sents, where they were consumed by the sword, or by wild beasts in the amphitheatres. With the destruction of the holy city and its famous temple Israel ceased to be a nation, and thus was inflicted the doom which the unbelieving Jews invoked when they cried out, "His blood be on us and on our children." 31. Britain had been only partially subdued prior to the reign of Vespasian, but during the two years after the fall of Jerusalem its conquest was completed by the Roman governor Julius Agric' ola, who was justly celebrated for his great merits as a general and a states. man. Carrying his victorious arms northward he defeated the Brittons in every encounter, penetrated the forests of Caledónia,' and established a chain of fortresses between the Friths of Clyde and Forth, which marked the utmost permanent extent of the Roman dominion in Britain. The fastnesses of the Scottish highlands were ever too formidable to be overcome by the Roman arms. By an enlightened policy Agric' ola also taught the Britons the arts of peace, introduced laws and government among them, induced them to lay aside their barbarous customs, taught them to value the conveniencies of life, and to adopt the Roman language and manners. The life of Agric' ola has been admirably written by Tac' itus, the historian, to whom the former had given his daughter in marriage. XIII. TITUS. 32. On the death of Vespasian (A. D. 79) his son Titus succeeded to the throne. Previous to his accession the general opinion of the people was unfavorable to Titus, but afterwards his conduct changed, and he is celebrated as a just and humane ruler; and so numerous were his acts of goodness, that his grateful subjects bestowed upon him the honorable title of "benefactor of the human race." During his brief reign of little more than two years, Rome and the provinces were in the enjoyment of peace and prosperity, only disturbed by an eruption of Mount Vesuvius,' 1. Ancient Caledónia comprehended that portion of Scotland which lay to the north of the Forth and the Clyde. A frith is a narrow passage of the sea, or the opening of a river into the sea. Agric' ola penetrated north as far as the river Tay. (See Map No. XVI.) 2. Mount Vesuvius, ten miles south-east from the city of Naples, is the only active volcano at present existing on the European continent. Its extreme height is three thousand eight hundred and ninety feet-about two-fifths of that of Ætna. Its first known eruption occurred on the 24th of August, A. D. 79, when Herculaneum and Pompéii were buried under showers of volcanic ashes, sand, stones, and lava, and the elder Pliny lost his life, being suffocated by the sulphurous vapor as he approached to behold the wonderful phenomena. It is related that, such was the immense quantity of volcame ashes thrown out during this eruption, the whole country was involved in pitchy darkness; and that the ashes fell in Egypt, Syria, and various parts of Asia Minor. Since the destruction of Herculaneum and Pompeii there have been nearly fifty authenticated eruptions of Vesuvius. which caused the destruction of Herculaneum and Pompéii," (A. D. 79,) and by a great fire at Rome, which was followed by a pestilence. (A. D. 80.) 33. Domitian succeeded his brother without opposition, (A. D. 81,) although the perfidy and cruelty of his character were notorious. XIV. He began his reign by an affectation of extreme virtue, DOMITIAN. but was unable long to disguise his vices. There was no law but the will of the tyrant, who caused many of the most eminent senators to be put to death without even the form of trial; and when, by his infamous vices, and the openness of his debaucheries, he had sunk, in the eyes of his subjects, to the lowest stage of degradation, he caused himself to be worshipped as a god, and addressed with the reverence due to Deity. Both Jews and Christians were persecuted by him, and thousands of them put to death because they would not worship his statues. This is called in ecclesiastical history the second great persecution of the Christians, that under Nero being the first. 34. It was in the early part of this reign that Agricola completed the conquest of Britain; but on the whole the reign of Domitian was productive of little honor to the Roman arms, as in Mœ 'sia,' and Dácia, in Germany, and Pannónia, the Romans were defeated, 1. Herculaneum was close to the sea, south of Vesuvius, and eight miles south-east from the city of Naples. Little is known of it except its destruction. It was completely buried under a shower of ashes, over which a stream of lava flowed, and afterwards hardened. So changed was the aspect of the whole country, and even the outlines of the coast, that all knowledge of the city, beyond its name, was soon lost, when, in 1713, after a concealment of more than sixteen centuries, accident led to the discovery of its ruins, seventy feet below the surface of the ground. 