Oliver Goldsmith - Pinnock\'s Improved Edition of Dr. Goldsmith\'s History of Rome

O >> Oliver Goldsmith >> Pinnock\'s Improved Edition of Dr. Goldsmith\'s History of Rome

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8. How was this treachery discovered?

9. How was this effected?

10. Did Plautian fall into the snare?

11. How did he act on the occasion?

12. Was he pardoned?

13. How did Severus next employ himself?

14. What were his first measures in Britain?

15. Was it a difficult campaign?

16. Did he overcome these difficulties?

17. What famous work did he execute, and where did he die?

18. Who succeeded him, and how did the two emperors regard each
other?

19. What was the conduct of Caracalla on thus becoming sole
emperor?

20. Were these cruelties tamely suffered?

21. How was this effected?

22. Did the assassin escape?

23. What was the state of the empire during this reign?

24. Who succeeded Caracalla?

25. Who was Macrinus?

26. By whom was he opposed, and what was his fate?

27. How did Heliogabalus govern?

28. Give a few instances of his folly?

29. Did they enter into his views, and of what farther follies and vices
was he guilty?

30. What was his end?

SECTION III.

I know that there are angry spirits
And turbulent mutterers of stifled treason,
Who lurk in narrow places, and walk out
Muffled, to whisper curses in the night;
Disbanded soldiers, discontented ruffians,
And desperate libertines who brawl in taverns.--_Byron_.

[Sidenote: U.C. 975 A.D. 222]

1. Heliogaba'lus was succeeded by Alexander, his cousin-german,[4]
who, being declared emperor without opposition, the senate, with their
usual adulation, were for conferring new titles upon him; but he
modestly declined them all. 2. To the most rigid justice he added the
greatest humanity. He loved the good, and was a severe reprover of the
lewd and infamous. His accomplishments were equal to his virtues. He
was an excellent mathematician, geometrician, and musician; he
was equally skilful in painting and sculpture; and in poetry few of
his time could equal him. In short, such were his talents, and such
the solidity of his judgment, that though but sixteen years of age, he
was considered equal in wisdom to a sage old man.

3. About the thirteenth year of his reign the Upper Germans, and other
northern nations, began to pour down in immense swarms upon the more
southern parts of the empire. They passed the Rhine and the Danube
with such fury, that all Italy was thrown into the most extreme
consternation. 4. The emperor, ever ready to expose his person for the
safety of his people, made what levies he could, and went in person to
stem the torrent, which he speedily effected. It was in the course of
his successes against the enemy that he was cut off by a mutiny among
his own soldiers. He died in the twenty-ninth year of his age, after a
prosperous reign of thirteen years and nine days.

[Sidenote: U.C.988 A.D.235]

5. The tumults occasioned by the death of Alexander being appeased,
Max'imin, who had been the chief promoter of the sedition, was chosen
emperor. 6. This extraordinary man, whose character deserves a
particular attention, was born of very obscure parentage, being the
son of a poor herdsman of Thrace. He followed his father's humble
profession, and had exercised his personal courage against the robbers
who infested that part of the country in which he lived. Soon after,
his ambition increasing, he left his poor employment and enlisted in
the Roman army, where he soon became remarkable for his great
strength, discipline, and courage. 7. This gigantic man, we are told,
was eight feet and a half high; he had strength corresponding to his
size, being not more remarkable for the magnitude than the symmetry of
his person. His wife's bracelet usually served him for a thumb ring,
and his strength was so great that he was able to draw a carriage
which two oxen could not move. He could strike out the teeth of a
horse with a blow of his fist, and break its thigh with a kick. 8. His
diet was as extraordinary as his endowments: he generally ate forty
pounds weight of flesh every day, and drank six gallons of wine,
without committing any debauch in either. 9. With a frame so athletic,
he was possessed of a mind undaunted in danger, neither fearing nor
regarding any man. 10. The first time he was made known to the emperor
Seve'rus, was while he was celebrating games on the birth day of
his son Ge'ta. He overcame sixteen in running, one after the other; he
then kept up with the emperor on horseback, and having fatigued him in
the course, he was opposed to seven of the most active soldiers, and
overcame them with the greatest ease. 11. These extraordinary exploits
caused him to be particularly noticed; he had been taken into the
emperor's body guard, and by the usual gradation of preferment came to
be chief commander. In this situation he had been equally remarkable
for his simplicity, discipline, and virtue; but, upon coming to the
empire, he was found to be one of the greatest monsters of cruelty
that had ever disgraced power; fearful of nothing himself, he seemed
to sport with the terrors of all mankind.

