storm. Vitellius hid himself in the palace, but was discovered in his retreat by the licentious populace, ready to rise under any pretext through hopes of plunder, dragged ignominiously through the streets to the place of common execution, and put to death with a thousand wounds (A. D. 69). His brother, Lucius Vitellius, who was advancing to his aid with an army from the south of Italy, surrendered at discretion, and was put to death. The factions that had been formed during this disgraceful reign of eight months, took advantage of the confusion to wreak mutual vengeance. Prímus, and Vespásian's second son, Domit'ian, abandoned themselves to debauchery and plunder: Rome appeared on the very brink of ruin from the madness of its own citizens.

At length tranquillity was restored by the arrival of Vespasian, whose accession diffused universal joy. His first care was to restore the discipline of the army, which he found in a shocking state of demoralization: he next revived the authority of the senate, supplying its diminished ranks with eminent men from the provinces and colonies; finally, he reformed the courts of law, which had long ceased to be courts of justice. The virtues of Vespásian, supported by a firm temper, led to a great improvement in the social condition of Rome. His only fault was an extravagant love of money, which, however, was probably exaggerated by those who compared his parsimonious expenditure with the lavish extravagance of former emperors.

The early part of his reign was signalized by the final termination of the Jewish war, and the destruction of Jerusalem and its holy temple. It would be impossible to give even a faint outline of this memorable war here; suffice it to say, that the Jews, deceived by false prophets, who promised them a temporal deliverer, persevered in their rebellion long after every reasonable chance of success had disappeared; that they were divided into hostile factions, who fought against each other in the streets of Jerusalem, while the walls of the city quivered under the battering engines of the common enemy; and that they refused proffered mercy when the Roman ensigns were waving above their battlements. Dreadful was the punishment of this fated nation: their city and temple were reduced to heaps of shapeless ruins; their best and bravest fell by the swords of the Romans or each other; most of the wretched survivors were sold into slavery, and the Jews, since that period, dispersed over the face of the earth, have become a mockery, a by-word, and a reproach among nations. Títus and his father triumphed together on account of this success, and the rich ornaments of the temple were displayed in the procession. A triumphal arch was also erected for Títus, on which his noble deeds were sculptured: it continues nearly perfect to the present day, a lasting monument of his victories over the Jewish nation. The Batavian war, which threatened great dangers to the Roman dominions in Gaul and Germany, was concluded about the same time by the prudence and valor of Cereális; and Comagéne, which had been permitted to retain its own sovereigns, was reduced to a province.

Britain had yet been very imperfectly subdued, and the completion of its conquest was intrusted to Cneíus Július Agric'ola, a native of Gaul, justly celebrated for his great merits as a general and a statesman. His first enterprise was to recover the island of Anglesey from

the Ordovíces. His success was owing to his promptitude as much as to his valor: he appeared in the midst of the hostile country before the enemy knew of his having passed the frontiers; and the Britons, disconcerted by a sudden attack, agreed to purchase safety by submission. The advantages thus won by military prowess, he resolved to confirm and secure by enlightened policy. He induced the Britons to lay aside their own barbarous customs, and adopt the Roman manners; but unfortunately, in giving them a knowledge of the arts of civilization, he also inspired them with a taste for luxury. He next proceeded to attack the Caledonians; a fleet was ordered to examine the coast; and by this expedition Britain was first discovered to be an island. The Caledonians drew together under the command of Gal'gacus, and hazarded a pitched battle with the army of Agric'ola, in which they were utterly routed, and pursued with great slaughter; but the fastnesses of the Scottish highlands were too formidable to be overcome; and the northern part of Britain was never subdued by the Romans.

Several conspiracies were formed against Vespásian, whose rigid rule was found a severe check on the licentiousness of the nobles; but they were all detected and punished. At length, his close attention to the affairs of state brought on a mortal disease. He retired to his country-seat for change of air; but the sickness was aggravated by the alteration, and he died in the seventieth year of his age (A. D. 78). He was the second of the Roman emperors that died a natural death, though some suspicion is attached to the fate of Augus'tus, and he was the first who was succeeded by his son. His obsequies were performed with extraordinary pomp by Títus; but the solemnity was disturbed by a ludicrous circumstance, too characteristic of the age to be omitted. Romans were so preposterously fond of mimics and farces, that they were even exhibited at funerals, where actors personated the deceased, imitated his actions, mimicked his voice, and satirized his peculiarities. At Vespásian's obsequies, a pantomime named Fávor personated that emperor, and took an opportunity of attacking his parsimony. Imitating the voice of the deceased emperor, he loudly demanded the price of the ceremony; a large sum was named in reply. "Give me the money," he continued, holding out his hand, " and throw my body into the Tiber."

