STORY OF AUGUSTUS CEASAR OF ROME

THE ROMAN EMPIRE ON THE ACCESSION OF AUGUSTUS

Octavius, now master of the world, is generally called Augustus Cæsar—the name he assumed. 

The empire was not so large as it subsequently became, nor was it at that height of power and prosperity which followed a century of peace, when uninterrupted dominion had reconciled the world to the rule of the Cæsars. But it was the golden age of imperial domination, when arts, science, and literature flourished, and when the world rested from incessant wars. It was not an age of highest glory to man, since all struggles for liberty had ceased; but it was an age of good government, when its machinery was perfected, and the great mass of mankind felt secure, and all classes abandoned themselves to pleasure, or gain, or uninterrupted toils. 

 

It was the first time in the history of the world, when there was only one central authority, and when the experiment was to be tried, not of liberty and self-government, but of universal empire, growing up from universal rivalries and wars—wielded by one central and irresistible will. The spectacle of the civilized world obedient to one master has sublimity, and moral grandeur, and 
suggests principles of grave interest. 


 
The last of the great monarchies which revelation had foretold, and the greatest of all—the iron monarchy which Daniel saw in prophetic vision, reveals lessons of profound significance.

The empire then embraced all the countries bordering on the Mediterranean—that great inland sea upon whose shores the most famous cities of antiquity flourished, and toward which the tide of Assyrian and Persian conquests had rolled, and then retreated for ever. The boundaries of this mighty empire were great mountains, and deserts, and oceans, and impenetrable forests. On the east lay the Parthian empire, separated from the Roman by the Tigris and Euphrates, and the Armenian Mountains, beyond which were other great empires not known to the Greeks, like the Indian and the Chinese monarchies, with a different civilization. On the south were the African deserts, not penetrated even by travelers. On the west was the ocean; and on the north were barbaric tribes of different names and races—Slavonic, Germanic, and Celtic. The empire extended over a territory of one million six hundred thousand square miles, and among its provinces were Spain, Gaul, Sicily, Africa, Egypt, Syria, Asia Minor, Achaia, Macedonia, and Illyricum—all tributary to Italy, whose capital was Rome. The central province numbered four millions who were free, and could furnish, if need be, seven hundred thousand foot, and seventy thousand horse for the armies of the republic. It was dotted with cities, and villages, and villas, and filled with statues, temples, and works of art, brought from remotest provinces—the spoil of three hundred years of conquest. In all the provinces were great cities, once famous and independent—centres of luxury and wealth—Corinth, Athens, Syracuse, Carthage, Alexandria, Antioch, Ephesus, Damascus, and Jerusalem, with their dependent cities, all connected with each other and the capital by granite roads, all favored by commerce, all rejoicing in a uniform government. Rome, the great mistress who ruled over one hundred and twenty millions, contained an immense population, 
variously estimated, in which were centred whatever wealth or power had craved. This capital had become rapidly ornamented with palaces, and temples, and works of art, with the subjugation of Greece and Asia Minor, although it did not reach the climax of magnificence until the time of Hadrian. In the time of Augustus, the most imposing buildings were the capitol, restored by Sulla and Cæsar, whose gilded roof alone cost $15,000,000. The theatre of Pompey could accommodate eighty thousand spectators, behind which was a portico of one hundred pillars. Cæsar built the Forum Julium, three hundred and forty feet long, and two hundred wide, and commenced the still greater structures known as the Basilica Julia and Curia Julia. The Forum Romanum was seven hundred feet by four hundred and seventy, surrounded with basilica, halls, porticoes, temples, and shops—the centre of architectural splendor, as well as of life and business and pleasure. Augustus restored the Capitoline Temple, finished the Forum and Basilica Julia, built the Curia Julia, and founded the imperial palace on the Palatine, and erected many temples, the most beautiful of which was that of Apollo, with columns of African marble, and gates of ivory finely sculptured. He also erected the Forum Augusti, the theatre of Marcellus, capable of holding twenty thousand spectators, and that mausoleum which contained the ashes of the imperial family to the time of Hadrian, at the entrance of which were two Egyptian obelisks. It was the boast of this emperor, that he found the city of brick and left her of marble. But great and beautiful as Rome was in the Augustan era, enriched not only by his own munificence, but by the palaces and baths which were erected by his ministers and courtiers,—the Pantheon, the Baths of Agrippa, the Gardens of Mæcenas,—it was not until other emperors erected the Imperial Palace, the Flavian Amphitheatre, the Forum Trajanum, the Basilica Ulpia, the Temple of Venus and Rome, the Baths of Caracalla, the Arches of Septimius Severus and Trajan, and other wonders, that the city became so astonishing a wonder, with its palaces, 
theatres, amphitheatres, baths, fountains, bronze statues of emperors and generals, so numerous and so grand, that we are warranted in believing its glories, like its population,

And this capital and this empire seemed to be the domain of one man, so vast his power, so august his dignity, absolute master of the lives and property of one hundred and twenty millions, for the people were now deprived of the election of magistrates and the creation of laws. How could the greatest nobles otherwise than cringe to the supreme captain of the armies, the prince of the Senate, and the high-priest of the national divinities—himself, the recipient of honors only paid to gods! But Augustus kept up the forms of the old republic—all the old offices, the old dignities, the old festivals, the old associations. The Senate, prostrate and powerless, still had external dignity, like the British House of Peers. There were six hundred senators, each of whom possessed more than one million two hundred thousand sesterces—about $50,000, when that sum must have represented an amount equal to a million of dollars in gold, at the present time, and some of whom had an income of one thousand pounds a day, the spoil of the provinces they had administered

The Roman Senate, so august under the republic, still continued, with crippled legislative powers, to wield important functions, since the ordinary official business was performed by them. The provinces were governed by men selected from senatorial ranks. They wore the badges of distinction; they had the best places in the circus and theatre; they banqueted in the capitol at the public charge; they claimed the right to elect emperors.