12. However, his cruelties did not retard his military operations,
which were carried on with a spirit becoming a better monarch. He
overthrew the Germans in several battles, wasted all their country
with fire and sword for four hundred miles together, and formed a
resolution of subduing all the northern nations, as far as the ocean.
13. In these expeditions, in order to attach the soldiers more firmly
to him, he increased their pay; and in every duty of the camp he
himself took as much pains as the meanest sentinel in his army,
showing incredible courage and assiduity. In every engagement, where
the conflict was hottest, Max'imin was seen fighting in person, and
destroying all before him; for, being bred a barbarian, he considered
it his duty to combat as a common soldier, while he commanded as a
general.

14. In the mean time his cruelties had so alienated the minds of his
subjects, that secret conspiracies were secretly aimed against him.
None of them, however, succeeded, till at last his own soldiers, long
harassed by famine and fatigue, and hearing of revolts on every side,
resolved to terminate their calamities by the tyrant's death. 15. His
great strength, and his being always armed, at first deterred them
from assassinating him; but at length the soldiers, having made his
guards accomplices in their designs, set upon him while he slept at
noon in his tent, and without opposition slew both him and his son,
whom he had made his partner in the empire. 16. Thus died this most
remarkable man, after an usurpation of about three years, in the
sixty-fifth year of his age. His assiduity when in a humble station,
and his cruelty when in power, serve to evince, that there are some
men whose virtues are fitted for obscurity, as there are others
who only show themselves great when placed in an exalted station.

[Sidenote: U.C. 991. A.D. 238.]

17. The tyrant being dead, and his body thrown to dogs and birds of
prey, Pupie'nus and Balbie'nus, who had usurped the imperial purple,
continued for some time emperors, without opposition. 18. But,
differing between themselves, the praetorian soldiers, who were the
enemies of both, set upon them in their palace, at a time when their
guards were amused with seeing the Capit'oline games; and dragging
them from the palace towards the camp, slew them both, leaving their
dead bodies in the street, as a dreadful instance of unsuccessful
ambition.

[Sidenote: U.C. 991. A.D. 238.]

19. In the midst of this sedition, as the mutineers were proceeding
along, they by accident met Gor'dian, the grandson of him who was
slain in Africa: him they declared emperor on the spot. 20. This
prince was but sixteen years old when he began to reign, but his
virtues seemed to compensate for his want of experience. His principal
aims were to unite the opposing members of government, and to
reconcile the soldiers and citizens to each other. 21. The army,
however, began as usual to murmur; and their complaints were artfully
fomented by Philip, an Arabian, who was praetorian prefect, and aspired
to the sovereignty. Things thus proceeded from bad to worse. 22.
Philip was at first made equal to Gor'dian in the command of the
empire; shortly after he was invested with the sole power; and at
length, finding himself capable of perpetrating his long meditated
cruelty, Gor'dian was by his order slain, in the twenty-second year of
his age, after a successful reign of nearly six years.

_Questions for Examination_.

