m wiwmm I vc MOV: .--.^ dAi\^g)l i NEW YORK ^ CHICAGO T5L ^^^lll^i 0%: 4>C^>C4>V ■ *L.:i. DEL. ■ft u- ^ A A I fc * &»i, ?Jo, A "A :Y /> .J\T- Ba< T -' -faoi L> »«&■ A . *w ?'"•""•" u CASUS Hi* * °p«(/, osi a * 8 4 B -> i & 5 u x i x u s TVVfW )vtf»f OS S *jtf» ••' "OANIA ?: ^ .A C K SEa r* V . ,\»»" 3 v * v»v v °' f/ Jli-u'V" ,lO» C> ■a* . * &»»■ r<\ AU|{rt» G ,t \ s /LlU' o>" u v> + \ * E ?- MO Ai»> ' &"V» j. iTt.uIMtHijENG 5, h.l Brief H istory OF ROME ROMAN WOMEN SUPPLICATING THE GODS TO SAVE THE IMPERIAL CITY FROM HANNIBAL. (See puge 160.) BARNES' ONE-TERM SERIES Brief History OF ROME BY JOEL DORMAN STEELE AND ESTHER B. STEELE WITH SELECT READINGS FROM STANDARD AUTHORS NEW YORK CHAUTAUQUA PRESS C. L. S. C. DEPARTMENT The required books of the C. L. S. C are recommended by a Council of six. I„ must, however, be understood that recommendation does not involve an approval by the Council, or by any member of it, of every principle or doc- trine contained in the book recommended. Copyright, 1885, by A. S. Barnes & Co. Copyright, 1885, by Phillips & Hunt, 805 Broadway, New York. SRLf fir s»2 PREFACE s. ----- X!J«fe 5iK THE first part of this book, taken from the Brief History of Ancient Peoples, gives a resume of Roman history, manners, customs, arts, literature, architect- ure, religion, etc. In accordance with the modern method of historical teach- ing, the political portion is limited to the important events, that room may be made for some account of the life of the people. The divisions on Civilization and Manners and Customs are by Mrs. J. Dorman Steele. Their aim is to give prom- inence to the fael that the people of history were men and women Bubjecl to the same hope-, fears, joys, and sufferings irselves, and thus to study their various fortunes in the spirit of human sympathy, rather than of statistical infor- mation. The Scenes in Real Life are the result of a careful study of the monuments in the London, Paris, and Berlin mu- seums, of the ruins in Rome and Pompeii, and of the VI PREFACE. latest authorities on the domestic life of the peoples of other lands aud times. The second part of this book, also prepared by Mrs. Steele, consists of readings, carefully selected from the best writers. The guiding thought in choosing these has been, first, to impress upon the mind of the reader a few of the most important events and characters in Koman history ; and, second, to suggest to him the wide range of literature bearing upon the subject, hoping thus to beget an in- terest that may lead to a familiarity with this field of thought. In making these compilations it has often seemed expe- dient to combine scattered passages, and to condense, interpolate, or modify sentences and paragraphs, in order to render each selection complete by itself; the utmost care has been taken, however, to preserve each author's peculiar style and mode of expression. IBBwe^^- .V-:'- nr~ Mm -•- : ~~yN^ >rt " t~ 1 j "^C^^j . ^^--^^^ _ dfe^Vl^T ^ 48^ i . •„-.-,. ..." : ^ta£2» CONTENTS W. i ' "^ - llP^^^a^ '!■ ^^-v. —1,1-^ ,,«: — '■«» j"* '■ •■^■■■■••■■■■■^■■■•^^^^^•^■■i PART I. PAGE 13 Political History of Rome Introduction 14 Founding of Rome 15 Sabine Invasion and League 18 Etruscan Conquest 21 The Struggle between Patricians and Plebeians 23 The Gallic Invasion 30 The War with Pyrrhus 34 The Punic Wars 37 The Civil Wars 51 Imperial Rome ... 65 Spread of Christianity 73 Invasion of the Barbarians 75 Fall of Rome 79 Civilization 80 Society 80 The Army 81 Arms and Mode of Warfare 82 Literature .... 83 Libraries and Writing Material 88 Education DO Monuments and Art 91 Mwnkks am> Customs 96 Qeneral Character 98 Religion 97 Qames and Festivals 100 Viii CONTENTS. Marriage 102 Burial 104 Dress 105 Scenes in Real Life. — I. A Day in Rome. II. A Roman Home. III. A Triumphal Procession. IV. The last of a Roman Emperor 10G 4. Summary 118 1. Of the Political History 118 2. Of the Civilization 119 3. Reading References 120 4. Chronology 121 PART II. SELECT READINGS IN EOMAN HISTORY. 1. The Origin of the Romans. — Latin Race, Lan- guage, Society, Tribal Divisions, Houses, Cit- izenship, etc Arnold 123 2. Causes of Rome's Early Greatness 128 1. The Campagua and the Tiber Philip Smith 128 2. The Palatine Hill, the Cradle of Rome Merivale 130 3. The Seven Hills, and the Power of Political Confederacy Ihne 131 4. The Rapid Growth of the Imperial City Sheppard 134 5. Rome the Mistress of the Mediterranean Sheppard 135 3. Roman Ballads, the Source of Roman Leg- endary History . . .Mamulay 136 Battle of Lake Regillus Macaiday 140 4. Period of the Punic Waes 145 1. Rome in the Third Century r. c Ihne 145 2. Hannibal 148 1. The Genius of Hannibal Arnold 148 2. Hannibal at the Gates of Rome Livy 149 3. Hasdrubal at the Metaurus Arnold 152 CONTENTS. il PAOB 4. A Roman Atonement, a Suspense and a Thanksgiving. (Before and after the battle of Metaurus) I/me 157 S. Carthage Edinburgh Review 160 4. Cato the Censor Plutarch 162 5. Sumptuary Laws . . .Ihne 164 Debate between Cato and L. Valerius on the Oppian Law Livy 165 5. Period of the Civil Wars 170 1. Rome at the Opening of the Civil Wars 170 1. The New Nobility Philip Smith 170 2. Public Improvements Philip Smith 171 2. The Gracchi Plutarch 172 3. Marius and Sulla Beexly 175 £ Julius Caesar 177 1. The Man Froudc 177 2. The Soldier Froude 178 3. The Orator and Author Froude 179 4. Caesar's Mission Froude 180 6. Pompey the Great Alfred Church 181 6. The First Triumvirate Froude 184 7. Battle of Pharsalia \ F T oude I 187 j Caesar \ 8. Caesar's Death Shaksperc 193 9. Antony, Octavius, and Cicero j £ /m ™ /j [ 197 10. End of ( iato the Stoic Church 205 11. < 'wiiiparison of Cato and Caesar Sullust 208 6. The Augustan Age 209 /. Borne under Augustus Edinburgh Rem ic 209 The Personal A ngnstas Merwale 210 3. Town and < ountry Life Horace 214 4. A Roman Poet's City Home Becker 217 7. Tin. First Chbistiah Century 225 1. Tiberias, Caligula, and Claudius. \ {!/'!''' 7 , , , } I I euevus Pat* renins j The Siege of Jerusalem 229 1. Description of Roman Armies, &c Josephtu 229 X CONTENTS. PAGE 2. How Titus Marched to Jerusalem Josephus 234 3. The Destruction of the City Collier 234 4. The Triumphant Return of Titus Josephus 242 3. The Colosseum Story 247 4. The Eruption of Mount Vesuvius Pliny 259 5. A Satire ou Roman Vices Juvenal 264 8. The Five Good Emperors 266 1. Nerva and Trajan | ££* } 266 2. Pliny's Correspondence with Trajan concern- ing the Christians . . Pliny 267 3. Hadrian and Antinous George Taylor 270 4. Hadrian's Villa at Tibur George Taylor 271 5. The Good Humor of Antoninus Pius Watson 277 6. How a Young Roman Prince Spent his Days. (Marcus Aurelius to his Tutor.). ... WaUon 279 7. The " Meditations " of Marcus Aurelius Watson 280 9. The Decline and Fall op Rome 281 1. The Empire sold to the Highest Bidder White 281 2. The Removal to Constantinople White 284 3. The Three Sacks of the Eternal City Kingsley 286 10. Social, Civil, and Religious Peculiarities of the Romans 290 1. Roman Slavery 290 1. A Slave not a Person, but a Thing 290 2. Penalty for a Murdered Master Tacitus 290 2. Roman Superstition 293 1. Evil Omens, and how they were Averted Livy 293 2. A Senate Dismayed by the Contumacious Liver of an Ox , Livy 295 3. Roman Jurisprudence 296 1. Forms and Ceremonies Gibbon 296 2. Epochs in Jurisprudence " 297 3. The Parent and the Child " 298 4. The Tutor and the Pupil " 299 5. Thefts and Insults " 300 6. Crimes and Punishments " 300 7. Voluntary Exile and Death " 302 1. 2. 3. 4. 5. 6. 7. 8. 9. 10. 11. 12. 13. 14. 16. 16. 17. 18. 19. 20 21. 22. 88. 24. 86. 2G. PAGE Frontispiece — Supplicating the Gods The Roman Wolf Statue 15 The Tabfbian Rock 10 The Temple of Janus 17 Roman Fasceb 18 Ei .man Plebeians of the Early Period 25 Cincinnatus Receiving the Dictatorship 30 Hannibal Crossing toe Alps 41 Portrait of Hannibal 41 Group of Roman Soldiers 50 Portrait of Caius Julius Cssab 58 Tin. Roman Imperial Emblem 01 Cora of Ttbertub Cesar 08 Coin of Ni.ro 70 All 1 1. A, THE H in 78 Roman Const l and Lictors 80 The Sdxge of a City 82 Portraits of Cicero, Virgil, Horace, and Sallust — 86 I -,i ERIOB OF A Roman LIBRARY 89 The Roman Toga 91 Bridge oi Sn angelo and Hadrian's Tomb 98 |{| INS OI' Till. < 'OI.OSS! ,IM 95 A Romas Augur 98 a Gladiatorial Combat ln| Dressing a Roman Bride 108 Rome in the Time oi Augi bi i b Gse w. 107 Xli ILLUSTRATIONS. PAGE 27. A Roman Lamp 112 28. Interior of the House of Pansa 114 29. Plan of the House of Pansa 116 30. Roman Tombs along the Appian Way 122 31. Frontispiece to Part II. — Death of Virginia 123 32. Battle of Lake Regillus 141 33. A Roman Home 145 34. Chariot Race 147 35. Death of Cesar 193 36. Death of Cicero 204 37. The Akch of Titus 252 38. Destruction of Pompeii 261 LIST OF MAPS. Map of the Roman Empire and its Provinces 1 Map of the Early Tribes and Cities of the Italian Pen- insula 20 Map Illustrating the Punic Wars 38 Map of the Divisions of Italia to the Time of Augustus. 65 Map or Plan of Ancient Rome 109 ROME. Part I. 1. THE POLITICAL HISTORY. While Greece was winning its freedom on the fields of Marathon and Plataea, and building up the best civilization the world had then seen ; while Alexander was carrying the Grecian arms and culture over the East ; while the Con- queror's successors were wrangling over the prize he had won ; while the Ptolemies were transplanting Grecian thought, but not Grecian freedom, to Egyptian soil ; — there was slowly growing up on the banks of the Tiber a city that was to found an empire wider than Alexander's, and molding Grecian civilization, art, and literature into new forms, preserve them long after Greece had fallen. Contrast between Greece and Italy. — Grecian history extended from the First Olympiad (77G b. c.) to the Roman Conquest (14G b. c), a period of six centuries, while its real strength lasted only from Marathon to Chseronea, less than a century and a half; Roman history reached from the founding of the city (754 b. c.) to its downfall (47G a. d.), Geof/raphicnl Qiienfionx.—Beo maps, p- " toe of Italy"). What were the limits of the empire at the time of itt< greatest extern? Name (he principal count l • - which it then In- cluded. Locate Alexandria. Astioch. Smyrna. Philippi, Byzantium. 