The equestrian order also continued to farm the revenues of the provinces, and to furnish judges. The knights retained external decorations, were required to possess property equal to one-third of the senators, and formed an aristocratic class

The consuls, too, ruled, but with delegated powers from the 
emperor. They were his eyes, and ears, and voice, and hands; but neither political experience nor military services were required as qualifications of the office. They wore the wreath of laurel on their brow, the striped robe of white and purple, and were attended with lictors. All citizens made way for them, and dismounted when they passed, and rose in their presence. The prætors, too, continued to be the supreme judges, and the quæstors regulated the treasury. The tribunes existed also, but without their former independence. The prefect of the city was a new office, and overshadowed all other offices—appointed by the emperor as his lieutenant, his most efficient executive minister, his deputy in his absence from the city.

A standing army, ever the mark of despotism, became an imperial institution. At the head of this army were the prætorian guards, who protected the person of the emperor, and had double pay over that of the ordinary legionaries. They had a regular camp outside the city, and were always on hand to suppress tumults. Twenty-five legions were regarded as sufficient to defend the empire, and each legion was composed of six thousand one hundred foot and seven hundred and twenty-six horse. They were recruited with soldiers from the countries beyond Italy. Auxiliary troops were equal to the legions, and all together numbered three hundred and forty thousand—the standing army of the empire, stationed in the different provinces. Naval armaments were also established in the different seas and in great frontier rivers.

The revenue for this great force, and the general expenses of the government, were derived from the public domains, from direct taxes, from mines and quarries, from salt works, fisheries and forests, from customs and excise, from the succession to property, from enfranchisement of slaves

The monarchy instituted by Augustus, in all but the name, was a political necessity. Pompey would have ruled as the instrument of the aristocracy, but he would only have beenprimus inter pares; Cæsar recognized [the people as the basis of sovereignty; Augustus based his power on an organized military establishment, of which he was the permanent head. All the soldiers swore personal fealty to him—all the officers were appointed by him, directly or indirectly. But he paid respect to ancient traditions, forms, and magistracies, especially to the dignity of the Senate, and thus vested his military power, which was his true power, under the forms of an aristocracy, which was the governing power before the constitution was subverted.

It need scarcely be said that the great mass of the people were indifferent to these political changes. The horrors of the Marian and Sullan revolutions, the struggles of Cæsar and Pompey, and the awful massacres of the triumvirs had alarmed and disgusted all classes, and they sought repose, security, and peace. Any government which would repress anarchy was, to them, the best. They wished to be spared from executions and confiscations. The great enfranchisement of foreign slaves, also, degraded the people, and made them indifferent to the masters who should rule over them. All races were mingled with Roman citizens. The spoliation of estates in the civil wars cast a blight on agriculture, and the population had declined from war and misery.

Augustus, intrenched by military power, sought to revive not merely patrician caste, but religious customs, which had declined. Temples were erected, and the shrines of gods were restored. Marriage was encouraged, and the morals of the people were regulated by sumptuary laws. Severe penalties were enacted against celibacy, to which the people had been led by the increasing profligacy of the times, and the expenses of living. Restrictions were placed on the manumission of slaves. The personal habits of the imperator were simple, but dignified. His mansion on the Palatine was moderate in size. His dress was that of a senator, and woven by the hands of Livia and her maidens. He was courteous, sober, decorous, and abstemious. His guests were chosen for their social qualities. Virgil and Horace, plebeian poets, were received at his table, as well as [Pollio and Messala. He sought to guard morals, and revive ancient traditions. He was jealous only of those who would not flatter him. He freely spent money for games and festivals, and secured peace and plenty within the capital, where he reigned supreme. The people felicitated themselves on the appearance of unbounded prosperity, and servile poets sung the praises of the emperor as if he were a god.

And, to all appearance, Rome was the most favored spot upon the globe. Vast fleets brought corn from Gaul, Spain, Sicily, Sardinia, Africa, and Egypt, to feed the four millions of people who possessed the world. The capital was the emporium of all the luxuries of distant provinces. Spices from the East, ivory, cotton, silk, pearls, diamonds, gums thither flowed, as well as corn, oil, and wine. A vast commerce gave unity to the empire, and brought all the great cities into communication with each other and with Rome—the mighty mistress of lands and continents, the directress of armies, the builder of roads, the civilizer and conservator of all the countries which she ruled with her iron hand. There was general security to commerce, as well as property. There were order and law, wherever proconsular power extended. The great highways, built originally for military purposes, extending to every part of the empire, and crossing mountains and deserts, and forests and marshes, and studded with pillars and post-houses, contributed vastly to the civilization of the world.