1. Who succeeded Heliogabalus?

2. What was his character?

3. Was his reign peaceable?

4. How did Alexander act on the occasion?

5. Who succeeded Alexander?

6. Who was Maximin?

7. Describe his person.

8. What farther distinguished him?

9. Was his mind proportioned to his body?

10. How did he attract the notice of Severus?

11. By what means did he attain rank in the army?

12. Was he equally a terror to his foreign enemies?

13. By what means did he gain the confidence of his soldiers?

14. What effect had his cruelties on the minds of his subjects?

15. How did they accomplish their purpose?

16. How long did he reign, and what inference may be drawn from his
conduct?

17. Who next mounted the imperial throne?

18. What was their end?

19. Who succeeded Pupienus and Balbienus?

20. What were the character and views of this prince?

21. Was his administration approved of by all?

22. Did Philip accomplish his ambitious design?

SECTION IV. U.C. 996.--A.D. 243.

What rein can hold licentious wickedness,
When down the hill he holds his fierce career--_Shakspeare_.

1. Philip having thus murdered his benefactor, was so fortunate as to
be immediately acknowledged emperor by the army. Upon his exaltation
he associated his son, a boy of six years of age, as his partner in
the empire; and, in order to secure his power at home, made peace with
the Persians, and marched his army towards Rome. 2. However, the army
revolting in favour of De'cius, his general, and setting violently
upon him, one of his sentinels at a blow cut off his head, or rather
cleft it asunder, separating the under jaw from the upper. He died in
the forty-fifth year of his age, after a short reign of about five
years.

[Sidenote: U.C. 1001. A.D. 248.]

3. De'cius was universally acknowledged as his successor. His activity
and wisdom seemed, in some measure, to stop the hastening decline of
the Roman empire. The senate seemed to think so highly of his merits,
that they voted him not inferior to Tra'jan; and indeed he appeared in
every instance to consult their dignity, and the welfare of all the
inferior ranks of people. 4. But no virtues could now prevent the
approaching downfall of the state; the obstinate disputes between the
Pagans and the Christians within the empire, and the unceasing
irruptions of barbarous nations from without, enfeebled it beyond the
power of remedy. 5. He was killed in an ambuscade of the enemy, in the
fiftieth year of his age, after a short reign of two years and six
months.

[Sidenote: U.C. 1004. A.D. 251.]

6. Gal'lus, who had betrayed the Roman army, had address enough to get
himself declared emperor by that part of it which survived the
defeat; he was forty-five years old when he began to reign, and
was descended from an honourable family in Rome. 7. He was the first
who bought a dishonourable peace from the enemies of the state,
agreeing to pay a considerable annual tribute to the Goths, whom it
was his duty to repress. He was regardless of every national calamity,
and was lost in debauchery and sensuality. The Pagans were allowed a
power of persecuting the Christians through all parts of the state. 8.
These calamities were succeeded by a pestilence from heaven, that
seemed to have spread over every part of the earth, and continued
raging for several years, in an unheard-of manner; as well as by a
civil war, which followed shortly after between Gallus and his general
AEmilia'nus, who, having gained a victory over the Goths, was
proclaimed emperor by his conquering army. 9. Gallus hearing this,
soon roused from the intoxications of pleasure, and prepared to oppose
his dangerous rival: but both he and his son were slain by AEmilia'nus,
in a battle fought in Mossia. His death was merited, and his vices
were such as to deserve the detestation of posterity. He died in the
forty-seventh year of his age, after an unhappy reign of two years and
four months, in which the empire suffered inexpressible calamities.

[Sidenote: U.C. 1006. A.D. 253.]

10. The senate refused to acknowledge the claims of AEmilia'nus; and an
army that was stationed near the Alps chose Vale'rian, who was their
commander, to succeed to the throne. 11. He set about reforming the
state with a spirit that seemed to mark a good and vigorous mind. But
reformation was now grown almost impracticable. 12. The Persians under
their king Sapor, invading Syr'ia, took the unfortunate Vale'rian
prisoner, as he was making preparations to oppose them; and the
indignities as well as the cruelties, which were practised upon this
unhappy monarch, thus fallen into the hands of his enemies, are almost
incredible. 13. Sapor, we are told, used him as a footstool for
mounting his horse; he added the bitterness of ridicule to his
insults, and usually observed, that an attitude like that to which
Vale'rian was reduced, was the best statue that could be erected in
honour of his victory. 14. This horrid life of insult and sufferance
continued for seven years; and was at length terminated by the cruel
Persian commanding his prisoner's eyes to be plucked out, and
afterwards causing him to be flayed alive.