14 ROME. over twelve centuries. The coast of Italy was not, like that of Greece, indented with deep bays, and hence the people were not originally seamen nor colonists. Greece, cut up into small valleys, offered no unity ; it grew around many little centers, and no two leaves on its tree of liberty were exactly alike. But Italy exhibited the unbroken advance of one imperial city to universal dominion. In Greece, there were the fickleness and jealousies of petty states ; in Italy, the power and resources of a mighty nation. Greece lay open to the East; she originally drew her inspiration thence, and in time returned thither the fruits of her civilization. Italy lay open in the opposite direction, and sent the strength of her civilization to regenerate barbarian Europe. The work of the Greek seems to have been to exhibit the triumphs of the mind, and to illustrate the principles of liberty ; that of Rome, to subdue by irresistible force, to manifest the power of law, and to bind the nations together for the com- ing of a new religion. When Greece fell from her high estate, she left nothing but her history, and the achievements of her artists and statesmen. When the Roman Empire broke to pieces, the great nations of Europe sprang from the ruins, and their languages, civilization, laws, and religion took their form from the Mistress of the World. The Early Inhabitants of Italy were mainly of the same Aryan swarm that settled Greece. But they had be- come very different from the Hellenes, and had split into various hostile tribes. Between the Arno and the Tiber lived the Etruscans or Tuscans — a league of twelve cities. These people were great builders, and skilled in the arts. In northern Italy Cisalpine Gaul was inhabited by Celts, akin to those upon the other side of the Alps. Southern Italy contained many prosperous Greek cities. The Italians occupied central Italy. They were divided into the Latins THE POLITICAL HISTORY, 15 and Oscans. The former comprised a league of thirty towns south of the Tiber ; the latter consisted of various tribes liv- ing eastward — Samnites, Sabines, etc.* Rome was founded f (754 b.c.) by the Latins, perhaps * Some authorities group the Samnites, Sabines, Umbrians, Oscans, Sabellians, etc., as the Umbrians ; and others call them the Umbro-Sabellians. They were doubtless closely related. t Of the early history op Rome there is no reliable account, as the records were burned when the city was destroyed by the Gauls (390 B. c), and it was five hundred years after the founding of the city (A. U. C, anno urbis conditce) before the first rude attempt was made to write a continuous narrative of its origin. The names of the early monarchs are probably personifications, rather than the appellations of real persons. The word Rome itself means border, and probably had no relation to the fabled Romulus. The history which was accepted in later times by the Romans and has come down to us is a series of beautiful legends. In the test is given the real history as now received by the best critics, and in the notes the mythical stories. jEneas, favored by the god Mercury and led by his mother Venus, came, after the destruc- tion of Troy, to Italy. There his son Ascanius built the Long White City (Alba Longa). Uis descendants reigned in peace for three hundred years. When it came time, according to the de- cree of the gods, that Rome should be founded, Romt/lds and Remus were born. Their mother, Rhea Silvia, was a priestess of the goddess Vesta, and their father, Mars, the god of war. Amulius, who had nsnrped the Alban throne from their grandfather Numitor, or- dered the babes to be thrown into the Tiber. They were, bow- ever, cast ashore at the foot of Mount Palatine. Here they were nursed by a wolf. One Faustulus passing near was struck by the sight, and carrying the children home brought them up as his own. Romulus and Remus on coming to age discovered their true rank, slew the usurper, and restored their grandfather Numitor to his throne. PomrDim op Komk.— The brothers then determined to found a city near the spot where they had been to wonderfully preserved, and agreed to watch the flight :i^ declared vietnr He accordingly began to mark oni the boundaries with ■ brazen plough, drawn by a bullock and a heifer. As the mud wall arose, Remus in scorn jumped ii • WOLF STATUE. 16 ROME. a colony sent out from Alba Longa, as an outpost against the Etruscans, whom they greatly feared. At an early date it contained about one thousand miserable, thatched huts, surrounded by a wall. Most of the inhabitants were shep- herds or farmers, who tilled the land upon the plain near by, but lived for protection within their fortifications on the Palatine Hill. It is probable that the hills afterward covered by Rome were then occupied by Latins, and that the cities of Latium formed a confederacy, with Alba Longa at the head. over it. Whereupon Romulus slew him, exclaiming, " So perish every one who may try to leap over these ramparts ! " The new city he called Rome after his own name, and became its first king. To secure inhabitants, he opened an asylum for refugees and criminals. But lacking women, he resorted to a curious expedient. A great festival in honor of Neptune was appointed, and the neighboring people were invited to come with their families. In the midst of the games the young Romans rushed among the spectators, and each seizing a maiden, carried her off to be his wife. The indignant parents returned home, but only to come back in arms, and thirsting for vengeance. The Sabines laid siege to the citadel on the Capitoline hill. Tarpeia, the commandant's daughter, dazzled by the glitter of their golden bracelets and rings, promised to betray the fortress if the Sabines would give her " what they wore on their left arms." As they passed in through the gate, which she opened for them in the night, they crushed her beneath their heavy shields. Henceforth that part of the hill was called the Tarpeian Rock, and down its precipice traitors were hurled to death. The next day after Tarpeia's treachery, the battle raged in the valley between the Capi- toline and Palatine hills. In his distress, Romulus vowed a temple to Jupiter. The Ro- mans thereupon turned and drove back their foes. In the flight, Mettius Curtius, the leader of the Sabines, sank with his horse into a marsh, and nearly perished. Ere the contest could be renewed, the Sabine women, with disheveled hair, suddenly rushed between their kindred and new-found husbands, and implored peace. Their entreaties prevailed, the two people united, and their kings reigned jointly. As the Sabines came from Cures, the united people were called Romans and Quiriles. THE TARPEIAN ROCK (FROM AN OLD PRINT). THE POLITICAL HISTORY. 17 The Government was aristocratic. There were a priest- king, a senate, and an assembly. The priest-king offered sacrifices, and presided over the senate. The senate had the right to discuss, and vote ; the assembly, to discuss only. Each original family or house (gens) was represented in the senate by its head. This body was therefore composed of the fathers (patres), and was from the beginning the soul of the rising city ; while throughout its entire history the intelligence, experience, and wisdom gathered in the senate, determined the policy and shaped the public life BovoXOS, after the death of Tatius, became sole king. He divided the people into 3 and commons ; the former he called patricians, and the latter plebeians. The patricians were separated into three tribes— liamnes. Tides, and Luceres. In each of these he made ten divisions or cunce. The thirty curia; formed the assembly of the people. The plebeian- being apportioned as tenants and dependents among the patricians, were called clients. One hundred of the patricians were chosen for age and Wisdom, and BtjledfatAers I patres). After Romulus had reigned thirty-seven years, and done all these things according to the will of the gods, one day, during a violent thunder-storm, he disappeared from sight, and was henceforth worshipped as a god. Nujia 1'oiipn.ius, a pious Sabine, was the second king. Numa was wise from hi- youth, as a sign of which his hair was gray at birth. He was trained by Pythag- oras in all the vast knowledge of the Greeks ; and was wont, in a sacred grove near Rome, to meet the nymph Egeria, who taught liim lessons of wisdom, and how men below should worship the gods above. By pouring wine into the spring whence Faunus and Picus, the gods of the wood, drank, he led them to tell him the secret charm to gain the will of Jupiter. Peace smiled on the land during his happy reign, and the doors of the temple of Janus remained closed. Tuxi^s Hostilius, the third king, loved war as Numa did peace, ne soon pot into a quarrel with Alba Longa. As the armies were about to fight, It wa u agreed to decide the contest by a combat between the Horatii — three brothers In the Roman ranks, and the Cnratil— three brothers in the Alban. They were cousins, and one of the Curntii was engag d to be married to a sister of one of the Horatii. In the fight, two of thenorarii wen ivben the third pretended to run. TheCuratii.be- f-anse of their wounds, followed him slowly, and becoming separated, be turned •boot and slew them one by one. As the victor returned laden with the Bpoils, he met Mi ■] let, who catching sight of the robe which the had embroidered for her lover, burst into teai . Boratius. unable to bear her reproaches, struck her dead, Kayiic. " So perish any Roman woman who laments a foe ! " The murderer was con- demned to die, but tin- peop dor had saved Rome. AHm submit (■ d, but the inhabitants proving tre ichi rous, the city was razed, and the people were taken to Rome and located on ; i hill. The Albans und the Rom«ai> TEMTLF. OF JANUS. 