights had been suspended, but not destroyed, by a long
usurpation ;^^ and, as soon as he received the Persian diadem,
which birth and successful valour had placed upon his head,
the first great duty of his station called upon him to restore
the ancient limits and splendour of the monarchy. The Great
King, therefore (such was the haughty style of his embassies to
the Emperor Alexander), commanded the Romans instantly to
depart from all the provinces of his ancestors, and, yielding to
the Persians the empire of Asia, to content themselves with the
undisturbed possession of Europe. This haughty mandate was
delivered by four hundred of the tallest and most beautiful of
the Persians ; who, by their fine horses, splendid arms, and rich
apparel, displayed the pride and greatness of their master. ^9
Such an embassy was much less an offer of negotiation than a
declaration of war. Both Alexander Severus and Artaxerxes,
collecting the military force of the Roman and Persian mon-
archies, resolved in this important contest to lead their armies
in person.
If we credit what should seem the most authentic of all
5^ [Caracalla promoted Carrhae to be a Roman colony. Eckhel, iii. 508. He
seems to have formed the design of annexing Armenia as a province.]
58 This kingdom, from Osrhoes, who gave a new name to the country, to the
last Abgarus, had lasted 353 years. See 3ie learned work of M. Bayer, Historia
Osrhoena et Edessena.
^ Xenophon, in the preface to the CyropEedia, gives a clear and magnificent
idea of the extent of the empire of Cyrus. Herodotus (1. iii. c. 79, &c.) enters into
a curious and particular description of the twenty great Satrapies into which the
Persian empire was divided by Darius Hystaspis.
M [Dion, Ixxx. 4, I.]
*^flerodian, vi. 209, 212 [2 and 4],
OF THE ROMAN EMPIRE 209
records, an oration, still extant, and delivered by the emperor
himself to the senate, we must allow that the victory of Alex-
ander Severus was not inferior to any of those formerly obtained
over the Persians by the son of Phihp. The army of the Great
King consisted of one hundred and twenty thousand horse,
clothed in complete armour of steel ; of seven hundred elephants,
with towers filled with archers on their backs ; and of eighteen
himdred chariots armed with scythes. This formidable host,
the like of which is not to be found in eastern history, and has
scarcely been imagined in eastern romance,^** was discomfited in
a great battle, in which the Roman Alexander approved himself
an intrepid soldier and a skilful general. The Great King fled
before his valour: an immense booty and the conquest of Meso-
potamia were the immediate fruits of this signal victory. Such
are the circumstances of this ostentatious and improbable rela-
tion, dictated, as it too plainly appears, by the vanity of the
monarch, adorned by the unblushing servility of his flatterers,
and received without contradiction by a distant and obsequious
senate. ^1 Far from being inclined to believe that the arms of
Alexander obtained any memorable advantage over the Persians,
we are induced to suspect that all this blaze of imaginary glory
was designed to conceal some real disgrace.
Our suspicions are confirmed by the authority of a contem- More pro-
porary historian, who mentions the virtues of Alexander with ofthe wS?^*^
respect, and his faults with candour. He describes the judicious
plan which had been formed for the conduct of the war. Three
Roman armies were destined to invade Persia at the same time,
and by different roads. But the operations of the campaign,
80 There were two hundred scythed chariots at the battle of Arbela, in the host
of Darius. In the vast army of Tigranes, which was vanquished by Lucullus,
seventeen thousand horse only were completely armed. Antiochus brought fifty-
four elephants into the field against the Romans : by his frequent wars and negotia-
tions with the princes of India, he l^d once collected an hundred and fifty of those
great animals ; but it niay be questioned, whether the most powerful monarch of
Hindostan ever formed a line of battle of seven hundred elephants. Instead of
three or foiu- thousand elephants, which the Great Mogul was supposed to possess,
Tavernier (Voyages, part ii. 1. i. p, 198) discovered, by a more accurate inquiry,
that he had only five hundred for his baggage, and eighty or ninety for the service
of war. The Greeks have varied with regard to the number which Porus brought
into the field ; but Quintus Curtius (viii. 13), in this instance judicious and moder-
ate, is contented with eighty-five elephants, distinguished by their size and strength.
In Siam, where these animals are the most numerous and the most esteemed,
eighteen elephants are allowed as a sufficient proportion for each of the nine
brigades into which a just army is divided. The whole number, of one hundred
and sixty-two elephants of war, may sometimes be doubled. Hist, des Voyages,
tom. ix. p. 260. [See below, vol. vi. p. 229, note^^.]
*^ Hist. August, p. 133 [xviii. 55].
14 VOL. I,
210 THE DECLINE AND FALL
though wisely concerted, were not executed either with ability
or success. The first of these armies, as soon as it had entered
the marshy plains of Babylon, towards the artificial conflux of
the Euphrates and the Tigris/^ was encompassed by the superior
numbers, and destroyed by the arrows, of the enemy. The
alliance of Chosroes, king of Armenia, ^^ and the long tract of
mountainous country, in which the Persian cavaby was of little
service, opened a secure entrance into the heart of Media to the
second of the Roman armies. These brave troops laid waste
the adjacent provinces, and by several successful actions against
Artaxerxes gave a faint colour to the emperor's vanity. But
the retreat of this victorious army was imprudent, or at least
unfortunate. In repassing the mountains, great numbers of
soldiers perished by the badness of the roads and the severity
of the winter season. It had been resolved that whilst these
two great detachments penetrated into the opposite extremes
of the Persian dominions, the main body, under the command
of Alexander himself, should support their attack by invading
the centre of the kingdom. But the unexperienced youth, in-
fluenced by his mother's counsels, and perhaps by his own feai*s,
deserted the bravest troops and the fairest prospect of victory ;
and, after consuming in Mesopotamia an inactive and inglorious
summer, he led back to Antioch an army diminished by sickness,
and provoked by disappointment. The behaviour of Artaxerxes
had been very different. Flying with rapidity from the hills of
Media to the marshes of the Euphrates, he had everywhere
opposed the invaders in person ; and in either fortune had
united with the ablest conduct the most undaunted resolution.
But in several obstinate engagements against the veteran legions
of Rome the Persian monarch had lost the flower of his troops.
Even his victories had weakened his power. The favourable
opportunities of the absence of Alexander, and of the confusions
that followed that emperor s death, presented themselves in
vain to his ambition. Instead of expelling the Romans, as
he pretended, from the continent of Asia, he found himself
62 M. de Tillemont has already observed that Herodian's geography is some-
what confused.
"8 Moses of Chorene (Hist. Armen. 1. ii. c. 71) illustrates this invasion of Media,
by asserting that Chosroes, King of Armenia, defeated Artaxerxes, and pursued
him to the confines of India. The exploits of Chosroes have been magnified^ and
he acted as a dependent ally to the Romans. [But Chosroes really inflicted a
serious defeat on Ardeshlr in 228, drove him back from Armenia, and invaded his
realm, pressing as far as Ctesiphon, if not to the borders of Arabia. The Romans
had not yet appeared on the scene.]
OF THE ROMAN EMPIRE 211
unable to wrest from their hands the Httle province of Mesopo-
tfxrnia. ^^
The reign of Artaxerxes, which from the last defeat of thecharactsrand
Parthians lasted only fourteen years, forms a memorable aera in Artaxerxea,
the history of the East, and even in that of Rome. His charac-
ter seems to have been marked by those bold and commanding
features that generally distinguish the princes who conquer,
from those who inherit, an empire. Till the last period of the
Persian monarchy, his code of laws was respected as the ground-
work of their civil and religious policy. ^^ Several of his sayings
are preserved. One of them in particular discovers a deep in-
sight into the constitution of government. *^^The authority of
the prince," said Artaxerxes, "must be defended by a military
force ; that force can only be maintained by taxes ; all taxes
must, at last, fall upon agriculture ; and agriculture can never
flourish except under the protection of justice and modera-
tion."^® Artaxerxes bequeathed his new empire, and his am-
bitious designs against the Romans, to Sapor, a son not unworthy
of his great father ; but those designs were too extensive for the
power of Persia, and served only to involve both nations in a
long series of destructive wars and reciprocal calamities.
The Persians, long since civilized and corrupted, were very Miutary
far from possessing the martial independence, and the intrepid leraia^'*^*
hardiness, both of mind and body, which have rendered the
northern barbarians masters of the world. The science of war,
that constituted the more rational force of Greece and Rome, as
it now does of Europe, never made any considerable progress
in the East. Those disciplined evolutions which harmonize and
animate a confused multitude were unknown to the Persians.
They were equally unskilled in the arts of constructing, besieg-
ing, or defending regular fortifications. They trusted more to
their numbers than to their courage ; more to their courage than
to their discipline. The infantry was a half-armed, spiritless Theirinfantry
^ •' ^ contemptible
** For the account of this war, see Herodian, 1. vi. p. 209, 212 [5] . The old
abbreviators and modem compilers have blindly followed the Augiistan History.
[Though no very glorious exploit was wrought in this campaign of Alexander, it
is clear that the Persians were completely checked in their advance westward, and
that the Romans gained some victories. Cp. Aurelius Victor, Cassar. 24, 2, and
Eutropius, viii. 23. Not an inch of ground was lost to the empire.]
*" Eutychius, torn. ii. p. 180, vers. Pocock. The great Chpsroes Noushirwan
sent the code of Artaxerxes to all his satraps, as the invariable rule of their con-
duct.
^^ D'Herbelot, Bibliothfeque Orientale, au mot Ardshir. We may observe that,
after an ancient period of fables, and a long interval of darkness, the modern his-
tories of Persia begin to assume an air of truth with the d3masty of the Sassanides.
2J2 THE DECLINE AND FALL
crowd of peasants, levied in haste by the allurements of plunder,
and as easily dispersed by a victory as by a defeat. The mon-
arch and his nobles transported into the camp the pride and
luxury of the seraglio. Their military operations were impeded
by a useless train of women, eunuchs, horses, and camels ; and
in the midst of a successful campaign the Persian host was often
separated or destroyed by an unexpected famine. ^^
eSen^^'^ But thc noblcs of Persia, in the bosom of luxury and despotism,
preserved a strong sense of personal gallantry and national
honour. From the age of seven years they were taught to speak
truth, to shoot with the bow, and to ride ; and it was universally
confessed that in the two last of these arts they had made a
more than common proficiency.^^ The most distinguished youth
were educated under the monarch's eye, practised their exercises
in the gate of his palace, and were severely trained up to the
habits of temperance and obedience in their long and laborious
parties of hunting. In eveiy province the satrap maintained a
like school of military virtue. The Persian nobles (so natural is
the idea of feudal tenures) received from the king's bounty lands
and houses on the condition of their service in war. They were
ready on the first summons to mount on horseback, with a martial
and splendid train of followers, and to join the numerous bodies
of guards, who were carefully selected from among the most robust
slaves and the bravest adventurers of Asia. These armies, both
of light and of heavy cavalry, equally formidable by the im-
petuosity of their charge and the rapidity of their motions,
threatened, as an impending cloud, the eastern provinces of the
declining empire of Rome.^®
^7 Herodian, 1. vi. p. 214 [5]. Ammianus Marcellinus, L xxiii. c. 6. Some
differences may be observed between the two historians, the natural effects of thc
changes produced by a century and a half.
*8 The Persians are still the most skilful horsemen, and their horses the finest, in
the East.
6»From Herodotus, Xenophon, Herodian, Ammianus, Chardin, &c., I have
extracted such probable accounts of the Persian nobility, as seem either common to
every age, or particular to that of the Sassanides.
OF THE EOMAN EMPIRE 213
CHAPTER IX
The State of Get'many till the Invasion of the Barbarians , in the
Time of the Emperor Decius
The government and religion of Persia have deserved some
notice from their connexion with the decline and fall of the
Roman empire. We shall occasionally mention the Scythian or
Sarmatian tribes^ which, with their arms and horses, their flocks
and herds, their wives and families, wandered over the immense
plains which spread themselves from the Caspian Sea to the
Vistula, from the confines of Persia to those of Gei'many, But
the warlike Germans, who first resisted, then invaded, and at
length overturned, the Western monarchy of Rome, will occupy
a much more important place in this history, and possess a
stronger, and, if we may use the expression, a more domestic,
claim to our attention and regard. The most civilized nations
of modem Europe issued from the woods of Germany, and in
the rude institutions of those barbarians we may still distinguish
the original principles of our present laws and manners. In
their primitive state of simplicity and independence, the Germans
were surveyed by the discerning eye, and delineated by the
masterly pencil, of Tacitus, the first of historians who applied the
science of philosophy to the study of facts. The expressive
conciseness of his descriptions has deserved to exercise the dih-
gence of innumerable antiquarians, and to excite the genius and
penetration of the philosophic historians of our own times. The
subject, however various and important, has akeady been so
frequently, so ably, and so successfully discussed, that it is now
grown familiar to the reader, and difficult to the writer. We
shall therefore content ourselves with observing, and indeed
with repeating, some of the most important circumstances of
climate, of manners, and of institutions, which rendered the wild
barbarians of Germany such formidable enemies to the Roman
power.
Ancient Germany, excluding from its independent limits the Extent of
province westward of the Rhine, which had submitted to the^*™"^
214 THE DECLINE AND FALL
Roman yoke, extended itself over a third part of Europe.^
Almost the whole of modern Germany, Denmark, Norway,
Sweden, Finland, Livonia, Prussia, and the greater part of
Poland, were peopled by the various tribes of one great nation,
whose complexion, manners, and language denoted a common
origin, and preserved a striking resemblance. On the west,
ancient Germany was divided by the Rhine from the GaUie,
and on the south by the Danube from the Illyrian, provinces of
the empire. A ridge of hills, rising from the Danube, and called
the Carpathian Mountains, covered Germany on the side of
Dacia or Hungary. The eastern frontier was faintly marked by
the mutual fears of the Germans and the Sarmatians, and was
often confounded by the mixture of warring and confederating
tribes of the two nations. In the remote darkness of the north
the ancients imperfectly descried a frozen ocean that lay beyond
the Baltic Sea and beyond the peninsula, or islands,^ of Scan-
dinavia.
Climate Some ingeuious writers ^ have suspected that Europe was
much colder formerly than it is at present ; and the most ancient
descriptions of the climate of Germany tend exceedingly to
confirm their theory. The general complaints of intense frost
and eternal winter are perhaps little to be regarded, since we
have no method of reducing to the accurate standard of the
thermometer the feelings or the expressions of an orator bom in
the happier regions of Greece or Asia. But I shall select two re-
markable circumstances of a less equivocal nature. 1. The great
rivers which covered the Roman provinces, the Rhine and the
Danube, were frequently frozen over, and capable of supporting
the most enormous weights. The barbarians, who oflen chose
that severe season for their inroads, transported, without appre-
hension or danger, their numerous armies, their cavalry, and
1 [Though the author exaggerates the extent of ancient Germany towards the
east, he is not so far wrong as has sometimes been supposed. Speaking roughly,
German tribes occupied the whole of Europe between the Rhine and the Vistula,
the Northern Sea and the Danube. Vandals, Burgundians, Turcilingi, Skiri,
and Gutones held the land between the Oder and Vistula.]
- The modern philosophers of Sweden seem agreed that the waters of the Baltic
gradually sink in a regular proportion, which they have ventured to estimate at
half an inch every year. Twenty centuries ago, the flat country of Scandinavia
must have been covered by the sea ; while the high lands rose above the waters, as
so many islands of various forms and dimensions. Such indeed is the notion given
us by Mela, Pliny, and Tacitus, of the vast countries round the Baltic. See in the
Bibliothfeque Raisonn^e, tom. xl. and xlv., a large abstract of Dalin's History of
Sweden, composed in the Swedish language.
3 In particular, Mr. Hume, and the Abbii du Bos, and M. Pelloutier, Hist, des
Celtes, tom. \,
OF THE ROMAN EMPIRE 215
their heavy waggons, over a vast and solid bridge of ice.*
Modern ages have not presented an instance of a hke phenomenon.
2. The reindeer, that useful animal, from whom the savage of
the North derives the best comforts of his dreary life, is of a
constitution that supports, and even requires, the most intense
cold. He is found on the rock of Spitzberg, within ten degrees
of the pole ; he seems to delight in the snows of Lapland and
Siberia ; but at present he cannot subsist, much less multiply, in
any country to the south of the Baltic.^ In the time of Caesar,
the reindeer, as well as the elk and the wild bull, was a native
of the Hercynian forest, which then overshadowed a great part
of Germany and Poland.^ The modem improvements suffi-
ciently explain the causes of the diminution of the cold. These
immense woods have been gradually cleared, which intercepted
from the earth the rays of the sun.*^ The morasses have been
drained, and, in proportion as the soil has been cultivated, the
air has become more temperate. Canada, at this day, is an
exact picture of ancient Germany. Although situate in the
same parallel with the finest provinces of France and England,
that country experiences the most rigorous cold. The reindeer
are very numerous, the ground is covered with deep and lasting
snow, and the great river of St. Lawrence is regularly frozen,
in a season when the waters of the Seine and the Thames are
usually free from ice.^
It is difficult to ascertain, and easy to exaggerate, the influence us eflteta on
of the climate of ancient Germany over the minds and bodies of *^* ^**'*°
the natives. Many writers have supposed, and most have
allowed, though, as it should seem, without any adequate proof,
that the rigorous cold of the North was favourable to long life
and generative vigour, that the women were more fruitful, and
^Diodorus Siculus, I. v, p. 340, edit. Wessel [25]. Herodian, I. vi. p. 221 [7].
Jomandes, c. 55. On the banks of the Danube, the wine, when brought to table,
was frequently frozen into great lumps, /rusia vini. Ovid Epist. ex Ponto, 1. iv. 7,
7-10. Virgil Georgic. 1. iii. 355. The fact is confirmed by a soldier and a philo-
sopher, who had experienced the intense cold of Thrace. See Xenophon, Anabasis,
1. vii. p. 560, edit. Hutchinson [4]. [Milman in his note on this passage refers to
an incident in the Thirty Years' War. In 1635 "Jan van Werth, an Imperialist
partisan, crossed the Rhine from Heidelberg on the ice with 5000 men, and sur-
prised Spires ".]
"^Buffon, Histoire Naturelle, torn. xii. p. 79, u6.
fi Csesar de Bell. Gallic, vi. 23, &c. The most inquisitive of the Germans were
ignorant of its utmost limits, although some of them had travelled in it more than
sixty days' journey.
7 Cluverius (Germania Antiqua, 1. iii. c. 47) investigates the small and scattered
remains of the Hercynian Wood.
8 Charlevoix, Histoire du Canada,
216 THE DECLINE AND FALL
the human species more prolific, than in warmer or more
temperate climates.® We may assert^ with greater confidence,
that the keen air of Germany formed the large and masculine
limbs of the natives, who were, in general, of a more lofty
stature than the people of the South,i** gave them a kind of
strength better adapted to violent exertions than to patient
labour, and inspired them with constitutional bravery, which is
the result of nerves and spirits. The severity of a winter
campaign, that chilled the corn-age of the Roman troops, was
scarcely felt by these hardy children of the North,i^ who, in
their turn, were unable to resist the summer heats, and dissolved
away in languor and sickness under the beams of an Italian
sun,^2
Origin of the There is not anjnvhere upon the globe a large tract of coimtry,
*™ which we have discovered destitute of inhabitants, or whose first
population can be fixed with any degree of historical certainty.
And yet, as the most philosophic minds can seldom refrain from
investigating the infancy of great nations, our curiosity consumes
itself in toilsome and disappointed efforts. Wlien Tacitus con-
sidered the purity of the German blood, and the forbidding
aspect of the country, he was disposed to pronounce those
barbarians Indigence, or natives of the soil. We may allow with
safety, and perhaps with truth, that ancient Germany was not
originally peopled by any foreign colonies already formed into a
political society ; ^^ but that the name and nation received their
existence from the gradual union of some wandering savages of
the Hercynian woods. To assert those savages to have been
the spontaneous production of the earth which they inhabited
would be a rash inference, condemned by religion, and un-
warranted by reason.
SQlaus Rudbeck asserts that the Swedish women often bear ten or twelve
children, and not uncommonly twenty or thirty; but the authority of Rudbeck
is much to be suspected.
10 In hos artus, in hsec corpora, quae miramur, excrescunt. Tacit. Germania,
(J. 20. Cluver. 1. i. c. 14.
11 Plutarch, in Mario. The Cimbri, by way of amusement, often slid down
mountains of snow on their broad shields.
12 The Romans made war in all climates, and by their excellent discipline were
in a great measure preserved in health and vigour. It may be remarked that
man is the only animal which can live and multiply in every country from the equator
to the poles. The hog seems to approach the nearest to our species in that privi-
legs.
13 Tacit. German, c. 3. The emigration of the Gauls followed the course of the
Danube, and discharged itself on Greece and Asia. Tacitus could discover only
one inconsiderable tribe that retained any traces of a Gallic origin. [The Cotini,
C. J3. They were certainly not Gallic]
OF THE ROMAN EMPIRE 217
Such rational doubt is but ill suited with the genius of popular rawes and
vanity. Among the nations who have adopted the Mosaic*^** " "^^^
history of the world, the ark of Noah has been of the same use,
as was formerly to the Greeks and Romans the siege of Troy.
On a narrow basis of acknowledged truth, an immense but rude
superstructure of fable has been erected; and the wild Irishman,^*
as weU as the wild Tartar,^^ could point out the individual son
of Japhet from whose loins his ancestors were lineally descended.
The last century abounded with antiquarians of profound learn-
ing and easy faith, who, by the dim light of legends and traditions,
of conjectures and et3nnaologies, conducted the great-grandchildren
of Noah from the Tower of Babel to the extremities of the globe.
Of these judicious critics, one of the most entertaining was Olaus
Rudbeck, professor in the university of Upsal.^* Whatever is
celebrated either in history or fable, this zealous patriot ascribes
to his country. From Sweden (which formed so considerable a
part of ancient Germany) the Greeks themselves derived their
alphabetical characters, their astronomy, and their religion. Of
that delightful region (for such it appeared to the eyes of a
native) the Atlantis of Plato, the country of the Hjrperboreans,
the gardens of the Hesperides, the Fortunate Islands, and even
the Elysian Fields, were all but faint and imperfect transcripts,
A clime so profusely favoured by Nature could not long remain
desert after the flood. The learned Rudbeck allows the family
of Noah a few years to multiply from eight to about twenty
thousand persons. He then disperses them into small colonies
to replenish the earth, and to propagate the human species.
The German or Swedish detachment (which marched, if I am
not mistaken, under the command of Askenaz the son of Gomer,
the son of Japhet) distinguished itself by a more than common
diligence in the prosecution of this great work. The northern
hive cast its swarms over the greatest part of Europe, Africa,
and Asia ; and (to use the author's metaphor) the blood circu-
lated back from the extremities to the heart.
w According to Dr. Keating (History of Ireland, p. 13, 14), the giant Partho-
lanus, who was the son of Seara, the son of Esra, the son of Sru, the son of Fram-
ant, the son of Fathaclan, the son of Magog, the son of Japhet, the son of Noah,
landed on the coast of Munster, the 14th day of May, in the year of the world one
thousand nine hundred and seventy-eight. Though he succeeded in his great
enterprise, the loose behaviour of his wife rendered his domestic life very unhappy,
and provoked him to such a degree, that he killed her favourite greyhound.
This, as the learned historian very properly observes, was the first instance of
female falsehood and infidelity ever known in Ireland.
16 Genealogical History of the Tartars by Abulghazi Bahadur Khan.
16 His work, entitled Atlantica, is uncommonly scarce. Bayle has given two
most curious extracts from it. R^publique des Lettres, Janvier et F^vrjer, 1685,
218 THE DECLINE AND FALL
ThooennanB But all this wcll-laboured system of German antiquities is
litters''*'*' annihilated by a single fact, too well attested to admit of any
doubt, and of too decisive a nature to leave room for any reply.
The Germans, in the age of Tacitus, were unacquainted with
the use of letters ;i^ and the use of letters is the principal
circumstance that distinguishes a civilized people from a herd of
savages, incapable of knowledge or reflection. Without that
artificial help the human memory soon dissipates or corrupts the
ideas intrusted to her charge ; and the nobler faculties of the
mind, no longer supplied with models or with materials,
gradually forget theu- powers : the judgment becomes feeble
and lethargic, the imagination languid or irregular. Fully to
apprehend this important truth, let us attempt, in an improved
society, to calculate the immense distance between the man of
learning and the illiterate peasant. The former, by reading and
reflection, multiplies his own experience, and lives in distant
ages and remote countries ; whilst the latter, rooted to a single
spot, and confined to a few years of existence, surpasses but very
little his fellow-labourer the ox in the exercise of his mental
faculties. The same and even a greater difference will be
found between nations than between individuals ; and we may
safely pronounce, that without some species of writing no people
has ever preserved the faithful annals of their history, ever made
any considerable progress in the abstract sciences, or ever
possessed, in any tolerable degree of perfection, the useful and
agreeable arts of life.
ofortiand Of thcsc arts the ancient Germans were wretchedly destitute.
agrc nre jj^^y passed their lives in a state of ignorance and poverty,
which it has pleased some declaimers to dignify with the
appellation of virtuous simphcity. Modern Germany is said, to
17 Tacit. Germ. ii. 19. Literarum secreta viri pariter ac foeminse ignorant. We
may rest contented with this decisive authority, without entering into the obscure
disputes concerning the antiquity of the Runic characters. The learned Celsius, a
Swede, a scholar and a philosopher, was of opinion, that they were nothing more
than the Roman letters, with the curves changed into straight lines for the ease ot
engraving. See Pelloutier, Histoire des Celtes, 1. ii. c. 11. Dictionnaire Diplo-
matique, torn. i. p. 223. We may add, that the oldest Runic inscriptions are
supposed to be of the third century, and the most ancient writer who mentions the
Runic characters, is Venantius Fortunatus (Carm. vii. 18), who lived towards the
end of the sixth century.
Barbara fraxineis pingatur R U N A tabellis. [See Zacher, Das Gothische Alpha-
bet Vulfilas und das Runenalphabet ; Mr. Isaac Taylor, Greeks and Goths ;
Stephen's Runic Monuments. Mr. Taylor's theory that the Runic alphabet was
originally derived from the Greeks by the trade route, which existed at a very early
age between the Euxine and the Baltic, is gaining ground. It was certainly de-
veloped in Scandinavia, not in Germany. The num^ of Runic inscriptions fouiid
in Germany is very imall.]
OF THE ROMAN EMPIRE 219
contain about two thousand three hundred walled towns.^' I9
a much wider extent of country the geographer Ptolemy could
discover no more than ninety places which he decorates with
the name of cities ; ^^ though, according to our ideas, they
would but ill deserve that splendid title. We can only suppose
them to have been rude fortifications, constructed in the centre
of the woods, and designed to secure the women, children, and
cattle, whilst the warriors of the tribe marched out to repel a
sudden invasion. ^^ But Tacitus asserts, as a well-known fact,
that the Germans, in his time, had no cities ; 21 and that they
aifected to despise the works of Roman industry as places of
confinement rather than of security.^^ Their edifices were not
even contiguous, or formed into regular villas ; ^^ each barbarian
fixed his independent dwelling on the spot to which a plain, a
wood, or a stream of fresh water, had induced him to give the
preference. Neither stone, nor brick, nor tiles, were employed
in these slight habitations.^* They were indeed no more than
low huts of a circular figure, built of rough timber, thatched
with straw, and pierced at the top to leave a free passage for the
smoke. In the most inclement winter, the hardy German was
satisfied with a scanty garment made of the skin of some
animal. The nations who dwelt towards the North clothed
themselves in furs ; and the women manufactured for their own
use a coarse kind of linen.^s The game of various sorts with
which the forests of Germany were plentifully stocked supplied its
inhabitants with food and exercise.^^ Their monstrous herds of
cattle, less remarkable indeed for their beauty than for their
utility,^^ formed the principal object of their wealth. A small
quantity of com was the only produce exacted from the earth : the
18 Recherches Philosophiques sur les Am^ricains, torn. iii. p. 228. The author
of that very curious work is, if I am not misinformed, a German by birth, [De
Pauw.]
19 The Alexandrian Geographer is often criticized by the accurate Cluverius.
20 See Caesar, and the learned Mr. Whitaker in his History of Manchester, vol. i.
21 Tacit. Germ. 16.
22 When the Germans commanded the Ubii of Cologne to cast ofiF the Roman
yoke, and with their new freedom to resume their ancient manners, they insisted
on the immediate demolition of the walls of the colony. ' ' Postulamus a vobis,
muros colonise, munimenta servitii, detrahatis ; etiam fera animalia, si clausa
teneas, virtutis obliviscuntur." Tacit. Hist. iv. 64.
23 The straggling villages of Silesia are several miles in length. See Cluver. 1. i.
c. 13.
24 One hundred and forty years after Tacitus a few more regular structures were
erected near the Rhine and Danube. Herodian 1. vii. p. 234.
2» Tacit. Germ. 17.
26 Tacit. Germ. 5.
27 Cgesar de Bell. Gall. vi. 21,
220 THE DECLINE AND FALL
use of orchards or artificial meadows was unknown to the Germans ;
nor can we expect any improvements in agriculture from a
people whose property every year experienced a general change
by a new division of the arable lands, and who, in that strange
operation, avoided disputes by suffering a great part of their
territory to lie waste and without tillage.^^
and of the Gold, silvcr, and iron were extremely scarce in Germany. Its
barbarous inhabitants wanted both skill and patience to investi-
gate those rich veins of silver, which have so liberally rewarded
the attention of the princes of Brunswick and Saxony. Sweden,
which now supplies Europe with iron, was equally ignorant of
its own riches ; and the appearance of the arms of the Germans
furnished a sufficient proof how little iron they were able to be-
stow on what they must have deemed the noblest use of that
metal. The various transactions of peace and war had intro-
duced some Roman coins (chiefly silver) among the borderers of
the Rhine and Danube ; but the more distant tribes were ab-
solutely unacquainted with the use of money, carried on their
confined traffic by the exchange of commodities, and prized their
rude earthen vessels as of equal value with the silver vases, the
presents of Rome to their princes and ambassadors. ^^ To a
mind capable of reflection such leading facts convey more in-
struction than a tedious detail of subordinate circumstances.
The value of money has been settled by general consent to ex-
press our wants and our property, as letters were invented to
express our ideas ; and both these institutions, by giving more
active energy to the powers and passions of human nature, have
contributed to multiply the objects they were designed to repre-
sent. The use of gold and silver is in a great measure factitious;
but it would be impossible to enumerate the important and
various services which agriculture, and all the arts, have received
from iron, when tempered and fashioned by the operation of
fire and the dexterous hand of man. Money, in a word, is the
most universal incitement, iron the most powerful instrument, of
human industry ; and it is very difficult to conceive by what
means a people, neither actuated by the one nor seconded by
the other, could emerge from the grossest barbarism. ^°
38 Tacit Germ. 26. Cassar, vi. 22.
» Tacit. Germ. 5.
30 It is said that the Mexicans and Peruvians, without the use of either money
or iron, had made a very great progress in the arts. Those arts, and the monu-
ments they produced, have been sUangely magnified. Sec Recherches sur les
Am^ricains, tom. ii. p. 153, ^c.
OF THE ROMAN EMPIRE 221
If we contemplate a savage nation in any part of the globe^ a Their indo-
supine indolence and a carelessness of futurity will be found to
constitute their general character. In a civilized state every
faculty of man is expanded and exercised ; and the great chain
of mutual dependence connects and embraces the several mem-
bers of society. The most numerous portion of it is employed
in constant and useful labour. The select few, placed by for-
tune above that necessity, can, however, fill up their time by
the pursuits of interest or glory, by the improvement of their
estate or of their understanding, by the duties, the pleasures,
and even the follies, of social life. The Germans were not
possessed of these varied resources. The care of the house and
family, the management of the land and cattle, were delegated
to the old and the infirm, to women and slaves. The lazy war-
rior, destitute of every art that might employ his leisure hours,
consumed his days and nights in the animal gratifications of
sleep and food. And yet, by a wonderful diversity of natiu-e
(according to the remark of a writer who had pierced into its
darkest recesses), the same barbarians are by turns the most
indolent and the most restless of mankind. They delight in
sloth, they detest tranquillity, ^i The languid soul, oppressed
with its own weight, anxiously required some new and powerful
sensation ; and war and danger were the only amusements ade-
quate to its fierce temper. The sound that summoned the
German to arms was grateful to his ear. It roused him from
his uncomfortable lethargy, gave him an active pursuit, and, by
strong exercise of the body, and violent emotions of the mind,
restored him to a more lively sense of his existence. In the
dull intervals of peace these barbarians were immoderately
addicted to deep gaming and excessive drinking; both of which,
by different means, the one by inflaming their passions, the
other by extinguishing their reason, alike relieved them from
the pain of thinking. They gloried in passing whole days and
nights at table ; and the blood of friends and relations often
stained their numerous and drunken assemblies. ^2 Their debts
of honour (for in that light they have transmitted to us those of
play) they discharged with the most romantic fidelity. The
desperate gamester, who had staked his person and liberty on
a last throw of the dice, patiently submitted to the decision of
fortune, and suflTered himself to be bound, chastised, and sold
into remote slavery, by his weaker but more lucky antagonist. ^
31 Tacit. Germ. 15. 32 Tacit. Germ. 2a, 23.
38 Tacit. Germ. 24. The Germans might borrow the arts of play from the
Romans, but the passion is wonderfully inherent in the human species.
222
THE DECLINE AND FALL
Strong beer, a liquor extracted with very little art from wheat
or barley, and corrupted (as it is strongly expressed by Tacitus)
into a certain semblance of wine, was sufficient for the gross
purposes of German debauchery. But those who had tasted
the rich wines of Italy, and afterwards of Gaul, sighed for that
more delicious species of intoxication. They attempted not,
however (as has since been executed with so much success), to
naturahze the vine on the banks of the Rhine and Danube ; nor
did they endeavour to procure by industry the materials of an
advantageous conmierce. To solicit by labour what might be
ravished by arms was esteemed unworthy of the German spirit.^
The intemperate thirst of strong liquors often urged the bar-
barians to invade the provinces on which art or nature had be-
stowed those much envied presents. The Tuscan who betrayed
his country to the Celtic nations attracted them into Italy by
the prospect of the rich fruits and delicious wines, the produc-
tions of a happier chmate.^^ And in the same manner the
German auxiliaries, invited into France during the civil wars of
the sixteenth century, were allured by the promise of plenteous
quarters in the provinces of Champjigne and Burgundy. ^^
Drunkenness, the most illiberal, but not the most dangerous of
our vices, was sometimes capable, in a less civilized state of man-
kind, of occasioning a battle, a war, or a revolution.
The climate of ancient Germany has been molHfied, and the
soil fertilized, by the labour of ten centuries from the time of
Charlemagne. The same extent of ground, which at present
maintains, in ease and plenty, a million of husbandmen and
artificers, was unable to supply an hundred thousand lazy
warriors with the simple necessaries of life.^'^ The Germans
abandoned their immense forests to the exercise of hunting,
employed in pasturage the most considerable part of their lands,
bestowed on the small remainder a rude and careless cultivation,
and then accused the scantiness and sterility of a country that
refused to maintain the multitude of its inhabitants. When the
return of famine severely admonished them of the importance of
the arts, the national distress was sometimes alleviated by the
M Tacit. Germ. 14. 36 Plutarch, in Camillo. T. Liv. v. 33.
w Dubos, Hist, de la Monarchic Fran9oise, torn. i. p. 193.
37 The Helvetian nation, which issued from the country called Switzerland, con-
tained, of every age and sex, 368,000 persons (Caesar de Bell. Gall. i. 29). At
present, the number of people in the Pays de Vaud (a small district on the banks
of the Leman Lake, much more distinguished for politeness than for industry)
amounts to 112,591. See an excellent Tract of M. Muret, in the M^moires dela
Soci6t6 de Berne
OF THE KOMAW EMPIEE 223
emigration of a third, perhaps, or a fourth part of their youth.^^
The possession and the enjoyment of property are the pledges
which bind a civilized people to an improved country. But the
Germans, who carried vi^ith them what they most valued, their
arms, their cattle, and their women, cheerfully abandoned the
vast silence of their woods for the unbounded hopes of plunder
and conquest. The innumerable swarms that issued, or seemed
to issue, from the great storehouse of nations, were multiplied
by the fears of the vanquished and by the credulity of succeeding
ages. And from facts thus exaggerated, an opinion was gradu-
ally established, and has been supported by writers of distin-
guished reputation, that, in the age of Caesar and Tacitus, the
inhabitants of the North were far more numerous than they ai'e
in our days.^** A more serious inquiry into the causes of popula-
tion seems to have convinced modern philosophers of the
falsehood, and indeed the impossibility, of the supposition. To
the names of Mariana and of Machiaven*' we can oppose the
equal names of Robertson and Hume.^^
A warlike nation like the Germans, without either cities, German
letters, arts, or money, found some compensation for this savage
state in the enjoyment of liberty. Their poverty secured their
freedom, since our desires and our possessions are the strongest
fetters of despotism. " Among the Suiones (says Tacitus) riches
are held in honour. They are therefore subject to an absolute
monarch, who instead of intrusting his people with the free use
of arms, as is practised in the rest of Germany, commits them to
the safe custody, not of a citizen, or even of a freedman, but of
a slave. The neighbours of the Suiones, the Sitones, are sunk
even below servitude ; they obey a woman." ^^ In the mention
of these exceptions, the great historian sufficiently acknowledges
the general theory of government. We are only at a loss to
conceive by what means riches and despotism could penetrate
into a remote comer of the North, and extinguish the generous
flame that blazed with such fierceness on the frontier of the
Roman provinces, or how the ancestors of those Danes and
38 Paul Diaconus, c. r. 2, 3. Machiavel, Davila, and the rest of Paul's followers,
represent these emigrations too much as regular and concerted measures.
89 Sir William Temple and Montesquieu have indulged, on this subject, the
usual liveliness of their fancy.
40 Machiavel, Hist, di Firenze, 1. i. Mariana, Hist. Hispan. 1. >. c a.
*i Robertson's Cha. V. Hume's Politic. Ess.
*2 Tacit. Germ. 44, 45. Freinshemius (who dedicated his supplement to Livy,
to Christina of Sweden) thinks proper to be very angry with the Roman who ex-
pressed so very little reverence for Northern queens.
224 THE DECLINE AND FALL
Norwegians, so distinguished in later ages by their unconquered
spirit, could thus tamely resign the great character of German
liberty.*^ Some tribes, however, on the coast of the Baltic,
acknowledged the authority of kings, though without relinquish-
ing the rights of men ; ** but in the far greater part of Germany
the form of government was a democracy, tempered, indeed,
and controlled, not so much by general and positive laws as by
the occasional ascendant of birth or valour, of eloquence or
superstition.*^
«f|*"jS^iV°' Civil governments, in their first institutions, are voluntary
associations for mutual defence. To obtain the desired end it
is absolutely necessary that each individual should conceive him-
self obliged to submit his private opinion and actions to the
judgment of the greater number of his associates. The German
tribes were contented with this rude but liberal outline of
political society. As soon as a youth, bom of free parents, had
attained the age of manhood, he was introduced into the general
council of his countrymen, solemnly invested with a shield and
spear, and adopted as an equal and worthy member of the
military commonwealth. The assembly of the warriors of the
tribe was convened at stated seasons, or on sudden emergencies.
The trial of public oflfences, the election of magistrates, and the
great business of peace and war, were determined by its in-
dependent voice. Sometimes, indeed, these important questions
were previously considered and prepared in a more select council
of the principal chieftains.*® The magistrates might deliberate
and persuade, the people only could resolve and execute ; and
the resolutions of the Germans were for the most part hasty
and violent. Barbarians accustomed to place their ireedom in
gratifying the present passion^ and their courage in overlooking
43 May we not suspect that superstition was the parent of despotism? The de-
scendants of Odin (whose race was not extinct till the year 1060) are said to have
reigned in Sweden above a thousand years. The temple of Upsal was the ancient
seat of religion and empire. In the year 1153 I find a singular law prohibiting the
use and possession of arms to any, except the king's guards. Is it not probable
that it was coloured by the pretence of reviving an old institution.^ See Dalin's
History of Sweden in the Bibliothfeque Raisonn6e, torn. xl. and xlv.
4* Tacit. Germ. c. 43. [The Gotones, that is, the Goths, who in the time of
Tacitus lived on the right bank of the lower Vistula ; but in the third century we
find them on the Black Sea. Pliny also mentions the Guttones, Nat. Hist. iv. 14.]
^Id. c. II, 12, 13, &c.
4^ Grotius changes an expression of Tacitus, pertractantur into prairactaniur.
The correction is equally just and ingenious. [Germ. 11. apud principes pertrac-
tentur. No change is necessary ; periractentur means ' * be thoroughly discussed ",
But the general meaning is the same.]
OF THE ROMAN EMPIRE 225
all future consequences, turned away with indignant contempt
from the remonstrances of justice and policy, and it was the
practice to signify by a hollow murmur their dislike of such timid
councils. But, whenever a more popular orator proposed to
vindicate the meanest citizen, from either foreign or domestic
injury, whenever he called upon his fellow-countrymen to assert
the national honour, or to pursue some enterprise full of danger
and glory, a loud clashing of shields and spears expressed the
eager applause of the assembly. For the Germans always met
in armsj and it was constantly to be dreaded lest an irregular
multitude, inflamed with faction and strong liquors, should use
those arms to enforce, as well as to declare, their furious resolves.
We may recollect how often the diets of Poland have been
polluted with blood, and the more numerous party has been
compelled to yield to the more violent and seditious.*^
A general of the tribe was elected on occasions of danger ; Authority of
and, if the danger was pressing and extensive, several tribes Sd^SSa*
concurred in the choice of the same general. The bravest war- *'***"
rior was named to lead his countrymen into the field, by his
example rather than by his commands. But this power, how-
ever limited, was still invidious. It expired with the war, and
in time of peace, the German tribes acknowledged not any
supreme chief. ^^ Princes were, however, appointed, in the
general assembly, to administer justice, or rather to compose
differences,*^ in their respective districts. In the choice of
these magistrates as much regard was shown to birth as to
merit. ^** To each was assigned, by the public, a guard, and a
coimcil of an hundred persons, and the first of the princes ap-
pears to have enjoyed a pre-eminence of rank and honour which
sometimes tempted the Romans to compliment him with the
regal title. ^^
The comparative view of the powers of the magistrates, in two '^°^^J^^^^^^
remarkable instances, is alone sufficient to x-epresent the whole party than
' t over the per"
system of German manners. The disposal of the landed property ^^ of tfie
within their district was absolutely vested in their hands, and
they distributed it every year according to a new division. ^^ At
the same time they were not authorized to punish with death, to
*^ Even in our ancient parliament, the barons often carried a question not so
much by the number of votes as by that of their armed followers.
18 Csesar de Bell. Gall. vi. 23.
13 Minuunt controversias, is a very happy expression of Caesar's.
'^ Reges ex nobilitate, duces ex virtute sumunt. Tacit. Germ. 7.
51 Cluver. Germ. Ant. 1. i. c. 38.
^2 Csesar, vi. 22. Tacit. Gemi 26,
15 VOL. I.
226 THE DECLINE AND FALL
imprison, or even to strike a private citizen. ^^ A people thus
jealous of their persons^ and careless of their possessions, must
have been totally destitute of industry and the arts, but animated
with a high sense of honour and independence.
-Voluntary The Germans respected only those duties which they imposed
on themselves. The most obscure soldier resisted with disdain
the authority of the magistrates. " The noblest youths blushed
not to be numbered among the faithfiil companions of some
renowned chief, to whom they devoted their arms and service.
A noble emulation prevailed among the companions to obtain
the first place in the esteem of their chief; amongst the chiefs,
to acquire the greatest number of valiant companions. To be
ever surrounded by a band of select youths was the pride and
strength of the chiefs, their ornament in peace, their defence in
war. The glory of such distinguished heroes diffused itself
beyond the narrow limits of their own tribe. Presents and
embassies solicited their friendship, and the fame of their arms
often ensured victory to the party which they espoused. In the
hour of danger it was shameful for the chief to be surpassed in
valour by his companions ; shameful for the companions not to
equal the valour of their chief. To survive his fall in battle
was indelible infamy. To protect his person, and to adorn his
glory with the trophies of their own exploits, were the most
sacred of their duties. The chiefs combated for victory, the
companions for the chief. The noblest warriors, whenever their
native country was sunk in the laziness of peace, maintained
their numerous bands in some distant scene of action, to exercise
their restless spirit, and to acquire renown by voluntary dangers.
Gifts worthy of soldiers, the warlike steed, the bloody and ever
victorious lance, were the rewards which the companions claimed
from the liberality of their chief. The rude plenty of his hos-
pitable board was the only pay that he could bestow, or they
would accept. War, rapine, and the free-will offerings of his
friends, supplied the materials of this munificence."^ This
institution, however it might accidentally weaken the several
republics, invigorated the general character of the Germans,
and even ripened amongst them all the virtues of which bar-
barians are susceptible — the faith and valour, the hospitality
and the courtesy, so conspicuous long afterwards in the ages of
chivalry. The honourable gifts, bestowed by the chief on his
brave companions, have been supposed, by an ingenious writer,
M Tacit. Germ. 7. "Tacit. Germ. 13, 14.
OF THE KOMAN EMPIRE 227
to contain the first rudiments of the fiefs, distributed after the
conquest of the Roman provinces, by the barbarian lords among
their vassals, with a similar duty of homage and military ser-
vice. ^^ These conditions, are, however, very repugnant to the
maxims of the ancient Germans, who delighted in mutual pre-
sents, but without either imposing or accepting the weight of
obligations. ^®
" In the days of chivalry, or more properly of romance, all oenuMi cha^
the men were brave, and all the women were chaste ; " and, ^
notwithstanding the latter of these virtues is acquired and pre-
served with much more difficulty than the former, it is ascribed,
almost without exception, to the wives of the ancient Germans,
Polygamy was not in use, except among the princes, and among
them only for the sake of multiplying their alliances. Divorces
were prohibited by manners rather than by laws. Adulteries
were punished as rare and inexpiable crimes ; nor was seduction
justified by example and fashion. ^^ We may easily discover
that Tacitus indulges an honest pleasure in the contrast of bar-
barian virtue with the dissolute conduct of the Roman ladies :
yet there are some striking circumstances that give an air of
truth, or at least of probability, to the conjugal faith and chastity
of the Germans.
Althouffh the progress of civilization has undoubtedly con- its probable
tributed to assuage the fiercer passions of human nature, it
seems to have been less favourable to the virtue of chastity,
whose most dangerous enemy is the softness of the mind. The
refinements of life corrupt while they polish the intercourse of
the sexes. The gross appetite of love becomes most dangerous,
when it is elevated, or rather, indeed, disguised, by sentimental
passion. The elegance of dress, of motion, and of manners,
gives a lustre to beauty, and inflames the senses through the
imagination. Luxurious entertainments, midnight dances, and
licentious spectacles, present at once temptation and opportunity
to female frailty. ^^ From such dangers the unpolished wives of
the barbarians were secured by poverty, solitude, and the painful
^5 Esprit des Loix, 1. xxx. c. 3. The brilliant imagination of Montesquieu is
corrected, however, by the dry cold reason of the Abb6 de Mably. Observations
sur I'Histoire de France, torn. i. p. 356.
^Gaudent muneribus, sed nee data imputant, nee acceptis obligantur. Tacit.
Germ. c. 21.
^The adulteress was whipped through the village. Neither wealth nor beauty
could inspire compassion, or procure her a second husband. [Tacit. Germ.] 18, ig.
^ Ovid employs two hundred lines in the research of places the most favourable
to love. Above all he considers the theatre as the best adapted to collect the
beauties of Rome, and to melt them into tenderness and sensuality.
caiuies
228 THE DECLINE AND FALL
cares of a domestic life. The German huts^ open on every side
to the eye of indiscretion or jealousy, were a better safeguard
of conjugal fidelity than the walls, the bolts, and the eunuchs
of a Persian haram. To this reason another may be added of a
more honourable nature. The Germans treated their women
with esteem and confidence, consulted them on every occasion
of importance, and fondly believed that in their breasts resided
a sanctity and wisdom more than human. Some of these inter-
preters of fate, such as Velleda, in the Batavian war, governed,
in the name of the deity, the fiercest nations of Germany. ^^
The rest of the sex, without being adored as goddesses, were
respected as the free and equal companions of soldiers ; associ-
ated even by the marriage ceremony to a life of toil, of danger,
and of glory. ^** In their great invasions, the camps of the bar-
barians were filled with a multitude of women, who remained
firm and undaunted amidst the sound of arms, the various forms
of destruction, and the honourable wounds of their sons and
husbands. ^^ Fainting armies of Germans have more than once
been driven back upon the enemy by the generous despair of
the women, who dreaded death much less than servitude. It
the day was irrecoverably lost, they well knew how to deliver
themselves and their children, with their own hands, from an
insulting victor. ^^ Heroines of such a cast may claim our ad-
miration ; but they were most assuredly neither lovely nor very
susceptible of love. Whilst they affected to emulate the stern
virtues of ma??, they must have resigned that attractive softness
in which principally consist the charm and weakness of woman.
Conscious pride taught the German females to suppress every
tender emotion that stood in competition with honour, and the
first honour of the sex has ever been that of chastity. The
sentiments and conduct of these high-spirited matrons may, at
once, be considered as a cause, as an effect, and as a proof, of
the general character of the nation. Female courage, however
it may be raised by fanaticism, or confirmed by habit, can be
only a faint and imperfect imitation of the manly valour that
distinguishes the age or country in which it may be found.
6» Tacit. Hist. iv. 6i, 65.
*'The marriage present was a yoke of oxen, horses, and arms. See Germ. (j.
18. Tacitus is somewhat too florid on the subject.
•^i The change of exigerc into exugere is a most excellent correction [c. 7. Exugere
plagas would hardly br possible. Exigere plagas is right, "to examine, probe the
wounds".]
*2 Tacit, fj'-rni. c. 7. Plutarch, in Mario. Before the wives of the Teutones
destroyed themselves and their children, they had offered to surrender, on con-
dition that they should be received as the slaves of the vestal vrigins.
OF THE KOMAN EMPIKE 229
The religious system of the Germans (if the wild opinions of luugion
savages can deserve that name) was dictated by their wants,
their fears, and their ignorance.*'^ They adored the great
visible objects and agents of Nature, the Sun and the Moon,
the Fire and the Eai'th ; together with those imaginary deities
who were supposed to preside over the most important occupa-
tions of human life. They were persuaded that, by some
ridiculous arts of divination, they could discover the will of the
superior beings, and that human sacrifices were the most precious
and acceptable offering to their altars. Some applause has been
hastily bestowed on the sublime notion entertained by that
people of the Deity whom they neither confined within the walls
of a temple, nor represented by any human figure ; but when
we recollect that the Germans were unskilled in architecture,
and totally unacquainted with the art of sculpture, we shall
readily assign the true reason of a scruple, which arose not so
much from a superiority of reason as from a want of ingenuity.
The only temples in Germany were dark and ancient groves,
consecrated by the reverence of succeeding generations. Their
secret gloom, the imagined residence of an invisible power, by
presenting no distinct object of fear or worship, impressed the
mind with a still deeper sense of religious horror ; ^^ and the
priests, nide and illiterate as they were, had been taught by
experience the use of every artifice that could preserve and
fortify impressions so well suited to their own interest.
The same ignorance which renders barbarians incapable of its effects in
conceiving or embracing the useful restraints of laws exposes ^^'^^
them naked and unarmed to the blind terrors of superstition.
The German priests, improving this favourable temper of their
countr3rmen, had assumed a jurisdiction even in temporal
concerns which the magistrate could not venture to exercise ;
and the haughty warrior patiently submitted to the lash of
correction, when it was inflicted, not by any human power, but
by the immediate order of the god of war.^^ The defects of
civil policy were sometimes supplied by the interposition of
ecclesiastical authority. The latter was constantly exerted to
maintain silence and decency in the popular assemblies ; and
®3 Tacitus has employed a few lines, and Cluverius one hundred and twenty-four
pages, on this obscure subject. The former discovers in Germany the gods of
Greece and Rome. The latter is positive that, under the emblems of the sun, the
moon, and the fire, his pious ancestors worshipped the Trinity in unity.
**The sacred wood, described with such sublime horror by Lucan, was in the
neighbourhood of Marseilles ; but there were many of the same kind m Germany.
^5 Tacit. Germania, c. 7.
230 THE DECLINE AND FALL
was sometimes extended to a more enlarged conoem for the
national welfare. A solemn procession was occasionally cele-
brated in the present countries of Mecklenburgh and Pomer-
ania. The unknown symbol of the Earth, covered with a thick
veil, was placed on a carriage drawn by cows ; and in this
manner the goddess, whose common residence was in the isle of
Rugen, visited several adjacent tribes of her worshippers. During
her progress, the sound of war was hushed, quarrels were sus-
pended, arms laid aside, and the restless Germans had an
opportunity of tasting the blessings of peace and harmony.^^
The truc^ of God, so often and so ineffectually proclaimed by the
clergy of the eleventh century, was an obvious imitation of this
ancient custom. ^^
in war But the influence of religion was far more powerful to inflame
than to moderate the fierce passions of the Germans. Interest
and fanaticism often prompted its ministers to sanctify the most
daring and the most unjust enterprises, by the approbation of
Heaven, and full assurances of success. The consecrated
standards, long revered in the groves of superstition, were
placed in the front of the battle ;®^ and the hostile army was
devoted with dire execrations to the gods of war and of thunder.^
In the faith of soldiers (and such were the Germans) cowardice
is the most unpardonable of sins. A brave man was the wox*thy
favourite of their martial deities ; the wretch who had lost his
shield was alike banished from the religious and the civil
assemblies of his countrymen. Some tribes of the north seem
to have embraced the doctrine of transmigration,^** others
imagined a gross paradise of immortal drunkenness.^ All
agreed that a life spent in arms, and a glorious death in battle,
were the best preparations for a happy futurity, either in this or
in another world.
The bards The immortality so vainly promised by the priests was, in
some degree, conferred by the bards. That singular order of
men has most desei'vedly attracted the notice of all who have
attempted to investigate the antiquities of the Celts, the Scandi-
^ Tacit. Germania, c. 40.
^ See Dr. Robertson's History of Charles V. vol. i. note 10.
® Tacit. Germ. c. 7. These standards were only the heads of wild beasts.
^ Skie an instance of this custom, Tacit. Annal. xiii. 57,
^*' Caesar, Diodorus, and Lucan. seem to ascribe this doctrine to the Gauls, bul
M. Pelloulier (Histoire des Celtes. 1. iii. c. 18) labours to reduce their expressions
to a more orthodox sense.
" Concerning this gross but alluring doctrine of the Edda, see Fable xx. in the
curious version of that book, publish«d by M. Mallet, in his Introduction to the
History of Denmark.
OF THE ROMAN EMPIRE 231
navians^ and the Germans. Their genius and character, as well
as the reverence paid to that important office, have been
sufficiently illustrated. But we cannot so easily express, or even
conceive, the enthusiasm of arms and glory which they kindled
in the breast of their audience. Among a polished people, a
taste for poetry is rather an amusement of the fancy than a
passion of the soul. And yet, when in calm retirement we
peruse the combats described by Homer or Tasso, we are in-
sensibly seduced by the fiction, and feel a momentary glow of
martial ardour. But how faint, how cold is the sensation which
a peaceful mind can receive from solitary study ! It was in the
hour of battle, or in the feast of victory, that the bards celebrated
the glory of heroes of ancient days, the ancestors of those
warlike chieftains who listened with transport to their artless
but animated strains. The view of arms and of danger
heightened the effect of the military song ; and the passions
which it tended to excite, the desire of fame and the contempt
of death, were the habitual sentiments of a German mind.^^
Such was the situation and such were the manners of the SSdS?
ancient Germans. Their climate, their want of learning, of arts, Jf tS^Sr-
and of laws, their notions of honour, of gallantry, and of religion, "*""
their sense of freedom, impatience of peace, and thirst of
enterprise, all contributed to form a people of military heroes.
And yet we find that, during more than two hundred and fitty
years that elapsed from the defeat of Varus to the reign of
Decius, these formidable barbarians made few considerable
attempts, and not any material impression, on the luxurious and
enslaved provinces of the empire. Their progress was checked
by their want of arms and discipline, and their ftiry was diverted
by the intestine divisions of ancient Germany.
I. It has been observed, with ingenuity, and not without want of arms
truth, that the command of iron soon gives a nation the command
of gold. But the rude tribes of Germany, alike destitute of
both those valuable metals, were reduced slowly to acquire, by
their unassisted strength, the possession of the one as well as
the other. The face of a German army displayed their
poverty of iron. Swords and the longer kind of lances they
could seldom use. Their frameas (as they called them in their
72 See Tacit. Germ. c. 3. Diodor. Sicul. 1. v. [29]. Strabo, 1. iv. p. 197. The
classical reader may remember the rank of Demodocus in the Phasacian court, and
the ardour infused by Tyrtaeus into the fainting Spartans. Yet there is little pro-
bability that the Greeks and the Germans were the same people. Much learned
trifling might be spared, if our antiquarians would condescend to reflect that
similar manners will naturally be produced by similar situations.
232 THE DECLINE AND FALL
own language) were long spears headed with a sharp but narrow
iron point, and which, as occasion required, they either darted
from a distance, or pushed in close onset. With this spear and
with a shield their cavalry was contented. A multitude of
darts, scattered ^2 with incredible force, were an additional
resource of the infantry. Their military dress, when they wore
any, was nothing more than a loose mantle. A variety of
colours was the only ornament of their wooden or their osier
shields. Few of the chiefs were distinguished by cuirasses,
scarce any by helmets. Though the horses of Germany were
neither beautiful, swift, nor practised in the skilful evolutions of
the Roman manage, several of the nations obtained renown by
their cavalry; but, in general, the principal strength of the
Geniians consisted in their infantry,^* which was drawn up in
and of dift. several deep columns, according to the distinction of tribes and
dpiioe families. Impatient of fatigue or delay, these half-armed
warriors rushed to battle with dissonant shouts and disordered
ranks ; and sometimes, by the effort of native valour, prevailed
over the constrained and more artificial bravery of the Roman
mercenaries. But as the barbarians poured forth their whole
souls on the first onset, they knew not how to rally or to retire.
A repulse was a sure defeat ; and a defeat was most commonly
total destruction. When we recollect the complete armour of
the Roman soldiers, their discipline, exercises, evolutions,
fortified camps, and military engines, it appears a just matter of
surprise how the naked and unassisted valour of the barbarians
could dare to encounter in the field the strength of the legions
and the various troops of the auxiliaries, which seconded their
operations. The contest was too unequal, till the introduction
of luxury had enervated the vigour, and a spirit of disobedience
and sedition had relaxed the discipline, of the Roman armies.
The introduction of barbarian auxiliaries into those armies
was a measure attended with very obvious dangers, as it might
gradually instruct the Germans in the arts of war and of policy.
Although they were admitted in small numbers and with the
strictest precaution, the example of Civilis was proper to
convince the Romans that the danger was not imaginary, and
that their precautions were not always sufficient. ^^ During the
^ Missilia spargunt, Tacit. Germ. c. 6. Either that historian used a vague
expression, or he meant that they were thrown at random.
^^ It was the principal distinction from the Sarmatians, who generally fought
on horseback.
^s The relation of this enterprise occupies a great part of the fourth and fifth
books of the History of Tacitus, and is more remarkable for its eloquence than
perspicuity. Sir Hfnry Saville has observed several inaccuracies.
OF THE ROMAN EMPIRE 233
cirii wars that followed the death of Nero, that artful and in-
trepid Batavian, whom his enemies condescended to compare
with Hannibal and Sertorius/® formed a great design of freedom
and ambition. Eight Batavian cohorts, renowned in the wars of
Britain and Italy, repaired to his standard. He introduced an
army of Germans into Gaul, prevailed on the powerful cities of
Treves and Langres to embrace his cause, defeated the legions,
destroyed their fortified camps, and employed against the
Romans the military knowledge which he had acquired in their
service. When at length, after an obstinate struggle, he yielded
to the power of the empire^ Civilis secured himself and his
country by an honourable treaty. The Batavians still continued
to occupy the islands of the Rhine,^^ the allies, not the servants,
of the Roman monarchy.
II. The strength of ancient Germany appears formidable when civUdUflen-
we consider the effects that might have been produced by its Germany
united effort. The wide extent of country might very possibly
contain a million of warriors, as all who were of an age to bear
arms were of a temper to use them. But this fierce multitude,
incapable of concerting or executing any plan of national great-
ness, was agitated by various and often hostile intentions.
Germany was divided into more than forty independent states ;
and even in each state the union of the several tribes was ex-
tremely loose and precarious. The barbarians were easily pro-
voked; they knew not how to forgive an injury, much less an
insult; their resentments were bloody and implacable. The
casual disputes that so frequently happened in their tumultuous
parties of hunting or drinking were sufficient to inflame the
minds of whole nations ; the private feud of any considerable
chieftains diffused itself among their followers and allies. To
chastise the insolent, or to plunder the defenceless, were alike
causes of war. The most formidable states of Germany affected
to encompass their territories with a wide frontier of solitude
and devastation. The awful distance preserved by their neigh-
bours attested the ten*or of their arms, and in some measure
defended them from the danger of unexpected incursions. ^^
"The Bructeri (it is Tacitus who now speaks) were totally ex- Fomented by
terminated by the neighbouring tribes,^® provoked by their Sfn£.°"''^ °^
76 Tacit. Hist. iv. 13. Like them, he had lost an eye.
^ It was contained between the two branches of the old Rhine, as they sub-
sisted before the face of the country was changed by art and nature. See Cluver.
German. Antiq. 1. iii. c. 30, 37. ™ Cassar de Bell. Gall. 1. vi. 23.
^8 They are mentioned however in the ivth and vth centuries by Na^arius, Am-
mianus, Claudian, &c., as a tribe of Franks. See Cluver. Germ. Antiq. 1. iii. c. 13.
234 THE DECLINE AND FALL
insolence, allured by the hopes of spoil, and perhaps Inspired
by the tutelar deities of the empire. Above sixty thousand
barbarians were destroyed, not by the Roman arms, but in our
sight, and for our entertainment. May the nations, enemies of
Rome, ever preserve this enmity to each other ! We have now
attained the utmost verge of prosperity,®** and have nothing left
to demand of fortune except the discord of the barbarians/' ^i
These sentiments, less worthy of the humanity than of the
patriotism of Tacitus, express the invariable maxims of the
policy of his countrymen. They deemed it a much safer
expedient to divide than to combat the barbarians, from whose
defeat they could derive neither honour nor advantage. The
money and negotiations of Rome insinuated themselves into the
heart of Germany, and every art of seduction was used with
dignity to conciliate those nations whom their proximity to the
Rhine or Danube might render the most useful friends as well
as the most troublesome enemies. Chiefs of renown and power
were flattered by the most trifling presents, which they received
either as marks of distinction or as the instruments of luxury.
In civil dissensions, the weaker faction endeavoured to strengthen
its interest by entering into secret connexions with the governors
of the frontier provinces. Every quarrel among the Gennans
was fomented by the intrigues of Rome ; and every plan of
imion and public good was defeated by the stronger bias of
private jealousy and interest. ^^
Tranaieiit The general conspiracy which terrified the Romans under the
Srei^"^ reign of Marcus Antoninus comprehended almost all the nations
of Germany, and even Sarmatia, from the mouth of the Rhine
to that of the Danube.s^ It is impossible for us to determine
80 Urgentibus is the common reading, but good sense, Lipsius, and some MSS.
declare for Vergentihus. [An unnecessary correction.]
81 Tacit. Germania, c. 33. The pious Abb6 de la BMterie is very angry with
Tacitus, talks of the devil who was a murderer from the beginning, &c., &c.
82 Many traces of this policy may be discovered in Tacitus and Dion; and
many more may be inferred from the principles of human nature.
83 Hist. August, p. 31 [iv. 22]. Ammian. Marcellin. 1. xxxi. c. 5. Aurel. Victor.
[Caes. 16]. The Emperor Marcus was reduced to sell the rich furniture of the
palace, and to enlist slaves and robbers. [This war is generally called the Mar-
comannic, but its proper name, at first, was the Bellum Germanicum. At a later
stage, when the Sarmatians made common cause with the Germans, it was called
the Bellum Germanicum Sarmaticum. The Romans took the field in 167, and
hostilities lasted, with a short interval of peace, till the accession of Commodus,
180. The following German peoples took part in it ;— Marcomanni, Quadi, Narisci,
Victovali, Hermunduri, Vandals, Buri ; also the (Sarmatian) Jazyges. who dwelt be-
tween the Theiss and Danube. Large settlements of the conquered barbarians were
made within the limits of the Empire, so that this period has importance for the his-
tory of the Roman colonatus. It has been well treated by Heisterbergk in his
work, Die Entstehung des Colonats.]
Antouiniu
OF THE ROMAN EMPIRE 235
whether this hasty confederation was formed by necesssity, by
reason, or by passion; but we may rest assured, tl\at the
barbarians were neither allured by the indolence or provoked
by the ambition of the Roman monarch. This dangei'ous in-
vasion required all the firmness and vigilance of Marcus. He
fixed generals of ability in the several stations of atta.ck, and
assumed in person the conduct of the most important province
on the Upper Danube. After a long and doubtful coaflict, the
spirit of the barbarians was subdued. The Quadi and the
Marcomanni,^* who had taken the lead in the war, were the
most severely punished in its catastrophe. They were com-
manded to retire ^ve miles ^^ from their own banits of the
Danube, and to deliver up the flower of the youth, ivho were
immediately sent into Britain, a remote island, where th ey might
be secure as hostages and useful as soldiers.^^ On the frequent
rebellions of the Quadi and Marcomanni, the irritated emperor
resolved to reduce their country into the form of a pTOvince.^^
His designs were disappointed by death. This fctrmidable
league, however, the only one that appeal's in the two first
centuries of the Imperial history, was entirely dissipated with-
out leaving any traces behind in Germany.
In the course of this introductory chapter, we have confined Distinction of
ourselves to the general outlines of the manners of Germany, triijes
without attempting to describe or to distinguish the various
tribes which filled that great country in the time of Caesar, of
Tacitus, or of Ptolemy.^s As the ancient, or as nev/ tribes
successively present themselves in the series of this history, we
shall concisely mention their origin, their situation, and their
particular character. Modern nations are fixed and permanent
societies, connected among themselves by laws and government,
bound to their native soil by arts and agriculture. The German
tribes were voluntary and fluctuating associations of soldiers,
almost of savages. The same territory often changed its inhabi-
tants in the tide of conquest and emigration. The same com-
munities, uniting in a plan of defence or invasion, bestowed a
84 The Marcomanni, a colony, who, from the banks of the Rhine, occupied Bohemia
and Moravia, had once erected a great and formidable monarchy under their king
Maroboduus. See Strabo, 1. vii. [290] . Veil. Pat. ii. 105 [108]. Tacit. Annal. ii. 63.
85 Mr. Wotton (History of Rome, p. 166) increases the prohibition to ten times
the distance. His reasoning is specious but not conclusive. Five miles were-
sufficient for a fortified barrier.
8" Dion, 1. Ixxi. [11 e( sqg.1 and Ixxii. [2].
s^fHe intended to form two new provinces, Marcomannia and Sarmatia,]
'"X^or our authorities on early German History, see Appendix 15.]
236 THE DECLINE AND FALL
new title on their new confedei'acy. The dissolution of an ancient
confederacy restored to the independent tribes their peculiar but
long forgotten appellation. A victorious state often communi-
cated its own name to a vanquished people. Sometimes crowds
of volunteers flocked from all parts to the standard of a favourite
leader ; his camp became their country, and some circumstance
of the enterprise soon gave a common denomination to the
mixed multitude. The distinctions of the ferocious invaders
were perpetually varied by themselves, and confounded by the
astonished subjects of the Roman empire. ^^
NamijerB Wars and the administration of public affairs are the principal
subjects of histoiy ; but the number of persons interested in
these busy scenes is very different, according to the different
condition of mankind. In great monarchies millions of obedient
subjects pursue their useful occupations in peace and obscurity.
The attention of the writer, as well as of the reader, is solely
confined to a court, a capital, a regular army, and the districts
which happen to be the occasional scene of military operations.
But a state of freedom and barbarism, the season of civil com-
motions, or the situation of petty republics, ^^ raises almost every
member of the community into action and consequently into
notice. The irregular divisions and the restless motions of the
people of Germany dazzle our imagination, and seem to multiply
their numbers. The profuse enumeration of kings and warriors,
of armies and nations, inclines us to forget that the same objects
are continually repeated under a variety of appellations, and
that the most splendid appellations have been frequently lavished
on the most inconsiderable objects.
^See an excellent dissertation on the origin and migrations of nations, in the
M^moires de I'Acad^mie des Inscriptions, torn, xviii. p. 48-71. It is seldom
that the antiquarian and the philosopher are so happily blended.
3" Should we suspect that Athens contained only 21,000 citizens, and Sparta
no more than 39,000? See Hume and Wallace on the number ot mankind in
ancient and modern times. [See above, chap, ii. note 2i,]
Of THE EOMAN EMPIEE 237
CHAPTER X
The Emperors Decitts, GalluSj MmiiianuSy Falerian, and Gallientis —
The general Irruption of the Barbarians — The thirty Tyrants
From the great secular games celebrated by Philip to the death ^eauS^J/*^
of the emperor Gallienus, there elapsed twenty years of shame ■*-^- ^^s-^sa
and misfortune. During that calamitous period, every instant
of time was marked, every province of the Roman world was
alflicted, by barbarous invaders and military tyrants, and the
ruined empire seemed to approach the last and fatal moment of
its dissolution. The confusion of the times and the scarcity of
authentic memorials oppose equal difficulties to the historian,
who attempts to preserve a clear and unbroken thread of narra-
tion.^ Surrounded with imperfect fragments, always concise,
often obscure, and sometimes contradictory, he is reduced to
collect, to compare, and to conjecture : and though he ought
never to place his conjectures in the rank of facts, yet the
knowledge of human nature, and of the sure operation of its
fierce and unrestrained passions, might, on some occasions, supply
the want of historical materials.
There is not, for instance, any difficulty in conceiving that the me emperor
successive murders of so many emperors had loosened all the ^
ties of allegiance between the prince and people ; that all the
generals of Philip were disposed to imitate the example of their
master ; and that the caprice of armies, long since habituated to
frequent and violent revolutions, might every day raise to the
throne the most obscure of their fellow-soldiers. History can
only add, that the rebellion against the emperor Phihp broke
out in the summer of the year two hundred and forty-nine,
among the legions of Meesia, and that a subaltern officer, ^ named
Marinus, was the object of their seditious choice. Philip was
i[We have almost no sources for Philip's reign. Gibbon mentions no events
during the years between his accession in 244 and the secular games in 248. An
expedition led by Philip himself against the Carpi seems to have been the most
important occurrence.]
2 The expression used by Zosimus [i. 20] and Zonaras [xii. 19] may signify
that Marinus commanded a century, a cohort, or a legion.
238 THE DECLINE AND FALL
alarmed. He dreaded lest the treason of the Maesian army
should prove the first spark of a general conflagration. Dis-
tracted with the consciousness of his guilt and of his danger^ he
communicated the intelligence to the senate. A gloomy silence
?Sit*viJ}»^ prevailed, the effect of fear, and perhaps of disaffection, till at
the empSror l^^g*^ Dccius, onc of the assembly, assuming a spirit worthy of
A^D.'Ss ^^® noble extraction, ventured to discover more intrepidity than
the emperor seemed to possess. He treated the whole business
with contempt, as a hasty and inconsiderate tumult, and Philip's
rival as a phantom of royalty, who in a very few days would be
destroyed by the same inconstancy that had created him. The
speedy completion of the prophecy inspired Philip with a just
esteem for so able a counsellor, and Decius appeared to him the
only person capable of restoring peace and discipline to an army
whose tumultuous spirit did not immediately subside after the
murder of Marinus. Decius,^ who long resisted his own nomi-
nation, seems to have insinuated the danger of presenting a
leader of merit to the angry and apprehensive minds of the
soldiers ; and his prediction was again confirmed by the event.
The legions of Maesia forced their judge to become their accom-
plice. They left him only the alternative of death or the purple.
His subsequent conduct, after that decisive measure, was unavoid-
able. He conducted or followed his army to the confines of Italy,
whither PhOip, collecting all his force to repel the formidable
competitor whom he had raised up, advanced to meet him. The
Imperial troops were superior in number ; but the rebels formed
an army of veterans, commanded by an able and experienced
leader. Philip was either killed in the battle or put to death a
few days aftei'wards at Verona. His son and associate in the
empire,* was massacred at Rome by the Praetorian guards; and
the victorious Decius, with more favourable circumstances than
the ambition of that age can usually plead, was universally ac-
knowledged by the senate and provinces. It is reported that,
immediately after his reluctant acceptance of the title of Augus-
tus, he had assured Philip by a private message of his innocence
^His birth at Bubalia, a little village in Pannonia (Eutrop. ix. [4], Victor, in
Caesarib. [29] et Epitom. [29] ), seems to contradict, unless it was merely acciden-
tal, his supposed descent from the Decii. Six hundred years had bestowed
nobility on the Decii ; but at the commencement of that period, they were only
Plebeiin-. of merit, and among the first who shared the consulship with the
haughty Patricians. Plebeise Deciorura animae, &c, Juvenal, Sat. viii. 254. See
the spirited speech of Deems in Livy, x. 9, 10 [7, 8]. [C. Messius Quintus Traianus
Decius. The date of his elevation fell in the l2.st days of 248 (Schiller, 1. 803).]
*[Also named Philip.]
OF THE ROMAN EMPIRE 239
and loyalty, solemnly protesting that, on his arrival in Italy, he
would resign the Imperial ornaments, and return to the con-
dition of an obedient subject. His professions might be sincere;
but, in the situation where fortune had placed him, it was scarcely
possible that he could either forgive or be forgiven.^
The emperor Decius had employed a few months in the works HemaroheB
of peace*' and the administration of justice, when he was sum-ooths.
moned to the banks of the Danube by the invasion of the Goths.
This is the first considerable occasion in which history mentions
that great people, who aftei'wards broke the Roman power,
sacked the Capitol, and reigned in Gaul, Spain, and Italy. So
memorable was the part which they acted in the subversion of
the Western empire, that the name of Goths is frequently but
improperly used as a general appellation of rude and warlike
barbarism.
In the beginning of the sixth century, and after the conquest oririn of the
of Italy, the Goths, in possession of present greatness, very Scandinavia
naturally indulged themselves in the prospect of past and of
future glory. They wished to preserve the memory of their
ancestors, and to transmit to posterity their own achievements.
The principal minister of the court of Ravenna, the learned
Cassiodorus, gratified the inclination of the conquerors in a
Gothic history, which consisted of twelve books, now reduced to
the imperfect abridgment of Jomandes.'^ These writers passed
with the most artful conciseness over the misfortunes of the
nation, celebrated its successful valour, and adorned the triumph
with many Asiatic trophies that more properly belonged to the
people of Scythia. On the faith of ancient songs, the uncertain
but the only memorials of barbarians, they deduced the first
origin of the Goths from the vast island or peninsula of
Scandinavia.^ That extreme country of the North was not
unknown to the conquerors of Italy ; the ties of ancient con-
sanguinity had been strengthened by recent offices of friendship ;
and a Scandinavian king had cheerfully abdicated his savage
greatness, that he might pass the remainder of his days in the
s Zosimiis, 1. i. p. 20 [22] . Zonaras, L xii. p. 624 [19]. Edit. Louvre.
• [He conferred the rank of Cassar on his two sons, Q. Herennius Etniscus
Messius Decius and C. Valens Hostilianus Messius Quintus.]
7 See the prefaces of Cassiodorus and Jornandes : it is surprising that the latter
should be omitted in the excellent edition, published by Grotius, of the Gothic
writers. Qordanes is now recognized as the correct spelling of the Gothic writer
whom Gibbon calls Jornandes. See Appendix 15.]
8 On the authority of Ablavius, Jornandes quotes some old Gothic chronicles
in verse. De Reb. Geticis, c. 4. [The Scandinavian origin of the Goths was a
legend believed by theniselves, but there is no historical evidence for it.]
240 THE DECLINE AND FALL
peaceful and polished court of Ravenna.^ Many vestiges,
which cannot be ascribed to the arts of popular vanity, attest
the ancient residence of the Goths in the countries beyond the
Baltic. From the time of the geographer Ptolemy, the southern
part of Sweden seems to have continued in the possession of the
less enterprising remnant of the nation, and a large territory is
even at present divided into east and west Gothland. During
the middle ages (from the ninth to the twelfth century), whilst
Christianity was advancing with a slow progress into the North,
the Goths and the Swedes composed two distmct and sometimes
hostile members of the same monarchy.^^ The latter of these
two names has prevailed without extinguishing the former. The
Swedes, who might well be satisfied with their own fame in
arms, have in every age claimed the kindred glory of the
Goths. In a moment of discontent against the court of Rome,
Charles the Twelfth insinuated that his victorious troops were
not degenerated from their brave ancestors, who had already
subdued the mistress of the world.^^
Reiigonof Till the end of the eleventh century, a celebrated temple
subsisted at Upsal, the most considerable town of the Swedes
and Goths. It was enriched with the gold which the Scandi-
navians had acquired in their piratical adventures, and sanctified
by the uncouth representations of the three principal deities,
the god of war, the goddess of generation, and the god oJE
thunder. In the general festival that was solemnized every
ninth year, nine animals of every species (without excepting the
human) were sacrificed, and their bleeding bodies suspended in
the sacred grove adjacent to the temple. ^^ The only traces that
now subsist of this barbaric superstition are contained in the
Edda, a system of mythology, compiled in Iceland about the
thirteenth century, and studied by the learned of Denmark and
Sweden, as the most valuable remains of their ancient traditions.
imtituMoM Notwithstanding the mysterious obscurity of the Edda, we can
and death of o j j '
Odin
^Jornandes, c. 3.
10 See, in the Prolegomena of Grotius [to Hist, Gotth., Vand. et Lang,], some
large extracts from Adam of Bremen [98 sg^.\ and Saxo-Grammaticus [124 sqq^.
The former wrote in the year 1077, the latter flourished about the year 1200.
11 Voltaire, Histoire de Charles XII. 1. iii. When the Austrians desired the
aid of the court of Rome against Gustavus Adolphus, they always represented
that conqueror as the lineal successor of Alaric. Harte's History of Gustavus, vol,
ii. p. 123.
'2 See Adam of Bremen in Grotii Prolegoraenis, p. 104 [105]. The temple of Upsal
was destroyed by Ingo King of Sweden, who began his reign in the year 1075,
and about fourscore years afterwards a Christian Cathedral was erected on 'ts
ruins. See Dalin's History of Sweden in the Bibliothfeque Raisonn^e.
OF THE EOMAN EMPIRE 241
easily distinguish two persons confounded under the name of
Odin — the god of war, and the great legislator of Scandinavia.
The latter, the Mahomet of the North, instituted a religion
adapted to tlie climate and to the people. Numerous tribes on
either side of the Baltic were subdued by the invincible valour of
Odin, by his persuasive eloquence, and by the fame which he
acquired of a most skilful magician. The faith that he had
propagated, during a long and prosperous life, he confirmed by
a voluntary death. Apprehensive of the ignominious approach
of disease and infirmity, he resolved to expire as became a
warrior. In a solemn assembly of the Swedes and Goths, he
woimded himself in nine mortal places, hastening away (as he
asserted with his dying voice) to prepare the feast of heroes in
the palace of the god of war.^^
The native and proper habitation of Odin is distinffuished byAsreeaWebut
the appellation of As-ffard, The happv resemblance of thathypotheaiB
name, with As-burg, or As-of,^* words of a similar signification^ odin
has given rise to an historical system of so pleasing a contexture
that we could almost wish to persuade ourselves of its truth. It
is supposed that Odin was the chief of a tribe of barbarians
which dwelt on the banks of the lake Maeotis, till the fall of
Mithridates and the arms of Pompey menaced the North with
servitude ; that Odin, yielding with indignant fury to a power
which he was unable to resist, conducted his tribe from the
frontiers of the Asiatic Sarmatia into Sweden, with the great
design of forming, in that inaccessible retreat of freedom, a
religion and a people which, in some remote age, might be sub-
sement to his immortal revenge ; when his invincible Goths,
armed with martial fanaticism, should issue in numerous swarms
from the neighbourhood of the Polar circle, to chastise the
oppressors of mankind.^^
If so many successive generations of Goths were capable of Enuw-aHon of
preserving a faint tradition of their Scandinavian origin, we must from £di
navla into
Profisia
IS Mallet, Introduction & I'Histoire du Dannemarc.
1* Mallet, c. iv. p. 55, has collected from Strabo, Pliny, Ptolemy, and Stephanus
Byzantinus, the vestiges of such a city and people.
w This wonderful expedition of Odin, which, by deducing the enmity of the
Goths and Romans from so memorable a cause, might supply the noble ground-
work of an Epic Poem, cannot safely be received as authentic history. Accord-
ing to the obvious sense of the Edda, and the interpretation of the most skilful
critics, As-gard, instead of denoting a real city of the Asiatic Sarmatia, is the
fictitious appellation of the mystic abode of the gods, the Olympus of Scandinavia ;
from whence the prophet was supposed to descend, when be announced his new
religion to the Gothic nations, who were already seated in the southern parts of
Sweden. [See below, vol. vii. p. 308, note 29.]
16 VOL. I.
242 THE DECLINE AND FALL
not expect^ from such unlettered barbarians, any distinct account
of the time and circumstances of their emigration. To cross the
Baltic was an easy and natural attempt. The inhabitants of
Sweden were masters of a sufficient number of large vessels with
oars,^^ and the distance is little more than one hundred miles
from Carlscroon to the nearest ports of Pomerania and Prussia.
Here, at length, we land on firm and historic ground. At least
as early as the Christian aera,^''' and as late as the age of the
Antonines,^^ the Goths were established towards the mouth of
the Vistula, and in that fertile province where the commercial
cities of Thorn, Elbing, Konigsberg, and Danzig, were long
afterwards founded.^^ Westward of the Goths, the numerous
tribes of the Vandals were spread along the banks of the Oder,
and the sea coast of Pomerania and Mecklenburg. A striking
resemblance of manners, complexion, religion, and language,
seemed to indicate that the Vandals and the Goths were
originally one great people.^** The latter appear to have been
subdivided into Ostrogoths, Visigoths, and Gepidae.^i The dis-
tinction among the Vandals was more strongly marked by the
independent names of Heruli, Burgundians, Lombards, and a
variety of other petty states, many of which, in a future age,
expanded themselves into powerful monarchies.
In the age of the Antonines the Goths were still seated in
Prussia. About the reign of Alexander Severus, the Roman
province of Dacia had already experienced their proximity by
frequent and destructive inroads. ^^ In this interval, therefore,
ifi Tacit. Germania, c. 44,
1^ Tacit. Annal. ii. 62. If we could yield a firm assent to the navigations of
Pytheas of Marseilles, we must allow that the Goths had passed the Baltic at least
three hundred years before Christ.