The

Vespasian was succeeded by his son Títus, whose first action after his accession was a sacrifice of his dearest affections to the popular will. He dismissed the beautiful Berenice, daughter to Agrip'pa, the last king of Judea, because that his connexion with a foreigner was displeasing to the senate and people. Nor was this the only instance of his complaisance; he allowed the spectators to choose their own entertainments in the circus; and he never refused audience to a petitioner. His clemency was equally remarkable; he abolished the law of treason; and severely punished spies and informers.

In the first year of his reign, Campánia was alarmed and devastated by the most dreadful eruption of Vesuvius on record; it laid waste the country for many miles round, overwhelming several cities with their inhabitants, among which Herculaneum and Pompeíi were the most remarkable. This was followed by a dreadful conflagration at Rome, which lasted three days, and destroyed a vast number of edifices, both

public and private. The exertions of Titus to remedy both these calamities procured him, from his grateful subjects, the honorable title of "benefactor of the human race." A plague afforded him fresh opportunities of displaying his native goodness of heart; but these exertions proved too much for his constitution; he was seized with a fever, which terminated fatally in a few days (A. D. 81). His death diffused universal sorrow throughout the empire; every family lamented as if it had been deprived of its natural protector; and his name has become a proverbial designation for wise and virtuous princes.

Flávius Domit'ian succeeded his brother without any opposition, though his character for debauchery and cruelty was sufficiently notorious. He was naturally timorous, and fear, of course, aggravated his sanguinary disposition; yet he professed a passionate attachment to military sports, and possessed so much skill in archery, that he could shoot arrows through the expanded fingers of a domestic placed at a considerable distance without ever inflicting a wound. In the beginning of his reign, he studied to gain the favor of the people by a line of conduct worthy of an upright sovereign-disguising his vices, and affecting the opposite virtues. He presented large sums to his ministers and officers of state, that they might be raised above the temptation of receiving bribes; he refused the inheritances bequeathed to him, distributing the legacies among the nearest relations of the deceased; and he pretended to have such a horror of shedding blood, that he issued an edict forbidding the sacrifice of oxen or any other living animals. He confirmed all the grants made by the preceding emperors, increased the pay of the soldiers, and finished, at an immense charge, all the public buildings which had been begun by Títus.

In the second year of his reign he attacked the Cat'ti, the most warlike of the German tribes; and, as the invasion was unexpected, made several of the peasants prisoners. Hearing, however, that the enemies were preparing an army, he retreated with great speed; yet the servile senate voted him a triumph for this pretended success. But flattery could not hide from the emperor his vast inferiority to Agric'ola, whose conquests in Britain were the theme of universal praise: he recalled this victorious general, who deemed it prudent to decline a triumph, and retire into the seclusion of private life. From this time forward the emperor indulged in the most sanguinary excesses, putting to death, without the form of trial, the most eminent senators and knights, The herd of informers, discouraged and punished during the preceding reign, once more came into favor; and such was their activity, that the most innocent conversation was frequently made the ground of a capital charge. The infamous vices of the palace were so far from being hidden, that they were ostentatiously displayed to the public; and when Domitian had thus degraded himself in the eyes of his subjects to the condition of a beast, he required to be worshipped as a god, and all the streets leading to the Capitol were daily crowded with victims to be offered in sacrifices before his altars and statues.

The Dáci and Gétæ, under their gallant king Deceb'alus, invaded the Roman frontiers, and defeated the generals sent to oppose them in two great battles. Domitian, encouraged by the news of a subsequent victory, resolved to take the field in person; but instead of marching

against the Dáci, he attacked the Quádi and Marcomanni, and was shamefully beaten. Discouraged by this overthrow, he concluded a dishonorable peace with the Dacians, engaging to pay Deceb'alus a yearly tribute but he wrote to the senate, boasting of extraordinary victories; and that degraded body, though well aware of the truth, immediately decreed him the honors of a triumph.

