of ivory, and whenever his horse, which he called Incitatus, was to run in the race, he placed sentinels near its stable, the night preceding, to prevent its slumbers from being broken. Some still more extraordinary accounts are given of this horse: It is said that he appointed it a house, furniture, and kitchen, in order to treat all its visitors with proper respect. Sometimes he invited Incitatus to his own table, and presented it with gilt oats, and wine in a golden cup. He would often swear, "by the safety

of his horse!" and it is even said that it was his intention to have appointed it to the consulship, had not his death prevented it.

The impiety of Caligula was but subordinate to his cruelties. He cast great numbers of old and infirm men to the wild beasts, to free the state from such unserviceable citizens. He usually fed his wild beasts with the bodies of those wretches whom he condemned; and every tenth day sent off numbers of them to be thus devoured, which he jocosely called clearing his accounts. One day on visiting the amphitheatre, finding there were no criminals condemned to fight with wild beasts, he ordered numbers of the spectators to be thrown to them, previously causing their tongues to be cut out, that they might not, by their cries, disturb his inhuman diversions.

Caligula perished by the hand of the assassin in the fourth year of his reign, and twenty-ninth of his age, A.D. 42.

Claudius, the uncle of Caligula, was saluted emperor by the Prætorian guards.

He was

grandson of Octavia, sister of Augustus, a man of weak intellects, and of no education, yet his short reign was marked by an event of some importance. He undertook the reduction of Britain; and after visiting the island in person in the second year of his reign, left his generals, Plautius and Vespasian, to prosecute a war, which was carried on for several years, with various success. The Silures, or inhabitants of South Wales, under their king Caractacus (Caradoc), for nine years made a brave resistance, but were finally defeated, and Caractacus led a captive to Rome. When he was led through the streets, and observed the splendor of everything around him, he cried, "Alas! how is it possible that people possessed of such magnificence at home could think of envying Caractacus a humble cottage in Britain!"

Claudius at the latter end of his reign became the abject tool of his wife Messalina, whose name is to this day a synonym for wickedness and unchastity in women. Messalina was put to death for her enormities and Claudius married Agrippina, the daughter of his brother Germanicus, whose only aim was the advancement of her son by a former marriage, Nero. Having at length prevailed upon Claudius to adopt her son, she made room for his immediate elevation by administering to her husband a slow but deadly poison in a dish of mushrooms, of which the emperor was extremely fond; and a poisoned feather, introduced into the throat for the alleged purpose of causing a vomit, completed the hideous business.

Nero, educated by the philosopher Seneca,though but seventeen years old, began his reign. with the general approbation of mankind. He appeared just, liberal and humane. When a warrant for the execution of a criminal was brought to be signed, he would cry out with compassion, "Would to heaven that I had never learned to write! The execution of his mother was the first alarming instance he gave of his cruelty. After attempting to get her drowned at sea, he ordered her to be put to death in his palace, and coming to gaze upon her dead body, was heard to say, that he had never thought his mother so handsome a woman. He rewarded the fidelity of Burrhus, his guardian, by murdering him; he caused his young and beautiful wife, Octavia, to be done away with; and as a last kindness to his tutor Seneca, he al lowed him to choose the mode of his death. There was a sort of odd contrast in his disposition: for while he practiced cruelties sufficient to make the mind shudder with horror, he was fond of those amusing arts which soften and refine the heart. He was particularly addicted to music, and not totally ignorant of poetry, while chariot driving was his favorite pursuit. A great part of the city of Rome was consumed by fire in his time, and to him most historians ascribe the conflagration. It is said that he stood on a high tower, during the continu ance of the flames, enjoying the sight, and singing. in a theatrical manner to his harp, verses upon the burning of Troy. Nothing could be more dreadful than his persecution of the Christians, who were falsely accused of setting fire to the city. Some i were covered with the skins of wild beasts, and, in

that disguise, devoured by dogs; some were crucified, and others burnt alive. In this persecution St. Paul was beheaded, and St. Peter crucified, his head downward. At length, having become the object of universal hatred and contempt, a rebellion of his subjects hurled this monster from the throne. Nero perished by the dagger of a slave in the thirtieth year of his age, having reigned fourteen years, A.D. 69.