18 Ptolemy, 1. ii.
19 By the German colonies who followed the arms of the Teutonic knights.
The conquest and conversion of Prussia were completed by those adventurers in
the xiiith century.
20 Pliny (Hist. Natur. iv. 14) and Procopius (in Bell. Vandal. 1. i. c. i [2]) agree
in this opinion. They lived in distant ages, and possessed different means of in-
vestigating the truth. [Resemblances in proper names point to a close kinship.]
21 The Ostro and Visi, the Eastern and Western Goths, obtained those denomina-
tions from their original seats in Scandinavia. In all their future marches and
settlements they preserved, with their names, the same relative situation. When
they first departed from Sweden, the infant colony was contained in three vessels.
The third being a heavy sailer lagged behind, and the crew, which afterwards
swelled into a nation, received from that circumstance the appellation of Gepidae
or Loiterers. Jornandes, c. 17. [On this division and the early migrations of the
Goths, see Appendix 15, 16.]
^See a fragment of Peter Patricius in the Excerpta Legationum ; and with re-
gard to its probable date, see Tillemont, Hist, des Enipereurs, torn. iii. p. 346.
[Fr. 8, F.H.G. iv. p. 186].
OF THE ROMAN EMPIRE 243
of about seventy years, we must place the second migration of
the Goths from the Baltic to the Euxine ; but the cause that
produced it lies concealed among the various motives which
actuate the conduct of unsettled barbarians. Either a pestilence
or a famine, a victory or a defeat, an oracle of the gods, or the
eloquence of a daring leader, were sufficient to impel the Gothic
nrms on the milder climates of the south. Besides the influence
of a martial religion, the numbers and spirit of the Goths were
equal to the most dangerous adventures. The use of round
bucklers and short swords rendered them formidable in a close
engagement ; the manly obedience which they yielded to
hereditary kings gave uncommon union and stability to their
councils ; ^^ and the renowned Amala, the hero of that age,
and the tenth ancestor of Theodoric, king of Italy, enforced, by
the ascendant of personal merit, the prerogative of his birth,
which he derived from the Anses, or demigods of the Gothic
nation.24
The fame of a great enterprise excited the bravest warriors The oot^e
fi'om all the Vandalic states of Germany, many of whom are croasee in its
seen a few years afterwards combating under the common
standard of the Goths.^^ The first motions of the emigrants
carried them to the banks of the Prypec, a river universally
conceived by the ancients to be the southern branch of the
Borysthenes.2« The windings of that great stream through the
plains of Poland and Russia gave a direction to their line of
march, and a constant supply of fresh water and pasturage to
their numerous herds of cattle. They followed the unknown
course of the river, confident in their valour, and careless of
whatever power might oppose their progress. The Bastamse
and the Venedi were the first who presented themselves ; and
the flower of their youth, either from choice or compulsion,
increased the Gothic army. The Bastamse dwelt on the northern
side of the Carpathian mountains ; the immense tract of land
2S Omnium harum gentium insigne, rotunda scuta, breves gladii, et erga rages
obsequium. Tacit. Germania, c. 43. The Goths probably acquired their iron
by the commerce of amber.
^ Jornandes, c. 13, 14. [Theodoric was not " King of Italy," as we shall see ;
the expression is a loose one.]
2* The Heruli, and the Uregundi or Burgundi, are particularly mentioned. See
Mascou's History of the Germans, 1. v. A passage in the Augustan History, p. 28
[iv. 14] , seems to allude to this great emigration. The Marcomannic war was
partly occasioned by the pressure of barbarous tribes, who fled before the arms of
more northern barbarians.
2fi D'Anville, Geographic Ancienne, and the third part of his incomparable map
of Europe.
244 THE DECLINE AND FALL
that separated the Bastarnse from the savages of Finland was
possessed, or rather wasted, by the Venedi : ^7 we have some
reason to believe that the firet of these nations, which dis-
tinguished itself in the Macedonian war,28 and was afterwards
divided into the formidable tribes of the Peucini, the Borani,
the Carpi, &c.j derived its origin from the Germans. With better
oiiitioctioii of luthority a Sarmatian extraction may be assigned to the Venedi,
;-:^auaiii who rendered themselves so famous in the middle ages.^^ But
tlie confusion of blood and manners on that doubtful frontier
often perplexed the most accurate observers.^** As the Goths
advanced near the Euxine Sea, they encountered a purer race
of Sai'matians, the Jazyges, the Alani, and the Roxolani ; and
they were probably the first Germans who saw the mouths of
the Borysthenes and of the Tanais. If we inquire into the
characteristic marks of the people of Germany and of Sarmatia,
we shall discover that those two great portions of human kind
were principally distinguished by fixed huts or moveable tents,
by a close dress or flowing garments, by the marriage of one or
of several wives, by a military force consisting, for the most
part, either of infantry or cavalry ; and, above all, by the use of
the Teutonic, or of the Sclavonian language ; the last of which
]]as been diffused, by conquest, from the confines of Italy to the
neighbourhood of Japan.
the'^S***' ^^^ Goths were now in possession of the Ukraine, a country
of considerable extent and uncommon fertility, intersected with
navigable rivers, which from either side discharge themselves
into the Borysthenes ; and interspersed with large and lofty
forests of oaks. The plenty of game and fish, the innumerable
bee-hives, deposited in the hollow of old trees and in the
cavities of rocks, and forming, even in that rude age, a valuable
branch of commerce, the size of the cattle, the temperature of
the air, the aptness of the soil for every species of grain, and
the luxuriancy of the vegetation, all displayed the liberality of
Nature, and tempted the industry of man.^^ But the Goths
withstood all these temptations, and still adhered to a life of
idleness, of poverty, and of rapine.
27 Tacit. Germania, c. 46. [The Bastarnse were certainly a Germanic people.]
28Cluver. Germ. Antiqua, 1. iii. c. 43.
2* The Venedi, the Siam, and the Antes, were the three great tribes of the same
people. Jornandes, c. 24 [xxiii. 119, ed. Mommsenj.
80 Tacitus most assuredly deserves that title, and even his cautious suspense is
a proof of his diligent inquiries.
8^ Genealogical History of the Tartars, p. 593. Mr. Bell (vol. ii. p. 379)
traversed the Ukraine in his journey from Petersburgh to Constantinople. The
modern face of the country is a just representation of the ancient, since, in the
hands of the Cossacks, it still remains in a state of nature.
OF THE ROMAN EMPIRE 245
The Scythian hordes, which, towards the east, bordered on the The ooths
new settlements of the Goths, presented nothing to their arms, Roman
except the doubtful chance of an unprofitable victory. But the "^^^ ^'^
prospect of the Roman territories was far more alluring ; and
the fields of Dacia were covered with rich harvests, sown by the
hands of an industrious, and exposed to be gathered by those
of a warlike, people. It is probable that the conquests of
Trajan, maintained by his successors less for any real advantage
than for ideal dignity, had contributed to weaken the empire on
that side. The new and unsettled province of Dacia was neither
strong enough to resist, nor rich enough to satiate, the rapacious-
ness of the barbarians. As long as the remote banks of the
Dniester were considered as the boundary of the Roman power,
the fortifications of the Lower Danube were more carelessly
guarded, and the inhabitants of Msesia lived in supine security,
fondly conceiving themselves at an inaccessible distance from
any barbarian invaders. The irruptions of the Goths, under the
reign of Philip, fatally convinced them of their mistake. The
king or leader ^2 of that fierce nation traversed with contempt
the province of Dacia, and passed both the Dniester and the
Danube without encountering any opposition capable of retard-
ing his progress. The relaxed discipline of the Roman troops
betrayed the most important posts where they were stationed,
and the fear of deserved punishment induced great numbers of
them to enlist under the Gothic standard. The various multi-
tude of barbarians appeared, at length, under the walls of
Marcianopolis, a city built by Trajan in honour of his sister, and
at that time the capital of the second Maesia.^^ The inhabitants
consented to ransom their lives and property by the payment of
a large sum of money, and the invaders retreated back into their
deserts, animated, rather than satisfied, with the first success
of their arms against an opulent but feeble country. Intelli-
gence was soon transmitted to the Emperor Decius, that Cniva,
King of the Goths, had passed the Danube a second time,
with more considerable forces ; that his numerous detachments
32 [Ostrogotha is said to have been his name. Compare the eponymous
ancestors of the Greek tribes— Dorus, .^Eolus, Ion, Achseus. &c.]
^In the sixteenth chapter of Jornandes, instead of secundo Msesiam, we may
venture to substitute secundam, the second Maesia, of which Marcianopolis was
certainly the capital (see Hierocles de Provinciis, and Wesseling ad locum, p. 636
Itinerar.). It is surprising how this palpable error of the scribe could escape the
judicious correction of Grotiui. \_Ei secundo Moesiatn populati. But the
Laurentian Mi. has die befora seeundo, hence the true correction is de secundo,
SM Moramsen's edition, p. 81. The eiege of Marcianopolis is described at length
in frftj^. 18 of Dexippus, first published by Miiller, F. H. G. iii. p. 675.]
i.if. aso
246 THE DECLINE AND FALL
scattered devastation over the province of Maesia, whilst the
main body of the army, consisting of seventy thousand Germans
and Sarmatians, a force equal to the most daring achievements,
required the presence of the Roman monarch, and the exertion
of his military power.
variou« Decius found the Goths engaged before Nicopolis, on the
Gothicwar, Jatrus, onc of the many monuments of Trajan's victories.^*
On his approach they raised the siege, but with a design only
of marching away to a conquest of greater importance, the
siege of Philippopolis, a city of Thrace, founded by the father
of Alexander, near the foot of Mount Haeraus.^^ Decius followed
them through a difficult country, and by forced marches ; but,
when he imagined himself at a considerable distance from the
rear of the Goths, Cniva turned with rapid fury on his pursuers.
The camp of the Romans was surprised and pillaged, and, for
the first time, their emperor fled in disorder before a troop of
half-armed barbarians. After a long resistance Philippopolis,
destitute of succour, was taken by storm. A hundred thousand
persons are reported to have been massacred in the sack of that
great city.^® Many prisoners of consequence became a valuable
accession to the spoil ; and Priscus, a brother of the late emperor
Philip, blushed not to assume the purple under the protection
of the barbarous enemies of Rome.^^ The time, however, con-
sumed in that tedious siege, enabled Decius to revive the
courage, restore the discipline, and recruit the numbers of his
troops. He intercepted several parties of Carpi, and other
Germans, who were hastening to share the victory of their
countrymen,^ intrusted the passes of the mountains to officers
of approved valour and fidelity,^^ repaired and strengthened the
fortifications of the Danube, and exerted his utmost vigilance to
M The place is still called Nicop. The little stream [lantra] , on whose banks it
stood, falls into the Danube. D'Anville Geographic Ancienne, torn. i. p. 307.
S5 Stephan. Byzant. de Urbibus, p. 740. Wesseling Ttinerar. p. 136. Zonaras,
by an odd mistake, ascribes the foundation of Philippopolis to the immediate
predecessor of Decius.
36 Ammian. xxxi. 5. [A fragment of Dexippus, first edited by Miiller (F. H. G.
iii. p. 678, fr. 20), gives a long description of an inefifectual siege of Philippopolis
by the Goths. MiUler concludes that there were two sieges, the first unsuccessful,
before the defeat and death of Decius, the second successful, after that disaster.
This is supported by the words of Ammianus, xxxi. 5.]
37 Aurel, Victor [Caesar.] c. 29. [Dexippus, frags. 19, 20; Zos. i. 19.]
38 Victoria Carpicee, on some medals of Decius, insinuate these advantages.
3* Claudius (who afterwards reined with so much glory) was posted in the pass
of Thermopylas witib 200 Dardanians, 100 heavy and 160 light horse, 60 Cretan
archers, and 1000 well-armed recruits. See an onpi*ial letter from the emperor to
his officers in the Augustan History, p. %» [xxv. 16].
OF THE ROMAN EMPIRE 247
oppose either the progress or the retreat of the Goths. En-
couraged by the return of fortune, he anxiously waited for an
opportunity to retrieve, by a great and decisive blow, his own
glory, and that of the Roman arms>^
At the same time when Decius was struggling with the vio-DeciuBre-
lence of the tempest, his mind, calm and deliberate amidst the office of
tumult of war, investigated the more general causes that, since peraon of
the age of the Antonines, had so impetuously urged the decline
of the Roman greatness. He soon discovered that it was im-
possible to replace that greatness on a permanent basis without
restoring public virtue, ancient principles and manners, and the
oppressed majesty of the laws. To execute this noble but
arduous design, he first resolved to revive the obsolete office of
censor ; an office which, as long as it had subsisted in its pristine
integrity, had so much contributed to the perpetuity of the
state,^! till it was usurped and gradually neglected by the
Caesars.^ Conscious that the favour of the sovereign may confer
power, but that the esteem of the people can alone bestow
authority, he submitted the choice of the censor to the unbiassed
voice of the senate. By their unanimous votes, or rather a.d. 251, rtth
acclamations. Valerian, who was afterwards emperor, and who
then served with distinction in the army of Decius, was declared
the most worthy of that exalted honour. As soon as the decree
of the senate was transmitted to the emperor, he assembled a
great council in his camp, and, before the investiture of the censor
elect, he apprized him of the difficulty and importance of his
great office. " Happy Valerian," said the prince, to his dis-
tinguished subject, ''happy in the general approbation of the
senate and of the Roman republic ! Accept the censorship of
mankind, and judge of our manners. You will select those who
*ojornandes, c. 16 — 18. Zosimus, 1. i. p. 22 [23]. In the general account of
this war, it is easy to discover the opposite prejudices of the Gothic and the Grecian
writer. In carelessness alone they are alike.
^1 Montesquieu, Grandeur et Decadence ies Romains, c. 8. He illustrates the
nature and use of the censorship with his usual ingenuity and with uncommon
precision. [It is hard to suppose that Decius was so unsophisticated as really to
imagine that the revival of the censorship would be likely to promote a revival
of morals. It has been conjectured that the measure was a concession to the
senate.]
*2 Vespasian and Titus were the last censors (Pliny, Hist. Natm-. vii. 49. Cen-
sorinus de Die Natali). The modesty of Trajan refused an honour which he de-
served, and his example became a law to the Antonines. See Pliny's Panegyric, c.
45 and 60. [The author apparently thought that Domitian held only the censoria
potestas. At first indeed he was content with this ; it was confened on him in 84
or 85 A. D. ; but soon afterwards he assumed the censorship for life. His object
was to control the senate. Martial (vi. 4) addresses him as Censor 7naximc.]
248 THE DECLINE AND FALL
deserve to continue members of the senate ; you will restore the
equestrian order to its ancient splendour ; you will improve the
revenue^ yet moderate the public burdens. You will distinguish
into regular classes the various and infinite multitude of citizens,
and accurately review the military strength, the wealth, the
virtue, and the resources of Rome. Your decisions shall obtain
the force of laws. The army, the palacCj the ministers of justice,
and the great officers of the empire are all subject to your
tribunal. None are exempted, excepting only the ordinary
consuls,*^ the praefect of the city, the king of the sacrifices, and
(as long as she preserves her chastity inviolate) the eldest of the
vestal virgins. Even these few, who may not dread the severity,
will anxiously solicit the esteem, of the Roman censor." ^
nwAwrtp A magistrate invested with such extensive powers would have
anSwiSout*' appeared not so much the minister as the colleague of his sove-
reign.*^ Valerian justly dreaded an elevation so full of envy
and of suspicion. He modestly urged the alarming greatness
of the trust, his own insufficiency, and the incurable con'uption
of the times. He artfully insinuated that the office of censor
was inseparable from the Imperial dignity, and that the feeble
hands of a subject were unequal to the support of such an im-
mense weight of cares and of power. *^ The approaching event
of war soon put an end to the prosecution of a project so specious
but so impracticable, and, whilst it preserved Valerian from the
danger, saved the emperor Decius from the disappointment,
which would most probably have attended it. A censor may
maintain, he can never restore, the morals of a state. It is im-
possible for such a magistrate to exert his authority with benefit,
or even with effect, unless he is supported by a quick sense of
honour and virtue in the minds of the people, by a decent rever-
ence for the public opinion, and by a train of useful prejudices
combating on the side of national manners. In a period when
these principles are annihilated, the censorial jurisdiction must
either sink into empty pageantry, or be converted into a partial
instrument of vexatious oppression.*^ It was easier to vanquish
the Goths than to eradicate the public vices ; yet, even in
^3 Yet in spite of this exemption Pompey appeared before that tribunal, during
his consulship. The occasion indeed was equally singular and honourable.
Plutarch in Pomp, p, 630 [22].
■" See the originEd speech in the Augustan Hist p. 173, 174 [xxii. 6 {2)].
*5 This transaction might deceive Zonaras, who supposes that Valerian was
actually declared the coUeaj^e of Decius, 1. xii. p. 625 [120].
* Hist August, p. 174 [Tb.]. The emperor's T>_ply is omitted.
"^ Such as the attempts of Augustus towards a reformation of manners. Tacit.
Annal, iii. 34.
OF THE ROMAN EMPIRE 249
the first of these enterprises, Decius lost his army and his
life.
The Goths were now, on eveiy side, surrounded and pursued Jeath*ofD^
by the Roman arms. The flower of their troops had perished in f^ '^^ *^
the long siege of Philippopolis, and the exhausted countiy could
no longer aflbrd subsistence for the remaining multitude of
licentious barbarians. Reduced to this extremity, the Goths
would gladly have purchased, by the surrender of all their booty
and prisoners, the permission of an undisturbed retreat. But
the emperor, confident of victory, and resolving, by the chastise-
ment of these invaders, to strike a salutary terror into the
nations of the North, refused to listen to any terms of accommo-
dation. The high-spirited barbarians preferred death to slavery.
An obscure town of Maesia, called Forum Terebronii,^ was the
scene of the battle. The Gothic army was drawn up in three
lines, and, either from choice or accident, the front of the third
line was covered by a morass. In the beginning of the action,,
the son of Decius, a youth of the fairest hopes, and already asso-
ciated to the honours of the purple, was slain by an arrow, in
the sight of his afflicted father; who, summoning all his fortitude,,
admonished the dismayed troops that the loss of a single soldier
was of little importance to the republic.*^ The conflict was.
terrible ; it was the combat of despair against grief and rage.
The first line of the Goths at length gave way in disorder ; the
second, advancing to sustain it, shared its fate ; and the third
only remained entire, prepared to dispute the passage of the
morass, which was imprudently attempted by the presumption
of the enemy. " Here the fortune of the day turned, and all
things became adverse to the Romans : the place deep with
ooze, sinking under those who stood, slippery to such as advanced ;
their armour heavy, the waters deep ; nor could they wield, in
that uneasy situation, their weighty javelins. The barbarians,
on the contrary, were enured to encounters in the bogs ; their
persons tall, their spears long, such as could wound at a dis-
tance."^** In this morass the Roman army, after an ineffectual
struggle, was irrecoverably lost ; nor could the body ot the
<STillemont, Histoire des Erapereurs, torn. iii. 598. As Zosimus and some of
his followers mistake the Danube for the Tanais, they filace the field of battle in
the plains of Scythia. [Forum Trebonii or Abrittus is in the province of Scythia,
which is the modern Dobrudza, but the site has not been discovered.]
^ Aurelius Victor allows two distinct actions for the deaths of the two Decii ;
but I have preferred the account of Jornandes. [And so Dexippus, fr. 16.]
■"^I have ventured to copy from Tacitus (Annal. i. 64) the picture of a similar
engagement between a Roman army and 4 German tribo.
250
THE DECLINE AND FALL
Election of
GallUB,
A.D. 251,
December
A J). 252
Retreat ol
the Goths
GaUus
purchaBes
peace by the
payment of
an annual
tribute
emperor ever be found. ^^ Such was the fate of Decius, in the
fiftieth year of his age ; an accomplished prince, active in war,
and affable in peace ;^^ who, together with his son, has deserved
to be compared, both in life and death, with the brightest
examples of ancient virtue.^^
This fatal blow humbled, for a very little time, the insolence
of thfe legions. They appear to have patiently expected, and
submissively obeyed, the decree of the senate which regulated
the succession to the throne. From a just regard for the memory
of Decius, the Imperial title was conferred on Hostilianus, his
only surviving son ; but an equal rank, with more effectual power,
was granted to Gallus,^* whose experience and ability seemed
equal to the great trust of guardian to the young prince and the
distressed empire. ^^ The first care of the new emperor was to
deliver the lUyrian provinces from the intolerable weight of the
victorious Goths. He consented to leave in their hands the
rich fruits of their invasion, an immense booty, and, what was
still more disgraceful, a great number of prisoners of the highest
merit and quality. He plentifully supplied their camp with
every conveniency that could assuage their angry spirits, or
facilitate their so much wished-for departure ; and he even
promised to pay them annually a large sum of gold, on condition
they should never afterwards infest the Roman territories by
their incursions. ^^
In the age of the Scipios, the most opulent kings of the earth,
who courted the protection of the victorious commonwealth,
were gratified with such trifling presents as could only derive a
value from the hand that bestowed them ; an ivory chair, a
coarse garment of purple, an inconsiderable piece of plate, or
a quantity of copper coin.^'' After the wealth of nations had
51 Jornandes, c. i8. Zosimus, 1. i. p. 22 [23]. Zonaras, 1. xii. p. 627 [20].
Aureliiis Victor [Cass. 29, 5, and Victor, epit. 29].
'^^ The Decii were killed before the end of the year two hundred and hfty-one,
since the new princes took possession of the consulship on the ensuing calends of
January. [Tillemont has argued for end of November 251, and is followed by
Hodgkin, i. p. 56, but Alexandrian coins prove that it must be earlier than August
29, 251. See Schiller, i. 807.]
M Hist. August, p. 223 [xxvi. 42] gives them a very honourable place among
the small number of good emperors who reigned between Augustus and Dio
cletian.
^^ [C. Vibius Trebonianus Gallus, governor of the two Moesias.]
5^ Hasc, ubi Patres comperere. . . . decernunt, Victor in Cassaribus [30].
56 Zonaras, 1. xii. p. 628 [21. Zosimus, I. 24].
^ A Sella, a Toga, and a golden /*a/<!/-a of five pounds weight, were accepted
with joy and gratitude by the wealthy King ol Egypt (Livy, xxvii. 4). Qtnna millia
^ris, a weight of copper in value about eighteen pounds sterling, was the usual
present made to foreign an^bassadors (Livy, xxxi. 9).
OF THE ROMAN EMPIRE 251
centred in Rome, the emperors displayed their greatness, and
even their policy, by the regular exercise of a steady and moderate
liberality towards the allies of the state. They relieved the
poverty of the barbarians, honoured their merit, and recompensed
their fidelity. These voluntary marks of bounty were under-
stood to flow, not from the fears, but merely from the generosity
or the gratitude of the Romans ; and whilst presents and sub-
sidies were liberally distributed among friends and suppliants,
they were sternly refused to such as claimed them as a debt.^^
But this stipulation of an annual payment to a victorious enemy
appeared without disguise in the light of an ignominious
tribute ; the minds of the Romans were not yet accustomed Popj>iaj ^■
to accept such unequal laws from a tribe of barbarians ; and the
prince, who by a necessary concession had probably saved his
country, became the object of the general contempt and
aversion. The death of Hostilianus, though It happened in
the midst of a raging pestilence, was interpreted as the personal
crime of Gallus ; ^® and even the defeat of the late emperor was
ascribed by the voice of suspicion to the perfidious counsels of
his hated successor.^** The tranquillity which the empire en-
joyed during the first year of his administration ^^ served rather
to inflame than to appease the public discontent ; and, as soon
as the apprehensions of war were removed, the infamy of the
peace was more deeply and more sensibly felt.
But the Romans were irritated to a still higher degree, when victory and
they discovered that they had not even secured their repose, SSui^ub,
though at the expense of their honour. The dangerous secret '^^
of the wealth and weakness of the empire had been revealed
to the world. New swarms of barbarians, encouraged by the
success, and not conceiving themselves bound by the obligation,
of their brethren, spread devastation through the lUyrian
provinces, and terror as far as the gates of Rome. The defence
of the monarchy, which seemed abandoned by the pusillanimous
emperor, was assumed by ^milianus,^^ governor of Pannonia
and Maesia ; who rallied the scattered forces and revived the
fainting spirits of the troops. The barbarians were unexpectedly
^See the firmness of a Roman general so late as the time of Alexander Severus,
in the Excerpta Legationum, p. 25. Edit. Louvre.
^^ For the plague see Jornandes, c. 19, and Victor in Cassaribus [30, •^.
John of Antioch, frag. 151].
^ These improbable accusations are alleged by Zosimus, 1. i. p. 23, 24 [241.
^' Jornandes, c. 19. The Gothic writer at least observed the peace wnich his
victorious countrymen had sworn to Gallus.
^2 [M. iEmilius ^milianus,]
252
THE DECLINE AND FALL
Oallns abau
doned and
Blaln,
A.D, 253.
May
revenges the
death of
GaUuB, ELnd
Is acknow-
ledgfld em-
peror
attacked, routed, chased, and pursued beyond the Danube. The
victorious leader distributed as a donative the money collected
for the tribute, and the acclamations of the soldiers proclaimed
him emperor on the field of battle.**^ Gallus, who, careless of
the general welfare, indulged himself in the pleasures of Italy,
was almost in the same instant informed of the success, of the
revolt, and of the rapid approach, of his aspiring lieutenant. He
advanced to meet him as far as the plains of Spoleto. When
the armies came in sight of each other, the soldiers of Gallus
compared the ignominious conduct of their sovereign with the
glory of his rival. They admired the valour of ^Emilianus ; they
were attracted by his liberality, for he offered a considerable
increase of pay to all deserters.^* The murder of Gallus, and of
his son Volusianus,®^ put an end to the civil war; and the
senate gave a legal sanction to the rights of conquest. The
letters of i^milianus to that assembly displayed a mixture of
moderation and vanity. He assured them that he should
resign to their wisdom the civil administration ; and, contenting
himself with the quality of their general, would in a short time
assert the glory of Rome, and deliver the empire from all the
barbarians both of the North and of the East.*'^ His pride was
flattered by the applause of the senate ; and medals are still
extant, representing him with the name and attributes of
Hercules the Victor, and of Mars the Avenger. ^^
If the new monarch possessed the abilities, he wanted the
time, necessary to fulfil these splendid promises. Less than four
months intervened between his victory and his fall.^^ He had
vanquished Gallus : he sunk under the weight of a competitor
more formidable than Gallus. That unfortunate prince had
sent Valerian, already distinguished by the honourable title of
^Zosimus, 1. i. p. 25, 26 [28].
^Victor in Csesaribus [31, 2, stales that Gallus and his son were slain at
Interamna].
85 [Veldumnianus Volusianus became Caesar on the accession of his father, and
Augustus on the death of Hostilianus (before end of 251).]
**Zonaras, 1. xii. p. 628 [22J.
^ Banduri Numismata, p. 94.
^ Eutropius, 1. ix. c. 6, says tertio mense. Eusebius omits this emperor. [Val-
erian and Gallienus were emperors before 22nd October 253 ; see Wilmanns,
1472, Alexandrian coins, which are so useful in determining limits, prove that
^railianus must have overthrown Gallus before 39th August 253, and that he
was not slain himself earlier than 30th August 253. Aurelius Victor and
Zonaras agree that the reign of ^mflianus lasted not quite four months ; Jordanes,
like Eutropius, says fgr^o mense. If, then, we place the death of iErailianus
early in September, we inrtat pUce that of Gallqs l^HB in May or earlv in June.
See Schiller, i. Brp.]
OF THE ROMAN EMPIRE 253
censor, to bring the legions of Gaul and Germany ^^ to his aid.
Valerian executed that commission with zeal and fidelity ;
and, as he arrived too late to save his sovereign, he resolved to
revenge him. The troops of j^milianus, who still lay encamped
in the plains of Spoleto, were awed by the sanctity of his
character, but much more by the superior strength of his army ;
and, as they were now become as incapable of personal attach-
ment as they had always been of constitutional principle, they
readily imbrued their hands in the blood of a pruice who so a.d. 2S3,
lately had been the object of their partial choice. The guilt
was theirs, but the advantage of it was Valerian s ; who obtained
the possession of the throne by the means indeed of a civil war,
but with a degree of innocence singular in that age of revolu-
tions ; since he owed neither gratitude nor allegiance to his
predecessor, whom he dethroned.
Valerian was about sixty years of age ^** when he was invested ^^1^^°^
with the purple, not by the caprice of the populace or the
clamours of the army, but by the unanimous voice of the Roman
world. In his gradual ascent through the honours of the state
he had deserved the favour of virtuous princes, and had declared
himself the enemy of tyrants.*^^ His noble birth, his mild but
unblemished manners, his learning, prudence, and experience,
were revered by the senate and people ; and, if mankind
(according to the observation of an ancient writer) had been left
at liberty to choose a master, their choice would most assuredly
have fallen on ValerianJ^ Perhaps the merit of this emperor
was inadequate to his reputation ; perhaps his abilities, or at
least his spirit, were affected by the languor and coldness of old
age. The consciousness of his decline engaged him to share aeneraimio-
the throne with a younger and more active associate : ^^ the reima of°
emereencv of the times demanded a ffeneral no less than a Gaiiiemis,
° •' ° A.D. 253-268
^* Zosimus, 1. i. p. 28 [29]. Eutropius and Victor station Valerian's army in
Rhsetia [where they proclaimed him Emperor].
70 He was about seventy at the time of his accession, or, as it is more probable,
of his death. Hist. August, p. 173 [xxii. 5 (i)]. Tillemont, Hist, des Empereurs,
tom. iii. p. 893, note i,
"Iniraicus Tyrannorum, Hist. August, p. 173 [ib.]. In the glorious struggle
of the senate against Maximin, Valerian acted a very spirited part. Hist. August.
p. 156 [xx. 9] .
72 According to the distinction of Victor, he seems to have received the title of
Imperator from the army, and that of Augustus from the senate.
'3 From Victor and from the medals, Tillemont (tom. iii. p. 710) very justly
infers that Gallienus was associated to the empire about the month of August of
the year 253. [This date is too early, ^milianus was not slain till after August
29. We can only say ^bat GaUienus was associated as Augustus b^ore
October 22.]
254 THE DECLINE AND FALL
prince ; and the experience of the Roman censor might have
directed him where to bestow the Imperial purple, as the reward
of military merit. But, instead of making a judicious choice,
which would have confirmed his reign and endeared his memory,
Valerian, consulting only the dictates of affection or vanity,
immediately invested with the supreme honours his son
Gallienus,'^* a youth whose effeminate vices had been hitherto
concealed by the obscurity of a private station. The joint
government of the father and the son subsisted about seven, and
the sole administration of Gallienus continued about eight, years.
But the whole period was one uninterrupted series of confusion
and calamity. As the Roman empire was at the same time, and
on every side, attacked by the blind fury of foreign invaders,
and the wild ambition of domestic usurpers, we shall consult
order and perspicuity by pursuing not so much the doubtful
arrangement of dates as the more natural distribution of subjects.
The most dangerous enemies of Rome, during the reigns of
inroadB of the Valerian and Gallienus, were, — 1. The Franks. 2. The Alemanni.
3. The Goths ; and, 4. The Persians. Under these general
appellations we may comprehend the adventures of less con-
siderable tribes, whose obscm-e and uncouth names would only
sei*ve to oppress the memory and perplex the attention of the
reader.
oriffinand I. As the posterity of the Franks compose one of the greatest
oftheTraA^ and most enlightened nations of Europe, the powers of learning
and ingenuity have been exhausted in the discovery of theu'
unlettered ancestors. To the tales of credulity have succeeded
the systems of fancy. Every passage has been sifted, every
spot has been surveyed, that might possibly reveal some faint
traces of their origin. It has been supposed that Pannonia,''^
that Gaul, that the northern parts of Germany, "^^ gave birth to
that celebrated colony of warriors. At length the most rational
critics, rejecting the fictitious emigrations of ideal conquerors,
have acquiesced in a sentiment whose simplicity persuades us of
its truth. ^^ They suppose that, about the year two hundred
7* [P. Licinius Egnatius Gallienus. The son of Gallienus was also associated
in the empire^P. Licinius Cornelius Valerianus.]
^0 Various systems have been formed to explain difficult passages in Gregory of
Toiu"s, L ii. c. 9-
78 The Geographer of Ravenna, i. ii, by mentioning Mauringania on the
confines of Denmark, as the ancient seat of the Franks, gave birth to an ingenious
system of Leibnitz.
77 See Cluver. Germania Antiqua, I. iii. c. ao. M. Freret, in the M6moires de
I'Acad^mie des Inscriptions, tom. xviii. [Tlie Franks were the descendants of the
OF THE ROMAN EMPIRE 255
and forty/8 ^ jj^w confederacy was fornied under the name of
Franks by the old inhabitants of the Lower Rhine and the Weser.
The present circle of Westphalia, the Landgraviate of Hesse^
and the duchies of Brunswick and Luneburg, were the ancient
seat of the Chauci, who, in their inaccessible morasses, defied
the Roman arms;^^ of the Cherusci, proud of the fame of Armi-
nius; of the Catti, formidable by their firm and intrepid infantry;
and of several other tribes of inferior power and renown. ^^ The
love of liberty was the ruling passion of these Germans ; the
enjoyment of it their best treasure ; the word that expressed
that enjoyment the most pleasing to their ear. They deserved,
they assumed, they maintained the honourable epithet of Franks
or Freemen ; which concealed, though it did not extinguish, the
peculiar names of the several states of the confederacy.^^ Tacit
consent and mutual advantage dictated the first laws of the
union ; it was gradually cemented by habit and experience.
The league of the Franks may admit of some comparison with
the Helvetic body ; in which every canton, retaining its inde-
pendent sovereignty, consults with its brethren in the common
cause, without acknowledging the authority of any supreme
head or representative assembly. ^^ gut tjjg principle of the
two confederacies was extremely different. A peace of two
hundred years has rewarded the wise and honest policy of the
Swiss. An inconstant spirit, the thirst of rapine, and a disre-
gard to the most solemn treaties, disgraced the character of the
Franks.
The Romans had long experienced the daring valour of theiheyinvade
people of Lower Germany. The union of their strength threat- ^^'^
ened Gaul with a more formidable invasion, and required the
presence of Gallienus, the heir and colleague of Imperial power. ^
Whilst that prince^* and his infant son Saloninus displayed in
the court of Treves the majesty of the empire, its armies were
Sugambri and Chamavi and in the third century had been increased by the
Chatti. The Amsivarii, Chattuarii and some of the Brucieri also joined their
"league".]
78 Most probably under the reign of Gordian, from an accidental circumstance
fully canvassed by Tillemont, torn. iii. p. 710, 1181.
7*Plin. Hist. Natur. xvi. i. The panegyrists frequently allude to the morasses
of the Franks.
™ Tacit. Germania, c. 30, 37.
81 In a subsequent period most of those old names are occasionally mentioned.
See some vestiges of them in Cluver. Germ. Antiq. I. iii
82 Simler de Republicsl Helvet, cum notis Fuselin.
^ Zosimus, 1. i. p. 27 [30] .
84 [Zonaras, xii. 14.]
256 THE DECLINE AND FALL
ably conducted by their general Posthumus,^* who, though he
afterwards betrayed ^^ the family of Valerian, was ever faithful
to the great interest of the monarchy. The treacherous lan-
guage of panegyrics and medals darkly announces a long series
of victories. Trophies and titles attest (if such evidence can
attest) the fame of Posthumus, who is repeatedly styled The
Conqueror of the Germans, and the Saviour of Gaul. ^^
ravag* Spain But a Single fact, the only one indeed of which we have any
distinct knowledge, erases in a great measure these monuments
of vanity and adulation. The Rhine, though dignified with the
title of Safeguard of the provinces, was an imperfect barrier
against the daring spirit of enterprise with which the Franks
were actuated. Their rapid devastations stretched from the
river to the foot of the Pyrenees ; nor were they stopped by
those mountains. Spain, which had never dreaded, was unable
to resist, the inroads of the Germans. During twelve years, ^^
the greatest part of the reign of Gallienus, that opulent country
was the theatre of unequal and destructive hostilities. Tarra-
gona, the flourishing capital of a peaceful province, was sacked
and almost destroyed ;^^ and so late as the days of Orosius, who
wrote in the fiflh century, wretched cottages, scattered amidst
the ruins of magnificent cities, still recorded the rage of the
and pass over barbarians. ^^ When the exhausted country no longer supplied
a variety of plunder, the Franks seized on some vessels in the
ports of Spain ®i and transported themselves into Mauritania,
The distant province was astonished with the fury of these bar-
s'[M. Cassianius Latinius Postumus.]
85 [He was proclaimed emperor by the soldiers in 258, shortly after Gallienus
had hastened from the Rhine frontier to the defence ol the Danube. The emperor's
elder son and colleague, Valerian the Younger, who had been left at Koln to
represent him, was slain by the rebels in 259. The reign of Postumus, one ot
the " thirty tyrants," lasted till 268. Gibbon omits to mention the elder son of
Gallienus, Valerian. Saloninus was the younger, but he was called Valerian after
his brother's death.]
87 M. de Brequigny (in the M^moires de I'Acad^mie, torn, xxx.) has given us a
very curious life of Posthumus. A series of the Augustan History from Medals
and Inscriptions has been more than once planned, and is still much wanted.
[See Eckhel, vii, 439.]
88 [256-268 A.D.]
f^^Aurel. Victor [Caes.], c. 33 [§ 3]. Instead di Pcsne direpto, both the sense
and the expression require deleto, though, indeed, for different reasons, it isalike
difficult to correct the text of the best and of the worst writers.
^ In the time of Ausonius (the end of the tourth century) Ilerda or Lerida was
in a very ruinous state {Auson. Epist. xxv. 58), which probably was the conse-
quence of this invasion. [See Orosius, vii. 2a, 8.]
•1 Valesius is therefore mistaken in supposing that the Franks had invaded
Spain by sea.
OF THE ROMAN EMPIRE 257
bariansj who seemed to fall from a new world, as their name,
manners, and complexion were equally unknown on the coast of
Africa. ®2
II. In that part of Upper Saxony, beyond the Elbe, which isoriginand
at present called the Marquisate of Lusace, there existed intnesuevi
ancient times a sacred wood, the awftil seat of the superstition
of the Suevi. None were permitted to enter the holy precincts
without confessing, by their servile bonds and suppliant posture,
the immediate presence of the sovereign Deity. ^^ Patriotism
contributed, as well as devotion, to consecrate the Sonnenwald,
or wood of the Semnones.^* It was universally believed that
the nation had received its first existence on that sacred spot.
At stated periods the numerous tribes who gloried in the Suevic
blood resorted thither by their ambassadors ; and the memory of
their common extraction was perpetuated by barbaric rights and
human sacrifices. The wide extended name of Suevi filled the
interior countries of Germany, from the banks of the Oder to
those of the Danube. They were distinguished from the other
Germans by their peculiar mode of dressing their long hair,
which they gathered into a rude knot on the crown of the head ;
and they delighted in an ornament that showed their ranks
more lofty and terrible in the eyes of the enemy.^^ Jealous as
the Germans were of military i-enown, they all confessed the
superior valour of the Suevi ; and the tribes of the Usipetes and
Tencteri, who, with a vast army, encountered the dictator
Caesar, declared that they esteemed it not a disgrace to have
fled before a people to whose arms the inunortal gods them-
selves were unequal.^^
In the reign of the Emperor Caracalla, an innumerable swarm a mixed tody
of Suevi appeared on the banks of the Main, and in the neigh- Inn^e the
bourhood of the Roman provinces, in quest either of food, of S^mMni
plunder, or of glory.^^ The hasty army of volunteers gradually
coalesced into a great and permanent nation, and, as it was com-
posed from so many different tribes, assumed the name of
Alemanni, or Allmerij to denote at once their various lineage and
*2 Aurel. Victor [Cses. 33] . Eutrop. ix. 6.
53 Tacit. Germania, 38 [39] .
^ Cluver. German. Antiq. iii. 25.
^ Sic Suevi a ceteris Germanis, sic Suevorum ingenui a servis separantur. A
proud separation I
98 Ca?sar in Bello Gallico, iv. 7.
8^ Victor in Caracal. [Cses. 21], Dion Cassius, Ixxvii. p. 1350 [13], [The
Invaders were defeated by Caracalla, 213 A.D.]
17 VOL, I.
258 THE DECLINE AND FALL
their common bravery.®^ The latter was soon felt by the
Romans in many a hostile inroad. The Alemanni fought chiefly
on horseback ; but their cavalry was rendered still more formid-
able by a mixture of light infantry selected from the bravest and
most active of the youth, whom frequent exercise had enured to
accompany the horsemen in the longest march, the most rapid
charge, or the most precipitate retreat. ^^
J^™de Gaul This warlike people of Germans had been astonished by the
immense preparations of Alexander Severus ; they were dis-
mayed by the arms of his successor, a barbarian equal in valour
and fierceness to themselves. But, still hovering on the frontiers of
the empire, they increased the general disorder that ensued after
the death of Decius. They inflicted severe wounds on the rich
provinces of Gaul : they were the first who removed the veil
that covered the feeble majesty of Italy. A numerous body of
the Alemanni penetrated across the Danube, and through the
Rhaetian Alps into the plains of Lombardy, advanced as far as
Ravenna, and displayed the victorious banners of barbarians
almost in sight of Romc^^** The insult and the danger rekindled
in the senate some sparks of their ancient virtue. Both the
emperors were engaged in far distant wars. Valerian in the East,
and Gallienus on the Rhine. All the hopes and resources of the
arerepnised Romaus wcrc in thcmselvcs. In this emergency, the senators
S.e^enafa*' ^' resumed the defence of the republic, drew out the Praetorian
and people guards, who had been left to garrison the capital, and filled up
their numbers by enlisting into the public service the stoutest
and most willing of the Plebeians. The Alemanni, astonished
with the sudden appearance of an army more numerous than
their own, retired into Germany, laden with spoil ; and their
retreat was esteemed as a victory by the unwarlike Romans.^^^
TheBenatow When Gallicnus received the intelligence that his capital was
oSueliM*^ delivered from the barbarians, he was much less delighted than
from the
military
service
98 This et3rmology {far different from those which amuse the fancy of the learned)
is preserved by Asinius Quadratus, an original historian, quoted by Agathias, i. c.
5. [Another derivation is Alah-mannen, " men of the sanctuary," referring to the
wood of the Semnones. The identification of the Alamanni with the Suevians is
very uncertain.]
^ The Suevi engaged CECsar in this manner and the manoeuvre deserved the
approbation of the conqueror (in Bello Gallico, i. 48).
10*' Hist. August, p. 215, 216 [xxvi. 18, 21]. Dexippus in the Excerpta Lega-
tionum, p. 8 [p. 11, ed. Bonn ; F.H.G. iii. p. 682]. Hieronym. Chron. Orosius,
vii. 22. [The first campaigns of Gallienus against the Alamanni were in 256
and 257. The invasion of Italy took place 259-260. Simultaneously another band
invaded Gaul, and was subdued near Arelate ; Gregory of Tours, i. 32.]
101 Zosimus, 1. i. p. 34 [37] .
OF THE EOMAN EMPIRE 259
alarmed with the courage of the senate, since it might one day
prompt them to rescue the republic * from domestic t3Tanny, as
well as from foreign invasion. His timid ingratitude was
published to his subjects in an edict which prohibited the
senators from exercising any military employment, and even
from approaching the camps of the legions. But his fears were
groundless. The rich and luxurious nobles, sinking into their
natural character, accepted as a favour this disgracefrd exemp-
tion from military service ; and, as long as they were indulged
in the enjoyment of their baths, their theatres, and their villas,
they cheerfully resigned the more dangerous cares of empire to
the rough bands of peasants and soldiers.i**^
Another invasion of the Alemanni, of a more formidable aspect, Gaiuenia con
but more glorious event, is mentioned by a writer of the Lower aSLJcJ^th
Empire. Three hundred thousand of that warlike people aremMmi*"
said to have been vanquished, in a battle near Milan, by
Gallienus in person, at the head of only ten thousand Romans.i*'^
We may however, with great probability, ascribe this incredible
victory either to the credulity of the historian, or to some ex-
aggerated exploits of one of the emperor s lieutenants. It was
by arms of a very different nature that Gallienus endeavoured to
protect Italy from the fury of the Germans. He espoused Pipa,
the daughter of a king of the Marcomanni, a Suevic tribe, which
was often confounded with the Alemanni in their wars and
conquests.!*** To the father, as the price of his alliance, he
granted an ample settlement in Pannonia. The native charms
of unpolished beauty seem to have fixed the daughter in the
affections of the inconstant emperor, and the bands of policy
were more firmly connected by those of love. But the haughty
prejudice of Rome still refused the name of marriage to the
profane mixture of a citizen and a barbarian ; and has stigmatized
the German princess with the opprobrious title of concubine of
Gamenus.105
III. We have already traced the emigration of the Goths frominroadaof
•' ° the Gothi
* [The original text has public. I have ventured to amend. Ed.]
^ozAurel. Victor in Gallieno et Probo [Cfssar. 34, 37]. His complaints
breathe an uncommon spirit of freedom.
M* Zonaras, 1. xii. p. 631 [24. This victory was probably gained in the same
invasion which has been already described ; Gallienus fell upon them as they were
retreating. We need not assume two invasions, or doubt the statement of
Zonaras.]
104 One of the Victors calls him King of the Marcomanni, the other, of the
Germans.
105 See Tillemont, Hist, des Empereurs, tom. iii. p. 398, &c. [She was only
a concubine and must not be confounded with the Empress Salonina.]
260 THE DECLINE AND FALL
Scandinaviaj or at least from Prussia^ to the mouth of the
Borysthenes, and have followed their victorious arms from the
Borysthenes to the Danube. Under the reigns of Valerian and
Gallienus the frontier of the last-mentioned river was perpetually
infested by the inroads of Germans and Sarmatians ; but it was
defended by the Romans with more than usual firmness and
success. The provinces that were the seat of war recruited the
armies of Rome with an ineidiaustible supply of hardy soldiers ;
and more than one of these Ill3a'ian peasants attained the
station^ and displayed the abilities, of a general . Though
flying parties of the barbarians, who incessantly hovered on the
banks of the Danube, penetrated sometimes to the confines of
Italy and Macedonia, their progress was connnonly checked, or
their return intercepted, by the Imperial lieutenants.^^^ But
the great stream of the Gothic hostilities was diverted into a
very diflfej'ent channel. The Goths, in their new settlement of
the Ukraine, soon became masters of the northern coast of the
Euxine : to the south of that inland sea were situated the soft
and wealthy p-ovinces of Asia Minor, which possessed all that
could attract, and nothing that could resist, a barbarian con-
queror.
conguBBtof The bauks of the Borysthenes are only sixty miles distant
gonu'bythe from the narrow entrance ^^"^ of the peninsula of Crim Tartary,
known to the ancients under the name of Chersonesus Taurica.^^^
On that inhospitable shore, Euripides, embeUishing with ex-
quisite art the tales of antiquity, has placed the scene of one of
his most affecting tragedies.i*'^ The bloody sacrifices of Diana,
the arrival of Orestes and Pylades, and the triumph of virtue and
religion over savage fierceness, serve to represent an historical
truth, that the Tauri, the original inhabitants of the peninsula,
were in some degree reclaimed from their brutal manners by a
gradual intercoiu-se with the Grecian colonies which settled along
the maritime coast. The little kingdom of Bosphorus, whose
capital was situated on the straits through which the Maaotis
communicates itself to the Euxine, was composed of degenerate
108 See the lives of Claudius, Aurelian, and Probus, in the Augustan History.
[Dacia was lost to the Goths about 255 or 256. The event is not recorded, but
it is inferred from the fact that no coins or inscriptions in the province date from
a later year than 255 ; see Mommsen, Romische Geschickte, v. 220, Hodgkin, i. 57.]
107 It is about half a league in breadth. Genealogical History of the Tartars,
P- 598.
11*8 M. de Peyssonel, who had been French consul at Caffa, in his Observations
sur les Peuples Barbares, qui ont habits les bords du Danube.
i<® Euripides in Iphigenia in Taurid.
OF THE ROMAN EMPIRE 261
Greeks and half-civilized barbarians. It subsisted as an inde-
pendent state from the time of the Peloponnesian war,i^** was
at last swallowed up by the ambition of Mithridates,^^i and, with
the rest of his dominions^ sunk under the weight of the Roman
arms. From the reign of Augustus^^^^ the kings of Bosphorus
were the humble, but not useless, allies of the empire. By
presents, by arms, and by a slight fortification drawn across the
isthmus, they effectually guarded against the roving plunderers
of Sarmatia the access of a country which, from its peculiar
situation and convenient harbours, commanded the Euxine Sea
and Asia Minor. ^^^ As long as the sceptre was possessed by a
lineal succession of kings, they acquitted themselves of their
important charge with vigilance and success. Domestic factions,
and the fears or private interest of obscure usurpers Avho seized
on the vacant throne, admitted the Goths into the heart of
Bosphorus. With the acquisition of a superfluous waste of fertile
soil, the conquerors obtained the command of a naval force
sufficient to transport their armies to the coast of Asia."* The J'^Uf J^Jce
ships used in the navigation of the Euxine were of a very
singular construction. They were slight flat-bottomed barks
framed of timber only, without the least mixture of iron, and
occasionally covered with a shelving roof on the appearance of a
tempest.^^^ In these floating houses the Goths carelessly trusted
themselves to the mercy of an unknown sea, under the conduct
of sailors pressed into the service, and whose skill and fidelity
were equally suspicious. But the hopes of plunder had banished
every idea of danger, and a natural fearlessness of temper
supplied in their minds the more rational confidence which is
the just result of knowledge and experience. Warriors of such
a daring spirit must have often murmured against the cowardice
of their guides, who required the strongest assurances of a settled
calm before they would venture to embark, and would scarcely
ever be tempted to lose sight of the land. Such, at least, is the
"OStrabo, 1. vil. p. 309. The first kings of Bosphorus were the allies of
Athens.
1^ Appian in Mithridat. [67] .
^^It was reduced by the arms of Agrippa. Orosius, vi. 21. Eutropius, vii,
9. The Romans once advanced within three days' march of the Tanais. Tacit,
Annal. xii. 17.
U3 See the Toxaris oi Lucian, if we credit the sincerity and the virtues of the
Scythian, who relates a great war of his nation against the kings of Bosphorus.
^* Zosimus, 1. i. p. 28 [31. Coins prove that the lineal succession did not cease
before 267 at the earliest.]
^" Strabo, 1. xi. [p. 49s]. Tacit. Hist. iii. 47. They were called Camara.
262 THE DECLINE AND FALL
practice of the modern Turks ; ^^^ and they are probably not
inferior in the art of navigation to the ancient inhabitants of
Bosphorus,
Fiwt naval The fleet of the Goths, leaving the coast of Circassia on the
the oothB left hand, first appeared before Pityus,^^^ the utmost limits of the
Roman provinces ; a city provided with a convenient port, and
fortified with a strong wall. Here they met with a resistance
more obstinate than they had reason to expect from the feeble
garrison of a distant fortress. They were repulsed ; and their
disappointment seemed to diminish the terror of the Gothic
name. As long as Successianus, an officer of superior rank and
merit, defended that frontier, all their efforts were ineffectual ;
but, as soon as he was removed by Valerian to a more honourable
but less important station, they resumed the attack of Pityus ;
and, by the destruction of that city, obliterated the memory of
their former disgrace.^^^
The Gothfl Circling round the eastern extremity of the Euxine Sea, the
takef?ew- navigation from Pit3rus to Trebizond is about three hundred
miles.^^^ The course of the Goths carried them in sight of the
country of Colchis, so famous by the expedition of the Argonauts ;
and they even attempted, though without success, to pillage a
rich temple at the mouth of the river Phasis. Trebizond,
celebrated in the retreat of the Ten Thousand as an ancient
colony of Greeks,^20 derived its wealth and splendour from the
munificence of the emperor Hadrian, who had constructed an
artificial port on a coast left destitute by nature of secure
harbours. 121 xhe city was large and populous ; a double en-
closure of walls seemed to defy the fury of the Goths, and the
usual garrison had been strengthened by a reinforcement of
ten thousand men. But there are not any advantages capable
of supplying the absence of discipline and vigilance. The
numerous garrison of Trebizond, dissolved in riot and luxury,
disdained to guard their impregnable fortifications. The Goths
soon discovered the supine negligence of the besieged, erected
116 See a very natural picture of the Euxine navigation, in the xvith letter of
Tournefort.
^^ Arrian places the frontier garrison at DioscuriaS} or Sebastopolis, forty-four
miles to the east of Pit3rus. The garrison of Phasis consisted in his time of only
four hundred foot. See the Periplus of the Euxiue. [For the Gothic invasions see
Hodgkin, Italy and her Invaders, i. ch. i.]
i^sZosimus, 1. i. p. 30. [256 A.D.]
119 Arrian (in Periplo Maris Euxin. p. 130 [27]) calls the distance 2610 stadia.
i20Xenophon, Anabasis, 1. iv. p. 348. Edit. Hutchinson [c. 8].
121 Arrian, p. 129 [26]. The general observation is Tournefort's,
OF THE ROMAN EMPIRE 263
a lofty pile of fascines, ascended the walls in the silence of the
night, and entered the defenceless city, sword in hand. A
general massacre of the people ensued, whilst the affrighted
soldiers escaped through the opposite gates of the town. The
most holy temples, and the most splendid edifices, were involved
in a common destruction. The booty that fell into the hands of
the Goths was immense : the wealth of the adjacent countries
had been deposited in Trebizond, as in a secure place of refuge.
The number of captives was incredible, as the victorious barba-
rians ranged without opposition through the extensive province
of Pontus.122 Xhe rich spoils of Trebizond filled a great fleet of
ships that had been found in the port. The robust youth of
the sea coast were chained to the oar ; and the Goths, satisfied
with the success of their first naval expedition, returned in
triumph to their new establishments in the kingdom of
Bosphorus.123
The second expedition of the Goths was undertaken with t*^«K^^o,
greater powers of men and ships ; but they steered a different the ootha
course, and, disdaining the exhausted provinces of Pontus, fol-
lowed the western coast of the Euxine, passed before the wide
mouths of the Borysthenes, the Dniester, and the Danube, and,
increasing their fleet by the capture of a great number of fishing
barques, they approached the narrow outlet through which the
Euxine Sea pours its waters into the Mediterranean, and divides
the continents of Europe and Asia. The garrison of Chalcedon
was encamped near the temple of Jupiter Urius, on a promontory
that commanded the entrance of the strait: and so inconsiderable
were the dreaded invasions of the barbarians, that this body of
troops surpassed in number the Gothic army. But it was in
numbers alone that they surpassed it. They deserted with pre- They plunder
cipitation their advantageous post, and abandoned the town of pfBithynia
Chalcedon, most plentifully stored with arms and money, to the
discretion of the conquerors. Whilst they hesitated whether
they should prefer the sea or land, Europe or Asia, for the scene
of their hostilities, a perfidious fugitive pointed out Nicomedia,
once the capital of the kings of Bithynia, as a rich and easy
conquest. He guided the march, which was only sixty miles
from the camp of Chalcedon, ^2* directed the resistless attack,
and partook of the booty ; for the Goths had learned sufficient
122 See an epistle of Gregory Thaumaturgus, bishop of Neo-Caesarea, quoted
by Mascou, v. 37.
123 Zosimus, 1. i. p. 32, 33 [35].
1^* Itiner. Hierosoiym, p. 572. Wesseling.
264 THE DECLINE AND FALL
policy to reward the traitor whom they detested. Nice^ Prusa,
Apamsea, Cius, cities that had sometimes rivalledj or imitated^
the splendour of Nicomedia, were involved in the same calamity,
which, in a few weeks, raged without control through the whole
province of Bithynia. Three hundred years of peace, enjoyed by
the soft inhabitants of Asia, had abolished the exercise of arms,
and removed the apprehension of danger. The ancient walls
were suffered to moulder away, and all the i*evenue of the most
opulent cities was reserved for the construction of baths, temples,
and theatres. 125
fheoottw' When the city of Cyzicus withstood the utmost effort of Mith-
ridates,i26 [^ ^^s distinguished by wise laws, a naval power of two
hundred galleys, and three arsenals, — of arms, of military engines,
and of corn. 127 j^ ^^s still the seat of wealth and luxury ; but
of its ancient strength nothing remained except the situation, in
a little island of the Propontis, connected with the continent of
Asia only by two bridges. From the recent sack of Prusa, the
Goths advanced within eighteen miles^^s of the city, which they
had devoted to destruction ; but the ruin of Cyzicus was delayed
by a fortunate accident. The season was rainy, and the lake
Apolloniates, the reservoir of all the springs of Mount Olympus,
rose to an uncommon height. The little river of Rhyndacus,
which issues from the lake, swelled into a broad and rapid stream
and stopped the progress of the Goths. Their retreat to the
maritime city of Heraclea, where the fleet had probably been
stationed, was attended by a long train of waggons laden with
the spoils of Bithynia, and was marked by the flames of Nice
and Nicomedia, which they wantonly burnt.i^^ Some obscure
hints are mentioned of a doubtful combat that secured their
retreat. 13** But even a complete victory would have been of
little moment, as the approach of the autumnal equinox summoned
them to hasten their return. To navigate the Euxine before
the month of May, or after that of September, is esteemed by
the modem Turks the most unquestionable instance of rashness
and folly. 131
i26Zosimus, 1. i. p. 32, 33 [35],
^28 He besieged the place with 400 galleys, 150,000 foot, and a numerous
cavalry. See Plutarch in Lucul. [9]. Appian in Mithridat [72]. Cicero pro
Lege Manilia, c. 8. 127 Strabo, 1. xii. p. 573.
'28 Pocock's Descriptions of the East, 1. ii. c. 23, 24,
i2»Zosimus, 1. i. p. 33 [35].
^^t* Syncellus [i. p. 717, ed. Bonn] tells an unintelligible story of Prince Odenathus,
who defeated the Goths, and who was killed by Prince Odenathus.
131 Voyages de Chardin. torn. i. p. 45. He sailed with the Turks from
Constantinople to Caffa.
OF THE ROMAN EMPIRE 265
When we are informed that the third fleet, equipped by the lurd navai
Goths in the ports of Bosphorus, consisted of five hundred sail IfiL ootbt
of shipSj^32 our ready imagination instantly computes and multi-
plies the formidable armament ; but, as we are assured by the
judicious Strabo,^33 that the piratical vessels used by the bar-
barians of Pontus and the Lesser Scythia, were not capable of
containing more than twenty-five or thirty men, we may safely
affirm that fifteen thousand warriors at the most embarked in
this great expedition. Impatient of the limits of the Euxine,
they steered their destructive course from the Cimmerian to the
Thracian Bosphorus. When they had almost gained the middle
of the Straits, they were suddenly driven back to the entrance
of them ; till a favourable wind, springing up the next day, car-
ried them in a few hours into the placid sea, or rather lake, of
the Propontis. ^^4 Their landingr on the little island of Cyzicus They pass tha
t -» 11 /•! Ill- BoBphoruB
was attended with the rum oi that ancient and noble city. g^Jtii®
From thence issuing again through the narrow passage of the
Hellespont, they pursued their winding navigation amidst the
numerous islands scattered over the Archipelago or the ^gean
Sea. The assistance of captives and deserters must have been
very necessary to pilot their vessels, and to direct their various
incursions, as well on the coast of Greece as on that of Asia. At
length the Gothic fleet anchored in the port of Pii'aeus, five miles
distant from Athens, ^^^ which had attempted to make some
preparations for a vigorous defence. Cleodamus, one of the
engineers employed by the emperor s orders to fortify the mari-
time cities against the Goths, had already begun to repair the
ancient walls fallen to decay since the time of Sylla.^^^ The
efforts of his skill were ineffectual, and the barbarians became
masters of the native seat of the muses and the arts. But, while
the conquerors abandoned themselves to the licence of plunder
and intemperance, i^'^ their fleet, that lay with a slender guard
in the harbour of Piraeus, was unexpectedly attacked by the
brave Dexippus, who, flying with the engineer Cleodamus from
132 Syncellns (p. 382) [ib.] speaks of this expedition as undertaken by the
HeraU.
138 Strabo, 1. xi. p. 495.
134 [Gibbon omits to mention that the Goths sustained a severe naval defeat,
before they entered the Propontis, at the hands of Venerianus. Hist. Aug. xxiii,
13-]
135 pijin. Hist. Natur, iii. 7 [error for iv. 7],
136 ['Hie renewed wall was known as the wall of Valerian. See Zosimus, i. 29.
A wall was built at the same time across the Isthmus. For this invasion of
Greece, see Gregorovius, Geschichie der Stadt Athen im Mitielalier, i. 16 sqq.'\
137 [The monuments of Athens seem on this occasion to have been spared.]
266 THE DECLINE AND FALL
the sack of Athens, collected a hasty band of volunteers, peasants
as well as soldiers, and in some measure avenged the calamities
of his country. 138
g^age But this exploit, whatever lustre it might shed on the declin-
itld**^****° ing age of Athens, served rather to irritate than to subdue the
undaunted spirit of the northern invaders. A general conflagra-
tion blazed out at the same time in every district of Greece. ^^^
Thebes and Argos, Corinth and Sparta, which had formerly
waged such memorable wars against each other, were now unable
to bring an army into the field, or even to defend their ruined
fortifications. The rage of war, both by land and by sea, spread
from the eastern point of Sunium to the western coast of Epirus,
The Goths had already advanced within sight of Italy, when
the approach of such imminent danger awakened the indolent
Gallienus from his dream of pleasure. The emperor appeared
in arms ; and his presence seems to have checked the ardour,
T^ and to have divided the strength, of the enemy. Naulobatus, a
and retreat chief of the Heruli, accepted an honourable capitulation, entered
with a large body of his countrymen into the service of Rome,
and was invested with the ornaments of the consular dignity,
which had never before been profaned by the hands of a bar-
barian.i*** Great numbers of the Goths, disgusted with the
perils and hardships of a tedious voyage, broke into Msesia, with
a design of forcing their way over the Danube to their settle-
ments in the Ukraine. The wild attempt would have proved
inevitable destruction, if the discord of the Roman generals
had not opened to the barbarians the means of an escape.^*^
The small remainder of this destroying host returned on board
their vessels, and, measuring back their way through the Helles-
1*** Hist. August, p. i8i [xxiii. 13]. Victor [Caesar.] c. 33. Orosius, vii. 42.
Zosimus, 1. i. p. 35 ^9]. Zonaras, 1. xii. 635 [26]. S5mcellus, p. 382 [i. p. 717,
ed. Bonn] . It is not without some attention diat we can explain and conciliate
their imperfect hints. We can still discover some traces of the partiality of
Dexippus, in the relation of his own and his countrymen's exploits. [Frag. 21.
An epigram on Dexippus as a scholar, not as a deliverer, has been preserved.
C.I.A. lii. I. No. 716.]
139 [Gibbon has omitted to mention the attack of the Goths on Thessalonica,
which almost proved fatal to that city. This incident spread terror throughout
the Illyric peninsula, and thoroughly frightened the government. It was pro-
bably the immediate cause of the restoration of the walls of Athens and the
other fortifications in Greece. See Zosimus, i. 29, and perhaps Eusebius in
Miiller, F.H.G. v. i, 21.]
140 Syncellus, p. 382 [ib.]. This body of Heruli was for a long time faithfiil
and famous.
141 Claudius, who commanded on the Danube, thought with propriety and
acted with spirit. His colleague was jealous of his fame. Hist. August, p. iSx
[xxiii, 14].
OF THE ROMAN EMPIRE 267
pont and the Bosphorus, ravaged in their passage the shores of
Troy, whose fame, immortalized by Homer, will probably survive
the memory of the Gothic conquests. As soon as they found
themselves in safety within the bason of the Euxine, they
landed at Anchialus in Thrace, near the foot of Mount Haemus,
and, after all their toils, indulged themselves in the use of those
pleasant and salutary hot baths. What remained of the voyage
was a short and easy navigation.^^2 Such was the various fate
of this third and greatest of their naval enterprises. It may
seem difficult to conceive how the original body of fifteen
thousand warriors could sustain the losses and divisions of so
bold an adventure. But, as their numbers were gradually wasted
by the sword, by shipwrecks, and by the influence of a wann
climate, they were perpetually renewed by troops of banditti
and deserters, who flocked to the standard of plunder, and by a
crowd of fugitive slaves, often of German or Sarmatian extraction,
who eagerly seized the glorious opportunity of freedom and
revenge. In these expeditions the Gothic nation claimed a
superior share of honour and danger ; but the tribes that fought
imder the Gothic banners are sometimes distinguished and
sometimes confounded in the imperfect histories of that age ;
and, as the barbarian fleets seemed to issue from the mouth of
the Tanais, the vague but familiar appellation of Scythians was
frequently bestowed on the mixed multitude. ^^^
In the general calamities of mankind the death of an individual, Rum of the
however exalted, the ruin of an edifice, however famous, are e^SJSs**'
passed over with careless inattention. Yet we cannot forget
that the temple of Diana at Ephesus, after having risen with
increasing splendour from seven repeated misfortunes,^*^ was
finally burnt by the Goths in their third naval invasion. The
arts of Greece and the wealth of Asia had conspired to erect
that sacred and magnificent structure. It was supported by an
hundred and twenty-seven marble columns of the Ionic order ;
they were the gifts of devout monarchs, and each was sixty feet
high. The altar was adorned with the masterly sculptures
of Praxiteles, who had, perhaps, selected from the favourite
legends of the place the birth of the divine children of Latona,
1*2 Jornandes, c. 20
i^Zosimus, and the Greeks (as the author of the Philopatris [see below, p,
340, note 81]), give the name of Scythians to those whom Jomandes, and the
Latin writers, constantly represent as Goths.
1^ Hist. August, p. 178 [xxiii. 6]. Jornandes, c. 20. [The chronology is ex-
tremely doubtful. It seems more probable that Ephesus suffered in an earlier
invasion. See Hodgkin, i. 62.}
268
THE DECLINE AND FALL
Conduct of
the Ooths at
Athens
Conquest of
Armenia by
the Persians
the concealment of Apollo after the slaughter of the Cyclops,
and the clemency of Bacchus to the vanquished Amazons.i*^
Yet the length of the temple of Ephesus was only four hundred
and twenty-five feet, about two thirds the measure of the chiu*ch
of St. Peter's at Rome.^*^ In the other dimensions, it was still
more inferior to that sublime production of modern architecture.
The spreading arms of a Christian cross require a much greater
breadth than the oblong temples of the Pagans ; and the boldest
artists of antiquity would have been startled at the proposal of
raising in the air a dome of the size and proportions of the
Pantheon. The temple of Diana was, however, admired as one
of the wonders of the world. Successive empires, the Persian,
the Macedonian, and the Roman, had revered its sanctity, and
enriched its splendour.^*^ But the rude savages of the Baltic
were destitute of a taste for the elegant arts, and they despised
the ideal terrors of a foreign superstition.^^
Another circumstance is related of these invasions, which
might deserve our notice were it not justly to be suspected as
the fanciful conceit of a recent sophist. We are told that in
the sack of Athens the Goths had collected all the libraries, and
were on the point of setting fire to this funeral pile of Grecian
learning, had not one of their chiefs, of more refined policy than
his brethren, dissuaded them from the design, by the profound
observation, that as long as the Greeks were addicted to the
study of books they would never apply themselves to the ex-
ercise of arms.^^^ The sagacious counsellor (should the truth of
the fact be admitted) reasoned like an ignorant barbarian. In
the most polite and powerful nations genius of every kind has
displayed itself about the same period ; and the age of science
has generally been the age of military virtue and success.
IV. The new sovereigns of Persia, Artaxerxes and his son
i^'sStrabo, 1. xiv. p. 640. Vitnivius, I. i. u. a, prsefat. 1. vii. Tacit. Annal. iii.
71. Plin. Hist. Nat. xxxvi. 14.
i4«The length of St. Peter's is 840 Roman palms, each palm is a very little
short of nine English inches. See Greave's Miscellanies, vol. i, p. 233; On the
Roman foot.
147 The policy however of the Romans induced them to abridge the extent of
the sanctuary or asylum, which by successive privileges had spread itself two
stadia round the temple. Strabo, 1. xiv. p. 641. Tacit. Annal. iii. 60, &c.
i-iSThey offered no sacrifices to the Grecians' gods. See Epistol. Gregor.
Thaumat.
1*9 Zonaras, 1. xii. p. 635 [26] . Such an anecdote was perfectly suited to the
taste of Montaigne. He makes use of it in his agreeable Essay on Pedantry, 1.
i. c. 24. [Compare Anon. Continuation of Dion Cassius, in Miiller, F.H.G. iv,
p. 196.]
OF THE ROMAN EMPIRE 269
Sapor^ had triumphed (as we have already seen) over the house
of Arsaces. Of the many princes of that ancient race, Chosroes,
king of Armenia, had alone preserved both his life and his inde-
pendence. He defended himself by the natural strength of his
country ; by the perpetual resort of fugitives and malcontents ;
by the alliance of the Romans ; and, above all, by his own
courage. Invincible in arms, during a thirty years' war, he was
assassinated by the emissaries of Sapor, king of Persia. The
patriotic satraps of Armenia, who asserted the freedom and
dignity of the crown, implored the protection of Rome in favour
of Tiridates, the lawful heir. But the son of Chosroes was an
infant, the allies were at a distance, and the Persian monarch
advanced towards the frontier at the head of an irresistible force.
Young Tiridates, the future hope of his country, was saved by
the fidelity of a servant, and Armenia continued above twenty-
seven years a reluctant province of the great monarchy of
Persia.i5** Elated with this easy conquest, and presuming on the
distresses or the degeneracy of the Romans, Sapor obliged the
strong garrisons of Carrhse and Nisibis to surrender, and spread
devastation and terror on either side of the Euphrates.
The loss of an important frontier, the ruin of a faithful and vaierian
natural ally, and the rapid success of Sapor's ambition, affected the East
Rome with a deep sense of the insult as well as of the danger.
Valerian flattered himself that the vigilance of his Heutenants
would sufficiently provide for the safety of the Rhine and of the
Danube ; but he resolved, notwithstanding his advanced age, to
march in person to the defence of the Euphrates. During his
progress through Asia Minor, the naval enterprises of the Goths
were suspended, and the afflicted province enjoyed a transient
and fallacious calm. He passed the Euphrates, encountered
the Persian monarch near the walls of Edessa, was vanquished,
and taken prisoner by Sapor. The particulars of that great ib defeated
event are darkly and imperfectly represented ; yet, by the griBoner^by
glimmering light which is afforded us, we may discover a long °'|«'j^'
series of imprudence, of error, and of deserved misfortunes on
the side of the Roman emperor. He reposed an implicit con-
fidence in Macrianus, his Praetorian prsefect-^^^ That worthless
150 Moses Chorenensis, 1. ii. c. 71, 73, 74. Zonaras, L xii. p. 628 [21]. The
authentic relation of the Armenian historian serves to rectify the confused account
of the Greek. The latter talks of the children of Tiridates, who at that time was
himself an infant. [The succession of Tiridates was resisted by his uncle Arta-
vasdes, who then ruled in Armenia as vassal of Sapor.]
i^Hist. August, p. 191 [xxiv. 11]. As Macrianus was an enemy to the
Christians, they charged him with being a magician. [There seems no reason
270 THE DECLINE AND FALL
minister rendered his master formidable only to the oppressed
subjects, and contemptible to the enemies, of Rome.^^^ gy jjjg
weak or wicked counsels the Imperial army was betrayed into a
situation where valour and military skill were equally unavail-
ing. 15S 'pijg vigorous attempt of the Romans to cut their way
through the Persian host was repulsed with great slaughter ; ^^4
and Sapor, who encompassed the camp with superior numbers,
patiently waited till the increasing rage of famine and pestilence
had ensured his victory. The licentious mmmiurs of the legions
soon accused Valerian as the cause of their calamities ; theii-
seditious clamours demanded an instant capitulation. An im-
mense sum of gold was offered to purchase the permission of a
disgraceful retreat. But the Persian, conscious of his superior-
ity, refused the money with disdain ; and, detaining the deputies,
advanced in order of battle to the foot of the Roman ram-
part, and insisted on a personal conference with the emperor.
Valerian was reduced to the necessity of intrusting his hfe and
dignity to the faith of an enemy. The interview ended as it
was natural to expect. The emperor was made a prisoner, and
his astonished troops laid down their arms.^^^ In such a moment
of triumph, the pride and policy of Sapor prompted him to fill
the vacant throne with a successor entirely dependent on his
pleasure. Cyriades, an obscure fugitive of Antioch, stained with
every vice, was chosen to dishonour the Roman purple ; and the
will of the Persian victor could not fail of being ratified by the
acclamations, however reluctant, of the captive army.^^®
Sapor over- The Imperial slave was eager to secure the favour of his
cmSia^S^ master by an act of treason to his native country. He con-
ducted Sapor over the Euphrates, and, by the way of Chalcis, to
the metropolis of the East. So rapid were the motions of the
Persian cavalry, that, if we may credit a very judicious his-
torian,^^'^ the city of Antioch was siU3)rised when the idle multi-
to impute any fault to Macrianus in this disaster. He appears to have been an
able officer but unfortunately an invalid. For the defeat of Valerian and the
chronology, see Appendix 17. J
ifi^Zosimus, 1. i. p. 33 [36].
1S3 Hist, August, p. 174 [xxii. 32] .
1^ Victor in Caesar. [32]! Eutropius, ix. 7.
iBHZosimus, 1. i. p. 33 [36]. Zonaras, 1. xH. p. 630 [23]. Peter Patricius in the
Excerpta Legat. p. 29.
1^6 Hist. August, p. 185 [xxiv. i]. The reign of Cyriades appears in that
collection prior to the death of Valerian ; but I have preferred a probable series
of events to the doubtful chronology of a most inaccurate writer. [But see
Appendix 17.]
iw The sack of Antioch, anticipated by some historians, is assigned, by the
decisive testimony of Ammianus MarcelUnus, to the reign of Grallienus, xxiii, 5.
Oappodooia
OF THE ROMAN EMPIEE 271
tude was fondly gazing on the amusements of the theatre. The
splendid buildings of Antioch, private as well as public, were
either pillaged or destroyed ; and the numerous inhabitants
were put to the sword or led away into captivity.i^^ The tide
of devastation was stopped for a moment by the resolution of
the high priest of Emesa. Arrayed in his sacerdotal robes he
appeared at the head of a great body of fanatic peasants^ armed
only with slings, and defended his god and his property from
the sacrilegious hands of the followers of Zoroaster.^^^ But the
ruin of Tarsus, and of many other cities, furnishes a melancholy
proof that, except in this singular instance, the conquest of Syria
and Cilicia scarcely interrupted the progress of the Persian arms.
The advantages of the narrow passes of Mount Taurus were
abandoned, in which an invader whose principal force consisted
in his cavahy would have been engaged in a very unequal com-
bat : and Sapor was admitted to form the siege of Csesarea, the
capital of Cappadocia ; a city, though of the second rank, which
was supposed to contain four hundred thousand inhabitants.
Demosthenes commanded in the place, not so much by the com-
mission of the emperor as in the voluntary defence of his country.
For a long time he deferred its fate ; and, when at last Csesarea
was betrayed by the perfidy of a physician, he cut his way
through the Persians, who had been ordered to exert their
utmost diligence to take him alive. This heroic chief escaped
the power of a foe who might either have honoured or punished
his obstinate valour ; but many thousands of his fellow-citizens
were involved in a general massacre, and Sapor is accused of
treating his prisoners with wanton and unrelenting cruelty. ^®^
Much should undoubtedly be allowed for national animosity,
much for humbled pride and impotent revenge ; yet, upon the
whole, it is certain that the same prince who, in Armenia, had
displayed the mild aspect of a legislator, showed himself to the
Romans under the stern features of a conqueror. He despaired of
making any permanent establishment in the empire, and sought
only to leave behind him a wasted desert, whilst he transported
into Persia the people and the treasures of the provinces.^^^
138 Zosimus, 1. i. p, 35 [36].
"9 John Malala, torn. i. p. 391 [p. 296, ed. Bonn]. He corrupts this probable
event by some fabulous circumstances.
ifit^Zonaras, 1. xii. p, 630 [23]. Deep valleys were filled up with the slain.
Crowds of prisoners were driven to water like beasts, and many perished for want
of food.
1^ Zosimus, 1. i. p. 25 [28] , asserts that Sapor, had he not preferred spoil to
conquest, might have remained master of Asia.
272 THE DECLINE AND FALL
Boidnew and At a time when the East trembled at the name of Sapor, he
odeShM received a present not unworthy of the greatest kings — a long
againct Bapor ^j.^jjj q£ camcls laden with the most rare and valuable merchan-
dises. The rich offering was accompanied with an epistle, respect-
ful but not servile, from Odenathus, one of the noblest and
most opulent senators of Palni3Tra. " Who is this Odenathus "
(said the haughty victor, and he commanded that the presents
should be cast into the Euphrates), " that he thus insolently pre-
sumes to write to his lord ? If he entertains a hope of mitigat-
ing his punishment, let him fall prostrate before the foot of our
throne, with his hands bound behind his back. Should he
hesitate, swift destruction shall be poured on his head, on his
whole race, and on his country." ^^^ -phe desperate extremity to
which the Palmyrenian was reduced called into action all the
latent powers of his soul. He met Sapor ; but he met him in
arms. Infusing his own spirit into a little army collected from
the villages of Syria,^^^ and the tents of the desert,^^* he hovered
round the Persian host, harassed their retreat, carried off part of
the treasure, and, what was dearer than any treasure, several of
the women of the Great King ; who was at last obliged to repass
the Euphrates with some marks of haste and confusion.^^s By
this exploit Odenathus laid the foundations of his future fame
and fortunes. The majesty of Rome, oppressed by a Persian,
was protected by a Syrian or Arab of Palmyra.
^eatmentof The voice of history, which is often little more than the
organ of hatred or flattery, reproaches Sapor with a proud abuse
of the rights of conquest. We are told that Valerian, in chains,
but invested with the Imperial purple, was exposed to the
multitude, a constant spectacle of fallen greatness ; and that,
whenever the Persian monarch mounted on horseback, he
162 Peter Patricias in Excerpt. Leg. p. 29 [frag. 10, Miiller, F.H.G. iv.
Septimins Odsenathus had been made a consularis by Valerian before April 258.
See Waddington-Le Bas iii. 2602].
1^3 Syrorura agrestium manH Sextus Rufus, c. 23. Rufus, Victor, the
Augustan History (p. 192 [xxiv. 14]) and several inscriptions agree in making
Odenathus a citizen of Palmyra. [Palmyra had been made a colonia by Severus,
As a great commercial town, its policy was to preserve neutrality between the
powers of the East and the West, and, while the Parthian realm lasted, this was
feasible. But the ambition of the new Persian monarchy forced Palmyra to take
a decided step, and either attach itself to the Empire or submit to Sapor. This
step was taken by Odaenathus.]
i^He possessed so powerful an interest among the wandering tribes, that
Procopius (Bell. Persic. 1. ii. c. 5) and John Malala (tom. i. p. 391 [392 ; p. 297, ed.
Bonn] ) style him Prince of the Saracens.
I6B Peter Patricius, p. 25 [frag. 11. See also Zonaras, xii. 23 ; Zosimus, i. 39;
Syncellus, 1. 716 (ed. Bonn)].
Valerian
OF THE ROMAN EMPIRE 273
placed his foot on the neck of a Roman emperor. Notwith-
standing all the remonstrances of his aihes, who repeatedly
advised him to remember the vicissitude of fortune^ to dread the
returning power of RomCj and to make his illustrious captive the
pledge of peace, not the object of insult. Sapor still remained
inflexible. When Valerian sunk under the weight of shame and
grief, his skin, stuffed with straw, and formed into the likeness
of a human figure, was preserved for ages in the most celebrated
temple of Persia ; a more real monument of triumph than the
fancied trophies of brass and marble so often erected by Roman
vanity.16® The tale is moral and pathetic, but the truth of it
may very fairly be called in question. The letters still extant
from the princes of the East to Sapor are manifest forgeries ; ^^^
nor is It natural to suppose that a jealous monarch should, even
in the person of a rival, thus publicly degrade the majesty of
kings. Whatever treatment the unfortunate Valerian might
experience in Persia, it is at least certain that the only emperor
of Rome who had ever fallen into the hands of the enemy
languished away his life in hopeless captivity.
The Emperor Gallienus, who had long supported with ^J^J^J^
impatience the censorial severity of his father and colleague, ^5}**'^m'
received the intelligence of his misfortunes with secret pleasure,
and avowed indiiference, " I knew that my father was a
mortal," said he, " and, since he has acted as becomes a brave
man, I am satisfied." Whilst Rome lamented the fate of her
sovereign, the savage coldness of his son was extolled by the
servile courtiers as the perfect firmness of a hero and a stoic^^^
It is difficult to paint the light, the various, the inconstant
character of Gallienus, which he displayed without constraint
as soon as he became sole possessor of the empire. In every art
that he attempted his lively genius enabled him to succeed ;
and, as his genius was destitute of judgment, he attempted
every art, except the important ones of war and government.
He was a master of several curious but useless sciences, a ready
isflThe Pagan writers lament, the Christian insult, the misfortunes of Valerian.
Their various testimonies are accurately collected by Tillemont, tom. iii. p. 739,
&c. So little has been preserved of Eastern history before Mahomet, that the
modem Persians are totally ignorant of the victory of Sapor, an event so glorious to
their nation. See Bibliothfeque Orientale.
187 One of these epistles is from Artavasdes, king of Armenia : since Armenia
was then a province to Persia, the king, the kingdom, and the epistle must be
fictitious.
i«8 See his life in the Augustan History.
18 VOL. I.
274 THE DECLINE AND FALL
orator, an elegant poet,^^® a skilful gardener, an excellent cook,
and most contemptible prince. When the great emergencies of
the state required his presence and attention, he was engaged
in conversation with the philosopher Plotinus^^"^^ wasting his
time in trifling or licentious pleasures, preparing his initiation to
the Grecian mysteries, or soliciting a place in the Areopagus
of Athens. His profuse magnificence insulted the genera]
poverty ; the solemn ridicule of his triumphs impressed a deeper
sense of the public disgrace.^'^^ The repeated intelligence of
invasions, defeats, and rebellions, he received with a careless
smile ; and singling out, with affected contempt, some particular
production of the lost province, he carelessly asked, whether
Rome must be ruined, unless it was supplied with linen from
Egjrpt, and Arras cloth from Gaul? There were, however, a
few short moments in the life of Gallienus when, exasperated
by some recent injury, he suddenly appeared the intrepid soldier
and the cruel tyrant ; till, satiated with blood or fatigued by
resistance, he insensibly sunk into the natural mildness and
indolence of his character. ^^^
^Intir^ At a time when the reins of government were held with so
loose a hand, it is not surprising that a crowd of usurpers should
start up in every province of the empire, against the son of
Valerian. It was probably some ingenious fancy, of comparing
W9 There is still extant a very pretty Epithalamium, composed by Gallienus,
for the nuptials of his nephews [Hist. August, xxiii. ii] .