t this time, Rome herself, though not so large and splendid as in subsequent periods, was the most attractive place on earth. Seven aqueducts already brought water to the city, some over stone arches, and some by subterranean pipes. The sepulchres of twenty generations lined the great roads which extended from the capital to the provinces. As these roads approached the city, they became streets, and the houses were dense and continuous. The seven original hills were covered with palaces and temples, while the valleys were centres of a great population, in which were the forums, the suburra, the quarter of the shops, the circus, 
and the velabrum. The Palatine, especially, was occupied by the higher nobility. Here were the famous mansions of Drusus, of Crassus, of Cicero, of Clodius, of Scaurus, and of Augustus, together with the temples of Cybele, of Juno Sospita, of Luna, of Febris, of Fortune, of Mars, and Vesta. On the Capitoline were the Arx, or citadel, and the temple of Jupiter. On the Pincian Hill were villas and gardens, including those of Lucullus and Sallust. Every available inch of ground in the suburra and velabrum was filled with dwellings, rising to great altitudes, even to the level of the Capitoline summit. The temples were all constructed after the Grecian models. The houses of the great were of immense size. The suburbs were of extraordinary extent. The population exceeded that of all modern cities, although it has been, perhaps, exaggerated. It was computed by Lipsius to reach the enormous number of four millions. Nothing could be more crowded than the streets, whose incessant din was intolerable to those who sought repose. And they were filled with idlers, as well as trades-people, and artisans and slaves. All classes sought the excitement of the theater and circus—all repaired to the public baths. The amphitheatres collected, also, unnumbered thousands within their walls to witness the combats of beasts with man, and man with man. The gladiatorial sports were the most exciting exhibitions ever known in ancient or modern times, and were the most striking features of Roman society. The baths, too, resounded with shouts and laughter, with the music of singers and of instruments, and even by the recitations of poets and lecturers. The luxurious Roman rose with the light of day, and received, at his levee, a crowd of clients and retainers. He then repaired to the forum, or was carried through the crowds on a litter. Here he presided as a judge, or appeared as a witness or advocate, or transacted his business affairs. At twelve, the work of the day ceased, and he retired for his midday siesta. When this had ended, he recreated himself with the sports of the Field of Mars, and then repaired to the baths, after which was the supper, or [principal meal, in which he indulged in the coarsest luxuries, valued more for the cost than the elegance. He reclined at table, on a luxurious couch, and was served by slaves, who carved for him, and filled his cup, and poured water into his hand after every remove. He ate without knives or forks, with his fingers only. The feast was beguiled by lively conversation, or music and dancing.

His reign may be said to have commenced on the final defeat of his rivals, B.C. 29. Two years later, he received the title of Augustus, by which he is best known in history, although he was ordinarily called Cæsar. That proud name never lost its pre-eminence.

The first part of the reign was memorable for the organization of the State, and especially of the army; and also for the means he used to consolidate his empire. Augustus had no son, and but one daughter, although married three times. His first wife was Clodia, daughter of Clodius; his second was Scribonia, sister-in-law of Sextus Pompey; and the third was Livia Drusilla. The second wife was the mother of his daughter, Julia. This daughter was married to M. Claudius Marcellus, son of Marcellus and Octavia, the divorced wife of Antonius, and sister of Octavius. M. Claudius Marcellus thus married his cousin, but died two years afterward. It was to his honor that Augustus built the theatre of Marcellus

On the death of Marcellus, Augustus married his daughter Julia to Agrippa, his prime minister and principal lieutenant. The issue of this marriage were three sons and two daughters. The sons died early. The youngest daughter, Agrippina, married Germanicus, and was the 
mother of the emperor Caligula. The marriage of Agrippina with Germanicus united the lines of Julia and Livia, the two last wives of Augustus, for Germanicus was the son of Drusus, the younger son of Livia by her first husband, Tiberius Claudius Nero. The eldest son of Livia, by Tiberius Claudius Nero, was the emperor Tiberius Nero, adopted by Augustus. Drusus married Antonia, the daughter of Antonius the triumvir, and was the father, not only of Germanicus, but of Claudius Drusus Cæsar, the fifth emperor. Another daughter of Antonius, also called Antonia, married L. Domitius Ahenobardus, whose son married Agrippina, the mother of Nero. Thus the descendants of Octavia and Antony became emperors, and were intertwined with the lines of Julia and Livia. The four successors of Augustus were all, in the male line, sprung from Livia's first husband, and all, except Tiberius, traced their descent from the defeated triumvir. Only the first six of the twelve Cæsars had relationship with the Julian house.

When the government was organized, Augustus left the care of his capital to Mæcenas, his minister of civil affairs and departed for Gaul, to restore order in that province, and build a series of fortifications to the Danube, to check the encroachments of barbarians. The region between the Danube and the Alps was peopled by various tribes, of different names, who gave perpetual trouble to the Romans; but they were now apparently subdued, and the waves of barbaric conquest were stayed for three hundred years. Vindelicea and Rhætia were added to the empire, in a single campaign, by Tiberius and Drusus, the sons of Livia—the emperor's beloved wife. Agrippa returned shortly after from a successful war in the East, but sickened and died B.C. 12. By his death Julia was again a widow, and 
was given in marriage to Tiberius, whom Augustus afterward adopted as his successor. Drusus, his brother, remained in Gaul, to complete the subjugation of the Celtic tribes, and to check the incursions of the Germans, who, from that time, were the most formidable enemies of Rome.

Those Teutonic people called barbarians who ultimately became the conquerors of the empire! They were more warlike, persevering, and hardy, than the Celts, who had been incorporated with the empire. Tacitus has painted their simple manners, their passionate love of independence, and their religious tendency of mind. They occupied those vast plains and forests which lay between the Rhine, the Danube, the Vistula, and the German Ocean. Under different names they invaded the Roman world—the Suevi, the Franks, the Alemanni, the Burgundians, the Lombards, the Goths, the Vandals; but had not, at the time of Augustus, made those vast combinations which threatened immediate danger. They were a pastoral people, with blue eyes, ruddy hair, and large stature, trained to cold, to heat, to exposure, and to fatigue. Their strength lay in their infantry, which was well armed, and their usual order of battle was in the form of a wedge. They were accompanied even in war with their wives and children, and their women had peculiar virtue and influence. They inspired that reverence which never passed away from the Germanic nations, producing in the Middle Ages the graces of chivalry. All these various tribes had the same peculiarities, among which reverence was one of the most marked. They were not idol worshipers, but worshiped God in the form of the sun, moon, and stars, and in the silence of their majestic groves. Odin was their great traditional hero, whom they made an object of idolatry. War was their great occupation, and the chase was their principal recreation and pleasure. Tacitus enumerates as many as fifty tribes of these brave warriors, who feared not death, and even gloried in their losses. 

 
                                             suevi  village 





                                      Longobardi barbaric tribes
The most powerful of these tribes, in the time of Augustus, was the confederation of the 
Suevi, occupying half of Germany, from the Danube to the Baltic. Of this confederation the Cauci were the most powerful, living on the banks of the Elbe, and obtaining a precarious living. In close connection with them were the Saxons and Longobardi (Long-beards). On the shores of the Baltic, between the Oder and the Vistula, were the Goths.

