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dium, or sacred image of Pallas Min'erva, on which the fate of Troy depended, and other relics consecrated by superstition.

The senate-house was above the pulpits belonging_to_the_public orators: it was said to have been originally erected by Tul'lus Hostil'ius: but the senate had several other places of meeting, frequently assembling in the temples. Near it was the comitium, or court in which the patrician curie were convened: it was not roofed until the end of the second Punic war, soon after which the comitiu curiáta fell gradually into disuse. This space, before it was covered, was called a temple; because templum properly signifies not merely an edifice, but an enclosure consecrated by the augurs. The principal theatres and public baths were erected in this vicinity.

The elections of magistrates, reviews of troops, and the census or registration of the citizens, were held in the Cam'pus Mar'tius, which was also the favorite exercise-ground of the young nobles. It was originally a large common, which had formed part of the estate of the younger Tar'quin, and being confiscated after the banishment of that monarch, was dedicated to the god of war, because the Romans believed Mars to be the father of their founder. It long remained unimproved; but in the reign of Augus'tus it began to be surrounded by several splendid edifices; ornamental trees and shrubs were planted in different parts, and porticoes erected, under which the citizens might continue their exercises in rainy weather. Most of these improvements were due to Mar'cus Agrip'pa, the best general and wisest statesman in the court of Augus'tus. He erected, near the Cam'pus Martius, the celebrated Panthéon, or temple of all the gods; the most perfect and splendid monument of ancient Rome that has survived the ravages of time. At present it is used as a Christian church, and is universally admired for its circular form, and the beautiful dome that forms its roof. Near the Panthéon were the gardens and public baths, which Agrip'pa at his death bequeathed to the Roman people.

Perhaps no public edifices at Rome were more remarkable than the aqueducts for supplying the city with water. Pure streams were sought at a great distance, and conveyed in these artificial channels, supported by arches, many of which were more than a hundred feet high, over steep mountains, deep valleys, and, what was still more difficult, dangerous morasses, which less enterprising architects would have deemed insuperable. The first aqueduct was erected during the censorship of Appius Cæ'cus, about four hundred years after the foundation of the city; but under the emperors not fewer than twenty of these stupendous and useful structures were raised, which brought such an abundant supply of water to the metropolis, that rivers seemed to flow through the streets and sewers. Even at the present day, when only three of the aqueducts remain, after the lapse of centuries, the neglect of rulers, and the ravages of barbarians, no city in Europe has a better supply of wholesome water than Rome.

It would be tedious to enumerate all the public buildings that decorated "the Eternal City;" we may therefore conclude by observing, that Rome, when in the zenith of its glory, contained four hundred and

• The Collosseum in the Regent's Park is built on the model of the Pantheon.

twenty temples, five regular theatres, two amphitheatres, and seven circuses of vast extent: there were sixteen public baths, built of marble, and furnished with every convenience that could be desired. From the aqueducts a prodigious number of fountains were supplied, many of which were remarkable for their architectural beauty. The palaces, public halls, columns, porticoes, and obelisks, were without number; and to these must be added the triumphal arches erected by the later emperors.

The public roads in the various parts of the empire, but more especially in Italy, though less ostentatious than the aqueducts, were not inferior to them in utility and costliness. Of these the most remarkable was the Appian road, from Rome to Brundusium, through the Pomptine marshes, which were kept well drained during the flourishing ages of the empire, but by subsequent neglect became a pestilential swamp. This road extended three hundred and fifty miles, and was paved through its entire length with enormous square blocks of hard stone. Nineteen centuries have elapsed since it was formed, and yet many parts of it still appear nearly as perfect as when it was first made.

Rome was inferior to Athens in architectural beauty, but it far surpassed it in works of public utility. Every succeeding emperor deemed it necessary to add something to the edifices that had been raised for the comfort and convenience of the citizens: even after the seat of government had been transferred to Constantinople, we find the son of Constantine evincing his gratitude for the reception he met with in the ancient capital, by sending thither two magnificent obelisks from Alexandria in Egypt.