Galba, Nero's successor, was of ancient and illustrious family. He was seventy-three years of age when the Prætorian bands proclaimed him emperor. Otho, a former favorite, rose in rebellion, and succeeded in placing himself on the throne, Galba having been slain after a reign of seven months. A short reign of three months ended Otho's career, who committed suicide; and he was succeeded by Vitellius, who held the throne for eight months, Vespasian succeeding him. During Vespasian's reign of ten years, and by the aid of the arms of his son Titus, was terminated the war against the Jews. They had been brought beneath the yoke of Rome by Pompey, who took Jerusalem. Under Augustus, they were governed for some time by Herod, as viceroy; but the tyranny of his son, Archelaus, was the cause of his banishment, and the reduction of Judæa into the ordinary condition of a Roman province. Rebelling on every slight occasion, Nero had sent Vespasian to reduce them to order; and he had just prepared for the siege of Jerusalem, when he was called to Rome to assume the government of the empire. Titus wished to spare the city, and tried every means to prevail on the Jews to surrender; but in vain. After an obstinate blockade of six months, Jerusalem was taken by storm, the Temple burnt to ashes, and the city buried in ruins. The Roman empire was now in profound peace. Vespasian associated Titus in the Imperial dignity, and soon after died, universaliy lamented, at the age of sixty-nine, A.D. 79.

The character of Titus was humane, munificent, dignified, and splendid. His short reign was a period of great happiness and prosperity to the empire; and his government a constant example of virtue, justice, and beneficence. In his time happened that fearful eruption of Mount Vesuvius, which overwhelmed the cities of Herculaneum and Pompeii, and in which the elder Pliny fell a victim to his love for the study of nature.

This eruption happened August 24, A.D. 79. These towns, after having been buried under the lava for more than 1,600 years, were discovered in the beginning of the last century: Herculaneum, in 1713, about twenty-four feet under ground, by laborers digging a well, and Pompeii forty years after, about twelve feet below the surface; and from the houses and streets which, in a great measure, remain perfect, have been drawn busts, statues, manuscripts, paintings, etc., which contribute much to enlarge our notions concerning the ancients, and develop many important classical obscurities. In the year following this dreadful eruption, a fire happened at Rome, which consumed the capitol, the pantheon, the library of Augustus, the theatre of Pompey, and a great many other buildings. In the ruins of Herculaneum there have lately been found loaves which were baked under the reign of Titus, and which still bear the baker's mark, indicating the quality of the flour, which was probably prescribed by the regulation of the police. There have also been found utensils of bronze, which, instead of being tinned, like ours, are all silvered; the ancients doubtless preferred this method, as more wholesome and more durable. The excavations at Pompeii continue to furnish the royal museum at Naples with all kinds of valuable objects: some buildings have lately been discovered at Pompeii, remarkable for the richness of their architecture. At Paggoia, another town buried by the lava from Vesuvius, some sepulchres have been found, which are stated to be magnificently adorned with sculpture of the finest kind.

The noble Titus was unfortunately followed, A.D. 81-96, by his brother, the cruel Domitian, a gloomy and misanthropical tyrant, who took pleasure in nothing but the contests of wild beasts and combats. When he was at length done to death by his wife, Nerva, an old senator, took possession of the throne. Nerva adopted the energetic Spaniard, Trajan, a pupil of Plutarch, who, by his government at home, and his victories abroad, deserved the surname of the best, and the glory of the greatest of the Cæsars.

He reformed the government, and bound himself by a solemn oath to observe the laws. He conquered the Dacians, penetrating their country by means of a stupendous bridge, which he caused to be built across the Danube. He also gained several

victories in Armenia, Mesopotamia, and Parthia. The lofty and splendid pillar, which he erected to commemorate these conquests, still remains. He died in Cilicia, after a reign of twenty years.