18 ROME. that made Rome the Mistress of the World. The assembly (comitia curiata) consisted of the males belonging to these ancient families. The members voted in ten bodies (curice), each containing the nobles of ten houses (gentes). Sabine Invasion and League. — The Sabines, coming down the valley of the Tiber, captured the Capitoline and Quirinal hills. There Avere frequent conflicts between these near neighbors, but they soon came into an alliance. Finally, the two tribes formed one city, and the people w r ere there- after known as Romans and Quirites. Both had seats in now became one nation as the Sabines and the Romans had become in the days of Romulus. In his old age Tullus sought to find out the will of Jupiter, using the spells of Numa, but angry Jove struck him with a thunderbolt. Ancus Marcius, the grandson of Numa, conquered many Latin cities, and, bringing the inhabitants to Rome, gave them homes on the Aventine hill. He wrote Numa's laws on a white board in the Forum, built a bridge over the Tiber, and erected the Mamertine prison, the first in the city. Tarquinius Prisctjs, the fifth king, was an Etruscan, who came to Rome during the reign of Ancus. As he approached the city, an eagle flew circling above his head, seized his cap, rose high in air, and then returning replaced it. His wife, Tanaquil, being learned in augury, foretold that he was coming to distinguished honor. Her prediction proved true, for he greatly pleased Ancus, who named him as his successor in place of his own children. The people ratified the choice, and the event proved its wisdom. Tarquin built the famous Drain (cloaca), which still remains with scarce a stone dis- placed. He planned the Great Race-Course (Circus Maximus), and its games. He conquered Etruria, and the Etruscans sent him " a golden crown, a sceptre, an ivory chair, a purple toga, an embroidered tunic, and an axe tied in a bundle of rods." So the Romans adopted these emblems of royal power as signs of their do- minion. Now there was a boy named Servius Tullius brought up in the palace, who was a favorite of the king. One day while the child was asleep lambent flames were seen playing about his head. Tanaquil foresaw from this that he was destined to great things. He was hence- forth in high favor ; he married the king's daughter, and became his counsellor. The sons of Ancus fearing lest Servius should succeed to the throne, and being wroth with Tarquin because of the loss of their paternal inheritance, assassinated the king. But Tanaquil re- ported that Tarquin was only wounded, and wished that Servius might govern until he recovered. When the deception was found out, ROMAN FASCES. THE POLITICAL HISTORY. 19 the senate, and the king was taken alternately from each. This was henceforth the mode of Rome's growth ; she ad- mitted her allies and conquered enemies to citizenship, thus adding their strength to her own, and making her victories their victories. Alba Longa, the chief town of the Latin league and the mother-city of Rome, was herself, after a time, destroyed^ and the inhabitants were transferred to Rome. The Alban nobles, now perhaps called Luce res, with the Sabines {Titles), already joined to the original Romans (Ramnes), made the Sekvivs wa* firmly fixed in his seat. He made a league with the Latins, and, as a sign of the union, built to Diana a temple on the Aventine, where both peoples offered annual sacrifices for Rome and Latium. He enlarged Rome, enclosing the seven hills with a stone wall ; and divided the city into four parts — called tribes, after the old division of the people as instituted by Romulus— and all the land about into twenty— ix districts. The son of a bond-maid, Servius favored the common people. This trac shown in his separation of all the Romans— patricians and plebeians— into five claaeee, according to their wealth. These classes were subdivided into centuries, and they were to assemble in this military order when the king wished to consult concerning peace or war, or laws. In the centuriate assembly the richest citizens had the chief influence, for they formed eighty centuries, and the knights (equites) eighteen centuries, each having a vote ; while fewer votes were given to the lower clas:-es. But this arrangement was not unjust, since the wealthy were to provide themselves with heavy armor, and fight in the front rank ; while the poorest citizens, who formed but one century, were exempt from military service. The (wo daughters of Servius were married to the two sons of Tarquinius the Elder. The couples were ill-matched, in each case the good and gentle being mated with the cruel and haughty. Finally, Tullia murdered her husband, and Lucius killed his wife, and these two partners in crime and of like evil instincts, were mar- ried. Lucius now conspired with the nobles against the king. His plana being ripe, one day he went into the 6enate and eat down on the throne. Servius hearing the tumult which aro-e, hastened hither. Whereupon Lucius hurled the king headlong down the steps. A." the old man was tottering homeward the usurper's attendants followed ami murdered him. Tullia hastened to the senate to salute her husband as king. But be, somewhat less brutal than she, ordered her back. While returning, hex driver came to the prostrate body of the kin:,' and was about to turn aside, when she fiercely bade him " Go forward I " The blood of her tether spattered berdn as the chariot rolled over his lifeless remain-. The place took its name from this horrid deed, and was henceforth known as the Wicked Street. Luoroa Tabouuiub, who thus became the seventh and last king, was surnamed Buperbii" (the Proud). He erected massive edifices, compi lllng the workmen to e such pitiable wages thai many in despair committed Buicide, in digging the fcwmdatlf ■ mple to Jupiter, a bleeding head (caput > was discovered. This the kin_' took tn hf .-in ..men that t lie city wa- to become the head of the world, and so travo the name Capltoline to the temple, and the hill on which it stood. Id tin' vaults of this temple w ere deposited the Sibylline bo* cerning which a singular story was told. One da; a sibyl from Cuuue came to the king, offering t'> sell bim for n fabulous sum nine books of prop! ] ed to buy. Whereupon she burned THE POLITICAL HISTORY. 21 number of tribes three ; of curia, thirty ; and of houses, (probably) three hundred. Etruscan Conquest. — The rising city was, in its turn, conquered by the Etruscans, who placed the Tarquins on the throne. This foreign dynasty were builders as well as warriors. They adorned Kome with elegant edifices of Etruscan architecture. They added the adjacent heights to the growing capital, and extended around the " seven-hilled city" a stone wall, which lasted eight centuries. Eome, within one hundred and fifty years after her founding, be- came the head of Latium. three of the books, and demanded (he same price for the remaining six. Tarquin laughed, thinking her mad. But when she burned three more, and still asked the original amount for the other volumes, the king began to reflect, and finally bought the books. They were thereafter jealously guarded, and consulted in all great state emergencies. The Latin town of Gabii was taken by a stratagem. Sextus, the son of Tarquin, pretending to have fled from his father's ill-usage, took refuge in that city. Having secured the confidence of the people, he secretly sent to his father, asking advice. Tarquin merely took the messenger into his garden, and walking to and fro, knocked off with his cane the tallest poppies. Sextus read his father's meaning, and managed to get rid of the chief men of Gabii, when it was easy to give up the place to the Romans. Tarquin wa< greatly troubled by a strange omen, a serpent having eaten the sacri- fice on the royal altar. The two sons of the king were accordingly sent to consult the oracle at Delphi. They were accompanied by their cousin Junius, called Brutus because of hie silliness, which however was only assumed, through fear of the tyrant who had already killed his brother. The king's sons made the Delphic god costly presents : Brutus brought only a simple staff, but, unknown to the rest, this was hollow and filled with gold. Having executed their commission, the young men : the priestess which of them should be king. The reply was, "The one who flr-t kisses bis mother." On reaching Italy, Brutus pretending to fall, kissed the ground, the common mother of u^ :ill. A the royal princes and Tarquinius Collatlnus were one day feasting in the camp, n dispute arose concerning the industry of tln-ir wives. To decide it ihey at once ed homeward throngh the darkness. They found the king's daughters at a Lncretia, the wife of Colladnns, was in the midst of her slaves, distafl in hand. Collatlnus was exultant ; bnt soon after Lncretia, stung by the insults is, killed herself, calling upon her friends to avenge her fat'-. Brutus, casting off the mash of madness, drew forth the dagger she used, and i tn kill S'-xtn : ii ■ i] i. 1 1- I race. The oath was repeated as the red blade passed from | land. The people rose In Indignation, and drove the Tarquin- from the city. Henceforth the Romans hated the very name of king. Kome now became al Iter it had heen governed by kings for i wo hundred and forty* The peo lor rulers two consuls, elected yearlj ; .- ■ • i » l to offer facriflce* in place of the king, I ted a priest who should have uo power in the state. 22 n o m e . The Targuins were the friends of the common people (plebs), who already began to be ill treated by the nobles. In order to help the plebs, Servius divided all the Romans into five classes according to their property, and these again into one hundred and ninety-three centuries or companies. The people were directed to assemble by centuries (comitia centuriata), either to light or to vote. This body, in fact, constituted an army, and was called together on the field of Mars by the blast of the trumpet. To the new centuriate assembly was given the right of selecting the king and enacting the laws. The king was deprived of his power as Brutus and CoLLATrNTjs were the first consuls. Soon after this the two sons of Brutus plotted to bring Tarquin back. Their father was sitting ou the judgment-seat when they were brought in for trial. The stern old Roman, true to duty, sentenced both to death as traitors. Tarquin now induced the Etruscans of the towns of Veii and Tarquinii to aid him, and they accordingly marched toward Rome. The Romans went forth to meet them. As the two armies drew near, Aruns, son of Tarquin, catching sight of Brutus, rushed forward, and the two enemies fell dead pierced by each other's spears. Night alone checked the terrible contest which ensued. During the darkness the voice of the god Silvanus was heard in the woods, saying that Rome had beaten since the Etruscans had lost one man more than the Romans. The Etruscaus fled in dismay. The matrons of Rome mourned Brutus for a whole year because he had so bravely avenged the wrongs of Lucretia. Next came a powerful army of Etruscans under Porsenna, king of Clusium. He captured Janiculum (a hill just across the Tiber), and would have forced his way into the city with the fleeing Romans had not Horatius Codes, with two brave men, held the bridge while it was cut down behind them. As the timbers tottered, his com- panions rushed across. But he kept the enemy at bay until the shouts of the Romans told him the bridge was gone, when, with a prayer to father Tiber, he leaped into the stream, and, amid a shower of arrows, swam safely to the bank. The people never tired of praising this hero. They erected a statue in his honor, and gave him as much land as he could plow in a day. " And still his name sounds stirring Unto the men of Rome, As the trumpet-blast that cries to them To charge the Volscian home. And wives still pray to Jnno For boys with hearts as bold As his who kept the bridge so well In the brave days of old.'' —Macaulay's Lays. Por=enna now laid siege to the city. Then Mucius, a young noble, went to the Etruscan camp to kill Porsenna. By mistake he slew the treasurer. Being dragge.l before the king and threatened with death if he did not confess his accomplices, he thrust his right hand into an altar-fire, and held it there until it was burned to a 509 B.C.] THE POLITICAL HISTORY. 