Ite ait, O Juvenes, pariter sudate medullis
Omnibus, inter vos ; non murmura vestra columbEc,
Brachia non hederse, non vincant oscula conchse.
>'0 He was on the point of giving Plotinus a ruined city of Campania to try
the experiment of realizing Plato's Republic. See the Life of Plotinus, by Porphyry,
in Fabricius's Biblioth. Graec. 1. iv.
171 A medal which bears the head of Gallienus has perplexed the antiquarians
by its legend and reverse; the former Gallitnts AugustcB^ the latter Ubigue
Pax [Eckhel, vii. 413] . M. Spanheim supposes that the coin was struck by some
of the enemies of Galfienus, and was designed as a severe satire on that effeminate
prince. But, as the use of irony may seem unworthy of the gravity of the Roman
mint, M. de Vallemont has deduced from a passage of Trebellius Pollio (Hist.
August, p. 198) an ingenious and natural solution. Galliena was fii^t cousin to
the emperor. By delivering Africa from the usurper Celsus, she deserved the title
of Augusta. [Recent authorities however accept the explanation of Spanheim.]
On a medal in the French king's collection, we read a similar inscription of Faus-
tina Augusta round the head of Marcus Aurelius. With regard to the Ubique
Pax, it is easily explained by the vanity of Gallienus, who seized, perhaps, the occa-
sion of some momentary calm. See Nouvelles de la R^publique des Lettres
Janvier, 1700, p. 21-34.
172 xhis singular character has, I believe, been fairly transmitted to us. The
reign of his immediate successor was short and busy, and the historians who
wrote before the elevation of the family of Constantine could not have the most
remote interest to misrepresent the character of Gadlienus, [But see Appendix i.]
OF THE ilOMAN EMPIRE 270
the thirty tyrants of Rome with the thirty tyrants of Athens,
that induced the writers of the Augustan history to select that
celebrated number, which has been gradually received into a
popular appellation. 173 But in every light the parallel is idle
and defective. What resemblance can we discover between a
council of thirty persons, the united oppressors of a single city,
and an uncertain list of independent rivals, who rose and fell in
irregular succession through the extent of a vast empire ? Nor
can the number of thirty be completed unless we include in the
account the women and children who were honoured with the
Imperial title. The reign of Gallienus, distracted as it was. Their real
produced only nineteen pretenders to the throne : Cyriades, SSmoreTJSr
Macrianus, Balista, Odenathus, and Zenobia in the East; in Gaul '^''^*^*"
and the western provinces, Posthumus, Lollianus, Victorinus and
his mother Victoria, Marius, and Tetricus. In lUyricum and the
confines of the Danube, Ingenuus, Regillianus and Aureolus ;
in Pontus,^"^* Saturninus ; in Isauria, Trebellianus ; Piso in
Thessaly ; Valens in Achaia ; jEmilianus in Egypt ; and Celsus
in Africa. To illustrate the obscure monuments of the life and
death of each individual would prove a laborious task, alike
barren of instruction and amusement. We may content our-
selves with investigating some general characters, that most
strongly mark the condition of the times and the manners of
the men, their pretensions, their motives, their fate, and the
destructive consequences of their usurpation. ^^^
It is sufficiently known that the odious appellation of T^rawi character ana
was often employed by the ancients to express the illegal seizure Srait?****
of supreme power, without any reference to the abuse of it.
Several of the pretenders who raised the standard of rebellion
against the emperor Gallienus were shining models of virtue,
and almost all possessed a considerable share of vigour and
ability. Their merit had recommended them to the favour of
Valerian, and gradually promoted them to the most important
commands of the empire. The generals who assumed the title
of Augustus were either respected by their troops for their able
conduct and severe discipline, or admired for valour and success
in war, or beloved for frankness and generosity. The field of
victory was often the scene of their election ; and even the
173 PoUio expresses the most minute anxiety to complete the number.
17* The place of his reign is somewhat doubtful; but there was a tyrant in
Pontus, and we are acquainted with the seat of all the others. [Hist. Aug. xxiv.
29, I is here referred to. See Appendix i8.]
17» Tillemont, torn. iii. p. 1163, reckons them somewhat differently.
276 THE DECLINE AND FALL
armourer Marius, the most contemptible of all the candidates
for the purple, was distinguished however by intrepid courage,
matchless strength, and blunt honesty. ^^^ His mean and recent
trade cast, indeed, an air of ridicule on his elevation ; but his
birth could not be more obscure than was that of the greater
Their obBcm-e part of his rivals, who were born of peasants, and enlisted in
the army as private soldiers. In times of confusion every active
genius finds the place assigned him by nature ; in a general
state of war military merit is the road to glory and to greatness.
Of the nineteen tyrants Tetricus only was a senator ; Piso alone
was a noble. The blood of Numa, through twenty-eight suc-
cessive generations, ran in the veins of Calphumius Piso,^"^^ who,
by female alliances, claimed a right of exhibiting in his house
the images of Crassus and of the great Pompey,^^^ His ances-
tors had been repeatedly dignified with all the honours which
the commonwealth could bestow; and, of all the ancient families
of Rome, the Calphurnian alone had survived the tyranny of the
Caesars. The personal qualities of Piso added new lustre to his
race. The usurper Valens, by whose order he was killed, con-
fessed, with deep remorse, that even an enemy ought to have
respected the sanctity of Piso ; and, although he died in arms
against Gallienus, the senate, with the emperor's generous per-
mission, decreed the triumphal ornaments to the memory of so
virtuous a rebel. ^^®
ThecauseBof The lieutcnants of Valerian were grateful to the father, whom
their rebeiuon j-jj^y esteemed. They disdained to serve the luxurious indolence
of his unworthy son. The throne of the Roman world was un-
supported by any principle of loyalty ; and treason against such
a prince might easily be considered as patriotism to the state.
Yet, if we examine with candour the conduct of these usurpers,
it will appear that they were much oftener driven into re-
bellion by their fears than urged to it by their ambition. They
176 See the speech of Marius, in the Augustan History, p. 187 [xxiv. 7]. The
accidental identity of names was the only circumstance that could tempt Pollio to
imitate Sallust.
1^ Vos O Pompilius sanguis ! is Horace's address to the Pisos. See Art. Poet.
V, 292, with Dacier's and Sanadon's notes.
178 Tacit. Annal, xv. 48, Hist. i. 15. In the former of these passages we may
venture to change patema into materna. In every generation from Augustus to
Alexander Severus, one or more Pisos appear as consuls. A Piso was deemed
worthy of the throne by Augustus (Tacit. Annal. i. 13). A second headed a
formidable conspiracy against Nero ; and a third was adopted, and declared
Caesar by Galba.
i^^Hist. August, p. 195 [xxiv. 20]. The senate, in a moment of enthusiasm,
seems to have presumed on the approbation of Gallienus,
OF THE ROMAN EMPIEE 277
dreaded the cruel suspicions of Gallienus : they equally dreaded
the capricious violence of their troops. If the dangerous favour
of the army had imprudently declared them deserving of the
purplCj they were marked for sure destruction ; and even pru-
dence would counsel them to secure a short enjo3anent of the
empire, and rather to try the fortune of war than to expect the
hand of an executioner. When the clamour of the soldiers
invested the reluctant victims with the ensigns of sovereign
authority, they sometimes mourned in secret their approaching
fate. " You have lost," said Satuminus, on the day of his eleva-
tion, '' you have lost a useful commander, and you have made a
very wretched emperor." '^^^
The apprehensions of Saturninus werejustifiedby the repeated Their violent
experience of revolutions. Of the nineteen tyrants who started
up under the reign of Gallienus, there was not one who enjoyed
a life of peace, or a natural death. As soon as they were in-
vested with the bloody purple, they inspired their adherents
with the same fears and ambition which had occasioned their
own revolt. Encompassed with domestic conspiracy, military
sedition, and civil war, they trembled on the edge of precipices,
in which, after a longer or shorter term of anxiety, they were
inevitably lost. These precarious raonarchs received, however,
such honours as the flattery of their respective armies and pro-
vinces could bestow ; but their claim, founded on rebellion,
could never obtain the sanction of law or history. Italy, Rome,
and the senate constantly adhered to the cause of Gallienus,
and he alone was considered as the sovereign of the empire.
That prince condescended indeed to acknowledge the victorious
arms of Odenathus, who deserved the honourable distinction by
the respectful conduct which he always maintained towards the
son of Valerian. With the general applause of the Romans and
the consent of Gallienus, the senate conferred the title of
Augustus on the brave Palmyrenian ; and seemed to intrust
him with the government of the East, which he already pos-
sessed, in so independent a mannei*, that, like a private succes-
sion, he bequeathed it to his illustrious widow Zenobia.^^^
The rapid and perpetual transitions from the cottage to the Fatal conae-
throne, and from the throne to the grave, might have amused SfeMosmpa-
an indifferent philosopher, were it possible for a philosopher to
180 Hist. August, p. ig6 [xxiv. 22] .
181 The association of the brave Palmyrenian was the most popular act of the
whole reign of Gallienus. Hist. August, p. i8o [xxiii. 12, i. The statement ig
certainly erroneous. See Appendix 19.]
278 THE DECLINE AND FALL
remain indifferent amidst the general calamities of human kind.
The election of these precarious emperors, their power and their
death, were equally destructive to their subjects and adherents.
The price of their fatal elevation was instantly discharged to
the troops by an immense donative drawn from the bowels of
the exhausted people. However virtuous was their character,
however pure their intentions, they found themselves reduced
to the hard necessity of supporting their usurpation by frequent
acts of rapine and cruelty. When they fell, they involved armies
and provinces in their fall. There is still extant a most savage
mandate from Galhenus to one of his ministers, after the sup-
pression of Ingenuus, who had assumed the purple in Illyricum.
"It is not enough," says that soft but inhuman prince, "that
you exterminate such as have appeared in arms : the chance of
battle might have served me as effectually. The male sex of
every age must be extirpated ; provided that, in the execution
of the children and old men, you can contrive means to save our
reputation. Let every one die who has dropt an expression,
who has entertained a thought, against me, against me, the son
of Valerian, the father and brother of so many princes.^^^ g^.
member that Ingenuus was made emperor : tear, kill, hew in
pieces. I write to you with my own hand, and would inspire
you with my own feelings." ^^^ Whilst the public forces of the
state were dissipated in private quarrels, the defenceless pro-
vinces lay exposed to every invader. The bravest usurpers were
compelled by the perplexity of their situation to conclude
ignominious treaties with the common enemy, to purchase with
oppressive tributes the neutrality or services of the barbarians,
and to introduce hostile and independent nations into the heart
of the Roman monarchy.^^*
Such were the barbarians, and such the tyrants, who, under
the reigns of Valerian and Gallienus, dismembered the provinces,
and reduced the empire to the lowest pitch of disgrace and
ruin, from whence it seemed impossible that it should ever
emerge. As far as the barrenness of materials would permit,
182 Gallienus had given the titles of Caesar and Augustus to his son Saloninus,
slain at Cologne by the usurper Posthumus. A second son of Gallienus succeeded
to the name and rank of his elder brother. Valerian, the brother of Galhenus, was
also associated to the empire : several other brothers, sisters, nephews, and nieces
of the emperor, formed a very numerous royal family. See Tillemont, torn. iii.
and M. de Brequigny in the M^moires de I'Acad^mie, torn, xxxii. p. 262.
183 Hist. August, p. 188 [xxiv. 8].
18* Regillianus had some bands of Roxolani in his service ; Posthumus a body
of Franks. It was perhaps in the character of auxiliaries that the latter introduced
themselves into Spain.
OF THE ROMAN EMPIRE 279
we have attemptecj, to tracej with order and perspicuity, the
general events of that calamitous period. There still remain
some particular facts ; I. The disorders of Sicily ; II. The
tumults of Alexandria ; and III. The rebellion of the Isaurians
— which may serve to reflect a strong light on the horrid
picture.
I. Whenever numerous troops of banditti, multiplied byiMwrderBof
success and impunity, publicly defy, instead of eluding, the
justice of their coimtry, we may safely infer that the excessive
weakness of the government is felt and abused by the lowest
ranks of the community. The situation of Sicily preserved it
from the barbarians ; nor could the disarmed province have
supported an usurper. The sufferings of that once flourishing
and still fertile island were inflicted by baser hands. A licen-
tious crowd of slaves and peasants reigned for a while over the
plundered country, and renewed the memory of the servile wars
of more ancient times. ^^^ Devastations, of which the husband-
man was either the victim or the accomplice, must have ruined
the agriculture of Sicily ; and as the principal estates were the
property of the opulent senators of Rome, who often enclosed
within a farm the territory of an old republic, it is not im-
probable that this private injury might affect the capital more
deeply than all the conquests of the Goths or the Persians.
II. The foundation of Alexandria was a noble design, at once Tumnit* of
conceived and executed by the son of Philip. The beautiftd and
regular form of that great city, second only to Rome itself, com-
prehended a circumference of fifteen miles ; ^®^ it was peopled
by three hundred thousand free inhabitants, besides at least an
equal number of slaves.^^^ The lucrative trade of Arabia and
India flowed through the port of Alexandria to the capital and
provinces of the empire. Idleness was unknown. Some were
employed in blowing of glass, others in weaving of linen, others
again in* manufacturing the papyrus. Either sex, and every age,
was engaged in the pursuits of industry, nor did even the blind
or the lame want occupations suited to their condition.^s^ But
the people of Alexandria, a various mixture of nations, united
the vanity and inconstancy of the Greeks with the superstition
185 The Augustan History, p. 177 [xxiii. 4] , calls it servile bellum. See Diodor.
Sicul. 1. xxxiv.
^ Plin. Hist. Natur. v. 10.
^87 Diodor. Sicul. 1. xvii. p. 590. Edit. Wesseling [5a].
188 See a very curious letter of Hadrian in the Augustan History, p. 245 [xxix. 8.
Cp. Student's Roman Empire, p. 520.]
*[The original text omits, presumably by accident, after agam. Ed.]
280 THE DECLINE AND FALL
and obstinacy of the Egyptians. The most trifling occasion, a
transient scarcity of flesh or lentils, the neglect of an accustomed
salutation, a mistake of precedency in the public baths, or even
a religious dispute/^® were at any time sufficient to kindle a
sedition among that vast multitude, whose resentments were
furious and implacable. ^^° After the captivity of Valerian and
the indolence of his son had relaxed the authority of the laws,
the Alexandrians abandoned themselves to the ungovemed rage
of their passions, and their unhappy country was the theatre of
a civil war, which continued (with a few short and suspicious
truces) above twelve years.^^^ All intercourse was cut off
between the several quarters of the afflicted city, every street
was polluted with blood, every building of strength converted
into a citadel ; nor did the tumults subside till a considerable
part of Alexandria was irretrievably ruined. The spacious and
magnificent district of Bruchion, with its palaces and musseum,
the residence of the kings and philosophers of Egypt, is described
above a century afterwards, as already reduced to its present
state of a dreary solitude. ^^^
RehBUionof III. The obscurc rebellion of Trebellianus, who assumed the
purple in Isauria, a petty province of Asia Minor, was attended
with strange and memorable consequences. The pageant of
royalty was soon destroyed by an officer of Gallienus ; but his
followers, despairing of mercy, resolved to shake off their allegi-
ance, not only to the emperor but to the empire, and suddenly
returned to the savage manners from which they had never
perfectly been reclaimed. Their craggy rocks, a branch of the
wide-extended Taiu'us, protected their inaccessible retreat. The
tillage ot some fertile valleys ^^^ supplied them with neces-
saries, and a habit of rapine with the luxuries of life. In the
heart of the Roman monarchy, the Isaurians long continued a
nation of wild barbarians. Succeeding princes, unable to reduce
them to obedience either by arms or policy, were compelled to
acknowledge their weakness by surrounding the hostile and
independent spot with a strong chain of fortifications,^^* which
189 Such as the sacrilegious murder of a divine cat. See Diodor. Sicul. 1. i,
iw Hist. August, p. 195. This long and terrible sedition was first occasioned
by a dispute between a soldier and a townsman about aj>air of shoes. [Compare
the description of Mommsen, Rom. Gesch. v. 582 w.]
191 Dionysius apud Euseb. Hist. Eccles. vol. vii. p. [/tf^f. c] 21. Ammian. xxU. 16.
is^Scaliger Animadver. ad Euseb. Chron. p. 258. Three dissertations of
M. Bonamy, in the M6m. de I'Acad^mie, tom. ix.
193 Strabo, 1. xii. p. 569.
1** Hist. August, p. 197 [xxiv, 35] .
tbe IsauTtaiu
or THE ROMAN EMPIEE 281
often proved insufficient to restrain the incursions of these
domestic foes. The Isaurians^ gradually extending their terri-
tory to the sea coast, subdued the western and mountainous
part of Cilicia, formerly the nest of those daring pirates against
whom the republic had once been obliged to exert its utmost
force, under the conduct of the great Pompey.^^^
Our habits of thinking so fondly connect the order of theramineand
universe with the fate of man, that this gloomy period of history
has been decorated with inundations, earthquakes, uncommon
meteors, preternatural dai*kness, and a crowd of prodigies fictiti-
ous or exaggerated.i^^ But a long and general famine was a
calamity of a more serious kind. It was the inevitable conse-
quence of rapine and oppression, which extirpated the produce
of the present and the hope of future harvests. Famine is
almost always followed by epidemical diseases, the effect of
scanty and unwholesome food. Other causes must however
have contributed to the furious plague which, from the year two
hundred and fifty to the year two hundred and sixty-five, raged
without interruption in every province, every city, and almost
every family of the Roman empire. During some time five
thousand persons died daily in Rome ; and many towns that
had escaped the hands of the barbarians were entirely depopu-
lated.i9^
We have the knowledge of a very curious circumstance, of Dingnution
some use perhaps in the melancholy calculation of human cala- Bpeciei
mities. An exact register was kept at Alexandria of all the
citizens entitled to receive the distribution of com. It was
found that the ancient number of those comprised between the
ages of forty and seventy had been equal to the whole sum of
claimants, from fourteen to fourscore years of age, who remained
alive after the reign of Gallienus.i^^ Applying this authentic
fact to the most connect tables of mortality, it evidently proves
that above half the people of Alexandria had perished ; and
195 See Cellarius, Geog. Antiq, torn. ii. p. 137, upon the limits of Isauria.
196 Hist August, p. 177 [xxiii. 5].
197 Hist. August, p. 177 [ib.j. Zosimus, 1. i. p. 24 [26]. Zonaras, 1. xii, p. 623 [21].
Euseb. Chronicon. Victor in Epitom. Victor in Caesar. [33]. Eutropius, ix. 5.
Orosius, vii. 21. [One of the most significant proofs of the distress of the empire
in the reign of GaUienus is the bankruptcy of the government, which resorted
to the old expedient of shameless depreciation of the coinage. At the end of his
reign the argenteus was merely a coin of base metal washed over with silver.
See Finlay, History of Greece, ed. Tozer, vol. i. Appendix ii.]
198 Euseb. Hist. Eccles. vii. 21. The fact is taken from the Letters of Dionysiu^,
who in the time of those troubles was bishop of Alexandria.
282 THE DECLINE AND FALL
could we venture to extend the analogy to the other provinces^
we might suspect that war, pestilence, and famine, had con-
sumed, in a few years, the moiety of the human species. ^^^
^^In a great number of parishes 11,000 persons were found between fourteen
and eighty; 5365 between forty and seventy. See Buffon, Histoire Naturelle
torn. ii. p. 590. '
OF THE ROMAN EMPIRE 283
CHAPTER XI
Reign of Claudius — Defeat of the Goths — Victories, triumph, ajul
death, of Aurelian
Under the deplorable reigns of Valerian and GallienuSj the
empire was oppressed and almost destroyed by the soldiers, the
tjrrants, and the barbarians. It was saved by a series of great
princes, who derived their obscure origin from the martial pro-
vinces of lUyricum. Within a period of about thirty years,
Claudius, Aurelian, Probus, Diocletian and his colleagues,
triumphed over the foreign and domestic enemies of the state,
re-established, with the military discipline, the strength of the
frontiers, and deserved the glorious title of Restorers of the
Roman world.
The removal of an effeminate tyrant made way for a successionAureoiua
of heroes. The indignation of the people imputed all theirSdefeated/'
calamities to Gallienus, and the far greater part were, indeed, at MiSn**
the consequence of his dissolute manners and careless adminis-
tration. He was even destitute of a sense of honour, which so
frequently supplies the absence of public virtue ; and, as long as
he was permitted to enjoy the possession of Italy, a victory of the
barbarians, the loss of a province, or the rebellion of a general,
seldom disturbed the tranquil course of his pleasures. At length, a.d.268
a considerable army, stationed on the Upper Danube, invested
with the Imperial purple their leader Aureolus ; who, disdaining
a confined and barren reign over the mountains of Rhsetia,
passed the Alps, occupied Milan, threatened Rome, and chal-
lenged Gallienus to dispute in the field the sovereignty of Italy.
The emperor, provoked by the insult, and alarmed by the instant
danger, suddenly exerted that latent vigour wh ch sometimes
broke through the indolence of his temper. Forcing himsell
from the luxuiy of the palace, he appeared in arms at the head
of his legions, and advanced beyond the Po to encounter his
competitor. The corrupted name of Pontirolo ^ still preserves
'^Pons Aureoli, thirteen miles from Bergamo, and thirty-two from Milan.
See Cluver. Italia Antiq. torn, i, p. 245. Near this place, in the year 1703, the
284 THE DECLINE AND FALL
the memory of a bridge over the Adda^ which, during the action,
must have proved an object of the utmost importance to both
armies. The Rhaetian usurper, after receiving a total defeat
and a dangerous wound, retired into Milan. The siege of that
great city was immediately formed ; the walls were battered
with every engine in use among the ancients ; and Am'eolus,
doubtful of his internal strength, and hopeless of foreign succours,
already anticipated the fatal consequences of unsuccessful re-
bellion.
His last resource was an attempt to seduce the loyalty of the
besiegers. He scattered libels through their camp, inviting the
troops to desert an unworthy master, who sacrificed the public
happiness to his luxury, and the lives of his most valuable subjects
to the slightest suspicions. The arts of Aureolus diffused fears
and discontent among the principal officers of his rival. A con-
spiracy was formed by Heraclianus, the Praetorian praefect, by
Marcian, a general of rank and reputation, and by CecropSj^ who
commanded a numerous body of Dalmatian guards. The death
of Gallienus was resolved, and, notwithstanding their desire of
first terminating the siege of Milan, the extreme danger which
accompanied every moment's delay obliged them to hasten the
execution of their daring purpose. At a late hour of the night,
but while the emperor still protracted the pleasures of the table,
an alarm was suddenly given that Aureolus, at the head of all
his forces, had made a desperate sally from the town ; Gallienus,
who was never deficient in personal braveiy, started from his
silken couch, and, without allowing himself time either to put
on his armom* or to assemble his guards, he mounted on horse-
back, and rode full speed towards the supposed place of the attack.
Encompassed by his declared or concealed enemies, he soon,
amidst the nocturnal tumult, received a mortal dart from an
uncertain hand. Before he expired, a patriotic sentiment rising
in the mind of Galhenus induced him to name a deserving
successor, and it was his last request that the Imperial ornaments
should be delivered to Claudius, who then commanded a detached
army in the neighbourhood of Pavia. The report at least was
diligently propagated, and the order cheerfully obeyed by the
conspirators, who had already agreed to place Claudius on the
throne. On the first news of the emperor*s death, the troops
obstinate battle of Cassano was fought between the French and Austrians. The
excellent relation of the Chevalier de Folard, who was present, gives a very
distinct idea of the ground. See Polybe de Folard, torn, 3, p. 223-248.
2 [Cecropius is the name, Hist. Aug^. xxiii. 14.]
OF THE EOMAN EMPIEE 285
expressed some suspicion and resentment^ till the one was re-
moved and the other assuaged by a donative of twenty pieces of
gold to each soldier. They then ratified the election^ and
acknowledged the merit, of their new sovereign. ^
The obscurity which covered the origin of Claudius^ though it character and
was afterwards embellished by some flattering fictions/ suffi- the emperor
eiently betrays the meanness of his birth. We can only discover
that he was a native of one of the provinces bordering on the
Danube ; that his youth was spent in arms, and that his modest
valour attracted the favour and confidence of Decius. The
senate and people already considered him as an excellent officer,
equal to the most important trusts ; and censured the inatten-
tion of Valerian, who suffered him to remain in the subordinate
station of a tribune. But it was not long before that emperor
distinguished the merit of Claudius, by declaring him general
and chief of the lUyrian frontier, with the command of all the
ti'oops in Thrace, Maesia, Dacia, Pannonia, and Dalmatia, the
appointments of the prsefect of "Egyipt, the establishment of the
proconsul of Africa, and the sure prospect of the consulship.
By his victories over the Goths, he deserved from the senate
the honour of a statue and excited the jealous apprehensions of
Gallienus. It was impossible that a soldier could esteem so
dissolute a sovereign, nor is it easy to conceal a just contempt.
Some unguarded expressions which dropped from Claudius were
officiously transmitted to the royal ear. The emperor's answer
to an officer of confidence describes in very lively colours his own
character and that of the times. "There is not anything
capable of giving me more serious concern, than the intelligence
contained in your last dispatch,^ that some malicious suggestions
have indisposed towards us the mind of our friend and parent,
Claudius. As you regard your allegiance, use every means to
s On the death of Gallienus, see Trebellius PoUio in Hist. August, p. i8i [xxiii.
14]. Zosimus,l. i. p. 37 [40]. Zonaras, 1. xii. p. 634 [25]. Eutropius, ix. 11.
Aurelius Victor in Epitom. [33]. Victor in Csesar. [33]. I have compared and
blended them all, but have chiefly followed Aurelius Victor, who seems to have
had the best memoirs. [Cecropius slew him according to Hist. Aug. ; but another
story named Heraclian, John of Antioch 152, 3 jMiiller, F.H.G. iv.) and Zonaras,
xii. 25. Zosimus, i. 40 is probably right in saying that Heraclian instigated the
Dalmatian officer to strike the blow. There is a further confusion in John of
Antioch, who makes Heraclian the Dalmatian captain.]
4 Some supposed him, oddly enough, to be a bastard of the younger Gordian.
Others took advantage of the province of Dardania, to deduce his origin from Dar-
danus and the ancient kings of Troy. [M. Aurelius Claudius was his name.]
^ Notoria, a periodical and official dispatch which the emperors received from
\h.e fru-meniarii or agents dispersed through the provinces. Of these we may
speak hereafter
286 THE DECLINE AND FALL
appease his resentment, but conduct your negotiation with
secrecy ; let it not reach the knowledge of the Dacian troops ;
they are already provoked, and it might inflame their fury. I
myself have sent him some presents : be it your care that he
accept them with pleasure. Above all, let him not suspect that
I am made acquainted with his imprudence. The fear of my
anger might urge him to desperate counsels."^ The presents
which accompanied this humble epistle, in which the monarch
solicited a reconciliation with his discontented subject, consisted
of a considerable sum of money, a splendid wardrobe, and a
valuable service of silver and gold plate. By such arts Gallienus
softened the indignation, and dispelled the fears, of his Illyrian
general ; and during the remainder of that reign the formidable
sword of Claudius was always drawn in the cause of a master
whom he despised. At last, indeed, he received from the con-
spirators the bloody purple of Gallienus : but he had been absent
from their camps and counsels ; and, however he might applaud
the deed, we may candidly presume that he was innocent of the
knowledge of it.*^ When Claudius ascended the throne, he was
about fifty-four years of age.
Death of The sieee of Milan was still continued, and Aureolus soon
discovered that the success of his artifices had only raised up a
more determined adversary. He attempted to negotiate with
Claudius a treaty of alliance and partition. "Tell him," replied
the intrepid emperor, " that such proposals should have been
made to Gallienus ; he, perhaps, might have listened to them
with patience, and accepted a colleague as despicable as him-
self." ® This stem refusal, and a last unsuccessful effort, obliged
Aureolus to yield the city and himself to the discretion of the
conqueror. The judgment of the army pronounced him worthy
of death, and Claudius, after a feeble resistance, consented to
the execution of the sentence. Nor was the zeal of the senate
less ardent in the cause of their new sovereign. They ratified,
perhaps with a sincere transport of zeal, the election of Claudius;
and, as his predecessor had shown himself the personal enemy of
their order, they exercised, under the name of justice, a severe
*Hist. August, p. 208 [xxv. 17]. Gallienus describes the plate, vestments,
&c., like a man who loved and understood those splendid trifles.
7 Julian (Orat. i. p. 6) affirms that Claudius acquired the empire in a just and
even holy manner. But we may distrust the parti^ity of a kinsman.
8 Hist. August, p. 203 [ib. 5] . There are some trifling differences concerning
the circumstances of the last defeat and death of Aureolus. [The inscription in
Boeckh {C.I.G. 6761) seems to have no independent value, but to have been com-
posed on the basis of the account of Zosimus. See Schiller, i. 846.]
Aureolus
OF THE ROMAN EMPIRE 287
revenge against his friends and family. The senate was per-
mitted to discharge the ungrateful office of punishment, and
the emperor reserved for himself the pleasure and merit of
obtaining by his intercession a general act of indemnity.®
Such ostentatious clemency discovers less of the real character clemency and
of Claudius than a trifling circumstance in which he seems to have cia^iu
consulted only the dictates of his heart. The frequent rebellions
of the provinces had involved almost every person in the guilt of
treason, almost every estate in the case of confiscation; and
Gallienus often displayed his liberality by distributing among his
officers the property of his subj ects. On the accession of Claudius,
an old woman threw herself at his feet, and complained that a
general of the late emperor had obtained an arbitrary grant of
her patrimony. This general was Claudius himself, who had
not entirely escaped the contagion of the times. The emperor
blushed at the reproach, but deserved the confidence which she
had reposed in his equity. The confession of his fault was
accompanied with immediate and ample restitution.^**
In the arduous task which Claudius had undertaken, of restoring Heander-
the empire to its ancient splendour, it was first necessary to revive fomatioliof
among his troops a sense of order and obedience. With the ®*™^
authority of a veteran commander, he represented to them that
the relaxation of discipline had introduced a long train of dis-
orders, the eifects of which were at length experienced by the soldiers
themselves ; that a people ruined by oppression, and indolent from
despair, could no longer supply a numerous army with the meaa«
of luxury, or even of subsistence ; that the danger of each in-
dividual had increased with the despotism of the military order,
since princes who tremble on the throne will guard their safety
by the instant sacrifice of every obnoxious subject. The emperor
expatiated on the mischiefs of a lawless caprice which the soldiers
could only gratify at the expense of their own blood, as their
seditious elections had so frequently been followed by civil wars,
which consumed the flower of the legions either in the field of
battle or in the cruel abuse of victory. He painted in the most
lively colours the exhausted state of the treasury, the desolation
of the provinces, the disgrace of the Roman name, and the inso-
lent triumph of rapacious barbarians. It was against those bar-
• Aurelius Victor in Qallien. The people loudly prayed for the damnation of
Gallienus. The senate decreed that his relations and servants should be thrown
down headlong from the Gemonian stairs. An obnoxious officer of the revenue
had his eyes torn out whilst under examination.
10 Zonaras, 1. xii. p. 137 [leg. 635 ; c. 26].
288 THE DECLINE AND FALL
barians^ he declaredj that he intended to point the first effort of
their arms. Tetricus might reign for a while over the West, and
even Zenobia might preserve the dominion of the East.^^ These
usurpers were his personal adversaries ; nor could he think of
indulging any private resentment till he had saved an empire,
whose impending ruin would, unless it was timely prevented,
crush both the army and the people.
A-D- 269. The various nations of Germany and Sarmatia ^^ who fought
The Gtotlu 1 1 ^ t 111111 n i
invade the under the Gothic standard had already collectea an armament
more formidable than any which had yet issued from the Euxine.
On the banks of the Dniester, one of the great rivers that dis-
charge themselves into that sea, they constructed a fleet of two
thousand, or even of six thousand vessels ; ^^ numbers which,
however incredible they may seem, would have been insufficient
to transport their pretended army of three hundred and twenty
thousand barbarians. Whatever might be the real strength of
the Goths, the vigour and success of the expedition were not
adequate to the greatness of the preparations. In their passage
through the Bosphorus, the unskilful pilots were overpowered by
the violence of the current ; and while the multitude of their
ships were crowded in a narrow channel, many were dashed
against each other, or against the shore. The barbarians made
several descents on the coasts both of Europe and Asia ; but the
open country was already plundered, and they were repulsed with
shame and loss from the fortified cities which they assaulted. A
spirit of discouragement and division arose in the fleet, and some
of their chiefs sailed away towards the islands of Crete and Cyprus
but the main body, pursuing a more steady course, anchored at
length near the foot of Mount Athos, and assaulted the city of
Thessalonica, the wealthy capital of all the Macedonian provinces
Their attacks, in which they displayed a fierce but artless bravery,
were soon interrupted by the rapid approach of Claudius, has-
tening to a scene of action that deserved the presence of a war-
like prince at the head of the remaining powers of the empire.
11 Zonaras on this occasion mentions Posthumus ; but the registers of the
senate (Hist. August, p. 203 [ib. 4]) prove that Tetricus was already emperor of
the western provinces.
12 [The author does not mention the coalition of Grethimgi, Tervingi, Alamanni
and other nations, which Claudius had to face in 268. The Alamanni crossed the
Brenner and were defeated by Claudius near Lake Garda. AureUus Victor, epit 34,
2 ; Eckhel, vii. 474 ; C. I. L. iii. 3521.]
18 The Augustan History mentions the smaller, Zonaras [Zosimus, i. 42] the
larger, number ; the lively fancy of Montesquieu induced him to prefer the latter.
[For these invasions see Hodgkin, i. c. i.]
OF THE ROMAN EMPIRE 289
Impatient for battle, the Goths immediately broke up their camp,
relinquished the siege of Thessalonica, left their navy at the foot
of Mount Athos, traversed the hills of Macedoniaj and pressed
forwards to engage the last defence of Italy.
We still possess an original letter addressed by Claudius to J^^^JJ**
the senate and people on this memorable occasion. " Conscript ciaadina
fathers," says the emperor, "know that three hundred and
twenty thousand Goths have invaded the Roman territory. If I
vanquish them, your gratitude will reward my services. Should
I fall, remember that I am the successor of GaQienus. The whole
republic is fatigued and exhausted. We shall fight after Vale-
rian, after Ingenuus, Regillianus, LoUianus, Posthumus, Celsus,
and a thousand others, whom a just contempt for Gallienus pro-
voked into rebellion. We are in want of darts, of spears, and of
shields. The strength of the empire, Gaul and Spain, are
usui-ped by Tetricus, and we blush to acknowledge that the
ai'chers of the East serve under the banners of Zenobia, What-
ever we shall perform will be sufficiently great." i* The melan-
choly firmness of this epistle announces a hero careless of his
fate, conscious of his danger, but still deriving a well-grounded
hope from the resources of his own mind.
The event surpassed his own expectations and those of the ^e^t^^
world. By the most signal victories he delivered the empire ^*^
from this host of barbarians, and was distinguished by posterity
under the glorious appellation of the Gothic Claudius. The im-
perfect historians of an irregular war ^^ do not enable us to de-
scribe the order and circumstances of his exploits ; but, if we
could be indulged in the illusion, we might distribute into three
acts this memorable tragedy. I. The decisive battle was fought
near Naissus, a city of Dardania. The legions at first gave way,
oppressed by numbers, and dismayed by misfortunes. Their
ruin was inevitable, had not the abilities of their emperor pre-
pared a seasonable relief A large detachment, rising out of
the secret and difficult passes of the mountains, which, by his
order, they had occupied, suddenly assailed the rear of the
victorious Goths. The favourable instant was improved by the
activity of Claudius. He revived the courage of his troops, re-
stored their ranks, and pressed the barbarians on every side.
i4TrebelI. PoUio in Hist. August, p. 204 [xxv, 7].
15 Hist. August, in Claud. Aurelian. et Prob. Zosimus, 1. i. p. 38-4^ [c. 42].
Zonaras 1. xii. p. 638 [c, 26]. Aurel. Victor in Epitom. Victor Junior in
Csesar. ' Eutrop. ix. 11. Euseb. in Chron. [The skill with which Claudius
planned the campaign is well brought out in the account of Schiller, i. 848,]
19 VOL. I
290 THE DECLINE AND FALL
Fifty thousand men are reported to have been slain in the battle
of Naissus. Several lar^e bodies of barbarians^ covering their
retreat with a moveable fortification of waggons, retired, or rather
escaped, from the field of slaughter. II. We may presume that
some insurmountable difficulty, the fatigue, perhaps, or the dis-
obedience, of the conquerors, prevented Claudius from complet-
ing in one day the destruction of the Goths. The war was
diffused over the provinces of Msesia, Thrace, and Macedonia, and
its operations drawn out into a variety of marches, surprises, and
' tumultuary engagements, as well by sea as by land. When the
Romans suffered any loss, it was commonly occasioned by their own
cowardice or rashness ; but the superior talents of the emperor,
his perfect knowledge of the country, and his judicious choice
of measures as Avell as officers, assured on most occasions the
success of his arms, Tlie immense booty, the fi'uit of so many
victories, consisted for the greater part of cattle and slaves. A
select body of the Gothic youth was received among the Im-
perial troops ; the remainder was sold into servitude ; and so
considerable was the number of female captives, that every
soldier obtained to his share two or three women. A cii'cum-
stance from which we may conclude that the invaders enter-
tained some designs of settlement as well as of plunder ; since
even in a naval expedition they were accompanied by their
families. III. The loss of their fleet, which was either taken or
sunk, had intercepted the retreat of the Goths. A vast circle
of Roman posts, distributed with skill, supported with firmness,
and gradually closing towards a common centre, forced the
barbarians into the most inaccessible parts of Mount Haemus,
where they found a safe refuge, but a very scanty subsistence.
Dui'ing the course of a rigorous winter, in which they were
besieged by the emperor's troops, famine and pestilence, deser-
tion and the sword, continually diminished the imprisoned
A.D. 270 multitude. On the return of spring, nothing appeared in arms
except a hardy and desperate band, the remnant of that mighty
host which had embarked at the mouth of the Dniester.
March. The pcstilcnce which swept away such numbers of the bar-
Deiith of tho , . ^ , , i p i i . Art i
emperor, who banans at lenffth proved tatul to their conqueror. After a short
Aureuanfop but ffloHous rciffn ot two ycars, Claudms expired at birmmm.
Ilia BUCCbaaor -ii i ^ n \ ^• tit
amidst the tears and acclamations of his subjects. In his last
illness, he convened the principal officers of the state and ai-my,
and in their presence recommended Aurehan,!^ one of his
1^ According to Zonaras {1. xii. p. 63b [ib.]) Claudius, before his death, invested
OF THE ROMAN EMPIRE 291
generals, ^"^ as the most deserving of the throne, and the best
quahfied to execute the great design which he himself had been
permitted only to undertake. The virtues of Claudius, his
valour, aflability, justice, and temperance, his love of fame and
of his country, place him in that short list of emperors who
added lustre to the Roman purple. Those virtues, howeverj were
celebrated with peculiar zeal and complacency by the courtly
writers of the age of Constantine, who was the gi'eat-grandsou
of Crispus, the elder brother of Claudius. The voice of flattery
was soon taught to repeat that the gods, who so hastily had
snatched Claudius from the earth, rewarded his merit and piety
by the perpetual establishment of the empire in his family. ^^
Notwithstanding these oracles, the greatness of the Flavian The aUAmpt
family (a name which it had pleased them to assume) was de- Quintmus
ferred above twenty years, and the elevation of Claudius oc-
casioned the immediate ruin of his brother Quintilius, who
possessed not suflicient moderation or courage to descend into
the private station to which the patriotism of the late empei'or
had condemned him. Without delay or reflection, he assumed
the purple at Aquileia, where he commanded a considerable
force ; and, though his reign lasted only seventeen days, he had
time to obtain the sanction of the senate, and to experience a
mutiny of the troops. As soon as he was informed that the
great army of the Danube had invested the well-known valour
of Aurelian with Imperial power, he sunk under the fame and
merit of his rival ; and, ordering his veins to be opened, prudently Apni
withdrew himself from the unequal contest.^^
The general design of this work will not permit us minutely origin and
to relate the actions of every empei'or after he ascended theAureuan
him with the purple ; but this singular fact is rather contradicted than confirmed
by other writers. [Zonaras says that Claudius recommended Aurelian to his
officers, and that, according to some, he even proclaimed him emperor on the
spot.]
17 [L. Doraitius Aurelianus.]
13 See the life of Claudius by PoUio, and the orations of Mamertinus, Eumenius,
and Julian. See likewise the Caesars of Julian, p. 313. In Julian it was not adula-
tion, but superstition and vanity.
isZosimus. 1. i. p. 42 [47]. Pollio (Hist. August, p. 206 [xxv. 12, 5]) allows
him virtues, and says that like Pertinax he was killed by licentious soldiers.
According to Dexippus [quoted by Pollio, Hist, Aug., but what he said was (not
occisum but) niortuum OLttoQavilv nee tamen addit morbo, thus leaving it doubtful]
he died of a disease. [M. Aurelius Claudius Quintillus (this is the form of
his name on coins, and in best MSS. of Hist Aug. ; Eckhel, vii. 478). It is to be
noted that the Senate favoured his claims. He had been stationed to guard the
Julian Alps and Aquileia, to cover the rear of Claudius in his Gothic war. He
seems to have gained some victory, Cohen, 52.]
292
THE DECLINE AND FALL
[258 A.D.]
AureUan's
anccesafol
reign
His severe
discipline
throne, much less to deduce the various fortunes of his private
life. We shall only observe, that the father of Aurelian was a
peasant of the territory ofSirmium, who occupied a small farm,
the property of Aurelius, a rich senator. His warlike son en-
listed in the troops as a common soldier, successively rose to the
rank of a centurion, a tribune, the praefect of a legion, the in-
spector of the camp,^*^ the general, or, as it was then called, the
duke of a frontier ; and at length, during the Gothic war,
exercised the important office of commander-in-chief of the
cavalry. In every station he distinguished himself by matchless
valour, 21 rigid discipline, and successful conduct. He was in-
vested with the consulship by the emperor Valerian, who styles
him, in the pompous language of that age, the deliverer of
Illyricum, the restorer of Gaul, and the rival of the Scipios. At
the recommendation of Valerian, a senator of the highest rank
and merit, Ulpius Crinitus, whose blood was derived from the
same source as that of Trajan, adopted the Pannonian peasant,
gave him his daughter in marriage, and relieved with his ample
fortune the honourable poverty which Aurelian had preserved
inviolate. 22
The reign of Aurelian lasted only four years and about nine
months ; but every instant of that short period was filled by
some memorable achievement. He put an end to the Gothic
war, chastised the Germans who invaded Italy, recovered Gaul,
Spain, and Britain out of the hands of Tetricus, and destroyed
the proud monarchy which Zenobia had erected in the East on
the ruins of the afflicted empire.
It was the rigid attention of Aurelian even to the minutest
articles of discipline which bestowed such uninterrupted success
on his arms. His military regulations are contained in a veiy
20 [This seems to be an invention of Vopiscus. Such an office did not exist.]
21 Theoclius [Caesareanonim temporum scriptor] (as quoted in the Augustan
History, p. 211 [xxvi. 6]) affirms that in one day he killed, with his own hand,
forty-eight Sarmatians, and in several subsequent engagements nine hundred and
fifty. This heroic valour was admired by the soldiers, and celebi-ated in their rude
songs, the burthen of which was mille mille mille occidit.
22Acholius {ap. Hist. August, p. 213 [xxvi. 12]) describes the ceremony of the
adoption, as it was performed at Byzantium, in the presence of the emperor and
his great officers. [Grave doubts are felt as to the truth of these statements
which Vopiscus professes to quote from Acholius. (i) Aurelian was consul for the
first time in 271, according to theconsular Fasti(see Klein, /^cj^' consulares^ no), and
therefore cannot have been consul in 258. {2) Had he been adopted by Ulpius
Crinitus, he must have assumed the name of his adopted father ; but he never did
so. (3) Some of the persons present at the ceremony held offices of whose
existence before Diocletian's time there is no other trace. See Rothkegel, Die
Regierung des Kaisers Gallienus, p. 10.]
OF THE ROMAN EMPIRE 293
concise epistle to one of his inferior officers, who is commanded
to enforce them, as he wishes to become a tribune, or as he is
desirous to live. Gaming, drinking, and the arts of divination
were severely prohibited. Aurelian expected that his soldiers
should be modest, fi-ugal, and laborious; that their armour
should be constantly kept bright, their weapons sharp, their
clothing and horses ready for immediate service ; that they
should live in their quarters with chastity and sobriety, without
damaging the com fields, without stealing even a sheep, a fowl
or a bunch of grapes, without exacting from their landlords
either salt, or oil, or wood. '' The public allowance," continues
the emperor, "is sufficient for their support ; their wealth should
be collected from the spoil of the enemy, not from the tears of
the provincials/' 23 ^ single instance will serve to display the
rigour, and even cruelty, of Aurelian. One of the soldiers had
seduced the wife of his host. The guilty wretch was fastened to
two trees forcibly drawn towards each other, and his limbs were
torn asunder by their sudden separation. A few such examples
impressed a salutary consternation. The punishments of Aure-
lian were terrible ; but he had seldom occasion to punish more
than once the same offence. His own conduct gave a sanction
to his laws, and the seditious legions dreaded a chief who had
learned to obey, and who was worthy to command.
The death of Claudi us had revived the fainting spirit of the Goths. He concludes
The troops which guarded the passes of Mount Hsemus, and the Si^/ao^r*^
banks of the Danube, had been drawn away by the apprehension of
a civil war ; and it seems probable that the remaining body of
the Gothic and Vandalic tribes embraced the favourable opportu-
nity, abandoned their settlements of the Ukraine, traversed the
rivers, and swelled with new multitudes the destroying host of
their countrymen. Their united numbers were at length en-
countered by Aurelian, and the bloody and doubtful conflict
ended only with the approach of night. ^4 Exhausted by so
many calamities which they had mutually endured and inflicted
during a twenty years' war, the Goths and the Romans con-
sented to a lasting and beneficial treaty. It was earnestly
23 Hist. August, p. 211 [xxvi. 7]. This laconic epistle is truly the work of a
soldier ; it abounds with military phrases and words, some of which cannot be
understood without difficulty. Ferramenta samiata is well explained by Salmasius.
The former of the words means all weapons of offence, and is contrasted with Artna,
defensive armour. The latter signifies keen and well sharpened. [He is called
restitutor exerciti oncoms, Cohen, 175, as well as bythe moreambitioustitlerw/z'^a/or
orbis, Cohen, x6^sqq.'\
24Zosim. 1. I, p. 45 [48]
294 THE DECLINE AND FALL
solicited by the barbarians^ and cheerfully ratified by the legions,
to whose suffrage the prudence of Aurelian referred the decision
of that important question. The Gothic nation engaged to
supply the armies of Rome with a body of two thousand auxili-
aries, consisting entii*ely of cavalry, and stipulated in return an
undisturbed retreat, with a regular market as far as the Danube,
provided by tlie emperor's care, but at their own expense. The
treaty was observed with such religious fidelity, that, when a
party of five hundred men straggled from the camp in quest of
plunder, the king or general of the barbarians commanded that
the guilty leader should be apprehended and shot to death with
darts, as a victim devoted to the sanctity of their engagements. It
is, however, not unlikely that the precaution of Aurelian, who
had exacted as hostages the sons and daughters of the Gothic
chiefs, contributed something to this pacific temper. The youths
he trained in the exercise of anns, and near his own person ;
to the damsels he gave a liberal and Roman education, and, by
bestowing them in marriage on some of his principal officers,
gradually introduced between the two nations the closest and
most endearing connexions.^^
andreaigns But the most important condition of peace was understood
OToSo*Sf rather than expressed in the treaty. Aurelian withdrew the
Roman forces from Dacia, and tacitly relinquished that great
province to the Goths and Vandals. ^^ His manly judgment
convinced him of the solid advantages, and taught him to
despise the seeming disgrace, of thus contracting tlie frontiers
of the monarchy. The Dacian subjects, removed from those
distant possessions which they were unable to cultivate or
defend, added strength and populousness to the southern side
of the Danube. A fertile territory, which the repetition of
barbarous inroads had changed into a desert, was yielded to
their industry, and a new province of Dacia ^^ still preserved
the memory of Trajan's conquests. The old country of that
name detained, however, a considerable number of its inhabi-
ts Dexippus (ap. Excerpta Legat. p. 12 [p. 19, ed. Bonn]) relates the whole
transaction under the name of Vandals. Aurelian married one of the Gothic ladies
to his general Bonosus, who was able to drink with the Goths and discover their
secrets. Hist. August, p. 247 [xxix. 14, 15] . [The author is mistaken in
applying the account of Dexippus to the Goths: the negotiations were with the
Vandals.]
2f Hist. August, p. 222 [xxvi. 39]. Eutrop. ix. 15. Sextus Rufus, c. 9. Lactan-
tius de mortibus Persecutorum, e.g. [But see above, chap. a. note 106.]
^ [Dacia felix on coins, Eckhel, vii. 481. Unfortunately this j.cw pvuvince,
unlike the old, had no strategic importance.]
^acia
OF THE ROMAN EMPIEE 295
tants, who dreaded exile more than a Gothic master.^s These
degenerate Romans continued to serve the empire, whose allegi-
ance they had renounced, by introducing among their conquerors
the first notions of agriculture, the useful arts, and the con-
veniences of civilized life. An intercourse of commerce and
language was gradually established between the opposite banks
of the Danube ; and, after Dacia became an independent state,
it often proved the firmest barrier of the empire against the
invasions oi the savages of the North. A sense of interest
attached these more settled barbarians to the alliance of Rome,
and a permanent interest veiy frequently ripens into sincere and
useful friendship. This vax*ious colony, which filled the ancient
province and was insensibly blended into one great people, still
acknowledged the superior renown and authority of the Gothic
tribe, and claimed the fancied honour of a Scandinavian origin.
At the same time the lucky though accidental resemblance of
the name of Getae, infused among the credulous Goths a vain
persuasion that, in a remote age, their own ancestors, already
seated in the Dacian provinces, had received the instructions of
Zamolxis, and checked the victorious armsof Sesostris and Darius.^^
While the vigorous and moderate conduct of Aurelian restored The Aiemanr
the Illyrian frontier, the nation of the Alemanni ^^ violated the ^'^ '"'^
conditions of peace, which either Gallienus had purchased, or
Claudius had imposed, and, inflamed by their impatient youth,
suddenly flew to arms. Forty thousand horse appeared in the
field,^^ and the numbers of the infantry doubled those of the
cavalry. 32 The first objects of their avarice were a few cities of
28 The Walachians still preserve many traces of the Latin langiiage, and have
boasted in every age of their Roman descent. They are surrounded by, but not
mixed with, the barbarians. See a Memoir of M. d'Anville, on ancient Dacia,
in the Academy of Inscriptions, torn. xxx. [The Roumanian boast as to their
descent was challenged about twenty years ago by Roesler, whose book led to
a notable controversy, which will claim our attention at a later stage.]
29See the first chapter of Jomandes. The Vandals however (c. 22) main-
tained a short independence between the rivers Marisia and Crissia (Maros and
Keres) which fell into the Theiss.
30Dexippus, p. 7-12 [fr. 25]. Zosimus, 1. i. p. 43 [49]. Vopiscus in Aurelian.
in Hist. August, [c. 18] . However these historians differ in names (Alemanni,
Juthungi, and Marcomanni) it is evident that they mean the same people, and
the same war ; but it requires some care to conciliate and explain them. [Aurelius
Victor, 35, 2, says Alamanni. But the whole narrative in the text is vitiated by
the author's deliberate confusion of the Juthungi, Alamanni and Vandals.]
81 Cantoclarus, with his usual accuracy, chooses to translate three hundred
thousand ; his version is equally repugnant to sense and to grammar.
32 We may remark, as an instance of bad taste, that Dexippus applies to the
light infantry of the Alemanni the technical terms proper only to the Grecian
Phalanx.
September
296 THE DECLINE AND FALL
the Rhaetian frontier ; but, their hopes soon rising with succesSj
the rapid march of the Alemanni traced a line of devastation
from the Danube to the Po.^^
A.D:270, The emperor was almost at the same time informed of the
irruption, and of the retreat^ of the barbarians. Collecting an
active body of troops, he marched with silence and celerity along
the sku'ts of the Hercynian forest ; and the Alemanni, laden
with the spoils of Italy, arrived at the Danube, without suspect-
ing that, on the opposite bank, and in an advantageous post,
a Roman army lay concealed and prepared to intercept their
return. Aurelian indulged the fatal security of the barbarians,
and permitted about half their forces to pass the river without
disturbance and without precaution. Their situation and astonish-
ment gave him an easy victory ; his skilful conduct improved the
advantage. Disposing the legions in a semicircular form, he
advanced the two horns of the crescent across the Danube, and,
wheeling them on a sudden towards the centre, inclosed the rear
of the German host. The dismayed barbarians, on whatsoever
side they cast their eyes, beheld with despair a wasted country, a
deep and rapid stream, a victorious and implacable enemy.
Reduced to this distressed condition, the Alemanni no longer
disdained to sue for peace. ^* Aurelian received their ambassadors
at the head of his camp, and with evei-y circumstance of martial
pomp that could display the greatness and discipline of Rome.
The legions stood to their arms in well-ordered ranks and awful
silence. The principal commanders, distinguished by the
ensigns of their rank, appeared on horseback on either side of
the Imperial throne. Behind the throne, the consecrated images
of the emperor and his predecessors,^^ the golden eagles, and
the various titles of the legions, engraved in letters of gold, were
exalted in the air on lofty pikes covered with silver. When
Aurelian assumed his seat, his manly grace and majestic figure ^^
taught the barbarians to revere the person as well as the purple
of their conqueror. The ambassadors fell prostrate on the ground
in sOence. They were commanded to rise, and permitted to
88 In Dexippus we at present read Rhodanus ; M. de Valois very judiciously alters
the word to Eridanus. [This narrative of Dexippus refers to the Juthungi, not to
the Alamanni.]
34 [Really the Juthungi, Dexippus, p. 25. A.D. 270. A treaty was also made
with the Vandals, ib.]
85 The emperor Claudius was certainly of the number ; but we are ignorant how
far this mark of respect was extended ; if to Csesar and Augustus, it must have
produced a very awful spectacle ; a long line of the masters of the world.
"6 Vopiscus m Hist. August, p. 210 [xxvi. 6] .
OF THE ROMAN EMPIRE 297
Speak. By the assistance of interpreters they extenuated their
perfidy, magnified their exploits, expatiated on the vicissitudes of
fortune and the advantages of peace, and, with an ill-timed con-
fidence, demanded a large subsidy, as the price of the alliance
which they offered to the Romans. The answer of the emperor
was stem and imperious. He treated their offer with contempt,
and their demand with indignation ; reproached the barbarians,
that they were as ignorant of the arts of war as of the laws of
peace ; and finally dismissed them with the choice only of sub-
mitting to his unconditioned mercy, or awaiting the utmost
severity of his resentment.^^ Aurelian had resigned a distant
province to the Goths ; but it was dangerous to trust or to pardon
these perfidious barbarians, whose formidable power kept Italy
itself in perpetual alarms.
Immediately after this conference it should seem that some jJ^aaJS^
imexpected emergency required the emperor's presence in
Pannonia. He devolved on his lieutenants the care of finishing
the destruction of the Alemanni, either by the sword, or by the
surer operation of famine. But an active despair has often
triumphed over the indolent assurance of success. The bar-
barians, finding it impossible to traverse the Danube and the
Roman camp, broke through the posts in their rear, which were
more feebly or less carefully guarded ; and with incredible
diligence, but by a different road, returned towards the mountains
of Italy. 3® Aurelian, who considered the war as totally ex-
tinguished, received the mortifying intelligence of the escape of
the Alemanni, and of the ravage which they already committed
in the territory of Milan. The legions were commanded to
follow, with as much expedition as those heavy bodies were
capable of exerting, the rapid flight of an enemy whose infantry
and cavalry moved with almost equal swiftness. A few days
afterwards the emperor himself marched to the relief of Italy,
at the head of a chosen body of auxiliaries (among whom were
the hostages and cavalry of the Vandals), and of all the Praetorian
guards who had served m the wars on the Danube.^®
As the light troops of the Alemanni had spread themselves and are at
from the Alps to the Apennine, the incessant vigilance of Aure- quishedby
lian and his officers was exercised in the discovery, the attack, ^^ *^
37 Dexippus gives them a subtle and prolix oration, worthy of a Grecian Sophist.
38 Hist. August, p. 2IS [xxvi. i8, where the invaders are called Marcomanni.
The second invasion of the Juthungi (Dexippus, ib. adjin.) may have been connected
with this Alamannic invasion.]
39 Dexippus, p. 12 [fr. 25 adjin.\
298 THE DECLINE AND FALL
and the pursuit of the numerous detachments. Notwithstanding
this desultory war, three considerable battles are mentioned, in
which the principal force of both armies was obstinately en-
gaged.**^ The success was various. In the first, fought near
Placentia, the Romans received so severe a blow, that, according
to the expression of a writer extremely partial to Aurelian, the
immediate dissolution of the empire was apprehended.^ The
crafty barbarians, who had lined the woods, suddenly attacked
the legions in the dusk of the evening, and, it is most probable,
after the fatigue and disorder of a long march. The fiary of
their charge was iiTCsistible ; but at length, after a dreadful
slaughter, the patient firmness of the emperor rallied his troops,
and restored, in some degree, the honour of his arms. The
second battle was fought near Fano in Umbria ; on the spot
which, five hundred years before, had been fatal to the brother
of Hannibal.^ Thus far the successful Germans had advanced
along the jEmilian and Flaminian way, with a design of sacking
the defenceless mistress of the world. But Aurelian, who,
watchful for the safety of Rome, still hung on their rear, found
in this place the decisive moment of giving them a total and
irretrievable defeat.*^ The fl3ning remnant of their host was
exterminated in a third and last battle near Pavia ; and Italy
was delivered from the inroads of the Alemanni.
superotitioua Fear has been the original parent of superstition, and every
new calamity ui*ges trembling mortals to deprecate the wrath of
their invisible enemies. Though the best hope of the repubhc
was in the valour and conduct of Aurelian, yet such was the
public consternation, when the barbai-ians were hourly expected
at the gates of Rome, that, by a decree of the senate, the
Sibylline books were consulted. Even the emperor himself,
from a motive either of religion or of policy, recommended the
salutary measure, chided the tardiness of the senate,** and
offered to supply whatever expense, whatever animals, what-
ever captives of any nation, the gods should require. Not-
withstanding this liberal offer, it does not appear that any
human victims expiated with their blood the sins of the Roman
*o Victor Junior in Aurelian. [Epit. 35].
^ Vopiscus in Hist. August, p. 216 [xxvi. 21, i],
*2 The little river or rather torrent of Metaurus, near Fano, has been immortalized,
by finding such an historian as Livy, and such a poet as Plorace.
^* It is recorded by an inscription found at Pezaro. See Gruter. cclxxvi. 3 [Orelli,
1031].
^* One should imagine, he said, that you were assembled in a Christian church,
not in the temple of all the gods.
ceremonies
OF THE ROMAN EMPIRE 299
people. The Sibylline books enjoined ceremonies of a more a.d. 271, Jan.
harmless nature, processions of priests in white robes, attended
by a chorus of youths and virgins ; lustrations of the city and
adjacent country ; and sacrificeSj whose powerful influence dis-
abled the barbarians from passing the mystic ground on which
they had been celebrated. However puerile in themselveSj
these superstitious arts were subservient to the success of the
war ; and if, in the decisive battle of Fano, the Alemanni
fancied they saw an army of spectres combating on the side of
Aurelian, he received a real and eflfectual aid from this imaginary
reinforcement.^^
But, whatever confidence might be placed in ideal ramparts, Jj^^q****"^
the experience of the past, and the dread of the future, induced
the Romans to construct fortifications of a grosser and more
substantial kind. The seven hills of Rome had been surrounded
by the successors of Romulus with an ancient wall of more than
thirteen miles.^® The vast inclosure may seem disproportioned
to the strength and numbers of the infant state. But it was
necessary to secure an ample extent of pasture and arable land
against the frequent and sudden incursions of the tribes of
Latium, the perpetual enemies of the republic. With the pro-
gress of Roman greatness, the city and its inhabitants gradually
increased, filled up the vacant space, pierced through the use-
less walls, covered the field of Mars, and, on every side, followed
the public highways in long and beautiful suburbs.*"^ The ex-
tent of the new walls, erected by Aurelian, and finished in the
reigu of Probus, was magnified by popular estimation to near
fifty ; ^^ but is reduced by accurate measurement to about twenty-
one miles.^9 It was a great but a melancholy labour, since
45Vopiscus in Hist. Aug. p. 215,216 [xxvi. 19 and 20] gives a long account of
these ceremonies, from the Registers of the senate.
^ Plin. Hist. Natur. iii. 5. To confirm our idea, we may observe that for a
long time Mount Caelius was a grove of oaks, and Mount Viminal was over-run with
osiers ; that in the fourth century, the Aventine was a vacant and solitary retire-
ment ; that, till the time of Augustus, the Esquiline was an unwholesome burying
ground ; and that the numerous inequalities remarked by the ancients in the
Quirinal sufficiently prove that it was not covered with buildings. Of the seven
hills, the Capitoline and Palatine only, with the adjacent valleys, were the primitive
habitations of the Roman people. But this subject would require a dissertation.
[It is now generally admitted that Pliny must have meant the circumference of the
city as divided by Augustus into 14 regions.]
47 Expatiantia tecta multas addidere urbes, is the expression of Pliny.
48 Hist. August, p. 222 [xxvi. 39, 2]. Both Lipsius and Isaac Vossius have
eagerly embraced this measure.
49 See Nardini, Roma Antica, 1. i. ^, 8. [Compare Jordan, Topographic der
Stadt Rom im Alterthum, i. 340 ■^??-]
300 THE DECLINE AND FALL
the defence of the capital betrayed the decline of the monarchy.
The Romans of a more prosperous age, who trusted to the arms
of the legions the safety of the frontier camps, ^^ were very far
ft'om entertaining a suspicion that it would ever become necessary
to fortify the seat of empire against the inroads of the barbarians.^i
Aureuan The victory of Claudius over the Goths, and the success of
the^two^*'' Aurelian against the Alemanni, had already restored to the
uBurpers arms of Rome their ancient superiority over the barbarous
nations of the North. To chastise domestic tyrants, and to re-
unite the dismembered parts of the empire, was a task reserved
for the latter of those warlike emperors. Though he was
acknowledged by the senate and people, the frontiers of Italy,
Africa, lUyricum, and Thrace, confined the limits of his reign.
Gaul, Spain, and Britain, Eg3rpt, Syria, and Asia Minor were
still possessed by two rebels, who alone, out of so numerous a
list, had hitherto escaped the dangers of their situation ; and, to
complete the ignominy of Rome, these rival thrones had been
usurped by women.
Succession of A rapid succession of monarchs had arisen and fallen in the
^^i^pera in provinces of Gaul. The rigid virtues of Posthumus served only to
hasten his destruction. After suppressing a competitor, who had
assumed the purple at Mentz, he refused to gratify his troops with
the plunder of the rebellious city ; and, in the seventh year of his
reign, became the victim of their disappointed avarice.^^ The
death of Victorinus, his friend and associate, was occasioned by
a less worthy cause. The shining accomplishments ^^ of that
prince were stained by a licentious passion, which he indulged
in acts of violence, with too little regard to the laws of society,
or even to those of love.^* He was slain at Cologne, by a con-
w Tacit. Hist. iv. 23.
51 For Aurelian's walls, see Vopiscus in Hist. August, p. 216, 222 [xxvi. 21 ; 39].
Zosimus, 1. i. p. 43 [49]. Eutropius, ix. 15. iVurel. Victor in Aurelian., Victor
Junior in Aurelian, , Euseb. Hieronym. et Idatius in Chronic.
''2 His competitor was LoUianus, or ^lianus, if indeed these names mean the
same person. See Tillemont, tom. iii. p. 1177. [Laelianus. See Appendix 18.]
*^The character of this prince by Julius Aterianus (ap. Hist. August, p. 187
[xxiv. 6] ) is worth transcribing, as it seems fair and impartial. Victorino qui post
Junium Posthumum Gallias [G. post J. P.] rexit neminem existimo [asstimo]
praeferendura : non in virtute Trajanum ; non Antoninum in dementia ; non in
gravitate Nervam ; non in giibernando serario Vespasianum ; non in censura
totius vitae ac severitate militari Pertinacem vel Sevenira. Sed omnia hgec libido, et
cupiditas voluptatis mulierarise [mul. vol.] sic perdidit, ut nemo audeat virtutesejus
in literas mittere quern constat omnium judicio meruisse puniri. [The right readings
are inserted in brackets.]
" He ravished the wife of Attitianus, an actuary, or army agent. Hist. August,
p. 186 [ib.]. Aurel. Victor in Aurelian.
OF THE ROMAN EMPIRE 301
spiracy of jealous husbands, whose revenge would have appeared
more justifiable, had they spared the innocence of his son.
After the murder of so many valiant princes, it is somewhat
remarkable that a female for a long time controlled the fierce
legions of Gaul, and still more singular that she was the mother
of the unfortunate Victorinus, The arts and treasures of Victoria
enabled her successfully to place Marius and Tetricus on the
throne, and to reign with a manly vigour under the name of
those dependent emperors. Money of copper, of silver, and of
gold, was coined in her name ; she assumed the titles of Augusta
and Mother of the Camps : her power ended only with her
life ; but her life was perhaps shortened by the ingratitude of
Tetricus. ^^
When, at the instigation of his ambitious patroness, Tetricus ^^ The reign and
assumed the ensigns of royalty, he was governor of the peaceful lefalcu!'
province of Aquitaine, an employment suited to his character
and education. He reigned four or five years over Gaul, Spain,
and Britain, the slave and sovereign of a licentious army, whom
he dreaded and by whom he was despised. The valour and
fortune of Aurelian at length opened the prospect of a deliver-
ance. He ventured to disclose his melancholy situation, and
conjured the emperor to hasten to the relief of his unhappy ^ j, 271^
rival. Had this secret correspondence reached the ears of the
soldiers, it would most probably have cost Tetricus his life ;
nor could he resign the sceptre of the West without committing
an act of treason against himself. He affected the appearances
of a civil war, led his forces into the field against Aurelian,
posted them in the most disadvantageous manner, betrayed his
own counsels to the enemy, and with a few chosen friends
deserted in the beginning of the action The rebel legions,
though disordered and dismayed by the unexpected treachery
of their chief, defended themselves with a desperate valour,
till they were cut in pieces almost to a man, in this bloody and
memorable battle, which was fought near Chalons in Champagne.^^
55 PoUio assigns her an article among the thirty tyrants. Hi^t. Aug. p. 200 [xxvi.
31. As for Marius, see Appendix 18.]
66 [Gaius Pius (?) Esuvius Tetricus. He made his son his colleague, compare
Mommsen, Staatsreckt, ii. 1106, and Burdigala (owing to his Aquitanian connexions)
his capital.]
57 Pollio in Hist. August p. ig6. Vopiscus in Hist. August, p. 230 [xxiv. 24 ;
xxvi. 32] . The two Victors, in the lives of Gallienus and Aurelian. Eutropius,
ix. 13. Euseb. in Chron. Of all these writers, only the two last (but with strong
probability) place the fall of Tetricus before that of Zenobia. M. de Boze (in the
Academy of Inscriptions, torn, xxx.) does not wish, and Tillemont (tom. iii. p. 1189)
auminer
302 THE DECLINE AND FALL
The retreat of the irregular auxiliaries, Franks and Batavians,^^
whom the conqueror soon compelled or persuaded to repass the
Rhine, restored the general tranquillity, and the power of
Aurelian was acknowledged from the wall of Antoninus to the
columns of Hercules.
As early as the reign of Claudius, the city of Autun, alone and
unassisted, had ventured to declare against the legions of Gaul.
After a siege of seven months, they stormed and plundered that
unfortunate city, already wasted by famine.^^ Lyons, on the con-
trary, had resisted with obstinate disaffection the arms of Aurelian.
We read of the punishment of Lyons,^** but there is not any
mention of the rewards of Autun. Such, indeed, is the policy of
civil war ; severely to remember injuries, and to forget the most
important services. Revenge is profitable, gratitude is expensive.
A.D. 272. Aurelian had no sooner secured the person and provinces of
zenobia Tetricus, than he turned his arras against Zenobia, the celebrated
queen of Palmyra and the East. Modern Europe has produced
several illustrious women who have sustained with glory the
weight of empire ; nor is our own age destitute of such distin-
guished characters. But if we except the doubtful achievements
of Semiramis, Zenobia is perhaps the only female whose superior
genius broke through the servile indolence imposed on her sex
by the climate and manners of Asia.^^ She claimed her descent
from the Macedonian kings of Egypt, equalled in beauty her
ancestor Cleopatra, and far surpassed that princess in chastity ^^
herbeautv i/and valour. Zenobia was esteemed the most lovely as well as
* the most heroic of her sex. She was of dark complexion (for in
speaking of a lady these trifles become important). Her teeth
were of a pearly whiteness, and her large black eyes sparkled
with uncommon fire, tempered by the most attractive sweetness.
Her voice was strong and harmonious. Her manly understanding
does not dare, to follow them. I have been fairer than the one, and bolder than
the other. [The sources leave no doubt that Aurelian had to deal with Zenobia
and the East before he turned to Tetricus and Gaul. Tillemont's caution was
justified.]
58 Victor Junior in Aurelian. Eumenius mentions Batavicm ; some critics, with-
out any reason, would fain alter the word to BagaiidiccB.
s'Eumen. in Vet. Panegyr. iv. 8 \^ro restaur, schol. ed. Bahrens, p. 119].
_ 60 Vopiscus in Hist. August, p. 246 [xxix. 13] . Autun was not restored till the
reign of Diocletian. See Eumenius de restaurandis scholis. [On Autun (Augusto-
dunum) see the elaborate essay of Mr. Freeman, Historical Essays, 4th series.]
^1 Almost everything that is said of the manners of Odenathus and Zenobia
is taken from their lives in the Augustan History, by Trebellius PoUio, see p. 192,
198 fxxiv. 15 and 30].
^'^She never admitted her husband's embraces but for the sake of posterity.
If her hopes were baffled, in the ensuing month she reiterated the experiment.
OF THE ROMAN EMPIRE 305
was strengthened and adorned by study. She was not ignorant
of the Latin tongue^ but possessed in equal perfection the Greek,
the Syriac, and the Egyptian languages. She had drawn up for
her own use an epitome of oriental history^ and familiarly com-
pared the beauties of Homer and Plato under the tuition of the
sublime Longinus.
This accomplished woman gave her hand to Odenathus, whohervaioar
from a private station raised himself to the dominion of the East.
She soon became the friend and companion of a hero. In the
intervals of war, Odenathus passionately delighted in the exercise
of hunting ; he pursued with ardour the wild beasts of the desert,
lionSj panthers, and bears ; and the ardour of Zenobia in that
dangerous amusement was not inferior to his own. She had
inured her constitution to fatigue, disdained the use of a covered
carriage, generally appeared on horseback in a military habit, and
sometimes marched several miles on foot at the head of the troops.
The success of Odenathus was in a great measure ascribed to her
incomparable prudence and fortitude. Their splendid victories
over the Great King, whom they twice pui'sued as far as the
gates of Ctesiphon, laid the foundations of their united fame and
power. The armies which they commanded, and the provinces
which they had saved, acknowledged not any other sovereigns
than their invincible chiefs. The senate and people of Rome
revered a stranger who had avenged their captive emperor, and
even the insensible son of Valerian accepted Odenathus for his
legitimate colleague.
After a successful expedition against the Gothic plunderers of she revenges
Asia, the Palmyrenian prince returned to the city of Emesa in death
Syria. Invincible in war, he was there cut off by domestic
treason, and his favourite amusement of hunting was the cause,
or at least the occasion, of his death. ^^ His nephew, Mgeonius,
presumed to dart his javelin before that of his uncle ; and,
though admonished of his error, repeated the same insolence.
As a monarch and as a sportsman, Odenathus was provoked :
took away his horse, a mark of ignominy among the barbarians,
and chastised the rash youth by a short confinement. The
offence was soon forgot, but the punishment was remembered ; a.d 267
and MsE^onius, with a few daring associates, assassinated his uncle
in the midst of a great entertainment. Herod, the son of Odena-
*8 Hist. August, p. 192, 193 [xxiv. 15] . Zosiraus, 1. i. p. 36 [39] . Zonaras, I.
xii. p. 633 [c. 24]. The last is clear and probable, the others confused and in-
consistent. ' The text of SynceJJys [i. p. 717, ed. Bonn] , if not corrupt, is absolute
nonsense.
304 THE DECLINE AND FALL
thus, though not of Zenobia, a young man of a soft and effemin-
ate temper, ^4 was killed with his father. But Maeonius obtained
only the pleasure of revenge by this bloody deed. He had
scarcely time to assume the title of Augustus, before he was
sacrificed by Zenobia to the memory of her husband. ^^
and reigns With the assistance of his most faithful friends, she immedi-
Sfs^t*^* ately filled the vacant throne, and governed with manly counsels
Palmyra, Syria, and the East, above five years. By the death of
Odenathus, that authority was at an end which the senate had
gi'anted him only as a personal distinction ; but his martial
widow, disdaining both the senate and Gallienus, obliged one of
the Roman generals, who was sent against her, to retreat into
Europe, with the loss of his army and his reputation.®^ Instead
of the little passions which so frequently perplex a female reign,
the steady administration of Zenobia was guided by the most
judicious maxims of policy. If it was expedient to pardon, she
could calm her resentment ; if it was necessary to punish, she
could impose silence on the voice of pity. Her strict economy
was accused of avarice ; yet on every proper occasion she ap-
peared magnificent and liberal. The neighbouring states of
Arabia, Armenia, and Persia, dreaded her enmity, and solicited
her alliance. To the dominions of Odenathus, which extended
from the Euphrates to the frontiers of Bithynia, his widow added
the inheritance of her ancestors, the populous and fertile king-
dom of Egypt. The emperor Claudius acknowledged her merit,
and was content that, while he pursued the Gothic war, she
should assert the dignity of the empire in the East.®^ The
conduct, however, of Zenobia was attended with some ambiguity;
nor is it unlikely that she had conceived the design of erecting
an independent and hostile monarchy. She blended with the
popular manners of Roman princes the stately pomp of the
courts of Asia, and exacted from her subjects the same adoration
that was paid to the successors of Cyrus. She bestowed on her
three sons^ a Latin education, and oi^en showed them to the
^^ Odenathus and Zenobia often sent him, from the spoils of the enemy, presents
of gems and toys, which he received with infinite delight.
»s Some very unjust suspicions have been cast on Zenobia, as if she was
accessory to her husband's death.
^^ Hist. August, p. 180, 181 [xxiii. 13. See Appendix 19.]
^7 See in Hist. August, p. 198 [xxiv. 30] Aurelian's testimony to her merit;
and for the conquest of Egypt, Zosimus, I i. p. 39, 40 [44] .
^Timolaus, Herennianus, and Vaballathus. It is supposed that the two
former were already dead before the war. On the last, Aurelian bestowed a
small province of Armenia, with the title of king; several of his medals are stiU
extant. See Tillemont, torn. iii. p. 1190. [See Appendix ig.]
OF THE EOMAN EMPIEE 305
troops adorned with the Imperial purple. For herself she re-
served the diadem, with the splendid but doubtful title of Queen
of the East.
When Aurelian passed over into Asia, against an adversary TheExpedi-
whose sex alone could render her an object of contempt, hi uaS,!©!^^!
presence restored obedience to the province of Bithynia, alread) ^"^^""^^
shaken by the arms and intrigues of Zenobia.69 Advancing at
the head of his legions, he accepted the submission of Ancyra,
and was admitted into Tyana, after an obstinate siege, by the
help of a pei-tidious citizen. The generous though fierce temper
of Aurelian abandoned the traitor to the rage of the soldiers ; a
superstitious reverence induced him to treat with lenity the
countrymen of ApoUonius the philosopher.^^ Antioch was
deserted on his approach, till the emperor, by his salutary edicts,
recalled the fugitives, and granted a general pardon to all who,
from necessity rather than choice, had been engaged in the
service of the Palmyrenian queen. The unexpected mildness of
such a conduct reconciled the minds of the Syrians, and, as far as
the gates of Emesa, the wishes of the people seconded the terror
of his arms.^
Zenobia would have ill deserved her reputation, had she in- The emperor
dolently permitted the emperor of the West to approach within pI.&n*SMis
a hundred miles of her capital. The fate of the East was S^'tioch""
decided in two great battles ; so similar in almost every circum-""''^""'"
stance that we can scarcely distinguish them fi'om each other,
except by observing that the first was fought near Antioch/^
and the second near Emesa.'^^ j^ both, the queen of Palmyra
animated the armies by her presence, and devolved the execu-
tion of her orders on Zabdas, who had already signalized his
military talents by the conquest of Egypt. The numerous forces
of Zenobia consisted for the most part of light archers, and of
heavy cavalry clothed in complete steel. The Moorish and II-
lyrian horse of Aurelian were unable to sustain the ponderous
charge of their antagonists. They fled in real or affected dis-
^Zosimus, 1. i. p. 44 [50].
70 Vopiscus (in Hist. August, p. 2i7[xxvi. 23, 24]) gives us an authentic letter, and
a doubtful vision, of Aurelian. ApoUonius of Tyana was born about the same
time as Jesus Christ. His life (that of the former) is related in so fabulous a manner
by his disciples, that we are at a loss to discover whether he was a sage, an im-
postor, or a fanatic,
7iZosimus, 1. i. p. 46 [52].
72 At a place called Immse. Eutropius, Sextus Rufus, and Jerome, mention
only this first battle.
78 Vopiscus in Hist. August, p. 217 [xxvi. 25] mentions only the second.
20 VOL I.
and Emesa
Palmyra
306 THE DECLINE AND FALL
order, engaged the Palmyrenians in a laborious pursuit, harassed
them by a desultory combat, and at length discomfited this im-
penetrable but unwieldy body of cavalry. The light infantry,
in the meantime, when they had exhausted their quivers, re-
maining without protection against a closer onset, exposed their
naked sides to the swords of the legions. Aurelian had chosen
these veteran troops, who were usually stationed on the Upper
Danube, and whose valour had been severely tried in the
Alemannic war.^* After the defeat of Emesa, Zenobia found it
impossible to collect a third army. As far as the frontier of
Egypt, the nations subject to her empire had joined the standard
of the conquei'or, who detached Probus, the bravest of his
generals, to possess himself of the Egyptian provinces. Palmyra
was the last resource of the widow of Odenathus. She i-etired
within the walls of her capital, made every preparation for a
vigorous resistance, and declared, with the intrepidity of a heroine,
that the last moment of her reign and of her life should be the
same.
Thertate of Amid the barren deserts of Arabia, a few cultivated spots rise
like islands out of the sandy ocean. Even the name of Tadmor,
or Palmyra, by its signification in the Syriac as well as in the
Latin language, denoted the multitude of palm trees which
afforded shade and verdure to that temperate region. The air
was pure, and the soil, watered by some invaluable springs, was
capable of producing fruits as well as com. A place possessed
of such singular advantages, and situated at a convenient dis-
tance,^^ between the Gulf of Persia and the Mediterranean,
was soon frequented by the caravans which conveyed to the
nations of Europe a considerable part of the rich commodities
of India. Palmyra insensibly increased into an opulent and in-
dependent city, and, connecting the Roman and the Parthian
monarchies by the mutual benefits of commerce, was suffered to
observe an humble neutrality, till at length, after the victories
of Trajan, the little republic sunk into the bosom of Rome, and
flourished more than one hundred and fifty years in the subor-
dinate though honourable rank of a colony. It was during that
peaceful period, if we may judge fi*om a few remaining inscrip-
tions, that the wealthy Palmyrenians constructed those temples,
7* Zosimus, 1. i. p. 44-48 [50-53], His account of the two battles is clear and
circumstantial.
75 It was five hundred and thirty-seven miles from Seleucia, and two hundred
and three from the nearest coast of Syria, according^ to the reckoning of Pliny,
who in a few words (Hist. Natur. v. 21) gives an excellent description of Palmyra,
OF THE ROMAN EMPIRE 307
palaceSj and porticos of Grecian / ai'chitecture, whose ruins,
scattered over an extent of several miles, have deserved the
curiosity of our travellers. The elevation of Odenathus and
Zenobia appeared to reflect new splendour on their country, and
Palmyra for a while stood forth the rival of Home : but the com-
petition Avas fatal, and ages of pi-osperity were sacrificed to a
moment of glory ."^^
In his march over the sandy desert, between Emesa and it ib beBieged,
Palmyra, the Emperor Aurelian was perpetually harassed by the *^ ■'^™*®^^*^
Arabs ; nor could he always defend his army, and especially his
baggage, from these flying troops of active and daring robbers,
who watched the moment of surprise, and eluded the slow pur-
suit of the legions. The siege of Palmyra was an object far
more difiicult and important, and the emperor, who with incessant
vigour pressed the attacks in person, was himself wounded with
a dart. "The Roman people," says Aurelian, in an original
letter, " speak with contempt of the war which I am waging
against a woman. They are ignorant both of the character and
of the power of Zenobia. It is impossible to enumerate her war-
like preparations, of stones, of arrows, and of every species of
missile weapons. Every part of the walls is provided with two
or three halistae, and artificial fires are thrown from her military
engines. The fear of punishment has armed her with a desperate
courage. Yet still I trust in the protecting deities of Rome, who
have hitherto been favourable to all my undertakings."^'' Doubt-
ful, however, of the protection of the gods, and of the event of
the siege, Aurelian judged it more prudent to offer terms of an
advantageous capitulation : to the queen, a splendid retreat ; to
the citizens, their ancient privileges. His proposals were
obstinately rejected, and the refusal was accompanied with
insult.
The firmness of Zenobia was supported by the hope that in a who becomeB
veiy short time famine would compel the Roman army to repass zenobiaand
the desert ; and by the reasonable expectation that the kings of ° ^" ^
the East, and particularly the Persian monarch, would ai*m in
the defence of their most natural ally. But fortune and the
perseverance of Aurelian overcame every obstacle. The death
76 Some English travellers from Aleppo discovered the ruins of Palmyra, about
the end of the last century. Our curiosity has since been gratified in a more splen-
did manner by Messieurs Wood and Dawkins. For the history of Palmyra, we
may consult the masterly dissertation of Dr. Halley in the Philosophical Transac-
tions ; Lowthorp's Abridgment, vol. iii. p. 518.