Trajan's relative and successor, Elius Adrianus (Hadrian), was a man of great cultivation of mind. His eagerness for knowledge, and love of art, induced him to take journeys of many years' duration, both into the East, where he lingered in Greece, Asia, and Egypt, and into the West, where he visited Gaul, Spain, and Britain, and while there, caused a wall to be constructed across the northern part of the island, to prevent the inroads of the Scots.

Ha

Among the many writers and artists who surrounded the brilliant court of Hadrian, the most distinguished was the Greek, Plutarch, whose biographies of Greek and Roman heroes are read to this hour by the eager and fascinated student. drian's love of art is borne witness to more particularly by the ruins of his villa at Tivoli; his magnificent mausoleum, now the castle of St. Angelo at Rome; and innumerable remains of sculptures and buildings. An insurrection having broken out among the Jews, he reduced them to submission, and ordered that a Roman colony should be established at Jerusalem, changing its name to Elia Capitolina. Hadrian died, A.D. 138, in the twentysecond year of his reign.

The reign of Antoninus Pius, Hadrian's successor, was one of almost uninterrupted peace. Marcus Aurelius succeeded Antoninus, A.D. 161. He was equally distinguished as warrior and philosopher. He conquered the Marcomanni on the frozen Danube, and after a long war drove back the German tribes, who were their confederates. In this latter war, the Roman army was saved by a remarkable thunderstorm, which was imputed by some to the earnest supplications of a division of the army composed of Christians, hence called the "Thundering Legion." A fearful persecution of the Christians occurred in this reign, and Justin Martyr, and Polycarp, the venerable bishop of Smyrna, fell victims to the superstitious fury of the pagans. The death of Aurelius marks the commencement of the "Decline of the Roman Empire."

Rome's downward course begins, A.D. 180, with Commodus, the unworthy son of Aurelius Pertinox followed. After his death, so great became

the insolence of the Prætorians that they put up the crown to to the highest bidder. Septimius Severus first restrained their insolence by his inexorable severity, and re-established the imperial power. He was a rude soldier, and enlarged the empire by his conquests in the East, where he took Mesopotamia from the Parthians; and he secured Britain by new defences against the turbulent Picts and Scots. But he deprived the senate of their last remains of power, and placed his whole reliance on the army, so that he was the actual establisher of the military government.

The death of Septimius Severus at Eboracum (York), in Britain, placed Caracalla, his cruel son, on the throne, A.D. 211. He slew his brother, Geta, in the arms of his mother, and then put his preceptor, the great jurist Papinian, to death for refusing to justify the fratricide. Twenty thousand people, friends of Geta, shared his hapless fate. He ordered a general massacre of the citizens of Alexandria, on account of a lampoon which some one had published against him there. He was at length assassinated by Macrinus, A.D. 217, who was proclaimed emperor by the troops, retaining the throne but a year, being defeated and slain near Antioch in an effort to subdue the rebellious ar

mies of Syria. This battle gave the throne to Heliogabalus, a priest of the Syrian sun-god, then, A.D. 218, but fifteen years of age. He was a weak and cruel epicure, who, by the introduction of the sensual worship of Baal from Syria, destroyed the last remnants of the ancient Roman discipline and morality. The Prætorians at length put the effeminate debauchee to death, and raised his cousin, Alexander Severus, to the kingly title. He was a virtuous young man, and intensely fond of learning. In the fourth year of his reign the Parthian empire was overthrown by a revolt of the Persians under Ardeshir (Artaxerxes), the founder of the famous dynasty of the Sassanides, who governed Persia for more than four centuries. Severus, in marching against the Germans, was assassinated, A. D. 235, and Maximin, a soldier of fortune, of gigantic height and Titanic strength, declared king by the troops. After Maximin, Gordian; after Gordian, Philip the Arab, who sought to signalize his reign by a magnificent celebration, A.D. 249, of the thousandth anniversary of Rome. After Philip, Decius, whose reign was infamous for a dreadful

persecution of the Christians. There was also in this reign a great invasion of the Goths, a barbarous people of Scandinavia, who having crossed the Danube, passed into Moesia and Thrace. Philippolis was taken by storm, and 100,000 people put to the sword.