23 priest, this office being conferred on the chief pontiff. The higher classes, aggrieved by these changes, at last combined with other Latin cities to expel their Etruscan rulers. Kings now came to an end at Rome. This was in 509 b. c. — a year after Hippias was driven out of Athens The Republic was then established. Two chief magis- trates, consuls (at first called praetors), were chosen, it being thought that if one turned out badly the other would check him. The constitution of Servius was adopted, and the Benate, which had dwindled in size, was restored to its ideal number, three hundred, by the addition of one hundred and sixty-four life-members (conscripti) chosen from tbe richest of the knights (equites), several of these being plebeians. The Struggle between the Patricians and the Plebeians was the characteristic of the first two hundred years of the republic. The patricians were the descendants of the firs! settlers. Tbey were rich, proud, exclusive, and d smanded all the offices of the government. Each of these nobles was supported by a powerful body of clients or dependant . The plebeians were the newer families. Tiny wen- generally poor, forbidden the rights of citizens, i [). Pcnenna, amazed at his firmness, gave him his liberty. Mucins thereupon lold the king that three hundred Koman youths had sworn to accomplish his death. Porsenna, alarmed lor his life, m ■ with Borne. Among the hostages given by Borne was Clcelia, a noble maiden, who. escaping from the Etruscan camp, swam (he Tiber. The Romans sent her back, but Porsenna, admiring her couruge, set her juin next secured a league of thirty Latin cities to aid in bis restoration. In • ney the Romans appoint) d a dictator, who should possess absolute power six months. Agreal battle was foughl at / Like most ancient con- tests, It began with a counters. First, Tarquin and the Soman ir fought. Then, the Latin dl or and master of horse. Finally, to blows. Tbe Romans being worsted, their dictator vowed a •'or and Pollux. Budde: Ij the Twin Brethren, taller and fairer than men, on mow-white bora - and < a l In r re ormoi en fighting al hi- -hie. i em. Tarqnin pave op bis attempt in ,-air. That night two riders, their hoi es wet with foam and blood, rode up to a fountain before the temple <>f Ve ti bed "IT in the cool water the traces of tbe battle, told ctory had been won over the Latin 24 HOME. [494B.C. and not allowed to intermarry with the patricians. Obliged to servo in the army without pay, during their absence their farms remained untilled, and were often ravaged by the enemy. Porced, when they returned from war, to borrow money of the patricians for seed, tools, and food, if they failed in their payments they could be sold as slaves, or cut in pieces for distribution among their creditors. The prisons connected with the houses of the great patricians were full of plebeian debtors. Secession to Mons Sacer. — Tribunes (494 b.c). — The condition of the plebs became so unbearable that they finally marched off in a body and encamped on the Sacred Mount, where they determined to build a new city, and let the patricians have the old one for themselves. The patricians,* in alarm, settled the difficulty by the appoint- ment of tribunes of the people, whose persons were to be sacred, and whose houses, standing open day and night, were to be places of refuge. To these new officers was after- ward given the power of veto (I forbid) over any law passed by the senate and considered injurious to the plebs. Such was the exclusiveness of the senate, however, that the trib- unes could not enter the senate-house, but were obliged to remain outside, and shout the "veto" through the open door. There were now two distinct peoples in Rome, each witli its own interests and officers. This is well illustrated in the fact that the agreement made on Mons Sacer was concluded in the form of an international treaty, with the usual oaths and sacrifices; and that the magistrates of the plebs were * Old Menenius Agrippa produced a great effect upon the plebeians by telling them the following fable : Once upon a time the various organs of the body becoming I ired of supporting the stomach in idleness, ' : struck work." The legs stopped ; the ham's would not carry ; and the teeth would not chew. But after a litlle they all began tn fail for lack of food, and then they fouDd how much they depended on the stomach, in 6pite of its apparent laziness. 494 B.C.] THE POLITICAL HISTORY. 25 ROMAN PLEBEIANS. declared to be inviolate, like the ambassadors of a foreign power. The three popular assemblies which ex- isted in Rome, with their peculiar organiza- tion and powers, mark- ed as many stages of constitutional growth in the state. The assembly of curies (comitia curiata), the oldest and lung the only one, was based on tin' patrician separation into tribes (Ramnes, Titics, and Luceres). No plebeian had a voice in this gathering, and it early lost its influence and became a relic of the past. The assembly of centuries (comitia centuriata) came in with the Etruscan kings, and was essentially a military organization. Based on classes of the entire population, it gave the plebeians their first voice though a weak one, in public affairs. The assembly of iht tribes (comitia tributa), introduced with the rising of the plebs, was based on the new separation into tribes, i. e., wards and districts. The patricians were here excluded as ■ plebeians had been at firsl ; and Rome, which began with a purely aristocratic assembly, had now a purely demo- f rat if: one. The original number of the Local tribes was twenty in all — four city wards and Bixteen country districi Wiih the growth of the republic and the acquisition of new territory, the number was increased to thirty-five (".'11 B.C.). 26 ROME. [486 b. c. The Eoman citizens were then so numerous and so scattered that it was impossible for them to meet at Eome to elect officers and make laws ; but still the organization was kept up till the end of the republic. An Agrarian Lav/ {ager, a field) was the next measure of relief granted to the common people. It was customary for the Romans when they conquered a territory to leave the owners a part of the land, and to take the rest for them- selves. Though this became public property, the patricians used it as their own. The plebeians, who bore the brunt of the fighting, naturally thought they had the best claim to the spoils of war, and with the assertion of their civil rights came now a claim for the rights of property.* Spurius Cassias f (486 B. a), though himself a patrician, secured a law ordaining that part of the public lands should be divided among the poor plebeians, and the patricians should pay rent for the rest. But the patricians were so strong that they made the law a dead letter, and finally, on the charge of wishing to be king, put Spurius to death, and leveled his house to the ground. The agitation, how- ever, still continued. The Decemvirs (451 b. a). — The tribunes, through ignorance of the laws, which were jealously guarded as the exclusive property of the patricians, were often thwarted in their measures to aid the common people. The plebs of Eome, therefore, like the common people of Athens nearly two hundred years before this, demanded that the laws should be made public. After a long struggle the senate yielded. Ten men (decemvirs) were appointed * Property at that early date consisted almost entirely of land and cattle. The Latin word tor money, pecunia (cattle), indicates this ancient identity. t Spurius was the author of the famous League of the Romans, Latins, and Her- nicanx, by means of which the ^Equians and Volscians were Ion;; held in check. The men of the Latin League fought side by side until after the Gallic invasion. THUS ONLY FREE. (See page 27.) 451 B. C] THE POLITICAL II I S T E Y . 27 to revise and publish the laws. Meanwhile the regular government of consuls and tribunes was suspended. The decemvirs did their work well, and compiled ten tables of laws that were acceptable. Their year of office having expired, a second body of decemvirs was chosen to write the rest of the laws. The senate, finding them favorable to the plebeians, forced the decemvirs to resign ; introduced into the two remaining tables regulations obnoxious to the com- mon people; and then endeavored to restore the consular government without the tribuneship. The plebs a second time seceded to the Sacred Mount, and the senate was forced to reinstate the tribunes.* The Laws of the Twelve Tables remained as the -ult of the decemviral legislation. They were engraved on blocks of wood or ivory, and hung up in the * The account of this transaction given in Livy's ITiMonj is doubtless largely legendary. The story run- a- follows ; Three ambassadors were appointed to visit Athens (this was daring tie- " Age of Pericles "), and examine the laws of Solon. On their return the decemvirs were chosen. They were to be supreme, and the consuls, tribunes etc., resigned. The new rulers did admirably during one term, and com- n table* of excellent laws that were adopted by the assembly of centuries. ]i emvirs were therefore chosen for a second term. Appius Claudius was the most popular of the fir^t body of decemvir-, and the only one re-elected. Now, all was quickly changed ; the ten men became at once odious tyrants, and Appius Claudius r of all. Each of the decemvirs was attended by twelve lictors, bearing the [h th axes wherever he went in public'. Two new tables of oppressive laws, confirming the patricians in their hated privileges, were added to the former tables. When tie- year expin d the decemvirs called no new election, ami held their office in defiance of tie- senate and th'- people. No man'- life was safe, and many leading persons Bed from Home. The cri-i- Boon e a mc. One day. seeing a beautiful maiden, the daughter of a plebeian named Virgiuius eros-iug the Forum, Claudius resolved to m •!