77 Vopiscus in Hist. August, p. 218 [xxvi. 26].
308 THE DECLINE AND FALL
of Saporj which happened about this time/^ distracted the coun-
cils of Persia, and the inconsiderable succours that attempted
to relieve Palmyra^ were easily intercepted either by the arms
or the liberality of the emperor. From every part of Syria^ a
regular succession of convoys safely arrived in the camp, which
was increased by the return of Probus with his victorious troops
from the conquest of Egypt. It was then that Zenobia resolved
to fly. She mounted the fleetest of her dromedaries/^ and had
already reached the banks of the Euphrates, about sixty miles
from Palmyra, when she was overtaken by the pursuit of
Aurelian's light horse, seized, and brought back a captive to the
A.D. 273 feet of the emperor. Her capital soon afterwards surrendered,
'^ and was treated with unexpected lenity. The arms, horses, and
camels, with an immense treasure of gold, silver, silk, and
precious stones, were all delivered to the conqueror, who, leaving
only a garrison of six hundred archers, returned to Emesa, and
employed some time in the distribution of rewards and punish-
ments at the end of so memorable a war, which restored to the
obedience of Rome those provinces that had renounced their
allegiance since the captivity of Valerian.
z*^oWa^°' When the Syrian queen was brought into the presence of
Aurelian, he sternly asked her. How she had presumed to rise in
arms against the emperors of Rome ? The answer of Zenobia
was a prudent mixture of respect and firmness. "Because I dis-
dained to consider as Roman emperors an Aureolus or a GaUienus.
You alone I acknowledge as my conqueror and my sovereign." ^^
But, as female fortitude is commonly artificial, so it is seldom
steady or consistent. The courage of Zenobia deserted her in
the hour of trial ; she trembled at the angry clamours of the
soldiers, who called aloud for her immediate execution, forgot
the generous despair of Cleopatra, which she had proposed
as her model, and ignominiously purchased life by the sacrifice
of her fame and her friends. It was to their counsels, which
governed the weakness of her sex, that she imputed the guilt
of her obstinate resistance ; it was on their heads that she
78 From a very doubtful chronology I have endeavoured to extract the most
probable date. [The death of Sapor (Sh^hpfir 1.) is variously placed in 269 and
272 ; his son was involved in a war with a pretender.]
7» Hist. August, p. 218 [xxvi. 28]. Zosimus, 1. i. p. 50 [55]. Though the
camel is a heavy beast of burden, the dromedary, who is either of the same or of a
kindred species, is used by the natives of Asia and Africa, on all occasions which
require celerity. The Arabs affirm that he will run over as much ground in
one day as their fleetest horses can perform in eight or ten. See Buffon, Hist.
Naturelle, tom. xi. p. 222, and Shaw's Travels, p. 167.
80 PoUio in Hist. August, p. 199 [xxiv. 30, 23].
OF THE ROMAN EMPIRE 309
directed the vengeance of the cruel Aurelian. The fame of
Longinus, who was included among the numerous and perhaps
innocent victims of her fear, will survive that of the queen who
betrayed, or the tyrant who condemned, him. Genius and
learning were incapable of moving a fierce unlettered soldier,
but they had served to elevate and harmonize the soul of
Longinus. Without uttering a complaint, he calmly followed
the executioner, pitying his unhappy mistress, and bestowing
comfort on his afflicted friends.^i
Returning from the conquest of the East, Aurelian had already Rjbemon and
crossed the Straits which divide Europe from Asia, when hepainyra
was provoked by the intelligence that the Palmyrenians had
massacred the governor and gaiTison which he had left among
them, and again erected the standai'd of revolt. Without a
moment's deliberation, he once more turned his face towards
Syria. Antioch was alarmed by his rapid approach, and the
helpless city of Palmyra felt the irresistible weight of his resent-
ment. We have a letter of Aurelian himself, in which he
acknowledges ^^ that old men, women, children, and peasants
had been involved in that dreadful execution, which should
have been confined to armed rebellion ; and, although his
principal concern seems directed to the re-establishment of a
temple of the Sun, he discovers some pity for the remnant of
the Palmyrenians, to whom he grants the permission of rebuild-
ing and inhabiting their city. But it is easier to destroy than
to restore. The seat of commerce, of arts, and of Zenobia,
gradually sunk into an obscure town, a trifling fortress, and at
length a miserable viiiage. The present citizens of Palmyra,
consisting of thirty or forty families, have erected their mud
cottages within the spacious court of a magnificent temple.
Another and a last labour still awaited the indefatigable Aureuan
111 111- Buppresaes
Aurelian; to suppress a dangerous though obscure rebel, wnOj the rebellion
during the revolt of Palmyra, had arisen on the banks of the Egypt
Nile. Firmus, the friend and ally, as he proudly styled himself,
of Odenathus and Zenobia, was no more than a wealthy merchant
of Egypt. In the course of his trade to India, he had formed
very intimate connexions with the Saracens and the Blemmyes,
whose situation on either coast of the Red Sea gave them an
easy introduction into the Upper Egypt. The Egyptians he
inflamed with the hope of freedom, and, at the head of their
81 Vopiscus in Hist. August, p. 219 [xxyi. 30]. Zosimus, 1. i, p. 51 [§6}
sa Hist August, p. aig [xxvi. 31].
AureUan
310 THE DECLINE AND FALL
furious multitude, broke into the city of Alexandria, where he
assumed the Imperial piu'ple, coined money, published edicts,
and raised an army, which, as he vainly boasted, he was capable
of maintaining from the sole profits of his paper trade. Such
troops were a feeble defence against the approach of Aurelian ;
and it seems almost unnecessary to relate that Firmus was
routed, taken, tortured, and put to death. Aurelian might now
congratulate the senate, the people, and himself, that in little
more than three years he had restored universal peace and order
to the Roman world.^^
Trimnphof Sincc the foundation of Rome, no general had more nobly
deserved a triumph than Aurelian ; nor was a triumph ever
celebrated with superior pride and magnificence.^ The pomp
was opened by twenty elephants, four royal tigers, and above
two hundred of the most curious animals from every climate of
the North, the East, and the South. They were followed by
sixteen hundred gladiators, devoted to the cruel amusement of
the amphitheatre. The wealth of Asia, the arms and ensigns of
so many conquered nations, and the magnificent plate and ward-
robe of the Syrian queen, were disposed in exact symmetry or
artful disorder. The ambassadors of the most remote pai*ts of
the earth, of Ethiopia, Arabia, Persia, Bactriana, India, and
China, all remarkable by their rich or singular dresses, displayed
the fame and power of the Roman emperor, who exposed like-
wise to the public view the presents that he had received, and
particularly a great number of crowns of gold, the offerings of
grateful cities. The victories of Aurelian were attested by the
long train of captives who reluctantly attended his triumph,
Goths, Vandals, Sai-matians, Alemanni, Franks, Gauls, Syrians
and Egyptians. Each people was distinguished by its pecuHar
inscription, and the title of Amazons was bestowed on ten
martial heroines of the Gothic nation who had been taken in
aiins.^5 But every eye, disregarding the crowd of captives, was
fixed on the emperor Tetricus and the queen of the East. The
83 See Vopiscus in Hist. August, p. 220, 242 [xxvi. 32, xxix. 5]. As an instance
of luxury, it is observed that he had glass windows. He was remarkable for his
strength and appetite, his courage and dexterity. From the letter of Aurelian we
may justly infer that Firmus was the last of the rebels, and consequently that
Tetricus was already suppressed.
^ See the triumph of Aurelian, described by Vopiscus. He relates the particu-
lars with his usual minuteness ; and on this occasion they happen to be interesting.
Hist. August. 220 [xxvi. 33].
85 Among barbarous nations, women have often combated by the side of their
husbands. But it is almost impossible that a society of Amazons should ever
have existed either in the old or new world.
OF THE ROMAN EMPIRE 311
former, as well as his son, whom he had created Augustus, was
dressed in Gallic trowsers,^^ a saffron tunic, and a robe of purple.
The beauteous figure of Zenobia was confined by fetters of gold;
a slave supported the gold chain which encircled her neck, and
she almost fainted under the intolerable weight of jewels. She
preceded on foot the magnificent chariot in which she once
hoped to enter the gates of Rome. It was followed by two
other chariots, still more sumptuous, of Odenathus .and of the
Persian monarch. The triumphal car of Aurelian (it had
formerly been used by a Gothic king) was drawn, on this
memorable occasion, either by four stags or by four elephants.s^
The most illustrious of the senate, the people, and the army,
closed the solemn procession. Unfeigned joy, wonder and grati-
tude swelled the acclamations of the multitude ; but the
satisfaction of the senate was clouded by the appearance of
Tetricus ; nor could they suppress a rising murmur that the
haughty emperor should thus expose to public ignominy the
person of a Roman and a magistrate.^^
But however, in the treatment of his unfortunate rivals, hu treatment
Aurelian might indulge his pride, he behaved towards them with mJ zJiowa
a generous clemency which was seldom exercised by the ancient
conquerors. Princes who, without success, had defended their
throne or freedom were frequently strangled in prison, as soon
as the triumphal pomp ascended the capitol. These usurpers,
whom their defeat had convicted of the crime of treason, were
permitted to spend their lives in affluence and honourable repose.
The emperor presented Zenobia with an elegant villa at Tibur,
or Tivoli, about twenty miles from the capital ; the S3Tian queen
insensibly sank into a Roman matron, her daughters married into
noble families, and her race was not yet extinct in the fifth
86 The use of BracctB, breeches, or trowsers, was still considered in Italy as a
Gallic and Barbarian fashion. The Romans, however, had made great advances
towards it. To encircle the legs and thighs ^^ith fascia, or bands, was understood
in the time of Pompey and Horace to be a proof of ill-health or effeminacy. In
the age of Trajan, the custom was confined to the rich and luxurious. It gradually
was adopted by the meanest of the people. See a very curious note of Casaubon,
ad Sueton. in August, c. 82.
87 Most probably the former : the latter, seen on the medals of Aurelian, only
denote (according to the learned Cardinal Norris [Noris]) an oriental victory.
«8 The expression of Calphurnius (Eclog. i. 50), Nullos ducet captiva triumphos,
as applied to Rome, contains a very manifest allusion and censure. [Gibbon
supposed Calpurnius to have been a contemporary of Cams. It is now established
that Calpurnius wrote under Nero, and that the games which he describes were
celebrated by that prince. Some of the idylls however which were ascribed to
Calpurnius were really written (as Haupt has proved) by Nemesianus, the author
of the Cynegeiica, who lived in the time of Cams.]
312 THE DECLINE AND FALL
century, «9 Tetricus and his son were reinstated in their rank
and fortunes. They erected on the Caelian Hill a magnificent
palace^ and^ as soon as it was finished^ invited Aurelian to supper.
On his entrance^ he was agreeably surprised with a picture
which represented their singular history. They were delineated
offering to the emperor a civic crown and the sceptre of Gaul,
and again receiving at his hands the ornaments of the senatorial
dignity. The father was afterwards invested with the govern-
ment of Lucania^^'^ and Aiu*elian, who soon admitted the abdicated
monarch to his friendship and conversation, familiarly asked him.
Whether it were not more desirable to administer a province of
Italy, than to reign beyond the Alps ? The son long continued
a respectable member of the senate ; nor was there any one of
the Roman nobility more esteemed by Aiu-elian, as well as by
his successors.^^
His ma,gnifl- So long and so various was the pomp of Aurelian's triumph
devotioS that, although it opened with the dawn of day, the slow majesty
of the procession ascended not the Capitol before the ninth hour;
and it was already dark when the emperor returned to the
palace. The festival was protracted by theatrical representa-
tions, the games of the circus, the hunting of wild beasts,
combats of gladiators, and naval engagements. Liberal
donatives were distributed to the army and people, and several
institutions, agreeable or beneficial to the city,, contributed to
perpetuate the glory of Aurelian. A considerable portion of his
oriental spoils was consecrated to the gods of Rome; the Capitol,
and every other temple, glittered with the offerings of his
ostentatious piety ; and the temple of the Sun alone received
above fifteen thousand pounds of gold.^^ This last was a
magnificent structure, erected by the emperor on the side of the
Quii*inal hill, and dedicated, soon afler the triumph, to that deity
whom Aiu-elian adored as the parent of his life and fortimes.
His mother had been an inferior priestess in a chapel of the
Sun ; a pecuhar devotion to the god of Light was a sentiment
88 Vopiscus in Hist. August, p. 199 [xxiv. 29]. Hieronym. in Chron. Prosper in
Chron. Baronius supposes that Zenobius, bishop of Florence in the time of St
Ambrose, was of her family.
^Vopisc, in Hist. August, p. 222 [xxvi. 39, i]. Eutropius, ix. 13. Victor
Jun or. But Pollio in Hist. August, p. 196, says that Tetricus [xxiv. 24] was made
corrector of all Italy. [See Appendix 20.]
*i Hist. August, p. 197 [xxiv. 25].
®2 Vopiscus in Hist. August, p. 222 [xxvi. 39]. 2k}5imus, 1. i. p. 56 [61]. He
placed in it the images of Belus and of the Sun, which he had brought from
Palmyra. It was dedicated in the fourth year of his reign (Euseb. in Chron.), but
was most assuredly begun immediately on his accession.
OF THE ROMAN EMPIRE 313
which the fortunate peasant imbibed in his infancy ; and every
step of his elevation, every victory of his reign, fortified supersti-
tion by gratitude.®^
The arms of Aurelian had vanquished the foreign and domes- He auppreBBai
tic foes of the republic. We are assured that, by his salutary St Rome"
rigour, crimes and factions, mischievous arts and pernicious con-
nivance, the luxuriant growth of a feeble and oppressive govern-
ment, were eradicated throughout the Roman world.^* But, if
we attentively reflect how much swifter is the progress of cor-
ruption than its cure, and if we remember that the years
abandoned to public disorders exceeded the months allotted to
the martial reign of Aurelian, we must confess that a few short
intervals of peace were insufficient for the arduous work of
reformation. Even his attempt to restore the integrity of the
coin was opposed by a formidable insurrection. The emperor s
vexation breaks out in one of his private letters : " Surely,"
says he, "the gods have decreed that my life should be a
perpetual warfare. A sedition within the walls has just now
given birth to a very serious civil war. The workmen of the
mint, at the instigation of Felicissimus, a slave to whom I had
intrusted an employment in the finances, have risen in rebellion.
They are at length suppressed ; but seven thousand of my
soldiers have been slain in the contest, of those troops whose
ordinary station is in Dacia, and the camps along the Danube." ^^
Other writers, who confirm the same fact, add likewise that it
happened soon after Aurelian's triumph ; that the decisive en-
gagement was fought on the Cselian Hill ; that the workmen of
the mint had adulterated the coin ; and that the emperor re-
stored the public credit by delivering out good money in ex-
change for the bad which the people was commanded to bring
into the treasury.^^
We might content ourselves with relating this extraordinary obBervatiooi
transaction, but we cannot dissemble how much, in its present"'^*"*"
form, it appears to us inconsistent and incredible. The debase-
ment of the coin is, indeed, well suited to the administration of
Gallienus ; nor is it unlikely that the instruments of the cor-
83 See in the Augustan History, p. 210 [xxvi. 4], the omens of his fortune. His
devotion to the sun appears in his letters, on his medals, and is mentioned in the
Caesars of Julian. Coramentaire de Spanheim, p. 107 [108, 109].
8^ Vopiscus in Hist. August, p. 221 [xxvi. 37].
85 Hist. August, p. 222 [xxvi, 38]. Aurelian calls those soldiers Hiheri [in besjt
MSS. the name is corrupt — Ieinbariorum\ Riparienses, Castriani, and Dacisfi.
^ Zosinfius, 1. i. p. 56 J^6i]. Eutropius, i?c. 14. Aural Victor.
314 THE DECLINE AND FALL
ruption might dread the inflexible justice of Aurelian. But the
guiltj as well as the profit, must have been confined to a few ;
nor is it easy to conceive by what arts they could arm a people
whom they had injured against a monarch whom they had
betx*ayed. We might naturally expect that such miscreants
should have shared the public detestation with the informers
and the other ministers of oppression ; and that the reformation
of the coin should have been an action equally popular with the
destruction of those obsolete accounts whichj by the emperor's
order^ were burnt in the forum of Trajan.^'' In an age when the
principles of commerce were so imperfectly understood, the
most desirable end might perhaps be effected by harsh and
injudicious means ; but a temporary grievance of such a nature
can scarcely excite and support a serious civil war. The repeti-
tion of intolerable taxes, imposed either on the land or on the
necessaries of life, may at last provoke those who will not, or
who cannot, relinquish their country. But the case is far other-
wise in every operation which, by whatsoever expedients, restores
the just value of money. The transient evil is soon obliterated
by the pemianent benefit, the loss is divided among multitudes ;
and, if a few wealthy individuals experience a sensible diminution
of treasui'e, with their riches they at the same time lose the
degree of weight and importance which they derived from the
possession of them. However Aurelian might choose to disguise
the real cause of the insurrection, his reformation of the coin
could furnish only a faint pretence to a party already powerftd
and discontented. Rome, though deprived of freedom, was
distracted by faction. The people, towards whom the emperor,
himself a plebeian, always expressed a peculiar fondness, lived in
perpetual dissension with the senate, the equestrian order, and
the Praetorian guards.^^ Nothing less than the firm though
secret conspiracy of those orders, of the authority of the first,
the wealth of the second, and the arms of the third, could have
displayed a strength capable of contending in battle with the
veteran legions of the Danube, which, under the conduct of a
martial sovereign, had achieved the conquest of the West and
of the East.
A^^eUM* Whatever was the cause or the object of this rebellion, imputed
^ Hist. August, p. 222 [xxvi. 38]. Aurel. Victor. [Aurelian's monetary reform
does not seem to have passed much beyond the stage of excellent intentions.]
98 It already raged before Aurelian's return from Egypt. Sec Vopiscus who
quotes an original letter. Hist. August, p. 244 [xxix. 5].
OF THE ROMAN EMPIRE 315
with so little probability to the workmen of the mint^ Aurelian
used his victory with unrelenting rigour. ^^ He was naturally of
a severe disposition, A peasant and a soldier, his nerves yielded
not easily to the impressions of sympathy, and he could sustain
without emotion the sight of tortures and death. Trained
from his earliest youth in the exercise of arms, he set too small
a value on the life of a citizen, chastised by military execution
the slightest offences, and transferred the stern discipline of the
camp into the civil administration of the laws. His love of
justice often became a blind and furious passion ; and, whenever
he deemed his own or the public safety endangered, he disre-
garded the rules of evidence, and the proportion of punishments.
The unprovoked rebellion with which the Romans rewarded his
services exasperated his haughty spirit. The noblest families of
the capital were involved in the guilt or suspicion of this dark
conspiracy. A hasty spirit of revenge urged the bloody prosecu-
tion, and it proved fatal to one of the nephews of the emperor.
The executioners (if we may use the expression of a contem-
porary poet) were fatigued, the prisons were crowded, and the
unhappy senate lamented the death or absence of its most illus-
trious members.i*'*^ Nor was the pride of Aurelian less offensive
to that assembly than his cruelty. Ignorant or impatient of the
restraints of civil institutions, he disdained to hold his power by
any other title than that of the sword, and governed by right of
conquest an empire which he had saved and subdued. ^^'^
It was observed by one of the most sagacious of the Roman Ha maxches
princes that the talents of his predecessor Aurelian were better Sif^M^MiV
suited to the command of an army than to the government of an ^^^^
empire.^^2 Conscious of the character in which nature and
experience had enabled him to excel, he again took the field a
few months after his triumph. It was expedient to exercise the A.D.a74,
restless temper of the legions in some foreign war, and the"*^^"
Persian monarch, exulting in the shame of Valerian, still braved
with impimity the offended majesty of Rome. At the head of
ssVopiscus in Hist. August, p. 222 [xxvi. 38]. The two Victors. Eutropius,
ix. 14. Zosimus (1. i. p. 43) mentions only three senators, and places their death
before the eastern war.
100 Nulla catenati feralis pompa senatlis
Carnificum lassabit opus ; nee carcere pleno
Infelix raros numerabit curia Patres.— Calphurn. Eclog. i. 60.
[See above, note 88.]
101 According to the younger Victor, he sometimes wore the diadem [Epit. 35],
Deus and Dominus appear on his medals.
102 It was the observation of Diocletian. See Vopiscus in Hist. August, p. 224
[xxvi. 44].
316 THE DECLINE AND FALL
an army, less formidable by its numbers than by its discipline
and valour, the emperor advanced as far as the Streights which
divide Europe from Asia. He there experienced that the most
absolute power is a weak defence against the effects of despair.
He had threatened one of his secretaries who was accused of
extortion ; and it was known that he seldom threatened in vain.
The last hope which remained for the criminal was to involve
some of the principal officers of tlie army in his danger, or at
least in his fears. Artfully counterfeiting his master's hand, he
showed them, in a long and bloody list, their own names devoted
to death. Without suspecting or examining the fraud, they re-
solved to secm'e their lives by the murder of the emperor. On
his march, between Byzantium and Heraclea, Aurelian was
suddenly attacked by the conspirators, whose stations gave them
a right to surround his person ; and, after a short resistance, fell
by the hand of Mucapor, a general whom he had always loved
A.D. iTC, and trusted. He died regretted by the army, detested by the
senate, but universally acknowledged as a warlike and fortunate
prince, the useful though severe reformer of a degenerate state. ^***
103 Vopiscus in Hist. August, p. 221 [xxvi. 35]. Zosimus, 1. i. p. 57 [62]. Eutrop.
ix. 15. The two Victors. [Lactantius, de mort. pers. 6 , John of Antioch, fr. 156
{F. H. G. iv.). The date of Aurelian's murder is uncertain, but Gibbon puts it at
least eight months too early. Alexandrian coins prove that he was alive on, or
shortly before {the coins, as Herzog suggests, might have been struck in advance
and circulated notwithstanding the emperor's death) 29th August, 275. Herzog
(who deals with the problem in his Gesch. und System der rom. Staatsverf. ii. p.
585) accepts the date 2Sth Sept. (Hist. Aug. xxvii. 3) for the election of Tacitus by
the senate, rejecting (i) the date Feb. 3 (xxvi. 41, 3), and (2) the statements as to
an interregnum of six or eight months ; and (3) condemning the evidence of an
inscription on an Orleans milestone (in Henzen's collection 5551) which would
place Aurehan's death at the end of 275. This is confirmed by the statement that he
reignedaboutfiveandahalfyears(cp. Hist, Aug. xxvi. 37,4,asamendedby Giambelli,
after Eutropius, ix. 15) ; he did not become emperor before spring 270. See next
chapter, note 2. Cp. Schiller, i. 871-2.J
January
OF THE KOMAN EMPIKE 317
CHAPTEB XII
Conduct of the Army and Senate after ike Death of Aurelian —
Reigns of Tacitus, Probus, Carus and his Sons
Such was the unhappy condition of the Roman emperors, that^ Extraonu-
'■\'^ IP 11 nary contest
whatever miffht be their conduct, their late was commonly the between the
.,.^„- .' „ , .11 .army and the
same. A lite ot pleasure or virtue, oi severity or mildness, ot senate for the
11111 1 11 choice of an
indolence or glory, alike led to an untimely grave ; and almost emperor
every reign is closed by the same disgusting repetition of treason
and murder. The death of Aurehan, however, is remarkable by
its extraordinary consequences. The legions admired, lamented,
and revenged their victorious chief. The artifice of his per-
fidious secretary was discovered and punished. The deluded
conspirators attended the funeral of their injured sovereign^ with
sincere or well-feigned contrition, and submitted to the unani-
mous resolution of the military order, which was signified by the
following epistle "^The brave and fortunate armies to the
senate and people of Rome. The crime of one man, and the
error of many, have deprived us of the late emperor Aurelian.
May it please you, venerable lords- and fathers ! to place him in
the number of the gods, and to appoint a successor whom your
judgment shall declare worthy of the Imperial purple. None of
those whose guilt or misfortune have contributed to our loss
shall ever reign over us." ^ The Roman senators heard, without
surprise, that another emperor had been assassinated in his camp ;
they secretly rejoiced in the fall of Aurelian; but the modest
and dutiful address of the legions, when it was communicated in
full assembly by the consul, diffused the most pleasing astonish-
ment. Such honours as fear and perhaps esteem could extort
they liberally poured forth on the memory of their deceased
sovereign. Such acknowledgments as gratitude could inspire
they returned to the faithful armies of the republic, who
entertained so just a sense of the legal authority of the senate in
the choice of an emperor. Yet, notwithstanding this flattering
1 Vopiscus in Hist, August, p. 222 [xxvi. 40]. Aureliue Victor mentions a
formal deputetion from the troops to the senate.
318 THE DECLINE AND FALL
appeal, the most prudent of the assembly declined exposing their
safety and dignity to the caprice of an armed multitude. The
strength of the legions was, indeed, a pledge of their sincerity,
since those who may command are seldom reduced to the
necessity of dissembling ; but could it naturally be expected,
that a hasty repentance would correct the inveterate habits of
fourscore years ? Should the soldiers relapse into their ac-
customed seditions, their insolence might disgrace the majesty
of the senate, and prove fatal to the object of its choice.
Motives like these dictated a decree by which the election of a
new emperor was referred to the sufirage of the military order.
AD 275 Feb '^^^ contention that ensued is one of the best attested, but
^^^•A- peaceful most improbable, events in the history of mankind.^ The troops,
moffi ^^ ^^ satiated with the exercise of power, again conjured the
senate to invest one of its own body with the Imperial piu3)le.
The senate still persisted in its refusal ; the army in its request.
The reciprocal offer was pressed and rejected at least three times,
and, whilst the obstinate modesty of either party was resolved to
receive a master from the hands of the other, eight months
insensibly elapsed ; an amazing period of tranquil anarchy,
during which the Roman world remained without a sovereign,
without an usurper, and without a sedition. The generals and
magistrates appointed by Aurelian continued to execute their
ordinaiy functions ; and it is observed that a proconsul of Asia
was the only considerable person removed from his office in the
whole course of the interregnum.
An event somewhat similar, but much less authentic, is supposed
to have happened after the death of Romulus, who, in his life
and character, bore some affinity with Aurelian. The throne was
vacant during twelve months till the election of a Sabine philo-
sopher, and the public peace was guarded in the same manner
by the union of the several orders of the state. But, in the time
of Numa and Romulus, the arms of the people were controlled
by the authority of the Patricians ; and the balance of freedom
was easily preserved in a small and virtuous community.^ The
2 Vopiscus, our principal authority, wrote at Rome sixteen years only after the
death of Aurelian ; and, besides the recent notoriety of the facts, constantly draws
his materials from the Journals of the Senate, and the original papers of the
Ulpian library. [See Appendix i.] Zosimus and Zonaras appear as ignorant of this
transaction as they were in general of the Roman constitution. [The interregnum
was six months, according to Vopiscus, xxvii. i, i, and xxvi. 40, 4. Eight months
results from combining the date 3rd February {xxvi. 41, 3) with 2Sth September
{xxvii. 3, 2). But see last chapter, note 103.]
SLiv. i. 17. Dionys. Halicarn. 1. ii, p. 115 [57], Plutarch, in Numa, p. 60.
OF THE EOMAN EMPIKE 319
decline of the Roman state, far different from its infancy, was
attended with every circumstance that could banish from an
interregnum the prospect of obedience and harmony : an im-
mense and tumultuous capital, a wide extent of empire, the ser-
vile equality of despotism, an army of four hundred thousand
mercenaries, and the experience of frequent revolution. Yet,
notwiths-tanding all these temptations, the discipline and memory
of Aurelian still restrained the seditious temper of the troops, as
well as the fatal ambition of their leaders. The flower of the
legions maintained their stations on the banks of the Bosphorus,
and the Imperial standard awed the less powerful camps of Rome
and of the provinces. A generous though transient enthusiasm
seemed to animate the military order ; and we may hope that a
few real patriots cultivated the returning friendship of the army
and the senate, as the only expedient capable of restoring the
republic to its ancient beauty and vigour.
On the twenty-fifth of September,^ near eight months after the a.d m,
murder of Aurelian, the consul convoked an assembly of the senate, The coni^aa.
and reported the doubtful and dangerous situation of the empire, aenate
He slightly insinuated that the precarious loyalty of the soldiers
depended on the chance of every hour and of every accident ; but
he represented, with the most convincing eloquence, the various
dangers that might attend any farther delay in the choice of an
emperor. Intelligence, he said, was already received that the
Germans had passed the Rhine and occupied some of the
strongest and most opulent cities of Gaul. The ambition of the
Persian king kept the East in perpetual alarms ; Egypt, Africa,
and lUyricum were exposed to foreign and domestic arms ; and
the levity of Syria would prefer even a female sceptre to the
asnctity of the Roman laws. The consul then, addressing himself
to Tacitus, the first of the senators,^ required his opinion on
the important subject of a proper candidate for the vacant
throne.
If we can prefer personal merit to accidental greatness, wechar^terof
shall esteem the birth of Tacitus more truly noble than that of
kings. He claimed his descent from the philosophic historian
The first of these writers relates the stoiy like an orator, the second like a lawyer,
and the third like a moralist, and none of them probably without some intermixture
of fable.
4 [This date is confirmed by xxvii. 13, 6, whereas that of the former meetmg of
the senate, 3rd February, is probably false.]
"Vopiscus (in Hist. August, p. 227 [xxvii. 4]) calls him "pnmse sententise
consularis " ; and soon afterwards, Princeps senates. It is natural to suppose
that the monarchs of Rome, disdaining that humble title, resigned it to the most
ancient of the senators.
320 THE DECLINE AND FALL
whose writings will instruct the last generations of mankind.^
The senator Tacitus was then seventy-five years of ageJ The
long period of his innocent life was adorned with wealth ^nd
honours. He had twice been invested with the consular dignity/
and enjoyed with elegance and sobriety his ample patrimony
of between two and three millions sterling.^ The experi-
ence of so many princes, whom he had esteemed or endured,
from the vain follies of Elagabalus to the useful rigour of Aurelian,
taught him to form a just estimate of the duties, the dangers,
and the temptations of their sublime station. From the assiduous
study of his immortal ancestor he derived the knowledge of the
Roman constitution and of human nature.^** The voice of the
people had already named Tacitus as the citizen the most worthy
of empire. The ungrateful rumour reached his ears, and induced
him to seek the retirement of one of his villas in Campania.
He had passed two months in the delightful privacy of Baise,
when he reluctantly obeyed the summons of the consul to resume
his honourable place in the senate, and to assist the republic with
his counsels on this important occasion.
H© la elected Hc arosc to spcak, when, from every quarter of the house, he
emperor ^^^^ salutcd With the names of Augustus and Emperor. " Tacitus
Augustas, the gods preserve thee, we choose thee for our sove-
reign, to thy care we intrust the republic and the world. Ac-
cept the empire from the authority of the senate. It is due to
thy rank, to thy conduct, to thy manners." As soon as the
tumult of acclamations subsided, Tacitus attempted to decline
the dangerous honour, and to express his wonder that they
should elect his age and infirmities to succeed the martial vigour
of Aurelian. " Are these limbs, conscript fathers ! fitted to sus-
tain the weight of armour, or to practise the exercises of the
^ The only objection to this genealogy is that the historian was named Cornelius,
the emperor, Claudius [M. Claudius Tacitus]. But under the Lower Empire
surnames were extremely various and uncertain.
^Zonaras, 1. xii. p. 637 [28]. The Alexandrian Chronicle, by an obvious
mistake, transfers that age to Aurelian.
8 In the year 273 he was ordinary consul. But he must have been Suffectus
many years before, and most probably under Valerian,
^ Bis millies ocHngeniies. Vopiscus in Hist. August, p. 229 [xxvii. 10]. This
simi, according to the old standard, was equivalent to eight hundred and forty
thousand Roman pounds of silver, each of the value of three pounds sterling. But
in the age of Tacitus the coin had lost much of its weight and purity.
10 After his accession, he gave orders that ten copies of the historian should be
annually transcribed and placed in the public libraries. The Roman libraries have
long since perished, and the most valuable part of Tacitus was preserved in a single
MS. and discovered in a monastery of Westphalia. See Bayle, Dictionnaire, Art.
Tacitei Landipsius ad Annal. ii. 9.
OF THE ROMAN EMPIEE 321
camp ? The variety of climates^ and the hardships of a military
life, would soon oppress a feeble constitution, which subsists
only by the most tender management. My exhausted strength
scarcely enables me to discharge the duty of a senator ; how in-
sufficient would it prove to the arduous labours of war and govern-
ment ! Can you hope that the legions will respect a weak old
man, whose days have been spent in the shade of peace and re-
tirement? Can you desire that I should ever find reason to
regret the favourable opinion of the senate P"^^
The reluctance of Tacitus, and it might possibly be sincere, and Mcepte
was encountered by the affectionate obstinacy of the senate. Five ""^ *
hundred voices repeated at once, in eloquent confusion, that the
greatest of the Roman princes, Numa, Trajan, Hadrian, and the
Antonines, had ascended the throne in a very advanced season
of life ; that the mind, not the body, a sovereign, not a soldier,
was the object of their choice ; and that they expected from him
no more than to guide by his wisdom the valour of the legions.
These pressing though tumultuary instances were seconded by a
more regular oration of Metius Falconius, the next on the consu-
lar bench to Tacitus himself. He reminded the assembly of the
evils which Rome had endured from the vices of headstrong and
capricious youths, congratulated them on the election of a virtuous
and experienced senator, and, with a manly, though perhaps a
selfish, freedom, exhorted Tacitus to remember the reasons of his
elevation, and to seek a successor, not in his own family, but in
the republic. The speech of Falconius was enforced by a general
acclamation. The emperor elect submitted to the authority of
his country, and received the voluntary homage of his equals.
The judgment of the senate was confirmed by the consent of the
Roman people, and of the Praetorian guards.^^
The administration of Tacitus was not unworthy of his life and Authoritvof
principles. A grateftd servant of the senate, he considered that
national council as the author, and himself as the subject, of the
laws.i3 He studied to heal the wounds which Imperial pride,
civil discord, and military violence had inflicted on the constitu-
tion, and to restore, at least, the image of the ancient republic,
as it had been preserved by the policy of Augustus, and the
iiVopiscus in Hist. August, p. 227 [xxvii. 4].
^2 Hist. August, p. 228 [xxvii. 7]. Tacitus addressed the Praetorians by the
appellation of sanctissimi milites, and the people by that of sacraiissimi Quirites.
IS In his manumissions he never exceeded the number of an hundred, as limited
by the Caninian law, which was enacted under Augustus, and at length repealed
by Justinian, See Casaubon ad locum Vopisci. [S. C. appears on his coins.]
21 VOL. I.
322 THE DECLINE AND FALL
virtues of Trajan and the Antonines. It may not be useless to
recapitulate some of the most important prerogatives which the
senate appeared to have regained by the election of Tacitus.^^
1. To invest one of their body, under the title of emperor, with
the general command of the armies and the government of the
frontier provinces. 2. To determine the list, or, as it was then*
styled, the College of Consuls. They were twelve in number,,
who, in successive pairs, each during the space of two months^^.
filled the year, and represented the dignity of that ancient office.
The authority of the senate in the nomination of the consuls was
exercised with such independent freedom that no regard was
paid to an irregular request of the emperor in favour of his
brother Florianus. "The senate," exclaimed Tacitus, with the
honest transport of a patriot, *^ understand the character of a
prince whom they have chosen." 3. To appoint the proconsuls
and presidents of the provinces, and to confer on all the magis-
trates their civil jurisdiction. 4. To receive appeals through the
intermediate office of the praefect of the city from all the
tribunals of the empire. 5. To give force and validity, by their
decrees, to such as they should approve of the emperor's edicts.
6. To these several branches of authority we may add some
inspection over the finances, since, even in the stern reign of
Aurelian, it was in their power to divert a part of the revenue
from the public service.^^
Their Joy and Circular cpistles were sent, without delay, to all the principal^
confldence cities of the empire, Treves, Milan, Aquileia, Thessalonica^
Corinth, Athens, Antioch, Alexandria, and Carthage, to claim
their obedience, and to inform them of the happy revolution,
which had restored the Roman senate to its ancient dignity.
Two of these epistles are still extant. We likewise possess two
very singular fragments of the private correspondence of the
senators on this occasion. They discover the most excessive
joy and the most unbounded hopes. "Cast away your indolence,"
it is thus that one of the senators addresses his friend, " emerge
from your retirements of Baise and Puteoli. Give yourself to
the city, to the senate. Rome flourishes, the whole republic
flourishes. Thanks to the Roman army, to an army truly
Roman, at length we have recovered our just authority, the
^* See the lives of Tacitus, Florianus, and Probus, in the Augustan History ; we
may be well assured that whatever the soldier gave the senator had already given.
i» Vopiscus in Hist. August, p. 3i6 [xxvi. 20]. The passage is perfecdy clear ;
yet both Casaubon and Salmasius wish to correct it [Est praeterea vestfs^
auctoritatis area publicEi,]
OF THE EOMAN EMPIRE 323
end of all our desires. We hear appeals^ we appoiut proconsuls^
we create emperors : perhaps, too, we may restrain them — to
the wise, a word is sufficient." ^^ These lofty expectations were,
however, soon disappointed; nor, indeed, was it possible that the
armies and the provinces should long obey the luxurious and un-
warlike nobles of Rome. On the slightest touch, the unsupported
fabric of their pride and power fell to the ground. The expiring
senate displayed a sudden lustre, blazed for a moment, and was
extinguished for ever.
All that had yet passed at Rome was no more than a theatrical a.d. 276.
representation, unless it was ratified by the more substantial acknowledged
power of the legions. Leaving the senators to enjoy their ^ ^"™y
dream of freedom and ambition, Tacitus proceeded to the
Thracian camp, and was there, by the Praetorian praefect,
presented to the assembled troops, as the prince whom they
themselves had demanded, and whom the senate had bestowed.
As soon as the praefect was silent, the emperor addressed him-
self to the soldiers with elegance and propriety. He gratified
their avarice by a liberal distribution of treasure, under the
names of pay and donative. He engaged their esteem by a
spirited declaration that, although his age might disable him
from the performance of military exploits, his counsels should
never be unworthy of a Roman general, the successor of the
brave Aurelian.^^
Whilst the deceased emperor was making preparations for a The Aiani
second expedition into the East, he had negotiated with the and are **
Alani, a Scjrthian people, who pitched their tents in theTMitnS ^
neighbourhood of the lake Mseotis. Those barbarians, allured
by presents and subsidies, had promised to invade Persia with a
numerous body of light cavalry. They were faithful to their
engagements ; but, when they arrived on the Roman frontier,
Aurelian was already dead, the design of the Persian war was
at least suspended, and the generals, who, during the interregnum,
exercised a doubtful authority, were unprepared either to
receive or to oppose them. Provoked by such treatment, which
they considered as trifling and perfidious, the Alani had recourse
to their own valour for their payment and revenge ; and, as they
moved with the usual swiftness of Tartars, they had soon spread
themselves over the provinces of Pontus, Cappadocia, Cilicia, and
Galatia. The legions, who from the opposite shores of the
ifiVopiscus in Hist. August, p. 330, 232, 233 [x3tvii. 18, 19]. The senators
celebrated the happy restoration with hecatombs and public rejoicings.
17 Hist. August p. aaS [xxvii. 8].
324
THE DECLINE AND FALL
death of the
Emperor
up
Tadtns
A.D. 276.
AprU12
tJsurpatfon
and death o{
nic brother
FIorlanuB
Bosphorus could almost distinguish the flames of the cities and
villages, impatiently urged their general to lead them against
the invaders. The conduct of Tacitus was suitable to his age
and station. He convinced the barbarians of the faith, as well
as of the power, of the empire. Great numbers of the Alani,
appeased by the punctual discharge of the engagements which
Aurelian had contracted with them, relinquished their booty and
captives, and quietly retreated to their own deserts beyond the
Phasis, Against the remainder, who refused peace, the Roman
emperor waged, in person, a successful war. Seconded by an army
of brave and experienced veterans, in a few weeks he deHvered
the provinces of Asia from the terror of the Scythian invasion. ^^
But the glory and life of Tacitus were of short duration.
Transported, in the depth of winter, from the soft retirement of
Campania to the foot of Mount Caucasus, he sunk under the
unaccustomed hardships of a military life. The fatigues of the
body were aggravated by the cares of the mind. For a while,
the angry and selfish passions of the soldiers had been suspended
by the enthusiasm of public virtue. They soon broke out with
redoubled violence, and raged in the camp, and even in the
tent of the aged emperor. His mild and amiable character served
only to inspire contempt, and he was incessantly tormented
with factions which he could not assuage, and by demands which
it was impossible to satisfy. Whatever flattering expectations
he had conceived of reconciling the public disorders, Tacitus
soon was convinced that the licentiousness of the army disdained
the feeble restraint of laws, and his last hour was hastened by
anguish and disappointment. It may be doubtftil whether the
soldiers imbrued their hands in the blood of this innocent
prince.^^ It is certain that their insolence was the cause of his
death. He expired at Tyana in Cappadocia, after a reign of
only six months and about twenty days.^o
The eyes of Tacitus were scarcely closed before his brother
isvopiscus in Hist. August, p. 230 [xxvii. 13]. Zosimus, 1. i. p. 57 [63].
Zonaras, 1. xii. p. 637 [28]. Two passages in the life of Probus (p. 236, 238 [8 and
12]) convince me Uiat these Scythian invaders of Pontus were Alani. ^Rather,
Goths; cp. Victoria Gotkica, Cohen, 6, 236; title Gothicus Maximus, Wilmanns,
1046.] If we may believe Zosimus (1. i. p. 58 [64]), Florianus pursued them as far
as the Cimmerian Bosphorus. But he had scarcely time for so long and difficult
an expedition.
!*> Eutropius [xv. 9] and Aurelius Victor [Cebs. 36] only say that he died ; Victor
Junior adds that it was of a fever. Zosimus [i. 63* and Zonatas [ib.] athrm that
he was killed by the soldiers. Vopiscus [xxvii. 13] mentions both accounts, and
seems to hesitate. Yet surely these jarring opinions are easily reconciled.
20 According to the two Victors, he reigned exactly two hundred days.
OF THE KOMAN EMPIRE 325
Florianus ^i showed himself unworthy to reign, by the hasty
usurpation of the purple, without expecting the approbation of
the senate. The reverence for the Roman constitution, which
yet influenced the camp and the provinces, was sufficiently
strong to dispose them to censure, but not to provoke them to
oppose, the precipitate ambition of Florianus. The discontent
would have evaporated in idle murmurs, had not the general
of the East, the heroic Probus, boldly declared himself the
avenger of the senate. The contest, however, was still unequal ;
nor could the most able leader, at the head of the effeminate
troops of Egypt and Syria, encounter, with any hopes of victory,
the legions of Europe, whose irresistible strength appeared to
support the brother of Tacitus. But the fortune and activity of
Probus triumphed over every obstacle. The hardy veterans of
his rival, accustomed to cold climates, sickened and consumed
away in the sultry heats of Cilicia, where the summer proved
remarkably unwholesome. Their numbers were diminished by
frequent desertion, the passes of the mountains were feebly de-
fended ; Tarsus opened its gates, and the soldiers of Florianus,
when they had permitted him to enjoy the Imperial title about
three months,22 delivered the empire from civil war by the easy
sacrifice of a prince whom they despised.^s
The perpetual revolutions of the throne had so perfectly ^^^g^y
erased every notion of hereditary right, that the family of an oiwcurity
unfortunate emperor was incapable of exciting the jealousy of
his successors. The children of Tacitus and Florianus were
permitted to descend into a private station, and to mingle with
the general mass of the people. Their poverty indeed became
an additional safeguard to their innocence. When Tacitus was
elected by the senate, he resigned his ample patrimony to the
public service, 2* an act of generosity specious in appearance, but
which evidently disclosed his intention of transmitting the
empire to his descendants. The only consolation of their
fallen state was the remembrance of transient greatness, and a
distant hope, the child of a flattering prophecy, that, at the
end of a thousand years, a monarch of the race of Tacitus should
21 [M. Annius Florianus. ]
^[Vix duobus mensibus. Hist. Aug. xxvii. 14 ; 2 months, 20 days, Eutropius.j
23 Hist. August, p. 231 [xxvii. 14]. Zosimus, 1. i. p. 58, 59 [64, 65]. Zonaras,
1. xii. p. 637 [28]. Aurelius Victor says that Probus assumed the empire in Illyri-
cum, an opinion which (though adopted by a very learned man) would throw that
period of history into inextricable confusion. [Probus was dux toHus orientis, but
the army seems to have summoned him from lUyricum.]
24 Hist. August, p. 229 [xxvii. 10, i].
326 THE DECLINE AND FALL
rise, the protector of the senate, the restorer of Rome, and the
conqueror of the whole earth.^^
raiapacterand The peasants of Illvricum, who had already eiven Claudius
elevation of i**^,. , ■',. . ii i-ii^ i
toeemperor and Aurclian to the sinking empire, had an equal ngnt to glory
in the elevation of Probus.^^ Above twenty years before, the
emperor Valerian, with his usual penetration, had discovered
the rising merit of the young soldier, on whom he conferred the
rank of tribune long before the age prescribed by the military
regulations. The tribune soon justified his choice by a victory
over a great body of Sarmatians, in which he saved the life of a
near relation of Valerian ; and deserved to receive from the
emperor's hand the collars, bracelets, spears, and banners, the
mural and the civic crown, and all the honourable rewards
reserved by ancient Rome for success&l valour. The third, and
afterwards the tenth, legion were intrusted to the command of
Probus, who, in every step of his promotion, showed himself
superior to the station which he filled. Africa and Pontus, the
Rhine, the Danube, the Euphrates, and the Nile, by turns
afforded him the most splendid occasions of displajong his
personal prowess and his conduct in war.^^ Aurelian was in-
debted to him for the conquest of Egypt, and stOl more indebted
for the honest courage with which he often checked the cruelty
of his master. Tacitus, who desired by the abilities of his
generals to supply his own deficiency of mOitaiy talents, named
him commander in chief of all the eastern provinces, with five
times the usual salary, the promise of the consulship, and the
hope of a triumph. When Probus ascended the Imperial throne,
he was about forty-four years of age ; ^^ in the full possession of
his fame, of the love of the army, and of a mature vigour of
mind and body.
reEpectfta His acknowledged merit, and the success of his arms against
rda the°" Florianus, left him without an enemy or a competitor. Yet, if
ma
condacf
wardBl
we may credit his own professions, very far from being desirous
of the empire, he had accepted it with the most sincere reluc-
tance. " But it is no longer in my power," says Probus, in a
^ He was to send judges to the Parthians, Persians, and Sarmatians, a president
to Taprobana, and a proconsul to the Roman island (supposed by Casaubon and
Salmasius to mean Britain). Such a history as mine (says Vopiscus with proper
modesty) will not subsist a thousand years to expose or justify the prediction.
2« For the private life of Probus, see Vopiscus in Hist. August p. 234-237
[xxviii. 3 s^g. M. Aurelius Probus, Eckhel, vii. 500.]
27 [Semper victoHoso which appear<s on coins was thus deserved before his
elevation.]
^ According to the Alexandrian Chronicle, he was fifty at the time of bis death.
OF THE ROMAN EMPIRE 327
private lettei', " to lay down a title so full of envy and of danger.
I must continue to personate the character which the soldiers
have imposed upon me." 29 His dutiful address to the senate
displayed the sentiments, or at least the language, of a Roman
patriot : " When you elected one of your order, conscript fathers !
to succeed the Emperor Aurelian, you acted in a manner suitable
to your justice and wisdom. For you are the legal sovereigns
of the world, and the power which you derive from your ances-
tors wdl descend to your posterity. Happy would it have been,
if Florianus, instead of usurping the pm-ple of his brother, like a
private inheritance, had expected what your majesty might
determine, either in his favoui- or in that of any other person.
The prudent soldiers have punished his rashness. To me they
have offered the title of Augustus. But I submit to your clem-
ency my pretensions and my merits." 30 When this respectful
epistle was read by the consul, the senators were unable to dis-A.D.276,
guise their satisfaction that Probus should condescend thus*"^*^
humbly to solicit a sceptre which he already possessed. They
celebrated with the warmest gratitude his virtues, his exploits,
and above all his moderation. A decree immediately passed,
without a dissenting voice, to ratify the election of the eastern
armies, and to confer on their chief all the several branches of
the Imperial dignity : the names of Caesar and Augustus, the
title of Father of his country, the right of making in the same
day three motions in the senate,^^ the office of Pontifex Maximus,
the tribimitian power, and the proconsular command ; a mode
of investiture, which, though it seemed to multiply the authority
of the emperor, expressed the constitution of the ancient re-
public. The reign of Probus corresponded with this fair begin-
ning. The senate was permitted to direct the civil administration
of the empire. Their faithful general asserted the honour of
the Roman arms, and often laid at their feet crowns of gold and
barbaric trophies, the fruits of his numerous victories. ^2 Yet,
^The letter was addressed to the Praetorian prsefect, whom (on condition of his
good behaviour) he promised to continue in his great office. See Hist. Aug. p.
237 [xxviii. 10].
30 Vopiscus in Hist. August, p. 237 [ib, ii]. The date of the letter is assuredly
faulty. Instead of Non. Februar. we may read Non. August. [So Tillemont and
Clinton. The evidence of Alexandrian coins shows that Probus ascended the
throne before 2gth August, 276.]
2^ Hist. August, p. 238 [ib. 12, 8]. It is odd that the senate should treat Pro-
bus less favourably than Marcus Antoninus. That prince had received, even before
the death of Pius, Jus quintaerelationis. See Capitolin. in Hist. August, p. 24.
3ii See the dutiful letter of Probus to the senate, after his German victories. Hist.
August, p. 239 [xxviii. 15].
328 THE DECLINE AND FALL
whilst he gratified their vanity^ he must secretly have despised
their indolence and weakness. Though it was every moment in
their power to repel the disgracefiil edict of Gallienus, the proud
successors of the Scipios patiently acquiesced in their exclusion
from all military employments. They soon experienced that
those who refuse the sword must renounce the sceptre.
pJS over ^^^ strength of Aurelian had crushed on every side the enemies
riaw*'^^'^ of Rome. After his death they seemed to revive, with an in-
crease of fury and of numbers. They were again vanquished by
the active vigour of Probus, who, in a short reign of about six
years,^^ equalled the fame of ancient heroes, and restored peace
and order to every province of the Roman world. The dangerous
frontier of Rhaetia he so firmly secured, that he left it without
the suspicion of an enemy. He broke the wandering power of
the Sarmatian tribes, and by the ten*or of his arms compelled
those barbarians to relinquish their spoil. The Gothic nation
courted the alliance of so warlike an emperor.^* He attacked
[2781 the Isaurians in their moimtains, besieged and took several of
their strongest castles,^^ and flattered himself that he had for
ever suppressed a domestic foe, whose independence so deeply
wounded the majesty of the empire. The troubles excited by
the usurper Firmus in the Upper Egypt had never been perfectly
appeased, and the cities of Ptolemais and Coptos, fortified by the
alliance of the Blemmyes, still maintained an obscure rebellion.
The chastisement of those cities, and of their auxiliaries the
savages of the South, is said to have alarmed the court of Persia, ^^
and the Great King sued in vain for the friendship of Probus.
Most of the exploits which distinguished his reign were achieved
by the personal valour and conduct of the emperor, insomuch
that the writer of his life expresses some amazement how, in so
short a time, a single man could be present in so many distant
wars. The remaining actions he intrusted to the care of his
lieutenants, the judicious choice of whom forms no inconsiderable
part of his glory. Cams, Diocletian, Maximian, Constantius,
88 The date and duration of the reign of Probus are very correctly ascertained by
Cardinal Noris, in his learned work, DeEpochis Syro-Macedonum, p. 96-105. A
passage of Eusebius connects the second year of Probus with the aeras of several
of the Syrian cities,
3^Voi)iscus in Hist. August, p. 239 [xxviii. 16, 3, omnes Geticos populosj.
3s Zosimus (1. i. p. 62-65 [^9]) ^^Us a very long and trifling story of Lydius the
Isaurian robber.
S6 Zosim. 1. i. p. 65 [71]. Vopiscus in Hist. August, p. 239, 240 [xxviii. 17, 4 and
18, i]. But it seems incredible that the defeat of the savages of Ethiopia could
affect the Persian monarch. [There is no proof that Probus was in Egypt during
his reign ; but he celebrated the successes against the Blemmyes and the annexation
of Ptolemais with a costly triumph.]
OF THE ROMAN EMPIRE 329
Galerius, Asclepiodatus, Annibalianus, and a crowd of other
chiefsj who afterwards ascended or supported the throne, were
trained to arms in the severe school of Aurelian and Probus.^^
But the most important service which Probus rendered to the ^f^^^^„
repTxblic was the deliverance of Gaul, and the recovery of seventy ^^^g°™f***
flourishing cities oppressed by the barbarians of Germany, who, the oemanB
since the death of Aurelianj had ravaged that great province with
impunity.^ Among the various multitude of those fierce in-
vaders we may distinguish, with some degree of clearness, three
great armies, or rather nations, successively vanquished by the
valour of Probus. He drove back the Franks into their morasses ;
a descriptive circumstance from whence we may infer that the
confederacy known by the manly appellation of Free already oc-
cupied the flat maritime country, intersected and almost over-
flown by the stagnating waters of the Rhine, and that several
tribes of the Frisians and Batavians had acceded to their alliance.
He vanquished the Burgundians, a considerable people of the
Vandalic race. They had wandered in quest of booty from the [278]
banks of the Oder to those of the Seine. They esteemed them-
selves sufficiently fortunate to purchase, by the restitution of all
their booty, the permission of an undisturbed retreat. They at-
tempted to elude that article of the treaty. Their punishment
was immediate and terrible.s^ But of all the invaders of Gaul,
the most formidable were the Lygians, a distant people who
reigned over a wide domain on the frontiers of Poland and
Silesia.*o In the Lygian nation, the Arii held the first rank by
their numbers and fierceness. " The Arii (it is thus that they
are described by the energy of Tacitus) study to improve by art
and circumstances the innate terrors of their barbarism. Their
shields are black, their bodies are painted black. They choose
for the combat the darkest hour of the night. Their host ad-
vances, covered as it were with a ftinereal shade ; ^^ nor do they
37 Besides these well-known chiefs, several others are named by Vopiscus (Hist.
August, p. 241 [ib. 22]), whose actions have not reached our knowledge.
38 See the C^sars of Julian, and Hist. August, p. 238, 240, 241 [ib. ic, 18].
8»2osimus, 1. i. p. 62 [67, 68]. Hist. August, p. 240 fe 238, }b. 14]. But the
latter supposes the punishment inflicted with the consent of their kmgs ; if so, it was
partial, like the offence. [In 277 Probus himself drove back the Alamanni ' ' beyond
the Neckar and the Alba ^' { = Rauhe Alp of Swabia) while his generals repelled the
Franks. The Burgundian victory was perhaps in 278.] , . ^ .
40 See Cluver. Germania Antiqua, 1. iii. Ptolemy places m theu" country the
city of Calisia, probably Calish in Silesia. [The author has made too much
of the AoytWw mentioned by Zosimus (ib.). It is quite uncertam who this people
^^Feralis umbra is the expression of Tacitus : it is surely a very bold one. [A
misapprehension. Umbra is ablative ^n^feralis agrees with exerctius.]
330 THE DECLINE AND FALL
often find an enemy capable of sustaining so strange and infernal
an aspect. Of all our senses, the eyes are the first vanquished
in battle. " ^ Yet the arms and discipline of the Romans easily
discomfited these horrid phantoms. The Lygii were defeated in
a general engagement, and Semno, the most renowned of their
chiefs, fell alive into the hands of Probus. That prudent emperor,
unwilling to reduce a brave people to despair, granted them an
honourable capitulation, and permitted them to return in safety
to their native country. But the losses which they suffered in
the march, the battle, and the retreat, broke the power of the
nation : nor is the Lygian name ever repeated in the history
either of Germany or of the empire. The deUverance of Gaul is
reported to have cost the lives of four hundred thousand of the
invaders ; a work of labour to the Romans, and of expense to the
emperor, who gave a piece of gold for the head of every bar-
barian.^^ But, as the fame of warriors is built on the destruction
of human kind, we may naturally suspect that the sanguinary
account was multiplied by the avarice of the soldiers, and accepted
without any very severe examination by the liberal vanity of
Probus.
andcarrioi Since the expedition of Maximin, the Roman generals had
^^Sy*"*** confined their ambition to a defensive war against the nations of
Germany, who perpetually pressed on the frontiers of the
[277] empire. The more daring Probus pursued his Galhc victories,
passed the Rhine, and displayed his invincible eagles on the
banks of the Elbe and the Neckar.** He was fully convinced
that nothing could reconcile the minds of the barbarians to
peace, unless they experienced in their own country the
calamities of war. Germany, exhausted by the ill success of the
last emigration, was astonished by his presence. Nine of the
most considerable princes repaired to his camp, and fell prostrate
at his feet. Such a treaty was humbly received by the Germans,
as it pleased the conqueror to dictate. He exacted a strict
restitution of the effects and captives which they had carried
away from the provinces ; and obliged their own magistrates to
punish the more obstinate robbers who presumed to detain any
part of the spoil. A considerable tribute of com, cattle and
horses, the only wealth of barbarians, was reserved for the use of
the garrisons which Probus established on the limits of their
*2 Tacit. Germania (c. 43).
^ Vopiscus in Hist. August, p. 238 [ib. 15].
** [These events belong to the year 277, and the reduction of the Alamanni. See
above, note 39, where Albamt which Gibbon took for Albim, is explained.]
OF THE ROMAN EMPIRE 331
territory. He even entertained some thoughts of compelling
the Germans to relinquish the exercise of arms, and to trust their
differences to the justice, their safety to the power, of Rome. To
accomplish these salutary ends, the constant residence of an
Imperial governor, supported by a numerous army, was indis-
pensably requisite. Probus therefore judged it more expedient
to defer the execution of so great a design ; which was indeed
rather of specious than solid utility.*^ Had Germany been re-
duced into the state of a province, the Romans, with immense
labour and expense, would have acquired only a more extensive
boundary to defend against the fiercer and more active barba-
rians of Scythia.
Instead of reducing the warlike natives of Germany to the Hebnuds*
condition of subjects, Probus contented himself with the humble gMnetothe
expedient of raising a bulwark against their inroads. The
country which now forms the circle of Swabia had been left
desert in the age of Augustus by the emigration of its ancient
inhabitants.*^ The fertility of the soil soon attracted a new
colony from the adjacent provinces of Gaul. Crowds of adven-
turers, of a roving temper and of desperate fortunes, occupied the
doubtful possession, and acknowledged, by the payment of tithes,
the majesty of the empire.*"^ To protect these new subjects, a
line of frontier garrisons was gradually extended from the Rhine
to the Danube. About the reign of Hadrian, when that mode
of defence began to be practised, these garrisons were connected
and covered by a strong intrenchment of trees and palisades.
In the place of so rude a bulwark, the emperor Probus con-
structed a stone wall of a considerable height, and strengthened
it by towers at convenient distances. From the neighbom*hood
of Neustadt and Ratisbon on the Danube, it stretched across
hills, valleys, rivers, and morasses, as far as Wimpfen on the
Neckar, and at length terminated on the banks of the Rhine,
after a winding course of near two hundred miles.^^ This
^Hist. August, p. 238, 239 [ib. 14, 15]. Vopiscus quotes a letter from the
emperor to the senate, in which he mentions his design of reducing Germany into
a province.
4fiStrabo, 1. vii. [p. 290]. According to Velleius Paterculus (ii. 108) Maro-
boduus led his Marcomanni into Bohemia : Cluverius (Germ. Antiq. iii. 8)
proves that it was from Swabia.
*7 These settlers, from the payment of tithes, were denominated Decumates.
[Tacit. Germania, c. 29.]
«See notes de l'Abb6 de la Bl^terie k la Germanic de Tacite, p. 183. His
account of the wall is chiefly borrowed (as he says himself) from the Alsatia
Illustrata of Schcepflin. [For the Germanic limes see Appendix 21.]
332 THE DECLINE AND FALL
important barrier, uniting the two mighty streams that protected
the provinces of Europe, seemed to fill up the vacant space
through which the barbarians, and particularly the Alemanni,
could penetrate with the greatest facility into the heart of the
empire. But the experience of the world, from China to Britain,
has exposed the vain attempt of fortifying any extensive tract
of country.*^ An active enemy, who can select and vary his
points of attack, must, in the end, discover some feeble spot or
unguarded moment. The strength as well as the attention of
the defenders is divided ; and such are the blind effects of terror
on the firmest troops, that a line broken in a sifigle place is
almost instantly deserted. The fate of the wall which Probus
erected may confirm the general observation. Within a few
years after his death, it was overthrown by the Alemanni. Its
scattered ruins, universally ascribed to the power of the Daemon,
now serve only to excite the wonder of the Swabian peasant.
Introduction Among the useful conditions of peace, imposed by Probus on
mfSt*of S« the vanquished nations of Germany, wAs the obligration of supplv-
mg the Koman army with sixteen thousand recruits, the bravest
and most robust of their youth. The emperor dispersed them
through all the provinces, and distributed this dangerous rein-
forcement in small bands, of fifty or sixty each, among the
national troops ; judiciously observing that the aid which the
republic derived from the barbarians should be felt but not
seen.^^ Their aid was now become necessary. The feeble
elegance of Italy and the internal provinces could no longer
support the weight of arms. The hardy frontier 9f the Rhine
and Danube still produced minds and bodies equal to the labours
of the camp ; but a perpetual series of wars had gradually
diminished their numbers. The infrequency of marriage, and
the ruin of agriculture, affected the principles of population, and
not only destroyed the strength of the present, but intercepted
the hope of future, generations. The wisdom of Probus embraced
a great and beneficial plan of replenishing the exhausted frontiers,
by new colonies of captive or fugitive barbarians, on whom he
bestowed lands, cattle, instruments of husbandry, and every
**See Recherches sur les Chinois et les Egyptiens, torn. ii. p. 81-102. The
anonymous author [de Pauw] is well acquainted with the globe in general, and with
Germany in particular : with regard to the latter, he quotes a work of M. Hansel-
man ; but he seems to confound the wall of Probus, designed against the Alemanni,
with the fortification of the Mattiaci, constructed in the neighbourhood of Frankfort
against the Catti.
^ He distributed about fifty or sixty barbarians to a Numerus, as it was then
called, a corps with whose established number we are not exactly acquainted.
OF THE ROMAN EMPIRE 333
encouragement that might engage them to educate a race of
soldiers for the service of the republic. Into Britain^ and most
probably into Cambridgeshire,^^ he transported a considerable
body of Vandals. The impossibility of an escape reconciled
them to their situation^ and in the subsequent troubles of that
island they approved themselves the most faithful servants of
the state.^2 Great numbers of Franks and Gepidae were settled
on the banks of the Danube and the Rhine. An hundred thousand
Bastamse, expelled from their own country, cheerfully accepted
an establishment in Thrace, and soon imbibed the manners and
sentiments of Roman subjects.^^ gut tj^g expectations of Probus
were too often disappointed. The impatience and idleness of
the barbarians could ill brook the slow labours of agriculture.
Their unconquerable love of freedom, rising against despotism,
provoked them into hasty rebellions, alike fatal to themselves and
to the provinces ; ^^ nor could these artificial supplies, however
repeated by succeeding emperors, restore the important limit of
Gaul and Ill)T^cum to its ancient and native vigour.
Of all the barbarians who abandoned their new settlements, Daiing en-
and disturbed the public tranquillity, a very small number re- th?Fra«iiu!
turned to their own country. For a short season they might
wander in arms through the empire ; but in the end they were
surely destroyed by the power of a warlike emperor. The success-
ftd rashness of a party of Franks was attended, however, with
such memorable consequences, that it ought not to be passed
unnoticed. They had been established by Probus on the sea-
coast of Pontus, with a view of strengthening that frontier
against the inroads of the Alani. A fleet stationed in one of
the harbours of the Euxine fell into the hands of the Franks ; and
they resolved, through unknown seas, to explore their way from
the mouth of the Phasis to that of the Rhine. They easily
escaped through the Bosphorus and the Hellespont, and, cruising
along the Mediterranean, indulged their appetite for revenge
and plunder by frequent descents on the unsuspecting shores of
Asia, Greece, and Africa. The opulent city of Syracuse, in
whose port the navies of Athens and Carthage had formerly
been sunk, was sacked by a handful of barbarians, who massacred
" Camden's Britannia, Introduction, p. 136; but he speaks from a very doubtful
conjecture.
*^Zosimus, 1. i. p. 62 [68]. According to Vopiscus, another body of Vandals
was less faithful. ^ , , , „,,,„,
53 Hist. August, p. 240 [ib. 18]. They were probably expelled by the Goths.
Zosim. 1. i. p. 66 [71].
"Hist. August, p. 240 [ib.].
334 THE DECLINE AND FALL
the greatest part of the trembling inhabitants. From the island
of Sicily the Franks proceeded to the columns of Hercules^
trusted themselves to the ocean, coasted round Spain and Gaul,
and, steering their triumphant course through the British channel,
at length finished their surprising voyage by landing in safety
on the Batavian or Frisian shores.^* The example of their
success, instructing their countrymen to conceive the advantages,
and to despise the dangers, of the sea, pointed out to their
enterprising spirit a new road to wealth and glory.
ftevoitof Notwithstanding the vigilance and activity of Probus, it was
the East almost impossible that he could at once contain in obedience
every part of his wide-extended dominions. The barbarians,
who broke their chains, had seized the favourable opportunity
of a domestic war. When the emperor marched to the relief of
Gaul, he devolved the command of the East on Satuminus.
That general, a man of merit and experience, was driven into
rebellion by the absence of his sovereign, the levity of the
Alexandrian people, the pressing instances of his friends, and
his own fears ; but from the moment of his elevation he never
entertained a hope of empire, or even of life. '^ Alas ! " he said,
" the republic has lost a useful servant, and the rashness of an
hour has destroyed the services of many years. You know
not," continued he, " the misery of sovereign power : a sword is
perpetually suspended over our head. We dread our very guards,
we distrust our companions. The choice of action or of repose
is no longer in our disposition, nor is there any age, or character,
or conduct, that can protect us from the censure of envy. In
thus exalting me to the throne, you have doomed me to a life
of cares, and to an untimely fate. The only consolation which
remains is the assurance that I shall not fall alone." ^^ But,
as the former part of his prediction was verified by the victory,
so the latter was disappointed by the clemency, of Probus. That
amiable prince attempted even to save the unhappy Saturninus
from the fury of the soldiers. He had more than once solicited
A,D. m the usurper himself to place some confidence in the mercy of a
sovereign who so highly esteemed his character, that he had
punished, as a malicious informer, the first who related the im-
probable news of his defection.^^ Satuminus might, perhaps,
*"* Panegyr. Vet. v. 18 [ed. B^hrens, p. 145]. Zosimus, 1. i. p. 66 [71].
^ Vopiscus in Hist. August, p. 245, 246 [xxix. 10]. The unfortunate orator had
studied rhetoric at Carthage, and was therefore more probably a Moor (Zosim. 1. i.
p. 60 [66]) than a Gaul, as Vopiscus calls him.
^7 Zonaras, 1. xii. p. 638 [29].
0¥ THE ROMAN EMPIRE 335
have embraced the generous offer, had he not been restrained by
the obstinate distrust of his adherents. Their guilt was deeper,
and their hopes more sanguine, than those of their experienced
leader.
The revolt of Satui-ninus was scarcely extinguished in the ad. 280.
East, before new troubles were excited in the West by the Sdi?o"cSu.
rebellion of Bonosus and Proculus in Gaul. The most distin- ^ **'"^
guished merit of those two officers was their respective prowess^
of the one in the combats of Bacchus, of the other in those of
Venus ; ^^ yet neither of them were destitute of courage and
capacity, and both sustained, with honour, the august character
which the fear of punishment had engaged them to assume, till
they sunk at length beneath the superior genius of Probus. He
used the victory with his accustomed moderation, and spared
the fortunes as well as the lives of their innocent families.^®
The arms of Probus had now suppressed all the foreign andA.D.asi.
domestic enemies of the state. His mild but steady administra- tiie'SfpeJor
tion confirmed the re-establishment of the public tranquillity ; ^"^^
nor was there left in the provinces a hostile barbarian, a tyrant,
or even a robber, to revive the memory of past disorders. It was
time that the emperor should revisit Rome, and celebrate his
own glory and the general happiness. The triumph due to the
valour of Probus was conducted with a magnificence suitable to
his fortune, and the people who had so lately admired the trophies
of Aurelian gazed with equal pleasure on those of his heroic
successor.^** We cannot, on this occasion, forget the desperate
courage of about fourscore Gladiators, reserved, with near six
hundred others, for the inhuman sports of the amphitheatre.
Disdaining to shed their blood for the amusement of the populace,
they killed their keepers, broke from the place of their confine-
ment, and filled the streets of Rome with blood and confusion.
After an obstinate resistance they were overpowered and cut in
pieces by the regular forces ; but they obtained at least an
honourable death, and the satisfaction of a just revenge.®^
MA very surprising instance is recorded of the prowess of Proculus. He had
taken one hundred Sarmatian virgins. The rest of the story we must relate in
his own language. Ex his unA nocte decern inivi : omnes tamen, quod in me erat,
mulieres intra dies quindecim reddidi. Vopiscus in Hist. August, p. 246 [ib. 12].
6» Proculus, who was a native of Albengue on the Genoese coast, armed two
thousand of his own slaves. His riches were great, but they were acquired by
robbery. It was afterwards a saying of his family, Nee latrones esse, nee princioes
sibi placere. Vopiscus in Hist. August, p. 247 [ib. 13 : sibj non placere esse vel
principes vel latrones].
«OHist. August, p. 240 [xxviii. 19].
fiiZosim. 1. i. p. 661,71].
336 THE DECLINE AND FALL
aiB ditcipunB The military discipline which reigned in the camps of Probus
was less cruel than that of Aurelian^ but it was equally rigid and
exact. The latter had punished the irregularities of the soldiers
with unrelenting severity, the former prevented them by employ-
ing thelegions in constant and useful labours. When Probus com-
manded in Egypt, he executed many considerable works for the
splendour and benefit of that rich country. The navigation of
the Nile, so important to Rome itself, was improved ; and temples,
bridges, porticoes, and palaces, were constructed by the hands of
the soldiers, who acted by turns as architects, as engineers, and
as husbandmen.^3 jt ^^g reported of Hannibal that, in order to
preserve his troops from the dangerous temptations of idleness,
he had obliged them to form large plantations of olive trees
along the coast of Africa.^^ From a similar principle, Probus
exercised his legions in covering with rich vineyards the hills of
Gaul and Pannonia, and two considerable spots are described,
which were entirely dug and planted by military labour. ^^ One
of these, known under the name of Mount Alma, was situated
near Sirmium, the country where Probus was bom, for which he
ever retained a partial affection, and whose gratitude he endea-
voured to secure by converting into tillage a large and unhealthy
tract of marshy ground. An army thus employed constituted
perhaps the most useful, as well as the bravest, portion of the
Roman subjects.
Hi8 death But, in the prosecution of a favourite scheme, the best of men,
satisfied with the rectitude of their intentions, are subject to
forget the bounds of moderation ; nor did Probus himself sufii-
ciently consult the patience and disposition of his fierce legion-
aries.^^ The dangers of the military profession seem only to be
compensated by a life of pleasure and idleness ; but, if the duties
of the soldier are incessantly aggravated by the laboiu's of the
peasant, he will at last sink under the intolerable burden, or
shake it off with indignation. The imprudence of Probus is said
to have inflamed the discontent of his troops. More attentive
^2 Hist. August, p. 236 [ib. 9].
**Aurel. Victor in Prob. But the policy of Hannibal, unnoticed by any more
ancient writer, is irreconcileable with the history of his life. He left Africa when he
was nine years old, returned to it when he was forty-five, and immediately lost his
army in the decisive battle of Zama. Livius, xxx. 37 [leg: 35].
•*Hist. August, p. 240 [ib. 18, 8]. Eutrop. ix. 17. Aurel. Victor in Prob.
Victor Junior [ep, 37, 3]. He revoked the prohibition of Domitian, and granted
a general permission of planting vines to the Gauls, the Britons, and the Pannonians.
^Julian bestows a severe, and indeed excessive, censure on the rigour of Probus,
who, as he thinks, almost deserved his fate. [In the Casars.]
OF THE ROMAN EMPIRE 337
to the interests of mankind than to those of the army, he ex-
pressed the vain hope that, by the estabhshment of universal
peace, he should soon abolish the necessity of a standing and
mercenary force.^^ The unguarded expression proved fatal to
him. In one of the hottest days of summer, as he severely
urged the unwholesome labour of draining the marshes of
Sirmium, the soldiers, impatient of fatigue, on a sudden threw
down their tools, grasped their arms, and broke out into a furious
mutiny. The emperor, conscious of his danger, took refuge in
a lofty tower, constructed for the purpose of surveying the pro-
gress of the work.^^ The tower was instantly forced, and aA.D.282,
thousand swords were plunged at once into the bosom of the
unfortunate Probus. The rage of the troops subsided as soon as
it had been gratified. They then lamented their fatal rashness,
forgot the severity of the emperor whom they had massacred,
and hastened to perpetuate, by an honourable monument, the
memory of his virtues and victories. ^^
When the leffions had indulged their ffrief and repentance for Election and
the death of Probus, their unanimous consent declared Carus^ canu
his Praetorian prsefect, the most deserving of the Imperial throne.
Every circumstance that relates to this prince appears of a mixed
and doubtful nature. He gloried in the title of Roman Citizen;
and affected to compare the purity of his blood with the foreign,
and even barbarous, origin of the preceding emperors : yet the
most inquisitive of his contemporaries, very far from admitting
his claim, have variously deduced his own birth, or that of his
parents, from lUyricum, from Gaul, or from Africa. ^^ Though
a soldier, he had received a learned education ; though a senator,
wVopiscus in Hist. August, p. 241 [ib. 20, 3-6]. He lavishes on this idle hope
a large stock of very foohsh eloquence.
''Turris ferrata. It seems to have been a moveable tower, and cased with iron.
Carus (according to Greek sources) was proclaimed Imperator in Rsetia before the
death of Probus. In fact the hesitation of Probus about proceeding to quell the
rebellion seems to have been the immediate cause of his fall. See Anon. Contin.
of Dio, 5, and John of Antioch, fr. 160 (F. H. G. iv.).]
«8 Probus, et vere probus situs est : Victor omnium gentium Barbararum ; victor
etiam tyrannorum. [He survived the 29th August, 276, we know by Alexandrian
coins. There is some variation in the sources as to the length of his reign. Hist.
Aug. xxviii. 21, he was killed in the fifth year of his reign ; Aurelius Victor, Caes.
37, 4, he reigned somewhat less than six years, e{)it. 37, i, six years ; Cassiodorus,
Chron. , he reigned six years, three months ; Orosius, 7, 24, gives him six years, four
months.] .
69 Yet all this may be conciliated. He was born at Narbonne [NaronaJ m
lUyricum, confounded by Eutropius with the more famous city of that name in
Gaul. His father might be an African, and his mother a noble Roman. [M,
Aurelius] Carus himself was educated in the capital See Scaliger, Animadversion,
ad Euseb. Chron. p. 241.
22 VOL. I.
338 THE DECLINE AND FALL
he was invested with the first dignity of the army ; and, in an
age when the civil and military professions began to be irre-
coverably separated from each other, they were united in the
person of Carus. Notwithstanding the severe justice which he
exercised against the assassins of Probus, to whose favour and
esteem he was highly indebted, he could not escape the sus-
picion of being accessary to a deed from whence he derived the
principal advantage. He enjoyed, at least before his elevation,
an acknowledged character of virtue and abilities : ^** but his
austere temper insensibly degenerated into moroseness and
cruelty ; and the imperfect writers of his life almost hesitate
whether they shall not rank him in the number of Roman
tyrantsJ^ When Carus assumed the purple, he was about sixty
years of age, and his two sons, Carinus and Numerian, had
already attained the season of manhood 7^
Then nti ^^^ authority of the senate expired with Probus; nor was the
mantHoftiie repentance of the soldiers displayed bv the same dutiful regard
people for the civil power which they had testified after the unfortunate
death of Aurelian. The election of Carus was decided without
expecting the approbation of the senate, and the new emperor
contented himself with announcing, in a cold and stately epistle,
that he had ascended the vacant throne. "^^ A behaviour so very
opposite to that of his amiable predecessor afforded no favourable
presage of the new reign ; and the Romans, deprived of power
and freedom, asserted their privilege of licentious murmursJ*
The voice of congratulation and flattery was not however
silent ; and we may still peruse, with pleasure and contempt, an
eclogue, which was composed on the accession of the emperor
Carus. Two shepherds, avoiding the noon-tide heat, retire into the
cave of Faunus. On a spreading beech they discover some recent
characters. The rural deity had described, in prophetic verses,
the felicity promised to the empire under the reign of so great a
prince. Faunus hails the approach of that hero, who, receiving
^0 Probus had requested of the senate an equestrian statue and a marble palace,
at the public expense, as a just recompens of the singular merit of Carus. Vopis-
cus in Hist. August, p. 249 [xxx. 6].
71 Vopiscus in Hist. August, p. 242, 249 [xxix. i, xxx. ij. Julian excludes the
Emperor Carus and both his sons from the banquet of the Cassars.
72 John Malala, torn. i. p. 401. But the authority of that ignorant Greek is very
slight. He ridiculously derives from Carus the city of Carrhae, and the province of
Caria, the latter of which is mentioned by Homer. [The names of the sons were
M. Aurelius Carinus and M. Aurelius Numerianus].
73 Hist. Aug. p. 249 [xxx. sJ. Carus congratulated the senate, that one of their
own order was made emperor.
74 Hist. Aug. p. 242 [xxviii. 24].
OF THE ROMAN EMPIRE 339
on his shoulders the sinking weight of the Roman world, shall
extinguish war and faction^ and once again restore the innocence
and security of the golden age J^
It is more than probable that these elegant trifles never reached canwdefeata
the ears of a veteran general, who, with the consent of the legions^ ani, and '^
was preparing to execute the long-suspended design of the Per- the Bant
sian war. Before his departure for this distant expedition, Carus
conferred on his two sons. Carinas and Numerian, the title of
Csesar ; and, investing the former with almost an equal share of
the Imperial power, directed the young prince, first to suppress
some troubles which had arisen in Gaul, and afterwards to fix the
seat of his residence at Rome, and to assume the government of
the Western provinces.^® The safety of Illjnricum was confirmed
by a memorable defeat of the Sarraatians ; ^"^ sixteen thousand of
those barbarians remained on the field of battle, and the number
of captives amounted to twenty thousand. The old emperor,
animated with the fame and prospect of victory, pursued his
march, in the midst of winter, through the countries of Thrace
and Asia Minor, and at length, with his younger son, Numerian,
arrived on the confines of the Persian monarchy. There, en-
camping on the summit of a lofty mountain, he pointed out to
his troops the opulence and luxury of the enemy whom they
were about to invade.
The successor of Artaxerxes, Varanes or Bahram, though he |;^^2k.^^^
had subdued the Segestans, one of the most warlike nations of ence to the
Upper Asia,^^ was alarmed at the approach of the Romans and ambaasadors
endeavoured to retard their progress by a negotiation of peace.
His ambassadors entered the camp about sunset, at the time
when the troops were satisfying their hunger with a frugal repast.
The Persians expressed their desire of being introduced to the
presence of the Roman emperor. They were at length conducted
to a soldier, who was seated on the grass. A piece of stale bacon
and a few hard peas composed his supper. A coarse woollen
garment of purple was the only circumstance that announced his
dignity. The conference was conducted with the same disregard
of courtly elegance. Carus, taking off a cap which he wore to
"See the first eclogue of Calphurnius. The design of it is preferred bjr Fon-
tenelle to that of Virgil's Pollio. See torn. iii. p. 148. [See above, chap. xi. note
88.]
?«Hist. August, p. 250 [xxx. 7]. Eutropius, ix. 18. Pagi, Annal.
77[And Quadi, see Eckhel, 7, 522.]
78 Agathias, 1. iv. p. 135. We find one of his sayings in the Bibhoth^que Onea
tale of M. d'Herbelot. "The definition of humanity includes all other virtues,
[Thft Persian king was Varahrsm II.]
340
THE DECLINE AND FALL
Hia TlctotieB
and extra-
ordinary
deatb
A.D.2B3,
Peceraber 25
conceal his baldness, assured the ambassadors that, unless their
master acknowledged the superiority of Rome, he would speedily
render Persia as naked of trees as his own head was destitute of
hairJ^ Notwithstanding some traces of art and preparation, we
may discover, in this scene, the manners of Cams, and the severe
simplicity which the martial princes, who succeeded Gallienus,
had already restored in the Roman camps. The ministers of the
Great King trembled and retired.
The threats of Carus were not without effect. He ravaged
Mesopotamia, cut in pieces whatever opposed his passage, made
himself master of the great cities of Seleucia and Ctesiphon
(which seem to have surrendered without resistance), and carried
his victorious arms beyond the Tigris.®** He had seized the
favourable moment for an invasion. The Persian councils were
distracted by domestic factions, and the greater part of their
forces were detained on the frontiers of India. Riome and the
East received with transport the news of such important advan-
tages. Flattery and hope painted, in the most lively colours,
the fall of Persia, the conquest of Arabia, the submission of
Egypt, and a lasting deliverance from the inroads of the Scythian
nations.^i But the reign of Carus was destined to expose the
vanity of predictions. They were scarcely uttered before they
were contradicted by his death ; an event attended with such
ambiguous circumstances, that it may best be related in a letter
from his own secretary to the praefect of the city. "Carus,"
says he, " our dearest emperor, was confined by sickness to his
bed, when a furious tempest arose in the camp. The darkness
which overspread the sky was so thick, that we could no longer
distinguish each other ; and the incessant flashes of lightning
took from us the knowledge of all that passed in the general
confusion. Immediately after the most violent clap of thunder,
we heard a sudden cry that the emperor was dead ; and it soon
appeared that his chamberlains, in a rage of grief, had set fire
to the royal pavilion, a circumstance which gave rise to the report
that Carus was killed by lightning. But, as far as we have
^ S3Tiesius tells this story.of Carinus : and it is much more natural to understand
it of Cams than (as Petavius and Tillemont choose to do) of Probus.
*o Vopiscus in Hist. August, p. 250 [ib.]. Eutropius, ix. 18. The two Victors.
81 To the Persian victory of Carus, I refer the dialogue of the Pkilopatris, which
has so long been an object of dispute among the learned. But to explain and
justify my opinion would require a dissertation. [This dialogue, always printed
with Lucian's works, has been heW to belong to the reign of Heraclius, by R,
Crampe, Pkilopatris, 1894.] But cp. below, vol ii. p. 531.
OF THE ROMAN EMPIRE 341
been able to investigate the truth, his death was the natural
effect of his disorder." ^^
The vacancy of the throne was not productive of any disturb- f/ededfy ms
ance. The ambition of the aspiring generals was checked by c^inSJani
their mutual fears, and young Numerian, with his absent brother Nnmerian
Carinus, were unanimously acknowledged as Roman emperors.