2. Pompeii was fifteen miles south-east from Naples, and was not buried by lava, but by nshes, sand, and stones only, and at a depth of only twelve or fifteen feet above the buildings. It has been excavated much more extensively than Herculaneum-disclosing the city walls, streets, temples, theatres, the forum, baths, monuments, private dwellings, domestic utensils, &c., the whole conveying the impression of the actual presence of a Roman town in all the circumstantial reality of its existence two thousand years ago. "The discovery of Pompeii has thrown a strong and steady light on many points connected with the private life and economy of the ancients, that were previously involved in the greatest obscurity."-The small number of skeletons discovered in Herculaneum and Pompéii render it quite certain that most of the fahabitants saved themselves by flight. 3. Me' sin, extending north to the Danube and eastward to the Euxine, corresponded to the present Turkish provinces of Ser' via and Bulgària. (Map No. IX.) 4. Dácia was an extensive frontier province north of the Danube, extending east to the Euxine. It embraced the northern portions of the present Turkey, together with Transylvania and a part of Hungary. (Map No. IX.) 5. The word Germánia was employed by the Romans to designate all the country east of the Rhine and north of the Danube as far as the German ocean and the Baltic, and eastward as far as Sarmátia and Dacia. The limits of Germany, as a Roman province, were very indefinite. (Map No. IX.) and whole provinces lost. In Moe' sia, Domitian himself was several times defeated, yet he wrote to the senate boasting of extraordinary victories, and the servile body decreed him the honors of a triumph. In a similar manner other triumphs were decreed him, which caused Pliny the younger to say that the triumphs of Domitian were always evidence of some advantages gained by the enemies of Rome. 35. At length, after a reign of fifteen years, Domitian was assassinated at the instigation of his wife, who accidentally discovered that her own name was on the fatal list of those whom the emperor designed to put to death. The soldiers, whose pay he had increased, and with whom he often shared his plunder, lamented his fate; but the senate ordered his name to be struck from the Roman annals, and obliterated from every public monument. 36. The death of Domitian closes the reign of those usually denominated "the twelve Cæsars," only three of whom, Augustus, Vespasian, and Titus, died natural deaths. Julius Cæsar fell under the daggers of conspirators in the very senate-house of Rome. Tibérius, at the instigation of Calig' ula, was smothered on a sick bed: Caligula was murdered in his own palace while attending a theatrical rehearsal: Claudius was poisoned, at the instigation of his own wife, by his favorite physician: Nero, by the aid of his freedman, committed suicide to avoid a public execution: the aged Galba was slain in the Roman forum, in a mutiny of his guards: Otho, on learning the success of his rival Vitel' lius, committed suicide: Vitel' lius was dragged by the populace through the streets of Rome, put to death with tortures, and his mangled carcass thrown into the Tiber; and Domitian was killed in his bed-chamber by those whom he had marked for execution. The heart sickens not more at the recital of these murders than of the crimes that prompted them; and thus far the history of the Roman emperors is little else than a series of constantly recurring scenes of violence and blood. 37. But as we pass from the city of Rome into the surrounding Roman world, we almost forget the revolting scenes of the capital in view of the still-existing power and majesty of the Roman empirean empire the greatest the world has ever seen-and still great in the remembrance of the past, and in the influences which it has be queathed to modern times. While the emperors were steeped in the grossest sensuality, and Rome was a hot-bed of infamy and crime, the numerous provincial governments were generally administered with ability and success; and the glory of the Roman arms was sustained in repelling the barbarous hordes that pressed upon the frontiers. But national valor cannot compensate for the want of national virtue: the soul that animated the Republic was dead; the spirit of freedom was gone; and national progress was already beginning to give place to national decay. SECTION II. ROMAN HISTORY FROM THE DEATH OF DOMITIAN, A. D. 96, TO THE ESTAB ANALYSIS. 1. NERVA. His character, reign, and death. [Um'bria.]-2. TRAJAN. His character, and character of his reign. Remarkable words attributed to him.-3. His wars and conquests. His death. [Ctes' iphon. Trajan's column.]-4. Persecutions of the Christians during the reign of Trajan. The proverbial goodness of Trajan's character.-5. Accession of ADRIAN. His peaceful policy. General administration of the government. His visit to the provinces.-6. Revolt of the Jews. Results of the Jewish war. Defences in Britain. [Solway Frith. River Tyne.]—7. Doubtful estimate of Adrian's character and reign. His ruling passions.