<<■ her bis own. So he directed to seize her on the charge that she was child of one of hi- -lave-, and then to bring tie' case before the decemvirs for trial. Claudius, of con ed In favor of his client. Thereupon Virginias drew his daughter one side from the Judgment-seat as if to bid her farewell. Suddenly catching up a butcher's knife from a block near by, he plunged it. into hi-" daughter's heart, crying, " Thus only can I make thee free I M Then brandishing the red blade, be hastened t" thi I roused tie' Boldiers, who marched to the city, breathing rengeance. A- over tie- body of the injured Lncretia, so again over the corpse of the spotless Virginia the popular.- swore thai Borne should be free. The plebeians Hocked ont once more to the Sacred Mount. The decemvirs were forced to resign. Tho tribnnef estored to power. Appius, in despair, committed suicide, (The vi r-ion of thi- -f.rv given in the text above Is th.it of Inm-, lie' great (J'-rman critic, in in- new work on Early Bomt.) 28 ROME. [451 B.C. Forum, where all could read them. Henceforth they con- stituted the foundation of the written law of Rome, and every school-boy, as late as Cicero's time, learned them by heart. Continued Triumph of the Plebs. — Step by step the plebeians pushed their demand for equal privileges with the patricians. First, the Valerian and Horatian decrees (449 b. a), so called from the consuls who prepared them, made the resolutions passed by the plebeians in the assembly of the tribes binding equally upon the patricians. Next, the Canuleian decree (445 B. c.) abolished the law against intermarriage. The patricians, finding that the plebeians were likely to get hold of the consulship, compromised by abol- ishing that office, and by choosing, through the assembly of centuries, from patricians and plebeians alike, three military tribunes with consular powers. But the patricians did not act in good faith, and by innumerable arts managed to cir- cumvent the plebs, so that during the next fifty years (until 400 b. c.) there were twenty elections of consuls instead of military tribunes, and when military tribunes were chosen they were always patricians. Meanwhile the patricians also secured the appointment of censors, who were to be chosen from their ranks exclusively, and who, besides taking the census, were to classify the people and exercise a general supervision over their morals. So vindictive was the struggle now going on, that the nobles did not shrink from murder to remove a promising plebeian candidate.* But the plebs * Thus* the Fabii, a powerful patrician house (one of the consuls for seven succes- sive years was a Fabius"), having taken the side of the plebs, and finding that they could not thereafter live in peace at Rome, left the city and founded an outpost on the Cremera, below Veii, where they could still serve their country. This little body of three hundred and six soldiers— including the Fabii, their clients and dependants— sustained for two years the full brunt of the Veientiue War. At length they were enticed into an ambuscade, and all were slain except one little hoy, the ancestor of the Fabius afterward so famous. During the massacre the consular army was near by, but patrician hate would not permit a rescue. Again, during a severe famine at Rome (440 B. a), a rich plebeian, named Spariua 367 b. c.j THE POLITICAL HISTOKY. 29 held firm, and finally secured the famous Licinian Rogation (367 B.C.), which ordered, — " I. That, in case of debts on which interest had been met, the sum of the interest paid should be deducted from the principal, and the remainder become due in three successive years. This bankrupt law was designed to aid the poor, now overwhelmed with debt, and so in the power of the rich creditor. II. That no citizen should hold more than five hundred jugera (about three hun- dred and twenty acres) of the public land, and should not feed on the public pastures more than a limited number of cattle, under penalty of fine. III. That henceforth consuls, not consular tribunes, should be elected, and that one of the two consuls must be plebeian. IV. That instead of two patricians being chosen to keep the Sibylline books, there should be ten men, taken from both orders." For years after its passage the patricians struggled to pre- vent the decree from going into effect. But the common people finally won. They never lost the ground they had gained, and secured, in rapid succession, the dictatorship, the censorship, the prsetorship, and (300 B.C.) the right to he pontilf and augur. Rome, at last, nearly two centuries after the republic began, possessed a democratic govern- ment. "Civil concord," says Weber, "to which a temple was dedicated at this time, brought with it a period of civic virtue and beroic greatness." Foreign Wars. — The fall of the monarchy left Rome in weakness. Her old supremacy over Latium was gone, and often, while the long and fierce struggle which we have ju-t considered was going on within bur walls, her armies were fighting without, sometimes for the very existence of the city. There was a constant succession of wars* with Mi Una, Bold grain to the poor at a very low rate. The patricians, finding that he likely to be a successful candidate for "Dice, accused him of wishing t<> be king, un'l ;,. he reft ed to appear before his enemies for trial, Abala, the master of horse, -lew him in the Forum, with 1 1 i — ■ own hand, * Various beautiful legends cluster around tie e eventful war-ami theybave almost the dignity, though, we cannol tell bow much they contain of the truth, of history. c,i:i , i ■,-,r- While tie- Romans were besieging Corioli, tie Vol clans made a sailv, bul ■ ere defeat* d. In the i agerneaaof the pursuit, Cains Marclus followed tin" my inside the gates, which wi I upon him Bul with his good sword he hewed hi It, and let in the Romans. So the city was taken, and the hero *0 ROME. [390 B. c. the Latins, JSquians, Volscians, Etruscans, Veientes, and Samnites. The Gallic Invasion. — In the midst of these contests a horde of Gauls crossed the Apennines, and spread like a devastating flood over central Italy. Eome was taken, and nearly all the city burned (390 B.C.). The invaders con- received the name Coriolanus. Afterward there was a famine at Rome, and grain arriving from Sicily, Caius would not. sell any to the plebs unless they would submit to the patricians. Thereupon the tribunes sought to bring him to trial, but he fled and took refnge amon« the Volsci. Soon after, he returned at the head of a great army and laid siege to Rome. The city was in peril. As a final resort, his mother, wife, and children, with many of the chief women, clad in the deepest mourning, went forth and fell at his feet. Unable to resist their entreaties, Coriolanus ex- claimed, " Mother, thou hast saved Eome, but lost thy son." Having given the order to retreat, he is said to have been slain by the angry Volsci. CINCINNATI'S RECEIVING THE DICTATORSHIP. Cincinnatus. — One day news came that the ^Equians had surrounded the consul filinucius and his army in a deep valley, whence they could not escape. There seemed no one in Rome fit to meet this emergency except Titus Quinctius, surnamed Cincin- natus or the Curly-haired, who was now declared dictator. The officers who went to 390 B.C.] THE POLITICAL HISTORY. 31 sented to retire only on the payment of a heavy ransom. So deep an impression was made upon the Eomans by the size, strength, courage, and enormous number of these bar- barians that they thenceforth called a war with the Gauls a tumult, and kept in the treasury a special fund for such a catastrophe. The final effect of all these wars was beneficial to Eome. The plebeians, who formed the strength of her army, frequently carried their point against the patricians by refusing to fight until they got their rights. These long struggles, too, matured the Roman energy, and developed announce his appointment found him plowing on his little farm of four acres, which he tilled himself. He called for his toga, that he might receive the commands ol the senate with doe respect, when he was at once hailed dictator. Repairing t () the city, he assembled freeb troops, bidding each man carry twelve wooden stakes. That very night he surrounded the M |Uian-, 7, we read of the que toi oi the navy, but the vestjclt) were umull, and Home wan a land-power until •J'jOb. c. TtyL REGION 07 A / _ " dJ c au THE WARS WITH /^ _ , MITHRIDATES. / % y ->. Scale of English Miles f* -p F T W S S & -T j- *'«, ^Sjft* £, - ? a P,T k«A*' * v " 6 ^^, ■■■■» *>* ^' -.c^ lC,a lignmocrrt (Bwi'i / RHODES^""""*^ 1 v CYPRUS M EJ)ITER11A NMA N Alllioi'll •Nisibis ' o n i a_. jjforl idttf 3, _ Uazuca b]t "- H 1 > 256 B. C.J THE POLITICAL HISTORY. 39 the Carthaginians in two great naval battles within four years. Romans Cross the Sea. — Under Regulus the Komans then crossed the Mediterranean, and " carried the war into Africa." The natives, weary of the oppressive rule of the Carthaginians, welcomed their deliverers. Carthage seemed about to fall, when the presence of one man turned the tide. Xanthippus, a Spartan general, led the Carthaginians to victory, destroyed fche Roman army, and captured Regulus.* After this the contest dragged on for several years ; but a signal victory near Panormus, in Sicily, gave the Romans the ascendency in that island, and finally a great naval defeat off the Jilgusa Islands cost the Carthaginians the empire of the sea. Carthage was forced to give up Sicily, and pay three thousand two hundred talents of silver (about four million dollars) toward the expenses of the w T ar. The temple of Janus was shut for the first time since the days of Numa. Rome's first province was Sicily. This was governed, like all the possessions which she afterward acquired outside of Italy, by magistrates sent each year from Rome. The people, being made not allies but subjects, were required to pay an annnal tribute. * It is said that Regains, while at the height of his success, asked permission to return home to hie little (arm, as a slave had run away with the tools, and his family was likely to suffer with want daring his absence. After his capture, the Carl ha- ginians sent him to Rome with proposals of peace, making him swear to return in case the condition- were no) accepted. On his arrival, he refused to enter the city, taring that be was no longer a Roman citizen, but only a Carthaginian slave. Having stated the terms of the proposed peace, to the amazement of all, he urged their re- jection, at unworthy of the glory and honor of Rome. Then, without visiting his in: tamed away from weeping w Ife and children, and went back to his prison au'am The em thaginlans cul off his eyelids, and exposed him to the burn- oplc -mi ; and then thrast htm Into a barrel studded with sharp nails. 8<> perished this martyr to his word and hll I SOUUl I v.