The pubHc expected that the successor of Carus would pursue
his father's footsteps, and, without allowing the Persians to re-
cover from their consternation, would advance sword in hand to
the palaces of Susa and Ecbatana.^^ gut the legions, however
strong in numbers and discipline, were dismayed by the most
abject superstition. Notwithstanding all the arts that were
practised to disguise the manner of the late emperor's death, it
was found impossible to remove the opinion of the multitude,
and the power of opinion is irresistible. Places or persons struck
with lightning were considered by the ancients with pious
horror, as singularly devoted to the wrath of Heaven.^* An
oracle was remembered, which marked the river Tigris as the
fatal boundary of the Roman arms. The troops, terrified with
the fate of Carus and with their own danger, called aloud on
young Numerian to obey the will of the gods, and to lead them
away from this inauspicious scene of war. The feeble emperor
was imable to subdue their obstinate prejudice, and the Persians
wondered at the unexpected retreat of a victorious enemy.^^
The intelligence of the mysterious fate of the late emperor a.d. 234.
was soon carried from the frontiers of Persia to Rome ; and the caSSiSf
senate, as well as the provinces, congratulated the accession of
the sons of Carus, These fortunate youths were strangers, how-
ever, to that conscious superiority, either of birth or of merit,
which can alone render the possession of a throne easy, and as
it were natural. Bom and educated in a private station, the
election of their father raised them at once to the rank of princes ;
and his death, which happened about sixteen months afterwards,
left them the unexpected legacy of a vast empire. To sustain
with temper this rapid elevation, an uncommon share of virtue
82 Hist. August, p. 250 [xxx. 8]. Yet Eutropius, Festus, Rufus, the two Victors,
Jerome, Sidonius Apollinaris, Syncellus, and Zonaraa, all ascribe the death of Carus
to lightning. [It took place before Aug. 29, 283.]
8»See Nemesian. Cynegeticon, v. 71, Ac.
*^See Festus and his commentators, on the word Scrihonianum. Places struck
with lightning were surrounded with a wall; things were buried wth mys-
terious ceremony.
^ Vopiscus in Hist. August, p. 250 [xxx. 9]. Aurelius Victor seems to believe
fbe prediction, and to approvt tpe retwftt,
342 THE DECLINE AND FALL
and prudence was requisite ; and Carinus, the elder of the
brothers, was more than conunonly deficient in those qualities. In
the Galhc war, he discovered some degree of personal courage ; ^^
but, from the moment of his arrival at Rome, he abandoned
himself to the luxury of the capital, and to the abuse of his
fortune. He was soft, yet cruel ; devoted to pleasure, but
destitute of taste ; and, though exquisitely susceptible of vanity,
indifferent to the public esteem. In the course of a few months,
he successively married and divorced nine wives,^"^ most of whom
he left pregnant ; and, notwithstanding this legal inconstancy,
found time to indulge such a variety of u'regular appetites as
brought dishonour on himself and on the noblest houses of
Rome. He beheld with inveterate hatred all those who might
remember his former obscurity, or censure his present conduct.
He banished or put to death the friends and counsellors whom
his father had placed about him to guide his inexperienced
youth ; and he persecuted with the meanest revenge his school-
fellows and companions, who had not sufficient^ respected the
latent majesty of the emperor. With the senators, Carinus
affected a lofty and regal demeanour, frequently declaring that
he designed to distribute their estates among the populace of
Rome. From the dregs of that populace he selected his
favourites, and even his ministers. The palace, and even the
Imperial table, was filled with singers, dancers, prostitutes, and
all the various retinue of vice and folly. One of his door-keep-
ers ^s he intrusted with the government of the city. In the room
of the Praetorian praefect, whom he put to death, Carinus substi-
tuted one of the ministers of his looser pleasures. Another who
possessed the same, or even a more infamous, title to favour,
was invested with the consulship. A confidential secretary, who
had acquired uncommon skill in the art of forgery, delivered the
indolent emperor, with his own consent, from the irksome duty
of signing his name.
When the Emperor Carus undertook the Persian war, he was
induced, by motives of affection as well as policy, to secure the
fortunes of his family by leaving in the hands of his eldest
son the armies and provinces of the West. The intelligence
88 Nemesian. Cynegeticon, v. 69. He was a contemporary, but a poet.
87 [The name of one of his wives, Magnia Urbica, is now known ; C.IX. 8,
2384-]
88 Cancellarius. This word, so humble in its origin, has, by a singular fortune,
risen into the title of the first great office of state in the monarchies of Europe. See
Cftsaubon and Salmasius, ad Hist. August, p. 253 [xxx. 16].
OF THE ROMAN EMPIRE 343
which he soon received of the conduct of Carinus filled him with
shame and regret ; nor had he concealed his resolution of
satisfying the republic by a severe act of justice, and of adopting,
in the place of an unworthy son, the bi'ave and virtuous Con-
stantiuSj who at that time was governor of Dalmatia. But the
elevation of Constantius was for a while deferred ; and, as soon
as a father's death had released Carinus from the control of fear
or decency, he displayed to the Romans the extravagancies of
ElagabaluSj aggravated by the cruelty of Domitian.^^
The only merit of the administration of Carinus that history He ceieSratea
could record or poetry celebrate was the uncommon splendour games
with which, in his own and his brother's name, he exhibited the
Roman games of the theatre, the circus, and the amphitheatre.
More than twenty years afterwards, when the courtiers of Dio^
cletian represented to their frugal sovereign the fame and
popularity of his munificent predecessor, he acknowledged that
the reign of Carinus had indeed been a reign of pleasure.^^ But
this vain prodigality, which the prudence of Diocletian might
justly despise, was enjoyed with surprise and transport by the
Roman people. The oldest of the citizens, recollecting the
spectacles of former days, the triumphal pomp of Probus or
Aurelian, and the secular games of the emperor Philip, acknow-
ledged that they were all surpassed by the superior magnificence
of Carinus.®^
The spectacles of Carinus may therefore be best illusti*ated by spectacUB of
the observation of some particulars, which history has conde-
scended to relate concerning those of his predecessors. If we
confine ourselves solely to the hunting of wild beasts, however
we may censure the vanity of the design or the cruelty of the
execution, we are obliged to confess that neither before nor
since the time of the Romans so much art and expense have ever
been lavished for the amusement of the people.^2 gy the order
of Probus, a great quantity of large trees, torn up by the roots,
were transplanted into the midst of the circus. The spacious
8»Vopiscus in Hist. August, p. 253, 254 [xxx. 16, 17]. Eutropius, ix. 19. Victor
Junior. The reign of Diocletian, indeed, was so long and prosperous, that it must
have been very unfavourable to the fame of Carinus.
^oVopiscus in Hist. August, p. 254 [xxx, 17]. He calls him Cams, but the
sense is suflficiently obvious, and the words were often confounded.
31 See Calphurnius. Eclog. vii. 43. We may observe that the spectacles of
Probus were still recent, and that the poet is seconded by the historian. [See
chap. xi. note 88,]
»2The philosopher Montaigne (Essais. 1. iii. 6) gives a very just and lively view
of Roman magnificence in these spectacles,
344 THE DECLINE AND FALL
and shady forest was immediately filled with a thousand ostriches,
a thousand stags, a thousand fallow deer, and a thousand wild
boars ; and all this variety of game was abandoned to the riotous
impetuosity of the multitude. The tragedy of the succeeding
day consisted in the massacre of an hundred lions, an equal
number of lionesses, two hundred leopards, and three hundred
bears.^3 The collection prepared by the younger Gordian for
his triumph, and which his successor exhibited in the secular
games, was less remarkable by the number than by the singular-
ity of the animals. Twenty Zebras displayed their elegant forms
and variegated beauty to the eyes of the Roman people.^* Ten
elksj and as many camelopards, the loftiest and most harmless
creatures that wander over the plains of Sarmatia and Ethiopia,
were contrasted with thirty African hyaenas, and ten Indian
tigers, the most implacable savages of the torrid zone. The
unoflFending strength with which Nature has endowed the greater
quadrupedes was admired in the rhinoceros, the hippopotamus of
the Nile,^^ and a majestic troop of thirty-two elephants.^^ While
the populace gazed with stupid wonder on the splendid show,
the naturalist might indeed observe the figure and properties of
so many different species, transported from every part of the
ancient world into the amphitheatre of Rome. But this acci-
dental benefit which science might derive from folly is surely
insufficient to justify such a wanton abuse of the public riches.
There occurs, however, a single instance in the first Punic war,
in which the senate wisely connected this amusement of the
multitude with the interest of the state. A considerable number
of elephants, taken in the defeat of the Carthaginian army, were
driven through the circus by a few slaves, armed only with blunt
javelins.^'' The useful spectacle served to impress the Roman
soldier with a just contempt for those unwieldy animals ; and he
no longer dreaded to encounter them in the ranks of war.
The am],hi- Thc huuting or exhibition of wild beasts was conducted with
theatre
wVopiscus in Hist. August p. 24o[xxviii. i^].
fr^ They are called Onagri ; but the number is too inconsiderable for mere wild
asses. Cuper (de Elepbantis Exercitat. ii. 7) has proved from Oppian, Dion, and
an anonymous Greek, that zebras had been seen at Rome. They were brought
from some island of the ocean, perhaps Madagascar.
^'s Carinus gave an hippopotamus (see Calphurn. Eclog. vii. 66). In the later
spectacles, 1 do not recollect any crocodiles, of which Augustus once exhibited
thirty-six. Dion Cassius, I. Iv. p. 781 [10].
MCapitolin. in Hist. August, p. 164, 165 [xx. 32, 33]. We are not acquainted
with the animals whom he calls archeleonies, some read argoleontes [Salmasius],
others agrioleontes [Scaliger] ; both corrections are very nugatory.
w Plin. Hist. Natur. viii. 6, from the annals of Piso.
OF THE ROMAN EMPIRE 345
a magnificence suitable to a people who styled themselves the
masters of the world ; nor was the edifice appropriated to that
entertainment less expressive of Roman greatness. Posterity
admires^ and will long admire, the awfiil remains of the amphi-
theatre of Titus, which so well deserved the epithet of Colossal.^^
It was a building of an elliptic figure, five hundred and sixty-four
feet in length, and four hundred and sixty-seven in breadth,
founded on fourscore arches, and rising, with four successive
orders of architecture, to the height of one himdred and forty
feet.^^ The outside of the edifice was encrusted with marble,
and decorated with statues. The slopes of the vast concave,
which formed the inside, were filled and surrounded with sixty
or eighty rows of seats, of marble likewise, covered with cushions,
and capable of receiving with ease above fourscore thousand
spectators.^^** Sixty-four vomitories (for by that name the doors
were very aptly distinguished) poured forth the immense multi-
tude ; and the entrances, passages, and staircases were contrived
with such exquisite skill, that each person, whether of the
senatorial, the equestrian, or the plebeian order, arrived at his
destined place without trouble or confusion .1**^ Nothing was
omitted which, in any respect, could be subservient to the con-
venience and pleasure of the spectators. They were protected
irom the sun and rain by an ample canopy, occasionally drawn
over their heads. The air was continuaUy refi'eshed by the
playing of fountains, and profusely impregnated by the gratefiil
scent of aromatics. In the centre of the edifice, the arena, or
stage, was strewed with the finest sand, and successively assumed
the most different forms. At one moment it seemed to rise out
of the earth, like the garden of the Hesperides, and was after-
wards broken into the rocks and caverns of Thrace. The sub-
terraneous pipes conveyed an inexhaustible supply of water; and
what had just before appeared a level plain, might be suddenly
converted into a wide lake, covered with armed vessels, and
«See Maflfei, Verona lUustrata, P. iv. L i. c. 2.
w Maffei, 1. ii. c. 2. The height was very much exaggerated by the ancients.
It reached ahnost to the heavens, according to Calphxirnius (Eclog. vii. 23), and
surpassed the ken of human sight, according to Ammianus Marcellinus (xvi. 10),
Yet how trifling to the great pyramid of Egypt, which rises five hundred feet
perpendicular 1 ,
joo According to different copies of Victor, we r^id seventy-seven thousand,
or eighty-seven thousand spectators ; but Maffei (1. ii. c. 12) finds room on the
open seats for no more than Uiirty-four thousand. The remainder were contained
in the upper covered galleries.
i**! See Maffei, 1. ii. c. 5-12. He treats the very diflacult subject with all poMible
clt«m««, and like an architect, as w«ll as an antiquarian.
346 THE DECLINE AND FALL
replenished with the monsters of the deep.i*^^ jn the decoration
of these scenes the Roman emperors displayed! their wealth and
liberality; and we read on various occasions that the whole
furniture of the amphitheatre consisted either of silver, or of
gold, or of amber.io^ The poet who describes the games of
Carinus, in the character of a shepherd attracted to the capital
by the feme of their magnificence, affirms that the nets designed
as a defence against the wild beasts were of gold wire ; that the
porticos were gdded ; and that the bell or circle which divided
the several ranks of spectators from each other was studded with
a precious Mosaic of beautiful stones.^^*
In the midst of this glittering pageantry, the Emperor Carinus,
secure of his fortune, enjoyed the acclamations of the people,
the flattery of his courtiers, and the songs of the poets, who, for
want of a more essential merit, were reduced to celebi^te the
divine graces of his person.^**^ In the same hour, but at the
distance of nine hundred miles from Rome, his brother expired ;
and a sudden revolution transferred into the hands of a stranger
the sceptre of the house of Carus.^**^
The sons of Carus never saw each other after their Other's
death. The arrangements which their new situation required
were probably deferred till the return of the younger brother to
Rome, where a triumph was decreed to the young emperors,
for the glorious success of the Persian war.^**^ It is uncertain
whether they intended to divide between them the administra-
tion or the provinces of the empire ; but it is very unlikely that
their union would have proved of any long duration. The
jealousy of power must have been inflamed by the opposition of
characters. In the most corrupt of times, Carinus was unworthy
to live : Numerian deserved to reign in a happier period. His
affable manners and gentle virtues secured him, as soon as they
'^'^^ Calphurn. Eclog. vii, 64, 73. These lines are curious, and the whole Eclogiw
has been of infinite use to Maffei. Calphumius, as well as Martial (see his first
book), was a poet, but when they described the amphitheatre, they both wrote from
their own senses, and to those of the Romans.
^''3 Consult Plin. Hist. Natur. xxxiii. 16, xxxvii. 11.
1^ Balteus en gemmis, en Inlita porticus auro.
Certatim radiant, &c. Calphurn. vii. [47].
105 Et Martis vultus et ApoUinis esse putavi, says Calphurnius ; but John
Malala, who had perhaps seen pictures of Carinus, describes him as thick, short,
and white, torn. i. p. 403.
106 With regard to the time when these Roman games were celebrated, Scaliger,
Salmasius and Cuper, have given themselves a great deal of trouble to perploc
a very clear subject.
^07 Nemesianus (in the Cynegeticon) seems to anticipate in his fancy that
auepicious day [80 sgq.\
OF THE KOMAN EMPIEE 347
became known, the regard and affections of the pubhc. He
possessed the elegant accomplishments of a poet and orator,
which dignify as well as adorn the humblest and the most
exalted station. His eloquence, however it was applauded by
the senate, was formed not so much on the model of Cicero,
as on that of the modern declaimers ; but in an age very far from
being destitute of poetical merit, he contended for the prize
with the most celebrated of his contemporaries, and still remained
the friend of his rivals ; a circumstance which evinces either the
goodness of his heart, or the superiority of his genius.ios But
the talents of Numerian were rather of the contemplative than
of the active kind. When his father's elevation reluctantly
forced him from the shade of retirement, neither his temper
nor his pursuits had qualified him for the command of armies.
His constitution was destroyed by the hardships of the Persian
war ; and he had contracted, from the heat of the climate,!®^
such a weakness in his eyes as obliged him, in the coiu'se of a
long retreat, to confine himself to the solitude and darkness
of a tent or litter. The administration of all affairs, civil as well
as military, was devolved on Arrius Aper, the Praetorian praefect,
who to the power of his important ofl5ce added the honour of
being father-in-law to Numerian. The Imperial pavilion was
strictly guarded by his most trusty adherents ; and, during
many days, Aper delivered to the army the supposed mandates
of their invisible sovereign.^^**
It was not till eight months after the death of Carus that the Death of
Roman army, returning by slow marches from the banks of the " '"'
Tigris, arrived on those of the Thracian Bosphorus. The
legions halted at Chalcedon in Asia, while the court passed over
to Heraclea, on the European side of the Propontis.^^^ But a
report soon circulated through the camp, at first in secret
whispers, and at length in loud clamours, of the emperor's
death, and of the presumption of his ambitious minister, who
108 He won all the crowns from Nemesianus, with whom he vied in didactic
poetry. [JVam et cum Olympio Nemesiafto contendit qui aAieuriKa Kvvt\ft7\.Ko. at
va.vTt.Ka. scripsit inque omnibus colonis inlustratus em.icuit.'\ The senate erected
a statue to the son of Carus, with a very ambiguous inscription, "To the most
powerful of orators ". See Vopiscus in Hist. August, p. 251 [xxx. 11],
i*®A more natural cause at least, than that assigned by Vopiscus (Hist.
August, p. 251 [ib. 12]), incessant weeping for his father's death.
^o In the Persian war, Aper was suspected of a design to betray Carus. Hist.
August, p. 250 [xxx. 8].
1^1 We are obliged to the Aleawndrian Chronicle, p. 274, for the knowledge
of the time and place where Diocletian was elected emperor. [Chronicon Pasch.
\, 510, ed. Bonn.]
Nmnflrtan
348 THE DECLINE AND FALL
still exercised the sovereign power in the name of a prince who
was no more. The impatience of the soldiers could not long
support a state of suspense. With rude curiosity they broke
into the Imperial tent, and discovered only the corpse of
Numerian.^12 fhe gradual decline of his health might have
induced them to believe that his death was natural ; but the
concealment was interpreted as an evidence of guilt, and the
measures which Aper had taken to secure his election became
the immediate occasion of his ruin. Yet, even in the transport
of their rage and grief, the troops observed a regular proceeding,
which proves how firmly discipline had been re-established by
the maji;ial successors of Gallienus. A general assembly of the
army was appointed to be held at Chalcedon, whither Aper was
transported in chains, as a prisoner and a criminal. A vacant
AD. 384, tribunal was erected in the midst of the camp, and the generals
Ei?ctionof and tribunes formed a great military council. They soon
DiodSLn announced to the multitude that their choice had fallen on
Diocletian, commander of the domestics or body-guards,^!^ ^s
the person the most capable of revengmg and succeeding their
beloved emperor. The future fortunes of the candidate depended
on the chance or conduct of the present hour. Conscious that
the station which he had filled exposed him to some suspicions,
Diocletian ascended the tribunal, and, raising his eyes towards
the Sun, made a solemn profession of his own innocence, in the
presence of that all-seeing Deity."* Then, assuming the tone
of a sovereign and a judge, he commanded that Aper should be
brought in chains to the foot of the tribunal. " This man," said
he, " is the murderer of Numerian '* ; and, without giving him
time to enter on a dangerous justification, drew his sword, and
buried it in the breast of the unfortunate prsefect.^^^ A charge
supported by such decisive proof was admitted without contra-
diction, and the legions, with repeated acclamations, acknow-
ledged the justice and authority of the emperor Diocletian. ^^^
112 Hist. August, p. 251 [xxx. 12]. Eutrop. ix, 18. Hieronym. in Chron.
According to these judicious writers, the death of Numerian was discovered by
the stench of his dead body. Could no aromatics be found in the imperial
household ?
118 [C. Aurelius Valerius Diocletianus. He was comes dotnesticorum.'\
11^ Aurel. Victor [Cses. 39]. Eutropius, ix. 20, Hieronym. in Chron.
n^ [Vopiscus was informed by his grandfather, an eye-witness of this scene, that
Diocletian uttered the famous words of .^neas : ALneae magni dextra cadis (Virg.
-««. X. 830).]
118 Vopiscus in Hist. August, p. 252 [ib. 14, 15]. The reason why Diocletian
killed Aper (a wild boar), was founded on a prophecy and a pun, as foolish as they
are well known.
OF THE ROMAN EMPIRE 349
Betore we enter upon the memorable reign of that prince, it Dtfeat an
will be proper to punish and dismiss the unworthy brother of oarinuB
Numerian. Carinus possessed arms and treasures sufficient to
support his legal title to the empire.^^^ But his personal vices
overbalanced every advantage of birth and situation. The most
faithful servants of the father despised the incapacity, and
dreaded the cruel arrogance, of the son. The hearts of the
people were engaged in favour of his rival, and even the senate
was inclined to prefer an usurper to a tyrant. The arts of Dio-
cletian inflamed the general discontent ; and the winter was
employed in secret intrigues, and open preparations for a civil
war. In the spring the forces of the East and of the West en- aj). m
countered each other in the plains of Margus, a small city of '^^
Maesia, in the neighbourhood of the Danube.^^^ The troops, so
lately returned from the Persian war, had acquired their glory at
the expense of health and numbers, nor were they in a condition
to contend with the unexhausted strength of the legions of
Europe. Their ranks were broken, and, for a moment, Diocletian
despaired of the purple and of life. But the advantage which
Carinus had obtained by the valour of his soldiers he quickly
lost by the infidelity of his officers. A tribune, whose wife he
had seduced, seized the opportunity of revenge, and by a single
blow extinguished civil discord in the blood of the adulterer.^^®
^7 [And also a certain measure of energy. In his struggle against Diocletian he
gained successes before his final defeat. See Hist. Aug. ib. i8, 2. And he sup-
pressed a tyrant in Pannonia, one M. Aurelius Julianus (perhaps corrector of
Venetia). Aur. Vict. Caes. 39. John of Antioch, 163.]
^1* Eutropius marks its situation very accurately ; it was between the Mens Aureus
and Viminacium. M. d'Anville (Geographic Ancienne, torn i. p. 304) places Mar-
gus at Kastolatz in Servia, a little below Belgrade and Semendria. [It is where the
river Margus, now Morawa, joins the Danube. Cp. Chron. of 354, p. 648, and
Jordanes, Rom. 295. Diocletian called the province of Upper Mcesia Margensis in
memory of this victory.]
i^^Hist. August, p. 254 [ib. 18]. Eutropius, ix. 20. Aurelius Victor [Cses. 39].
Victor in Epitome [38].
350 THE DECLINE AND FALL
CHAPTER Xin
The reign of Diocletian and his three associates, Ma^hnian, Galeiius,
and Constantius — General re-establishment of order and tran-
quillity— The Persian war, victori/, and triumph — The new
form of administration — Abdication and retirement of Diocletian
and Maximian
Elevation and As the reign of Diocletian was more illustrious than that of any
Diocletian, of his predcccssors, so was his birth more abject and obscure.
117 Sept. 284) The strong claims of merit and of violence had frequently super-
seded the ideal prerogatives of nobility ; but a distinct line of
separation was hitherto preserved between the free and the
servile part of mankind. The parents of Diocletian had been
slaves in the house of Anulinus, a Roman senator ; nor was he
himself distinguished by any other name than that which he de-
rived from a small town in Dalmatia, from whence his mother
deduced her origin.^ It iSj however^ probable, that his father
obtained the freedom of the family, and that he soon acquired
an office of scribe, which was commonly exercised by persons of
his condition.^ Favourable oracles, or rather the consciousness
of superior merit, prompted his aspiring son to pursue the pro-
fession of arms and the hopes of fortune ; and it would be ex-
tremely curious to observe the gradation of arts and accidents
which enabled him in the end to ftilfil those oracles, and to
display that merit to the world. Diocletian was successively
promoted to the government of Maesia, the honours of the con-
sulship, and the important command of the guards of the palace.
He distinguished his abilities in the Persian war ; and, after the
death of Numerian, the slave, by the confession and judgment
of his rivals, was declared the most worthy of the Imperial
1 Eutrop. ix. 19. Victor in Epitom. [39 i]. The town seems to have been
properly Doclia, from the small tribe of lUyrians (see Cellarius, Geograph.
Antiqua, tom. i. p. 393); and the original name of the fortunate slave was probably
Docles ; he first lengthened it to the Grecian harmony of Diodes, and at length
to the Roman majesty of Diocletianus. He likewise assumed the Patrician name
of Valerius, and it is usually given him by Aurelius Victor.
* See Dacier on the sixth satire of the second book of Horace. Cornel, Nepos,
in Vit. Eumen. c. i.
OF THE ROMAN EMPIRE 351
throne. The malice of religious zeal, whilst it arraigns the
savage fierceness of his colleague Maximian, has affected to cast
suspicions on the personal courage of the Emperor Diocletian.^
It would not be easy to persuade us of the cowardice of a soldier
of fortune, who acquired and preserved the esteem of the legions,
as well as the favour of so many warlike princes. Yet even
calumny is sagacious enough to discover and to attack the most
vulnerable part. The valour of Diocletian was never found
inadequate to his duty, or to the occasion ; but he appears not
to have possessed the daring and generous spirit of a hero, who
courts danger and fame, disdains artifice, and boldly challenges
the allegiance of his equals. His abilities were useful rather
than splendid ; a vigorous mind, improved by the experience and
study of mankind, dexterity and application in business ; a
judicious mixture of liberality and economy, of mildness and
rigour; profound dissimulation under the disguise of military
frankness ; steadiness to pursue his ends ; flexibility to vary
his means ; and above all the great art of submitting his own
passions, as well as those of others, to the interest of his am-
bition, and of colouring his ambition with the most specious pre-
tences of justice and public utility. Like Augustus, Diocletian
may be considered as the founder of a new empire.* Like the
adopted son of Caesar, he was distinguished as a statesman rather
than a warrior ; nor did either of those princes employ force,
whenever their purpose could be effected by policy.
The victory of Diocletian was remarkable for its singular mild- ma cx«m«ncy
ness, A people accustomed to applaud the clemency of the *" °^
conqueror, if the usual punishments of death, exile and confis-
cation were inflicted with any degree of temper and equity,
beheld with the most pleasing astonishment a civil war, the
flames of which were extinguished in the field of battle. Diocle-
tian received into his confidence Aristobulus, the principal minister
of the house of Carus, respected the lives, the fortunes, and the
dignity of his adversaries, and even continued in their respective
stations the greater number of the servants of Carinus.^ It is
3 Lactantins (or whoever was the author of the little treatise De Mortibus
Persecutorura [see Appendix i]) accuses Diocletian of timidity in two places, c. 7,
8. In chap. 9, he says of him, " erat in omni tumultu meticulosus et animi dis-
jectus ".
4 [It is usual to express this fact by saying that the Principate founded by
Augustus was transformed by Diocletian into an absolute Monarchy.]
6 In this encomium, Aurelius Victor [Caes. 39, 5] seems to convey a just, though
indirect, censure of the cruelty of Constantius. It appears from the FasU, that
Aristobulus remained praefect of the city, and that he ended with Diocletian the
consulship which he had commenced with Carinus.
352 THE DECLINE AND FALL
not improbable that motives of prudence might assist the
humanity of the artful Dabnatian ; of these servants many had
purchased his favour by secret treachery ; in others^ he esteemed
their grateful fidelity to an unfortunate master. The discerning
judgment of Aurelian, of Probus, and of Cams, had filled the
several departments of the state and army with officers of approved
merit, whose removal would have injured the public service,
without promoting the interest of the successor. Such a conduct,
however, displayed to tlie Roman world the fairest prospect of
the new reign, and the emperor affected to confirm this favourable
prepossession by declaring that, among all the virtues of his pre-
decessors, he was the most ambitious of imitating the humane
philosophy of Marcus Antoninus.^
Aaaociation The first Considerable action of his reign seemed to evince his
of iMaiinjiaii, Sincerity as well as his moderation. Afler the example of Marcus,
April 1 ' he gave himself a colleague in the person of Maximian, on whom
he bestowed at first the title of Csesar, and afterwards that of
Augustus.*^ But the motives of his conduct, as well as the object
of his choice, were of a very different nature from those of his
admired predecessor. By investing a luxurious youth with the
honours of the purple, Marcus had discharged a debt of private
gratitude, at the expense, indeed, of the happiness of the state.
By associating a friend and a fellow-soldier to the labours of
government, Diocletian, in a time of public danger, provided for
the defence both of the East and of the West. Maximian was
bom a peasant, and, like Aurelian, in the territory of Sirmium.
Ignorant of letters,^ careless of laws, the rusticity of his appear-
ance and manners still betrayed in the most elevated fortime the
meanness of his extraction. War was the only art which he
professed. In a long course of service, he had distinguished
fi Aurelius Victor [Caes. 39] styles Diocletian, ' ' Parentem potius quam Dominum ".
I See Hist. August, p. 30 [iv. 19J.
7 The question of the time when Maximian received the honours of Caesar and
Augustus has divided modern critics, and given occasion to a great deal of learned
wrangling. I have followed M. de Tillemont (Histoire des Empereurs, tom. iv.
p. 500-505)1 who has weighed the several reasons and difficulties with his scrupulous
accuracy. [The question has been since discussed by Mommsen {Abkandiungen
of the Berlin Academy for i860). Maximian seems to have been named Cgesar,
with tribunician power, soon after 17th Sept. 285, and to have become Augustus
with full imperial powers 1st April, 286.]
8 In an oration dehvered before him (Panegyr. Vet. ii. 8.), Mamertinus expresses
a doubt whether his hero, in imitating the conduct of Hannibal and Scipio, had
ever heard of their names. From thence we may fairly infer that Maximian was
more desirous of being considered as a soldier, than as a man of letters, and it is in-
this manner that we can often translate the language of flattery into that of truth.
[We can still trace his rough features on coins.]
OF THE ROMAN EMPIRE 353
himself on every frontier of the empire ; and, though his military
talents were formed to obey rather than to command, though,
perhaps, he never attained the skill of a consummate general, he
was capable, by his valour, constancy, and experience, of executing
the most arduous undertakings. Nor were the vices of Maximian
less useful to his benefactor. Insensible to pity, and fearless of
consequences, he was the ready instrument of every act of cruelty
which the policy of that artful prince might at once suggest and
disclaim. As soon as a bloody sacrifice had been offered to
prudence or to revenge, Diocletian, by his seasonable intercession,
saved the remaining few whom he had never designed to punish,
gently censured the severity of his stem colleague, and enjoyed
the comparison of a golden and an iron age, which was universally
applied to their opposite maxims of government. Notwithstand-
ing the difference of their characters, the two emperors main-
tained, on the throne, that friendship which they had contracted
in a private station. The haughty turbulent spirit of Maximian,
10 fatal afterwards to himself and to the public peace, was accus-
tomed to respect the genius of Diocletian, and confessed the
ascendant of reason over brutal violence,^ From a motive either
of pride or superstition, the two emperors assumed the titles, the
one of Jovius, the other of Herculius. Whilst the motion of the
world (such was the language of their venal orators) was main-
tained by the all-seeing wisdom of Jupiter, the invincible arm of
Hercules purged the earth of monsters and tyrants.^**
But even the omnipotence of Jovius and Herculius wasAMociauon
insufficient to sustain the weight of the public administration. aJoTriM"*"''
The prudence of Diocletian discovered that the empire, JtoLSSS.'
assailed on every side by the barbarians, required on every ^ liirch i
side the presence of a great army, and of an emperor.
With this view he resolved once more to divide his unwieldy
power, and, with the inferior title of Caesars, to confer
on two generals of approved merit an equal share of the
sovereign authority.i^ Galerius, sumamed Armentarius, from
flLactantius de M. P. c. 8. Aurelius Victor [ib.]. As among the Panegyrics
we find orations pronounced in praise of Maximian, and others which flatter his
enemies at his expense, we derive some knowledge from the contrast
MSee the second and third Panegyrics, particularly iii. 3, 10, 14, but it would
be tedious to copy the diffuse and affected expressions of their false eloquence.
With regard to the titles, consult Aurel. Victor, Lactantius de M. P. c. 52. Span-
heim de Usu Numismatum, &c. Dissertat. xii. 8. [The titles have importance as
showing that, though the colleagues were formally co-equal, Diocletian held a
certain primacy, 1
11 Aurelius Victor. Victor in Epitome. Eutrop. ix. 22. Lactant. de M. P. &
8. Hieronym. in Chron. [For date cp. Diocletian's edict de pretiis; the two
23 VOL. I
354 THE DECLINE AND FALL
his original profession of a herdsman, and Constantius, who from
his pale complexion had acquired the denomination of Chlorus,^^
were the two persons invested with the second honours of the
Imperial pin-ple. In describing the country, extraction, and
manners of Herculius, we have already delineated those of
Galerius, who was often, and not improperly, styled the younger
Maximian, though in many instances both of virtue and ability
he appears to have possessed a manifest superiority over the
elder. The birth of Constantius was less obscure than that of
his colleagues. Eutropius, his father, was one of the most con-
siderable nobles of Dardania, and his mother was the niece of
the Emperor Claudius.^^ Although the youth of Constantius
had been spent in arms, he was endowed with a mild and
amiable disposition, and the popular voice had long since
acknowledged him worthy of the rank which he at last attained.
To strengthen the bonds of political, by those of domestic, union,
each of the emperors assumed the character of a father to one of
the Csesars, Diocletian to Galerius, and Maximian to Constantius ;
and each, obliging them to repudiate their former wives,
bestowed his daughter in marriage on his adopted son.^* These
four princes distributed among themselves the wide extent of
art ^^^ Roman empire. The defence of Gaul, Spain,^^ and Britain,
anS harmony was Intrusted to Constantius : Galerius was stationed on the
princeB banks of the Danube, as the safeguard of the Illyrian provinces.
Italy and Africa were considered as the department of Maximian,
and, for his peculiar portion, Diocletian reserved Thrace, Egypt,
and the rich countries of Asia. Every one was sovereign within
his own jurisdiction ;^^ but their united authority extended over
Caesars ka.ve tri^. pot. ix. in 301 A. D. See Incert. Paneg. Constantio Cses. 2-4.
Chron. Pasch. i. 512. Moramsen, ioc. cii. Also C.I.L. 2, 1439.]
^ It is only amoog the modern Greeks that Tilleraont can discover his appella-
tion of Chlorus. Any remarkable degree of paleness seems inconsistent with the
rubor mentioned in Panegyric, v. 19. [Their names on their elevation became :
C. Galerius Valerius Maximianus, and M. Flavins Valerius Constantius.]
13 Julian, the grandson of Constantius boasts that his family was derived from
the warUke Maesians. Misopogon, p. 348. The Dardanians dwelt on the
[southern] edge of Maesia.
1^ Galerius married Valeria, the daughter of Diocletian ; if we speak with strict-
ness, Theodora, the wife of Constantius, was daughter only to the wife of Maximian.
Spanheim Dissertat. xi, 2.
i^This division agrees with that of the four praefecttu-es ; yet there is some reason
to doubt whether Spain was not a province of Maximian. See Tillemont, torn. iv. p.
517. [Lactantius, 8, says that Maximian had Spain, and he is probably right. On
the contrary Aurelius Victor, Cses. 39, 30, gives him only Africa and Italy ; and so
Julian, Or. 2, 51, D, who distinctly assigns Spain to Constantius.]
18 [This statement must be qualified in regard to the Caesars, who had no legis-
lative power, no control over the Imperial revenue, no consistorium. Nor had ^ey
OF THE ROMAN EMPIRE 355
the whole monarchy ; and each of them was prepared to assist
his colleagues with his counsels or presence. The Caesars, in
their exalted rank, revered the majesty of the emperors, and
the three younger princes invariably acknowledged, by their
gratitude and obedience, the common parent of their fortunes.
The suspicious jealousy of power found not any place among
them ; and the singular happiness of their union has been com-
pared to a chorus of music, whose harmony was regulated and
maintained by the skilful hand of the first artist.^''
This important measure was not canied into execution tillseri«Bof
about six years after the association of Maximian, and that in- *'*"
terval of time had not been destitute of memorable incidents.
But we have preferred, for the sake of perspicuity, first to
describe the more perfect form of Diocletian's government, and
afterwards to relate the actions of his reign, following rather
the natural order of the events than the dates of a very doubt-
ful chronology.
The first exploit of Maximian, though it is mentioned in a few a.i>. sst
words by our imperfect writers, deserves, from its singularity, to peMauta 0/
be recorded in a history of human manners. He suppressed the
peasants of Gaul, who, under the appellation of Bagaudse,^^
had risen in a general insmTection ; very similar to those which
in the fourteenth century successively afflicted both France and
England.iQ It should seem that very many of those institutions,
referred by an easy solution to the feudal system, are derive^
fi'om the Celtic barbarians. When Csesar subdued the Gauls,
that great nation was already divided into three orders of men ;
the clergy, the nobility, and the common people. The first
governed by superstition, the second by arms, but the third and
last was not of any weight or account in ^heir public councils.
It was very natural for the Plebeians, oppressed by debt or
apprehensive of injuries, to implore the protection of some
powerful chief, who acquired over their persons and property the
same absolute rights as, among the Greeks and Romans, a master
the right of appointing the officials in their dominions. Their military powers were
dependent on the Augusti, to whom all their victories were ascribed. They wore
the purple, but not the diadem.]
^''Julianin Caesarib. p. 315. Spanheim's notes to the French translation, p.
122.
18 The general name of Bagaudm (in the signification of Rebels) continued till
the fifth century in Gaul. Some critics derive it from a Celtic word, Bagad, a
tumultuous assembly. Scaliger ad Euseb. Du Cange Glossar. [For the social
state of Gaul, and the action of the priests, cp. Salvian, de Gubem. Dei, v. 5, 6.]
wChronique de Froissart, vol. i. c. 182, ii. 73-79. The naiveUoi his story i$
lost in our best modern writers.
356 THE DECLINE AND FALL
exercised over his slaves.^** The greatest part of the nation was
gradually reduced into a state of servitude ; compelled to per-
petual labour on the estates of the Gallic nobles, and confined
to the soil, either by the real weight of fetters, or by the no less
cruel and forcible restraints of the laws. During the long series
of troubles which agitated Gaul, from the reign of Gallienus to
that of Diocletian, the condition of these servile peasants was
peculiarly miserable ; and they experienced at once the com-
plicated tyranny of their masters, of the barbarians, of the
soldiers, and of the officers of the revenue.^i
Their rebel- Their patience was at last provoked into despair. On every
side they rose in multitudes, armed with rustic weapons, and
with irresistible fury. The ploughman became a foot-soldier,
the shepherd mounted on horseback, the deserted villages and
open towns were abandoned to the flames, and the ravages of
the peasants equalled those of the fiercest barbarians.^^ They
asserted the natural rights of men, but they asserted those rights
with the most savage cruelty. The Galhc nobles, justly dreading
their revenge, either took refuge in the fortified cities, or fled
from the wild scene of anarchy. The peasants reigned without
control ; and two of their most daring leaders had the folly and
rashness to asstune the Imperial omaments.^^ Their power
soon expired at the approach of the legions. The strength of
union and discipline obtained an easy victory over a licentious
andchMtiM- and divided multitude.^ A severe retaliation was inflicted on
the peasants who were found in arms ; the aflHghted remnant
returned to their respective habitations, and their unsuccessful
effort for freedom served only to confirm their slavery. So
strong and uniform is the current of popular passions that we
might almost venture, from very scanty materials, to relate the par-
ticulars of this war ; but we are not disposed to beUeve that the
principal leaders ^lianus and Amandus were Christians,^^ or to
insinuate that the rebellion, as it happened in the time of Luther,
^ Caesar de Bell. Gallic, vi. 13. Orgetorix, the Helvetian, could arm for his
defence a body of ten thousand slaves.
^1 Their oppression and misery are acknowledged by Eumenius (Panegyr. vi.
8). Gallias efferatas injuriis.
22 Paneg3rr. Vet. ii. 4. Aurelius Victor [Caes. 3p].
^ ^lianus and Amandus. We have medals corned by them. Goltzius in Thes.
R. A. p. 117, laz. [See Eckhel, 8, 41, but they are condemned as spurious by
Cohen.]
^ Levibus prseliis domuit. Eutrop. ix. 30.
^ The fact rests indeed on very sUght authority, a life of St. BaboUnus, which
is probably of the seventh century. See Duchesne Scriptores Rer. Francicar. torn.
i. p. 662.
meiit
OF THE KOMAN EMPIRE 367
was occasioned by the abuse of those benevolent principles of
Christianity which inculcate the natural freedom of mankind.
Maximian had no sooner recovered Gaul from the hands of a.d. 287.
the peasants, than he lost Britain by the usurpation of Carausius. «evo^o'
Ever since the rash but successful enterprise of the Franks iiTSitata
under the reign of Probus, their daring countr3rmen had con-
structed squadrons of light brigantines, in which they incessantly
ravaged the provinces adjacent to the ocean.^^ To repel their
desultory incursions, it was found necessary to create a naval
power; and the judicious measure was pursued with prudence
and vigour. Gessoriacum or Boulogne, in the streights of the
British channel, was chosen by the emperor for the station of
the Roman fleet ; and the command of it was intrusted to Carau-
sius, a Menapian of the meanest origin,^^ but who had long
signalized his skill as a pilot, and his valour as a soldier. The
integrity of the new admiral corresponded not with his abilities.
When the Gei*man pirates sailed from their own harbours, he
connived at their passage, but he diligently intercepted their
return, and appropriated to his own use an ample share of the
spoil which they had acquired. The wealth of Carausius was, on
this occasion, very justly considered as an evidence of his guilt ;
and Maximian had already given orders for his death. But the
crafty Menapian foresaw and prevented the severity of the
emperor. By his liberality he had attached to his fortunes the
fleet which he commanded, and secured the barbarians in his
interest. From the port of Boulogne he sailed over to Britain,
persuaded the legion and the auxiliaries which guarded that
island to embrace his party, and boldly assuming, with the Im-
perial purple, the title of Augustus, defied the justice and the
arms of his injured sovereign.^^
When Britain was thus dismembered from the empire, its im- importance
portance was sensibly felt, and its loss sincerely lamented. The °
Romans celebrated, and perhaps magnified, the extent of that
noble island, provided on every side with convenient harbours ;
28 Aurelius Victor calls them Germans. Eutropius (ix. ai) gives them the name
of Saxons [(Mare) quod Franci et Saxones infestabant]. But Eutropius lived in
the ensuing century, and seems to use the language of his time.
27 The three expressions of Eutropius, Aurelius Victor, and Eumenius, " vihssime
natus," "Batavise alumnus," and "Menapise civis," give us a very doubtful
account of the birth of Carausius. Stukely, however (Hist, of Carausius, p. 62),
chooses to make him a native of St. David's and a prince of the blood royal of Britain.
The former idea he had found in Richard of Cirencester, p. 44.
28 Panegyr. v. 12. Britain at this time was secure, and slightly guarded. [For
coins with Exspectate vmi and Genius Britanniae see Eckhel, 8, 45.]
358 THE DECLINE AND FALL
the temperature of the climate, and the fertility of the soil,
alike adapted for the production of com or of vines ; the valu-
able minerals with which it abounded ; its rich pastures covered
with innumerable flocks, and its woods free from wild beasts or
venomous serpents. Above all, they regretted the large amount
of the revenue of Britain, whilst they confessed that such a
province well deserved to become the seat of an independent
Power of monarchy. 29 During the space of seven ^o years, it was possessed
by Carausius ; and fortune continued propitious to a rebellion
supported with courage and ability. The British emperor de-
fended the frontiers of his dominions against the Caledonians of
the North, invited from the continent a great number of skilful
ai-tists, and displayed, on a variety of coins that are still extant,
his taste and opulence. Bom on the confines of the Franks, he
courted the friendship of that formidable people, by the flatter-
ing imitation of their dress and manners. The bravest of their
youth he enlisted among his land or sea forces ; and, in return
for their useful alliance, he communicated to the barbarians
the dangerous knowledge of military and naval arts. Carausius
still preserved the possession of Boulogne and the adjacent
country. His fleets rode triumphant in the channel, commanded
the mouths of the Seine and of the Rhine, ravaged the coasts of
the ocean, and diffused, beyond the Columns of Hercules, the
terror of his name. Under his command, Britain, destined in a
future age to obtain the empire of the sea, already assumed its
natural and respectable station of a maritime power. ^^
Aj). 289. By seizing the fleet of Boulogne, Carausius had deprived his
bJ^thT^er master of the means of pursuit and revenge. And, when, after
vast expense of time and labour, a new armament was launched
into the water, ^^ the Imperial troops, unaccustomed to that
^Paneffvr. Vet. v. ii, vii. 9. The orator Eumenius wished to exalt the glorjr of
the hero (Constantius), with the importance of the conquest. Notwithstendixig
our laudable partiality for our native country, it is difficult to conceive that in the
beginning of the fourth century England deserved all these commendations. A
century and a half before, it hardly paid its own establishment. See Appian in
Procem.
80 [Six. See Appendix 22.]
31 As a gjreat number of medals of Carausius are still preserved, he is become a
very favourite object of antiquarian curiosity, and every circumstance of his life and
actions has been investigated with sagacious accuracy. Dr. Stukely in particular
has devoted a large volume to the British emperor. I have used his materials, and
rejected most of his fanciful conjectures.
*2 When Mamertinus pronounced his first Panegyric [21st April, 289] , the naval
preparations of Maximian were completed : and the orator presaged an assured
victory. His silence in the second Panegyric, might alone inform us that the
expedittoa had not succeeded.
emperors
OF THE ROMAN EMPIRE 359
element, were easily baffled and defeated by the veteran sailors
of the usurper. This disappointed eifort was soon productive of
a treaty of peace. Diocletian and his colleague, who justly
dreaded the enterprising spirit of Carausius, resigned to him the
sovereignty of Britain, and reluctantly admitted their perfidious
servant to a participation of the Imperial honours. ^^ But the
adoption of the two Caesars restored new vigour to the Roman
arms ; and, while the Rhine was guarded by the presence of
Maximian, his brave associate, Constantius, assumed the conduct
of the British war. His first enterprise was against the import-
ant place of Boulogne. A stupendous mole, raised across the
entrance of the harbour, intercepted all hopes of rehef. The ^°;^^
town surrendered after an obstinate defence ; and a considerable
part of the naval strength of Carausius fell into the hands of the
besiegers. During the three years, which Constantius employed
in preparing a fleet adequate to the conquest of Britain, he
secured the coast of Gaul, invaded the country of the Franks,
and deprived the usurper of the assistance of those powerful
alHes.
Before the preparations were finished, Constantius received a.d. 294 [293].
the intelligence of the tyrant's death, and it was considered as
a sure presage of the approaching victory. The servants of
Carausius imitated the example of treason which he had given.
He was murdered by his first minister Allectus, and the assassin
succeeded to his power and to his danger. But he possessed
not equal abilities either to exercise the one, or to repel the
other. He beheld, with anxious terror, the opposite shores of
the continent, already filled with arms, with troops, and with
vessels; for Constantius had very prudently divided his forces,
that he might likewise divide the attention and resistance of the
enemy. The attack was at length made by the principal |-^^^- ^^
squadron, which, under the command of the prtefect Asclepio- Bntainby
dotus, an officer of distinguished merit, had been assembled in
the mouth of the Seine. So imperfect in those times was the
art of navigation that orators have celebrated the daring courage
of the Romans, who ventured to set sail with a side-wind, and
on a stormy day. The weather proved favourable to their enter-
prise. Under the cover of a thick fog, they escaped the fleet of
*3Aurelius Victor [Caes. 39, 39], Eutropius [ix. 22], and the medals (Pax Aug.)
inform us of the temporary reconciliation : though I will not presume (as Dr.
Stukely has done, Medallic History of Carausius, p. 86, &c.) to insert the identical
articles of the treaty. [See Eckhel, 8, 47. Carausius etfratres sui appeared on his
coins, as well as other manifestations of the unity of the empire.]
360 THE DECLINE AND FALL
AUectus, which had been stationed off the Isle of Wight to
receive them, landed in safety on some part of the western
coast, and convinced the Britons that a superiority of naval
strength will not always protect their country from a foreign
invasion. Asclepiodotus had no sooner disembarked the Im-
perial troops than he set fire to his ships ; and, as the expedition
proved fortunate, his heroic conduct was universally admired.
The usurper had posted himself near London, to expect the
formidable attack of Constantius, who commanded in person the
fleet of Boulogne ; but the descent of a new enemy required
his immediate presence in the West. He performed this long
march in so precipitate a manner that he encountered the whole
force of the prsefect with a small body of harassed and dis-
heartened troops. The engagement was soon terminated by the
total defeat and death of AUectus ; a single battle, as it has
often happened, decided the fate of this great island ; and, when
Constantius landed on the shores of Kent, he found them covered
with obedient subjects. Their acclamations were loud and un-
animous ; and the virtues of the conqueror may induce us to
believe that they sincerely rejoiced in a revolution which, after
a separation of ten years, restored Britain to the body of the
Roman empire.^
Defence of th« Britain had none but domestic enemies to dread ; and, as long
™ as the governors preserved their fidelity, and the troops their
discipline, the incursions of the naked savages of Scotland or
Ireland could never materially affect the safety of the province.
The peace of the continent, and the defence of the principal rivers
which bounded the empire, were objects of far greater difficulty
and importance. The policy of Diocletian, which inspired the
councils of his associates, provided for the public tranquillity, by
encouraging a spirit of dissension among the barbarians, and by
FortiflcfctioM strengthening the fortifications of the Roman limit. In the
East he fixed a line of camps from Egypt to the Persian domin-
ions, and, for every camp, he instituted an adequate number of
stationary troops, commanded by their respective officers, and
supplied with every kind of arms, from the new arsenals which
he had formed at Antioch, Emesa, and Damascus. ^^ Nor was
the precaution of the emperor less watchful against the well-
known valour of the barbarians of Europe. From the mouth of
the Rhine to that of the Danube, the ancient camps, towns, and
**With regard to the recovery of Britain, we obtain a few hints from Aurelius
Victor and Eutropius. [Chief source : Incerti Paneg. Constantio.'l
35 John Malala, in Chron. Antiochen. torn. i. p. 408, 409 [p. 308, ed. Bonn].
OF THE ROMAN EMPIRE 361
citadels, were diligently re-establishedj and, in the most exposed
places, new ones were skilfully constructed; the strictest
vigilance was introduced among the garrisons of the frontier,
and every expedient was practised that could render the long
chain of fortifications firm and impenetrable, ^^ A barrier so re-
spectable was seldom violated, and the barbarians often turned
against each other their disappointed rage. The Goths, the DiBBenaioM of
Vandals, the Gepidae, the Burgimdians, the Alemanni, wasted bariami"
each other's strength by destructive hostilities : and whosoever
vanquished, they vanquished the enemies of Rome. The subjects
of Diocletian enjoyed the bloody spectacle, and congratulated
each other that the mischiefs of civil war were now experienced
only by the barbarians.^'^
Notwithstanding the policy of Diocletian, it was impossible to conduct of the
maintain an equal and undisturbed tranquillity during a reign ®™^*"'"
of twenty years, and along a frontier of many hundred miles.
Sometimes the barbarians suspended their domestic animosities,
and the vigilance of the garrisons sometimes gave a passage to
their strength or dexterity. Whenever the provinces were in-
vaded, Diocletian conducted himself with that calm dignity
which he always affected or possessed ; reserved his presence for
such occasions as were worthy of his interposition, never exposed
his person or reputation to any unnecessary danger, ensured his
success by every means that prudence could suggest, and dis-
played, with ostentation, the consequences of his victory. In
wars of a more difficult nature, and more doubtful event, he
employed the rough valour of Maximian, and that faithful soldier
was content to ascribe his own victories to the wise counsels and
auspicious influence of his benefactor. But, after the adoption vaionr of the
of the two Caesars, the emperors, themselves retiring to a less
laborious scene of action, devolved on their adopted sons the
defence of the Danube and of the Rhine. The vigilant Galerius
was never reduced to the necessity of vanquishing an army of
barbarians on the Roman territory.^s The brave and active
38 2osimus, 1. i. p. 3 [error for ii. cap. 34]. That partial historian seems to cele-
brate the vigilance of Diocletian, with the design of exposing the negligence of
Constantine; we may, however, listen to an orator : "Nam quid ego alarum et
cohortium castra percenseam, toto Rheni et Istri et Euphratis limite restituta?"
Panegyr. Vet. iv. 18.
87 Ruunt omnes in sanguinem suura populi, quibus non contigit esse Romanis,
obstinatseque feritatis poenas nunc sponte persolvunt. Panegyr. Vet. iii. 16, Ma-
mertinus illustrates the fact by the example of almost all the nations of the world.
38 He complained, though not with the strictest truth: "Jam fluxisse annos
quindecim in quibus, in lUyrico, ad ripam Danubii relegatus cum gentibus barbaris
luctaret". Lactant. de M. P. c. 18.
362 THE DECLINE AND FALL
Constantius delivered Gaul from a very furious inroad of the
[A.D. 298J Alemanni ; and his victories of Langres and Vindonissa appear
to have been actions of considerable danger and merit. As he
traversed the open coimtry with a feeble guard he was encom-
passed on a sudden by the superior multitude of the enemy.
He retreated with difficulty towards Langres ; but, in the general
consternation, the citizens refused to open their gates, and the
wounded prince was drawn up the wall by the means of a rope.
But on the news of his distress the Roman troops hastened from
all sides to his relief, and before the evening he had satisfied his
honour and revenge by the slaughter of six thousand Alemanni.^^
From the monuments of those times, the obscure traces of several
other victories over the barbarians of Sarmatia and Germany
might possibly be collected ; but the tedious search would not
be rewarded either with amusement or with instruction.
Treatment of The conduct wliich the emperor Probus had adopted in the
ri^*'***^ disposal of the vanquished was imitated by Diocletian and his
associates. The captive barbarians, exchanging death for slavery,
were distributed among the provincials, and assigned to those
districts (in Gaul, the temtories of Amiens, Beauvais, Cambray,
Treves, Langres, and Troyes, are particularly specified ^^) which
had been depopulated by the calamities of war. They were use-
fully employed as shepherds and husbandmen, but were denied
the exercise of arms, except when it was found expedient to enrol
them in the military service. Nor did the emperors refuse the
property of lands, with a less servile tenure, to such of the bar-
barians as solicited the protection of Rome. They granted a
settlement to several colonies of the Carpi, the Bastamae, and the
Sarmatians ; and, by a dangerous indulgence, permitted them in
some measure to retain their national manners and independ-
ence.*^ Among the provincials, it was a subject of flattering
*** In the Greek text of Eusebius, we read six thousand, a number which I have
preferred to the sixty thousand of Jerome, Orosius, Eutropius, and his Greek
translator Pseanius. [For the distinction of the various campaigns against the German
nations in early years of Diocletian's reign see Appendix 22. J
^oPanegyr. Vet. vii. 21. [The pagus Chamavorum near Langres was probably
settled at &is time.]
41 There was a settlement of the Sarmatians in the neighbourhood of Treves,
which seems to have been deserted by those lazy barbarians : Ausonius speaks of
them in his Moselle [5 sgq. ].
Unde iter ingrediens nemorosa per avia solum,
Et nulla humani spectans vestigia cultus
Arvaque Sauromatfim nuper metata colonis.
There was a town of the Carpi in the Lower Msesia. [In Gaul Constantius had to
rebuild the ruined Autun and Trier.]
OF THE ROMAN EMPIRE 363
exultatioiij that the barbarian, so lately an object of terror, now
cultivated their lands, drove their cattle to the neighbouring
fair, and contributed by his labour to the public plenty. They
congratulated their masters on the powerM accession of subjects
and soldiers ; but they forgot to observe that multitudes of secret
enemies, insolent from favour, or desperate from oppression, were '
introduced into the heart of the empire. *2
While the Caesars exercised their valour on the banks of the waw of
Rhine and Danube, the presence of the emperors was required t^t *"*
on the southern confines of the Roman world. From the Nile to
Mount Atlas, Africa was in arms. A confederacy of five Moorish [296, 297]
nations issued from their deserts to invade the peaceful pro-
vinces.43 Julian had assumed the purple at Carthage,^ Achil-
leus at Alexandria ;^^ and even the Blemmyes renewed, or rather
continued, their incursions into the Upper Egypt. Scarcely any
circumstances have been preserved of the exploits of Maximian
in the western parts of Africa ; but it appears, by the event, that
the progress of his arms was rapid and decisive, that he van-
quished the fiercest barbarians of Mauritania, and that he removed
them from the mountains, whose inaccessible strength had in-
spired their inhabitants with a lawless confidence, and habitu-
ated them to a life of rapine and violence.*^ Diocletian, on his a.d.296[29(I].
side, opened the campaign in Egypt by the siege of Alexandria, DiSdetiai in
cut off the aqueducts which conveyed the waters of the Nile into
every quarter of that immense city,*^ and, rendering his camp
impregnable to the sallies of the besieged multitude, he pushed
his reiterated attacks with caution and vigour. After a siege of
eight months, Alexandria, wasted by the sword and by fire, im-
plored the clemency of the conqueror ; but it experienced the
*2 See the rhetorical exultation of Eumenius. Panegyr. vii. 9.
«Scaliger (Animadvers. ad Euseb. p. 243) decides, in his usual manner, that
the Quinque gentiani, or five African nations, were the five great cities, the Penta-
polis of the inoffensive province of Cyrene. [The Quinquegentanei had, along
with the Bavares, invaded Numidia in 260 A.D., and were routed by the legatus,
Macrinius Decianus, C. I. L. viii. 2615. Again about ten years before Maximian's
expedition the same peoples were crushed by AureHus Litua, the pra3ses of Maure-
tania Caesariensis.]
** After this defeat, Jtilian stabbed himself with a dagger, and immediately
leaped into the flames. Victor in Epitome [39, 3. John of Antioch, fr. 164.]
^^ [A correction has been made here in the punctuation of the text See Intro-
duction, p. xlii.]
4«Tu ferocissimos Mauritanise populos inaccessis montium jugis et naturali
munitione fidentes, expugnasti, recepisti, transtulisti. Panegyr. Vet. vi. 8 [Incert
Pan. Max. et Const. Aug. 8. Maximian was still in Africa on 10 March 298. Frag.
Vat. 41.]
*7See the description of Alexandria in Hirtius de Bel. Alexandrin. u. 5.
364 THE DECLINE AND FALL
full extent of his severity. Many thousands of the citizens
perished in a promiscuous slaughter, and there were few obnoxi-
ous persons in Egypt who escaped a sentence either of death or
at least of exile. *^ The fate of Busiris and of Coptos was still
more melancholy than that of Alexandria ; those proud cities^
* the former distinguished by its antiquity, the latter enriched by
the passage of the Indian trade, were utterly destroyed by the
arms and by the severe order of Diocletian.*^ The character of
the Eg3rptian nation, insensible to kindness, but extremely sus-
ceptible of fear, could alone justify this excessive rigour. The
seditions of Alexandria had often affected the tranquillity and
subsistence of Rome itself Since the usurpation of Firmus, the
province of Upper Egypt, incessantly relapsing into rebellion,
had embraced the alliance of the savages of Ethiopia. The
number of the Blemmyes, scattered between the Island of Meroe
and the Red Sea, was very inconsiderable, their disposition was
unwarlike, their weapons rude and inoffensive.^^ Yet in the
public disorders these barbarians, whom antiquity, shocked with
the deformity of their figure, had almost excluded from the
human species, presumed to rank themselves among the enemies
of Rome.^i Such had been the unworthy allies of the Egyptians ;
and, while the attention of the state was engaged in more serious
wars, their vexatious inroads might again harass the repose of the
province. With a view of opposing to the Blemmyes a suitable
adversary, Diocletian persuaded the Nobatae, or people of Nubia,
to remove from their ancient habitations in the deserts of Libya,
and resigned to them an extensive but unprofitable territory,
above Syene and the cataracts of the Nile, with the stipulation
that they should ever respect and guard the frontier of the empire.
The treaty long subsisted ; and till the establishment of Chris-
es Eutrop. ix. 24. Orosius, vii. 25. John Malala in Chron. Antioch. p. 409,
410 [p. 309, ed. Bonn]. Yet Eumenius assures us that Egypt was pacified by the
clemency of Diocletian, [Achilleus seems to have been preceded by another tyrant,
L. Domitius Domitianus, whose reign was so short that he is not mentioned by any
writer, and his existence is only known by some coins, which puzzle numismatists.
It has been comectured, but not proved, that he and Achilleus were one and the
same person. Compare Eckhel, 8, 41 ; Cohen, 5, 549 , also Schiller, ii. 138.]
4* Eusebius (in Chron. ) places their destruction several jrears sooner, and at a
time when Egypt itself was in a state of rebellion against the Romans. [Diocletian
left Nicomedia at end of March, 295 ; seems to have begun siege of Alexandria in
July, for it lasted eight months, and a rescript is dated from it on 31 March, 296.
See Mommsen, loc. cit.]
'^^Strabo, 1. xvii. p. i, 172 [/er^. 819]. Pomponius Mela. 1. i. c. 4. His words are
curious, "Intra, si credere libet, vix homines magisque semiferi ; ^gipanes, et
Blemmyes, et Satyri".
■^^ Ausus sese inserere fortunae et provocare arma Romana.
OF THE ROMAN EMPIRE 365
tianity introduced stricter notions of religious worship, it was
annually ratified by a solemn sacrifice in the isle of Elephantine,
in which the Romans, as well as the barbarians, adored the same
visible or invisible powers of the universe. ^2
At the same time that Diocletian chastised the past crimes
of the Egyptians, he provided for their future safety and happiness
by many wise regulations, which were confirmed and enforced
under the succeeding reigns.^^ Qne very remarkable edict, He suppresses
which he published, instead of being condemned as the effect alchemy
of jealous tyranny deserves to be applauded as an act of prudence
and humanity. He caused a diligent inquiry to be made " for
all the ancient books which treated of the admirable art of ^
making gold and silver, and without pity committed them to
the flames ; apprehensive, as we are assured, lest the opulence
of the Egyptians should inspire them with confidence to rebel
against the empire ".^* But, if Diocletian had been convinced
of the reality of that valuable art, far from extinguishing the
memory, he would have converted the operation of it to the
benefit of the public revenue. It is much more likely that his
good sense discovered to him the folly of such magnificent
pretensions, and that he was desirous of preserving the reason
and fortunes of his subjects from the mischievous pursuit. It Novelty and
may be remarked that these ancient books, so liberally ascribed SafS°
to Pythagoras, to Solomon, or to Hermes, were the pious frauds
of more recent adepts. The Greeks were inattentive either to
the use or to the abuse of chymistry. In that immense register
where Pliny has deposited the discoveries, the arts, and the
errors of mankind, there is not the least mention of the trans-
mutation of metals ; and the persecution of Diocletian is the
first authentic event in the history of alchymy. The conquest
of Egypt by the Arabs diffused that vain science over the globe.
Congenial to the avarice of the human heart, it was studied
in China as in Europe, with equal eagerness, and with equal
success. The darkness of the middle ages ensured a favourable
reception to every tale of wonder, and the revival of learning
gave new vigour to hope, and suggested more specious arts of
deception. Philosophy, with the aid of experience, has at
»2 See Procopius de Bell. Persic. 1. i. c. ig.
M He fixed the public allowance of corn for the people of Alexandria, at two
millions of medimni; about four hundred thousand quarters. Chron. Paschal, p.
376. Procop. Hist. Arcan. c. 26.
Mjohn Antioch, in Excerp. Valesian. p. 834 [F.H.G. iv. p. 601]. Suidas in
Diocletian.
366 THE DECLINE AND FALL
length banished the study of alchjrmy ; and the present age,
however desirous of riches, is content to seek them by the
humbler means of conunei'ce and industry.^^
Theperrian The rcduction of Egypt was inunediately followed by the
^" Persian war. It was reserved for the reign of Diocletian to
vanquish that powerful nation, and to extort a confession from
the successors of Artaxerxes, of the superior majesty of the
Roman empire.
TiridateB the We havc obscrvcd, under the reign of Valerian, that Armenia
was subdued by the perfidy and the arms of the Persians, and
that, after the assassination of Chosroes, his son Tiridates, the
^ infant heir of the monarchy, was saved by the fidelity of his
friends, and educated under the protection of the emperors.
Tiridates derived from his exile such advantages as he could
never have attained on the throne of Armenia ; the early know-
ledge of adversity, of mankind, and of the Roman discipline.
He signalized his youth by deeds of valour, and displayed a
matchless dexterity, as well as strength^ in every martial exer-
cise, and even in the less honourable contests of the Olympian
games. ^^ Those quahties were more nobly exerted in the defence
AD 382 of his benefactor Licinius.^'^ That officer, in the sedition which
occasioned the death of Probus, was exposed to the most immi-
nent danger, and the enraged soldiers were forcing their way
into his tent, when they were checked by the single arm of the
Armenian prince. The gratitude of Tiridates contributed soon
afterwards to his restoration. Licinius was in every station the
friend and companion of Galerius, and the merit of Galerius, long
before he was raised to the dignity of Caesar, had been known
and esteemed by Diocletian. In the third year of that emperor's
reign, Tiridates was invested with the kingdom of Armenia.
The justice of the measure was not less evident than its expedi-
ency. It was time to rescue from the usurpation of the Persian
monarch an important territory, which, since the reign of Nero,
"" See a short history and confutation of Alchymy, in the works of that philoso-
phical compiler, La Mothe le Vayer, torn. i. p. 327-353.
^ See the education and strength of Tiridates in the Armenian history of Moses
of Chorene, 1. ii. c. 76. He could seize two wild bulls by the horns, and break
them off with his hands.
'^ If we give credit to the younger Victor [Epit. 41] , who supposes that, in the
year 323, Licinius was only sixty years of age, he could scarcely be the same per-
son as the patron of Tiridates ; but we know from much better authority (Euseb.
Hist. Ecclesiast. 1. x. c. 8) that Licinius was at that time in the last period of old
age : sixteen years before, he is represented with grey hairs, and as the contempor-
ary of Galerius. See Lactant. c. 32. Licinius was probably born about the year
35a
OF THE ROMAN EMPIEE 367
had been always granted under the protection of the empire to
a younger branch of the house of Arsaccs.^^
When Tiridates appeared on the frontiers of Armenia, he was a.d.zss.
received with an unfeigned transport of joy and loyalty. During tion to the
twenty-six years, the country had experienced the real and Armenia
imaginary hardships of a foreign yoke. The Persian monarchs
had adorned their new conquest with magnificent buildings ; but
those monuments had been erected at the expense of the people, Btatoof the
and were abhorred as badges of slaveiy. The apprehension of a
revolt had inspired the most rigorous precautions : oppression
had been aggravated by insult, and the consciousness of the
public hatred had been productive of every measure that could
render it still more implacable. We have already remarked the
intolerant spirit of the Magian religion. The statues of the
deified kings of Armenia, and the sacred images of the sun and
moon, were broke in pieces by the zeal of the conqueror ; and
the perpetual fire of Ormuzd was kindled and preserved upon an
altar erected on the summit of Mount Bagavan/^ It was natural
that a people exasperated by so many injuries should arm with Revolt oi the
zeal in the cause of their independence, their religion, and their SoSea '^^
hereditary sovereign. The torrent bore down every obstacle,
and the Persian garrison retreated before its fury. The nobles
of Armenia flew to the standard of Tiridates, all alleging their
past merit, offering their future service, and soliciting from the
new king those honours and rewards from which they had been
excluded with disdain under the foreign government. ^^ The
command of the army was bestowed on Artavasdes, whose father
had saved the infancy of Tiridates, and whose family had been
massacred for that generous action. The brother of Artavasdes
obtained the government of a province. One of the first military
dignities was conferred on the satrap Otas, a man of singular
temperance and fortitude, who presented to the king his sister ^^
and a considerable treasure, both of which, in a sequestered
58 See the sixty-second and sixty-third books of Dion Cassius [cp. Ixiii. 5].
•» Moses of Chorene, Hist. Armen. 1. ii. c. 74. The statues had been erected
by Valarsaces, who reigned in Armenia about 130 years before Christ, and was
the first king of the family of Arsaces (see Moses, Hist. Armen. 1. ii. 2, 3). The
deification of the Arsacides is mentioned by Justin (xli. 5) and by Ammianus
Marcellinus (xxiii. 6).
*o The Armenian nobility was numerous and powerful. Moses mentions many
families which were distinguished under the reign of Valarsaces (1. ii. 7) and which
still subsisted in his own time, about the middle of the fifth century. See the pre-
face of his Editors.
^ She was named Chosroiduchta, and had not the os patulum like other women.
(Hist. Armen. 1. ii. c 79. ) I do not understand the expression.
368 THE DECLINE AND FALL
Story of fortress^ Otas had preserved from violation. Among the Armenian
nobles appeared an ally, whose fortunes are too remarkable to
pass uxmoticed. His name was Mamgo^ his origin was Scythian,
and the horde which acknowledged his authority had encamped
a very few years before on the skirts of the Chinese empire,^^
which at that time extended as far as the neighbourhood of
Sogdiana.^3 Having incurred the displeasure of his master,
Mamgo, with his followers, retired to the banks of the Oxus, and
implored the protection of Sapor. The emperor of China claimed
the fugitive, and alleged the rights of sovereignty. The Persian
monarch pleaded the laws of hospitality, and with some difficulty
avoided a war, by the promise that he would banish Mamgo to
the uttermost parts of the West ; a punishment, as he described
it, not less dreadful than death itself. Armenia was chosen for
the place of exile, and a large district was assigned to the
Scythian horde, on which they might feed their flocks and herds,
and remove their encampment from one place to another ac-
cording to the different seasons of the year. They were employed
to repel the invasion of Tiridates ; but their leader, after weigh-
ing the obligations and injuries which he had received from the
Persian monarch, resolved to abandon his party. The Armenian
prince, who was well acquainted with the merit as well as
power of Mamgo, treated him with distinguished respect ; and,
by admitting him into his confidence, acquired a brave and
faithful servant, who contributed very effectually to his restora-
tion.^
The pensian* For a whilc, fortune appeared to favour the enterprising valour
Armeni* of Tiridatcs. Hc not only expelled the enemies of his family
and country from the whole extent of Armenia, but in the pro-
secution of his revenge he carried his arms, or at least his
incursions, into the heart of Assyria. The historian who has
preserved the name of Tiridates from oblivion celebrates, with a
degree of national enthusiasm, his personal prowess ; and^ in the
^2 In the Armenian history (1. ii. 78) as well as in the Geography (p. 367) China
is called Zenia, or Zenastan. It is characterized by the production of silk, by the
opulence of the natives, and by their love of peace, above all the other nations of
the earth.
^ Vou-ti, the first emperor of the seventh dynasty, who then reigned in China,
had politicEil transactions with Fergana, a province of Sogdiana, and is said to have
received a Roman embassy. (Histoire des Huns, torn. i. p. 38.) In those ages
the Chinese kept a garrison at Kashgar, and one of their generals, about the time
of Trajan, marched as far as the Caspian Sea. With regard to the intercourse
between China and the Western countries, a curious memoir of M. de Guignes may
be consulted in the Academic des Inscriptions, tem. xxxii. p. 355.
®*See Hist. Armen. I. ii. c. 8i,
OF THE EOMAN EMPIRE 369
true spirit of eastern romance, describes the giants and the
elephants that fell beneath his invincible arm. It is from other
information that we discover the distracted state of the Persian
monarchy, to which the king of Armenia was indebted for some
part of his advantages. The throne was disputed by the ambi-
tion of contending brothers ; and Hormuz, after exerting with-
out success the strength of his own party, had recourse to the
dangerous assistance of the barbarians who inhabited the banks
of the Caspian Sea.^^ The civil war was, however, soon termi-
nated, either by a victory or by a reconciliation; and Narses,
who was universally acknowledged as King of Persia, directed
his whole force against the foreign enemy. The contest then
became too unequal ; nor was the valour of the hero able to
withstand the power of the monarch. Tiridates, a second time
expelled from the throne of Armenia, once more took refuge in
the court of the emperors. Narses soon re-established his
authority over the revolted province ; and, loudly complaining
of the protection afforded by the Romans to rebels and fugitives,
aspired to the conquest of the East.^^
Neither prudence nor honour could permit the emperors towarbotweeD
forsake the cause of the Armenian king, and it was resolved to^^ith"^"™^
exert the force of the empire in the Persian war. Diocletian, mg"*^' ^ °
with the calm dignity which he constantly assumed, fixed his
own station in the city of Antioch, from whence he prepared
and directed the military operations. ^^ The conduct of the
legions was intrusted to the intrepid valour of Galerius, who, for
that important purpose, was removed from the banks of the
Danube to those of the Euphrates. The armies soon encountered Defeat of
each other in the plains of Mesopotamia, and two battles were ^'^^^^^
fought with various and doubtfril success : but the third engage-
ment was of a more decisive nature ; and the Roman army
**Ipsos Persas ipsumque Regem ascitis Sacis, et Ruiiis, et Gellis, petit frater
Ormies. P anegyric. Vet. iii. i [le^. 17 ; Genethl. Max. p. 114, ed. Bahrens] . The Sacse
were a nation of wandering Scythians, who encamped towards the sources of the
Oxus and the Jaxartes. The Gelli were ihe inhabitants of Ghilan along the Caspian
Sea, and who so long, under the name of Dilemites, infested the Persian Monarchy.
See d'Herbelot, Bibliothfeque Orientale.
^ Moses of Chorene takes no notice of this second revolution, which I have been
obhged to collect from a passage of Ammianus Marcellinus (1. xxiii. 5), Lactantius
speaks of the ambition of Narses : " Concitatus domesticis exemplis avisui Saporis
ad occupandum orientem magnis copiis inhiabat". De Mort. Persecut. c. 9,
[Narses, son of Varahram II. , succeeded after Sept. 13, 293 ; Noldeke, 416.]
^^ We may readily believe that Lactantius ascribes to cowardice the conduct of
Diocletian. Julian, in his oration, says that he remained with all the forces of the
empire ; a very hyperbolical expression. [In the early part of the year, at least till
April, Diocletian was in Egypt-.]
24 VOL - 1.
370 THE DECLINE AND FALL
received a total overthroWj which is attributed to the rashness
of Galerius, who, with an inconsiderable body of troops, attacked
the innumerable host of the Persians. ^s But the consideration
of the country that was the scene of action may suggest another
reason for his defeat. The same ground, on which Galerius was
vanquished, had been rendered memorable by the death of
Crassus and the slaughter of ten legions. It was a plain of
more than sixty miles, which extended from the hills of Carrhae to
the Euphrates ; a smooth and barren surface of sandy desert,
without a hillock, without a tree, and without a spring of fresh
water. ^^ The steady infantry of the Romans, fainting with heat
and thirst, could neither hope for victory, if they preserved their
ranks, nor break their ranks without exposing themselves to the
most inuninent danger. In this situation, they were gradually
encompassed by the superior nimabers, harassed by the rapid
evolutions, and destroyed by the arrows, of the barbarian cavalry.
The king of Armenia had signalized his valour in the battle, and
acquired personal glory by the public misfortune. He was
pursued as far as the Euphrates ; his horse was wounded, and it
appeared impossible for him to escape the victorious enemy. In
this extremity, Tiridates embraced the only refuge which he saw
before him : he dismounted and plunged into the stream. His
armour was heavy, the river very deep, and in those parts at
least half a mile in breadth ; ^f* yet such was his strength and
dexterity that he reached in safety the opposite bank.'^ With
regard to the Roman general, we are ignorant of the circum-
Ei8 reception stances of his escape ; but, when he returned to Antioch,
t>y Diocietun j^jQcletian received him, not with the tenderness of a friend and
colleague, but with the indignation of an offended sovereign.
The l:^ughtiest of men, clothed in his purple, but humbled by
the sense of his fault and misfortune, was obliged to follow the
emperor's chariot above a mile on foot, and to exhibit before
the whole court the spectacle of his disgrace. "^^
*8 Our five abbreviators, Eutropius, Festus, the tw« Victors, and Orosius, all
relate the last and great battle ; but Orosius [vii, 25] is the only one who speaks of
the two former.
^* The nature of the country is finely described by Plutarch, in the life of Crassus,
and by Xenophon, in the first book of the Anabasis. [The mistake of Galerius was
similar t« that of Crassus.]
70 See Foster's Dissertation, in the second volume of the translation of the Ana-
basis by Spelman ; which I will venture to recommend as one of the best versions
extant.
71 Hist. Armen. 1. 11. c. 76. I have transferred this exploit of Tiridates from an
imaginary defeat to the real one of Galerius.
72Ammian. Marcellin. 1. xiv. [11]. The mile, in the hands of Eutropius (ix.
24), of Festus (c. 25), and of Orosius (vii. 25), easily increased to several raWos.
OF THE EOMAN EMPIRE 371
As soon as Diocletian had indulged his private resentment, ^eo^^j^ ^^
and asserted the majesty of supreme power^ he yielded to the JaaergB,
submissive entreaties of the Caesar, and permitted him to retriev£
his own honour as well as that of the Roman arms. In the
room of the unwarlike troops of Asia, which had most probably
served in the first expedition, a second army was drawn from
the veterans and new levies of the Ill3rrian frontier, and a consider-
able body of Gothic auxiliaries were taken into the Imperial
payjs At the head of a chosen army of twenty-five thousand
men, Galerius again passed the Euphrates ; but, instead of ex-
posing his legions in the open plains of Mesopotamia, he advanced
through the mountains of Armenia, where he found the inhabi-
tants devoted to his cause, and the country as favourable to the
operations of infantry as it was inconvenient for the motions
of cavalryJ* Adversity had confirmed the Roman discipline, hib victory
whilst the barbarians, elated by success, were become so negligent
and remiss, that, in the moment "when they least expected it,
they were surprised by the active conduct of Galerius, who,
attended only by two horsemen, had, with his own eyes, secretly
examined the state and position of their camp. A surprise,
especially in the night-time, was for the most part fatal to a
Persian army. " Their horses were tied, and generally shackled,
to prevent their running away ; and, if an alarm happened, a
Persian had his housing to fix, his horse to bridle, and his cors-
let to put on, before he could mount." "^^ On this occasion, the
impetuous attack of Galerius spread disorder and dismay over
the camp of the barbarians. A slight resistance was followed
by a dreadful carnage, and, in the general confusion, the wounded
monarch (for Narses commanded his armies in person) fled to-
wards the deserts of Media. His sumptuous tents, and those of
his satraps, afforded an immense booty to the conqueror ; and an
incident is mentioned, which proves the rustic but martial ignor-
ance of the legions in the elegant superfluities of hfe. A bag
of shining leather, filled with pearls, fell into the hands of a
private soldier ; he carefully preserved the bag, but he threw
away its contents, judging that whatever was of no use could
not possibly be of any value. ^^ The principal loss of Narses was andbehf^wour
^SAurelius Victor. Jornandes de rebus Geticis, c. 21. captives
'^Aurelius Victor [Cses. 39] says, "Per Armeniam in hostes contendit, quae
ferme sola, seu facilior vincendi via est ". He followed the conduct of Trajan, and
the idea of Julius Csesar.
76 Xenophon's Anabasis, 1. iii. [c. 4] . For that reason, the Persian cavahy en-
camped sixty stadia from the enemy.
76 The story is told by Ammianus, 1. xxii. [4, 8]. Instead of saccum some read
scutum \sacculum is the true reading, the Mss. having saccuium and saeculum\.
372 THE DECLINE AND FALL
of a much more aiFecting nature. Several of his wives, his
sisters, and children, who had attended the army, were made
captives in the defeat. But, though the character of Galerius
had in general very little affinity with that of Alexander, he
imitated, after his victory, the amiable behaviour of the Mace-
donian towards the family of Darius. The wives and children
of Narses were protected from violence and rapine, conveyed to
a place of safety, and treated with every mark of respect and
tenderness that was due, from a generous enemy, to their age,
their sex, and their royal dignity.^
Negotiation While the East anxiously expected the decision of this great
or peace contcst, the cmpcror Diocletian, having assembled in Syria a
strong army of observation, displayed from a distance the re-
sources of the Roman power, and reserved himself for any future
emergency of the war. On the intelligence of the victory, he
condescended to advance towards the frontier, with a view of
moderating, by his presence 8,nd counsels, the pride of Galerius.
The interview of the Roman princes at Nisibis was accompanied
with every expression of respect on one side, and of esteem on
the other. It was in that city that they soon afterwards gave
audience to the ambassador of the Great KingJ^ The power,
or at least the spirit, of Narses, had been broken by his last
defeat ; and he considered an immediate peace as the only
means that could stop the progress of the Roman arms. He
dispatched Apharban, a servant who possessed his favour and
confidence, with a commission to negotiate a treaty, or rather to
Speech of the rcccive whatever conditions the conqueror should impose. Aphar-
ambMflador ban Opened the conference by expressing his master's gratitude
for the generous treatment of his family, and by soliciting the
liberty of those illustrious captives. He celebrated the valour
of Galerius, without degrading the reputation of Narses, and
thought it no dishonour to confess the superiority of the victori-
ous Caesar over a monarch who had surpassed in glory all the
princes of his race. Notwithstanding the justice of the Persian
cause, he was empowered to submit the present differences to
the decision of the emperors themselves ; convinced as he was,
'^The Persians confessed the Roman superiority in morals as well as in
arms. Eutrop. ix. 24. But this respect and gratitude of enemies is very seldom
to be found in their own accounts.
^8 The account of the negotiation is taken from the fragments of Peter the Pa-
trician, in the Excerpta Legationum, published in the Byzantine Collection [also in
vol. iv. of Miiller's Fragm. Hist. Graec.]. Peter lived under Justinian ; but it is
very evident, by the nature of his materials, that they are drawn from the most
authentic and respectable writers.
OF THE EOMAN EMPIEE 373
that, in the midst of prosperity, they would not be unmindful
of the vicissitudes of fortune. Apharban concluded his discourse
in the style of Eastern allegory, by observing that the Roman
and Persian monarchies were the two eyes of the world, which
would remain imperfect and mutilated, if either of them should
be put out.
" It well becomes the Persians," rephed Galerius, with a ^"^^ <>'
transport of fury, which seemed to convulse his whole frame, '' it
well becomes the Persians to expatiate on the vicissitudes of
fortune and calmly to read us lectures on the virtues of modera-
tion. Let them remember their own moderation towards the
unhappy Valerian. They vanquished him by fraud, they treated
him with indignity. They detained him till the last moment of
his life in shamefil captivity, and, after his death, they exposed
his body to perpetual ignominy." Softening, however, his tone,
Galerius insinuated to the ambassador that it had never been
the practice of the Romans to trample on a prostrate enemy ;
and that on this occasion they should consult their own dignity
rather than the Persian merit. He dismissed Apharban with a
hope that Narses would sooft be informed on what conditions he
might obtain, from the clemency of the emperors, a lasting
peace, and the restoration of his wives and children. In this
conference we may discover the fierce passions of Galerius, as
well as his deference to the superior wisdom and authority of iioderatiou
Diocletian. The ambition of the former grasped at the conquest **
of the East and had proposed to reduce Persia into the state of
a province. The prudence of the latter, who adhered to the
moderate policy of Augustus and the Antonines, embraced the
favourable opportunity of terminating a successful war by an
honourable and advantageous peace. ^^
In pursuance of their promise, the emperors soon afterwards coAciaaion
appointed Sicorius Probus, one of their secretaries, to acquaint
the Persian court with their final resolution. As the minister of
peace, he was received with every mark of politeness and friend-
ship; but, under the pretence of allowing him the necessary
repose after so long a journey, the audience of Probus was de-
ferred from day to day ; and he attended the slow motions of
the king, till at length he was admitted to his presence, near the
river Asprudus in Media. The secret motive of Narses, in this
delay, had been to coUect such a military force as might enable
7»Adeo Victor (says Aurelius) ut ni Valerius, cujus nutu omnia gerebantur,
abntiisset, Romani fasces in provinciam novam ferrentur. Verum pars terrarum
tamen nobis utilior quaesita.