BARBARIANS CALLED SAXONS...

BARBARIANS CALLED  GOTHS ......

The arms of Cæsar and Augustus had as yet been only felt by the smaller tribes on the right bank of the Rhine, and these were assailed by Drusus, but only to secure his flank during the greater enterprise of sailing down the Rhine, to attack the people of the maritime plains. Great feats were performed by this able step-son of Augustus, who advanced as far as the Elbe, but was mortally injured by a fall from his horse. He lingered a month, and died, to the universal regret of the Romans, for he was the ablest general sent against the barbarians since Julius Cæsar, B.C. 9. The effect of his various campaigns was to check the inroads of the Germans for a century. It was at this time that the banks of the Rhine were studded by the forts which subsequently became those picturesque towns which now command the admiration of travelers

After the death of Drusus, to whose memory a beautiful triumphal arch was erected, Tiberius was sent against the Germans, and after successful warfare, at the age of forty, obtained the permission of Augustus to retire to Rhodes, in order to improve his mind by the study of philosophy, or, as it is supposed by many historians, from jealousy of Caius and Lucius Cæsar, the children of Julia and Agrippa—those young princes to whom the throne of the world was apparently destined. At Rhodes, Tiberius, now the ablest man in the empire, for both Agrippa and Mæcenas were dead, lived in simple retirement for seven years. But the levities of Julia, to which Augustus could not be blind, compelled him to banish her—his only daughter—to the Campanian coast, where she died neglected and impoverished. The emperor was so indignant in view [of her disgraceful conduct, that he excluded her from any inheritance. The premature death of her sons nearly broke the heart of their grandfather, bereft of the wise councils and pleasant society of his great ministers, and bending under the weight of the vast empire which he, as the heir of Cæsar, had received. The loss of his grandsons compelled the emperor to provide for his succession, and he turned his eyes to Tiberius, his step-son, who was then at Rhodes. He adopted him as his successor, and invested him with the tribunitian power. But, while he selected him as his heir, he also required him to adopt Germanicus, the son of his brother Drusus.

Another great man now appeared upon the stage, L. Domitius Ahenobardus, the son-in-law of Octavia and Antony, who was intrusted with the war against the Germanic tribes, and who was the first Roman general to cross the Elbe. He was the grandfather of Nero. But Tiberius was sent to supersede him, and following the plan of his brother Drusus, he sent a flotilla down the Rhine, with orders to ascend the Elbe, and meet his army at an appointed rendezvous, which was then regarded as a great military feat, in the face of such foes as the future conquerors of Rome. After this Tiberius was occupied in reconquering the wide region between the Adriatic and the Danube, known as Illyricum, which occupied him three years, A.D. 7-9. In this war he was assisted by his nephew and adopted son, Germanicus, whose brilliant career revived the hope which had centred in Drusus

Meanwhile Augustus, wearied with the cares of State, provoked by the scandals which his daughter occasioned, and irritated by plots against his life, began to relax his attention to business, and to grow morose. It was then that he banished Ovid, whose Tristia made a greater sensation than his immortal Metamorphoses. The disaster which befell Varus with a Roman army, in the forest of Teutoburg, near the river Lippe, when thirty thousand men were cut to pieces by the Germans under Arminius (Hermann), completed ]the humiliation of Augustus, for, in this defeat, he must have foreseen the future victories of the barbarians. All ideas of extending the empire beyond the Rhine were now visionary, and that river was henceforth to remain its boundary on the north. New levies were indeed dispatched to the Rhine, and Tiberius and Germanicus led the forces. But the princes returned to Rome without effecting important results.

Soon after, in the year A.D. 14, Augustus died in his seventy-seventh year, after a reign of forty-four years from the battle of Actium, and fifty from the triumvirate—one of the longest reigns in history, and one of the most successful. From his nineteenth year he was prominent on the stage of Roman public life. Under his auspices the empire reached the Elbe, and Egypt was added to its provinces. He planted colonies in every province, and received from the Parthians the captured standards of Crassus. His fleets navigated the Northern Ocean; his armies reduced the Pannonians and Illyrians. He added to the material glories of his capital, and sought to secure peace throughout the world. He was both munificent and magnificent, and held the reins of government with a firm hand. He was cultivated, unostentatious, and genial; but ambitious, and versed in all the arts of dissimulation and kingcraft. But he was a great monarch, and ruled with signal ability. After the battle of Actium, his wars were chiefly with the barbarians, and his greatest generals were members of the imperial family. That he could have reigned so long, in such an age, with so many enemies, is a proof of his wisdom and moderation, as well as of his good fortune. That he should have triumphed over such generals as Brutus, and Antonius, and Sextus—representing the old parties of the republic, is unquestionable evidence of transcendent ability. But his great merit was his capacity to rule, to organize, and to civilize. He is one of the best types of a sovereign ruler that the world has seen. It is nothing against him, that, in his latter years, there were popular discontents. Such generally happen at the close of all long reigns, as in the case of 
Solomon and Louis XIV. And yet, the closing years of his reign were melancholy, like those of the French monarch, in view of the extinction of literary glories, and the passing away of the great lights of the age, without the appearance of new stars to take their place. But this was not the fault of Augustus, whose intellect expanded with his fortunes, and whose magnanimity grew with his intellect—a man who comprehended his awful mission, and who discharged his trusts with dignity and self-reliance.

TIBERIUS CAESAR

Tiberius Cæsar, the third of the Roman emperors, found no opposition to his elevation on the death of Augustus. He ascended the throne of the Roman world at the mature age of fifty-six, after having won great reputation both as a statesman and a general. He was probably the most capable man in the empire, and in spite of all his faults, the empire was never better administered than by him. His great misfortune and fault was the suspicion of his nature, which made him the saddest of mankind, and finally, a monster of cruelty.