[Sidenote: U.C. 1012. A.D. 259.]

15. When Vale'rian was taken prisoner, Galie'nus, his son, promising
to revenge the insult, was chosen emperor, being then about
forty-one years old. However, it was soon discovered that he sought
rather the splendours than the toils of empire; for, after having
overthrown Ingen'uus, who had assumed the title of emperor, he sat
down, as if fatigued with conquest, and gave himself up to ease and
luxury. 16. At this time, no less than thirty pretenders were seen
contending with each other for the dominion of the state, and adding
the calamities of civil war to the rest of the misfortunes of this
devoted empire. These are usually mentioned in history by the name of
the thirty tyrants. 17. In this general calamity, Galie'nus, though at
first seemingly insensible, was at length obliged for his own security
to take the field, and led an army to besiege the city of Milan, which
had been taken by one of the thirty usurping tyrants. In this
expedition he was slain by his own soldiers: Mar'tian, one of his
generals, having conspired against him.

[Sidenote: U.C. 1021. A.D. 268.]

18. Fla'vius Clau'dius being nominated to succeed, was joyfully
accepted by all orders of the state, and his title confirmed by the
senate and the people. 19. He was a man of great valour and conduct,
having performed the most excellent services against the Goths, who
had long continued to make irruptions into the empire; but, after a
great victory over that barbarous people, he was seized with a
pestilential fever at Ser'mium in Panno'nia, of which he died, to the
great regret of his subjects, and the irreparable loss of the Roman
empire.

[Sidenote: U.C. 1023. A.D. 270.]

20. Upon the death of Clau'dius, Aure'lian was acknowledged by all the
states of the empire, and assumed the command with a greater share of
power than his predecessors had enjoyed for a long time before. 21.
This active monarch was of mean and obscure parentage in Da'cia, and
about fifty-five years old at the time of his coming to the throne. He
had spent the early part of his life in the army, and had risen
through all the gradations of military rank. He was of unshaken
courage and amazing strength. He, in one engagement, killed forty of
the enemy with his own hand; and at different times above nine
hundred. In short, his valour and expedition were such, that he was
compared to Julius Caesar; and, in fact, only wanted mildness and
clemency to be every way his equal. 22. Among those who were compelled
to submit to his power, was the famous Zeno'bia, queen of Palmy'ra. He
subdued her country, destroyed her city, and took her prisoner.
Longi'nus, the celebrated critic, who was secretary to the queen, was
by Aure'lian's order put to death. Zeno'bia was reserved to grace his
triumph; and afterwards was allotted such lands, and such an income,
as served to maintain her in almost her former splendour. 23. But the
emperor's severities were at last the cause of his own destruction.
Mnes'theus, his principal secretary, having been threatened by him for
some fault which he had committed, formed a conspiracy against him,
and as the emperor passed, with a small guard, from Ura'clea, in
Thrace, towards Byzan'tium, the conspirators set upon him at once and
slew him, in the sixtieth year of his age, after a very active reign
of almost five years.

[Sidenote: U.C. 1028. A.D. 275.]

24. After some time the senate made choice of Ta'citus, a man of great
merit, and no way ambitious of the honours that were offered him,
being at that time seventy-five years old. 25. A reign begun with much
moderation and justice, only wanted continuance to have made his
subjects happy: but after enjoying the empire about six months, he
died of a fever in his march to oppose the Persians and Scyth'ians,
who had invaded the eastern parts of the empire. 26. During this short
period the senate seemed to have possessed a large share of authority,
and the histories of the times are liberal of their praises to such
emperors as were thus willing to divide their power.