374 THE DECLINE AND FALL
him, though sincerely desirous of peace, to negotiate with the
greater weight and dignity. Three persons only assisted at this
important conference ; the minister Apharban, the praefect of the
guards, and an officer who had commanded on the Armenian
frontier.^o The first condition, proposed by the ambassador, is
not at present of a very intelligible nature ; that the city of
Nisibis might be established for the place of mutual exchange,
or, as we should formerly have termed it, for the staple of trade
between the two empires. There is no difficulty in conceiving
the intention of the Roman princes to improve their revenue by
some restraints upon commerce ; but, as Nisibis was situated
within their own dominions, and as they were masters both of
the imports and exports, it should seem that such restraints
were the objects of an internal law rather than of a foreign
treaty. To render them more effectual, some stipulations were
probably required on the side of the king of Persia, which ap-
peai*ed so very repugnant either to his interest or to his dignity,
that Narses could not be persuaded to subscribe them. As this
was the only article to which he refused his consent, it was no
longer insisted on ; and the emperors either suffered the trade
to flow in its natural channels, or contented themselves with such
restrictions as it depended on their own authority to establish.
and articles of As soon as this difficulty was removed, a solemn peace was
the treaty concluded and ratified between the two nations. The conditions
of a treaty so glorious to the empire, and so necessary to Persia,
may deserve a more peculiar attention, as the history of Rome
presents very few transactions of a similar nature ; most of her
wars having either been terminated by absolute conquest, or
TheAborai wagcd against barbarians ignoranb'of the use of letters. I. The
SStbt***^ Aboras, or, as it is called by Xenophon, the Araxes, was fixed as
empire?* * thcboundary between the two monarchies.^^ That river which rose
near the Tigris, was increased, a few miles below Nisibis, by the
little stream of the Mygdonius, passed under the walls of Singara,
and fell into the Euphrates at Circesium, a frontier town, which,
by the care of Diocletian, was very strongly fortified. ^2 Meso-
80 He had been eovernor of Sumium. (Pet. Patricius in Excerpt. Legat. p. 30
[F.H.G. iv. p. 189I.) This province seems to be mentioned by Moses of Chorene
(Geograph. p. 360), and lay to the east of Mount Ararat.
81 By an error of the geographer Ptolemy, the position of Singara is removed from
the Aboras to the Tigris, which may have produced the mistake of Peter in assigning
the latter river for the boundary, instead of the former. The line of the Roman
frontier traversed, but never followed, the course of the Tigris. [The Aboras rises
a long way to the west of the Tigris ; and Nisibis is situated on the Mygdonius.]
82 procopius de i^dificiis, 1. ii. q.
OF THE ROMAN EMPIRE 375
potamia^ the object of so many wars, was ceded to the empire ; »•
and the Persians, by this treaty, renounced all pretensions to ^
that great province. II. They relinquished to the Romans fivecetTionof
provinces beyond the Tigris.ss Their situation formed a verj' blyo^ndthT"
usefiil ban-ier, and their natural strength was soon improved by "^^^^
art and military skill. Four of these, to the north of the river,
were districts of obscure fame and inconsiderable extent: Intiline,
Zabdicene, Arzanene, and Moxoene ; but, on the east of the
Tigris, the empire acquired the large and mountainous territory
of Carduene, the ancient seat of the Carduchians, who preserved
for many ages their manly freedom in the heart of the despotic
monarchies of Asia. The ten thousand Greeks traversed their
country, after a painful march, or rather engagement, of seven
days ; and it is confessed by their leader, in his incomparable
relation of the retreat, that they suffered more from the arrows
of the Carduchians than from the power of the Great King.^
Their posterity, the Curds, with very little alteration either of
name or manners, acknowledged the nominal sovereignty of the
Turkish sultan. III. It is almost needless to observe that Tiri- Annenia
dates, the faithful ally of Rome, was restored to the throne of
his fathers, and that the rights of the Imperial supremacy were
fu% asserted and secured. The limits of Armenia were extended
as tar as the fortress of Sintha in Media, and this increase of
dominion was not so much an act of liberality as of justice. Of
the provinces already mentioned beyond the Tigris, the four first
had been dismembered by the Parthians from the crown of Ar-
menia ; ^^ and, when the Romans acquired the possession of them,
they stipulated, at the expense of the usurpers, an ample com-
pensation, which invested their ally with the extensive and
83 Tliree of the provinces, Zabdicene, Arzanene, and Carduene [Corduene], are
allowed on all sides. But instead of the other two, Peter (in Excerpt. Leg. p. 30
[ib.]) inserts Rehimene and Sophene. I have preferred Ammianus (1. xxv. 7), be-
cause it might be proved, that Sophene was never in the hand of the Persians,
either before the reign of Diocletian, or after that of Jovian. For want of correct maps,
like those of M. d'Anville, almost all the moderns, with Tillemont and Valesius at
their head, have imagined that it was in respect to Persia, and not to Rome, that
the five produces were situate beyond the Tigris. [Intilene and Moxoene are
the same. Gibbon's statements are not correct. Peter gives Intfilene and Sophene ;
Ammianus, Moxoene and Rehimene. Thus the question is between Rehimene
and Sophene.]
^ Xenophon's Anabasis, 1. iv. [3]. Their bows were three cubits in length, their
arrows two ; they rolled down stones that were each a waggon load. The Greeks
found a great many villages in that rude country.
85 According to Eutropius {vi. 9, as the text is represented by the best Mss. ) the
city of Tigranocerta was in Arzanene. The names and situation of the other three
may be faintly traced.
376 THE DECLINE AND FALL
jsfertile country of Atropatene. Its principal city, in the same
situation perhaps as the modern Tauris, was frequently honoured
" with the residence of Tiridates ; and, as it sometimes bore the
name of Ecbatana, he imitated, in the buildings and fortifications,
Iberia the splendid capital of the Medes.^o jy. The country of Iberia
was barren, its inhabitants rude and savage. But they were
accustomed to the use of arms, and they separated from the
empire barbarians much fiercer and more formidable than them-
selves. The narrow defiles of Mount Caucasus were in their
hands, and it was in their choice either to admit or to exclude
the wandering tribes of Sarmatia, whenever a rapacious spirit
urged them to penetrate into the richer climates of the South. s'^
The nomination of the kings of Iberia, which was resigned by the
Persian monarch to the emperors, contributed to the strength
and security of the Roman power in Asia.^ The East enjoyed a
profound tranquillity during forty years ; and the treaty between
the rival monarchies was strictly observed till the death of Tiri-
dates ; when a new generation, animated with different views and
different passions, succeeded to the government of the world; and
the grandson of Narses undertook a long and memorable war
against the princes of the house of Constantine.
Trimnphof The arduous work of rescuing the distressed empire from
ajid Maxim- tyrants and barbarians had now been completely achieved by a
Nov. 20. ■ ' succession of Illyrian peasants. As soon as Diocletian entered
vice^Siia ' into the twentieth year of his reign, he celebrated that memor-
303, Nov. 20] - , M ^1. J -u- i_ ^i_ J?
able aera, as well as the success oi his arms, by the pomp ot a
Roman triumph.^^ Maximian, the equal partner of his power,
was his only companion in the gloiy of that day. The two
Caesars had fought and conquered, but the merit of their ex-
ploits was ascribed, according to the rigour of ancient maxims, to
the auspicious influence of their fathers and emperors.^o The
triumph of Diocletian and Maximian was less magnificent,
perhaps, than those of Aurelian and Probus, but it was dignified
8* Compare Herodotus, 1. i. c. 97, with Moses Chorenens. Hist. Ai'men. L ii. c.
84, and the map of Armenia given by his editors.
87 Hiberi, locorum potentes, Caspii vi^ Sarmatum in Armenios raptim effim-
dunt. Tacit. Annal. vi. 33. See Strabon. Geograph. 1. xi. p. 764 [sooj.
88 Peter Patricius (in Excerpt. Leg. p. 30 [F.H.G. iv. p. 189]) is the only writer
who mentions the Iberian article of the treaty.
8» Eusebius in Chron. Pagi ad annum. Till the discovery of the treatise de
Mortibus Persecutorura , it was not certain that the triumph and the Vicennalia
were celebrated at the same time. [Date still uncertain. The triumph, ace. to
Clinton, was in the year before the Vicennalia, but Preuss agrees with Gibbon.]
^ At the time of the Vicennalia, Galerius seems to have kept his station on the
Danube. See Lactant. de M. P. c. 38.
OF THE EOMAN EMPIRE 377
by several circumstances of superior fame and good fortune.
Africa and Britain, the Rhine, the Danube, and the Nile,
furnished their respective trophies ; but the most distinguished
ornament was of a more singular nature, a Persian victory
followed by an important conquest.^i The representations of
rivers, mountains, and provinces were carried before the Im-
perial car. The images of the captive wives, the sisters, and
the children of the Great King afforded a new and grateful
spectacle to the vanity of the people. ^2 In the eyes of posterity
this triumph is remarkable by a distinction of a less honourable
kind. It was the last that Rome ever beheld. Soon after this
period, the emperors ceased to vanquish, and Rome ceased to be
the capital of the empire.
The spot on which Rome was founded had been consecrated Long absence
by ancient ceremonies and imaginary miracles. The presence of ge^o" ^°^
some god, or the memoiy of some hero, seemed to animate
every part of the city, and the empire of the world had been
promised to the Capitol. ^3 The native Romans felt and con-
fessed the power of this agreeable illusion. It was derived from
their ancestors, had grown up with their earliest habits of life,
and was protected, in some measure, by the opinion of political
utility. The form and the seat of government were intimately
blended together, nor was it esteemed possible to transport the
one without destroying the other. 9* But the sovereignty of the
capital was gradually annihilated in the extent of conquest ; the
provinces rose to the same level, and the vanquished nations
acquired the name and privileges, without imbibing the partial
affections, of Romans. During a long period, however, the
remains of the ancient constitution, and the influence of custom,
preserved the dignity of Rome. The emperors, though perhaps
of African or lUyrian extraction, respected their adopted country,
81 [The remarkable edict of 301 A.D., in which Diocletian attempted to fix maxi-
mum prices (see Append. 23), records the number of victories of which each emperor
could boast. Diocletian counted six German, four Sarmatian victories ; Maximian,
five German and four Sarmatian ; both Caesars, two German and two Sarmatian.
To all four fell equally, two Persian, one Britannic, one Caspian, one Armenian,
one Median, and one Adiabenic victory.]
®2 Eutropius (ix. 27) mentions them as a part of the triiunph. As the persons
had been restored to Narses, nothing more than their images could be exhibited.
S3 Livy gives us a speech of Camillus on that subject (v. 51-55 [54]), full of
eloquence and sensibiUty, in opposition to a design of removing the seat of govern-
ment from Rome to the neighbouring city of Veil.
8* Julius Caesar was reproached with the intention of removing the empire to
Ilium or Alexandria. See Sueton. in Caesar, c. 79. According to the ingenious
conjecture of Le Fivre and Dacier, the third ode of the third book of Horace was
intended to divert Augustus from the execution of a similar design.
378
THE DECLINE AND FALL
Their resi-
dence at
Milan
and Nlco-
mcdia
as the seat of their power, and the centre of their extensive
dominions. The emergencies of war very frequently required
their presence on the frontiers ; but Diocletian and Maximian
were the first Roman princes who fixedj in time of peace, their
ordinary residence in the provinces ; and their conduct, however
it might be suggested by private motives, was justified by very
specious considerations of policy. The court of the Emperor of
the West was, for the most part, established at Milan, whose
situation, at the foot of the Alps, appeared far more convenient
than that of Rome, for the important purpose of watching the
motions of the barbarians of Germany. Milan soon assumed the
splendour of an Imperial city. The houses are described as
numerous and well built ; the manners of the people as polished
and liberal. A circus, a theatre, a mint, a palace, baths, which
bore the name of their founder Maximian ; porticoes adorned
with statues, and a double circumference of walls, contributed
to the beauty of the new capital ; nor did it seem oppressed
even by the proximity of Rome.^^ To rival the majesty of Rome
was the ambition likewise of Diocletian, who employed his
leisure, and the wealth of the East, in the embellishment of
Nicomedia, a city placed on the verge of Europe and Asia,
almost at an equal distance between the Danube and the
Euphrates. By the taste of the monarch, and at the expense
of the people, Nicomedia acquired, in the space of a few years, a
degree of magnificence which might appear to have required the
labour of ages, and became inferior only to Rome, Alexandria,
and Antioch, in extent or populousness.^^ The life of Diocletian
and Maximian was a life of action, and a considerable portion of
it was spent in camps, or in their long and frequent marches ;
but, whenever the public business allowed them any relaxation,
they seem to have retired with pleasure to their favourite
8^ See Aurelius Victor [Cses. 39], who likewise mentions the buildings erected by
Maximian at Carthage, probably during the Moorish war. We shall insert some
verses of Ausonius de Clar. urb. v.
Et Mediolani mira omnia : copia rerum :
Innumerse cultseque domus ; fecunda virorum
Ingenia, et mores Iseti ; turn duplice muro
Amplificata loci species ; populique voluptas
Circus ; et inclusi moles cuneata Theatri ;
Templa, Palatinseque arces, opulensque Moneta,
Et regio Herculei Celebris sub honore lavacri.
Cunctaque marmoreis ornata Peristyla signis ;
Moeniaque in valli formam circumdata labro,
Omnia quae magnis operum velut semula formis
Excellunt : nee juncta premit vicinia Romse.
^ Lactant. de M. P. c. 7. Libanius Orat. viii. p. 203,
OF THE ROMAN EMPIEE 379
residences of Nicomedia and Milan. Till Diocletian, in the
twentieth year of his reign, celebrated his Roman triumph, it is
extremely doubtful whether he ever visited the ancient capital
of the empire. Even on that memorable occasion his stay did
not exceed two months. Disgusted with the licentious famili
arity of the people, he quitted Rome with precipitation thirteen
days before it was expected that he should have appeared in the
senate, invested with the ensigns of the consular dignity .^'^
The dislike expressed by Diocletian towards Rome and Roman Debasement
freedom was not the effect of momentary caprice, but the result Smfa^eSate
of the most artful policy. That crafty prince had framed a new
system of Imperial government, which was afterwards completed
by the family of Constantine, and, as the image of the old con-
stitution was religiously preserved in the senate, he resolved to
deprive that order of its small remains of power and considera-
tion. We may recollect, about eight years before the elevation
of Diocletian, the transient greatness, and the ambitious hopes,
of the Roman senate. As long as that enthusiasm prevailed,
many of the nobles imprudently displayed their zeal in the cause
of freedom ; and, after the successors of Probus had withdrawn
their countenance from the republican party, the senators were
unable to disguise their impotent resentment. As the sovereign
of Italy, Maximian was intrusted with the care of extinguishing
this troublesome, rather than dangerous, spirit, and the task was
perfectly suited to his cruel temper. The most illustrious
members of the senate, whom Diocletian always affected to
esteem, were involved, by his colleague, in the accusation of
imaginary plots ; and the possession of an elegant villa, or a well-
cultivated estate, was interpreted as a convincing evidence of
guilt.^^ The camp of the Praetorians, which had so long op-
pressedj began to protect, the majesty of Rome ; and as those
haughty troops were conscious of the decline of their power,
they were naturally disposed to unite their strength with the
authority of the senate. By the prudent measures of Diocletian,
the numbers of the Prsetorians were insensibly reduced, their
privileges abolished,^^ and their place supplied by two faithful ^^J^"*^*®* °^
joTlanB and
97Lactant. de M. P. c. 17. On a similar occasion Ammianus mentions the Hercollans
dicacitas pubis, as not very agreeable to an Imperial ear. (See 1. xvi. c. 10) \dica-
citateplebis obleciabatur are the words of Ammian.].
98 Lactantius accuses Maximian of destroying fictis criminationibus lumina
senatlas (De M. P. c. 8). Aurelins Victor speaks very doubtfully of the faith of
Diocletian towards his friends.
»flTruncatse vires urbis, imminuto prastoriarum cohortium atque in armis vulgi
numero. Aurelius Victor [ib.]. Lactantius attributes to Galerius the prosecution
of the same plan (c. 36),
380 THE DECLINE AND FALL
legions of Illyricum, who, under the new titles of Jovians and
Herculians, were appointed to perform the service of the Im-
perial guards. 100 gyt the most fatal though secret wound, which
the senate received from the hands of Diocletian and Maximian,
was inflicted by the inevitable operation of their absence. As
long as the emperors resided at Rome, that assembly might be
oppressed, but it could scarcely be neglected. The successors
of Augustus exercised the power of dictating whatever laws their
wisdom or caprice might suggest ■ but those laws were ratified
by the sanction of the senate. The model of ancient freedom
was preserved in its deliberations and decrees ; and wise princes,
who respected the prejudices of the Roman people, were in
some measure obliged to assume the language and behaviour
suitable to the general and first magistrate of the republic. In
the armies and in the provinces, they displayed the dignity of
monarchs ; and, when they fixed their residence at a distance
from the capital, they for ever laid aside the dissimulation which
Augustus had recommended to his successors. In the exercise
of the legislative as well as of the executive power, the sovereign
advised with his ministers, instead of consulting the great
council of the nation. The name of the senate was mentioned
with honour till the last period of the empire ; the vanity of its
members was still flattered with honorary distinctions ;i**i but the
assembly, which had so long been the source, and so long the
instrument, of power, was respectfully suffered to sink into
oblivion. The senate of Rome, losing all connexion with the
Imperial court and the actual constitution, was left a venerable
but useless monument of antiquity on the Capitoline hiU.
civUmagiB- When the Roman princes had lost sight of the senate and of
aside their ancient capital, they easily forgot the origin and natm'e of
their legal power. The civil offices of consul, of proconsul, of
censor, and of tribune, by the union of which it had been
foi-med, betrayed to the people its republican extraction.
Those modest titles were laid aside ; ^^^ and, if they still dis-
tinguished their high station by the appellation of Emperor,
100 They were old corps stationed in lUyricmn; and, according to the ancient
establishment, they each consisted of six thousand men. They had acquired much
reputation by the use of the plumbatee, or darts loaded with lead. Each soldier
carried five of these, which he darted from a considerable distance, with great
strength and dexterity. See Vegetius, i. 17.
^01 See the Theodosian Code, 1. vi. tit. ii. with Godefroy's commentary.
"^^ See the 12th dissertation in Spanheim's excellent work De Usu Numismatum.
From medals, inscriptions, and historians, he examines every title separately, and
traces it from Augustus to the moment of its disappearing.
OF THE ROMAN EMPIRE 381
or Imperator, that word was understood in a new and more
dignified sense, and no longer denoted the general of the
Roman armies, but the sovereign of the Roman world. The imperial
name of Emperor, which was at first of a mihtary nature, was SSSi ^ **"*
associated with another of a more servile kind. The epithet
of DoMiNUS, or Lord, in its primitive signification, was expressive,
not of the authority of a prince over his subjects, or of a com-
mander over his soldiers, but of the despotic power of a master
over his domestic slaves. ^^^ Viewing it in that odious light, it
had been rejected with abhon-ence by the first Csesars. Their
resistance insensibly became more feeble, and the name less
odious ; till at length the style of our Lord and Emperor was not
only bestowed by flattery, but was regularly admitted into the
laws and public monuments. Such lofty epithets were sufficient
to elate and satisfy the most excessive vanity ; and, if the
successors of Diocletian still declined the title of King, it seems
to have been the effect not so much of their moderation as of
their delicacy. Wherever the Latin tongue was in use (and it
was the language of government throughout the empire), the
Imperial title, as it was peculiar to themselves, conveyed a more
respectable idea than the name of king, which they must have
shared with an himdred barbarian chieftains ; or which, at the
best, they could derive only from Romulus or from Tarquin.
But the sentiments of the East were very different from those
of the West. From the earliest period of history, the sovereigns
of Asia had been celebrated in the Greek language by the title
of Basileus, or King ; and since it was considered as the first
distinction among men, it was soon employed by the servile
provincials of the East in their humble addresses to the Roman
throne.104 Even the attributes, or at least the titles, of the
Divinity, were usurped by Diocletian and Maximian, who trans-
mitted them to a succession of Christian emperors, ^o^ Such
103 Pliny {in Panegyr. c. 3, 55, &c.) spesks of Dominus -with execraXion, assjmony-
mous to Tyrant, and opposite to Prince. And the same Pliny regularly gives that
title (in the tenth book of his epistles) to his friend rather than master, the virtuous
Trajan. This strange expression puzzles the commentators who think, and the
translators who can write. ^ , -
lo^Synesius de Regno, Edit. Petav. p. 15. I am indebted for this quotation to
the Abb6 de la Bl^terie. „ , t.
105 See Van Dale de Consecratio'ne, p. 534, &c. It was customary for the
emperors to mention (in the preamble of laws) their numen, sacred majesty, dtvmt
oracles, ^c. According to Tillemont, Gregory of Nazianzen complams most
bitterly of the profanation, especially when it was practised by an Arian emperor,
[" Gregory of Nazianzen " Is as incorrect an expression as " Thomas of Aquinate"
would be The name of Gregory's birthplace is Nazianzus, so that he may be
distinguished from his nt mesake of Nyssa, either as Gregory of Nasianzus, or
as Gregory Nazianzene.
382
THE DECLINE AND FALL
Diocletian
assumes the
diadem, and
Introduces
the Pei-alan
ceremonial
extravagant compliments^ however, soon lose their impiety by
losing their meaning; and w^hen the ear is once accustomed
to the sound, they are heard with indiflPerence as vague though
excessive professions of respect.
From the time of Augustus to that of Diocletian, the Roman
princes, conversing in a familiar manner among their fellow-
citizens, were saluted only with the same respect that was
usually paid to senators and magistrates. Their principal dis-
tinction was the Imperial or military robe of purple ; whilst the
senatorial garment was marked by a broad, and the equestrian
by a narrow, band or stripe of the same honourable colour. The
pride, or rather the policy, of Diocletian engaged that artful
prince to introduce the stately magnificence of the court of
Persia. ^*^^ He ventured to assume the diadem, an ornament de-
tested by the Romans as the odious ensign of royalty, and the
use of which had been considered as the most desperate act of
the madness of Caligula.^^^ It was no more than a broad white
fillet set with pearls, which encircled the emperor s head. The
sumptuous robes of Diocletian and his successors were of silk
and gold ; and it is remarked, with indignation, that even their
shoes were studded with the most precious gems. The access
to their sacred person was every day rendered more difficult, by
the institution of new forms and ceremonies. The avenues of
the palace were strictly guarded by the various schools, as they
began to be called, of domestic officers. The interior apartments
were intrusted to the jealous vigilance of the eunuchs ; the in-
crease of whose numbers and influence was the most infalhble
symptom of the progress of despotism. When a subject was
at length admitted to the Imperial presence, he was obliged,
whatever might be his rank, to fall prostrate on the ground, and
to adore, according to the eastern fashion, the divinity of his
lord and master. ^^^ Diocletian was a man of sense, who, in the
course of private as well as public life, had formed a just estimate
both of himself and of mankind : nor is it easy to conceive that,
in substituting the manners of Persia to those of Rome, he was
seriously actuated by so mean a principle as that of vanity. He
106 See Spanheim de Usu Numismat. Dissert. xiL
10^ [Aurelian wore the diadem (Aurel. Victor, Epit. 35, 5), and is styled domino
et deo on coins. The senate was rigidly excluded from all ^are in the government ;
and the mark S.C. no longer appears on the copper coinage. He was popularly
called " the schoolmaster of the senators". Thus Aurelian may be said to have
begun the "absolutism," which Diocletian elaborated.]
108 Aurelius Victor. Eutropius, ix. 26. It appears by the Panegyrists that the
Romans were soon reconciled to the name and ceremony of adoration.
OF THE ROMAN EMPIRE 883
flattered himself that an ostentation of splendour and luxury
would subdue the imagination of the multitude ; that the
monarch would be less exposed to the rude licence of the people
and the soldiers, as his person was secluded from the public
view ; and that habits of submission would insensibly be produc-
tive of sentiments of veneration. Like the modesty aflPected by
Augustus, the state maintained by Diocletian was a theatrical
representation ; but it must be confessed that, of the two
comedies, the former was of a much more liberal and manly
character than the latter. It was the aim of the one to disguise,
and the object of the other to display, the unbounded power
which the emperors possessed over the Roman world.
Ostentation was the first principle of the new system instituted New form of
by Diocletian. The second was division. He divided the em- tration two
pire, the provinces, and every branch of the civil as well as mill- two cseaajfi
tary administration. He multiplied the wheels of the machine
of government, and rendered its operations less rapid but more
secure. Whatever advantages, and whatever defects, might
attend these innovations, they must be ascribed in a very great
degree to the first inventor ; but, as the new frame of policy
was graduaUy improved and completed by succeeding princes,
it will be more satisfactory to delay the consideration of it till
the season of its full maturity and perfection. ^^^ Reserving,
therefore, for the reign of Constantine a more exact picture of
the new empire, we shall content ourselves with describing the
principal and decisive outline, as it was traced by the hand of
Diocletian, He had associated three colleagues in the exercise
of the supreme power ; and, as he was convinced that the abilities
of a single man were inadequate to the public defence, he con-
sidered the joint administration of four princes not as a tempo-
rary expedient, but as a fimdamental law of the constitution.
It was his intention that the two elder princes should be dis-
tinguished by the use of the diadem, and the title of Augusti :
that, as affection or esteem might direct their choice, they should
regularly call to their assistance two subordinate colleagues ;
and that the Ccesars, rising in their turn to the first rank, should
"9 The innovations introduced by Diocletian are chiefly deduced,— ist, from
some very strong passages in Lactantius ; and 2dly, from the new and various
offices, which, in the Theodosian code, appear already established in the beginning
of the reign of Constantine. [It is only in some cases that we can distinguish with
probabihty, and only in a few with certainty, between the work of Diocletian and
that of Constantine in organizing the new constitution of the Empire. An editor
must follow the author's judicious example and reserve his supplementary remarks
for the fuller picture in chao. xvii.]
of tazei
384 THE DECLINE AND FALL
supply an uninterrupted succession of emperors. The empire
was divided into four parts. The East and Italy were the most
honourable, the Danube and the Rhine the most laborious
stations. The former claimed the presence of the Augusii, the
latter were intrusted to the administration of the Ccesars. The
strength of the legions was in the hands of the four partners of
sovereignty, and the despair of successively vanquishing four
formidable rivals might intimidate the ambition of an aspiring
general. In their civil government, the emperors were supposed
to exercise the undivided power of the monarch, and their edicts,
inscribed with their joint names, were received in all the pro-
vinces, as promulgated by their mutual councils and authority.^^^
Notwithstanding these precautions, the political union of the
Roman world was gradually dissolved, and a principle of division
was introduced, which, in the course of a few years, occasioned
the perpetual separation of the eastern and western empires.
Increase The svstem of Diocletian was accompanied with another very
material disadvantage, which cannot even at present be totally
overlooked ; a more expensive estabUshment, and consequently
an increase of taxes, and the oppression of the people. Instead
of a modest family of slaves and freedmen, such as had contented
the simple greafness of Augustus and Trajan, three or four
magnificent courts were estabhshed in the various parts of the
empire, and as many Roman kings contended with each other
and with the Persian monarch for the vain superiority of pomp
and luxury. The number of ministers, of magistrates, of officers,
and of servants, who filled the different departments of the
state, was multipHed beyond the example of former times ; and
(if we may borrow the warm expression of a contemporary)
*' when the proportion of those who received exceeded the pro-
portion of those who contributed, the provinces were oppressed
by the weight of tributes "M^ From this period to the extinction
of the empire, it would be easy to deduce an uninterrupted series
of clamours and complaints . According to his religion and situation,
each writer chooses either Diocletian, or Constantine, or Valens,
or Theodosius, for the object of his invectives ; but they unani-
mously agree in representing the burden of the public impositions,
and particularly the land-tax and capitation, as the intolerable
^^ [The consulate was in the fourth and fifth centuries the chief symbol of the
theoretical unity of the Empire. Before the end of the fourth century the custom
was established that one consul was appointed by the Eastern, the other by the
Western, Augustus.]
^ Lactant. de. M. P. c. 7.
OF THE ROMAN EMPIRE 385
and increasing grievance of their own times. From such a con-
currence, an impartial historian, who is obliged to extract truth
from satire as well as from panegyric, will be inclined to divide
the blame among the princes whom they accuse, and to ascribe
their exactions much less to their personal vices than to the
uniform system of their administration. The emperor Diocletian
was, indeed, the author of that system ; but during his reign
the growing evil was confined within the bounds of modesty
and discretion, and he deserves the reproach of establishing
pernicious precedents, rather than of exercising actual oppres-
sion.112 It may ^y^ added, that his revenues were managed with
prudent economy ; and that, after all the current expenses were
discharged, there still remained in the Imperial treasury an
ample position either for judicious liberality or for any emergency
of the state.
It was in the twenty-first year of his reign that Diocletian Abdication of
executed his memorable resolution of abdicating the empire ; an and Maxim-
action more naturally to have been expected from the elder
or the younger Antoninus, than from a prince who had never
practised the lessons of philosophy either in the attainment or
in the use of supreme power. Diocletian acquired the glory of
giving to the world the first example of a resignationj^^^ which
has not been very frequently imitated by succeeding monarchs. Keaembiance
The parallel of Charles the Fifth, however, will naturally offer Hfth
itself to our mind, not only since the eloquence of a modern
historian has rendered that name so familiar to an English
reader, but from the very striking resemblance between the
characters of the two emperors, whose political abilities were
superior to their military genius, and whose specious virtues
were much less the effect of nature than of art. The abdication
of Charles appears to have been hastened by the vicissitude of
fortune ; and the disappointment of his favourite schemes urged
him to rehnquish a power which he found inadequate to his
ambition. But the reign of Diocletian had flowed with a tide
of uninterrupted success ; nor was it till after he had vanquished
all his enemies, and accomplished all his designs, that he seems
lis Indicta lex nova quae sane illorum temponim modestii tolerabilis, in perni-
ciem processit. AureL Victor [Cses. 39] , who has treated the character of Diocletian
with good sense, though in bad Latin.
11* Solus omnium post conditum Romanum Iraperium, qui ex tanto fastigio
sponte ad privatse vitae statum civilitatemque remearet. Eutrop. ix. 28. [The ex-
pression of Eutropius is more accurate than that of Gibbon. We have an instance
of an earlier resignation in the case of Ptolemy S6t6r (abdicated 285, died 283,
B.C.).]
25 VOL. I.
386 THE DECLINE AND FALL
to have entertained any serious thoughts of resigning the
empire. Neither Charles nor Diocletian were arrived at a very
advanced period of life ; since the one was only fifty-five, and
the other was no more than fifty-nine, years of age ; but the
active life of those princes, their wars and journeys, the cares of
royalty, and their application to business, had already impaired
their constitution, and brought on the infirmities of a premature
old age. 11*
A.D. 304. Notwithstanding the severity of a very cold and rainy
ofSfocietian winter, Diocletian left Italy soon after the ceremony of his
triumph, and began his progress towards the East round the
circuit of the lUyrian provinces. From the inclemency of the
weather, and the fatigue of the journey, he soon contracted a
slow illness ; and, though he made easy marches, and was
generally carried in a close litter, his disorder, before he arrived
at Nicomedia, about the end of the summer, was become very
serious and alarming. During the whole winter he was con-
fined to his palace ; his danger inspired a general and unaffected
concern ; but the people could only judge of the various altera-
tions of his health from the joy or consternation which they
discovered in the countenances and behaviour of his attendants.
The rumour of his death was for some time universally believed,
and it was supposed to be concealed with a view to prevent
the troubles that might have happened during the absence of
the Caesar Galerius. At length, however, on the first of March,
Diocletian once more appeared in public, but so pale and
emaciated that he could scarcely have been recognized by those
Hii prudenca to whom his pcrson was the most familiar. It was time to put
an end. to the painful struggle, which he had sustained during
more than a year, between the care of his health and that of his
dignity. The former required indulgence and relaxation, the
latter compelled him to direct, from the bed of sickness, the
administration of a great empire. He resolved to pass the
remainder of his days in honourable repose, to place his glory
beyond the reach of fortune, and to relinquish the theatre of
the world to his younger and more active associates.^i^
^1* The particulars of the journey and illness are taken from Lactantius (c. 17),
who may sometimes be admitted as an evidence of public facts, though very seldom
of private anecdotes.
nsAurelius Victor [ib.] ascribes the abdication, which had been so variously
accounted for, to two causes; ist, Diocletian's contempt of ambition; and 2dly,
His apprehension of impending troubles. One of the panegyrists (vi. 9) mentions
the age and infirmities of Diocletian as a very natiu-al reason for his retirement,
[His illness was doubtless the chief cause of his abdication.]
OF THE EOMAN EMPIRE 387
The ceremony of his abdication was performed in a spacious
plain, about three miles from Nicomedia. The emperor
ascended a lofty throne, and in a speech, full of reason and
dignity, declared his intention, both to the people and to the
soldiers who were assembled on this extraordinary occasion.
As soon as he had divested himself of the purple, he withdrew ad. sob.
from the gazing multitude, and, traversing the city in a covered '^^
chariot, proceeded, without delay, to the favourite retirement
which he had chosen in his native country of Dalmatia. On
the same day, which was the first of May,^^® Maximian, as it had
been previously concerted, made his resignation of the Imperial
dignity at Milan. Even in the splendour of the Roman triumph, ooMiiance of
Diocletian had meditated hisdesignof abdicating the government.
As he wished to secure the obedience of Maximian, he exacted
from him either a general assurance that he would submit his
actions to the authority of his benefactor, or a particular promise
that he would descend from the throne, whenever he should
receive the advice and the example. This engagement, though
it was confirmed by the solemnity of an oath before the altar of
the Capitoline Jupiter, ^^^ would have proved a feeble restraint
on the fierce temper of Maximian, whose passion was the love
of power, and who neither desired present tranquillity nor future
reputation. But he yielded, however reluctantly, to the
ascendant which his wiser colleague had acquired over him, and
retired, immediately after his abdication, to a villa in Lucania,
where it was almost impossible that such an impatient spirit
could find any lasting tranquillity.
Diocletian, who, from a servile orisin, had raised himself to EetiMm«t of
,, ' ' , , . ®/>i-T/>- -1. Diocletian at
the throne, passed the nme last years of his lire m a private saiona
condition. Reason had dictated, and content seems to have
accompanied, his retreat, in which he enjoyed for a long time
the respect of those princes to whom he had resigned the
possession of the world.^i^ It is seldom that minds long
exercised in business have formed any habits of conversing with ^
themselves, and in the loss of power they principally regret the
ii«The difficulties as well as mistakes attending the dates both of the year and
of the day of Diocletian's abdication are perfectly cleared up by TiUemont, Hist,
des Empereurs, torn. iv. p. 525, Note 19, and by Pagi ad annum.
11^ See Panegyr. Veter. vi. 9 [8] . The oration was pronounced after Maximian
had reassumed the purple.
1^8 Euraenius pays him a very fine compliment, " At enim diyinmn ilium virum,
qui primus imperium et participavit et posuit, consilii et facti sui non poenitet ;
nee amisisse se putat quod sponte transcripsit. Felix beatusque vere quem vestra,
tantorum principum, colunt obsequia privatum," Panegyr. Vet. vii. 15.
EOpby
388 THE DECLINE AND FALL
want of occupation. The amusements of letters and of devotion,
which afford so many resources in solitude, were incapable of
fixing the attention of Diocletian ; but he had preserved, or at
least he soon recovered, a taste for the most innocent as well as
natural pleasures ; and his leisure hours were sufficiently employed
HiB phiio- in building, planting, and gardening. His answer to Maximian
is deservedly celebrated. He was solicited by that restless old
man to reassume the reins of government and the Imperial
purple. He rejected the temptation with a smile of pity,
calmly observing that, if he could show Maximian the cabbages
which he had planted with his own hands at Salona, he should
no longer be lu-ged to relinquish the enjoyment of happiness
for the pursuit of power .^^^ In his conversations with his friends,
he frequently acknowledged that, of all arts, the most difficult
was the art of reigning ; and he expressed himself on that
favourite topic with a degree of warmth which could be the
result only of experience. " How often," was he accustomed
to say, " is it the interest of four or five ministers to combine
together to deceive their sovereign ! Secluded from mankind
by his exalted dignity, the truth is concealed from his know-
ledge ; he can see only with their eyes, he hears nothing but
their misrepresentations. He confers the most important
offices upon vice and weakness, and disgraces the most virtuous
and deserving among his subjects. By such infamous arts,"
added Diocletian, '' the best and wisest princes are sold to the
venal corruption of their courtiers." ^^o A just estimate of
greatness, and the assurance of immortal fame, improve our
relish for the pleasures of retirement ; but the Roman emperor
had filled too important a character in the world to enjoy with-
out allay the comforts and security of a private condition. It
was impossible that he could remain ignorant of the troubles
which afflicted the empire after his abdication. It was im-
possible that he could be indifferent to their consequences.
Fear, sorrow and discontent sometimes pursued him into the
solitude of Salona. His tenderness, or at least his pride, was
deeply wounded by the misfortunes of his wife and daughter ;
and the last moments of Diocletian were embittered by some
affronts, which Licinius and Constantine might have spared the
father of so many emperors, and the first author of their own
119 We are obliged to the younger Victor [Epit. 39] for this celebrated bon mot
Eutropius [ix. 28J mentions the thing in a more general manner.
120 Hist. August, p. 223, 224 [xxvi. 43]. Vopiscus had learned this conTCTsation
from his father.
OF THE ROMAN EMPIEE 389
fortune. A report^ though of a very doubtful nature, has reached and death,
our times, that he prudently withdrew himself from their power [? aj). sie]
by a voluntary death. ^^^
Before we dismiss the consideration of the life and character DBscription of
of Diocletian, we may, for a moment, direct our view to the the adjacent
place of his retirement. Salona, a principal city of his native ""^ ^
province of Dalmatia, was near two hundred Roman miles (ac-
cording to the measurement of the public highways) from Aquileia
and the confines of Italy, and about two hundred and seventy
from Sirmium, the usual residence of the emperors whenever
they visited the Illyrian frontier.^^^ a miserable village still
preserves the name of Salona, but so late as the sixteenth cen-
tury, the remains of a theatre, and a confused prospect of broken
arches and marble columns, continued to attest its ancient
splendour.^2^ About six or seven miles from the city, Diocletian
constructed a magnificent palace, and we may infer from the
greatness of the work, how long he had meditated his design of
abdicating the empire. The choice of a spot which united all
that could contribute either to health or to luxury did not require
the partiality of a native. " The soil was dry and fertile, the air
is pure and wholesome, and, though extremely hot during the
summer months, this country seldom feels those sultry and
noxious winds to which the coast of Istria and some parts of
Italy are exposed. The views from the palace are no less beau-
tiful than the soil and climate were inviting. Towards the west
lies the fertile shore that stretches along the Hadriatic, in which
a number of small islands are scattered in such a manner as to
give this part of the sea the appearance of a great lake. On the
north side lies the bay, which led to the ancient city of Salona,
and the country beyond it, appearing in sight, forms a proper
contrast to that more extensive prospect of water, which the
Hadriatic presents both to the south and to the east. Towards
the north, the view is terminated by high and irregular moun-
tains, situated at a proper distance, and, in many places, covered
with villages, woods and vineyards." ^^4
121 The younger Victor [ib.] slightly mentions the report. But, as Diocletian had
disobliged a powerful and successful party, his memory has been loaded with every
crime and misfortune. It ha^ been affirmed that he died raving mad, that he was
condemned as a criminal by the Roman senate, &c.
122 See the Itiner. p. 269, 272, edit. Wessel. _ / - ^ „ - •
i23The Abate Fortis, in his Viaggio m Dalmazia, p. 43 (pnnted at Venice, m
the year 1774 in two small volumes in quarto), quotes a Ms. account of the anti-
quities of Salona, composed by Giambattista Giustiniani about the middle of the
xvith century [See Mr. Jackson's work on Dalmatia (cp. above, p. 22) ; and
Mr. Freeman' essay in Historical Essays 2nd seri^.]
124 Adam's Antiquities of Diocletian s Palace at Spalatro, p. 6. We may add a
390 THE DECLINE AND FALL
ofDiocie- Though Constantine, from a very obvious prejudice, affects to
tian's paiae* mention the palace of Diocletian with contempt, ^25 y^t o^g of
their successors, who could only see it in a neglected and muti-
lated state, celebrates its magnificence in terms of the highest
admiration ,126 jt covered an extent of ground consisting of
between nine and ten English acres. The form was quadran-
gular, flanked with sixteen towers. Two of the sides were near
six hundred, and the other two near seven hundred, feet in
length. The whole was constructed of a beautiful freestone,
extracted from the neighbouring quarries of Trau or Tragutium,^^?
and very little inferior to marble itself. Four streets, intersecting
each other at right angles, divided the several parts of this great
edifice, and the approach to the principal apartment was from a
very stately entrance, which is still denominated the Golden Gate.
The approach was terminated by a peristylium of granite columns,
on one side of which we discover the square temple of iEsculapius,
on the other the octagon temple of Jupiter. The latter of those
deities Diocletian revered as the patron of his fortunes, the
former as the protector of his health. By comparing the present
remains with the precepts of Vitruvius, the several parts of the
building, the baths, bedchamber, the atrium, the basilica, and the
Cyzicene, Corinthian, and Egyptian halls have been described
with some degree of precision, or at least of probability. Their
forms were various, their proportions just, but they were all
attended with two imperfections, very repugnant to our modern
notions of taste and conveniency. These stately rooms had
neither windows nor chimneys. They were lighted from the
top (for the building seems to have consisted of no more than
one storey), and they received their heat by the help of pipes
that were conveyed along the walls. The range of principal
apartments was protected towards the south-west by a portico
five hundred and seventeen feet long, which must have formed
a very noble and delightful walk, when the beauties of painting
and sculpture were added to those of the prospect.
circumstance or two from the Abate Fortis ; the little stream of the Hyader, men-
tioned by Lucan, produces most exquisite trout, which a sagacious writer, perhaps
a' monk, supposes to have been one of the principal reasons that determined
Diocletian in the choice of his retirement. Fortis, p. 45. The same author (p.
38) observes that a taste for agriculture is reviving at Spalatro ; and that an
experimental farm has lately been established near the city, by a society of gentle-
men.
126 Constantin, Orat. ad Coetum Sanct. c. 25. In this sermon, the emperor, or
the bishop who composed it for him, affects to relate the miserable end of all the
persecutors of the church.
126 Constantin. Porphyr. de Statu Imper. p. 86 [iii. p. 125, ed. Bonn].
127 [Tragurium is the name ; now Trail. ]
OF THE ROMAN EMPIRE 391
Had this magnificent edifice remained in a solitary country, it
would have been exposed to the ravages of time ; but it might,
perhaps, have escaped the rapacious industry of man. The
village of Aspalathus,i28 and, long afterwards, the provincial
town of Spalatro, have grown out of its ruins. The Golden Gate
now opens into the market place. St. John the Baptist has
usurped the honours of ^sculapius ; and the temple of Jupiter,
under the protection of the Virgin, is converted into the cathe-
dral church. For this account of Diocletian*s palace we are
principally indebted to an ingenious artist of our own time and
country, whom a very liberal curiosity carried into the heart of
Dalmatia.129 gyt there is room to suspect that the elegance of Decline of the
his designs and engraving has somewhat flattered the objects "^
which it was their purpose to represent. We are informed by a
more recent and very judicious traveller that the awful ruins of
Spalatro are not less expressive of the decline of the arts than
of the greatness of the Roman empire in the time of Diocletian, ^^o
If such was indeed the state of architecture, we must naturally
believe that painting and sculpture had experienced a still more
sensible decay. The practice of architecture is directed by a
few general and even mechanical rules. But sculpture, and,
above all, painting, propose to themselves the imitation not only
of the forms of nature, but of the characters and passions of the
human soul. In those sublime arts, the dexterity of the hand
is of little avail, unless it is animated by fancy and guided by
the most correct taste and observation.
It is almost unnecessary to remark that the civil distractions of letters
of the empire, the licence of the soldiers, the inroads of the bar-
barians, and the progress of despotism had proved very un-
favourable to genius, and even to learning. The succession of
Illyrian princes restored the* empire, without restoring the
sciences. Their mihtary education was not calculated to inspire
them with the love of letters ; and even the mind of Diocletian,
however active and capacious in business, was totally uninformed
by study or speculation. The professions of law and physic are
128 D'Anville, Gtographie Ancienne, torn. i. p. 162.
iM Messieurs Adam and Clerisseau, attended by two draughtsmen, visited Spa-
latro in the month of July, 1757. The magnificent work which their journey pro-
duced was published in London seven years afterwards.
1301 shall quote the words of the Abate Fortis. " E'bastevolmente nota agli
amatori dell' Architettura, e dell' Antichiti, I'opera del Signer Adams, che a donato
molto a que' superbi vestigi coU'abituale eleganza del suo toccalapis e del bulino.
In generale la rozzezza del scalpello, e'l cattivo gusto del secolo vi gareggiano colla
magnificenza del fabricato." See Viaggio in Dalmazia, p. 40.
Flat-onlstB
392 THE DECLINE AND FALL
of such common use and certain profit that they will always
secure a sufficient number of practitioners endowed with a
reasonable degree of abilities and knowledge ; but it does not
appear that the students in those two faculties appeal to any
celebrated masters who have flourished within that period. The
voice of poetry was silent. History was reduced to dry and
confused abridgments, alike destitute of amusement and instruc-
tion. A languid and affected eloquence was still retained in the
pay and service of the emperors, who encouraged not any arts
except those which contributed to the gratification of their pride
or the defence of their power.^^i
Tjienew_ The declining age of learning and of mankind is marked,
however, by the rise and rapid progress of the new Platonists.
The school of Alexandria silenced those of Athens ; and the
ancient sects enrolled themselves under the banners of the
more fashionable teachers, who recommended their system by
the novelty of their method and the austerity of their manners.
Several of these masters, Ammonius, Plotinus, Amelius, and
Porphjnry,!^^ ^ere men of profound thought and intense
application; but, by mistaking the true object of philosophy,
their labours contributed much less to improve than to corrupt
the human understanding. The knowledge that is suited to
our situation and powers, the whole compass of moral, natural,
and mathematical science, was neglected by the new Platonists,
whilst they exhausted their strength in the verbal disputes of
metaphysics, attempted to explore the secrets of the invisible
world, and studied to reconcile Aristotle with Plato, on subjects
of which both these philosophers were as ignorant as the rest
of mankind. Consuming their reason in these deep but un-
substantial meditations, their minds were exposed to illusions of
fancy. They flattered themselves that they possessed the
secret of disengaging the soul from its corporeal prison ; claimed
a familiar intercourse with daemons and spirits ; and, by a very
singular revolution, converted the study of philosophy into that
131 The orator Eumenius was secretary to the emperors Maximian and Constan-
tius, and Professor of Rhetoric in the College of Autun. His salary was six hundred
thousand sesterces, which, according to the lowest computation of that age, must
have exceeded three thousand pounds a year. He generously requested the per-
mission of employing it in rebuilding the college. See his Oration De restaurandis
scholis ; which, though not exempt from vanity, may atone for his panegyrics.
182 Porphyry died about the time of Diocletian's abdication. The life of his
master Plotinus, which he composed, will give us the most complete idea of the
genius of the sect, and the manners of its professors. This very curious piece is
inserted in Fabricius, Bibliotheca Grseca. tom. iv. p. 88-148 [and is included in
the volume of Didot's library, which contains Diogenes Laertius].
OF THE ROMAN EMPIEE 393
of magic. The ancient sages had derided the popular super-
stition ; after disguising its extravagance by the thin pretence
of allegory, the disciplines of Plotinus and Porphyry became its
most zealous defenders. As they agreed with the Christians in
a few mysterious points of faith, they attacked the remainder of
their theological system with all the fury of civil war The new
Platonists would scarcely deserve a place in the history of
science, but in that of the church the mention of them will
very frequently occur.
394 THE DECLINE AND FALL
CHAPTER XIV
Troubles after the abdication of Diocletian — Death of ConstanUus —
Elevation of Coiistajiiine and Maxentius — Six Emperors at the
same time — Death of Maximian and Galcrius — Victories of
Constantine over Maxentius and Licinius — Reunion of the
Empire under the authority of Constantine
■feriodof The balance of power established by Diocletian subsisted no
aS^c^Sion. longer than while it was sustained by the firm and dexterous
A D. 305-323 jj^nd of thc founder. It required such a fortunate mixture of
different tempers and abilities as could scarcely be found, or even
expected, a second time ; two emperors without jealousy^ two
Caesars without ambition, and the same general interest invari-
ably pursued by four independent princes. The abdication of
Diocletian and Maximian was succeeded by eighteen years of
discord and confusion. The empire was afflicted by ^ye civil
wars ; and the remainder of the time was not so much a state
of tranquillity as a suspension of arms between several hostile
monarchs, who, viewing each other with an eye of fear and
hatred, strove to increase their respective forces at the expense
of their subjects.
Character and As soon as Dioclctian and Maximian had resigned the purple,
ooStantiM their station, according to the rules of the new constitution, was
filled by the two Caesars, Constantius and Galerius, who immediately
assumed the title of Augustus.^ The honours of seniority and
precedence were allowed to the former of those princes, and he
continued, under a new appellation, to administer his ancient
department of Gaul, Spain,^ and Britain. The government of
those ample provinces was sufficient to exercise his talents, and
to satisfy his ambition. Clemency, temperance, and moderation
distinguished the amiable character of Constantius^ and his
* M. De Montesquieu (Considerations sur la Grandeur et la Decadence des
Romains, c. 17) supposes, on the authority of Orosius and Eusebius, that, on this
occasion, the empire, for the first time, was really divided into two parts. It is
difficult, however, to discover in what respect the plan of Galerius dififered from
that of Diocletian.
* [See below, note 19.]
OF THE ROMAN EMPIRE 395
fortunate subjects had frequently occasion to compare the virtues
of their sovereign with the passions of Maximian, and even with
the arts of Diocletian. ^ Instead of imitating their eastern pride
and magnificence, Constantius preserved the modesty of a Roman
prince. He declared, with unaffected sincerity, that his most
valued treasure was in the hearts of his people, and that, when-
ever the dignity of the throne or the danger of the state required
any extraordinary supply, he could depend with confidence on
their gratitude and hberality.* The provincials of Gaul, Spain,
and Britain, sensible of his worth and of their own happiness,
reflected with anxiety on the declining health of the emperor
Constantius, and the tender age of his numerous family, the
issue of his second marriage with the daughter of Maximian.
The stern temper of Galerius was cast in a very different ofoaierioa
mould ; and, while he commanded the esteem of his subjects, he
seldom condescended to solicit their affections. His fame in
arms, and, above all, the success of the Persian war, had elated
his haughty mind, which was naturally impatient of a superior,
or even of an equal. If it were possible to rely on the partial
testimony of an injudicious writer, we might ascribe the abdica-
tion of Diocletian to the menaces of Galerius, and relate the
particulars of a private conversation between the two princes,
in which the former discovered as much pusillanimity as the
latter displayed ingratitude and arrogance.^ But these obscure
anecdotes are sufficiently refuted by an impartial view of the
character and conduct of Diocletian. Whatever might otherwise
have been his Intentions, if he had apprehended any danger
from the violence of Galerius, his good sense would have in-
structed him to prevent the ignominious contest ; and, as he had
held the sceptre with glory, he would have resigned it without
disgrace.
After the elevation of Constantius and Galerius to the rank
3 Hie non modo amabilis, sed etiam venerabilis Gallis fuit; praecipue qu6d
Diocletiani suspectam prudentiam, et Maximiani sanguinariam violentiam imperio
ejus evaserant. Eutrop. Breviar. x. i.
^Divitiis Provincialium {moi. provinciarufn) z.c privatorum studens, fisci com-
moda non admodum affectans ; ducensque melius publicas opes a privatis haberi,
quam intra unum claustrum reservari. Id. ibid. He carried this maxim so far, that
whenever he gave an entertainment he was obliged to borrow a service of plate.
9 Lactantius de Mort. Persecutor, c. i8. Wece the particulars of this conference
more consistent with truth and decency, we might still ask, how they came to the
knowledge of an obscure rhetorician ? But there are many historians who put us
in mind of the admirable saying of the great Cond^ to Cardinal de Retz; *'Ces
coquins nous font parler et agir, comme ils auroient fait eux-mSmes L notre
place "
The two
Cxsars, Se-
vemsand
Mazlmln
396 THE DECLINE AND FALL
of Augusiij two new CcBsars were required to supply their place,
and to complete the system of the Imperial government. Dio-
cletian was sincerely desirous of withdrawing himself from the
world ; he considered Galerius, who had married his daughter,
as the firmest support of his family and of the empire ; and he
consented, without reluctance, that his successor should assume
the merit as well as the envy of the important nomination. It
was fixed without consulting the interest or inclination of the
princes of the West. Each of them had a son who was arrived
at the age of manhood, and who might have been deemed the
most natural candidates for the vacant honour. But the im-
potent resentment of Maximian was no longer to be dreaded,
and the moderate Constantius, though he might despise the
dangers, was humanely apprehensive of the calamities, of civil
war. The two persons whom Galerius promoted to the rank of
Caesar were much better suited to serve the views of his ambition ;
and their principal recommendation seems to have consisted in
the want of merit or personal consequence. The first of these
was Daza, or, as he was afterwards called, Maximin,^ whose
mother was the sister of Galerius. The unexperienced youth
still betrayed by his manners and language his rustic education,
when, to his own astonishment as well as that of the world, he
was invested by Diocletian with the purple, exalted to the
dignity of Caesar, and intrusted with the sovereign command of
Egypt and Syria.'^ At the same time, Severus, a faithful servant,
addicted to pleasure, but not incapable of business, was sent to
Milan, to receive from the reluctant hands of Maximian the
Csesarean ornaments, and the possession of Italy and Africa.^
According to the forms of the constitution, Severus acknow-
ledged the supremacy of the western emperor ; but he was
absolutely devoted to the commands of his benefactor Galerius,
who, reserving to himself the intermediate countries from the
confines of Italy to those of Syria, firmly established his power
over three-fourths of the monarchy. In the full confidence that
the approaching death of Constantius would leave him sole
master of the Roman world, we are assured that he had arranged
in his mind a long succession of future princes, and that he
* [Galerius Valerius Maximinus.]
7 Sublatus nuper a pecoribus et silvis (says Lactantius, de M. P. c. 19) statim
Scutarius, continuo Protector, mox Tribunus, postridie Caesar, accepit Orientem,
Aurelius Victor is too liberal in giving him the whole portion of Diocletian,
8 His diligence and fidelity are acknowledged even by Lactantius, de M. P.
c. 18, fName' Flavius Valerius Severus.]
OF THE ROMAN EMPIRE 397
meditated his own retreat from public life after he should have
accomplished a glorious reign of about twenty years. ^
But, within less than eighteen months, two unexpected Ambition of
revolutions overturned the ambitious schemes of Galerius. appointed uy
The hopes of uniting the western provinces to his empire were tioM"° "
disappointed by the elevation of Constantine ; whilst Italy and
Africa were lost by the successful revolt of Maxentius.
I. The fame of Constantine has rendered posterity attentive Sirth, ednc*
r ^ tlon and
to the most minute circumstances of his life and actions. The J"*Jg|^L,
place of his birth, as well as the condition of his mother Helena, a.d.2m
have been the subject not only of literary but of national
disputes. Notwithstanding the recent tradition, which assigns
for her father a British king, we are obliged to confess that
Helena was the daughter of an innkeeper ;^o but at the same
time we may defend the legality of her marriage against those
who have represented her as the concubine of Constantius.^^
The great Constantine was most probably born at Naissus, in
Dacia,^^ and it is not surprising that, in a family and province
'These schemes, however, rest only on the very doubtful authority of Lactantius,
de M. P. c. 20.
10 This tradition, unknown to the contemporaries of Constantine, was invented
in the darkness of monasteries, was embellished by Jeffrey of Monmouth and the
writers of the xiith century, has been defended by our antiquarians of the last age,
and is seriously related in the ponderous history of England, compiled b^ Mr.
Carte (vol. i. p. 147). He transports, however, the kingdom of Coil, the imaginary
father of Helena, from Essex to the wall of Antoninus.
11 Eutropius {x. 2) expresses, in a few words, the real truth, and the occasion of
the error, *' ex obscuriori matrimonio ejus filius ". Zosimus (1. ii. p. 78 [8]) eagerly
seized the most unfavourable report, and is followed by Orosius (vii. 25), whose
authority is oddly enough overlooked by the indefatigable but partial Tillemont.
By insisting on the divorce of Helena, Diocletian acknowledged her marriage.
^ There are three opinions with regard to the place of Constantine's birth.
I. Our English antiquarians were used to dwell with rapture on the words of his
panegyrist; *' Britannias illic oriendo nobiles fecisti ". But this celebrated passage
may be referred with as much propriety to the accession as to the nativity of Con-
stantine. 2. Some of the modern Greeks have ascribed the honour of his birth to
Drepanum, a town on the gulf of Nicomedia (Cellarius, torn. ii. p. 174) which
Constantine dignified with the name of Helenopolis, and Justinian adorned with
many splendid buildings (Procop. de Edificiis, v. 2). It is indeed probable enough
that Helena's father kept an inn at Drepanum ; and that Constantius might lodge
there when he returned from a Persian embassy in the reign of Aurelian. But in
the wandering life of a soldier, the place of his marriage, and the place where his
children are bom, have very little connexion with each other. 3. The claim of
Naissus is supported by the anonymous writer, published at the end of Ammianus,
p. 710 [Anonymous Valesii, 2], and who in general copied very good materials;
and it is confirmed by Julius Firmicus (de Astrologii, 1. i. c. 4), who flourished
under the reign of Constantine himself. [Mathesis was the name which the author
himself, JuHus Firmicus Maternus junior Siculus, gave to this work in eight Books.]
Some objections have been raised against the integrity of the text, and the applica-
tion of the passage of Firmicus ; but the former is established by the best Mss.,
and 'the latter is very ably defended by Lipsius de Magnitudine Romana, 1. iv. c.
II, et Supplement.
398 THE DECLINE AND FALL
distinguished only by the profession of arms, the youth should
discover very little inclination to improve his mind by the
acquisition of knowledge. ^^ He was about eighteen years of
age when his father was promoted to the rank of Caesar ; but
that fortunate event was attended with his mother's divorce ;
and the splendour of an Imperial alliance reduced the son of
Helena to a state of disgrace and humiliation. Instead of
following Constantius in the West, he remained in the service
of Diocletianj signalized his valour in the wars of Egypt and
Persiaj and gradually rose to the honourable station of a tribune
of the first order. The figure of Constantine was tall and
majestic ; he was dexterous in all his exercises, intrepid in war,
aifable in peace ; in his whole conduct the active spirit of
youth was tempered by habitual prudence ; and, while his mind
was engrossed by ambition, he appeared cold and insensible
to the allurements of pleasure. The favour of the people and
soldiers, who had named him as a worthy candidate for the
rank of Caesar, served only to exasperate the jealousy of
Galerius ; and, though prudence might restrain him from
exercising any open violence, an absolute monarch is seldom at
a loss how to execute a sure and secret revenge.^* Every hour
increased the danger of Constantine and the anxiety of his
father, who, by repeated letters, expressed the warmest
desire of embracing his son. For some time the policy of
Galerius supplied him with delays and excuses, but it was im-
possible long to refuse so natural a request of his associate,
without maintaining his refusal by arms. The permission for the
journey was reluctantly granted, and, whatever precautions the
emperor might have taken to intercept a return, the conse-
quences of which he, with so much reason, apprehended, they
were effectually disappointed by the incredible diligence of
Constantine. 1^ Leaving the palace of Nicomedia in the night,
J' Literis minus instructus. Anonym, ad Ammian. p. 710 [2, 2 (edited by Gardt-
hausen with Ammianus, ii. p. 280 sg^.)].
1* Galerius, or perhaps his own courage, exposed him to single combat with a
Sarmatian (Anonym, p. 710 [2, 3]) and with a monstrous lion. See Praxagoras
apud Photium, p. 63 [F.H.G. iv. p. 2]. Praxagoras, an Athenian philosopher,
had written a life of Constantine, in two books, which are now lost. He was a
contemporary.
n> Zosimus, 1. ii. p, 78, 79 [8]. Lactantius de M. P. c. 24. The former tells a
very foolish story, that Constantine caused all the post horses, which he had used,
to be hamstrung. Such a bloody execution, without preventing a pursuit, would
have scattered suspicions and might have stopped his journey. [The ques-
tion arises why Constantine remained so long in the East as he did. Schiller
thinks that it was Diocletian's purpose, one day to invest him with the purple.
There is even numismatic evidence that he was recognized in Alexandria as Caesar
before the nomination of Severus. Schiller, ii. 167.!
OF THE ROMAN EMPIRE 399
he traveled post through Bithynia, Thrace, Daeia, Pannonia,
Italy, and Gaul, and, amidst the joyful acclamations of the
people, reached the port of Boulogne in the very moment when
his father was preparing to embark for Britain.^®
The British expedition, and an easy victory over the barbarians Death of
of Caledonia, were the last exploits of the reign of Constantius. and eievauon
He ended his life in the Imperial palace of York, fifteen months stantine,
after he had assumed the title of Augustus, and almost fourteen juiy 25 '
years and a half after he had been promoted to the rank of
Caesar.i^ His death was immediately succeeded by the eleva-
tion of Constantine. The ideas of inheritance and succession
are so very familiar that the generality of mankind consider
them as founded, not only in reason, but in nature itself. Our
imagination readily transfers the same principles from private
property to public dominion : and, whenever a virtuous father
leaves behind him a son whose merit seems to justify the
esteem, or even the hopes, of the people^ the joint influence of
prejudice and of aifection operates with irresistible weight.
The flower of the western armies had followed Constantius into
Britain, and the national troops were reinforced by a numerous
body of Alemanni, who obeyed the orders of Crocus, one of
their hereditary chieftains. ^^ The opinion of their own im-
portance, and the assurance that Britain, Gaul, and Spain ^^ would
acquiesce in their nomination, were diligently inculcated to the
legions by the adherents of Constantine. The soldiers were
asked, Whether they could hesitate a moment between the
honour of placing at their head the worthy son of their beloved
emperor and the ignominy of tamely expecting the arrival of
some obscure stranger, on whom it might please the sovereign
of Asia to bestow the armies and provinces of the West. It
was insinuated to them that gratitude and liberality held a
distinguished place among the virtues of Constantine ; nor did
16 Anonym, p. 710 [2, 4]. Panegyr. Veter. vii. 4. But Zosimus, 1, ii. p. 79 [9] ,
Eusebius de Vit. Constan. 1. i. c. 21, and Lactantius de M. P. c. 24 suppose, with
less accuracy, that he found his father on his death-bed [cp. Aurel. Victor, Caes.
40].
17 [A metrical epitaph (which Rossi supposed to be on Constans), found in two
Mss., has been vindicated for Constantius by Mommsen in Hermes, vol. xxviii.]
58 Cunctis qui aderant annitentibus, sed praecipue Croco {alii Eroco) Alaman-
norum Rege, auxilii gratia Constantium comitate, imperium capit. Victor
Junior, [ep(t.] c 41. This is perhaps the first instance of a barbarian king who
assisted the Roman arms with an independent body of his own subjects. The
practice grew familiar, and at last became fatal.
19 [Spain was hardly in the dominion of Constantms, or of Constantine before
his victory over Maxentius. It went at this time with Africa and luly.]
400 THE DECLINE AND FALL
that artful prince show himself to the troops, till they were
prepared to salute him with the names of Augustus and Em-
peror. The throne was the object of his desires ; and, had he
been less actuated by ambition, it was his only means of
safety. He was well acquainted with the character and senti-
, ments of Galerius, and sufficiently apprized that, if he wished
to live, he must determine to reign. The decent and even
obstinate resistance which he chose to affect ^^ was contrived
to justify his usurpation ; nor did he peld to the acclamations
of the army, till he had provided the proper materials for a
letter, which he immediately despatched to the emperor of the
East. Constantine informed him of the melancholy event of
his father's death, modestly asserted his natural claim to the
succession, and respectfully lamented that the affectionate
violence of his troops had not permitted him to solicit the
Imperial purple in the regular and constitutional manner.
The first emotions of Galerius were those of surprise, disappoint-
ment, and rage ; and, as he could seldom restrain his passions,
he loudly threatened that he would commit to the flames both
He la acknow- the letter and the messenger. But his resentment insensibly
Gaieriuaf who Subsided ; and, when he recollected the doubtful chance of war,
oiSy*the when he had weighed the character and strength of his
caaar, and adversary, he consented to embrace the honourable accommoda-
AoguBtuBto tion which the prudence of Constantine had left open to him.
Without either condemning or ratifying the choice of the
British army, Galerius accepted the son of his deceased colleague
as the sovereign of the provinces beyond the Alps ; but he gave
him only the title of Caesar, and the fourth rank among the
Roman princes, whilst he conferred the vacant place of Augustus
on his favourite Severus. The apparent harmony of the empire
was still preserved, and Constantine, who already possessed
the substance, expected, without impatience, an opportunity of
obtaining the honours, of supreme power. 21
The orotherB The children of Constantius by his second marriage were six
ofCoMtan- in number, three of either sex, and whose Imperial descent
might have solicited a preference over the meaner extraction of
the son of Helena. But Constantine was in the thirty-second
year of his age, in the full vigour both of mind and body, at the
20 His panegyrist Eumenius (vii. 8) ventures to aflBrm, in the presence of Con-
stantine, that be put spurs to his horse, and tried, but in vain, to escape from the
hands of his soldiers.
^ Lactantius de M. P. c. 25. Eumenius (vii. 8) gives a rhetorical turn to the
whole transaction.
OF THE KOMAN EMPIRE 401
time when the eldest of his brothers could not possibly be more
than thirteen years old. His claim of superior merit had been
allowed and ratified by the dying emperor.22 jn j^ig j^st mo-
ments Constantius bequeathed to his eldest son the care of the
safety, as well as greatness, of the family ; conjuring him to
assume both the authority and the sentiments of a father with
regard to the children of Theodora. Their liberal education,
advantageous marriages, the secure dignity of their lives, and
the first honours of the state with which they wete invested,
attest the fraternal affection of Constantine ; and, as those princes
possessed a mild and grateful disposition, they submitted with-
out reluctance to the superiority of his genius and fortune.^^
II, The ambitious spirit of Galerius was scarcely reconciled Discontent of
to the disappointment of his views upon the Gallic provinces, at^he app?e-
before the unexpected loss of Italy wounded his pride as well as ti«a°" °
power in a still more sensible part. The long absence of the
emperors had filled Rome with discontent and indignation ; and
the people gradually discovered that the preference given to
Nicomedia and Milan was not to be ascribed to the particular
inchnation of Diocletian, but to the permanent form of govern-
ment which he had instituted. It was in vain that, a few
months after his abdication, his successors dedicated, under his
name, those magnificent baths, whose ruins still supply the
ground as well as the materials for so many churches and con-
vents.24 The tranquillity of those elegant recesses of ease and
luxury was disturbed by the impatient murmurs of the Romans ;
and a report was insensibly circulated that the sums expended
in erecting those buildings would soon be required at their
hands. About that time the avarice of Galerius, or perhaps
the exigencies of the state, had induced him to make a very
22.The choice of Constantine by his dying father, which is warranted by reason,
and insinuated by Eumenius, seems to be confirmed by the most unexceptionable
authority, the concurring evidence of Lactantius (de M. P. c. 24) and of Libanms
(Oration i.), of Eusebius (in Vit. Constantin, 1. i. c. 18, 21) and of Julian {Oration
' 23 Of "the three sisters of Constantine, Constantia married the Emperor Licinius,
Anastasia the Caesar Bassianus, and Eutropia the consul Nepotianus. The three
brothers were, Dalmatius, Julius Constantius, Annibahanus, of whom we shall
have occasion to speak hereafter. , ™„ • ■ n
24 See Gruter Inscrip. p. 178 [C. I. L. vi. 1130], The six prmces are all men-
tioned, Diocletian and Maximian as the senior Augusti and fathers of the emperors.
They iointlv dedicate, for the use of their own Romans, this taagnificent edifice.
The architects have delineated the ruins of these Thermae; and the antiquarians,
particularly Donatus and Nardini, have ascertained the ground which they covered.
One of the great rooms is now the Carthusian church ; and even one of the porter s
lodges is sufficient to form another church, which belongs to thevFemllans.
^ 26 VOL. I.
402 THE DECLINE AND FALL
strict and rigorous inquisition into the property of his subjects
for the purpose of a general taxation^ both on their lands and
on their persons. A very minute survey appears to have been
taken of their real estates ; and, wherever there was the slight-
est suspicion of concealment, torture was very freely employed
to obtain a sincere declaration of their personal wealth.^^ The
privileges which had exalted Italy above the rank of the pro-
vinces were no longer regarded : and the officers of the revenue
already began to number the Roman people, and to settle the
proportion of the new taxes. Even when the spirit of freedom
had been utterly extinguished, the tamest subjects have some-
times ventured to resist an unprecedented invasion of their
property ; but on this occasion the injiu'y was aggravated by
the insult, and the sense of private interest was quickened by
that of national honour. The conquest of Macedonia, as we
have already observed, had delivered the Roman people from
the weight of personal taxes. Though they had experienced
every form of despotism, they had now enjoyed that exemption
near five hundred years ; nor could they patiently brook the
insolence of an lUyrian peasant, who, from his distant residence
in Asia, presumed to number Rome among the tributary cities
of his empire. The rising ftiry of the people was encouraged
by the authority, or at least the connivance, of the senate ;
and the feeble remains of the Praetorian guards, who had
reason to apprehend their own dissolution, embraced so honour-
able a pretence, and declared their readiness to draw their
swords in the service of their oppressed country. It was the
wish, and it soon became the hope, of every citizen, that, after
expelling from Italy their foreign tyrants, they should elect a
prince who, by the place of his residence, and by his maxims
of government, might once more deserve the title of Roman
emperor. The name as well as the situation of Maxentius
determined in his favour the popular enthusiasm,
uazentiiu Maxcutius was the son of the emperor Maximian, and he
^fvm at had married the daughter of Galerius. His birth and alliance
a!!? W seemed to offer him the fairest promise of succeeding to the
Oct ^ ^ empire ; but his vices and incapacity procured him the same
exclusion from the dignity of Caesar which Constantine had
deserved by a dangerous superiority of merit. The policy of
Galerius preferred such associates as would never disgrace the
choice, nor dispute the commands, of their benefactors. An ob-
*^See Lactantius de M. P. c. 26, 31.
OF THE ROMAN EMPIRE 403
scure stranger was therefore raised to the throne of Italy, and the
son of the late emperor of the West was left to enjoy the luxury
of a private fortune in a villa a few miles distant from the capital.
The gloomy passions of his soul, shame, vexation, and rage, were
inflamed by envy on the news of Constantine's success ; but the
hopes of Maxentius revived with the public discontent, and he
was easily persuaded to unite his personal injury and pretensions
with the cause of the Roman people. Two Praetorian tribunes
and a commissary of provisions undertook the management of the
conspiracy ; and, as every order of men was actuated by the
same spirit, the immediate event was neither doubtful or difficult.
The prsefect of the city and a few magistrates, who maintained
their fidelity to Severus, were massacred by the guards ; and
Maxentius, invested with the Imperial ornaments, was acknow-
ledged by the applauding senate and people as the protector of
the Roman freedom and dignity.^^ It is uncertain whether
Maximian was previously acquainted with the conspiracy ; but, Masimian ia
as soon as the standard of rebellion was erected at Rome, the ^^e
old emperor broke from the retirement where the authority of
Diocletian had condemned him to pass a life of melancholy soli-
tude, and concealed his returning ambition under the disguise
of paternal tenderness. At the request of his son and of the
senate, he condescended to reassume the purple. His ancient
dignity, his experience, and his fame in arms added strength as
well as reputation to the party of Maxentius. ^^
According to the advice, Or rather the orders, of his colleague. Defeat and
the emperor Severus immediately hastened to Rome, in the full sevenui
confidence that, by his unexpected celerity, he should easily
suppress the tumult of an unwarlike populace, commanded by a
licentious youth. But he found on his arrival the gates of the
city shut against him, the walls filled with men and arms, an
experienced general at the head of the rebels, and his own
troops without spirit or aifection. A large body of Moors de-
serted to the enemy, allured by the promise of a large donative ;
and, if it be true that they had been levied by Maximian in his
African war, preferring the natural feehngs of gratitude to the
artificial ties of allegiance. Anulinus, the Praetorian prsefect,
declared himself in fevour of Maxentius, and drew after him the
2fl [But as Caesar, not as Augustus.]
*7The vith Panegyric represents the conduct of Maximian in the most favourable
light, and the ambiguous expression of Aurelius Victor, "retractante diu," may
signiify, either that he contrived, or that he opposed, the conspiracy. See Zosimus,
1, ii. p. 79 [9] and Lactantius de M. P. c. z6.
404
THE DECLINE AND FALL
A.D. 807,
Febmuy
Mazlmian
rivet hlB
daughter
Faiista, and
the title or
Angiutiu. to
Oonatantme
A.D. SOT,
aijtH*rob[TJ
most considerable part of the troops, accustomed to obey his
commands. Rome, according to the expression of an orator,
recalled her armies, and the unfortunate Severus, destitute of
force and of counsel, retired, or rather fled, with precipitation to
Ravenna. Here he might for some time have been safe. The
fortifications of Ravenna were able to resist the attempts, and
the merasses that surrounded the town were sufficient to prevent
the approach, of the Italian army. The sea, which Severus
commanded with a powerful fleet, secured him an inexhaustible
supply of provisions, and gave a free entrance to the legions
which, on the return of spring, would advance to his assistance
from Illyricum and the East. Maximian, who conducted the
siege in person, was soon convinced that he might waste his
time and his army in the fruitless enterprise, and that he had
nothing to hope either from force or famine. With an art more
suitable to the character of Diocletian than to his own, he
directed his attack, not so much against the walls of Ravenna
as against the mind of Severus. The treachery which he had
experienced disposed that unhappy prince to distrust the most
sincere of his friends and adherents. The emissaries of Max-
imian easily persuaded his credulity that a conspiracy was formed
to betray the town, and prevailed upon his fears not to expose
himself to the discretion of an irritated conqueror, but to accept
the faith of an honourable capitulation. He was at first received
with humanity, and treated with respect. Maximian conducted
the captive emperor to Rome, and gave him the most solemn
assurances that he had secured his life by the resignation of the
purple. But Severus could obtain only an easy death and an
Imperial funeral. When the sentence was signified to him, the
manner of executing it was left to his own choice ; he preferred
the favourite mode of the ancients, that of opening his veins :
and, as soon as he expired, his body was carried to the sepulchre
which had been constructed for the family of Gallienus.^s
Though the characters of Constantine and Maxentius had very
little affinity with each other, their situation and interest were
the same ; and prudence seemed to require that they should
unite their forces against the common enemy. Notwithstand-
ing the superiority of his age and dignity, the indefatigable
^ The circumstances of this war, and the death of Severus, are very doubtfully
and variously told in our ancient fragments (see Tillemont, Hist des Empereurs,
Ldactantius, e M. P. 36, Otherwise Zosimus, ii, 10. Date doubtful.]
OF THE EOMAN EMPIRE 405
Maximian passed the Alps, and, courting a personal interview
with the sovereign of Gaul, carried with him his daughter Fausta
as the pledge of the new alliance. The marriage was celebrated
at Aries with every circumstance of magnificence; and the
ancient colleague of Diocletian, who again asserted his claim to
the western empire, conferred on his son-in-law and ally the
title of Augustus. By consenting to receive that honour from
Maximian, Constantine seemed to embrace the cause of Rome
and of the senate ; but his professions were ambiguous, and his
assistance slow and ineffectual. He considered with attention
the approaching contest between the masters of Italy and the
emperor of the East, and was prepared to consult his own safety
qr ambition in the event of the war.29
The importance of the occasion called for the presence and oaibriM
abilities of Galerius. At the head of a powerful army, collected ^^'^^^ ^^'^^
from Illyricum and the East, he entered Italy, resolved to
revenge the death of Severus, and to chastise the rebellious
Romans ; or, as he expressed his intentions, in the fiirious
language of a barbarian, to extirpate the senate, and to destroy
the people by the sword. But the skill of Maximian had con-
certed a prudent system of defence. The invader found every
place hostile, fortified, and inaccessible ; and, though he forced
his way as far as Narni, within sixty miles of Rome, his dominion
in Italy was confined to the narrow limits of his camp. Sensible
of the increasing difficulties of his enterprise, the haughty
Galerius made the first advances towards a reconciliation, and
dispatched two of his most considerable officers to tempt the
Roman princes by the offer of a conference and the declaration
of his paternal regard for Maxentius, who might obtain much
more from his liberality than he could hope from the doubtful
29 The vith Panegyric was pronounced to celebrate the elevation of Constantine ;
but the prudent orator avoids the mention either of Galerius or of Maxentius. He
introduces only one slight allusion to the actual troubles, and to the majesty, of
Rome. [The narrative in the text must be corrected in two respects. Following
Lactantius the author has placed the first visit of Maximian to Gaul out of its proper
order, and he has wholly omitted to mention the Congress of Carnuntum.
Maximian was in Italy during the invasion of Galerius. The latter, when he
retired, appealed to Diocletian, who consented to be present at a conclave at
Carnuntum and exert his influence over Maximian Herculius, in order to maintain
the system which he had himself instituted. The congress met in November,
307 ; Maximian and Galerius were present. Diocletian for the second time induced
Maximian to abdicate, and the vacant throne of the Augustus was filled by Licinius
(who had probably been made Csesar shortly before this). Maxentius was
entirely excluded from the succession. Maximian then (before the end of the
year) paid his first visit to Constantine, who had probably ab-eady assumed the
title of Augustus, which his father-in-l^w now confirmed. See KutropxTos, x. |.
Socrates, Hist. Ecc. i. ». Schiller, ii. 177.]
406 THE DECLINE AND FALL
chance of war.^o The oiFers of Galerius were rejected with
firmness, his perfidious fi-iendship refused with contempt, and it
was not long before he discovered that, unless he provided for
his safety by a timely retreat, he had some reason to apprehend
the fate of Severus. The wealth, which the Romans defended
against his rapacious tyranny, they freely contributec' for his
destruction. The name of Maximian, the popular arts of his
son, the secret distribution of large sums, and the promise of
still more liberal rewards, checked the ardour and corrupted the
fidelity of the Illyrian legions ; and, when Galerius at length
gave the signal of the retreat, it was with some difficulty that
he could prevail on his veterans not to desert a banner which
had so often conducted them to victory and honour. A con-
temporary writer assigns two other causes for the failure of the
expedition ; but they are both of such a nature that a cautious
historian will scarcely ventui*e to adopt them. We are told
that Galerius, who had formed a very imperfect notion of the
greatness of Rome by the cities of the East with which he was
acquainted, found his forces inadequate to the siege of that
immense capital. But the extent of a city serves only to render
it more accessible to the enemy ; Rome had long since been
accustomed to subm:it on the approach of a conqueror ; nor
could the temporary enthusiasm of the people have long con-
tended against the discipline and valour of the legions. We
are likewise informed that the legions themselves were struck
with horror and remorse, and that those pious sons of the re-
public refused to violate the sanctity of their venerable parental
But, when we recollect with how much ease in the more ancient
civil wars, the zeal of party and the habits of military obedience
had converted the native citizens of Rome into her most im-
placable enemies, we shall be inclined to distrust this extreme
delicacy of strangers and barbarians, who had never beheld Italy
till they entered it in a hostile manner. Had they not been
restrained by motives of a more interested nature, they would
probably have answered Galerius in the words of Caesar's
veterans : " If our general wishes to lead us to the banks of the
Tiber, we are prepared to trace out his camp. Whatsoever
80 With regard to this negotiation, see the fragments of an anonymous Historian,
fmblished by Valesius at the end of his edition of Ammianus Marcellinus, p. 711
3, 7] . These fragments have furnished us with several curious, and as it should
seem authentic, anecdotes.
*i Lactantius de M. P, c. 28 [leg: 27]. The former of these reasons is probably
taken from Virgil's Shepherd; " lUam . . . ego huic nostrae similem Meliboee
putavi, &c."- Lkctantius delights in these poetical allusions.
OF THE EOMAN EMPIEE 407
walls he has determined to level with the ground, our hands
are ready to work the engines : nor shall we hesitate, should
the name of the devoted city be Rome itself." These are indeed
the expressions of a poet ; but of a poet who has been dis-
tinguished, and even censured, for his strict adherence to the
truth of history. 32
The legions of Galerius exhibited a very melancholy proof of ms retreat
their disposition by the ravages which they committed in their
retreat. They murdered, they ravished, they plundered, they
drove away the flocks and herds of the Italians ; they burnt the
villages through which they passed, and they endeavoured to
destroy the country, which it had not been in their power to
subdue. During the whole march Maxentius hung on their
rear; but he very prudently declined a general engagement
with those brave and desperate veterans. His father had
undertaken a second journey into Gaul, with the hope of per-
suading Constantine, who had assembled an army on the frontier,
to join the pursuit and to complete the victory. But the
actions of Constantine were guided by reason, and not by resent-
ment. He persisted in the wise resolution of maintaining a
balance of power in the divided empire, and he no longer hated
Galerius when that aspiring prince had ceased to be an object
of terror. 2^
The mind of Galerius was the most susceptible of the sterner Eiewtioii of
passions, but it was not however incapable of a sincere and last- SSl^f
ing friendship. Licinius,^^ whose manners as well as character A!5Sio7^
were not unlike his own, seems to have engaged both his affec- ^°'' "
tion and esteem. Their intimacy had commenced in the happier
period, perhaps, of their youth and obscurity. It had been
cemented by the freedom and dangers of a military life ; they
had advanced, almost by equal steps, through the successive
honours of the service ; and, as soon as Galerius was invested
with the Imperial dignity, he seems to have conceived the design
of raising his companion to the same rank with himself. During
the short period of his prosperity, he considered the rank of
3^ Castra super Tusci si ponere Tybridis undas (ju^eas),
Hesperios audax veniam metator in agros.
Tu quoscunque voles in planum effuudere muros,
His aries actus disperget saxa lacertis ;
Ilia licet penitus toUi quam jusseris urbem
Rortia sit. Lucan. Pharsal. i. 381,
*3 Lactantius de M. P. c. 27. Zosim. 1. ii. p. 82 [10]. The latter insinuates
that Constantine, in his interview with Maximian, had promised to declare war
against Galerius.