The two immediate successors of Decius held the throne for about two years, when Valerian, who commanded the armies of Gaul and Germany, assumed the purple. He was sixty years of age, of noble birth, unblemished integrity, and great talents. In an expedition against the Persians he was defeated and made prisoner, A.D. 260, and Sapor, the Persian monarch, took advantage of this victory to overrun Syria, Cilicia, and Cappadocia. The city of Antioch was surprised and pillaged. Valerian was treated with great indignity by the Persian monarch. He was compelled for seven years to bow himself down so as to serve as a stepping-stone to Sapor when he mounted his horse; and, on his death, his skin, stuffed in the form of a human figure, and dyed with scarlet, was preserved in the temple of Persia.

It was during the reign of Gallienus, son of Valerian, that the Thirty Tyrants sprang into existence. Of these-their actual number was nineteen-Odenatus, a prince of Palmyra, was the most prominent. After the rout of the luckless Valerian, Odenatus marched against the Persians, defeated them, and recovered Mesopotamia. For these signal services Gallienus and the senate conferred on him, and his famous queen Zenobia, the government of the East.

At this junction, Aurelian, a man imbued with the old Roman courage and military discipline, was the restorer of the empire. He subdued the rebellious generals, and marched against the kingdom of Palmyrene, which Odenatus had founded on an oasis in Syria, and which was governed after his death by his beautiful and heroic wife, Zenobia. Palmyra, the capital city, rich in arts, philosophy, and commerce, was destroyed, and Zenobia led in triumph to Rome. The ruins of this once beauteous city still entrance the traveller. Longinus, Zenobia's preceptor and advisor, died a violent death. Aurelian, in order the more effectually to guard Rome against invasion, surrounded it by a massive wall.

After Aurelian had been killed by his soldiers,

and his successor, Tacitus, had perished in an expedition against the Goths, the valiant and upright Probus was elevated to the throne, A.D. 276. He enlarged and completed the boundary wall-Devil's Wall-from the Bavarian Danube to the Taunus, garrisoning it at various points with picked troops. He planted vineyards on the Rhine and in Hungary, and reformed the army. He, in turn, was killed by his soldiers, and Carus, his successor, having fallen by the hand of an assassin, the throne came to the lot of the sagacious Diocletian. This man was a native of Dalmatia, and his parents were slaves; but he had been promoted successively to the offices of provincial governor, consul, and Prætorian prefect. He was proclaimed emperor by the army, A.D. 284, and the year after, feeling the office of emperor too much for him, made Maximian, a valiant, but ignorant soldier, his colleague. After a little, each emperor took an associate or Cæsar, and the empire was under the sceptres of four rulers. The last great persecution of the Christians now took place, from which fact the era of the commencement of Diocletian's reign, A.D. 284, is called, in the history of the church, the "Era of Martyrs."

The sword of persecution was still dyeing itself among the confessors of the crucified Jesus Christ, when Diocletian abdicated his throne, to pass his remaining years in rural retirement at Salona, in Dalmatia; and so well satisfied was he with the change, that when urged to resume the imperial dignity, he replied, "I wish you would come to Salona, and see the cabbages I have planted; for having once visited my garden, you would never again mention to me the name of empire."