— Historic research throws doabl on the truth of this Instance of Punic cruelty, and asserts that the story was invented to excuse the barbarity with which the wife of Regains treated some Car- thaginian captives who fell into her hand- ; but the name of Regulus lives as the per- con ideation of sincerity and patriotic devotion. L- 1KJ JJ. \_>. Second Punic War (218-201 B.C.). — During the ensuing peace of twenty-three years, Hamilcar (surnamed Barca, lightning), the great statesman and general of Carthage, built up an empire in southern Spain, and trained an army for a new struggle with Eomc. He hated that city with a perfect hatred. When he left home for Spain, he took with him his son Hannibal, a boy nine years old, having first made him swear at the altar of Baal always to be the enemy of the Eomans. That childish oath was never forgotten, and Hannibal, like his father, had but one purpose — to humble his country's rival. When twenty-six years of age, he was made commander-in-chief of the Carthaginian army. Pushing the Punic power northward, he captured Sacjuntum. As that city was her ally, Rome promptly declared war against Carthage.* On the receipt of this welcome news, Hannibal, with the daring of genius, resolved to scale the Alps, and carry the contest into Italy. Invasion of Italy. — In the spring of the year 218 B. c, he set out f from New Carthage. Through hostile tribes, over the swift Rhone, he pressed forward to the foot of the Alps. Here dangers multiplied. The mountaineers rolled down rocks upon his column, as it wearily toiled up the steep ascent. Snow blocked the way. At times the crack of a whip would bring down an avalanche from the impending heights. The men and horses slipped on the sloping ice-fields, and slid over the precipices into the awful crevasses. New roads had to be cut through the solid rock by hands benumbed with * An embassy came to Carthage demanding that Hannibal should be surrendered. This being refused, M. Fabius, folding up his toga as if it contained something, exclaimed, " I bring you peace or war; take which you will 1 " The Carthaginians answered, " Give us which you wish ! " Shaking open his toga, the Roman haughtily replied, " I give you war 1 " " So let it be 1 " shouted the assembly. t Before starting on this expedition, Hannibal went with his immediate attendants to Gades, and offered sacrifice in the temples for the success of the great work to which he had been dedicated eighteen years before, and to which he had been looking forward so long. 218 B.C.] THE POLITICAL HISTORY. 41 cold and weakened with hunger. When at last he reached the smiling plains of Italy, only twenty-six thousand men were left of the one hundred and two thousand with whom he began the perilous march five months before. S? V HANNIBAL CROSSING THE ALPS. Baltics of Trebia, Trasime'nus, and Cari- na}. — Arriving at the river Trebia in Decem- ber, Hannibal found the Romans, under Sempronius, read; to dispute his progri One Btormy morning, he scut the light Nuraidiuu cavalry over to 42 ROME. [218 B. c. make a feigned attack on the enemy's camp. The Romans fell into the snare, and pursued the horsemen back across the river. When the legions, stiff with cold and faint with hunger, emerged from the icy waters, they found the Carthaginian army drawn up to receive them. Undismayed by the sight, they at once joined battle ; but, in the midst of the struggle, Hannibal's brother Mago fell upon their rear with a body of men which had been hidden in a reedy ravine near by. The Eomans, panic-stricken, broke and fled. The fierce Gauls now flocked to Hannibal's camp, and remained his active allies during the rest of the war. The next year Hannibal moved southward.* One day in June, the consul Flaminius was eagerly pursuing him along the banks of the Lake Trasimenus. Suddenly, through the mist, the Carthaginians poured down from the heights, and put the Romans to rout.f Fabius was now appointed dictator. Keeping on the heights where he could not be attacked, he followed Hanni- bal everywhere, J cutting off his supplies, but never hazarding a battle. The Romans became impatient at seeing their country ravaged while their army remained inactive, and Varro, the consul, offered battle on the plain of Cannes. Hannibal drew up the Carthaginians in the shape of a half- moon having the convex side toward the enemy, and tipped * In the low flooded grounds along the Arno the army suffered fearfully. Ilanni- hal himself lost an eye by inflammation, and, it was said, his life was saved by the last remaining elephant, which carried him out of the swamp. t So fierce was this struggle that none of the combatants noticed the shock of a severe earthquake which occurred in the midst of the battle. % While Hannibal was ravaging the rich plains of Campania, the wary Fabius seized the passes of the Apennines, through which Hannibal must recross into Sam- ninm with his booty. The Carthaginian was apparently caught in the trap. But his mind was fertile in devices. He fastened torches to the horns of two thousand oxen, and sent men to drive them up the neighboring heights. The Romans at the defiles thinking the Carthaginians were trying to escape over the hills, ran to the defence. Hannibal quickly seized the passes, and marched through with his army. 216 B. C.J THE POLITICAL HISTORY. -iS the horns of the crescent with his veteran cavalry. The massive legions quickly broke through his weak center. But as they pressed forward in eager pursuit, his terrible horse- men fell upon their rear. Hemmed in on all sides, the Romans could neither fight nor flee. Tw T enty-one tribunes, eighty senators, and over seventy thousand men fell in that horrible massacre. After the battle, Hannibal sent to Car- thage a bushel of gold rings — the ornaments of Eoman knights. At Borne all was dismay. " One-fifth of the citizens able to bear arms had fallen within eighteen months, and in every house there was mourning."' All southern Italy, including Capua, the city next in importance to the capital, joined Hannibal. Hannibal's Reverses. — The tide of Hannibal's victories, however, ebbed from this time. The Roman spirit rose in the hour of peril, and, while struggling at home for exist- ence, the senate sent armies into Sicily, Greece, and Spain. The Latin cities remained true, not one revolting to the Car- thaginians. The Roman generals had learned not to fight in tbe open field, where Hannibal's cavalry and genius were so fatal to tbem, but to keep behind walls, since Hannibal had no skill in sieges, and his army was too small to take their strongholds. Hannibal's brother Hasdrubal was bus^ fighting the Romans in Spain, and could send him no aid. The Carthaginians also were chary of Hannibal, and refused him help. For thirteen years longer Hannibal remained in Italy, but he was at last driven into Bruttium — the toe of the Italian boot. Never did his genius shine more brightly. Tie con- tinually sallied out to protect his allies, or to plunder and devastate. Once he w,\ in tbe text as the destroyer of Carthage, was the boo of Lucius JSmillu* PauUw, the eonqnerot of Macedon (p. 40), and was adopted by P. Scipio, the BOB of Africanus Major. (3) Lucitu CorruikuB 8dpio Asiatlcus, who defeated Antiochus (p. 47), and hence received the last title, was the brother of Africanus Major. ♦ \\ Ik ii Bdplo beheld the ruin of Carthage, he is said to have burst into tears, and turning to Polybina the historian, quoted the lines of nomer: " The day will come when Troy shall sink in fire And Priam's people with himself expire." And. reflecting on the mutations of time, declared that Hector's words mifht yet prore true of Rome herself. 46 ROME. [146 B. c. Rome was at last victor over her great rival. It was de- cided that Europe was not to be given over to Punic civiliza- tion and the intellectual despotism of the East. Wars in Macedon and Greece. — While Hannibal was hard-pressed in Italy he made a treaty with Philip, king of Macedon, and a descendant of Alexander. In the First War which ensued (214-207 B. a), not much of importance oc- curred, but Rome had begun to mix in Grecian affairs, and that, according to her wont, meant conquest by and by. The Second War (200-197 b. 0.) was brought about by Philip's attacking the Roman allies. The consul Flaminius now entered Greece, proclaiming himself the champion of Hellenic liberty. Transported with this thought, nearly all Hellas ranged itself under the eagles of Rome. Philip was overthrown at the battle of Cynoscephalce (197 B.C.), and forced to accept a most degrading peace. After Philip's death, his son Perseus was indefatigable in his efforts to restore Macedon to its old-time glory. The Third War (171-168 B.C.) culminated in the battle of Pydna, where the famous Roman general Paullus van- quished forever the cumbersome phalanx, and ended the Macedonian monarchy. One hundred and fifty-six years after Alexander's death, the last king of Macedon was led in triumph by a general belonging to a nation of which, probably, the Conqueror had scarcely heard. The results of these wars were reaped within a brief period. The Federal Unions of Greece were dissolved. Macedon was divided into four commonwealths, and finally, under pre- tence of a rebellion, made a Roman province (148 B. a). In the same year that Carthage fell, Corinth,* the great seaport * Mummius, the consul who took Corinth, which Cicero termed " The eye of Hellas," sent its wealth of statues and pictures to Rome. It is said that, ignorant of the unique value of these works of art, he agreed with the captains of the vessels to fur- nish others in place of any they might lose on the voyage. One cannot but remem THE POLITICAL HISTORY. 