3* [Valerius Licinianus Licinius.]
408 THE DECLINE AND FALL
Caesar as unworthy of the age and merit of Licinius, and rather
chose to reserve for him the place of Constantius, and the
empire of the West. While the emperor was employed in the
Italian war, he intrusted his friend with the defence of the
Danube ; and immediately after his return from that unfortunate
expedition he invested Licinius with the vacant purple of
Severus, resigning to his immediate command the provinces
and of of Illyricum.SB The news of his promotion was no sooner carried
into the East, than Maximin, who governed, or rather oppressed,
the countries of Egypt and Syria, betrayed his envy and discon-
tent, disdained the inferior name of Caesar, and, notwithstanding
the prayers as well as arguments of Galerius, exacted, almost
by violence, the equal title of Augustus.^^ For the first, and
IJxemporora, indeed for the last, time, the Roman world was administered by
six emperors. In the West, Constantine and Maxentius affected
to reverence their father Maximian. In the East, Licinius and
Maximin honoured with more real consideration their benefactor
Galerius. The opposition of interest, and the memory of a
recent war, divided the empire into two great hostile powers ;
but their mutual fears produced an apparent tranquillity, and
even a feigned reconciliation, till the deaths of the elder princes,
of Maximian, and more particularly of Galerius, gave a new
direction to the views and passions of their surviving associates.
MiBfortuneB When Maximian had reluctantly abdicated the empire, the
venal orators of the times applauded his philosophic moderation.
When his ambition excited, or at least encouraged, a civil war,
they returned thanks to his generous patriotism, and gently
censured that love of ease and retirement which had withdrawn
him from the public service.^"^ But it was impossible that minds
like those of Maximian and his son could long possess in harmony
an undivided power. Maxentius considered himself as the legal
s^M. de Tillemont (Hist, des Empereurs, torn. iv. part i. p. 559) has proved
that Licinius, without passing through the intermediate rank of Cassar, was de-
clared Augustus, the nth of November, A.D. 307, after the return of Galerius
from Italy, fit is however possible and probable that Licinius was made Csesar
after the death of Severus.]
3* Lactantius de M. P. c. 32. When Galerius declared Licinius Augustus with
himself, he tried to satisfy his younger associates, by inventing for Constantine and
Maximin (not Maxentius^ see Baluze, p. 81) the new title of sons of the Augustu
But, when Maximin acquainted him that he had been saluted Augustus by the army,
Galerius was obliged to acknowledge him, as well as Constantine, as equal associ-
ates in the Imperial dignity. [Date uncertain.]
37 See Panegyr. Vet. vi. 9. Audi doloris nostri liberam vocem, &c. The whole
passage is imagined with artful flattery, and expressed with an easy flow of
eloquence.
OF THE ROMAN EMPIRE 409
sovereign of Italy, elected by the Roman senate and people ;
nor would he endure the control of his fether, who arrogantly
declared that by his name and abilities the rash youth had been
established on the throne. The cause was solemnly pleaded
before the Pr^torian guards, and those troops, who dreaded the
severity of the old emperor, espoused the party of Maxentius.38
The hfe and freedom of Maximian were however respected, and
he retired from Italy into Illyricum, affecting to lament his past
conduct, and secretly contriving new mischiefs. But Galerius,
who was well acquainted with his character, soon obliged him to
leave his dominions, and the last refuge of the disappointed
Maximian was the court of his son-in-law Constantine.^^ He
was received with respect by that artful prince, and with the
appearance of filial tenderness by the empress Fausta. That he
might remove every suspicion, he resigned the Imperial purple
a second time,^ professing himself at length convinced of the
vanity of greatness and ambition. Had he persevered in this
resolution, he might have ended his life with less dignity indeed
than in his first retirement, yet, however, with comfort and re-
putation. But the near prospect of a throne brought back to
his remembrance the state from whence he was fallen, and he
resolved, by a desperate effort, either to reign or to perish. An
incursion of the Franks had summoned Constantino, with a part
of his army, to the banks of the Rhine ; the remainder of the
troops were stationed in the southern provinces of Gaul, which
lay exposed to the enterprises of the ItaUan emperor, and a
considerable treasure was deposited in the city of Aries. Max-
imian either craftily invented, or hastily credited, a vain report
of the death of Constantine. Without hesitation he ascended
the throne, seized the treasure, and, scattering it with his accus-
tomed profusion among the soldiers, endeavoured to awake in
their minds the memory of his ancient dignity and exploits.
Before he could establish his authority, or finish the negotiation
^Lactantius de M. P, c. 28. Zosim. 1. ii. p. 82 [11]. A report was spread,
that Maxentius was the son of some obscure Syrian, and had been substituted by
the wife of Maximian as her own child. See Aurelius Victor, Anonym. Valesian
[3, 6], and Panegyr. Vet. ix. 3, 4. [Maxentius declared himself sole Augustus in
April, 308. See Chronogr. of 354, ed. Mommsen in Abh. of the Saxon Ges. der
Wissensch. 1850, p. 628.] [See below, Appendix i, p. 447.]
39 Ab urbe pulsum, ab Italia fugatum, ab Illyrico repudiatum, tuis provinciis,
tuis copiis, tuo palatio recepisti. Eumen. in Panegyr. Vet. vii. 14.
40 Lactantius de M. P. c. 29. Yet, after the resignation of the purple, Con-
stantine still continued to Maximian the pomp and honours of the Imperial
dignity ; and on the public occasions gave the right-hand place to his father-in-law,
Panegyr. Vet. vii. 15.
410
THE DECLINE AND FALL
which he appears to have entered into with his son Maxentius,
the celerity of Constantine defeated all his hopes. On the first
news of his perfidy and ingratitude, that prince returned by
rapid marches from the Rhine to the Saone, embarked on the
last mentioned river at Chalons, and, at Lyons trusting himself
to the rapidity of the Rhone, arrived at the gates of Aries, with
a mihtary force which it was impossible for Maximian to resist,
and which scarcely permitted him to take refuge in the neigh-
bouring city of Marseilles. The narrow neck of land which
joined that place to the continent was fortified against the be-
siegers, whilst the sea was open, either for the escape of Maxim-
ian, or for the succours of Maxentius, if the latter should choose
to disguise his invasion of Gaul under the honourable pretence
of defending a distressed, or, as he might allege, an injured
father. Apprehensive of the fatal consequences of delay, Con-
stantine gave orders for an immediate assault ; but the scahng
ladders were found too short for the height of the walls, and
Marseilles might have sustained as long a siege as it formerly
did against the arms of Caesar, if the garrison, conscious either of
their fault or of their danger, had not purchased their pardon by
delivering up the city and the person of Maximian. A secret
but irrevocable sentence of death was pronounced against the
usurper ; he obtained only the same favour which he had in-
dulged to Severus, and it was published to the world that, op-
pressed by the remorse of his repeated crimes, he strangled
himself with his own hands. After he had lost the assistance,
and disdained the moderate counsels, of Diocletian, the second
period of his active life was a series of public calamities and
personal mortifications, which were terminated, in about three
years, by an ignominious death. He deserved his fate ; but we
should find more reason to applaud the humanity of Constantine,
if he had spared an old man, the benefactor of his father, and
the father of his wife. During the whole of this melancholy
transaction, it appears that Fausta sacrificed the sentiments of
nature to her conjugal duties. ^^
The last years of Galerius were less shameful and unfortunate ;
and, though he had filled with more glory the subordinate station
of Caesar than the superior rank of Augustus, he preserved, till
^ Zosim. 1. ii. p. 82 [11]. Eumenius in Panegyr. Vet. vii. 16-21. The latter of
these has undoubtedly represented the whole affair in the most favourable light
for his sovereign. Yet even from this partial narrative we may conclude that the
repeated clemency of Constantine, and the reiterated treasons of Maximian, as
they are described by Lactantius (de M. P. c. 29, 30) and copied by the moderns,
are destitute of any historical foundation. [A hazardous conclusion.]
OF THE EOMAN EMPIEE 411
the moment of his death, the first place among the princes
of the Roman world. He survived his retreat from Italy about
four years ; and, wisely relinquishing his views of universal
empire, he devoted the remainder of his life to the enjoyment
of pleasure, and to the execution of some works of public
utility ; among which we may distinguish the discharging into
the Danube the superfluous waters of the lake Pelso, and the
cutting down the immense forests that encompassed it ; an
operation worthy of a monarch, since it gave an extensive
country to the agriculture of his Pannonian subjects. ^^ His
death was occasioned by a very painful and lingering disorder.
His body, swelled by an intemperate course of life to an un-
wieldy corpulence, was covered with ulcers, and devoured by
innumerable swarms of those insects who have given their
name to a most loathsome disease ; ^^ but, as Galerius had
offended a very zealous and powerful party among his subjects,
his sufferings, instead of exciting their compassion, have been
celebrated as the visible effects of divine justice.^* He had no hib dominion
sooner expired in his palace of Nicomedia,^^ than the two em- tween Maii-
perors who were indebted for their purple to his favour began uchA-aa
to collect their forces, with the intention either of disputing, or
of dividing, the dominions which he had left without a master.
They were persuaded however to desist from the former design,
and to agree in the latter. The provinces of Asia fell to the
share of Maximin, and those of Europe augmented the portion
of Licinius. The Hellespont and the Thracian Bosphorus
formed their mutual boundary, and the banks of those narrow
seas, which flowed in the midst of the Roman world, were
covered with soldiers, with arms, and with fortifications. The
deaths of Maximian and of Galerius reduced the number of
42Aurelms Victor, [Cses.] c. 40. But that lake was situated on the Upper
Pannonia, near the borders of Noricum ; and the province of Valeria (a name
which the wife of Galerius gave to the drained country) undoubtedly lay between
the Drave and the Danube (Sextus Rufus, c. 9). I should therefore suspect that
Victor has confounded the lake Pelso, with the Volocean marshes, or, as they are
now called, the lake Sabaton. It is placed in the heart of Valeria, and its present
extent is not less than 12 Hungarian miles {about 70 English) in length, and two
in breadth. See Severini Pannonia, 1, i. c. 9.
43Lactantius {de M. P. c. 33) and Eusebius ( [Hist. Ecc] 1. viii. c. 16) describe
the symptoms and progress of his disorder with singular accuracy and apparent
pleasure. . . , ^t- , ..
4* If any (like the late Dr. Jortin, Remarks of Ecclesiastical History, vol. 11. p.
307-356) still delight in recording the wonderful deaths of the persecutors, I would
recommend to their perusal an admirable passage of Grotius (Hist. 1. vii. p. 332)
conceniing the last illness of Philip 11. of Spam.
«[He died at Sardica. Anon. Val. 3- 8. (Salona, Chron. Pasch.)]
412
THE DECLINE AND FALL
Admlnictra-
tlon of Con-
Htantine In
Oanl,
A.D. 306-312
l^numy of
uaxentlni In
Italy and
Africa, A.D.
806-312
emperors to four.**' The sense of their true interest soon
connected Licinius and Constantine ; a secret alliance was
concluded between Maximin and MaxentiuSj and their unhappy
subjects expected with terror the bloody consequences of their
inevitable dissensions^ which were no longer restrained by the
fear or the respect which they had entertained for Galerius.*^
Among so many crimes and misfortunes occasioned by the
passions of the Roman princes, there is some pleasure in dis-
covering a single action which may be ascribed to their virtue.
In the sixth year of his reignj Constantine visited the city of
Autun, and generously remitted the arrears of tribute, reducing
at the same time the proportion of their assessment^ from
twenty-five to eighteen thousand heads, subject to the real
and personal capitation,^ Yet even this indulgence affords the
most unquestionable proof of the public misery. This tax was
so extremely oppressive, either in itself or in the mode of
collecting it, that, whilst the revenue was increased by extortioUj
it was diminished by despair : a considerable part of the
territory of Autun was left uncultivated ; and great numbers
of the provincials rather chose to live as exiles and outlaws
than to support the weight of civil society. It is but too
probable that the bountiful emperor relieved, by a partial act of
liberality, one among the many evils which he had caused by
his general maxims of administration. But even those maxims
were less the effect of choice than of necessity. And, if we
except the death of Maximian, the reign of Constantine in
Gaul seems to have been the most innocent and even virtuous
period of his Hfe. The provinces were protected by his presence
from the inroads of the barbarians, who either dreaded or
experienced his active valour. After a signal victory over the
Franks and Alemanni, several of their princes were exposed by
his order to the wild beasts in the amphitheatre of Treves, and
the people seem to have enjoyed the spectacle, without dis-
covering, in such a treatment of royal captives, anything that
was repugnant to the laws of nations or of humanity.*®
The virtues of Constantine were rendered more illustrious by
the vices of Maxentius. Whilst the Gallic provinces enjoyed as
**[But Maxentius was not recognized by the other three Augusti.]
^7 See Eusebius, 1. ix. 6, lo. Lactantius de M. P. c. 36. Zosimus is less exact,
and evidently confounds Maximian with Maximin.
^See the viiith Panegyr. in which Eumenius displays, in the presence of
Constantine, the misery and the gratitude of the city of Autun.
*>Eutropius, X. 2. Panegyr. Veter. vii. 10, 11, 12. A great number of the French
youth were likewise exposed to the same cruel and ignominious death.
OF THE EOMAN EMPIRE 413
much happiness as the condition of the times was capable of
receiving, Italy and Africa ^^ groaned under the dominion of a
tyrant as contemptible as he was odious. The zeal of flattery
and faction has indeed too frequently sacrificed the reputation
of the vanquished to the glory of their successful rivals ; but
even those writers who have revealed, with the most freedom
and pleasure, the faults of Constantine, unanimously confess that
Maxentius was cruel, rapacious, and profligate. ^^ He had the
good fortune to suppress a slight rebellion in Africa. The
governor and a few adherents had been guilty ; the province
suffered for their crime. The flourishing cities of Cirtha and
Carthage, and the whole extent of that fertile country, were
wasted by fire and sword. The abuse of victory was followed
by the abuse of law and justice. A formidable army of syco-
phants and delators invaded Afiaca ; the rich and the noble
were easily convicted of a connexion with the rebels ; and those
among them who experienced the emperor's clemency were
only punished by the confiscation of their estates. ^^ So signal
a victory was celebrated by a magnificent triumph, and Maxen-
tius exposed to the eyes of the people the spoils and captives
of a Roman province. The state of the capital was no less
deserving of compassion than that of Africa. The wealth of
Rome supplied an inexhaustible fund for his vain and prodigal
expenses, and the ministers of his revenue were skilled in the
arts of rapine. It was under his reign that the method of
exacting a free gift from the senators was first invented ; and,
as the sum was insensibly increased, the pretences of levying it,
a victory, a birth, a marriage, or an Imperial consulship, were
proportionably multiplied. ^^ Maxentius had imbibed the same
implacable aversion to the senate, which had characterized most
of the former tyrants of Rome ; nor was it possible for his un-
grateful temper to forgive the generous fidelity which had raised
him to the throne and supported him against all his enemies.
The hves of the senators were exposed to his jealous suspicions,
60 [Spain was also in the dominion of Maxentius. This is proved by the copper
coins struck for him at Tarraco (and for his son Romulus). No coins- were struck
for hhn in Gaul and Britain.]
M Julian excludes Maxentius from the banquet of the Cassars with abhorrence
and contempt ; and Zosimus (1. ii. p. 85 [14]) accuses him of every kind of cruelty
and profligacy.
S2 Zosimus, 1. ii. p. 83-85. Aurelius Victor [Caes. 40].
"8 The passage of Aurelius Victor [ib.] should be read in the following manner.
Primus institute pessimo, munerum specie, Patres Oratoresque pecuniam conferre
prodigenti sibi cogeret.
414 THE DECLINE AND FALL
the dishonour of their wives and daughters heightened the
gratification of his sensual passions.^* It may be presumed that
an Imperial lover was seldom reduced to sigh in vain ; but^
whenever persuasion proved ineffectual, he had recourse to
violence ; and there remains one memorable example of a noble
matron, who preserved her chastity by a voluntary death. The
soldiers were the only order of men whom he appeared to
respectj or studied to please. He filled Rome and Italy with
aimed troops, connived at their tumults, suffered them with
impunity to plunder, and even to massacre, the defenceless
people ; ^^ and, indulging them in the same licentiousness which
their emperor enjoyed, Maxentius often bestowed on his military
favourites the splendid villa, or the beautiful wife, of a senator.
A prince of such a character, alike incapable of governing either
in peace or in war, might purchase the support, but he could
never obtain the esteem, of the army. Yet his pride was equal
to his other vices. Whilst he passed his indolent life, either
within the walls of his palace, or in the neighbouring gardens
of Sallust, he was repeatedly heard to declare, that he alone was
emperor, and that the other princes were no more than his
lieutenants, on whom he had devolved the defence of the
frontier provinces, that he might enjoy without interruption the
elegant luxury of the capital. Rome, which had so long re-
gretted the absence, lamented, during the six years of his reign,
the presence, of her sovereign. ^^
civil war Though Constantinc might view the conduct of Maxentius
oonBtantine with abhorrencc, and the situation of the Romans with compas-
uufl, A-D. aa sion, we have no reason to presume that he would have taken
up arms to punish the one or to relieve the other. But the
tyrant of Italy rashly ventured to provoke a formidable enemy,
whose ambition had been hitherto restrained by considerations
"Panegyr. Vet. ix. 3. Euseb. Hist. Eccles. viii. 14, et in Vit. Constant. L
33, 34. Rufinus, c. 17. The virtuous matron, who stabbed herself to escape the
violence of Maxentius, was a Christian, wife to the prsefect of the city, and her
name was Sophronia. It still remains a question among the casuists, whether, on
such occasions, suicide is justifiable.
'JS Prsetorianis caedem vulgi quondam annueret, is the vague expression of
Aurelius Victor [ib.]. See more particular, though somewhat dififerent, accoimts
of a tumult and massacre which happened at Rome, in Eusebius (L viii. c. 14)
and in Zosimus (1. ii. p. 84 [13]).
^ See in the Panegyrics (ix. 14) a lively description of the indolence and vain
pride of Maxentius. In another place [ix. 3], the orator observes that the riches
which Rome had accumulated in a period of 1060 years were lavished by the
tyrant on his mercenary bands ; redemptis ad civile latrocinium manibus
ingesserat.
OF THE ROMAN EMPIRE 415
of prudence, rather than by principles of justice.^^ After the
death of Maximian^ his titles, according to the established
custom, had been erased, and his statues thrown down with
ignominy. His son, who had persecuted and deserted him when
alive, affected to display the most pious regard for his memory,
and gave orders that a similar treatment should be immediately
inflicted on all the statues that had been erected in Italy and
Africa to the honour of Constantine, That wise prince, who
sincerely wished to decline a war, with the difficulty and
importance of which he was sufficiently acquainted, at first
dissembled the insult, and sought for redress by the milder
expedients of negotiation, till he was convinced that the hostile
and ambitious designs of the Itahan emperor made it necessary
for him to arm in his own defence. Maxentius, who openly
avowed his pretensions to the wh-ole monarchy of the West,
had already prepared a very considerable force to invade the
Gallic provinces on the side of Rhsetia, and, though he could
not expect any assistance from Licinius, he was flattered with
the hope that the legions of Illyricum, allured by his presents
and promises, would desert the standard of that prince, and
unanimously declare themselves his soldiers and subjects. ^^
Constantine no longer hesitated. He had deliberated with
caution, he acted with vigour. He gave a private audience to
the ambassadors, who, in the name of the senate and people,
conjured him to deliver Rome from a detested tyrant ; and,
without regarding the timid remonstrances of his council, he
resolved to prevent the enemy, and to carry the war into the
heart of Italy. &»
The enterprise was as full of danger as of glory ; and the un- preparataona
successful event of two former invasions was sufficient to inspire
the most serious apprehensions. The veteran troops, who
revered the name of Maximian, had embraced in both those wars
the party of his son, and were now restrained by a sense of
''^ After the victory of Constantine, it was universally allowed that the motive Oi
delivering the republic from a detested tyrant would, at any time, have justified his
expedition into Italy. Euseb. in Vit. Constantin. 1. i. c. 26. Panegyr. Vet. ix. 2.
ssZosimus. 1. ii. p. 84, 85 [14]. Nazarius in Panegyr. x. 7-13.
59 See Panegyr. Vet. ix. 2. Omnibus fere tuis Comitibus et Ducibus non solum
tacite mussantibus, sed etiam aperte timentibus ; contra consilia hominum, contra
Haruspicum monita, ipse per temet liberandse urbis tempus venisse sentires. The
embassy of the Romans is mentioned only by Zonaras (1. xiii. [i] ) and by Cedrenus
(in Compend. Hist. p. 270 [i. p. 474. ed. Bonn]) : but those modern Greeks had
the opportunity of consulting many writers which have since been lost, among
which we may reckon the life of Constantine by Praxagoras. Photius {p. 63) has
made a short extract from that historical work.
416 THE DECLINE AND FALL
honour, as well as of interest, from entertaining an idea of a
second desertion. Maxentius, who considered the Praetorian
guards as the firmest defence of his throne, had increased them
to their ancient establishment ; and they composed, including
the rest of the Italians who were inlisted into his service, a
formidable body of fourscore thousand men. Forty thousand
Moors and Carthaginians had been raised since the reduction of
Africa. Even Sicily furnished its proportion of troops ; and
the army of Maxentius amounted to one hundred and
seventy thousand foot and eighteen thousand horse. The
wealth of Italy supplied the expenses of the war ; and the
adjacent provinces were exhausted to form immense magazines
of corn and every other kind of provisions. The whole force of
Constantine consisted of ninety thousand foot and eight thousand
horse ; ^ and, as the defence of the Rhine required an extra-
ordinary attention during the absence of the emperor, it was
not in his power to employ above half his troops in the Italian
expedition, unless he sacrificed the pubHc safety to his private
quarrel.^i At the head of about forty thousand soldiers, he
marched to encounter an enemy whose numbers were at least
four times superior to his own.^^ gut i^q armies of Rome,
placed at a secure distance from danger, were enervated by in-
dulgence and luxury. Habituated to the baths and theatres of
Rome, they took the field with reluctance, and were chiefly
composed of veterans who had almost forgotten, or of new levies
who had never acquired, the use of arms and the practice of war.
The hardy legions of Gaul had long defended the frontiers of
the empire against the barbarians of the North ; and in the
performance of that laborious service their valour was exercised
and their discipline confirmed. There appeared the same
difference between the leaders as between the armies. Caprice
or flattery had tempted Maxentius with the hopes of conquest ;
but these aspiring hopes soon gave way to the habits of pleasure
and the consciousness of his inexperience. The intrepid mind
""Zosimus (1. ii. p. 86 [15]) has given us this curious account of the forces on
both sides. He makes no mention of any naval armaments, though we are assured
(Panegyr. Vet. ix. 25) that the war was carried on by sea as well as by land ; and
that the fleet of Constantine took possession of Sardinia, Corsica, and the ports of
Italy.
^ Panegyr. Vet. ix. 3. It is not surprising that the orator should diminish the
numbers with which his sovereign achieved the conquest of Italy ; but it appears
somewhat singular, that he should esteem the tyrant's army at no more than
zoo,ooo men.
"• [ Twice superior would probably be nearer the truth. ]
OF I^HE KOMAN EMPIEE 417
of Constaiitiiie had been trained from his earliest youth to war,
to action, and to military command.
When Hannibal marched from Gaul into Italy, he was obliged, oomtantine
first to discover, and then to open, a way over mountains, and 5^/^*^*
through savage nations, that had never yielded a passage to a t^ept-i
regular army.^^ The Alps were then guarded by nature, they
are now foi'tified by art. Citadels, constructed with no less
skill than labour and expense, command every avenue into the
plain, and on that side render Italy almost inaccessible to the
enemies of the King of Sardinia. ^^ But in the course of the
intermediate period, the generals who have attempted the
passage have seldom experienced any difficulty or resistance.
In the age of Constantine, the peasants of the mountains were
civilized and obedient subjects; the country was plentifully
stocked with provisions, and the stupendous highways which
the Romans had carried over the Alps opened several com-
munications between Gaul and Italy. ^^ Constantine preferred
the road of the Cottian Alps, or, as it is now called, of Mount
Cenis,^^ and led his troops with such active diligence that he de-
scended into the plain of Piedmont before the court of Maxentius
had received any certain intelligence of his departure from the
banks of the Rhine, The city of Susa, however, which is situ-
ated at the foot of Mount Cenis, was surrounded with walls, and
provided with a garrison sufficiently numerous to check the
progress of an invader ; but the impatience of Constantine's
troops disdained the tedious forms of a siege. The same day
that they appeared before Susa, they applied fire to the gates
and ladders to the walls ; and, mounting to the assault amidst
a shower of stones and arrows, they entered the place sword in
hand, and cut in pieces the greatest part of the garrison. The
flames were extinguished by the care of Constantine, and the
remains of Susa preserved from total destruction. About forty
miles from thence, a more severe contest awaited him. A Battle o£
Turin
«8The three principal passages of the Alps between Gaul and Italy are those of
Mount St. Bernard, Mount Cenis, and Mount Genevre. Tradition, and a resem-
blance of names (Alpes Pennincs), had assigned the first of these for the march of
Hannibal (see Simler de Alpibus). The Chevalier de Folard (Polybe, torn, iv.) and
M. d'Anville have led him over Mount Genevre. But, notwithstanding the author-
ity of an experienced officer and a learned geographer, the pretensions of Mount
Cenis are supported in a specious, not to say a convmcing manner, by M. Grosley.
Observations sur I'ltalie, torn. i. p. 40. &c- ,1^.0
«La Brunette near Suse, Demont, Exiles, Fenestrelles. Com, &c.
«f5See Ammian. Marcellin. xv. 10. His description of the roads over the Alps
is clear, hvely, and accurate. ^. a 1
wfThis is not certain ; some think, Mount Genevre. J
27 VOL. I.
418 THE DECLINE AND FALL
numerous army of Italians was assembled, imder the lieutenants
of Maxentius, in the plains of Turin. Its principal strength
consisted in a species of heavy cavalry, which the Romans, since
the decline of their discipline, had borrowed from the nations of
the East. The horses, as well as the men, were clothed in
complete armour, the joints of which were artfully adapted to
the motions of their bodies. The aspect of this cavalry was
formidable, their weight almost irresistible ; and, as, on this
occasion, their generals had drawn them up in a compact column
or wedge, with a sharp point, and with spreading flanks, they
flattered themselves that they should easily break and trample
down the army of Constantine. They might, perhaps, have
succeeded in their design, had not their experienced adversary
embraced the same method of defence which in similar circum-
stances had been practised by Aurelian. The skilful evolutions
of Constantine divided and bafHed this massy column of cavalry.
The troops of Maxentius fled in confusion towards Turin ; and,
as the gates of the city were shut against them, very few escaped
the sword of the victorious pursuers. By this impoi-tant service
Turin deserved to experience the clemency and even favour of
the conqueror. He made his entry into the Imperial palace of
Milan, and almost all the cities of Italy between the Alps and
the Po not only acknowledged the power, but embraced with
zeal the party, of Constantine.*^^
Siege and From Milan to Rome, the JEmilian and Flaminian highways
Verona**^ off^cred an easy march of about four hundred miles ; but, though
[Oct] Constantine was impatient to encounter the tyrant, he prudently
directed his operations against another army of Italians, who,
by their strength and position^ might either oppose his progress,
or, in case of a misfortune, might intercept his retreat. Ruricius
Pompeianus, a general distinguished by his valour and abiUty,
had under his command the city of Verona, and all the troops
that were stationed in the province of Venetia. As soon as
he was informed that Constantine was advancing towards him,
he detached a large body of cavalry, which was defeated in an
engagement near Brescia, and pursued by the Gallic legions as
far as the gates of Verona. The necessity, the importance, and
the difficulties of the siege of Verona immediately presented
themselves to the sagacious mind of Constantine.^^ The city
^ Zosimus as well as Eusebius hasten from the passage of the Alps to the de-
cisive action near Rome. We must apply to the two Panegyrics for the inter-
mediate actions of Constantine.
®8 The Marquis Maffei has examined the siege and battle of Verona with that
OF THE KOMAN EMPIEE 419
was accessible only by a narrow peninsula towards the west^ as
the other three sides were surrounded by the Adige, a rapid
river which covered the province of Venetia^ from whence the
besieged derived an inexhaustible supply of men and provisions.
It was not without great difficulty, and after several fruitless
attempts, that Constantine found means to pass the river, at
some distance above the city, and in a place where the torrent
was less violent. He then encompassed Verona with strong
lines, pushed his attacks with prudent vigour, and repelled a
desperate sally of Pompeianus. That intrepid general, when he
had used every means of defence that the strength of the place
or that of the garrison could afford, secretly escaped from
Verona, anxious not for his own but for the public safety. With
indefatigable diligence he soon collected an army sufficient
either to meet Constantine in the field, or to attack him if he
obstinately remained within his lines. The emperor, attentive
to the motions, and informed of the approach, of so formidable
an enemy, left a part of his legions to continue the operations
of the siege, whilst, at the head of those troops on whose valour
and fidelity he more particularly depended, he advanced in
person to engage the general of Maxentius. The army of Gaul
was drawn up in two lines, according to the usual practice of
war ; but their experienced leader, perceiving that the numbers
of the Italians far exceeded his own, suddenly changed his dis-
position, and, reducing the second, extended the front of his
first, line to a just proportion with that of the enemy. Such
evolutions, which only veteran troops can execute without con-
fusion in a moment of danger, commonly prove decisive : but, as
this engagement began towards the close of the day, and was
contested with great obstinacy during the whole night, there
was less room for the conduct of the generals than for the courage
of the soldiers. The return of light displayed the victory of
Constantine, and a field of carnage, covered with many thousands
of the vanquished Itahans. Their general, Pompeianus, was
found among the slain ; Verona immediately surrendered at
discretion, and the garrison was made prisoners of war.^^ When
degree of attention and accuracy which was due to a memorable action that
happened in his native country. The fortifications of that city, constructed by
Gallienus, were less extensive than the modern walls, and the Amphitheatre was
not included within their circumference. See Verona lUustrata, Part i. p. 142,
150.
*9 They wanted chains for so great a multitude of captives ; and the whole
council was at a loss ; but the sagacious conqueror imagined the h&ppy expedient
of converting into fetters the swords of the vanqui^ed. Panegyr. Vet. ix. 11.
420 THE DECLINE AND FALL
the officers of the victorious army congratulated their master on
this important success, they ventured to add some respectful
complaints, of such a nature, however, as the most jealous
monarchs will listen to without displeasure. They represented
to Constantine that, not contented with performing all the
duties of a commander, he had exposed his own person with an
excess of valour which almost degenerated into rashness ; and
they conjured him for the future to pay more regard to the
preservation of a life in which the safety of Rome and of the
empire was involved,'^*'
Indolence and While Constantinc signalized his conduct and valour in the
M^entiuB field, the sovereign of Italy appeared insensible of the calamities
and danger of a civil war which raged in the heart of his domin-
ions. Pleasure was still the only business of Maxentius. Con-
cealing, or at least attempting to conceal, irom the public
knowledge the misfortunes of his arms,''^ he indulged himself in
vain confidence which deferred the remedies of the approaching
evil, without deferring the evil itself^^ Xhe rapid progress of
Constantine '^^ was scarcely suflicient to awaken him from this
fatal security ; he flattered himself that his well-known liberality,
and the majesty of the Roman name, which had already dehvered
him from two invasions, would dissipate with the same facihty
the rebellious army of Gaul. The officers of experience and
ability who had served under the banners of Maximian were
at length compelled to inform his effisminate son of the imminent
danger to which he was reduced ; and, with a freedom that at
once surprised and convinced him, to urge the necessity of
preventing his ruin by a vigorous exertion of his remaining
power. The resources of Maxentius, both of men and money,
were still considerable. The Praetorian guards felt how strongly
their own interest and safety were connected with his cause ;
and a third army was soon collected, more numerous than those
which had been lost in the battles of Tiurin and Verona. It
was far from the intention of the emperor to lead his troops in
person. A stranger to the exercises of war, he trembled at the
apprehension of so dangerous a contest; and, as fear is commonly
70 Panegyr. Vet. ix. lo.
71 Literas calamitatum suarum indices supprimebat. Panegyr. Vet. ix. 15.
''iRemedia malorum potius quam mala differebat, is the fine censure which
Tacitus passes on the supine indolence of Vitellius.
78 The Marquis Maffei has made it extremely probable that Constantine was
still at Verona, the ist of September, a.d. 312, and that the memorable sera of
the Indictions was dated from his conquest of the Cisalpine Gaul.
OF THE ROMAN EMPIRE 421
superstitious, he listened with melancholy attention to the
rumours of omens and presages which seemed to menace his
life and empire. Shame at length supplied the place of courage,
and forced him to take the field. He was unable to sustain
the contempt of the Roman people. The circus resounded with
their indignant clamours, and they tumultuously besieged the
gates of the palace, reproaching the pusillanimity of their in-
dolent sovereign, and celebrating the heroic spirit of Constan-
tineJ^ Before Maxentius left Rome, he consulted the Sibylline
books. The guardians of these ancient oracles were as well
versed in the arts of this world, as they were ignorant of the
secrets of fate ; and they returned him a very prudent answer,
which might adapt itself to the event, and secure their reputa-
tion whatever should be the chance of arms.^^
The celerity of Constantine's march has been compared tojj^^oj^^
the rapid conquest of Italy by the first of the Caesars; nor is^^^^^^
the flattering parallel repugnant to the truth of history, since Z8'th[27tii]0ct.
no more than fifty-eight days elapsed between the surrender of
Verona and the final decision of the war. Constantine had
always apprehended that the tyrant would obey the dictates of
fear, and perhaps of prudence ; and that, instead of risking his
last hopes in a general engagement, he would shut himself up
within the walls of Rome. His ample magazines secured him
against the danger of famine ; and, as the situation of Constan-
tine admitted not of delay, he might have been reduced to the
sad necessity of destro3ring with fire and sword the Imperial
city, the noblest reward of his victory, and the deliverance of
which had been the motive, or rather indeed the pretence, of
the civil war."^^ It was with equal surprise and pleasure that,
on his arrival at a place called Saxa Rubra, about nine miles
from Rome,"^^ he discovered the army of Maxentius prepared to
give him battle.^® Their long front filled a very spacious
plain, and their deep array reached to the banks of the Tiber,
^*See Panegyr. Vet. xi. i6 [le^. ix. i6]. Lactantius de M. P. c. 44,
7^ Illo die hostem Romanonirn esse periturum. The vanquished prince became
of course the enemy of Rome.
^^See Panegyr. Vet. ix. 16, x. 27. The former of these orators magnifies the
hoards of corn, which Maxentius had collected from Africa and the islands. And
yet, if there is any truth in the scarcity mentioned by Eusebius (in Vit. Constantin.
1. i. c. 36), the Imperial granaries must have been open only to the soldiers.
^Maxentius . . . tandem urbe in Saxa Rubra, millia ferme novem segerrime
progressus. Aurelius Victor [Caes. 40]. See Cellarius Geograph. Antiq. torn. i.
p. 463. Saxa Rubra was in the neighbourhood of the Cremera, a trifling rivulet,
illustrated by the valour and glorious death of the three hundred Fabii.
''8 The post which Maxentius had taken, with the Tiber in his rear, is very
clearly describee} by the two Panegyrists, ix, 16, x. ?8,
422 THE DECLINE AND FALL
which covered their rear, and forbade their retreat. We are
informed, and we may beheve, that Constantine disposed his
troops with consummate skill, and that he chose for himself the
post of honour and danger. Distinguished by the splendour of
his arms, he charged in person the cavalry of his rival ; and his
irresistible attack determined the fortune of the day. The
cavalry of Maxentius was principally composed either of un-
wieldy cuirassiers or of light Moors and Numidians. They
yielded to the vigour of the Gallic horse, which possessed more
activity than the one, more firmness than the other. The defeat
of the two wings left the infantry without any protection on its
flanks, and the undisciplined Italians fled without reluctance
from the standard of a tyrant whom they had always hated, and
whom they no longer feared. The Praetorians, conscious that
their offences were beyond the reach of mercy, were animated
by revenge and despair. Notwithstanding their repeated
efforts, those brave veterans were unable to recover the victory:
they obtained, however, an honourable death ; and it was
observed that their bodies covered the same ground which had
been occupied by their ranks. "^^ The confusion then became
general, and the dismayed troops of Maxentius, pursued by an
implacable enemy, rushed by thousands into the deep and
rapid stream of the Tiber. The emperor himself attempted to
escape back into the city over the Milvian bridge, but the
crowds which pressed together through that narrow passage
forced him into the river, where he was immediately drowned
by the weight of his armour. s*^ His body, which had sunk very
deep into the mud, was found with some difficulty the next
day. The sight of his head, when it was exposed to the eyes of
the people, convinced themof their deliverance, and admonished
them to receive with acclamations of loyalty and gratitude the
fortunate Constantine, who thus achieved by his valour and
ability the most splendid enterprise of his life.^^
7* Exceptis latrocinii illius primis auctoribus, qui, desperate venii, locum quern
pugnse sumpserant texere corporibus. Panegyr. Vet. ix. 17.
*> A very idle rumour soon prevailed, that Maxentius, who had not taken any
precaution for his own retreat, had contrived a very artful snare to destroy the army
of the pursuers ; but that the wooden bridge, which was to have been loosened on
the approach of Constantine, unluckily broke down under the weight of the flying
Italians. M. de Tillemont (Hist, des Empereurs, tom. iv. part i. p. ^76) very
seriously examines whether, in contradiction to common sense, the testimony of
Eusebius and Zosimus ought to prevail over the silence of Lactantius, Nazarius,
and the anonymous, but contemporary orator, who composed the ninth Panegyric.
81 Zosimus, 1. ii. p. 86-88 [15-17], and the two Panegyrics, the former of which
was pronounced a few months afterwards, afford the clearest notion of this great
battle. Lactantius, Eusebius, and even the Epitomes, supply several useful hints.
OF THE ROMAN EMPIRE 423
In the use of victory, Constantine neither deserved the praise his rec«ption
of clemency, nor incurred the censure of immoderate rigour. ^2
He inflicted the same treatment to which a defeat would have
exposed his own person and family, put to death the two sons of
the t3T:ant, and carefully extirpated his whole race. The most
distinguished adherents of Maxentius must have expected to
share his fate, as they had shared his prosperity and his crimes :
but, when the Roman people loudly demanded a greater number
of victims, the conqueror resisted, with firmness and humanity,
those servile clamours which were dictated by flattery as well as
by resentment. Informers were punished and discouraged ; the
innocent who had suffered under the late tyi'anny were recalled
from exile, and restored to their estates. A general act of ob-
livion quieted the minds and settled the property of the people,
both in Italy and in Africa.^^ The first time that Constantine
honoured the senate with his presence, he recapitulated his own
services and exploits in a modest oration, assured that illustrious
order of his sincere regard, and promised to re-establish its
ancient dignity and privileges. The grateful senate repaid these
unmeaning professions by the empty titles of honour, which it
was yet in their power to bestow ; and, without presuming to
ratify the authority of Constantine, they passed a decree to assign
him the first rank among the three Augusii who governed the
Roman world. ^* Games and festivals were instituted to preserve
the fame of his victory, and several edifices, raised at the expense of
Maxentius, were dedicated to the honour of his successful rival.
The triimiphal arch of Constantine still remains a melancholy
proof of the decline of the arts, and a singular testimony of the
meanest vanity. As it was not possible to find in the capital of
the empire a sculptor who was capable of adorning that public
monument, the arch of Trajan, without any respect either for his
memory or for the rules of propriety, was stripped of its most
elegant figures. The diflerence of times and persons, of actions
and characters, was totally disregarded. The Parthian captives
82 Zosimus, the enemy of Constantine, allows (1. ii. p. 88 [17]) that only a few
of the friends of Maxentius were put to death, but we may remark the expressive
passage of Nazarius (Panegyr. Vet x. 6) : Omnibus qui labefactare statum ejus
poterant cum stirpe deletis. The other orator (Panegyr. Vet. ix. 20, 21) contents
himself with observing that Constantine, when he entered Rome, did not imitate
the cruel massacres of Cinna, of Marius, or of Sylla.
83 See the two Panegyrics, and the laws of this and the. ensuing year, in the
Theodosian Code. ,, ^^ -.^ ■ ■ ,
8*Paneg3T. Vet. ix. 20. Lactantms de M. P. c. 44. Maximm, who was con-
fessedly the eldest Csesar, claimed, with some show of reason, the first rank among
the August!.
Bt Rome
424 THE DECLINE AND FALL
appear prostrate at the feet of a prince who never carried his
aiins beyond the Euphrates ; and curious antiquarians can still
discover the head of Trajan on the trophies of Constantine. The
new ornaments which it was necessary to introduce between the
vacancies of ancient sculpture are executed in the rudest and
most unskilful manner.®^
Hjid conduct The final abolition of the Praetorian s^uards was a measure of
prudence as well as of revenge. Those haughty troops, whose
numbers and privileges had been restored, and even augmented,
by Maxentius, were for ever suppressed by Constantine. Their
fortified camp was destroyed, and the few Praetorians who had
escaped the fury of the sword were dispersed among the legions,
and banished to the frontiers of the empire, where they might
be serviceable without again becoming dangerous. ^^ By sup-
pressing the troops which were usually stationed in Rome, Con-
stantine gave the fatal blow to the dignity of the senate and
people, and the disarmed capital was exposed without protection
to the insults or neglect of its distant master. We may observe
that, in this last effort to preserve their expiring freedom, the
Romans, from the apprehension of a tribute, had raised Maxen-
tius to the throne. He exacted that tribute from the senate,
under the name of a free gift. They implored the assistance of
Constantine. He vanquished the tyrant, and converted the free
gift into a perpetual tax. The senators, according to the de-
claration which was required of their property, were divided
into several classes. The most opulent paid annually eight
pounds of gold,^'^ the next class paid four, the last two, and
those whose poverty might have claimed an exemption were
assessed, however, at seven pieces of gold. Besides the regular
members of the senate, their sons, their descendants, and even
their relations, enjoyed the vain privileges, and supported the
heavy burdens, of the senatorial order ; nor will it any longer
excite our surprise that Constantine should be attentive to in-
^ Adhuc cuncta opera quae magnifice constnixerat, urbis fanum, atque basilicam,
Flavii mentis patres sacravere. Aurelius Victor [ib.]. With regard to the theft
of Trajan's trophies, consult Flaminius Vacca, apud Montfaucon, Diarium Itali-
cum, p. 250, and I'Antiquit^ Expliqude of the latter, torn. iv. p. 171.
86 Praetorise legiones ac subsidia factionibus aptiora quam urbi Romae, sublata
penitus ; simul arma atque usus indumenti militaris. Aurelius Victor. Zosimus
(1. II, p. 89 [17]) mentions this fact as an historian; and it is very pompously
celebrated in the ninth Panegyric.
8? [This senatorial tax was known as the/oiHs {also gieda, or descriptio). The
senator had further to pay an aurum oblaticiunt to the emperor on such festal
occasions as the celebration of the Quinquennalia,]
OF THE ROMAN EMPIEE 425
crease the number of persons who were included under so useful
a description. 88 After the defeat of Maxentius, the victorious
emperor passed no more than two or three months in Rome,
which he visited twice during the remainder of his hfe, to cele-
brate the solemn festivals of the tenth and of the twentieth
years of his reign. Constantine was almost perpetually in motion,
to exercise the legions, or to inspect the state of the provinces.
Treves, Milan, Aquileia, Sirmium, Naissus and Thessalonica were
the occasional places of his residence, till he founded a new
Rome on the confines of Europe and Asia.^^
Before Constantine marched into Italy, he had secured the nia aiiiftnce
friendship, or at least the neutrality, of Licinius, the Illyrian a.d. 313, ^
emperor. He had promised his sister Constantia in marriage *"
to that prince ; but the celebration of the nuptials was deferred
till after the conclusion of the war ; and the interview of the
two emperors at Milan, which was appointed for that purpose,
appeared to cement the union of their families and interests.^**
In the midst of the public festivity they were suddenly
obhged to take leave of each other. An inroad of the Franks
summoned Constantine to the Rhine, and the hostile approach
of the sovereign of Asia demanded the immediate presence of
Licinius. Maximin had been the secret ally of Maxentius, and, wur between
without being discouraged by his fate, he resolved to try the and LicinioE,
fortune of a civil war. He moved out of Syria towards the
frontiers of Bithynia, in the depth of winter. The season
was severe and tempestuous ; great numbers of men as well as
horses perished in the snow ; and, as the roads were broken
up by incessant rains, he was obliged to leave behind him a
considerable part of the heavy baggage, which was unable
to follow the rapidity of his forced marches. By this extra-
ordinary effort of diligence, he arrived with a harassed but
86 Ex omnibus provinciis optimates viros Curiae tuas pigneraveris ; ut Senates
dignitas ... ex totius Orbis flore consisteret. Nazarius in Panegyr. Vet. x. 35.
The word pigneraveris might almost seem miaUciously chosen. Concerning the
senatorial tax, see Zosimus, 1. ii. p. 115 [38]. the second title of the sixth book of
the Theodosian Code, with Godefroy's Commentary, and M^moires de 1 Academic
des Inscriptions, torn, xxviii. p. 726.
8» From the Theodosian Code, we may now begin to trace the motions of the
emperors ; but the dates both of time and place have frequently been altered by
the carelessness of transcribers.
M Zosimus (1. ii. p. 89 [17]) observes that, before the war, the sister of Constan-
tine had been betrothed to Licinius. According to the younger Victor, Diocletian
was invited to the nuptials ; but, having ventured to plead his age and infirmities,
he received a second letter filled with reproaches for his supposed partiality to the
cause of Maxentius and Maximin. [Epit. 39.]
April 30
426 THE DECLINE AND FALL
formidable army on the banks of the Thracian Bosphorus,
before the lieutenants of Licinius were apprized of his hostile
intentions. Byzantium surrendered to the power of Maximinj
after a siege of eleven days. He was detained some days under
the walls of Heraclea; and he had no sooner taken possession of
that city than he was alarmed by the intelligence that Licinius
Th8^def«at had pitched his camp at the distance of only eighteen miles.
After a fruitless negotiation, in which the two princes attempted
to seduce the fidelity of each other's adherents, they had re-
course to arms. The emperor of the East commanded a
disciplined and veteran army of above seventy thousand men,
and Licinius, who had collected about thirty thousand Illyrians,
was at first oppressed by the superiority of numbers. His
military skill and the firmness of his troops restored the day,
and obtained a decisive victory. The incredible speed which
Maximin exerted in his flight is much more celebrated than his
prowess in the battle. Twenty-four hours afterwards he was
seen pale, trembling, and without his Imperial ornaments, at
Nicomedia, one hundred and sixty miles from the place of his
defeat. The wealth of Asia was yet unexhausted ; and, though
the flower of his veterans had fallen in the late action, he had
still power, if he could obtain time, to draw very numerous
and death Icvics from Syria and Egypt. But he survived his misfortune
Auffit"""*^' only three or four months. His death, which happened at
Tarsus, was variously ascribed to despair, to poison, and to the
divine justice. As Maximin was alike destitute of abilities and
of virtue, he was lamented neither by the people nor by the
soldiers. The provinces of the East, delivered from the terrors
of civil war, cheerfully acknowledged the authority of Licinius.^^
Cruelty of The Vanquished emperor left behind him two children, a boy
of about eight, and a girl of about seven, years old. Their
inoffensive age might have excited compassion ; but the com-
passion of Licinius was a very feeble resource, nor did it restrain
him from extinguishing the name and memory of his adversary.
The death of Severianus will admit of less excuse, as it was
dictated neither by revenge nor by policy. The conqueror had
never received any injury from the father of that unhappy
youth, and the short and obscure reign of Severus in a distant
part of the empire was already forgotten. But the execution
*^2^simus mentions the defeat and death of Maximin as ordinary events ; but
Lactantius expatiates on them (de M. P. c. 45-50), ascribing them to the miraculous
interposition of Heaven. Licinius at that time was one of the protectors of the
church.
LIclnluB
OF THE EOMAN EMPIKE 427
of Candidianus was an act of the blackest cruelty and ingratitude.
He was the natural son of Galerius, the friend and benefactor
of Licinius. The prudent father had judged him too young to
sustain the weight of a diadem ; but he hoped that, under the
protection of princes who were indebted to his favour for the
Imperial purple, Candidianus might pass a secure and honour-
able life. He was now advancing towards the twentieth year
of his age, and the royalty of his birth, though unsupported
either by merit or ambition, was sufficient to exasperate the
jealous mind of Licinius. ^3 To these innocent and illustrious
victims of his tyranny, we must add the wife and daughter of
the emperor Diocletian. When that prince conferred on
Galerius the title of Caesar, he had given him in marriage his
daughter Valeria, whose melancholy adventures might furnish
a very singular subject for tragedy. She had fulfilled, and Trnfortnnate
even surpassed, the duties of a wife. As she had not anyemDrew**"
children herself, she condescended to adopt the illegitimate son hSlSJt^r
of her husband, and invariably displayed towards the unhappy
Candidianus the tenderness and anxiety of a real mother.
After the death of Galerius, her ample possessions provoked
the avarice, and her personal attractions excited the desires, of
his successor Maximin.^3 pj^ had a wife still alive ; but divorce
was permitted by the Roman law, and the fierce passions of
the tyrant demanded an immediate gratification. The answer
of Valeria was such as became the daughter and widow of
emperors ; but it was tempered by the prudence which her
defenceless condition compelled her to observe. She represented
to the persons whom Maximin had employed on this occasion
" thatj even if honour could permit a woman of her character
and dignity to entertain a thought of second nuptials, decency
at least must forbid her to listen to his addresses at a time
when the ashes of her husband and his benefactor were still
warm, and while the sorrows of her mind were still expressed
by her mourning garments. She ventured to declare that she
could place very little confidence in the professions of a man,
^2 Lactantius de M. P. c. 50. Aurelius Victor touches on the different conduct
of Licinius, and of Constantine, in the use of victory.
93 The sensual appetites of Maximin were gratified at the expense of his subjects.
His eunuchs, who forced away wives and virgins, examined their naked charms
with anxious curiosity, lest any part of their body should be found unworthy of the
royal embraces. Co3mess and disdain were considered as treason, and the
obstinate fair one was condemned to be drowned. A custom was gradually
introduced, that no person should marry a wife without the permission of the
emperor, " ut ipse in omnibus nuptiis prsegustator esset "- Lactantius 4e M. P. n.
38.
428 THE DECLINE AND FALL
whose cruel inconstancy was capable of repudiating a faithful
and afFectionate wife/' ^* On this repulse, the love of Maximin
was converted into fury ; and, as witnesses and judges were
always at his disposal, it was easy for him to cover his fury with
an appearance of legal proceedings, and to assault the reputa-
tion as well as the happiness of Valeria. Her estates were
confiscated, her eunuchs and domestics devoted to the most
inhuman tortures, and several innocent and respectable matrons,
who were honoured with her friendship, suffered death on a
false accusation of adultery. The empress herself, together
with her mother Prisca, was condemned to exile ; and, as they
were ignominiously hurried from place to place before they were
confined to a sequestered village in the deserts of Syria, they
exposed their shame and distress to the provinces of the East,
which, during thirty years, had respected their august dignity.
Diocletian made several ineffectual efforts to alleviate the mis-
fortunes of his daughter; and, as the last return that he ex-
pected for the Imperial purple, which he had conferred upon
Maximin, he entreated that Valeria might be permitted to share
his retirement of Salona, and to close the eyes of her afflicted
father. 95 He entreated, but, as he could no longer threaten,
his prayers were received with coldness and disdain ; and the
pride of Maximin was gratified in treating Diocletian as a
suppliant, and his daughter as a criminal. The death of
Maximin seemed to assure the empresses of a favourable altera-
tion in their fortune. The public disorders relaxed the vigilance
of their guard, and they easily found means to escape from the
place of their exile, and to repair, though with some precaution,
and in disguise, to the court of Licinius. His behaviour, in the
first days of his reign, and the honourable reception which he
gave to young Candidianus, inspired Valeria with a secret
satisfaction, both on her own account, and on that of her
adopted son. But these grateful prospects were soon succeeded
by horror and astonishment ; and the bloody executions which
stained the palace of Nicomedia sufficiently convinced her that
the throne of Maximin was filled by a tyrant more inhuman
than himself. Valeria consulted her safety by a hasty flight,
and, still accompanied by her mother Prisca, they wandered
w Lactantius de M. P. c, 39.
^Diocletian at last sent cognatum suum, quendam militarem ac potentem
virum, to intercede in favour of his daughter (Lactantius de M. P. c. 41). We are
not sufficiently acquainted with the history of these times, to point out the person
who was employed.
OF THE ROMAN EMPIRE 429
above fifteen months ^^ through the provinceSj concealed in the
disguise of plebeian habits. They were at length discovered at
Thessalonica ; and^ as the sentence of their death was already
pronounced, they were immediately beheaded, and their bodies
thrown into the sea. The people gazed on the melancholy
spectacle ; but their grief and indignation were suppressed by
the terrors of a military guard. Such was the unworthy fate of
the wife and daughter of Diocletian, We lament their mis-
fortunes, we cannot discover their crimes ; and, whatever idea
we may justly entertain of the cruelty of Licinius, it remains a
matter of surprise that he was not contented with some more
secret and decent method of revenge, ^"^
The Roman world was now divided between Constantine and ouarrei
*» 1 /• 1 TTT 1 L Detween Con-
Licinius, the former of whom was master of the West, and the jjj^^« ^'^
latter of the East. It might perhaps have been expected that a.d. 314
the conquerors, fatigued with civil war, and connected by a
private as well as public alliance, would have renounced, or at
least would have suspended, any farther designs of ambition.
And yet a year had scarcely elapsed after the death of Maximin,
before the victorious emperors turned their arms against each
other. The genius, the success, and the aspiring temper of
Constantine may seem to mark him out as the aggressor ; but
the perfidious character of Licinius justifies the most unfavourable
suspicions, and by the faint light which history reflects on this
transaction ^^ we may discover a conspiracy fomented by his
arts against the authority of his colleague, Constantine had
lately given his sister Anastasia in marriage to Bassianus, a man
of a considerable family and fortune, and had elevated his new
kinsman to the rank of Caesar. According to the system of
government instituted by Diocletian, Italy, and perhaps Africa,
were designed for his department in the empire. But the per-
formance of the promised favour was either attended with so
much delay, or accompanied with so many unequal conditions,
« Valeria quoque per varias provincias quindecim mensibus plebeio cultft perva-
gata. Lactantius de M. P. c 51. There is some doubt whether we should
compute the fifteen months from the moment of her exile, or from that of her
escape The expression of petvagata seems to denote the latter ; but in that case
we must suppose that the treatise of Lactantius was written after the first civil war
between Licinius and Constantine. See Cuper, p. 254. ^ ^, ^
w Ita illis pudicitia et conditio exitio fuit. Lactantius de M. P. c. 51. He re-
lates the misfortunes of the innocent wife and daughter of Diocletian with a very
natural mixture of pity and exultation. ^ „ , . ^ ^ •„ u
»8 The curious reader, who consults the Valesian Fragment, p. 713, will perhaps
accuse me of giving a bold and licentious paraphrase ; but, if he considers it with
attention he will arlcnowledge that my interpretation is probable and consistent.
430 THE DECLINE AND FALL
that the fidehty of Bassianus was ahenated rather than secured
by the honourable distinction which he had obtained. His
nomination had been ratified by the consent of Licinius, and
that artful prince, by the means of his emissaries, soon contrived
to enter into a secret and dangerous correspondence with the
new Caesar, to irritate his discontents, and to urge him to the
rash enterprise of extorting by violence what he might in vain
solicit from the justice of Constantine. But the vigilant emperor
discovered the conspiracy before it was ripe for execution ; and,
after solemnly renouncing the alliance of Bassianus, despoiled
him of the purple and inflicted the deserved punishment on his
treason and ingratitude. The haughty refusal of Licinius, when
he was required to deliver up the criminals who had taken refuge
in his dominions, confirmed the suspicions already entertained
of his perfidy ; and the indignities offered at iEraona, on the
frontiers of Italy, to the statues of Constantine, became the
signal of discord between the two princes. ^^
First dvu The first battle was foueht near Cibalis, a city of Pannonia,
war between _ . r> ■» n n t r^ nn
*^om. Battle situated on the nver have, about fifty miles above Sirmium.i**o
A^^Yaiit From the inconsiderable forces which in this important contest
two such powerful monarchs brought into the field, it may be
inferred that the one was suddenly provoked, and that the
other was unexpectedly surprised. The emperor of the West
had only twenty thousand, and the sovereign of the East no
more than five and thirty thousand, men. The inferiority of
number was, however, compensated by the advantage of the
ground. Constantine had taken post in a defile about half a
mile in breadth, between a steep hill and a deep morass ; and
in that situation he steadily expected and repulsed the first
attack of the enemy. He pursued his success, and advanced
into the plain. But the veteran legions of Ill5Ticum rallied
under the standard of a leader who had been trained to arms in
the school of Probus and Diocletian. The missile weapons on
both sides were soon exhausted ; the two armies, with equal
valour, rushed to a closer engagement of swords and spears, and
*8Xhe situation of ^mona, or as it is now called Laybach, in Camiola (d'An-
ville, Geographic Ancienne, torn, i. p. 187), may suggest a conjecture. As it lay to
the north-east of the Juhan Alps, that important territory became a natural object
of dispute between the sovereigns of Italy and of lUyricum.
100 Cibalis or Cibalse [now Vinkovce] (whose name is still preserved in the obscure
ruins of Swilei) was situated about fifty miles from Sirmium, the capital of lUyri-
cum, and about one hundred from Taurunum, or Belgrade, and the conflux of the
Danube and the Save. The Roman garrisons and cities on those rivers are finely
illustrated by M. d'Anville, in a memoir inserted in I'Academie des Inscriptions
torn, xxviii.
OF THE ROMAN EMPIRE 431
the doubtful contest had ahready lasted from the dawn of day
to a late hour of the evening when the right wing, which
Constantine led in person, made a vigorous and decisive charge.
The judicious retreat of Licinius saved the remainder of his
troops from a total defeat ; but, when he computed his loss,
which amounted to more than twenty thousand men, he thought
it unsafe to pass the night in the presence of an active and
victorious enemy. Abandoning his camp and magazines, he
marched away with secrecy and diligence at the head of the
greatest part of his cavalry, and was soon removed beyond the
danger of a pursuit. His diligence preserved his wife, his son,
and his treasures, which he had deposited at Sirmiura. Licinius
passed through that city, and, breaking down the bridge on the
Save, hastened to collect a new army in Dacia and Thrace. In
his flight he bestowed the precarious title of Csesar on Valens,
his general of the lUyrian frontier. ^^^
The plain of Mardia in Thrace was the theatre of a second Jgf^^J^jJ*'
battle no less obstinate and bloody than the former. The troops
on both sides displayed the same valour and discipline ; and the
victory was once more decided by the superior abilities of Con-
stantine, who directed a body of five thousand men to gain an
advantageous height, from whence, during the heat of the
action, they attacked the rear of the enemy, and made a very
considerable slaughter. The troops of Licinius, however, pre-
senting a double front, still maintained their ground, till the
approach of night put an end to the combat, and secured their
retreat towards the mountains of Macedonia. ^^^ The loss of two
battles, and of his bravest veterans, reduced the fierce spirit of
Licinius to sue for peace. His ambassador, Mistrianus, was
admitted to the audience of Constantine ; he expatiated on the
common topics of moderation and humanity, which are so
familiar to the eloquence of the vanquished ; represented, in the
most insinuating language, that the event of the war was still
doubtful, whilst its inevitable calamities were alike pernicious
to both the contending parties; and declared that he was
authorized to propose a lasting and honourable peace in the
name of the two emperors his masters. Constantine received
the mention of Valens with indignation and contempt. "It
loi^osimus (1. ii. p. 90, 91 [18]) gives a very particular account of this battle ;
but the descriptions of Zosimus are rhetorical rather than military.
i02Zosimus, 1. ii. p. 92, 93 [19]* Anonym. Valesian. p. 713 [5 ; 17, 18]. The
Epitomes furnish some circumstances ; but they frequently confound the two wars
between Licinius and Constantine.
432 THE DECLINE AND FALL
was not for such a purpose/' he sternly replied, " that wc have
advanced from the shores of the western ocean in an uninter-
rupted course of combats and victories, that, after rejecting an
ungrateful kinsman, we should accept for our colleague a con-
temptible slave. The abdication of Valens is the first article
of the treaty." 108 It was necessary to accept this humiliating
condition, and the unhappy Valens, after a reign of a few days,
was deprived of the purple and of his life. As soon as the
obstacle was removed, the tranquillity of the Roman world was
easily restored. The successive defeats of Licinius had ruined
his forces, but they had displayed his courage and abilities.
His situation was almost desperate, but the efforts of despair
are sometimes formidable ; and the good sense of Constantine
preferred a great and certain advantage to a third trial of the
Treaty of chancc of arms. He consented to leave his rival, or, as he a?ain
becsmbsr Styled Licinius, his friend and brother, in the possession of
Thrace, Asia Minor, Syria, and Egjrpt ; but the provinces of
Pannonia, Dalmatia, Dacia, Macedonia, and Greece, were 3rielded
to the western empire, and the dominions of Constantine now
extended from the confines of Caledonia to the extremity of
Peloponnesus. It was stipulated by the same treaty that three
royal youths, the sons of the emperors, should be called to the
hopes of the succession. Crispus and the younger Constantine
were soon afterwards declared Caesars in the West, while the
younger Licinius was invested with the same dignity in the
East. In this double proportion of honours, the conqueror
asserted the superiority of his arms and power. i*^
General peace The reconciliation of Constantine and Licinius, thouerh it was
and lawfl of _ 1*1 111
Constantine, embittered by resentment and jealousy, by the remembrance of
recent injuries, and by the apprehension of future dangers,
maintained, however, above eight years, the tranquillity of the
108 Petrus Patricius in the Excerpt Legal, p. 27 [F.G.H. iv. p. 190]. K it
should be thought .hat yaju.^po9 signifies more properly a son-in-law we might
conjecture, that Constantine, assuming the name" as well as the duties of a
father, had adopted his younger brothers and sisters, the children of Theodora,
But in the best authors ydfippo^ sometimes signifies a husband, sometimes a father-
in-law, and sometimes a kinsman in general. See Spanheim Observat. ad Julian.
Orat. i. p. 72.
104 Zosimus, 1. ii. p. 93 [20]. Anonym. Valesian. p. 713. Eutropius, x. 5.
Aurelius Victor. Euseb. in Chron. Sozomen. 1. i. c. 2. Four of these writers affirm
that the promotion of the Caesars was an article of the treaty. It is however
certain that the younger Constantine and Licinius were not yet bom ; and it is
highly probable that the promotion was made the ist of March, A.D. 317. The
treaty had probably stipulated that two Caesars might be created by the western,
and one only by the eastern, emperor: but each of them reserved to himself the
choice of the persons.
OF THE ROMAN EMPIRE 433
Roman world. As a very regular series of the Imperial laws
commences about this period, it would not be difficult to
transcribe the civil regulations which employed the leisure of
Constantine. But the most important of his institutions are
intimately connected with the new system of policy and religion,
which was not perfectly estabHshed till the last and peaceful
years of his reign. There are many of his laws which, as far as
they concern the rights and property of individuals, and the
practice of the bar, are more properly referred to the private
than to the public jurisprudence of the empire; and he pubhshed
many edicts of so local and temporary a nature, that they would
ill deserve the notice of a general history. Two laws, however,
may be selected from the crowd ; the one, for its importance,
the other, for its singularity; the former for its remarkable
benevolence, the latter for its excessive severity. 1. The horrid
practice, so familiar to the ancients, of exposing or murdering
their new-born infants, was become every day more frequent
in the provinces, and especially in Italy. It was the effect of
distress ; and the distress was principally occasioned by the
intolerable burden of taxes, and by the vexatious as well as cruel
prosecutions of the officers of the revenue against their insolvent
debtors. The less opulent or less industrious part of mankind,
instead of rejoicing in an increase of family, deemed it an act of
paternal tenderness to release their children from the impending
miseries of a life which they themselves were unable to support.
The humanity of Constantine, moved, perhaps, by some recent
and extraordinary instances of despair, engaged him to address
an edict to all the cities of Italy, and afterwards of Africa,
directing immediate and sufficient relief to be given to those
parents who should produce, before the magistrates, the children
whom their own poverty would not allow them to educate. But
the promise was too liberal, and the provision too vague, to
effect any general or permanent benefit. ^^^ The law, though it
may merit some praise, served rather to display than to alleviate
the public distress. It still remains an authentic monument to
contradict and confound those venal orators, who were too well
satisfied with their own situation to discover either vice or
misery under the government of a generous sovereign. i*'^ 2.
1"^ Codex Theodosian. 1. xi. tit. 27. torn. iv. p, i83, with Godefroy's observations.
See likewise, 1. v. tit. 7-8.
loe Omnia foris placita, domi prospera, annonse ubertate, fructuum copii, &c.
Panegyr. Vet. x. 38. This oration of Nazarius was pronounced on the day of the
Quinquennalia of the Cassars, the ist of March, A.D. 321.
28 VOL. I.
434 THE DECLINE AND FALL
The laws of Constantine against rapes were dictated with very
little indulgence for the most amiable weaknesses of human
nature ; since the description of that crime was applied not only
to the brutal violence which compelledj but even to the gentle
seduction which might persuade^ an unmarried woman, under
the age of twenty-five, to leave the house of her parents.
" The successful ravisher was punished with death ; and, as if
simple death was inadequate to the enormity of his guilt, he was
either burnt alive or torn in pieces by wild beasts in the amphi-
theatre. The virgin's declaration that she had been carried
away with her own consent, instead of saving her lover, exposed
her to share his fate. The duty of a public prosecution was in-
trusted to the parents of the guilty or unfortunate maid ; and,
if the sentiments of Nature prevailed on them to dissemble the
injury, and to repair by a subsequent marriage the honour of
their family, they were themselves punished by exile and con-
fiscation. The slaves, whether male or female, who were
convicted of having been accessary to the rape or seduction,
were burnt alive, or put to death by the ingenious torture of
pouring down their throats a quantity of melted lead. As the
crime was of a public kind, the accusation was permitted even
to strangers. The commencement of the action was not limited
to any term of years, and the consequences of the sentence were
extended to the innocent offspring of such an irregular union." ^^
But, whenever the offence inspires less horror than the punish-
ment, the rigour of penal law is obliged to give way to the
common feelings of manlcind. The most odious parts of this
edict were softened or repealed in the subsequent reigns ; ^^^
and even Constantine himself very frequently alleviated, by
partial acts of mercy, the stern temper of his general institutions.
Such, indeed, was the singular humour of that emperor, who
showed himself as indulgent, and even remiss, in the execution
of his laws, as he was severe, and even cruel, in the enacting of
them. It is scarcely possible to observe a more decisive symptom
of weakness, either in the character of the prince, or in the
constitution of the government. ^'^^
'**7 See the edict of Constantine, addressed to the Roman people in the Theo-
dosian Code, 1. ix. tit. 24, torn. iii. p. 189. [Date: A.D. 320, April i, Aquileia.]
108 His son very fairly assigns the true reason of the repeal: " Ne sub specie
atrocioris judicii aHqua in ulciscendo criraine dilatio nasceretur"- Cod. Theod.
torn. iii. p. 193,
io»Eusebius (in Vita Constant. 1. iii. c. 1) chooses to affirm that in the reign of
his hero the sword of justice hung idle in the hands of the magistrates. Eusebiiis
himself (1. iv. c. 29, 54) and the Theodosian Code will inform us that this ex-
cessive lenity was not owing to the want either of atrocious criminals or of penal laws.
OF THE EOMAN EMPIRE 435
The civil administration was sometimes interrupted by the iiie ootMc
military defence of the empire. Crispus, a youth of the most K.' 322
amiable character, who had received with the title of Caesar the
command of the Rhine, distinguished his conduct, as well as
valour, in several victories over the Franks and Alemanni ; and
taught the barbarians of that frontier to dread the eldest son of
Constantine, and the grandson of Constantius.i^o The emperor
himself had assumed the more difficult and important province
of the Danube. The Goths, who in the time of Claudius and
Aurelian had felt the weight of the Roman arms, respected the
power of the empire, even in the midst of its intestine divisions.
But the strength of that warlike nation was now restored by a
peace of near fifty years ; a new generation had arisen, who no
longer remembered the misfortunes of ancient days : the Sar-
matians of the lake Maeotis followed the Gothic standard, either
as subjects or as allies, and their united force was poured upon
the countries of Illyricum. Campona, Margus, and Bononia
appear to have been the scenes of several memorable sieges and
battles ; ^^^ and, though Constantine encountered a very obstinate
resistance, he prevailed at length in the contest, and the Goths
were compelled to purchase an ignominious retreat by restoring
the booty and prisoners which they had taken. Nor was this
advantage suflicient to satisfy the indignation of the emperor.
He resolved to chastise as well as to repulse the insolent bar-
barians who had dared to invade the territories of Rome. At
the head of the legions he passed the Danube, after repairing
the bridge which had been constructed by Trajan, penetrated
into the strongest recesses of Dacia,!^^ and, when he had inflicted
a severe revenge, condescended to give peace to the suppliant
Goths, on condition that, as often as they were required, they
should supply his armies with a body of forty thousand soldiers.^i^
^10 Nazarius in Panegyr. Vet. x, [36]. The victory of Crispus over the Alemanni
is expressed on some medals.
"*See Zosimus, 1, ii. p. 93, 94 [21J; though the narrative of that historian is
neither clear nor consistent. The Panegyric of Optatianus (c. 23 [in Epigr. Vet.
'S96» P- 355]) mentions the alliance of the Sarmatians with the Carpi and Getas,
and points out the several fields of battle. It is supposed that the Sarmatian games,
celebrated in the month of November, derived their origin from the success of this
war [and also the ludi Gothici, pth February : Corp. Inscr, Lat. i. p. 386].
"8 In the Csesars of Julian (p. 329. Commentaire de Spanheim, p. 252.) Con-
stantine boasts that he had recovered the province (Dacia), which Trajan had
subdued. But it is insinuated by Silenus that the conquests of Constantine were
like the gardens of Adonis, which fade and wither almost the moment they appear.
"Sjornandes de Rebus Geticis, c. 21. I know not whether we may entirely de-
pend on his authority. Such an alliance has a very recent air, and scarcely is suited
to the maxims of the beginning of the fourth century.
436 THE DECLINE AND FALL
Exploits like these were no doubt honourable to Constantine
and licneficial to the state; but it may surely be questioned
whether they can justify the exaggerated assertion of Eusebius,
that ALL ScYTHiA, as far as the extremity of the North, divided
as it was into so many names and nations of the most various and
savage manners, had been added by his victorious arms to the
Roman empire.^^*
Second civil In this exalted state of glory it was impossible that Constan-
coSBtanune' tine should any longer endure a partner in the empire. Con-
a!d. 3^ "*' fiding in the superiority of his genius and military power, he
determined, without any previous injury, to exert them for the
destruction of Licinius, whose advanced age and unpopular vices
seemed to offer a very easy conquest.^^^ But the old emperor,
awakened by the approaching danger, deceived the expectations
of his friends as well as of his enemies. Calling forth that spirit
and those abilities by which he had deserved the friendship of
Galerius and the Imperial purple, he prepared himself for the
contest, collected the forces of the East, and soon filled the
plains of Hadrianople with his troops, and the Streights of the
Hellespont with his fleet. The army consisted of one hundred
and fifty thousand foot, and fifteen thousand horse ; and, as the
cavalry was drawn, for the most part, from Phrygia and Cappa-
docia, we may conceive a more favourable opinion of the beauty
of the horses than of the courage and dexterity of their riders.
The fleet was composed of three hundred and fifty galleys of
three ranks of oars. An hundred and thirty of these were
furnished by Egypt, and the adjacent coast of Africa, An
hundred and ten sailed from the ports of Phoenicia and the isle
of Cyprus ; and the maritime countries of Bithynia, Ionia, and
Caria were likewise obliged to provide an hundred and ten
galleys. The troops of Constantine were ordered to rendezvous
at Thessalonica ; they amounted to above an hundred and
twenty thousand horse and foot.^^® Their emperor was satisfied
with their martial appearance, and his army contained more
soldiers, though fewer men, than that of his eastern competitor.
The legions of Constantine were levied in the war-like provinces
11* Eusebius in Vit. Constantin. 1. i. c. 8, This passage, however, is taken from
a general declamation on the greatness of Constantine, and not from any particular
account of the Gothic war.
11^ Constantinus tamen vir ingens, et omnia efficere nitens quae animo praeparas-
set simnl principatum totius orbis affectans, Licinio bellum intulit. Eutropms, x.
5. Zosimus, 1. li. p. 89 [18]. The reasons which they have assigned for the first
civil war may, with more propriety, be applied to the second.
"8 Zosimus, 1. ii. p. 94, 95 [22].
OF THE ROMAN EMPIRE 437
of Europe ; action had confirmed their discipline, victory had
elevated their hopes, and there were among them a great
number of veterans, who, after seventeen glorious campaigns
under the same leader, prepared themselves to deserve an
honourable dismission by a last effort of their valour. ^i''' But
the naval preparations of Constantine were in every respect
much inferior to those of Licinius. The maritime cities of
Greece sent their respective quotas of men and ships to the
celebrated harbour of Piraeus, and their united forces consisted
of no more than two hundred small vessels : a very feeble arma-
ment, if it is compared with those formidable fleets which were
equipped and maintained by the republic of Athens during the
Peloponnesian war.^^s Since Italy was no longer the seat of
government, the naval establishments of Misenum and Ravenna
had been gradually neglected ; and, as the shipping and mariners
of the empire were supported by commerce rather than by war,
it was natural that they should the most abound in the industri-
ous provinces of Egypt and Asia. It is only surprising that
the eastern emperor, who possessed so great a superiority at sea,
should have neglected the opportunity of carrying an offensive
war into the centre of his rival's dominions.
Instead of embracing such an active resolution, which might ^le of
have changed the whole face of the war, the prudent Licinius a.d. 323,
expected the approach of his rival in a camp near Hadrianople,
which he had fortified with an anxious care that betrayed his
apprehension of the event. Constantine directed his march
from Thessalonica towards that part of Thrace, till he found
himself stopped by the broad and rapid stream of the Hebrus,
and discovered the numerous army of Licinius, which filled the
steep ascent of the hill, from the river to the city of Hadrianople.
Many days were spent in doubtful and distant skirmishes ; but
at length the obstacles of the passage and of the attack were
removed by the intrepid conduct of Constantine. In this place
we might relate a wonderful exploit of Constantine, which,
though it can scarce be paralleled either in poetry or romance,
117 Constantine was very attentive to the privileges and comforts of his fellow-
veterans (Conveterani), as he now began to style them. See the Theodosian Code,
1. vii. tit 20, torn. ii. p. 419-429. , . o • j
118 Whilst the Athenians maintained the empire of the sea, their fleet consisted
of three and afterwards of four, hundred galleys of three ranks of oars, all com-
pletely equipped and ready for immediate service. The arsenal in the port of
Pirseus had cost the republic a thousand talents, about two hundred and sixteen
thousand pounds. See Thucydides de Bel. Peloponn, 1. ii. c. 13. and Meursius de
Fortune AtticA, c. 19.
438 THE DECLINE AND FALL
is celebrated, not by a venal orator devoted to his fortune,
but by an historian, the partial enemy of his fame. We are
assured that the valiant emperor threw himself into the river
Hebrus, accompanied only by twelve horsemen, and that, by the
effort or terror of his invincible arm, he broke, slaughtered, and put
to flight a host of an hundred and fifty thousand men. The
credulity of Zosimus prevailed so strongly over his passion that,
among the events of the memorable battle of Hadrianople, he
seems to have selected and embellished, not the most important,
but the most marvellous. The valour and danger of Constantine
are attested by a slight wound which he received in the thigh ;
but it may be discovered even from an imperfect narration, and,
perhaps, a corrupted text, that the victory was obtained no less
by the conduct of the general than by the courage of the hero ;
that a body of five thousand archers marched round to occupy
a thick wood in the rear of the enemy, whose attention was
diverted by the construction of a bridge ; and that Licinius,
perplexed by so many artful evolutions, was reluctantly drawn
from his advantageous post to combat on equal ground in the
plain. The contest was no longer equal. His confused
multitude of new levies was easily vanquished by the experienced
veterans of the West. Thirty-four thousand men are reported
to have been slain. The fortified camp of Licinius was taken
by assault tlie evening of the battle ; the greater part of the
fugitives, who had retired to the mountains, surrendered
themselves the next day to the discretion of the conqueror ;
and his rival, who could no longer keep the field, confined him-
self within the walls of Byzantium.^^^
siege or The sicgc of Byzantium, which was immediately undertaken
^f^SS by Constantine, was attended with great labour and uncertainty.
cSpS**' III the late civil wars, the fortifications of that place, so justly
considered as the key of Europe and Asia, had been repaired
and strengthened ; and, as long as Licinius remained master of
the sea, the garrison was much less exposed to the danger of
famine than the army of the besiegers. The naval commanders
of Constantine were summoned to his camp, and received his
positive orders to force the passage of the Hellespont, as the
fleet of Licinius, instead of seeking and destroying their feeble
11^ Zosimus, 1. ii. p. 95, 96 [21 sqq.\ This great battle is described in the
Valesian fragment (p. 714), in a clear though concise manner. "Licinius vero
circum Hadrianopolin maximo exercitu latera ardui montis impleverat: illuc
toto agmine Constantinus inflexit. Cum bellura terra, marique traheretur, quamvis
per arduum suis nitentibus, attamen discipline militari et felicitate, Constantinus
Licinii confusum ct sine ordine agentem vicU exercitum ; leviter feniore sauciatus."
OF THE ROMAN EMPIRE 439
enemy, continued inactive in those narrow streights where its
superiority of numbers was of little use or advantage. Crispus,
the emperor's eldest son, was intrusted with the execution of
this daring enterprise, which he performed with so much courage
and success, that he deserved the esteem, and most probably
excited the jealousy, of his father. The engagement lasted two
days, and, in the evening of the first, the contending fleets, after
a considerable and mutual loss, retired into their respective
harbours of Europe and Asia. The second day about noon a
strong south wind^^o sprang up, which carried the vessels of
Crispus against the enemy ; and, as the casual advantage was
improved by his skilful intrepidity, he soon obtained a complete
victory. An hundred and thirty vessels were destroyed, five
thousand men were slain, and Amandus, the admiral of the
Asiatic fleet, escaped with the utmost difficulty to the shores of
Chalcedon. As soon as the Hellespont was open, a plentiful
convoy of provisions flowed into the camp of Constantine, who
had already advanced the operations of the siege. He con-
structed artificial mounds of earth of an equal height with the
ramparts of Byzantium. The lofty towers which were erected
on that foundation galled the besieged with large stones and
darts from the military engines, and the battering rams liad
shaken the walls in several places. If Licinius persisted much
longer in the defence, he exposed himself to be involved in the
ruin of the place. Before he was surrounded, he prudently
removed his person and treasures to Chalcedon in Asia ; and, as
he was always desirous of associating companions to the hopes
and dangers of his fortune, he now bestowed the title of Caesar
on Martinianus, who exercised one of the most important offices
of the empire.^^^
Such were still the resoxxrces, and such the abilities, of Licinius, ^^^^°l^
that, after so many successive defeats, he collected in Bithynia[3ept.Torao]
a new army of fifty or sixty thousand men, while the activity of
Constantine was employed in the siege of Byzantium. The
vigilant emperor did not, however, neglect the last struggles of
his antagonist. A considerable part of his victorious army was
i20Zosimus, 1. ii. p. 97, 98 [24]. The current always sets out of the Hellespont ;
and, when it is assisted by a north wind, no vessel can attempt the passage. A
south wind renders the force of the current almost imperceptible. See Tournefort's
Voyage au Levant, Let. xi. _^ n -,.,., ,
321 Aurelius Victor [Caes. 41]. Zosimus, 1. n. p. 98 [25]. Accordmg to the latter,
Martinianus was Magister Officiorum (he uses the Latin appellation in Greek).
Some medals [struck at Nicomedia] seem to intimate that dioring his short reign he
received the title of Augustus.
440 THE DECLINE AND FALL
transported over the Bosphorus in small vessels, and the deci-
sive engagement was fought soon after their landing on the
heights of Chrysopohs, or, as it is now called, of Scutari. The
troops of Licinius, though they were lately raised, ill armed, and
worse disciplined, made head against their conquerors with
fruitless but desperate valour, till a total defeat and the slaughter
of five and twenty thousand men irretrievably determined the
submiBflion fate of their leader.122 fjg retired to Nicomedia, rather with
ucinim the vicw of gaining some time for negotiation than with the hope
of any effectual defence. Constantia, his wife and the sister of
Constantine, interceded with her brother in favour of her hus-
band, and obtained from his policy, rather than from his com-
passion, a solemn promise, confinoaed by an oath, that after the
sacrifice of Martinianus, and the resignation of the purple,
Licinius himself should be permitted to pass the remainder of
his life in peace and affluence. The behaviour of Constantia,
and her relation to the contending parties, naturally recalls the
remembrance of that virtuous matron who was the sister of
Augustus and the wife of Antony. But the temper of mankind
was altered, and it was no longer esteemed infamous for a Roman
to survive his honour and independence. Licinius solicited and
accepted the pardon of his offences, laid himself and his purple
at the feet of his lord and master, was raised from the ground
with insulting pity, was admitted the same day to the Imperial
banquet, and soon afterwards was sent away to Thessalonica,
which had been chosen for the place of his confinement. ^^^ His
confinement was soon terminated by death, and it is doubtful
whether a tumult of the soldiers, or a decree of the senate, was
suggested as the motive for his execution. According to the
rules of tyranny, he was accused of forming a conspiracy, and of
holding a treasonable correspondence with the barbarians ; but,
as he was never convicted, either by his own conduct or by any
legal evidence, we may perhaps be allowed, from his weakness,
to presume his innocence. ^^4 Xhe memory of Licinius was
i^Eusebius {in Vit^ Constantin. 1. ii. c. 16, 17) ascribes this decisive victory to
the pious prayers of the emperor. The Valesian fragment (p. 714) mentions a body
of Gothic auxiliaries, under their chief Aliquaca, who adhered to the party of Licinius.
123 Zosimus, 1. ii. p. 102 [28]. Victor Junior in Epitome [41]. Anonym. Vale-
sian, p. 714.
124 Contra religionem sacramenti Thessalonicse privatus occisus est Eutropius
X. 6 ; and his evidence is confirmed by St. Jerome (in Chronic.) as well as by Zosi-
mus, 1. ii. p. 102 [28]. The Valesian writer is the only one who mentions the
soldiers, and it is Zonaras alone [xiii. i] who calls in the assistance of the senate.
Eusebius prudently slides over this delicate transaction. But Sozomen, a century
afterwards, ventures to assert the treasonable practices of Licinius.