Constantius having died at York, in Britain, A.D. 306, he was succeeded in the government of the West by his brave, astute, ambitious son Constantine. He had been converted to Christianity by his mother, Helena, the daughter of a tavern keeper in a small coast town. He first caused Maximian, who, flying before his own son, had come to him, and had treacherously attempted to corrupt the Gallic troops, to be put to death by his soldiers in Massilia. After a victorious campaign in North Italy, under the banner of the Cross (Labarum), Constantine, when marching against Maxentius, saw, it is said, in the heavens, a luminous cross bearing the inscription in Greek, "Conquer by this," and under the standard of

66

the Cross defeated the cruel Maxentius at the red stone," not far from the Milvian Bridge (Ponte Molle). From that time forward Constantine governed the West, while his brother-in-law, the cruel and hot-headed Licinius was governor of the East. Constantine's love of power led to a war. In this struggle Licinius, who had made many enemies by his severe measures against the Christians, and his savage cruelty towards the followers of Diocletian and Maximian, was compelled to abdicate. When, at a late period, he attempted to win back his lost power, the emperor caused him to be executed by the cord. Thus Constantine became the sole ruler of the Roman empire. In order that his residence might be nearer the centre of his dominions, he removed the capital from Rome to Byzantium, which he embellished with magnificent churches, palaces, and other edifices; while gardens and parks exhibited all the refinements of eastern luxury. The city received from him the name of Constantinople. During this reign, A. D. 325, the celebrated Council of Nice (in Bythnia) was held, in which the doctrines of the church were more clearly defined. The better to conduct the management of his vast empire, he divided it into four lieutenancies: the East, to which Thracia and Egypt were assigned; Illyricum, with Greece; Italy, with Africa; the West containing Gaul, Spain and Britain. The last years of his life Constantine devoted principally to religious and ecclesiastical matters; but he deferred the rite of baptism till shortly before his death. He founded many churches, and endowed them with landed estates. He granted to the clergy an immunity from taxes, and other privileges, and allowed legacies to the church. From this time forward the constitution of the Christian church took a new shape; whereas before, the Elders and Bishops were chosen from the whole church community, and the principle of brotherly equality was held in honor, now the priesthood (clergy) separated from the people (laity), and introduced degrees of rank, so that the Bishops of the principal cities. were placed over the remaining Bishops, as Metropolitans, and then again had the superintending of the priests in their immediate neighborhood. At the same time, the church services, which before consisted only in singing, prayer, and reading the Bible, concluding with love-feasts, were now rendered more solemn by the aid of music and other arts.

In lieu of the ancient republican distinctions, which were founded chiefly on personal merit, a rigid subordination of rank and office was established through all the orders of the State. The magistrates were divided into three classes, distinguished by unmeaning titles. The consuls were created by the sole authority of the emperor. The intercourse between the courts and provinces was maintained by the construction of roads, and the institution of regular posts or couriers. Every institution was calculated to support the fabric of despotism. Torture was employed for the discovery of crimes. Taxes and impositions of any nature were prescribed and levied by the sole authority of the emperor. An impolitic distinction was made between the troops stationed in the distant provinces, and those in the heart of the empire. Constantine reduced the legion from 8,000 to 1,000, and debased the body of the army by the intermixture of Scythians, Goths, and Germans.

Constantine, with a destructive policy, had divided the empire among five princes, three of them his sons, and two, nephews; but Constantius, the youngest of the sons, finally got rid of all his competitors. The Franks, Saxons, Alemanni, and Sarmatians laid bare all the fine countries watered by the Rhine; and the Persians poured in from the East. Constantius wasted his time in theological controversies, but was induced to adopt one politic measure the appointment of his cousin Julian, known as Julian the Apostate, to the dignity of Cæsar, or Colleague.

But,

Julian possessed many qualities, which seemed to point him out as fitted for sovereignty. though educated as a Christian, and outwardly conforming for some time to the principles and discipline of Christianity, he had unfortunately imbibed. at Athens, in the schools of the Platonic philosophy, -during his exile from the court-a rooted antipathy to the doctrines of the Gospel. He proved so able a general as to excite the jealousy of Constantius, who resolved to remove him from his command. outcome of this resolution was a declaration on the part of the army electing Julian emperor; and Constantius dying at this crisis, Julian was duly declared. He began his reign by reforming the pagan theology. Without persecuting, Julian attacked the Christians by the more dangerous policy of treating them with contempt, and removing them,

The