-8. Accession of TITUS ANTONI NUS.-9. His character, and the character of his reign.-10. MARCUS AURÉ' LIUS ANTONI' NUS. Vérus associated with him.-11. War with the Parthians. With the Germans. Remarkable deliverance of the Roman army.-12. Character of the five preceding reigns. The evils to which an arbitrary government is liable. Illustrated in the annals of the Roman emperors.-13. Accession of Com' MODUS. Beginning of his gov ernment.-14. The incident which decided his fluctuating character. His subsequent wickedness-15. His debaucheries and cruelties. His death.-16. The brief reign of PERTINAX.-17. Disposal of the empire to DID' IUS JULIA' NUS.-18. Dangerous position of the new ruler.-19. His competitors. [Dalmatia.] Successes of SEPTIM' IUS SEVE' RUS, and death of Juliánus. -20. Dissimulation of Sevérus. He defeats Niger at Issus in Asia. His continued duplicity. Overthrow and death of Albinus. [Lyons.]-21. Subsequent reign of Sevérus. His last illness and death. [York.]—22. CARACAL' LA and Géta. Death of the latter. Character, reign, and death of Caracal' la. Brief reign of MACRI' NUS.-23. Accession of ELAGABA LUS.-24. His character and follies. Circumstances of his death.-25. ALEXANDER SEVE' RUS. His attempts to reform abuses. Character of his administration. His death. His successor. 1. Domitian was succeeded by Nerva, who was a native of Um'bria,' but whose family orignally came from Crete. He was the first Roman emperor of foreign extraction, and was chosen I. NERVA. by the senate on account of his virtues. His mild and equitable administration forms a striking contrast to the sanguinary rule of Domitian; but his excessive lenity, which was his greatest fault, encouraged the profligate to persevere in their accustomed 1. Umbria was a country of Italy east of Etruria and north of the Sabine territory. The ancient Um' brians were one of the oldest and most numerous nations of Italy. (Map No. VIII. peculations At length the excesses of his own guards convinced him. that the government of the empire required greater energy than he possessed, and he therefore wisely adopted the excellent Trajan as his successor, and made him his associate in the sovereignty. Nerva soon after died, (A. D. 98,) in the seventy-second year of his age, having reigned but little more than sixteen months. IL TRAJAN. 2. Trajan, who was by birth a Spaniard, proved to be one of Rome's best sovereigns; and it has been said of him that he was equally great as a ruler, a general, and a man. After he had made a thorough reformation of abuses, he restored as much of the free Roman constitution as was consistent with a monarchy, and bound himself by a solemn oath to observe the laws; yet while he ruled with equity, he held the reins of power with a strong and steady hand. No emperor but a Trajan could have used safely the remarkable words attributed to him, when, giving a sword to the prefect of the Prætorian guards, he said, "Take this sword and use it; if I have merit, for me; if otherwise, against me." 3. In his wars, Trajan, commanding in person, conquered the Dácians, after which he passed into Asia, subdued Armenia, took Seleúcia and Ctes' iphon,' the latter the capital of the Parthian kingdom, and sailing down the Tigris displayed the Roman standards for the first time on the waters of the Persian Gulf, whence he passed into the Arabian peninsula, a great part of which he annexed to the Roman empire. But while he was thus passing from kingdom to kingdom, emulating the glory of Alexander, and dreaming of new conquests, he was seized with a lingering illness, of which he died in Cilicia, in the twentieth year of his reign. (A. D. 117.) His ashes were conveyed to Rome in a golden urn, and deposited under the famous column which he had erected to commemorate his Dácian victories.a 1. Ctes' iphon was a city of Parthia, on the eastern bank of the Tigris, opposite to and three miles distant from Seleucia. a. Trajan's column, which is still standing, is the most beautiful mausoleum ever erected to departed greatness. Its height, not including the base, which is now covered with rubbish, is one hundred and fifteen feet ten inches; and the entire column is composed of twenty-four great blocks of marble, so curiously cemented as to seem one entire stone. It is ascended on the inside by one hundred and eighty-five winding steps. The noblest ornament of this pillar was a bronze statue of Trajan, twenty-five feet in height, representing him in a coat of arms, holding in the left hand a sceptre, and in the right a hollow globe of gold, in which, it has been asserted, the ashes of the emperor were deposited. The column is now surmounted by a statue of St. Peter, which Sixtus V. had the bad taste to substitute in place of that of Trajan. On the external face of the column is a series of bas-reliefs, running in a spiral course up the shaft, representing Trajan's victories, and containing two thousand five hundred human figures. |