Wearied by the tyranny of Domit'ian, Lúcius Antónius, the governor of upper Germany, raised the standard of revolt in his province, but was easily defeated and slain. This abortive insurrection stimulated the cruelty of the emperor: vast numbers were tortured and executed, under pretence of having been accomplices of Antónius. An edict was published, banishing all philosophers from Rome, and prohibiting instruction in the liberal sciences; for Domit'ian felt that all learning was a satire on his own ignorance, and all virtue a reproof of his infamy. But though thus tyrannical, Domit'ian had little fear of rebellion; he had secured the support of the troops by increasing their pay, and his splendid entertainments rendered him a favorite with the degraded populace. The adherents to the national religion were also gratified by a second general persecution of the Christians, who were odious to the emperor because they refused to worship his statues (A. D. 95). Among the most illustrious martyrs in the cause of truth on this occasion was Flávius Clem'ens, cousin-german of the emperor, whose example proves that the new religion was now beginning to spread among the higher ranks of society.

It was the custom of Domit'ian to inscribe on a roll the names of the persons he designed to slaughter. One day a young child with whom he used to divert himself took this paper from under the pillow on which the emperor was sleeping, and unaware of its important contents, gave it to the empress Domit'ia. She saw with surprise and consternation her own name on the fatal list, as well as those of the imperial chamberlain and the captain of the prætorian guards, to whom she immediately communicated their danger. They at once conspired for his destruction, and he was murdered in his bed (A. D. 96). The Roman populace heard his fate with indifference; but the soldiers, whose pay he had increased, and with whom he had often shared his plunder, lamented him more than they had Vespásian Títus; it is even said that they would have avenged his fate by a general massacre, had they not been restrained by their officers.

During this reign flourished a philosopher, Apollónius Tyanéus, whose austere life and extensive knowledge procured him so much fame, that he pretended to have the power of working miracles, and aspired to become the founder of a new religion. Like Pythagoras, he travelled into the remote east, and incorporated in his system many of the tenets that are now held by the Buddhists. During his life, this impostor enjoyed the highest reputation; but, in spite of all the efforts of his disciples, his system, after his death, sank rapidly, into merited oblivion.

SECTION III. From the Extinction of the first Flavian Family to the last of the Antonines.

FROM A. D. 96 To A. D. 193.

DOMIT'IAN was the last of the emperors commonly called the twelve Cæsars he was succeeded by Mar'cus Cocceíus Ner'va, who was chosen to the sovereignty by a unanimous vote of the senate. He was a native of Narn'ia in Umbria, but his family came originally from Creté; and we may therefore regard him as the first foreigner placed at the head of the empire. Though past the age of seventy, he applied himself to the reformation of abuses with all the zeal of youth, punishing informers, redressing grievances, and establishing a milder and more equitable system of taxation. His greatest fault was excessive lenity, which encouraged the profligate courtiers to persevere in their accustomed peculations. The turbulent prætorian guards raised an insurrection, under pretence of avenging the death of Domit'ian, and not only compelled the emperor to abandon such victims to their fury as they demanded, but actually forced him to return them public thanks for their proper and patriotic conduct. This outrageous indignity, however, produced a highly beneficial result. Ner'va, finding himself despised on account of his old age and infirmities, resolved to adopt Mar'cus Ul'pius Trájan, the greatest and most deserving person of his age, as his colleague and successor, though he had many relations of his own, who might, without incurring the imputation of presumption, aspire to that dignity. The news of this appointment was received with great joy by the senate and people, and the soldiers immediately returned to their duty. Soon after, Ner'va, while chiding severely an infamous informer, so heated himself, that he was seized with a fever, which proved mortal, in the sixteenth month of his reign (A. D. 98). He was ranked among the gods by his subjects; and Trájan, out of gratitude, caused several temples to be erected to his memory, both at Rome and in the provinces.

Trájan was by birth a Spaniard, descended from a family that had some claim to royal honors. He was equally great as a ruler, a general, and a man; free from every vice, except an occasional indulgence in wine. After completely abolishing the trials for high treason (judicia majestatis), he restored as much of the old constitution as was consistent with a monarchy; binding himself by oath to observe the laws, reviving the comitia for the election of civic officers, restoring freedom of speech to the senate, and their former authority to the magistrates, Deceb'alus having sent to claim the tribute granted to him by Domit ́ian, Trájan peremptorily refused to be bound by such a disgraceful treaty, and hastily levying a army, marched against the Dacians, who had already crossed the Danube. A dreadful battle was fought, in which the Romans gained a complete victory; but so great was the carnage on both sides, that linen could not be found to dress the wounds of the soldiers, and Trájan tore up his imperial robes to supply that want. Pursuing his advantages, the emperor soon reduced Deceb'alus to such distress, that he was forced to purchase peace by giving up all his engines of war, and acknowledging himself a vassal of the Romans. After sometime, however, the Dacian monarch, unused to servitude,