Like Augustus, he veiled his power as emperor by assuming the old offices of the republic. A subservient Senate and people favored the consolidation of the new despotism to which the world was now accustomed, and with power, which it cheerfully acquiesced as the best government for the times. The last remnant of popular elections was abolished, and the Comitia was transferred from the Campus Martius to the Senate, who elected the candidate proposed by the emperor.

 
                                        roman legion at war

The first year of the accession of Tiberius was marked by mutinies in the legions, which were quelled by his nephew Germanicus, whose popularity was boundless, even as his feats had been heroic. This young prince, on whom the hopes of the empire rested, had married Agrippina, the daughter of Julia and Agrippa, and traced through his mother Antonia, and grandmother Octavia, a direct descent from Julia, the sister of the dictator. The blood of Antony also ran in his veins, as well as that of Livia. His [wife was worthy of him, and was devotedly attached to him. By this marriage the lines of Julia and Livia were united; and by his descent from Antony the great parties of the revolution were silenced. He was equally the heir of Augustus and of Antonius, of Julia and of Livia; and of all the chiefs of Roman history no one has been painted in fairer colors. In natural ability, in military heroism, in the virtues of the heart, in exalted rank, he had no equal. As consul, general, and governor, he called forth universal admiration. His mind was also highly cultivated, and he excelled in Greek and Latin verse, while his condescending and courteous manners won both soldiers and citizens

Of such a man, twenty-nine years of age, Tiberius was naturally jealous, especially since, through his wife, Germanicus was allied with the Octavian family and through his mother, with the sister of the great Julius; and, therefore, had higher claims than he, on the principle of legitimacy. He was only the adopted son of Octavius, but Germanicus, through his mother Antonia, had the same ancestry as Octavius himself. Moreover, the cries of the legionaries, “Cæsar Germanicus will not endure to be a subject,” added to the fears of the emperor, that he would be supplanted. So he determined to send his nephew on distant and dangerous expeditions, against those barbarians who had defeated Varus


 

WAR BETWEEN GERMANCUS AND VARUS

Germanicus, no sooner than he had quelled the sedition in his camp, set out for Germany with eight legions and an equal number of auxiliaries. With this large force he crossed the Rhine, revisited the scene of the slaughter of Varus, and paid funeral honors to the remains of the fallen Romans. But the campaigns were barren of results, although attended with great expenses. No fortresses were erected to check the return of the barbarians from the places where they had been dislodged, and no roads were made to expedite future expeditions. Germanicus carried on war in savage and barbarous tracts, amid innumerable obstacles, which tasked his resources to the utmost. Tiberius ]was dissatisfied with these results, and vented his ill-humor in murmurs against his nephew. The Roman people were offended at this jealousy, and clamored for his recall. Germanicus, however, embarked 


 
on a third campaign, A.D. 15, with renewed forces, and confronted the Germans on the Weser, and crossed the river in the face of the enemy. There the Romans obtained a great victory over Arminius, leader of the barbaric hosts, who retreated beyond the Elbe. The great German confederacy was, for a time, dispersed. Germanicus himself retired to the banks of the Rhine—which became the final boundary of the empire on the side of Germany. The hero who had persevered against innumerable obstacles, in overcoming which the discipline and force of the Roman legions were never more apparent, not even under Julius Cæsar, was now recalled to Rome, and a triumph was given him, amid the wildest enthusiasm of the Roman people. The young hero was the great object of attraction, as he was borne along in his triumphal chariot, surrounded by the five male descendants of his union with Agrippina—his faithful and heroic wife. Tiberius, in the name of his adopted son, bestowed three hundred sesterces apiece upon all the citizens, and the Senate chose the popular favorite as consul for the ensuing year, in conjunction with the emperor himself.

Troubles in the East induced Tiberius to send Germanicus to Asia Minor, while Drusus was sent to Illyricum. This prince was the son of Tiberius by his first wife, Vipsania, and was the cousin of Germanicus. He was disgraced by the vices of debauchery and cruelty, and was finally poisoned by his wife, Livilla, at the instance of Sejanus. So long as Germanicus lived, the court was divided between the parties of Drusus and Germanicus, and Tiberius artfully held the balance of favor between them, taking care not to declare which should be his successor. But Drusus was, probably, the favorite of the emperor, although greatly inferior to the elder prince in every noble quality. Tiberius, in sending him to Illyricum, wished to remove him from the ]dissipations of the capital, and also, to place a man in that important post who should be loyal to his authority.

In appointing Germanicus to the chief command of the provinces beyond the Ægean, Tiberius also gave the province of Syria to Cnæus Piso, of the illustrious Calpurnian house, one of the proudest and most powerful of the Roman nobles. His wife, Plancina, was the favorite of Livia,—the empress-mother,—and he believed himself appointed to the government of Syria for the purpose of checking the ambitious designs which were imputed to Germanicus, while his wife was instructed to set up herself as a rival to Agrippina. The moment Piso quitted Italy, he began to thwart his superior, and to bring his authority into contempt. Yet he was treated by Germanicus with marked kindness. After visiting the famous cities of Greece, Germanicus marched to the frontiers of Armenia to settle its affairs with the empire—the direct object of his mission. He crowned a prince, called Zeno, as monarch of that country, reduced Cappadocia, and visited Egypt, apparently to examine the political affairs of the province, but really to study its antiquities, even as Scipio had visited Sicily in the heat of the Punic war. For thus going out of his way, he was rebuked by the emperor. He then retraced his steps, and shaped his course to Syria, where he found his regulations and appointments had been overruled by Piso, between whom and himself bitter altercations ensued. While in Syria, he fell sick and died, and his illness was attributed to poison administered by Piso, although there was little evidence to support the charge.