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CHAPTER XVII.

HISTORY OF THE ROMAN EMPIRE.

SECTION I-The Reigns of the Family of the Cæsars.

FROM B. C. 30 To A. D. 96.

THOUGH the battle of Ac'tium made Octávius Cæsar sole sovereign of the empire, the forms of the republic were faithfully preserved; the senate sat as a council of state, and, though little weight was attached to its deliberations, the freedom of speech and comment preserved the government from sinking into absolute despotism. With supreme power, Octávius, or Augus'tus, as he was about this time named by the senate, assumed an entirely new character; the cruelty with which he may justly be reproached in the early part of his career disappeared; he became a mild and merciful ruler, truly anxious to insure the happiness of the people intrusted to his charge. Under such a benignant administration, the Romans ceased to regret their ancient freedom, if, indeed, such a term can be applied to the oppressive government established by the aristocracy during the preceding century; and before the close of the first emperor's reign, the last traces of the republican spirit had disappeared. It is said that Augus'tus at first wished to resign his power, after the example of Sylla; but was dissuaded by his friends Agrippa and Mecæ'nas, who represented to him, with great truth, that the Roman state could no longer be governed by its old constitution, and that he would retire only to make room for another master. went through the form, however, of an abdication in the senate; but, on the urgent request of that body, he resumed his sway; instead, however, of taking the supreme authority for life, he would only accept it for a term of ten years. This example was followed by the succeeding emperors, and gave rise to the sacra decennália, festivals celebrated at each renewal of the imperial authority.

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Amid all the adulations of the senate and people, Augus'tus felt that it was to the army he was indebted for empire, and therefore exerted himself diligently to attach the soldiers to his interest. He dispersed his veterans over Italy in thirty-two colonies, dispossessing, in many places, the ancient inhabitants, to make room for these settlers. He maintained seventeen legions in Europe; eight on the Rhine, four on the Danube, three in Spain, and two in Dalmátia. Eight more were kept in Asia and Africa: so that the standing army of the empire exceeded one hundred and seventy thousand men. Twelve cohorts,

amounting to about ten thousand men, were quartered in Rome and its vicinity; nine of these, called the prætorian bands, were intended to protect the emperor's person, the others were destined for the guard of the city. These household troops became afterward the author of many changes and revolutions, until they were all dismissed by Constantine the Great (A. D. 312). Two powerful fleets were established in the Italian seas; one at Ravenna, to guard the Adriatic, the other at Misénum, to protect the western Mediterranean. It is calculated that the revenues of the empire at this time exceeded forty millions sterling; but this sum was not more than sufficient to defray the expenses of the civil, naval, and military establishments, and of the public works undertaken to adorn the metropolis.

Some disturbances in Spain and Gaul induced the emperor to cross the Alps and Pyrenees; he subdued the Cantabrians, who inhabited the province now called Biscay (a country whose mountains and defiles have always proved formidable obstacles to an invading army), and the Asturians. To restrain these tribes in future, he erected several new fortified cities, of which the most remarkable were Cæsaréa Augus'ta (Saragossa) and Augus'ta Emer'ita (Merida), so called because it was colonized by the veteran soldiers (emeriti). While resting at Tar'raco (Tarragona) from the fatigues of his campaign, Augus'tus received ambassadors from the most remote nations, the Scythians, the Sarmatians, the Indians, and even the Seres, who inhabited northern China.

On his recovery from a fit of illness which spread universal alarm throughout the empire, the senate conferred the tribuneship for life upon Augus'tus, which rendered his person sacrosanct. This dignity was henceforth annexed to the empire, and consequently all attempts against the life of the sovereign became high treason (læsa majestas). At the same time he declined the title of dictator, which had been rendered odious by the cruelties of Sylla. Having made a tour in the east of the empire, he was overwhelmed with adulations by the degenerate Greeks (B. c. 20); but the honor most gratifying to him and the Roman people was the restoration of the standards that had been taken from Cras'sus. On his return to Italy, he drove back the Rhætians, who had invaded the peninsula, and intrusted their subjugation to Tibérius and Drúsus Néro, his step-sons, youths of great promise and valor. They succeeded in conquering Vindelícia and Nor'icum; but their efforts to subdue Germany were baffled by the undaunted valor of the native tribes, and the great difficulties of the country, whose forests and marshes rendered discipline unavailing.