27. Upon the death of Ta'citus, his half-brother took upon himself the
title of emperor, in Cile'sia: but being twice defeated by Pro'bus, he
killed himself in despair, when the whole army, as if by common
consent, cried out that Pro'bus should be emperor. 28. He was then
forty-four years old; was born of noble parentage, and bred a soldier.
He began early to distinguish himself for his discipline and valour:
being frequently the first man that scaled the walls, or that burst
into the enemy's camp. He was equally remarkable for single combat,
and for having saved the lives of many eminent citizens. Nor were his
activity and courage when elected to the empire less apparent than in
his private station. 29. Every year now produced new calamities to the
state; and fresh irruptions on every side threatened universal
desolation. Perhaps at this time no abilities, except those of
Pro'bus, were capable of opposing such united invasions. 30. However,
in the end, his own mutinous soldiers, taking their opportunity, as he
was marching into Greece, seized and slew him, after he had reigned
six years and four months with general approbation. He was
succeeded by Ca'rus.

_Questions for Examination_.

1. Did Philip succeed without opposition?

2. Was his reign of long duration?

3. What was the character of Decius?

4. Did he restore the empire to its former grandeur?

5. What was his end?

6. Who succeeded him?

7. What was his character?

8. What farther calamities distinguished this reign?

9. What effect had this news on Gallus?

10. Who succeeded Gallus?

11. What were his first acts and their effects?

12. What disaster befel him?

13. How was he treated in captivity?

14. Did he long survive this cruelty?

15. Who succeeded him?

16. Was Galienus the only pretender to the throne?

17. What measures did Galienus adopt on this?

18. Who succeeded Galienus?

19. What were his character and end?

20. Who succeeded Claudius?

21. Who was Aurelian?

22. Over whom did he triumph?

23. What occasioned his destruction?

24. Who succeeded Aurelian?

25. Did he govern well?

26. What distinguished his reign?

27. Who succeeded Tacitus?

28. What were the qualifications of Probus?

29. What was the state of the empire at this time?

30. What was the end of Probus?

SECTION V.

U.C. 1035.--A.D. 282.

Forbid it, gods! when barbarous Scythians come
From their cold north to prop declining Rome.
That I should see her fall, and sit secure at home.--_Lucan_.

1. Ca'rus, who was praetorian prefect to the deceased emperor, was
chosen by the army to succeed him; and he, to strengthen his
authority, united his two sons, Cari'nus and Nume'rian, with him in
command; the elder of whom was as much sullied by his vices, as the
younger was remarkable for his virtues, his modesty, and courage.

2. The next object of Ca'rus was to punish the murderers of
Pro'bus, and procure public tranquillity. Several nations of the west
having revolted, he sent his son Cari'nus against them, and advanced
himself against the Sarma'tians, whom he defeated, with the loss of
sixteen thousand men killed, and twenty thousand prisoners. Soon after
this he entered Persia, and removed to Mesopota'mia. Vera'nes the
second, king of Persia, advancing against him, was defeated, and lost
Ctes'iphon, his capital. This conquest gained Ca'rus the surname of
Per'sieus; but he had not enjoyed it long, when he was struck dead, by
lightning, in his tent, with many of his attendants, after a reign of
about sixteen months. Upon the death of Ca'rus, the imperial power
devolved on his sons Cari'nus and Nume'rian, who reigned jointly. In
the first year of their accession, having made peace with the
Persians, Cari'nus advanced against Ju'lian, who had caused himself to
be proclaimed in Vene'tia,[5] and whom he defeated; when he returned
again into Gaul.

3. Cari'nus was at this time in Gaul, but Nume'rian, the younger son,
who accompanied his father in his expedition was inconsolable for his
death, and brought such a disorder upon his eyes, with weeping, that
he was obliged to be carried along with the army, shut up in a close
litter. 4. The peculiarity of his situation, after some time, excited
the ambition of A'per, his father-in-law, who supposed that he could
now, without any great danger, aim at the empire himself. He therefore
hired a mercenary villain to murder the emperor in his litter; and,
the better to conceal the fact, gave out that he was still alive, but
unable to endure the light. 5. The offensive smell, however, of the
body, at length discovered the treachery, and excited an universal
uproar throughout the whole army. 6. In the midst of this tumult,
Diocle'sian, one of the most noted commanders of his time, was chosen
emperor, and with his own hand slew A'per, having thus, as it is said,
fulfilled a prophecy, that Diocle'sian should be emperor after he had
slain a boar.[6]

[Sidenote: U.C. 1057. A.D. 284.]