The death of Germanicus was received with great grief by the Roman people, and the general sorrow of the Roman world, and his praises were pronounced in every quarter. He was even fondly compared to Alexander the Great. His character was embellished by the greatest master of pathos among the Roman authors, and invested with a gleam of mournful splendor. His remains were brought to Rome by his devoted wife, and the most splendid ]funeral honors were accorded to him. Drusus, with the younger brother and children of Germanicus, went forth to meet the remains, and the consuls, the Senate, and a large concourse of people, swelled the procession, as it neared the city. The precious ashes were deposited in the Cæsarian mausoleum, and the memory of the departed prince was cherished in the hearts of the people. Whether he would have realized the expectations formed of him, had he lived to succeed Tiberius, can not be known. He, doubtless, had most amiable traits of character, while his talents were undoubted. But he might have succumbed to the temptations incident to the most august situation in the world, or have been borne down by its pressing cares, or have shown less talent for administration than men disgraced by private vices. Had Tiberius died before Augustus, his character would have appeared in the most favorable light, for he was a man of great abilities, and was devoted to the interests of the empire. He became moody, suspicious, and cruel, and yielded to the pleasures so lavishly given to the master of the world. When we remember the atmosphere of lies in which he lived,—as is the case with all absolute monarchs, especially in venal and corrupt times,—the unbounded temptations, the servile and sycophantic attentions of his courtiers, the perpetual vexations and cares incident to such overgrown and unlimited powers, and the disgust, satiety, and contempt which his experiences engendered, we can not wonder that his character should change for the worse. And when we see a man rendered uninteresting and unamiable by cares, temptations, and bursts of passion or folly, yet who still governs vigilantly and ably, our indignation should be modified, when the lower propensities are indulged. It is not pleasant to palliate injustices, tyrannies, and lusts. But human nature, at the best, is weak. Of all men, absolute princes claim a charitable judgment, and our eyes should be directed to their services, rather than to their defects. These remarks not only pertain to Tiberius, but to Augustus, and many other emperors who have been ]harshly estimated, but whose general ability and devotion to the interests of the empire are undoubted. How few monarchs have been free from the stains of occasional excesses, and that arbitrary and tyrannical character which unlimited powers develop! Even the crimes of monsters, whom we execrate, are to be traced to madness and intoxication, more than to natural fierceness and wickedness. But when monarchs do reign in justice, and conquer the temptations incident to their station, like the Antonines, then our reverence becomes profound. “Heavy is the head that wears a crown.” Kings are objects of our sympathy, as well as of our envy. Their burdens are as heavy as their temptations are great; and frivolous or wicked princes are almost certain to yield, like Nero or Caligula, to the evils with which they are peculiarly surrounded.

the reign of Tiberius, one of the ablest of all the emperors, so far as administrative talents are concerned. After the death of Germanicus, which was probably natural, the vengeance of the people and the court was directed to his supposed murderer, Piso. He was arraigned and tried by the Senate, not only for the crime of which he was accused by the family of Germanicus, who thought himself poisoned, but for exceeding his powers as governor of Syria, which province he continued unwisely to claim. Tiberius abstained from all interference with the great tribunal which sat in judgment. He even checked the flow of popular feeling. Cold and hard, he allowed the trial to take its course, without betraying sympathy or aversion, and acted with great impartiality. Piso found no favor from the Senate or the emperor, and killed himself when his condemnation was certain.

Agrippina, the widow of Germanicus

Weariness of the cares of State, and the desire of repose, at last induced Tiberius to retire from the city. He had neither happiness nor rest. He quarreled with Agrippina, the widow of Germanicus, and his temper was exasperated by the imputations and slanders from which no monarch can escape. His enemies, however, declared that he had no higher wish than to exercise in secret the cruelty and libidinousness to which he was abandoned. For eleven years he ruled in the retirement of his guarded fortress, and never again re-entered the city he had left in disgust. But in this retirement, he did not relax his vigilance in the administration of affairs, although his government was exceedingly unpopular, and was doubtless stained by many acts of cruelty. At Capreæ, a small island near Naples, barren and desolate, but beautiful in climate and scenery, the master of the world spent his latter years, surrounded with literary men and soothsayers. I do not [believe the calumnies which have been heaped on this imperial misanthrope. And yet, the eleven years he spent in his retreat were marked by great complaints against him, and by many revolting crimes and needless cruelties. He persecuted the family of Germanicus, banished Agrippina, and imprisoned her son, Drusus. Sejanus, however, instigated these proceedings, and worked upon the jealousy of the emperor. This favorite was affianced to Livilla, the widow of Drusus, and was made consul conjointly with Tiberius.

Tiberius penetrated, at last, the character of this ambitious officer, and circumvented his ruin with that profound dissimulation which was one of his most marked traits. Sejanus conspired against his life, but the emperor shrank from openly denouncing him to the Senate. He used consummate craft in securing his arrest and execution, the instrument of which was Macro, an officer of his bodyguard, and his death was followed by the ruin of his accomplices and friends.

Shortly after the execution of Sejanus, Drusus, the son of Agrippina, was starved to death in prison, and many cruelties were inflicted on the friends of Sejanus. Tiberius now began to show signs of insanity, and his life henceforth was that of a miserable tyrant. His career began to draw to a close, and he found himself, in his fits of despair and wretchedness, supported by only three surviving members of the lineage of Cæsar: Tiberius Claudius Drusus, the last of the sons of Drusus, and nephew of the emperor, infirm in health and weak in mind, and had been excluded from public affairs; Caius, the younger son of Germanicus, and Tiberius, the son of the second Drusus,—the one, grand-nephew, and the other, grandson, of the emperor. Both were young; one twenty-five, the other eighteen. The failing old man failed to designate either as his successor, but the voice of the public pointed out the son of Germanicus, nicknamed Caligula. At the age of seventy-eight, the tyrant died, unable in his last sickness to restrain [his appetite. He died at Misenum, on his way to Capreæ, which he had quitted for a time, to the joy of the whole empire; for his reign, in his latter years, was one of terror, which caused a deep gloom to settle upon the face of the higher society at Rome, A.D. 37. The body was carried to Rome with great pomp, and its ashes were deposited in the mausoleum of the Cæsars. Caius was recognized as his successor without opposition, and he commenced his reign by issuing a general pardon to all State prisoners, and scattering, with promiscuous munificence, the vast treasures which Tiberius had accumulated. He assumed the collective honors of the empire with modesty, and great expectations were formed of a peaceful and honorable reign.