OF THE ROMAN EMPIRE 441
branded with infamy, his statues were thrown down, and by a
hasty edict, of such mischievous tendency that it was almost
immediately corrected, all his laws, and all the judicial proceed-
ings of his reign, were at once abolished. i^e By this victory of gfe^^'ire^
Constantine, the Roman world was again united under the *-° ^^
authority of one emperor, thirtynseven years after Diocletian
had divided his power and provinces with his associate Max-
imian.
The successive steps of the elevation of Constantine, from his
first assuming the purple at York to the resignation of Licinius
at Nicomedia, have been related with some minuteness and pre-
cision, not only as the events are in themselves both interesting
and important, but still more as they contributed to the decline
of the empire by the expense of blood and treasure, and by
the perpetual increase, as well of the taxes as of the military
establishment. The foundation of Constantinople, and the
establishment of the Christian religion, were the immediate
and memorable consequences of this revolution.
125 See the Theodosian Code, 1. xv. tit. 15, torn. v. p. 404, 405. These edicts of
Constantine betray a degree of passion and precipitancy very unbecoming of the
character of a lawgiver.
END OF VOL. I.
443
APPENDIX
ADDmONAL NOTES BY THE EDITOR
1. AUTHORITIES
CxsaiuB Dio CoooEiANus belonged to a good family of the Bithynian town of
Nicasa. His father Apronianus had been intrusted with the governorships of
Dahnatia and Gilicia, and he himself achieved a more distinguished career in
the civil service. Arriving at Rome in the year in which the Emperor Marcus
died (180), he advanced step by step to the pr^torship (193), and subsequently
held the office of consul twice (see Ixxiii. 12 ; ixxx. 2 ; Corp. Insc. Lat. iii. 5587).
He was prefect (en-eo-Ta-njo-a, Ixxix. 7) of Pergamum and Smyrna in the reign of
Macrinus ; and under Alexander Severus was at first proconsul of Africa, and
was afterwards transferred to Dalmatia and thence to Upper Pannonia (Ixxx. 1).
After the year 229 he retired from public life, owing to an ailment of his feet
(Ixxx. 5),
A work on dreams and a monograph on the reign of the Emperor Commodus
having elicited words of encouragement from Septimius Severus, Dion conceived
the idea of writing a Roman history from the earliest time to his own day.
During the intervals between his public employments abroad he used to retire
to Capua and devote his leisure to this enterprise. He completed it in eighty
Books, bringing the history down as far as the year of his second consulship, 229
A.D. Of this work we possess in a complete form only Books xxxvi. to Ix., which
cover the important period from 68 b.c. to 60 a.d. The earlier books were largely
used by Zonaras whose Epitome we possess, and we have also a considerable
number of fragments, preserved in the Exeerpta de virtutibus et vitiis, and the
Excerpta de legationibus (compilations made for Constantino VII. in the tenth
century).! For the last twenty Books we have the abridgment by Xiphilin
(eleventh century), but in the case of the Ixxviiith and Ixxixth a mutilated
Ms. of the original text. For the reign of Antoninus Pius, however (bk. Ixx.),
oven Xiphilin deserts us ; there seems to have been a lacuna in his copy.
For the history of the early Empire we have few contemporary literary sources,
and thus the continuous narrative of Dion is of inestimable value. Living before
the Principate had passed away, and having had personal experience of affairs of
state, he had a grasp of constitutional matters which was quite impossible for
later writers ; though in describing the institutions of Augustus he falls into the
error of making statements which applied to his own age but not to the begin-
ning of the Principate. He affected to be an Attic stylist and aspired to write
like Thucydides. (The text of Dindorf — an important contribution to the study
of Dion — is now being admirably re-edited by J. Melber ; the first two volumes
have already appeared. )
The history of Dion was continued by an Anonymous author, of ^hose work
we have some fragments (collected in vol. iv. of Miiller's Fragmenta Hist. Graec.
p. 191 sqq.), and know something further through the fact that it was a main
source of Zonaras when he had no longer Dion to follow. [Compare vol. ii.,
Appendix 1 ad. init.]
iThe Excerpta de Sententiis contain not direct extracts from Dion, but passages
founded on his work. The Planudean Excerpts (fifteenth century) are spurious. See
-reface to Melber's edition.
444 APPENDIX
Herodiah was of Syrian birth, and, like Dion, was emplojed in the civil
service, but in. far humbler grades. If he had ever risen to the higher naagistraciea,
if he had ever held the exalted position of a provincial governor, he would
certainly have mentioned his success ; the general expression which he employs,
"Imperial and public offices" (i. 2), shows sufficiently that he had no career.
The title of his work was ' ' Histories of the Empire after MarcuB, " and embraced in
eight Books the reigns from the accession of Gommodus to that of Grordian III.
His own comments on the events which he relates are tedious ; and the import-
ance of his book rests on the circumstance that he was an honest contemporary ;
he has none of the higher qualities of an historian. (Kreutzer's dissertation, De
Herodlano rerum Rom. scriptore, 1881, may be referred to).
The HiSTOBZA Augusta is a composite work, in which six several authors, who
lived and wrote in the reigns of Diocletian and Constantino, had a hand. These
authors however were not collaborators and did not write with a view to the
production of the work which we possess. The Historia Augusta seems, in the
light of recent criticism, to have been an eclectic compilation from a number of
different, originally independent histories.
Julius Spartia/nus wrote, by the wish of the Emperor Diocletian, whom he
often addresses, a series of Imperial biographies (including Caesars as well as
Augusti) from the death of the dictator (post Caesarem dictatorem ; ii. 7, 5). He
came down at least as far as Garacalla.
Vulcacius Gallicanus likewise addressed to Diocletian a work on the lives of
all the Emperors who bore the fuU title of Augustus, whether by Intimate right
or as tyrants. See vi. 3, 3.
The series of Trehellius Pollio was on a more limited scale. It began with
the two Philips, and embracing aU Emperors, whether renowned or obscure,
reached as far as Claudius and his brother Quintillus. It was not dedicated to
Diocletian but was written in his reign, before Constantius Chlorus had been
raised to the dignity of Augustus, that is before 1st May 305 (cp. xiiii. 7, 1,
where Claudius is described as the ancestor C<msta/nZi CcBsaris nostri ; cp. too,
ib. 14, 3, where Constantinus is an error for Constcmtius, and xxiv. 21, 7, where we
get the prior limit of 302). It is probable that the work of Pollio was a continua-
tion of another series of Lives which ended with the accession of Philip ; and it is
possible that this presumable series may have been actually that of Spartian
or Vulcacius, but it is quite uncertain.
Flavins Vopisctts of Syracuse professedly continued the work of Pollio, and
carried it down as far as the death of Carinus and accession of Diocletian. He
wrote, at least, the life of Aurelian between 1st May 305 and 25th July 306, the
period in which Constantius was Emperor; et est quidem iam Constantius
imperator, xxvi. 44, 5.
Julius CapitoUnus wrote another series of Imperial biographies, of which some
were composed under, and dedicated to, Diocletian, while others were written at a
later period for Constantino. Where he began is uncertain ; the earliest Life
from his pen which we possess is that of Antoninus Pius, the latest those of
^laximus and Balbinus. Of the Lives which are extant under his name, those of
Marcus, Lucius Verus, and Mftorinus contain the name of Diocletian. Tliose of
Albinus and the Maximins h'a,ve internal notes of their dedication to Constantino.
Aa Albinus comes chronologically between Verus and Macrinus, both dating from
the reign of Diocletian, it is impossible, if the ascription of Macrvn/as to Capito-
linus is right, to draw the conclusion that all the earlier Lives were written in
the earlier period, and all the later Lives in the later. But to this point I shall
return.
Aelius Lampridius dedicated his Imperial biographies to Constantine. He
began with Commodus, if not earlier, and intended to include Diocletian and
Maximian. The latest of his Lives that exists is that of Alexander Severus.
The original Ms. of the Historia Augusta, from which our Mss. are derived,
contained a complete series of Imperial biographies, from Hadrian to Carinus, put
together from the works of these six writers. The work of Pollio, and its con-
APPENDIX
445
tinuation by Vopiscus, were included in their entirety. The contributions drawn
from the various biographers may be conveniently seen in the following table :—
Spartiau :
Vulcacius :
Oapitolinus
LampridiuB
PoUio
Vopiscus :
^ Hadrian
Aelius Verus .
Didius Julianus
Severus
Pescennius Niger .
Caracallus
Avidius Cassius
Antoninus Pius
M. Antoninus
Verus
Pertinax
Clodius Albinus
Maximini duo
Gordiani tres
Maximus et Balbinus
Commodus
Diadumenus .
Heliogabalus .
Alexander Severus
Philip to Claudius .
Aurelian to Oarinus
XXX.
(date : before May 305).
(date : before May 305).
(date : before May 305).
(date : reign of Oonstan-
tine).
(date : reign of Constan-
tine).
(date : before May 305).
(date: after May 305,
and begun before July
306).
I. The Life of Geta (xiv.) I have not included in this lict. The name of the author is
not given in the Mss. ; the editio princeps assigned it to Spartianus. There is, however,
a serious objection against attributing it to Spartian in the lack of decisive external
evidence. For it is dedicated to Constantine, whereas the Lives written by Spartian are
dedicated to Diocletian. The fact that Spartian intended to write a life of Geta (see xiii.
II, i) proves nothing; for there is nothing to show that separate Lives of Geta were not
also included in the collections of Lampridius and Capitolinus, and that the compiler of the
Historia Augusta did not prefer one of them to the Geta of Spartian.
II. The Life of Opilius Macrinus (xv.) I have also omitted, although the Mss. ascribe it
to Capitolinus. But it is highly probable that the Inscriptio is not genuine. For the
author of this Life only knows of two Gordians (3, 5, nee inter Antoninos referendi sunt
duo Gordiani), herein agreeing with Lampridius (xvi. 32, and xvii. 34, 6) ; whereas Capi-
tolinus is not only aware of the three Gordians, whose lives he wrote (xx.)> but criticizes
the ignorant writers who only speak of two (xx. 2, i, Gordiani non, ut quidam inperiti
scriptores locuntur, duo sed tres fuerunt). This flagrant contradiction, which imperatively
forbids us to ascribe the Gordians and Macrinus to the same writer, is borne out by the
fact that Macrinus is dedicated to Diocletian, whereas Albinus is addressed to Constantine.
It is natural to suppose that Capitolinus wrote his Lives in chronological order, and com-
pleted in the reign of Constantine the biographical series which he had begun in that of
Diocletian. If we decide that our Macrinus is not really his work, we restore the natural
order. We cannot, however, suppose that Macrinus was the composition of Lampridius,
who wrote under Constantine. We must attribute it either to Spartian or to Vulcacius.
III. The archetype of our Mss. was mutilated, and, unfortunately for the history of a
very difficult period, there is a lacuna extending from the end of Maximus and Balbinus into
the Two Valerians, of which only a congeries of fragments remains. Thus the Lives of
Philip, Decius, and Gallus by Trebellius PoIIio are lost. The subscription at the end of
Maximus and Balbinus attributes the Valerians to Capitolinus, but this is clearly an inser-
tion made after the lost Lives had fallen out.
IV. In general the Lives are arranged in chronological order. There are three remark-
able deviations, (i) Didius Julianus comes after Verus and before Commodus, in the
place where we should expect Avidius Cassius, while Avidius comes where we expect
Julianus, (2) Albinus comes after Macrinus instead of following Pescennius; and (3)
Heliogabalus, Diadumenus, Macrinus takes the place of the proper order Macrinus,
Diadumenus, Heliogabalus. In all three cases Peter has corrected the Mss. in his edition.
These misplacements cannot be explained by mistakes in the binding of the sheets
446 APPENDIX
(quaternions) of the archetype, though such mistakes certainly occurred and led to minor
misplacements notably that m the Life of Alexander, c. 43 (see Peter's ed.)-
All these writers have much the same idea of historical biography. They give
a great many personal details, and are fond of trivial anecdotes ; but they have
no notion of perspicuous arrangement, and no apprehension of deeper historical
questions. Their chief source for the earlier Lives was Marius Maximus (used by
Spartian, Vulcacius, Capitolinus and Lampridius, and criticized by Vopiscus as
homo omnium verbosissimua, xxix. 1), who continued the work of Suetonius,
from Nerva to Elagabalus. He lived about 170-230 a.d. (See, for a daring attempt
to reconstruct the history of Marius, Miiller's essay in Budinger's Untersuchungen
zur romischen Kaisergeschichte, vol. iii. The tract of J. Plew, Marius Maximus
als directe und indirecte Quelle der Scriptores Hist. Aug., 1878, is of much
greater value,) Capitolinus and the author of the Vita Macrini, also used a
work of Junius Cordus who devoted himself to the elucidation of the obscurer
reigns (xv. 1). But there were other stray sources both Latin and Greek. For
example Acholius, master of ceremonies to the Emperor Valerian, described the
journeys of Alexander Severus and was consulted by Lampridius (xviii. 64). The
same writer wrote Acta, in the ninth Book of which he dealt with the reign of
Valerian (xxvi. 12). For other sources see Teuffel, Gesch. der rom. Litt., § 387-
The introduction of Vopiscus to his Life of AureHan is well worth reading. It
throws some light on the way in which these lives were written and the sources
which the writers commanded. "We learn that Aurelian's daily acts were written
by his own orders in lihri lintei, and the historian could obtain them from the
numbered cases ^ of the Ulpian Library. The war of Aurelian then was an
official account {charaetere historico digesta).
The citation of original documents (both genuine and spurious) is a feature of
the Historia Augusta. Vopiscus, and perhaps the others in some cases, took these
directly from the originals in the Ulpian Library, but in the case of the earlier
Lives it is highly probable that the^ were drawn, at second hand, from Marius
Maximus, who included Buch pieces justicatifs in his work.
The uncertainty which prevailed in the reign of Diocletian as to leading events
which happened as late as the reign of Aurelian is illustrated instructively
by the dispute among historical students, recorded by Vopiscus, as to whether
Firmus, the tyrant of Egypt, had been invested with the purple, and reigned as
an Emperor, or not (xxix. 2).
A special word must be said about the Lives of Trebellius Pollio. It has been
shown with tolerable certamty, by the investigations of H. Peter, that all the
original documents which he inserts, whether transactions, or letters, or speeches,
are forgeries. He has also been convicted of unfairness in his presentation of
the personality of Gallienus. When Gibbon says (chap. x. note 156), that the
character of that unfortunate prince has been fairly transmitted to us, on the
ground that "the historians who wrote before the elevation of the family of
Constantine, could not have the most remote interest to misrepresent the
charncter of Gallienus," he overlooks the internal evidence in the Biographies of
Pollio (as pointed out above) which proves that this writer was actuated by the
wish to glorify Constantius indirectly by a glorification of Claudius. He had
thus a distinct motive for disparaging the abilities and actions of Gallienus. For,
by pourtraying that monarch as incapable of ruling and utterly incompetent
to cope with the dangers which beset the Empire, he was enabled to suggest
a contrast between the contemptible prince and nis brilliant successor. Through
such a contrast the achievements of Claudius seemed more striking. (Recently
F. Rothkegel in a treatise on Die Regierung des Gallienus, of which the first part
has appeared, 1804, has endeavoured to do justice to Gallienus, and show that
he was not so ba'l or incompetent as he has been made out.)
The best text of the Historia Augusta is that of H. Peter, who is the chief
authority on the subject. Out of the large literature, which bears on these
^ Cp. xxvii. 8, r, where an " ivory volume in the sixth armarium " is referred to. Decrees
of the Senate, relating to the Emserors, used to be written in ivory books, as we learn in
the same place.
APPENDIX 447
biographies, I may refer to Gemoll's Die Script. Hiet. Aug. 1886, which haa
been largely used in this account of the AugUBtan Biographies. Dessau hat
recently proved (Hermes, 1889) that the Lives were seriously interpolated in
the age of Theodosius. His daring thesis that they are entirely forgeries is
rejected by Mommsen, who admits the interpolations {ib. 1890).
"When the Historia Augusta deserts us, our sources, whether Greek or Latin,
are either late or scrappy. We can extract some historical facts from a number
of contemporary pankgtrtcal orations, mostly of uncertain authorship, composed
for special occasions under Maximian and his successors. These will be best
consulted in the xii. Panegyrici Latini edited by Bahrens. No. 2 in praise of
Maximian is doubtfully ascribed to Claudius Mamertinus ; it was composed at
Trier in 289 a.d. for 2lst April, the birthday of Rome. No. 3, said to be by the
same author, is a genethliaous for Maximian's birthday in 291. No. 4 is the
plea of Eumenius of Augustodunum pro restav/rcmdds soJioUs pronounced in the
end of 297 before the praeses provinciae. No. 5, of uncertain authorship, but
probably by Eumenius, is a panegyric on Constantius, delivered in the spring
of the same year at Trier. No. 6 extols Maximian and Constantine, on the
occasion of the marriage of Constantino with Fausta, Maximian*s daughter, 307.
No. 7 (probably by Eumenius),. is a panegyric on Constantine, delivered at Trier,
shortly after the execution of Maximian, 310. No. 8 (also plausibly ascribed to
Eumenius), is a speech of thanksgiving to Constantine for benefits which he
bestowed upon Autun, 311. No. 9 is a eulogy of Constantine pronounced at
Trier, early in 313, and contains a brief account of his Italian expedition
No. 10 bears the name of Nazarius, and is likewise a panegyric of Constantine,
dating from the fifteenth year of his reign, 321, (On Eumenius cp. Brandt,
Eumenius von Augustodunum, &c., 1882.)
Sextus AuBELitra Victor was appointed (Ammianus tells us, xxi. 10, 6)
governor of the Second Pannonia by the Emperor Julian in 361 ; and at a later
period became Prefect of the City. Inscriptions confirm both statements (see
C. I. L. 6, 1186, and OreUi-Henzen, 3715). He was of African birth (see his Cses.
20, 6), and a pagan. Some think that the work known as Csesares was composed
in its present form by Victor himself ; but in the two Mas. (Bruxell. and Oxon.)
the title is Aurelii Victoris historise abbreviatse, and Th. Opitz (Queestiones de
Sex. Aurelio Victore, in the Acta Societ. Philol. Lips. ii. 2) holds that it is an
abridgment of a larger work — an opinion which is shared by WolflQin and others.
(A convenient critical edition has been recently brought out by F. Pichlmayer,
1892.) The Epitome {Ubellus de vita et morihus imperatorvm hreviatus ex Uhris
Sex. Aurelii Victoris a Gcesa/re Aug. usque ad Theodosivm) seems dependent on
the Csesares as far as Domitian, but afterwards dififers completely. Marius
Maximus was very probably one of the chief sources.
EuTBOPitJs held the oflSce of magister memoriae at the court of Valens (366-
378 A.D.), to whom he dedicated his Short Roman History (Breviarium ah urhe
condita). He had taken part, as he tells us, in the fatal expedition of Julian,
363 A.D. (x. 16, 1). His handbook, which comes down to the death of Jovian,
was a success, and had the honour of being translated into Greek about 380 a. d.
by the Syrian Paeanius, a pupil of Libanius (see above, p. 186). It contrasts
favourably with other books of the kind, both in matter and in style. His chief
sources were Suetonius, the writers of the Historia Augusta, and the work of the
unknown author who is generally designated as the ** Chronographer of 354 ".
This work, unknown to Gibbon, was published and commented on by Momm-
sen in the Abhandlungen der sachs. Gesellschaf t der 'Wissensch. in 1850, and has
been recently published by the same editor in vol i. of the Chronica Minora in the
M. H. G. It contains a number of various lists, including Fasti Consulares up to
354, the praefecti urbis of Rome from 258 to 354, the bishops of Rome up to
Liberius (352). The Mss. contain later additions, especially the so-caUed
Chronicon Cuspiniani (published by Cuspinianus in 1552 along with the Chronicle
of Casaiodorus), which is a source of value for the reigns of Leo and Zeno and the
first years of Anastasius.
448 APPENDIX
Another hiBtorical epitome dedicated to Valens was that of (Rufus) Fbstus,
who aeems also to have neen a magister memoriae. The time at which his book
was composed can be precisely fixed to 369 a.d. by his reference to "this great
victory over the Goths (c. 29) gained by Valens in that year and by the fact
that he is ignorant of the province of Valentia, which was formed in the same
year. Festus has some valuable notices for the history of the fourth cen'tury.
L. Caelius Lactajntius Fiemianus lived at Nicomedia under Diocletian and
Constantine, and taught rhetoric. In the later years of his life he had the
honour of acting as the tutor of Constantine'e son, Crispus. Our chief authority
for his life is Jerome ; cp. esp. De Viris Illust., 80. His works were mainly theo-
logical, and the chief of them is the Divine Institutions in seven Books. But the
most important for the historian is the treatise De Mortibus Persecutorum,i —
concerning the manners of death which befel the persecutors of Christianity from
Nero to Maximin. It was composed in 314-315 a.d. Its authorship has been a
matter of dispute, for it does not bear the name Laotantius, but L. Csecilius. It
is, however, by no means improbable that L. Caecilius is Lactantius, and that the
treatise is that enumerated by Jerome {i^c. cit.) among his works as de persecu-
tione librum unum. There is a remarkable resemblance in vocabidary and
syntax with the undoubted works of Lactantius, and di£ferences in style can be
explained by the difference of subject. The author of the De Mortibus is
accurately informed as to the events which took place in Nicomedia, and he
dedicates his work to Donatus, to whom Lactantius addressed another treatise,
De Ira Dei. Due allowance being made for the tendency of the De Mortibus, it
is a very important contemporary source.
Other authorities which, though referred to in the present volume, are more
concerned with the history of subsequent events, such as Ammianus Marcellinus,
the Anonymous known as Anon. Yalesianus, Eusebius, Zosimus, will be noticed
in the Appendix to vol. ii.
Modern Works. For the general history : Schiller's Geschichte der romischen
Kaiserzeit (2 vols., from Augustus to Theodosius I.), up to date and very valuable
for references. Mommsen, Romische Geschichte, vol. v. Die Provinzen von
Oasar bis Diocletian (also in Eng. trans, in 2 vols.). Hoeck's Romische
Geschichte (reaching as far as Constantine) is now rather antiquated; Duruy's
History of Rome (to Theodosius the Great) may also be mentioned. For the
general administration, including the military system of which Gibbon treats in
chap. i. : Marquardt, Handbuch der romischen Alterthiimer (Staatsverwaltung,
vols, iv.-vi.) ; and Schiller's summary in Ivan Miiller's Handbuch der klass.
^Uterthumswissenschaft. For manners, social life, &c., under the early empire:
Friedlander's Darstellungen aus der Sittengeschichte Roms in der Zeit von
Augustus bis zumAusgang der Antonine. For chronology: Clinton's Fasti itomani,
and Goyau's short Chronologie de I'Empire remain ; Vein's Fasti Consulares.
A few special monographs (in addition to those referred to elsewhere) may be
mentioned here. Hundertmark, de Imperatore Pertinace. Hofner, Untersuch-
ungen zur Gesch. des Kaisers L. Septimius Severus ; A. de Ceuleneer, Essai sur
la vie et la rfegne de Septime Severe ; "Wirth, Quaestiones Severianae. A.
Duncker, Claudius Gothicus. Preuss, Kaiser Diokletian und seine Zeit ; Vogel,
Der Kaiser Diokletian.
2. CONQUEST OF BRITAIN— (P. 4, and P. 36)
It may be well to note more exactly how Roman arms progressed in Britain
after Claudius. (Our chief authority is the Agricola of Tacitus.) The first
legatus sent by Vespasian was Petillius Cerealis, who fought against the
Brigantes and subdued the eastern districts of the island as far north as Lincoln
(Lindum). A line drawn from Chester (Deva) to Lincoln would rightly mark the
limits of Roman rule at this time. Cerealis was succeeded by Frontinus fwhose
treatise on the science of warfare is extant), and he reduced the Silures (in the
west). Then came Agricola, whose government lasted from 78 to 85 a.d. He
i For the De Mortibus Persecutorum compare vol. ii,, Appendix r, p. 531-2.
APPENDIX 449
.\tteiupted to extend the Roman frontiers both northward and westward, but
failed to consolidate his conquests. The only lasting fruit of the enterprises of
Agricola was the acquisition of York (Eburacum), — a fact which Tacitus does not
record and which we have to infer.
On p. 36, n. 34, Gibbon mentions nine colonies in Britain, on the authority of
Richard of Cirencester, which has no value. The only towns, which we know to
have had the rank of cohniae, are Camalodunum, Eburacum, Glevum, Lindum.
Verulamium was a municipium.
3. THE CONQUESTS OF TRAJAN, AND POLICY OF HADRIAN—
(P. 5)
The first Dacian war of Trajan lasted during 101 and 102 a.d. and Trajan
celebrated his triumph at the end of the latter year, taking the title of Dacicus.
The second war began two years later, and was concluded in 107 by the dis-
sensions of the barbarians and the suicide of Decebalus. Our only contemporary
sources for these wars are monumental, — the sculptures on the Pillar of Trajan
and some inscriptions. Unfortunately Trajan's own work on the war has
perished. (Arosa and Froehner have published in a splendid form photographia
reproductions of the scenes on the colnmn of Trajan, Paris, 1872-1874. For
details of the war, see Jung, Romer und Romanen in den Donaulandem ; a paper
of Xenopol in the Revue Historique, 1886 ; and an interesting Hungarian
monogiaph by Kirdly on Sarmizegetusa, Dacia fovarosa, 1891. On the reign of
Trajan, consult Dierauer's paper in Bildinger's Untersuohungen, vol. i., and
De la Berge, Essai sur la r^gne Trajan. I may also refer to the Student's
Roman Empire.)
Trajan's Dacia must be carefully distinguished from Dacia ripensis south of
the Danube, a province formed, as we shall see, at a much later date. The
capital of northern Dacia was Sarmizegetusa, a Dacian town, which was founded
anew after Trajan's conquest under the name of Ulpia Trajana. The traveller
in Siebenbiirgen may now trace the remains of this historic site at Vdrhely, as
the Hungarians have named it. H. Schiller lays stress on one important result
of the Dacian war : " The military centre of gravity of the Empire " was trans-
ferred from the Rhine to the Danube (Gesch. der rom. Kaiserzeit, i. 554).
Gibbon omits to mention as a third "exception," besides Britain and Dacia,
the acquisition of new territory in the north of Arabia (east of Palestine), and
the organization of a province of "Arabia" by Cornelius Palma (106 a.d.).
This change was accomplished peacefully ; the two important towns of Petra
and Bostra had been already Roman for a considerable time. The chief value
of the province lay in the fact that the caravans from the East on their way to
Egypt passed through it. There are remarkable ruins at Petra which testify to
its importance.
Hadrian, as Gibbon explains, narrowed the boundaries of the Empire in the
East (it may be disputed whether he was right in resignmg Great Armenia) ; but
he was diligent in making strong the defences of what he retained. The
Euphrates was a sufficient protection in itself ; but in other quarters Hadrian
found work to do, and did it. He built forts on the northern frontier of Dacia ;
he completed the rampart which defended the e35)08ed comer between the
Danube and Rhine ; and it is probable that he built the great wall in Britain,
from the mouth of the Tyne to the Solway. He visited Britain in 152 a.©. (The
chronology of his travels given by Merivale must be modified in the light of
more recent research- See J. Diirr, Die Reisen des Kaisers Hadrian, 1881,.
and the Student's Roman Empire.)
It has been said that under no Emperor was the Roman army in better
condition than under Hadrian. Dion Cassius regarded him as the founder of
what might be almost called a new military system, and from his time the
character of the army becomes more and more " cosmopolitan' (Schiller, 1. 609),
29 VOL. I.
450 APPENDIX
4. THE ROMAN ARMY— (P. 12)
In his account of the army Gibbon closely followed YegetiuB, whose state
ments must be received with caution. I may call attention here to a few points.
(a) Tlie legion contained ten cohorts; and the cohort, which had its own
standard [signvm), six centuries. Each century was commanded by a centurion.
Under the early Empire, each legion was commanded by a trihwnus militwm
Augvsti (under the republic, tr-^. mil. a populo), who, however, was subject
to the authority of a higher officer, the legatus legionis, who was supreme com-
mander of lioth the legion and the auxiliary troops associated with it. In later
times (as we learn from Vegetius) the sphere of the tribune was reduced to the
cohort. The number of soldiers in a legion was elastic, and varied at different
times. It is generally reckoned at six thousand foot, and one hundred and
twenty horsemen (four turmae).
(b) The auxilia included all the standing troops, except the legions, the
volunteers {cohortes Italicae civivm. Romcvnorwm. voltmtwrwrwm\ and of course
the praetorian guards. They were divided into cohorts, and were under the
command of the Ugaii. Cavalry and infantry were often combined, and con-
stituted a cohors guttata. Each cohort (like the legionary cohort) had its
standard, and consisted of six or ten centuries, according to its size, which might
be five hundred or a thousand men. To be distinguished from^ the auxilia were
a provincial militia, which appear in certain provinces (such as Rsetla, Britain,
Dacia). They were not imperial, and were supported by provincial funds
(Mommsen, Die rom. Provinzialmilizen, Hermes, xxii. 4).
(c) The use of "artillery" on a large scale was due to Greek influence. It
played an important part in the Macedonian army. The fixed number of engines
mentioned in the text (ten onagri and fifty-five carrohalli&tae) was perhaps
introduced in the time of Vespasian. Vegetius, ii. 25 ; Josephus, Bell. Jud.
5, 6, 3.
{d) As for the distribution of the troops, Gibbon amved at his statement
by combining what Tacitus tells of the reign of Tiberius, and what Dion Cassius
tells of the reign of Alexander Severus ; always a doubtful method of procedure,
and in this case demonstrably leading to erroneous results. ■ Under Tiberius in
23 A.D. there were four legions in Upper Germany, four in Lower Germany, three
in Spain, two in Egypt, four in Syria, two in Fannonia, two in Dalmatia, two
in Moesia, two temporarily removed from Fannonia to Africa. New legions
were created by Claudius, Nero, Domitian, &c. ; on the other hand, some of
the old legions disappeared, or their names were changed. Three new legions
(i., ii., aud iii. Parthica) were instituted by Septimius Severus. Each legion
had a special name. A list of the legions (thirty in number) in the time of
Marcus Aurelius will be found in Marquardt, Rom Alterthtimer, iii. 2, 356.
The history of the Roman legions is a very difficult subject, and the conclusions
of Pfitzner (G^schichte der romiscben Kaiserlegionen) are extremely doubtful (see
Mr. E. G. Hardy in the Journal of Philology, xxiii. 29 iqq.).
[e) The cohortes TJ/rbanae had their headquarters in the Forwm Sua/rium
(Pig-market) at Rome. They were at first four in number, of one thousand men
each, until the time of Claudius, who seems to have increased the number to six ;
Vespasian perhaps added another. Some of these regiments were sometimes
stationed elsewhere ; for example, at Lyons, Ostia, Puteoli.
See further article Exercitus in Sraith*8 Dictionary of Antiquities, new edition.
5. THE ROMAN NAVY— (P- 18)
The fleets of Ravenna and Misenum were called the oktssespraetoriae, a fitting
name, as they were the naval guards of the Emperor as long as he resided at
Old Rome.
The fleet at (1) Forum Juliuni was discontinued soon after the time of
Augustus. The other lesser naval stations under the Empire were (2) Seleuoia,
for the classis Syrim-a ; (3) Alexandria, for the c/assis Av^usta Alrxandreat ;
APPENDIX 451
(4) the Island of Oarpathos ; (5) at the begixmlng of the fifth century, Aquileia,
for the cla48is Venettvm. Besides these there were (6) the olassis PoTvtica,
stationed in the Euxine or in the Propontis, and (7) the olassis BrUammca^
both mentioned in the author's text. There were also fleets on the three great
rivers of the Empire ; (8) the gUlssis Germanica on the Rhine ; (9) the classis
PaTvnonica and Moesica on the Danube ; and (10) a fleet on the Euphrates
(mentioned by Ammianus Marcellinus, xxiii. 3, 9).
6. THE PROVINCES OF THE ROMAN EMPIRE IN 180 A.D.— (P. 18)
For a general view of the provinces, the reader must be referred to Mommsen's
brilliant volume Die Provinzen von Casar bis Diocletian (translated into English
in two vols,). For the general administration, including the military system, see
Marquardt, Handbuchderromischen AlterthTimer{Staatsverwaltung, vols, iv.-vi.)-
1. Sicilia, the first Roman province, 241 b.o. It became a senatorial pro-
vince in 27 B.C.
S. Sardinia and Corsica, 231 b.o. Senatorial in 27 b.o., but became imperial
in 6 A.D. Again senatorial under Nero ; once more imperial under Vespasian,
and governed by a procv/rator et prasses. (Given to senate again by M. Aurelius
but resumed by Commodus. )
3. Hispania citerior, or Tarraconensis, 197 b.o. ; imperial. (Divided into 3
dioceses, each under a leg, Augusti. )
A Tt „4.:«« -^«*««-*«7 fThese formed one province under the Republic,
4. Baetica. senatorial J ^^ j^ ^^^^or (197 b.o.), which was divided
5. Lusitama, imperml. \soob after the foundation of the Empire (27 b.o.).
6. GaUia Narbonensie, after 121 b.c. (At first, imperial, after) 22 b.o.
ienatorial.
7. Aquitania, 27 b.c. r Called collectively tres GaUiaej at first under one
8- Lugdunensis, 27 b.c. -J imperial governor ; after 17 a.d. each had its own
9. Belgica, 27 b.o. {imperial governor.
Novempopuli, a province cut off from Aquitania by Trajan.
10. Germania superior, ^ ^^ ^j^^ administration of these frontier districts
11 r< Ltl^l ' f^^^.- y-wAS united with that of Belgica. The military
11. Germama inferior, j^o^^^^aers were consular leiati.
12. AJpes Maritimse, 14 b.c. made an imperial province, governed by a
prefect, afterwards a) procurator.
13. Alpes Cottise, under Nero, imperial (under a procurator et p^'aeses).
14. Alpes Poeninse (or A. Poeninse et Graiss) ; in second century became an
imperial province (under a procurator).
15. Britannia, 43a.i)., imperial
16. Rsetia, 15B.a., iwiperm^ (under a procurator) ; but after Marcus Aurehus
governed by the legatus pro praetore of the legion Concordia.
17. Noricum, 16 b.c, imperial^ under a procurator. After Marcus, under
the general of the legion Pia. (Dion Cassius, Iv. 24, 4.)
After its conquest Pannonia was added to the
province of Illyria (44 b.c), imperial; which was
broken up into Pannonia and Dalmatia 10-14 a.d. ;
Dalmatia under a consular legatus. Pannonia was
broken up by Trajan (102-107 a.d.) into the two
PannonisB, each under a consular legatus (at
.least under Marcus),
f Moesia, 6 a.d., an imperial province, was broken
21. Moesia suprior. J j^^^ ^^^ ^wo Moesias by Domitian under con-
22. Moesia inferior. ^ular legati.
fDacia, 107 a.d., was at first one province {im-
23. Dacia Porohssensis. | perial), Hadrian broke it up into two (superior
24. Dacia Apulensis. -{ and inferior). Marcus made a new triple division
25. Dacia Maluensis. | (not later than 168 a.d., not earlier than 158 a.d.),
Land placed the provinces under consular legati.
18. Pannonia superior.
19. Pannonia inferior.
20. Dalmatia, or lUyri-
cum.
28. Achaia.
29. Epirua.
452 APPENDIX
26. Thracia, 46 a.d., im^ericU (at first under a procurator, but from Trajan
forward) under a legatus.
27. Macedonia, 146 b.o. ; senatorial in 27 b.o. ; from Tiberius to Claudius,
imperial and united with Achaia j after Claudius, seimtorial.
Included in Macedonia, 146 b.o.; together formed a sena-
torial province, 27 B.C. ; after having been united with Macedonia
(15 and 44 a.d. ), restored to the senate, and declared free by Nero,
it was made senatorial by Vespasian. This Emperor probably
separated Epirus (includmg Acamamia), imperial, under a pro-
L curator.
30. Asia, 133 b.o. ; senatorial 27 b.c. (under a consular).
31. Bithynia and Pontus, 74 and 65 b.o. ; senatorial 27 b.c, became under
Hadrian imperial.
32. Galatia (including Pontus Polemoniacus) 25 b.c. imperial; united twice and
twice severed from Cappadocia ; finally separated by Trajan and placed under a
praetorian legatus.
33. Cappadocia (including Lesser Armenia) 17 a..i>. imperial; (procuratorial till
Vespasian, 70 a.d., gave it a consular legatus).
34. Lycia and Pamphylia, 43 a.d. ; after various changes definitely constituted
as imperial by Vespasian, 74 a.d., but transferred to the senate by Hadrian,
35. Cilicia, 102 b.o. At one time apparently united with Syria, but inde-
pendent since Vespasian. From Hadrian (including Trachea) wiperial under
legatus ; Severus transferred Isauria and Lycaonia from Galatia to Cilicia.
36. Cyprus, 58 b.o.; at first united with Cilicia ; 22 b.c, became an inde-
pendent senatorial province.
37. Syria, 64 b.o. ; imperial under consular legatus, 27 b.o.
38. Syria Palaestina ( = Judsea), separated from Syria 70 a.d., imperial under
legatus.
39. Arabia, 106 a.d., i/mperial.
40. Aegyptus, 30 b.c, imperial domain xuaAer praefectus Aegypti.
41. Creta and Cyrene, at first one province (67 b.c and 74 b.c. respectively);
united 27 b.c. as a s&natorial province (under a praetor).
42. Airica, 146 b.o., senatorial under a consular proconsul; seems to have
included Numidia from 25 b.c
It is important to note some changes that were made between the death of
Marcus and the accession of Diocletian. (1) The diocese of AsturiaetGallaecia
was cut off as a separate imperial province from Tarraconensis (216 or 217
A.D.); (2) Britannia was divided by Septimius Severus (197 a.d.) into Brit.
superior and Brit, inferior (each probably under a praeses) ; (3) Septimius made
Numidia a separate province (under a legatus till Aurelian, afterwards under a
praeses) ; (4) Syria was divided by the same Emperor (198 a.d.) into Syria Coele
(Magna) and Syr. Phoenice; (5) Arabia was divided in the third century into
Ar. Bostrsea and Arabia Petraea, corresponding to the two chief towns of the
province; (6) Mesopotamia (made a province by Trajan, and resigned by
Hadrian) was restored by Lucius Verus ; (7) For Dacia see p. 294.
7. CHANGES IN SOUTH-EASTERN EUROPE SINCE GIBBON
WROTE— (Pp. 22, 23)
Gibbon's account of the political geography of the Illyrian lands brings home
to us the changes which have taken place within the last century. "Wlien he
wrote, Servia and Bulgaria were ** united in Turkish slavery"; Greece herself
was under the same bondage as well as Moldavia, Walachia and Bosnia ; the
Dalmatian coast was a province of the Venetian State. Since then (1) the
Turkish realm in Europe has been happily reduced, and (2) Austria has advanced
APPENDIX 453
at the ezpeuse of Venice. (1) Now Greece and Servia are each a kingdom,
wholly mdependent of the Turk ; Bulgaria is a free principality, only formally
dependent on the Sultan. Moldavia and "Walaohia form the independent king-
dom of Roumania. Even a portion of Thrace, south of the Balkans, known as
Eastern Roumelia has been annexed to Bulgaria. Macedonia and the greatest
pMTt of Epirus are still Turkish. (2) All the Dalmatian coast, including Ragusa,
belongs to Austria, but Antivari and Dulcigno belong to the independent Slavonic
principality of Tzemagora or Montenegro (which was founded in the middle of
the fifteenth century, preserved its independence against the Turks with varying
success ever since, and in our own time played a conspicuous part in the events of*
1876 to 1878, which so eflfectually checked the power of the Turkl. Austria also
acquired {by the treaty of Berlin, 1878) the protectorate of Bosnia and Herzegovina.
8. COLONIES AND MXJNICIPIA, lUS LATINITM— {P. 36)
The distinction between colonies and municipal towns, and the history of
tiis Latinum, are explained briefly in the following passage of the Student's
Roman Empire, pp. 76, 77.
* ' It is to be observed that these communities were either cohnice or muni-
cipia. In the course of Italian history the word rmmicipittm had completely
changed its meaning. Originally it was applied to a community possessing ius
Latinvmi, and also to the civitas svne suffragio^ and thus it was a term of
contrast to those communities which possessed full Roman citizenship. But
when in the course of time the eivitates sine suffragio received political right:^
and the Roman states received full Roman citizenship, and thus the mimicepwwn
proper disappeared from Italy, the word was stiU applied to those communities
of Roman citizens which had originally been either Latin m/wmcipia or independ-
ent federate states. And it also, of course, continued to be applied to cities
outside Italy which possessed ius Latmv/m. It is clear that originally mvMi-
cipiiim and colonia were not incompatible ideas. For a colony founded with
ius Latimim was both a municipiibm and a colonia. But a certain opposition
arose between them, and became stronger when Tiw/nicipivim came to be used in
a new sense. Municipium is only used of communities which existed as inde-
pendent states before they received Roman citizenship, whether by the deduction
of a colony or not. Colonia is generally confined to those communities which
were settled for the first time as Roman cities, and were never states before.
Thus Tn/unicipiitm involves a reference to previous autonomy.
" Besides Roman cities, there were also Latin cities in the provinces. Origin-
ally there were two kinds of ius Latvmim^ one better and the other inferior.
The old Latin colonies possessed the better kind. The inferior kind was known
as the ius of Ariminum, and it alone was extended to provincial communities.
"When Italy received Roman citizenship after the Social war, the better kind of
ius Latinum vanished for ever, and the lesser kind only existed outside Italy.
The most important privilege which distinguished the Latin from peregrine
communities was that the member of a Latin city had a prospect of obtaining full
Roman citizenship by holding magistracies in his own community. The Latin
communities are of course autonomous and are not controlled by the provincial
governor ; but like Roman communities they have to pay tribute for their land,
which is the property of the Roman people, unless they possess immunity or
ius Italicum as wibII as ius Latinv/m."
9. THE MINE OF SOUMELPOUR— (P. 55)
In an appendix to the second volume of his translation of Tavemier'a Travels
in India, Mr. "V. Ball has pointed out (p. 457), that the diamond mine of Soumel-
pour on the Gouel is not to be identified, as hitherto, with Sambulpur on
the Mahanadi, but is the same as ' ' Semah or Semulpur on the Koel, in the
Sub-Division of Palamau "-
454 APPENDIX
In the original, and all sabseqiient editions of Gibbon the name wae spelt
*'Jninelpur". Mr. Ball rightly remarks that this is merely a misprint; and
I have corrected it in the text.
10. THE CONSTITUTION OF THE ROMAN EMPIRE— (CnAPTEn ni.)
The constitutional history of Rome (both Republican and Imperial) has beec
set on a new basis since Gibbon. The impulse was given by Niebuhr ; and this
branch of history has progressed hand in hand with the study of inBcriptiona
pn stone and metal. No one has done so much for the subject as Mommsen,
whose Komisches Staatsrecht (3 vols.) occupies the same position for Roman
constitutional history as the work of Bishop Stubbs for English. Another
recent work of importance is B. Herzog's Geschichte und System der romischen
Staatsvf^rfassung (2 vols.). Madvig's Verfassung und Verwaltung des romischen
Staates was retrogressive. The works of Mispoulet and WiUems may also be
mentioned. Of great value for details is O. Hirschfeld's Untersuchungen auf
dem Gebiete der romischen Verwaltungsgeschichte. For the imperial procurators
see ''Procurator" in Smith's Dictionary of Antiquities, new edition.
It would be endless to enumerate the writers from whom material for the
constitutional history is drawn ; but attention must be called to the importance
of inscriptions and coins which fill up many gaps in our knowledge. It would
hardly be an exaggeration to say that the Corpus Inscriptionum Latinanun (edited
by Mommsen and others) is the keystone of Mommsen's Staatsrecht. The Corpus
is not yet complete, and must be supplemented by the collections of Orelli-
Henzen and Wilmanns,
The most important collections of coins are Eckhel's Doctrina Numorum
Veterum (8 vols. ), which appeared in 1792 — some years too late for Gibbon, — and
Cohen's Descriptions des monnaies frapp^es sous I'Empire romain communement
appel^es M^daUles imperiales 2nd ed. 18JS0-92.
For a short account of the Imperial constitution I may refer to Mr. Pelham's
article on the Principate in Smith a Dictionary of Antiquities, and to the Student's
Roman Empire, chaps, ii. and iii. Here it will be enough to draw attention to
a few important points in which Gibbon's statements need correction or call for
precision.
(1) P. 60.—*' Prince of the Senate."
The view that the name princeps meant prmceps senatus held its ground until
a few years a^o, when it was exploded by Mr. Pelham. Princeps^ the general, non-
official designation of the emperors, meant ' ' first of the Roman citizens " {princeps
eivium Momanorum or civitatis), and had nothing to do with the Senate.
76. — " He was elected censor."
The censorship of Augustus was only temporary ; it was not considered one
of the necessary prerogatives of the princeps, for that, as Gibbon says, would
have meant the destruction of the independence of the senate. It must be
remembered that in the theory of the principate the independence of the senate
was carefully guarded, though practically the influence of the princeps was
predominant. Augustus discharged the functions of censor repeatedly ; not,
however, under that name, but as prmfeotus mortmt. Gibbon is wrong in stating
(p. 65) that the censorship was one of the Imperial prerogatives. He was followed
in this by Merivale.
(3) P. 63.— "Lieutenants of the Emperor."
The provinces fell into two classes according as consulars or praetorian» were
admitted to the post of governor. But this distinction must not be confounded
with that of the titles pro c<msule and pro prcetore, which were borne by the
governors of senatorial and Imperial provinces respectively. The representative
of the emperor could not be pro consule, as his position depended on the procon-
nular imperium of the emperor him.self. A vir consularis might be pro prcetore.
The full title of the Imperial lieutenant was legatus Av^usti pro prcetore.
In the dependent kingdoms were placed procuratores, of equestrian rank.
(4) P. 64. — "Consular and tribunitian powers."
APPENDIX 466
Gibbon's statoments here require correction, though the question of the exact
constitution of the power of the princeps is stiU a matter of debate.
Augustus at first intended to found the principate as a continuation of the pro-
consular imperium with the consulate, and he held the consulate from 27 to
23 B.O. But then he changed his mind, as this arrangement gave rise to some
difficulties, and replaced the consular power by the tribunitian power, which had
been conferred on him for life in 36 b.o., after his victory over Sextus Pompeius.
Thus the principate depended on the association of the proconsular with the
tribunitian power ; and Augustus dated the years of his reign from 23, not from
27 B.C. After this he filled the consulship only in those years in which he
instituted a census.
(5) P. 65. — "Supreme pontiff."
He became Pontiff in 12 b.o. Besides being Pont. Max. Augustus belonged to
the other sacerdotal colleges. He was augur, septernvtr^ qumdeovm/vir.
11. THE CONSTITUTIONAL SIGNIFICANCE OF THE PRINCIPATE
OF SEPTIMIUS SEVERUS— (Pp- 120-126)
The name of Septimius Severus marks an important stage in the development
of the Principate of Augustus into the absolute monarchy of Diocletian. If he
had been followed by emperors as strong and far-sighted as himself, the goal
would have been reached sooner ; and, moreover, the tendencies of his policy
would have been clearer to us. But the administration of his immediate
successors was arbitrary ; and the reaction under Alexander threw things back.
Severus had no Tiberius or Constantine to follow him; and like Augustus he
committed the error of founding a dynasty. His example was a warning to
Diocletian.
The records of his reign show that he took little account of the senate, and
made much of the army. This has been brought out by Gibbon. But it would
be a mistake to call his rule a military despotism. He did not apply military
methods to civil affairs. He was more than a mere soldier-emperor ; he w&a a
considerable statesman.
His influence on constitutional history concerns three important points. (1)
He furthered in a very marked way the tendency, already manifest early in the
second century, to remove the line of distinction between Italy and the provinces.
{a) He recruited the Praetorian guards, hitherto ItaUans, from the legionaries,.
and so from the provinces. (6) He encroached on the privileges of Italy by
quartering one of three new legions, which he created, in a camp on Mount Alba
near Bome. (c) He assumed the proconsular title in Italy, {d) By the bestowal
of ius ItaUevm, he elevated a great many provincial cities (in Dacia, Africa, and
Syria) to a level with Italy. (2) He increased the importance of the Praetorian
Prefect. We can now see this post undergoing a curious change from a military
into a civil ofBce. Held by Papinian, it seemed to be the summit in the career
not of a soldier but of a jurist. (3) The financial policy of Severus in keeping
the res privata of the princeps distinct from his fiscits, — crown property as
distinguished from state revenue (cp. p. 99, footnote 52).
There is no doubt that the tendency to give effect to the mains imperium of
the princeps in controlling the governors of the senatorial provinces and the
republican magistrates (consuls) was confirmed and furthered under Severus.
For example, governors of senatorial provinces are brought before his court,
Hist. Aug. X. 4, 8. The mains imperium, used with reserve by the earlier emperors,
was one of the chief constitutional instruments by which the princeps ousted the
senate from the government and converted the *'dyarchy " into a monarchy.
Not€.—\Ti regard to the praefecture of the Praetorian guards, the rule that it
should be held by two colleagues was generally observed from Augustus to
Diocletian. "We can quote cases of (1) two praefects under Augustus, Tiberius,
Gains, Claudius, Nero, Otho, Vitellius, Domitian, Trajan, Hadrian, Pius, Marcus,
Commodus, Julianus, Severus, Caraoalla, Elagabalus, Ma<!rinus, Alexander,
456 APPENDIX
Gordian; (2) of otw praef ect under Augustus (Seiua Strabo), Tiberiua (Sejanua
Macro), Claudius and Nero (Burma), Galba, Vespasian (Clemens, Titus), Pius,
Alexander (Ulpian), Probus ; (3) of three prsefecta under Commodus, Julianus,
Alex;\nder (Ulpian as superior colleague and two others).
15. CHRONOLOGY OF 238 A.D.— (P. 179)
The chronological difficulties of the year 238, which exercised Tillemont,
Clinton, Bckhel (vii. 293 sqq.) and Borghesi, have been recently discussed with
care by O. Seeck in a paper in the Rheinisches Museum, xli. (p. 161 sqq.) 1886,
and by J. Lohrer in his monograph do Julio Vero Maximino.
The Chronicler of 354 gives as the length of the reign of Maximin three years,
tour months, two days, which would give 17th March 235 to 18th July 238 (Hist.
Aug. xxi. i. ). The latter date cannot be right (for Alexandrian coins show that
the seventh trib. year of Grordian III. ran from 30th August 243 to 29th August
544, proving that Gordian was elected before 29th August 238 ; the latest possible
date for the dethronement of Maximus and Balbinus would therefore be Ist August,
and in the thirteen days between 18th July and that day, there is not room for
the arrival of the news of Maximin's death at Rome, for the journey of Maximus
to Aquileia and his stay there) ; hence Seeck emends menses iii. (for menses iiii. ),
which gives 17th June for Maximin's death. He calculates that the siege of
Aquileia began in the beginning or middle of May.
The Chronicler of 354 gives ninety-nine days for the reign of Maximus and
Balbinus ; and twenty days for that of the two Gordians, but Seeck shows
from Zonaras (622 d.), and Glycas (243 c.) that this number should be twenty-
two. Allowing roughly 130 days from the elevation of the Gordians to the fall
of Maximus and Balbinus, we get 24th March, as the latest possible date for
the elevation of the Gordians. This calculation would suit Cod. Just. vii. 26, 5
(Imp. Gordianus A. Marino), which is subscribed xii. Kal. April Pio et Pontiano
<'osB., and would prove that the reign of Gordianus began before 21st March.
But we should have to emend Impp. Gordiani.
It must be remembered that this plausible reconstruction of Seeck depends
on the emendation of a text.
13. AUTHORITIES FOR ORIENTAL AFFAIRS— (Chapter VIII. )
The Armenian writers: Moses of Chorene, History of Armenia; Agathangelus,
History of the Reign of Tiridates and the Preaching of Gregory Illuminator
(Hiiller, F. H. G. v. 2 ; transL by V. Langiois) ; Faustus of Byzantium,
Historical Library («&.). The credibility of Moses of Chorene is examined in an
important article by Gutschmid in the Berichte der kon. sachs. G^seUschaft d.
Wissensch, 1876. A. Carrifere has recently attempted to show (Nouvelles Sources
de Moise de Khoren, 1893) that the work of Moses belongs not to the latter half
of the fifth, but to the beginning of the eighth century.
Ascathias, the Greek historian, who wrote at the end of the sixth century,
made a special study of Sassanid history, and, through a friend, derived infor-
mation from Persian documents. His digression on the origin of the new
Persian kingdom (bk. ii. 26, 27) is important.
Rawlinson's Sixth and Seventh Oriental Monarchies treat of the Parthian
and new Persian periods respectively. Gutschmid, Geschichte Irans von Alexander
dem Grossen bis zura Untergang der Arsaciden, 1888. Juati, Geschichte Persiens.
Noldeke, Geschichte der Perser und Araber zur Zeit der Sassaniden, 1879.
Schneider wirth. Die Farther, 1874. Drexler, Caracalla^ Zug nach dem Orient.
14. THE ZEND AVESTA— (P. 197 sqq.)
The first European translation of the Avesta was made by Anquetil du
Perron, and appeared (in 3 vols.) in 1771, just in time for Gibbon to make use
of. The appearance of this work aroused a storm of controversy, chiefly in
England, and it is interesting to observe that Gibbon was amon^ those wh»
APPENDIX 457
accepted the Avesta as genuine documents of the Zoroaatrian religion. It is
unnecessary to say that in the present century their antiquity has been
abundantly confirmed.
The Avesta is a Liturgical collection of fragments from older texts, and is (as
M. Darmesteter remarks) more like a prayer-book than a Bible. It consists of
two parts, of which the first (1) contains the Vendld&d, the Visperad, and the
Yasna. The Vendidad (a corruption of vida$v6-ddtem ='' a.ntidemom&c law")
consists of religious laws and legendary tales; the VisperHd, of litanies for
sacrifice ; and the Yasna, of litanies also, and five hymns in an older dialect than
the rest of the work. The second part (2) is the Small Avesta, a collection of
short prayers.
Two questions arise : (a) When was the Avesta compiled ? (&) What is the
origin of the older texts which supplied the material ?
(a) It is generally supposed that the Avesta was first collected under the Sassa-
nids. But it is stated in a Pahlavi authority that the collection was begun under
the Araacids (having been ordered by King Valkash or Yologeses) and completed
under the Sassanid Shapilr II. in the fourth century (a.d. 309-380). If this is
true, we must modify the usual view of the revival of Mazdeism by Ardeshir the
first Sassanid, and regard his religious movement as merely the thorough realiza-
tion of an idea derived from the Parthian princes. M. Darmesteter concludes his
discussion of the question thus (Introduction to his translation of the Zend
Avesta, p. xxxv.) : It can be fairly admitted, that even in the time and at the
court of the Philhellenic Parthians a Zoroastrian movement may have originated,
and that there came a time when they perceived that a national religion is a part
of national life. It was the merit of the Sassanids that they saw the drift of this
idea which they had the good fortune to carry out." It would of course be vain
to attempt to determine which of the four or five kings named Yologeses
originated the collection. The completion under Shaptir II. is an established
fact.
(b) As to the older texts from which the Avesta was put together, Darmesteter
concludes that '* the original texts of the Avesta were not written by the Persians.
. . . They were written in Media by the priests of Ragha and Atropatene in the-
language of Media, and they exhibit the ideas of the sacerdotal class under the
Achaemenian dynasty."
There is a Parsi tradition that of twenty-one original books the YendtdSd is
the sole remaining one. But Zend scholars seem uncertain as to how far this
tradition is to be accepted. For the original religion of Ahura-mazda, as it
existed under the Achaemenians, our sources are (1) the inscriptions of Darius
and his successors, and (2) Herodotus and other Greek writers.
Those who wish to know more of the Avesta and the Zoroastrian rehgion
may be sent to M. Darmesteter's translation of the Yendld^d (vol. iv. of the
"Sacred Books of the East") and his admirable Introduction, to which I am
indebted for the summary in this note. This translation has superseded those of
Spiegel and De Harlez ; but it must be observed that the students of the sacred
books of the PersianE constantly disagree in a very marked way, in translation aa
well as in interpretation.
15. THK ORIGIN OF THE GOTHS ; AND THE GOTHIC HISTORY
OY JORDANES— (P. 239 sqq.)
The earliest mention of the Gtoths of which we have any record occurred in the
work of Pytheas of MaasiiSa, who lived towards the end of the fourth century b.c.
and is famous as the earliest explorer of the North. His good faith has been
called in question by some ancient writers, but the modems take a more
favourable view of his work, so far as it is known from the references of such
writers as Strabo and Pliny. (See Miillenhoff, Deutsche Alterthum3kunde,4.)
His notice of the Goths is cited by Pliny, Nat. Hist, xxxvii. 2 : Pytheas GuUoni-
inis Germaniae genti accoli aestua/rium Oceani Mentonomon nomi/ne spatio
stadiorvm sex miUa ; db hoc diei navigatione insulam abesse Abalum. The namef.
458 APPENDIX
Abalum and Mentonomon are mysterious ; but there seems ground for inferrmg
that in the fourth century b.o. the Gfuttones lived in the same regions on th«
shores of the Baltic which they occupied in the first century a.d. (Pliny, Nat.
Hist. iy. 14 ; Tacitus, Germ. 43, Gotones). Nor is there any good ground for
refusing to identify the GotOTies or Guttones of the first century with the Chtki
of the third. (See Hodgldn, Italy and her Invaders, vol. i. cap. i., to which I
would refer for a full discussion, as well as to Dahn's Konige der Germanen.)
Our chief source for the early history of the Goths is the Getica (or de
origine actibusque Getarum) of Jordanes (whom it was formerly usual to call
Jomandes, a name which appears only in inferior Msa.). Jordanes (a Christian
name suggesting the river Jordan) was a native of Lower Moesia, £uid lived in
the sixth century in the reign of Justinian. It is not quite certain to what
nationality ho belonged ; but it is less probable that he was a genuine Goth or
even a Teuton than that he was of Alanic descent. A certain Candac had led a
mixed body of barbarians, Soyri, Sadagarii and Alans (see Get. 1. 265) into
Lower Moesia and Scythia ; they had settled in the land, assimilated themselves
to the surrounding Goths, and adopted the Gothic name, more illustrious than
their own. The grandfather of Jordanes had been a notary of Candac, and
Jordanes himself was secretary of Candac's nephew Gunthigis. This connexion
of the family of Jordanes with a family which was certainly not Gothic, com-
bined with the name of his father Alanoviimuthes, leads us to conclude that
Jordanes was an Alan ; ^ and this was quite consisteut with his being an ardent
"Goth". The small Alanic settlement of Moesia merged itself in the Gothic
people, just as the larger Alanic population of Spain merged itself in the Vandalic
nation. Beginning life as a scribe, Jordanes ended it as a monk (Getica, L 266),
perhaps as a bishop ; it has been proposed to identify him with a bishop of
Croton who lived at the same time and bore the same name (Mansi, ix. 60).
Jordanes wrote his Getica in the year 551. It was unnecessary for him to
say that he had no literary training {agrwmmatus) ; this fact is written large all
over his work. He states that his book was the result of a three days' study of
the Gothic History of Oassiodorius the learned minister of Theodoric. The fact
is that the Getica is simply an abridgment of the larger work of Cassiodorius (in
twelve books) ; and modern critics (Usener, Hodgkin) not unreasonably question
the "three days" of Jordanes. Thus, when we ai'e dealing with Jordanes, we
are really, in most cases, dealing with Oassiodorius ; and the spirit, the tendency,
of Cassiudorius is faithfully reflected in Jordanes. To praise the Gothic race, and
especially the Amal line to which Theodoric belonged, was the aim of that
monarch's minister ; Jordanes writes in the same spirit and echoes the antipathy
to the Vandals which was expressed by Oassiodorius. There are, however, also
certain original elements in the Getica. There is a significant contrast between
the knowledge of the geography of the eastern provinces of the Balkan peninsula
and the ignorance of the rest of the empire, which are displayed in this treatise.
The stress laid on the institution of Gothic foederati may oe attributed rather to
the Moesian subject of the empire than to the minister of the independent
Ostrogothic kingdom.
One of the features of the lost work of Cassiodorius was the manufacture of
an ancient history for the Goths by the false identification of that race with the
Gretae and with the Scythians. The former confusion was suggested by the
resemblance of name, the latter by the geographical comprehensiveness of the
term Scythia, which embraced all the peoples of the North oefore they appeared
on the scene of history. These fanciful reconstructions are eagerly adopted by
Jordanes.
It may be well doubted whether Jordanes consulted on his own account
another writer on Gothic history, Ablavius (cp. Gibbon, chap. x. note 5), who ia
merely a name to us. He cites him with praise (iv. 28 and elsewhere) ; but
i There are ioternal confirmations of this conclusion, — signs of a special interest taken
by Jordanes in the Alans; see Getica, xv. 83, xxiv. 126-7, ^Hii. 226. See MommseD,
Procemiutn to bis edition, p. x.
APPENDIX 469
there is little doubt that the laudatorj references are derived from Caasiodoriue.
On the other hand it may be supposed that Jordanes, living among Goths,
counting himself as a Goth, had some independent knowledge of old Gothic
legends and songs to which he refers as mentioned by Ablavius (i&., quem ad
modum et in priscis eorum carminibus pene storico ritu, &c. ). The emigration of
the Goths from Scandzia, the island of the fiw north, their coming to the land of
Oiumy and battle with the Spali, are not indeed historical, but are a genuine
Gothic legend ; and stand on quite a different footing from the Getic and Scythian
discoveries of Cassiodorius.
The other work of Jordanes, a summary of Roman history (entitled de summa
temporum vel origine actibusque gentis Komanorum, usually cited as Komana),
written partly before, partly after, the Getica, does not concern us here. An-
accoimt of the sources of both works will be found in Mommsen's exhaustive
Prooemium to his splendid edition In the Monumenta Germanise historica (1882),
from which for this brief notice I have selected a few leading points. The
reader may also be referred to the clear summary and judicious discussion of
Mr. Hodgkin in the introduction and appendix to the first chapter of his Italy
and her Invaders, and to Mr. Acland's article "Jordanes" in the Dictionary o^
Christian Biography.
Some other points in connexion with Jordanes will call for notice when we
come to his own time.
16. VISIGOTHS AND OSTEOGOTHS— (P- 24«)
"We cannot say with certainty at what period the Gothic race was severed
into the nations of East and "West Goths. The question is well discussed by
Mr. Hodgkin, in Italy and her Invaders, chap. i. Appendix.
The name Ostrogoth occurs first in the Life of Claudius Gothicus in th»
Historia Augusta (written about the beginning of the fourth century), and next in
Claudian, in Eutrop. ii. 153 (at the end of the same century). Our first testimony
to the existence of the Visigothic name is later. In the fifth century Sidonius
Apollinaris speaks of the Vesi in two places (Pan. in Avit. 456 ; Pan. in Major.
458). Is there any ground for inferring that the Ostrogothic name is the older ?
It looks rather as if at first (c. 300-400) the distinction was between Ostrogoths
and Goths ; and that the name Visigoth was a later appellation.
"We must emphatically reject the view that Gruthungi and Thervingi were old
names for Ostrogoths and Visigoths respectively and expressed the same distinc-
tion. Mr. Hodgkin has noticed the objections supplied by the passages in the
Vita Claudii and Claudian ; and they are decisive,
17. THE DEFEAT OF VALERIAN, AND THE DATE OF
CYRIADES— (P. 270)
Valerian set ont in 257, held a council of war in Byzantium at the beginning of
268 (Hist. Aug. xxvi. 13). Thence he proceeded to Cappadocia. The north
coasts of Asia Minor were suffering at this time from the invasions of the
Germans and it has been conjectured that there may have been an understandmg
between the European and Asiatic enemies of the Empire (as sometimes in later
ages • as once before in the days of Decebalus), and that Valerian amied at
preventing a junction of Persians and Goths. Viet PaHhxca on corns m 259 a.d.
point to a victory perhaps near Bdessa. Where Valerian was captured is un-
certain. Cedrenus says in Caesarea (i. p. 454) ;, the anonymous Oontmuator of
Dion suggests the neighbourhood of Samosata. The date is uncertam too. There
is no tr^e of Valerian after 260 a.d. Inscriptions and sculptures on the rocks of
Nakshi Rustan have been supposed to commemorate the Persian victory.
Gibbon in his "probable series of events " has distmctlv gone wrong. Two
things are certain : (1) Sapor was twice at Antioch, and (2) Cyriades feU befora
Valerian The first visit of the Persian monarch to Antioch was m the summer
of 256 whither he was accompanied by Cyriades (also called Mariades, see
460 APPENDIX
Mtiiler, F. H. G-. it. p. 192), whom, he had set up in that citj as a Persian
vassal. Antioch was won back in the same year or in 257 ; Oyriades was torn to
pieces by the inhabitants, and the Persians were massacred. See Ammian, xxiii.
5 ; Hist. Aug. xxiv. 2. The second visit of Sapor to Antioch was after tiie
^capture of Valerian. See Aur. Victor, Caesar. 33, 3.
,18. THE PRETENDERS IN THE REIGN OE GALLIENUS, KNOWN
AS THE THIRTY TYRANTS— (P. 275)
FatipvhUcifuit, says Trebellius Pollio who recorded the deeds of the tyrants
in the Augustan History, ut OaUieni tempore qmcunqtte potrnt^ ad rniperium
prosilvret. Gibbon recognized that the significance of these shadow-emperors
was only "collective"; they all vanished rapidly; the emperor's power always
proved superior. Their simultaneous appearance only illustrates vividly the
general disintegration of the Empire.
It may be well, however, to add a few details, chiefly references, to the
succinct account of Gibbon. I take them in the order of his list.
(1) Oyriades. See p. 270, and Appendix 17.
(2) Macrianus. The generals Macrianus and Bahsta caused the two sons of
the former, T. Fulvius Junius Macrianus and T. Fulvius Junius Quietus, to be
proclaimed emperors (261 a.d. ; see Hist. Aug. Vita Gall. 1, 2). It is a question
whether Macrianus their father (he to whom Gibbon imputed the blame of
Valerian's disaster) assumed the purple also. There can, I think, be no doubt
that he did not. We have (a) the negative evidence that no coins which can be
certainly ascribed to him and not to his son are forthcoming ; (b) the story of his
refusal in Hist. Aug. xxiv. 7-11 ; and (c) the positive statement of Zonaras, xii.
24. Against this we have to place the apparent statement in Hist. Aug. xxiii.
I, 2-4 (I say apparent, because the passage is mutilated), and the clear statement
in xxiv. 12, 12, which is glaringly inconsistent with the immediately preceding
narrative. Macrianus is described as refusing the empire on the ground of old
age and bodily weakness, and casting the burden on his sons. Ballsta, who had
offered him the empire, agrees; and then the narrative proceeds: "Macrianus
promises (clearly in the name of his sons) a double donation to the soldiers and
hurls threats against Gallienus ; accordingly he was made emperor along with
Macrianus and Quietus his two sons," as if this were the logical outcome of tha
proceedings. From this evidence there can I think be only one conclusion.
(3) Balista. He has even less claim than the elder Macrianus to a place
among the tyrants ; like Macrianus he was only a tyrant-maker. Hist. Aug.
xxiv. 15, 4, and 18.
(4) Odenathus. The ground for placing Odenathus among the tyrants seems
to be that he assumed the title of king (Hist. Aug. xxiv. 16, 2) and that he had
great power in the East. But a tyrant means one who rebels against the true
emperor and usurps the Imperial title. Odenathus never rebelled against
Gallienus and never usurped the title Augustus (Se^ao-rd^) or the title Csesar. He
supported the interests of Gallienus in the East and overthrew the real tyranny
which was set up by Macrianus. For his services Gallienus rewarded him' by the
title of avTOKpoLTup or imperator, an unusual title to confer, but not necessarily
involving Imperial dignity. (This title is enough to account for the statement
in Hist. Aug. xxiii. 12, 1.) As a king he held the same position that, for
instance, Agrippa held under Claudius. An inscription of a statue which two of
his generals erected in his honour in 271 a.d. has been preserved (de Vogiie,
Syrie centrale, p. 28) and there he is entitled king of kings. This, as Schiller
aaya (i. 838), should be decisive.
(5) Zenobia. What applies to Odenathus applies to Zenobia as far as the
reign of Gallienus is concerned. She received the title Se/Soo-r^ in Egypt, but not
till after 271 and doubtless with the permission of Claudius.
(6) Postumus. (See note 86, p. 256.) He made his residence at Trier, was
ackaowledged in Spain and Britain, and seems to have taken effective measures
APPENDIX 461
for the trajiquillity and security of Gaul. In 262 he celebrated his quvnquermalia
(Eckhel, vii. 438). His coinage is superior to that of the lawful emperors of the
time ; it did not pass current in Italy, and the Imperial money was excluded from
Gaul (Mommsen, Rom. Miinzwesen, 815). It is important to observe that
Postumus was faithful to the idea of Rome. He was not in any sense a
successor of Sacrovir, Vindex and Classicus ; he had no thought of an anti-
Roman impervwm Qalliarvmi.
(7) LollianuB. This is the form of the name in our Mss. of his Life in the
Historia Augusta (xxiv. 5) ; his true name, Cornelius Ulpianus Laelianus, is
preserved on coins (Cohen, v, 60). In a military mutiny (268 a.d., in his
fifth consulship) Postumus was slain and Laelianus elevated. The new tyrant
marched against the Germans, who had taken advantage of this struggle [suhita
irrwptione Ger7iianorum)to invade theempire and destroy theforts which Postumus
during the year of his rule had erected on the frontier ; but he was slain by his
soldiers, — it is said, because he was too energetic, quod in lahore nvmius esset
(Hist. Aug. xxiv. 5). Yictorinus, who siicceeded hira, had probably something to
do with his death.
(8) Victorinus. In 265 a.d. Gallienus sent Aureolus to assert his authority in
Gaul against Postumus. In the course of the war, an Imperial commander M.
Piauvonius Victorinus deserted to the tyrant, who welcomed him and created him
Csesar. Victorinus obtained supreme power after the death of Laelianus. H©
reigned but a few months ; his death is noticed by Gibbon in chap. xi.
Victoria or Victorina. The mother of Victorinus (see chap, xi.)- Her coins
are condemned as spurious (Cohen, 5, 75).
(9) Marius. M. Auxelius Marius ; Eckhel, vii. 454. According to Hist. Aug.
xxiv. 8. 1, he reigned only three days after the death of Victorinus. Perhaps he
survived Victorinus by three days, but there can be no doubt that he arose as a
tyrant, at an earlier date, perhaps immediately after the death of Postumus. If
he had reigned only three days, it is unlikely we should have his coins. Com-
pare Schiller, i. 856.
(10) Tetricufl. (See chap. xi. )
(11) Ingenuus. His tyranny was set up in Pannonia and Moesia in the same
year as that of Postumus in Gaul (258 a.d.). He was defeated by Aureolus at
Mursa — the scene of the defeat of a more famous tyrant in later times — and
slain, at his own request, by his shield-bearer.
(12) Re^iUianua. A Dacian, who held the post of dux of Illyricum ; his true
name was Regalianus, preserved on coins and in one Ms. of the Historia Augusta.
He had won victories against the Sarmatians, and his name, in its corrupt form»
lent itself to the declension of rex: *'rex, regis, regi, Regi-lianus" (Hist. Aug.
xxiv. 10, 5). But his reign lasted only for a moment. His elevation was probably
due to disaffection produced by the hard measures adopted by Gallienus in
Pannonia when he suppressed the revolt of Ingenuus.
(13) Aureolus. (See chap, xi.)
(14) Satuminus. Of him we know nothing. See Hist. Aug. xxiv. 23, and
xxiii. 9, 1. , ,
(15) Trebellianus. See Hist. Aug. xxiv. 26; beyond what is stated there we
know nothing. PaUUivm in a/rce Isauriae constituit. He was slain by an
Egyptian, brother of the man who slew -^milianus, tyrant in Egypt, see below.
(16) Piso. It is probably a mistake to include Piso among the tyrants. He
belonged to the party of Macrianus (see above), who in 261 sent him to Greece to
overpower the governor Valens. But a curious thing happened. Piso, who
had come in the name of a tyrant, supported the cause of the lawful emperor
Gallienus (soe Hist. Aug. xxiv. 21. 4), while Vaiens, who represented the cause
of Gallienus, revolted, and became a tyrant himself. Bpth Piso and Valens were
slain by their soldiers ;— the news of Piso's death had reached Rome by the 25th
June (Hist. Aug. ih. 3).
(17) Valens. See last note. , . , , , , ,
(18) jEmilianus. He threatened to starve the empire, which depended lor
corn on Egypt. There are no genuine coins of this tyrant.
462 APPENDIX
(19) Celaua. Elevated by the proconsul of Africa and the ditx limiUs Libyei.
Hist. Aug. xxiv. 29.
Of these nineteen, Macrianus, Balista, Odenathos, ^^enobia, and Fiso hare no
claim to be regarded as tyrants. But the places of Macrianus the father and
Balista may be filled by Macrianus the son and Quietus. Thus the number
nineteen is reduced to sixteen.
It 13 worth noting that Pollio, who, as Gibbon says, "expresses the moat
minute anxiety to complete the number " of the thirty tyrants, and as we hare
seen includes some who were certainly not tyrants, should omit two names of
rebels which are mentioned by Zosimus. In i. 38 (ed. Mendelssohn) this
historian says : ecrovr^ £^ inavatTTavTuv avr$ (Gallienus) Mefiopo; re Tov Movpovtrt'ou
Kill AvpioAov KoX 'AvTtovivov xaX iripiav ■tT\ei6vtav- Aurelius we knOW ^ erf'povv ir\eiova<i
we know ; but who were Memor and Antoninus ? Are they mentioned by Pollio
under other names or did they not reach the length of an Imperial title ? Of
Antoninus as far as I know we hear nowhere else, but of Memor we have a notice.
In a fragment of the Anonymous Continuer of Dion Oassius (Miiller, F. H. G. iv.
p. 193), frag. 4, where the mention of a Theodotus recalls him who put to death
iSmilianus and makes us think of Egypt. (In the old Stephanian text of
Zosimus KcKpoTTo? is read instead of Me^topo? ; but the unknown Ms. used by
Stephanus seems to have been worthless. )
19. ZBNOBIA— {P. 302 sqq. )
In regard to Gibbon's account of the war of Aurelian with Zenobia, the
following points are to be observed : —
(1) This war preceded the subjugation of Tetricus and Graul.
(2) After her husband's death Zenobia took the title jSatn'Aio-aa, and while her
«on Wahballath succeeded to his father's position as dux MoTncmorwm and Lord
of Palmyra, she really ruled. The name Wahballath, meaning dea deditj was
rendered in Greek by 'Aeijfo-Stupos.
(3) The story told by Gibbon from Hist. Aug. xxiii. 13, that Zenobia defeated
a Roman army (under one Heraclian) is suspicious (see Schiller, i. 859, note 1) ;
for we find her on good terms with the Roman government immediately after,
and she recovers Egypt, which was under the usurper Probatua, for Claudius,
who was too much occupied with the Gothic danger to proceed himself against
the tyrant. Her son "VTahballath governed in Egypt as the representative of
Claudius, and the circumstance that he was officially named fiatrtKev^ does not
imply that he was a rebel.
(4) Aurelian on his accession 270 a.d. recognized TVahballath as vir consularis
Romanorum Imperator dux Romanorum ; he appeared beside Aurelian on coins ;
and his mother assumed the title Augusta.
(5) Wahballath began to issue coins without the head of Aurelian and
assumed the title Augustus. This seems to have been a consequence of an
estrangement from the Emperor ; but we do not know the immediate circum-
stances. The position which the Palmyrene family occupied was obviously in-
consistent with the unity of the Empire.
(6) The following stages may be marked in the course of the war : {a) Probus
establishes the authority of Aurelian in Egypt, and the forces of Zenobia fail at
Chalcedon; (h) Aurelian takes Ancyra and Tyana, and passes into Syria; (c)
Zenobia's army is driven from Antiooh, and {d) defeated at Emesa; [e) the
surrender of Palmyra (early in 272) ; (/) its final destruction (spring 273).
(7) Von Sallet, who has thrown much light on this episode in his work Die
Fiirsten von Palmyra, thinks that the catastrophe of Palmyra was accomplished
before the end of 271. But there are serious objections to his chronology. See
SchiUer, i. 857-864.
20. CORRECTOR ITALIC— fP. 312}
As Gibbon notices, two statements are made in the Historia Augusta, as to
the honourable provision which Aurelian made for Tetricus. In the Life of
APPENDIX 463
Tetricus (xxiv. 24, 5) we read: conrectorem totius ItaUce fecit, id eat,
Oampaniae, Samni, Lucaniae, Brittiorum [Bruttii], Apuli», Calabrise, Etrurifle
atque Umbriae, Piceni et Flaminise omnisque annonariae regionis ; but in the Life
of Aurelian (xxvi. 39, 1) Tetricum triumpbatum correctorem I/acamicR fecit (so
Aurel, Victor. &c.). Botb statements cannot be true, and Mommsen (Ephem.
epig. i. 140) has proved that the first is to be accepted and the second rejected.
"We find the idea of a governor of Italy in the famous advice to Augustus
which Dion Cassius (52, 21) puts in the mouth of Maecenas. It is suggested that
Italy beyond a circuit of a hundred miles from Home should be governed like the
provinces. But as early as 214 we find C Suetrius Sabinus, a consular, as
electus ad corrigenAvmi statum Italice (C. I. L, x. 5398) and at a later period
Fomponius Bassus eTravopeartt^ ird<rri^ 'iToAias. See further Mommsen, loc. cit.^ and
Staatsrecht, ii. 1086.
Thus we find that correctors of aU Italy were occasionally appointed, during
the third century. Therefore, Mommsen argues convincingly (and it is a good
instance of the application of a principle of historical criticism), the notice that
Tetricus was corrector Italice is the true one. For a later writer to whom
correctors of Lucania were perfectly familiar would never have changed a corrector
Luca/nice into a corrector ItalicB.
21. PROBTTS AND THE LIMES GBRMANICUS— (P. 331)
The statement of Gibbon that Probus '* constructed a stone wall of a consider-
able height, and strengthened it by towers at convenient distances" is not
warranted by the evidence, which consists entirely of two remarks in his Life in
the Hist. Aug. : —
(1) c. 13. contra urbes Romanas et castra in solo barbarico posuit atque iUic
milites collocavit.
(2) c. 14. sed visum est id non posse fieri nisi si limes Komanus extenderetur
et fieret Germania tota provincia. (id refers to the command of Probus, that the
German dependent tribes should not fight themselves, but, when attacked, seek
the aid of the Roman army. )
It will be observed that the only statement of fact is in the first passage, from
which we learn that Probus constructed and garrisoned some forts on soil which
was then barbarian. The second passage states no fact, but ventilates a, perhaps
wild, hypothesis.
It is also to be noticed that the actual "Wall, constructed long before the time of
Probus, was not a regular wall of hewn stone, and that its length between the
points that Gibbon roughly marks was more than 300 (not *'near 200") miles.
It may be added that the limes (both the trans-Rhenane and the trans-
Danubian) was probably due chiefly to Domitian and Hadrian.
There is a considerable literature on the Imperial limes ; but all previous works
will be superseded by "Der Obergermanischraetische Limes des Romerreichs,"
edited by O. von Sarwey and F. Hettner, and published under the auspices of
the Reichs-Limes-Kommisaion. This work is appearing in parts.
22. GERMAN CAMPAIGNS OF DIOCLETIAN, MAXIMIAN AND
CONSTANTIUS (A.D. 285-299)— (P. 361 sq-g.)
(1) There was a campaign in spring 285, against German invaders of the
Danubian regions, in consequence of which Diocletian assumed the title of
Germa/nicus MoMimus. Cp. Corp. Insc. Lat. vi. 1116. ,:,,,.,_. ,,
(2) In 286 the Alamanni (who, pushed by the Burgundians, had left their old
abodes on the Main and established themselves along the banks of the Rhine,
within the limes, from Mainz to Lake Constance) and Burgundians invaded Gaul.
Maximian was at Mainz, in June (Frag. Vat. 271). The Heruls and Chaibonea
: also approached the frontier, but their host was destroyed by Maximian, who
464 APPENDIX
allowed plague and famine to work havoc among the Alamannic iDvadere. See
Mamertiuus, Pan. Max. v. and Genethl. Max. 17.
(3) At the beginning of 287 marauding expeditions had to be repelled and
ilaximian won back some territory beyond the Rhine. Mamertinus, Pan. Max.
6, 10.
(4) 291 ; war with the Franks, of whom large numbers were settled in lands of
the Nervii and round Trier. Cp. Incert. Pan. Constant. Caes. 21, Mamert.
Genethl. MAt. 7.
(5) 293, summer; Conatantius, having taken Gesoriacum, invades the land of
the Franks, and, returning victorious, settles a large number as coloni in Gaul.
It has been conjectured (Schiller, ii. 132) that the regions of the Lower Meuse and
Rhine were now once more incorporated in the Empire as the province of
Germania Secunda, which is mentioned in the List of provinces found at Verona
(see Introduction, p* li-)
(6) After the recovery of Britain, Conatantius busied himself with the fortifica-
tion of the Rhine frontier. In 298 the victories of Langres and Windisch
(Vindoniasa) were won over the Alamanni.
(7) In 299 Constantius invaded the land of the Alamanni ; Incert. Pan.
Constantio Cses. 2, 3.
For the determination of the chronology Mommsen's study in the Abhand-
lungen of the Berlin Academy, 1860, is invaluable.
23. DIOCLETIAN'S TARIFF OF MAXIMUM PRICES— (P- 377)
The most celebrated work of Diocletian in the field of political economy was
the edict (referred to by Lactantius in De Mort. persecutorum, 7 ; partial copies of
it have been discovered since Gibbon wrote, in the form of inscriptions) fixing
maximum prices for provisions and wages, 301 a.d. See Corp. Insc. Lat. iii. 801
sqq. and ib. Suppl. p. 1910 sqq> It had been found that, notwithstanding
plenteous harvests, prices and wages went up. The soldiers especially suffered,
and, unable to purchase their provisions from their pay, were obliged to draw
upon their savings. It is probable that the law was not universal, but applied
only to those provinces which were ruled directly by Diocletian; it is also
probable that it was enforced only for a few years. For a full discussion see
Mommsen's paper in the Berichte der konaachsischen Ges. d. Wissensch., phil.-
hist. Idasse, 1851. The text is published in a convenient form by MommiBen,
with notes by Bliimner, 1893.
The monetary reforms of Diocletian, though they were not permanent, have
some interest in connexion ^vith this edict. He coined a new aureus of 60 to a
pound of gold ; he restored the denarius of silver ; and introduced some new
copper coins. The relative value of silver to gold seems to have been determined
at 1427 to 1. See Finlay, Hist, of Greece, vol. 1, App. 1.
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