47 of the Eastern Mediterranean, was sacked, and Greece her- self, after being amused for a time with the semblance of freedom, was organized into the province of Achaia. Syrian War (192-190 B.C.). — "Macedon and Greece proved easy stepping-stones for Eome to meddle in the affairs of Asia." At this time Anti'ochus the Great governed the kingdom of the Seleucidae, which then extended from the iEgean, beyond the Tigris. His capital, Antioch on the Orontes, was the seat of Greek culture, and one of the chief cities of the world. He was not unwilling to measure swords with the Eomans, and received Hannibal at his court with marked honor. During the interval between the second and third Macedonian wars the iEtolians, thinking themselves badly used by the Romans, invited Antiochus to come over to their help. He despised the wise counsel and military skill of Hannibal, and, appearing in Greece with only ten thousand men, was easily defeated by the Eomans at Thermopylae. The next year, L. Scipio (note, p. 45) fol- lowed him into Asia, and overthrew his power on the field of Magnesia (190 b. c). The great empire of the Seleucidas now shrank to the kingdom of Syria. Though the Eomans did not at present :in- formal control of their conquest, yet, by a shrewd policy of weakening the powerful states, playing off small againsl one another, supporting one of the two rival fac- tions, and favoring their allies, they taught the Greek cities in Asia Minor to look up to the great central power on the Tiber just as, by the same tortuous course, they had led C6 and Macedon to do. Thus the Eomans aided Per- gamus, and enlarged its territories, because its king helped them against Antiochus. Finally, when Attains III. died, ber, however, Uiat this ignorant plebeian maintained his honesty, and kept none of the ricli ipoils fur himself 4$ ROME. [133 B.C. he left that country by will to the Romans. So Rome got her first Asiatic province (133 B.C.). War in Spain. — After the capture of Carthage and Corinth, Rome continued her efforts to subdue Spam. The rugged nature of the country, and the bravery of the inhab- itants, made the struggle a doubtful one. The town of Numantia held out long against the younger Scipio (note, p. 45). Finally, in despair, the people set fire to the place and threw themselves into the flames. When the Romans forced an entrance through the walls, they found silence and desolation within. Spain now became a Roman province — the same year of Attalus' bequest, and thirteen years aftei the fall of Carthage and Corinth. The Roman Empire (133 b. c.) included southern Europe from the Atlantic to the Bosporus, and a part of northern Africa ; while Syria, Egypt, and Asia Minor were practically its dependencies. The Mediterranean Sea was a " Roman lake," and Rome was mistress of the civilized ivorld. Henceforth her wars were principally with barbarians. Effect of these Conquests. — Italy had formerly been covered with little farms of a few acres each, which the in- dustrious, frugal Romans cultivated with their own hands. When Hannibal swept the country with fire and sword, he destroyed these comfortable, rural homes throughout entire districts. The people, unable to get a living, flocked to Rome. There, humored, flattered, and fed by every dema- gogue who wished their votes, they sank into a mere mob. The Roman race itself was fast becoming extinct.* It had * " At the time when all the kings of the earth paid homage to the Romans, this people was becoming extinguished, consumed by the double action of eternal war, and of a devouring system of legislation ; it was disappearing from Italy. The Ro- man, passing his life in camps, beyond the seas, rarely returnei to visit his little field. He had in most cases, indeed, no land or shelter at all, nor any other domestic goda than the eagles of the legions. An exchange was becoming established between Italy and the provinces. Italy sent her children to die in distant lands, and received iu THE POLITICAL HISTORY. 49 perished on its hundred battle-fields. Rome was inhabited by a motley population from all lands, who poorly filled the place of her ancient heroes. The captives in these various wars had been sold as slaves, and the nobles, who had secured most of the land, worked it by their unpaid labor. Everywhere in the fields were gangs of men, whose only crime was that they had fought for their homes, tied together with chains ; and, tending the flocks, were gaunt, shaggy wretches, carrying the goad in hands which had once wielded the sword. The riches of Syracuse, Carthage, Macedonia, Greece, and Asia poured into Eome. Men who went to foreign wars as poor soldiers came back with enormous riches — the spoils of sacked cities. The nobles were rich beyond every dream of republican Rome. But, meanwhile, the poor grew poorer yet, and the curse of poverty ate deeper into the state. A few wealthy families governed the senate and filled all the offices. Thus a new nobility, founded on money alone, had grown up and become all-powerful. It was customary for a candidate to amuse the people with costly games, and none but the rich could afford the expense. The consul, at the end of his year of office, was usually appointed governor of a province, where out of an oppressed people he could recompense himself for all his losses. To keep the Roman populace in good humor, he would send back gifts of grain, and, if any complaint was made of his injustice and robbery, he could easily bribe the judges and senators, who were anxious only for the same chance which he had. compensation millions of slave?. Thus a new people succeeded to the absent or Dyed Roman people. Slaves took the place of masters, proudly occupied the Forum, and iii their fantastic atnrnalia governed by their decrees the Latins and the Italians, who filled the legion . [I v. . oon no longer a question where were the plebeians of Koine. They bad left their bones on every shore. Camps, urn immortal roads — these were all that remained "f them."— MlcAelet. 50 ROME. In the early days of the republic, the soldier was a citizen who went forth to fight his country's battles, and, returning home, settled down again upon his little farm, contented and happy. Military life had now become a profession. Patriotism was almost a forgotten virtue, and the soldier fought for plunder and glory. In the wake of the army followed a crowd of venal traders, who bought up the booty; contractors, who "farmed" the revenues of the provinces; and usurers, who preyed on the necessities of all. These rich army-followers were known as knights (equites), since in the early days of Home the richest men fought on horse- back. They rarely took part in any war, but only reaped its advantages. The presents of foreign kings were no longer refused at Kome ; her generals and statesmen demanded money wher- ever they went. Well might Scipio Africanus, instead of praying to the ROMAN SOLDIERS. THE POLITICAL HISTORY. 51 gods, as was the custom, to increase the state, beg them to preserve it ! In this general decadence the fine moral fibre of the nation lost its vigor. First, the people left their own gods and took up foreign ones. As the ancients had no idea of a common god of all nations, such a desertion of their patron deities was full of significance. It ended in a general scepticism and neglect of religious rites and worship. In addition, the Romans became cruel and unjust. Nothing showed this more clearly than their refusal to grant the Eoman franchise to the Latin cities, which stood by them so faithfully during Hannibal's invasion. Yet there were great men in Rome, and the ensuing centuries were the palmiest of her history. THE CIVIL AVARS. Now began a century of civil strife, during which the old respect for laws became weak, and parties obtained their end by bribery and bloodshed. Tho Gracchi. — The tribune Tiberius Gracchus,* per- ceiving the peril of the state, secured a new agrarian law (p. 26), directing the public land to be assigned in small farms to the needy, so as to give every man a homestead ; and, in addition, he proposed to divide the treasures of Ai talus among those who received land, in order to enable them to build bouses and buy cattle. But (be oligarchs : rouse 1 a mob by which Gracchus was assassinated, * Cornells, the mother of Tfberlu - and Cains Gracchus, was the daughter of Bdpio Afrtcanus the Elder (note, p. B). Left a widow, she was offered marriage with the king of Egypt, but preferred to devote herself to the education of her children. When a rich friend once exhibited to her a cabinet of ran' gems, she called In her ms, saying, " These are my Jewels." Her »tatno bore the Inscription by which ■he wished to be known. " ti>" mother of t!>" Gracchi "- Tiberias was the grandson of the Conqueror of Bannibal, the son-in-law of Appius Claudius, ami the brother-in- law of the D e stro ye r of Carthagu. 52 ROME, [133 b. c. About ten years later, his brother Cams tried to carry out the same reform, by distributing grain to the poor at a nominal price (the "Eoman poor-law''), by choosing juries from the knights instead of the senators, and by planting in conquered territories colonies of men who had no work at home. All went well until he sought to confer the Eoman franchise upon the Latins. Then a riot was raised, and Caius was killed by a faithful slave to prevent his falling into the hands of his enemies. "With the Gracchi perished the freedom of the republic ; henceforth the corrupt aristocracy was supreme. Jugurtha (118-104 e. c.) having usurped the throne of Numidia, long maintained his place by conferring lavish bribes upon the senators. His gold conquered every army sent against him, and he declared that Eome itself could be had for money. lie was finally overpowered by the consul Caius Marius,* and, after adorning the victor's triumph at Eome, thrown into the Mamertine prison to perish, f The Cimbri and Teutones (113-101 b. c), the van- guard of those northern hosts that were yet to overrun the empire, were now moving south, half a million strong, spreading dismay and ruin in their track. Six different Eoman armies tried in vain to stay their advance. At Orange alone eighty thousand Eomans fell. In this emergency, the senate appealed to Marius, who, contrary to law, was again and again reinstated consul. He annihilated the Teutones at Aix, and, the next year, the Cimbri at Vercellce. In the latter engagement, the men composing the outer line of the * Lucius Cornelius Sulla, the Roman questor (p. 53), captured Jugurtha by- treachery. Claiming that he was the real hero of this war, he had a ring engraved which represented Jugurtha's surrender to him. Marius and Sulla were henceforth bitter rivals. t This famous dungeon is still shown the traveler at Rome. It is an underground vault, built of rough stones. The only opening is by a hole at the top. As Jugurtha, accustomed to the heat of an African sun, was lowered into this dismal grave, he exclaimed, with chattering teeth, " Ah, what a cold bath they are giving me 1 " 101 B.C.] THE POLITICAL HISTOKY. 