                          caligula

Caligula was the heir of the Drusi, grandson of Julia and Agrippa, great-grandson of Octavius, of Livia, and of Antony. In him the lines of Julia and Livia were united. His defects and vices were unknown to the people, and he made grand promises to the Senate. He commenced his reign by assiduous labors, and equitable measures, and professed to restore the golden age of Augustus. His popularity with the people was unbounded, from his lavish expenditure for shows and festivals, by the consecration of temples, and the distribution of corn and wine.

But it was not long before he abandoned himself to the most extravagant debauchery. His brain reeled on the giddy eminence to which he had been elevated without previous training and experience. Augustus fought his own way to power, and Tiberius had spent the best years of his life in the public service before his elevation. Yet even he, with all his experience and ability, could not resist the blandishments of power. How, then, could a giddy and weak young man, without redeeming qualities? He fell into the vortex of pleasures, and reeling in the madness which excesses caused, was soon guilty of the wildest caprices, and the most cruel atrocities. He was corrupted by flattery as well as pleasure. He even descended 
into the arena of the circus as a charioteer, and the races became a State institution. In a few months he squandered the savings of the previous reign, swept away the wholesome restraints which Augustus and Tiberius had imposed upon gladiators, and carried on the sports of the amphitheatre with utter disregard of human life. His extravagance and his necessities led to the most wanton murders of senators and nobles whose crime was their wealth. The most redeeming features of the first year of his reign were his grief at the death of his sister, his friendship with Herod Agrippa, to whom he gave a sovereignty in Palestine, and the activity he displayed in the management of his vast inheritance. He had a great passion for building, and completed the temple of Augustus, projected the grandest of the Roman aqueducts, enlarged the imperial palace, and carried a viaduct from the Palatine to the Capitoline over the lofty houses of the Velabrum. But his prodigalities led to a most oppressive taxation, which soon alienated the people, while his senseless debaucheries, especially his costly banquets, disgusted the more contemplative of the nobles. He was also disgraced by needless cruelties, and it was his exclamation:“Would that the people of Rome had but one neck!” His vanity was preposterous. He fancied himself divine, and insisted on divine honors being rendered to him. He systematically persecuted the nobles, and exacted contributions. He fancied himself, at one time an orator, and at another a general; and absolutely led an army to the Rhine, when there was no enemy to attack. He married several wives, but divorced them with the most fickle inconstancy.

It is needless to repeat the wanton follies of this young man who so outrageously disgraced the imperial station. The most charitable construction to be placed upon acts which made his name infamous among the ancients is that his brain was turned by his elevation to a dignity for which he was not trained or disciplined—that unbounded power, united with the most extravagant abandonment ]to sensual pleasures, undermined his intellect. His caprices and extravagance can only be explained by partial madness. He had reigned but four years, and all expectations of good government were dispelled. The majesty of the empire was insulted, and assassination, the only way by which he could be removed, freed the world from a madman, if not a monster.

There was great confusion after the assassination of Caius Cæsar, and ill-concerted efforts to recover a freedom which had fled forever, ending, as was to be expected, by military power. The consuls convened the Senate for deliberation (for the forms of the republic were still kept up), but no settled principles prevailed. Various forms of government were proposed and rejected. While the Senate deliberated, the prætorian guards acted.

Among the inmates of the palace, in that hour of fear, among slaves and freed men, half hidden behind a curtain in an obscure corner, was a timid old man, who was dragged forth with brutal violence. He was no less a personage than Claudius, the neglected uncle of the emperor, the son of Drusus and Antonia, and nephew of Tiberius, and brother of Germanicus. Instead of slaying the old man, the soldiers, respecting the family of Cæsar, hailed him, partly in jest, as imperator, and carried him to their camp. Claudius, heretofore thought to be imbecile, and therefore despised, was not unwilling to accept the dignity, and promised the prætorians, if they would swear allegiance to him, a donation of fifteen thousand sesterces apiece. The Senate, at the dictation of the prætorians, accepted Claudius as emperor.

He commenced his reign, A.D. 41, by proclaiming a general amnesty. He restored confiscated estates, recalled the wretched sisters of Caius, sent back to Greece and Asia the plundered statues of temples which Caius had transported to Rome, and inaugurated a régime of moderation and justice. His life had been one of sickness, neglect, and obscurity, but he was suffered to live because he [was harmless. His mother was ashamed of him, and his grandmother, Livia, despised him, and his sister, Livilla, ridiculed him. He was withheld from public life, and he devoted himself to literary pursuits, and even wrote a history of Roman affairs from the battle of Actium, but it gained him no consideration. Tiberius treated him with contumely, and his friends deserted him. All this neglect and contempt were the effects of a weak constitution, a paralytic gait, and an imperfect utterance

Claudius took Augustus as his model, and at once a great change in the administration was observable. There was a renewed activity of the armies on the frontiers, and great generals arose who were destined to be future emperors. The colonies were strengthened and protected, and foreign affairs were conducted with ability. Herod Agrippa, the favorite of Caius, was confirmed in his government of Galilee, and received in addition the dominions of Samaria and Judæa. Antiochus was restored to the throne of Commagene, and Mithridates received a district of Cilicia. The members of the Senate were made responsible for the discharge of their magistracies, and vacancies to this still august body were filled up from the wealthy and powerful families. He opened an honorable career to the Gauls, revised the lists of the knights, and took an accurate census of Roman citizens. He conserved the national religion, and regulated holidays and festivals. His industry and patience were unwearied, and the administration of justice extorted universal admiration. His person was accessible to all petitioners, and he relieved distress wherever he found it. He relinquished the most grievous exactions of his predecessors, and tenderly guarded neglected slaves. He also constructed great architectural works, especially those of utility, completed the vast aqueduct which Caius commenced, and provided the city with provisions. He built the port of Ostia, to facilitate commerce, and drained marshes and lakes. The draining of the Lake Fucinus occupied thirty thousand men for eleven years. 
While he executed vast engineering works to supply the city with water, he also amused the people with gladiatorial shows. In all things he showed the force of the old Roman character, in spite of bodily feebleness.