7. Diocle'sian was a person of mean birth; he received his name from
Dio'clea, the town in which he was born, and was about forty years old
when he was elected to the empire. He owed his exaltation entirely to
his merit; having passed through all the gradations of office with
sagacity, courage, and success.

8. In his time, the northern hive, as it was called poured down
its swarms of barbarians upon the Roman empire. Ever at war with the
Romans, they issued forth whenever that army that was to repress their
invasions was called away; and upon its return, they as suddenly
withdrew into their cold, barren, and inaccessible retreats, which
themselves alone could endure. 9. In this manner the Scyth'ians,
Goths, Sarma'tians, Ala'ni, Car'sii, and Qua'di, came down in
incredible numbers, while every defeat seemed but to increase their
strength and perseverance. 10. After gaining many victories over
these, and in the midst of his triumphs, Diocle'sian and Maxim'ian,
his partners in the empire, surprised the world by resigning their
dignities on the same day, and both retiring into private stations.
11. In this manner Diocle'sian lived some time, and at length died
either by poison or madness, but by which of them is uncertain. His
reign of twenty years was active and useful; and his authority, which
was tinctured with severity, was adapted to the depraved state of
morals at that time.

[Sidenote: U.C. 1057. A.D. 304.]

12. Upon the resignation of the two emperors, the two Caesars, whom
they had before chosen, were universally acknowledged as their
successors, namely, Constan'tius Chlo'rus, so called from the paleness
of his complexion, a man virtuous, valiant, and merciful; and
Gele'rius, who was brave, but brutal, incontinent and cruel. 13. As
there was such a disparity in their tempers, they readily agreed, upon
coming into full power, to divide the empire. Constan'tius was
appointed to govern the western parts, and died at York, in Britain,
A.D. 396, appointing Con'stantine, his son, as his successor.
Gale'rius was seized with a very extraordinary disorder, which baffled
the skill of his physicians, and carried him off.

[Sidenote: U.C. 1064. A.D. 311.]

14. Con'stantine, afterwards surnamed the Great, had some competitors
at first for the throne.--Among the rest was Maxen'tius, who was at
that time in possession of Rome, and a stedfast assertor of Paganism.
15. It was in Constantine's march against that usurper, we are told,
that he was converted to Christianity, by a very extraordinary
appearance. 16. One evening, the army being on its march towards Rome,
Constantine was intent on various considerations upon the fate of
sublunary things, and the dangers of his approaching expedition.
Sensible of his own incapacity to succeed without divine assistance,
he employed his meditations upon the opinions that were then
agitated among mankind, and sent up his ejaculations to heaven to
inspire him with wisdom to choose the path he should pursue. As the
sun was declining, there suddenly appeared a pillar of light in the
heavens, in the fashion of a cross, with this inscription, EN TOTTO
NIKA, IN THIS OVERCOME. 17. So extraordinary an appearance did not
fail to create astonishment, both in the emperor and his whole army,
who reflected on it as their various dispositions led them to believe.
Those who were attached to Paganism, prompted by their aruspices,
pronounced it to be a most inauspicious omen, portending the most
unfortunate events; but it made a different impression on the
emperor's mind; who, as the account goes, was farther encouraged by
visions the same night. 18. He, therefore, the day following, caused a
royal standard to be made, like that which he had seen in the heavens,
and commanded it to be carried before him in his wars, as an ensign of
victory and celestial protection. After this he consulted with the
principal teachers of Christianity, and made a public avowal of that
holy religion.

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