When the second decennial period of the imperial authority terminated, Augus'tus, harassed by domestic calamities, as well as the cares of empire, seemed really anxious to resign, and enjoy the quiet of domestic life; but the character of Tibérius, now generally regarded as his successor, gave so much alarm to the senate and people, that they cordially joined in supplicating the emperor to continue his reign. The greatest calamity he had to endure was the disgraceful conduct of his daughter Júlia, whose scandalous debaucheries filled Rome with horror; she and the partners of her crimes were banished to various parts of the empire, and some of her paramours were put to death.

When peace was established in every part of the Roman dominions,

Augus'tus closed the temple of Jánus, and issued a decree for a general census, or enrolment, of all his subjects. It was at this period that Jesus Christ was born; and thus, literally, was his advent the signal of "on earth peace, and good will toward men."

The great prosperity of the reign of Augus'tus was first interrupted by the rebellion of the Germans, which the extortions of Quintil'ius Var'us provoked. Armin'ius, a young prince of the Cat'ti, united his countrymen in a secret confederacy; and then, pretending friendship to Var'us, conducted him into the depths of a forest, where his troops could neither fight nor retreat. In this situation Armin'ius attacked the Romans, from whose camp he stole by night, and so harassed them that most of the officers slew themselves in despair (A. D. 10). The legionaries, thus left without leaders, were cut to pieces; and thus the Romans received the greatest overthrow that they had suffered since the defeat of Cras'sus. When the news of this calamity was brought to Rome, everybody expected that the Germans would immediately cross the Rhine, and advance against the city. Augus'tus, though overwhelmed with sorrow, made every exertion to allay the general consternation: he sent his son-in-law and heir, Tibérius, to guard the Rhine; but he prohibited him from following the wild tribes to their fastnesses. For several months the emperor abandoned himself to transports of grief, during which he frequently exclaimed, "Var'us, restore me my legions!" and he observed the fatal day as a mournful solemnity until his death. This event probably tended to hasten his dissolution; he was seized with a dangerous attack of illness at Naples, and as he was returning home to the capital, the disease compelled him to stop at Nóla, in Campánia, where he expired (A. D. 14). It was currently reported that the empress Liv'ia accelerated his death by administering poisoned figs, in order to secure the succession for Tibérius.

Tibérius Claúdius Néro, or, as he was called after his adoption, Augus'tus Tibérius Cæ'sar, commenced his reign by procuring the murder of young Agrip'pa, grandson of the late emperor, whom he dreaded as a formidable rival. As soon as his accession was known at Rome, the consuls, senators, and knights, ran headlong into slavery, pretending to hail Tibérius with extravagant joy, while they professed equally extravagant sorrow for the loss of Augus'tus. Tibérius met them with duplicity equal to their own: he affected to decline the sovereign power; but, after long debates, allowed himself to be won over by the general supplications of the senators. Having bound himself by oath never to depart from the regulations of his predecessor, he exerted himself to win the affections, or rather disarm the suspicions, of the virtuous German'icus, whom Augus'tus had compelled him to declare his heir. But the jealousies of the emperor were greatly_aggravated by a mutiny of the troops in Germany, who offered to raise German'icus to the throne; and though he firmly refused, and severely rebuked their disloyalty, yet Tibérius thenceforth was resolved upon his destruction. The glory which the young prince acquired in several successful campaigns against the Germans, at length induced the emperor to recall him to Rome, under the pretence of rewarding him with a triumph. But Tibérius soon became anxious to remove from Rome a person whose mildness and virtue were so powerfully contrasted with his own tyranny

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