The feeble old man, always nursed by women, had the misfortune to marry, for his third wife, the most infamous woman in Roman annals (Valeria Messalina), under whose influence the reign, at first beneficent, became disgraceful. Claudius was entirely ruled by her. She amassed fortunes, sold offices, confiscated estates, and indulged in guilty loves. She ruled like a Madame de Pompadour, and degraded the throne which she ought to have ]exalted. The influence of women generally was bad in those corrupt times, but her influence was scandalous and degrading

                                         CLAUDIUS

Claudius also was governed by his favorites, generally men of low birth—freedmen who usurped the place of statesmen. Narcissus and Pallus were the most confidential of the emperor's advisers, who, in consequence, became enormously rich, for favors flowed through them, and received the great offices of State. The court became a scene of cabals and crimes, disgraced by the wanton shamelessness of the empress and the venality of courtiers. Appius Silanus, one of the best and greatest of the nobles, was murdered through the intrigues of Messalina, to whose progress in wickedness history furnishes no parallel, and Valerius Asiaticus, another great noble, also suffered the penalty of offending her, and was destroyed; and his magnificent gardens, which she coveted, were bestowed upon her.

But Messalina was rivaled in iniquity by another princess, between whom and herself there existed the deadliest animosity. Thus was Agrippina, the daughter of Germanicus, who had been married to Cn. Domitius Ahenobardus, grandson of Octavia, and whose issue was the future emperor Nero. The niece of Claudius occupied the second place in the imperial household, and it became her aim to poison the mind of her uncle against the woman she detested, and who returned her hatred. She now leagued with the freedmen of the palace to destroy her rival. An opportunity to gratify her vengeance soon occurred. Messalina, according to Tacitus, was guilty of the inconceivable madness of marrying Silanus, one of her paramours, while her husband lived, and that husband an emperor, which story can not be believed without also supposing that Claudius was a perfect idiot. Such a defiance of law, of religion, and of the feelings of mankind, to say nothing of its folly, is not to be supposed. Yet such was the scandal, and it filled the imperial household with consternation. Callistus, Pallas, and Narcissus—the favorites who ruled Claudius—united ]with Agrippina to secure her ruin. The emperor, then absent in Ostia, was informed of the shamelessness of his wife. It was difficult for him to believe such a fact, but it was attested by the trusted members of his household. His fears were excited, as well as his indignation, and he hastened to Rome for vengeance and punishment. Messalina had retired to her magnificent gardens on the Pineian, which had once belonged to Lucullus, the price of the blood of the murdered Asiaticus; but, on the approach of the emperor, of which she was informed, she advanced boldly to confront him, with every appearance of misery and distress, with her children Britannicus and Octavia. Claudius vacillated, and Messalina retired to her gardens, hoping to convince her husband of her innocence on the interview which he promised the following day. But Narcissus, knowing her influence, caused her to be assassinated, and the emperor drowned his grief, or affection, or anger, in wine and music, and seemingly forgot her. That Messalina was a wicked and abandoned woman is most probable; that she was as bad as history represents her, may be doubted, especially when we remember she was calumniated by a rival, who succeeded in taking her place as wife. It is easier to believe she was the victim of Agrippina and the freedmen, who feared as well as hated her, than to accept the authority of Tacitus and Juvenal. On the death of Messalina, Agrippina married her uncle, and the Senate sanctioned the union, which was incest by the Roman laws.

The fourth wife of the emperor transcended the third in intrigue and ambition, and her marriage, at the age of thirty-three, was soon followed by the betrothal of her son, L. Domitius, a boy of twelve, with Octavia, the daughter of Claudius and Messalina. He was adopted by the emperor, and assumed the name of Nero. Henceforth she labored for the advancement of her son only. She courted the army and the favor of the people, and founded the city on the Rhine which we call Cologne. But she outraged the notions 
and sentiments of the people more by her unfeminine usurpation of public honors, than by her cruelty or her dissoluteness. She seated herself by the side of the emperor in military festivals. She sat by him at a sea-fight on the Lucrine Lake, clothed in a soldier's cloak. She took her station in front of the Roman standard, when Caractacus, the conquered British chief, was brought in chains to the emperor's tribunal. She caused the dismissal of the imperial officers who incurred her displeasure. She exercised a paramount sway over her husband, and virtually ruled the empire. She distracted the palace with discords, cabals, and jealousies

In the year A.D. 54, and in the fourteenth of his reign, Claudius, exhausted by the affairs of State, and also, it is said, by intemperance, fell sick at Rome, and sought the medicinal waters of Sinuessa. It was there that Agrippina contrived to poison him, by the aid of Locusta, a professed poisoner, and Xenophon, a physician, while she affected an excess of grief. She held his son Britannicus in her arms, and detained him and his sisters in the palace, while every preparation was made to secure the accession of her own son, Nero. She was probably prompted to this act from fear that she would be supplanted and punished, for Claudius had said, when wine had unloosed his secret thoughts, “that it was his fate to suffer the crimes of his wives, but at last to punish them.” She also was eager to elevate her own son to the throne, which, of right, belonged to Britannicus, and whose rights might have been subsequently acknowledged by the emperor, for his eyes [could not be much longer blinded to the character of his wife.