53 barbarian army were fastened together with chains, the whole making a solid mass three miles square. The Roman broad- sword mercilessly hewed its way through this struggling crowd. The Gallic women, in despair, strangled their children, and then threw themselves beneath the wheels of their wagons. The very dogs fought to the death. Rome was saved in her second great peril from barbarians. Marius was hailed as the "third founder of the city." Social War (90-88 b. a). — Drusus, a tribune, having proposed that the lialians should be granted the coveted citizenship, was murdered the very day a vote was to be taken upon the measure. On hearing this, many of the Italian cities, headed by the Marsians, took up arms. The veteran legions, which had conquered the world, now faced each other on the battle-field. The struggle cost three hun- dred thousand lives. Houses were burned and plantations wasted as in Hannibal's time. In the end, Rome was forced to allow the Italians to become citizens. First Mithridatic War (88-84 b. a). — Just before the close of this bloody struggle, news came of the massacre of eighty thousand Romans and Italians residing in the towns of Asia Minor. Mithridates the Great, king of Pontus, and a man of remarkable energy and genius, had pro- claimed himself the deliverer of Asia from the Roman yoke, and kindled the fires of insurrection as far westward as i Greece. The war again-! the Pontic monarch was confided to Sulla, who stood at the head of the Roman aristocracy. Put Marius, the favorite leader of the people, by unscrupu- loii- means wrested the command from his rival. There- upon Sulla entered Rome at the head of the army. Fov the first time, civil war raged within the Avails of the city. Marius was driven into exile.* Sulla then crossed into * Mariuw, after ninny roinautic adventure, was thrown Into prison at Mm- 54 ROME. [87 B.C. Greece. He carried on five campaigns, mainly at his private expense, and finally restored peace on the condition that Mithridates should give up his conquests and his fleet. Return of Marius. — Meanwhile Cinna, one of the two consuls at Rome, recalled Marius, and together they entered the city with a body of men composed of the very dregs of Italy. The nobles and the friends of Sulla trembled at this triumph of the democracy. Marius now took a fearful vengeance for all he had suffered. He closed the gates, and went about with a body of slaves, who slaughtered every man at whom he pointed his finger. The principal senators were slain. The high-priest of Jupiter was massacred at the altar. The consul Octavius was struck down in his curule- chair. The head of Antonius, the orator, being brought to Marius as he sat at supper, he received it with joy, and embraced the murderer. Finally, the monster had himself declared consul, now the seventh time. Eighteen days after, he died " drunk with blood and wine." (86 b. c.) Sulla's Proscriptions. — Three years passed, when the hero of the Mithridatic War returned to Italy with his vic- torious army. His progress was disputed by the remains of the Marian party and the Samnites, who had not laid down their arms after the Social War (p. 53). Sulla, however, swept aside their forces, and soon all Italy was prostrate before him. It was now the turn for the plebeians and the friends of Marius to fear. As Sulla met the senate, cries were heard in the neighboring circus. The senators sprang from their seats in alarm. Sulla bade them be quiet, remark- turnae. One day a Cimbrian slave entered his cell to pnt him to death. The old man turned upon him with flashing eye, and shouted," Darest thou kill Caius Marius ! " The Gaul, frightened at the voice of his nation's destroyer, dropped his sword and fled. Marius was soon set free by the sympathizing people, whereupon he crossed into Africa. Receiving there an order from the prsetor to leave the province, he sent back the well-known reply, " Tell Sextilius that you have seen Caius Marius sitting in exile among the ruins of Carthage." 82 B. C.J THE POLITICAL HISTORY. 55 ing, "It is only some wretches undergoing the punishment they deserve." The "wretches" were six thousand of the Marian party, who were butchered in cold blood. " The porch of Sulla's house," says Collier, "was soon full of heads." Daily proscription-lists were made out of those doomed to die, and the assassins were rewarded from the property of their victims. Wealth became a crime when murder was gain. " Alas," exclaimed one, " my villa is my destruction." In all the disaffected Italian cities the same bloody work went on. Whole districts were confiscated to make room for colonies of Sulla's legions. He had himself declared perpetual dictator — an office unused since the Punic Wars. He deprived the tribunes of the right of proposing . and sought to restore the good old times when the patricians held power, thus undoing the reforms of centuries. To the surprise of all, however, he suddenly retired to private life, and gave himself up to luxurious ease. The civil wars of Marius and Sulla had cost Italy the lives of one hundred and fifty thousand citizens. Sertorius, one of the Marian party, betook himself to Spain, gained the respect and confidence of the Lusitanians, established among them a miniature Roman republic, and for seven years defeated every army sent against him. Even Pompey the Great was held in check. Treachery at last freed Rome from its enemy, Sertorius being slain at a banquet. Gladiatorial War (73-71 b. a). — A party of gladiators under Spartacus, having escaped from a training-school at Capua, took refuge in the crater of Vesuvius. Thither flocked slaves, peasants, and pirates, until they were strong enough to defeat consular armies, and for two years to rav- age Italy from the Alps to the peninsula. Orassus finally killed the rebel leader in a desperate battle, and put his fol- 56 ROME. [71 B. C. lowers to flight. A body of five thousand, trying to escape into Gaul, fell in with Pompey the Great as he was returning from Spain, and were cut to pieces. Pirates in these troublous times infested the Mediter- ranean, so as to interfere with trade and stop the supply of provisions at Rome. The whole coast of Italy was in con- tinual alarm. Parties of robbers landing dragged rich pro- prietors from their villas and seized high officials, to hold them for ransom. Pompey, in a brilliant campaign of ninety days, cleared the seas of these buccaneers, and restored order. Great Mithridatic War (74-63 b. c.).— During Sulla's life the Roman governor in Asia causelessly attacked Mithri- dates, but being defeated and Sulla peremptorily ordering him to desist, this Second Mithridatic War soon ceased. The Third or Great War broke out after the dictator's death. The king of Bithynia having bequeathed his pos- sessions to the Romans, Mithridates justly dreaded this ad- vance of his enemies toward his own boundaries, and took up arms to prevent it. The Roman consul, Lucullus, de- feated the Pontic king, and drove him to the court of his son-in-law Tigranes, king of Armenia, who espoused his cause. Lucullus next overcame the allied monarchs. Mean- while this wise general sought to reconcile the Asiatics to the Roman government by legislative reforms, by a mild and just rule, and especially by checking the exactions of the farmers of the revenue. The soldiers of his own army, intent on plunder, and the equites at Rome deprived of their profits, were incensed against him, and secured his recall. Pompey was now granted the power of a dictator in the East. * He made an alliance with the king of Parthia, thus * Cicero advocated this measure in the familiar oration, Pro Lege Manilla. G5B.C] the political history. 57 threatening Mithridates by an enemy in the rear. Then, forcing the Pontic monarch into a battle, he defeated and, at last, drove him beyond the Caucasus. Pompey, returning, reduced Syria, Phoenicia, and Palestine. The spirit of Mithridates was unbroken, in spite of the loss of his kingdom. He was meditating a march around the Euxine, and an invasion of Italy from the northeast, when, alarmed at the treachery of his son, he took poison, and died a victim of ingratitude. By his genius and courage, he had maintained the struggle with the Romans for twenty- five year.-.* On reaching Rome, Pompey received a two-days triumph. Before his chariot, walked three hundred and twenty-four captive princes; and twenty thousand talents were deposited in the treasury as the spoils of conquest. Pompey was now at the height of his popularity, and might have usurped supreme power, but he lacked the energy and determination. Catiline's Conspiracy (63 B.C.). — During Pompey's ab- sence at the East, Catiline, an abandoned young nobleman, had formed a wide-spread plot to murder the consuls, fire the city, and overthrow the government. Cicero, the orator, exposed the conspiracy.! Whereupon, Catiline fled, and was soon after slain, fighting at the head of a band of desperadoi The chief men of Rome now were Pompey, Crassus, * The armor which fitted the gigantic frame of Mithridates excited the wondi r alike of Asiatic and Italian. As a runner, he overtook thefleete I deer ; as a rider, Ik- broke ill'- wildest Bteed ; as a charioteer, he drove sixteen-in band ; and, as a banter, be iiit hi- game w iih hi- horse at full wallop. ll< kepi Greek port;-, historians, and pliilo-' court, and gave prizes, not only to the greatest eater and drinker, bat to the merrii and the be I singer. He ruled the twenty-two nation- ',( hi- realm without the aid ol an Interpreter. Bee rp< rii ted on pol on and sought to harden bii system to their effect One daj be disappeared from the palace at for months, on hie return, it appeared thai be had wandered arougb Asia Minor, studying the people and country. t The orations which Cicero pronounced at this time against Catiline aro ma piece* of Impassioned rhetoric, and are still by every Latin scholar, 58 ROME. [60 B. c. CAIUS JULIUS CESAR. Caesar,* Cicero, and Cato the Stoic — a great grand- son of the Censor. The first three formed a league, known as the Triumvirate (60 b. a). To cement this union, Pompey married Julia, Caesar's only daugh- ter. The triumYirs had everything their own way. Caesar obtained the con- sulship, and, afterward, an appointment as governor of Gaul ; Cicero was ban- ished, and Cato sent to Cyprus. * Caesar was born 100 b. c. (according to Mommsen, 102 b. a). A patrician, he was yet a friend of the people. His aunt was married to Marias ; his wife Cornelia was the daughter of Cinna. Daring Sulla's proscription, he refused to divorce his wife at the bidding of the dictator, and only the intercession of powerful friends saved his life. Sulla detected the character of this youth of eighteen years, and declared, " There is more than one Marius hid in him." While on his way to Rhodes to study oratory, he was taken prisoner by pirates, but he acted more like their leader than captive, and, on being ransomed, headed a party which crucified them all. Having been elected pontiff during his absence at the East, he returned to Rome. lie now became iu succession quaestor, sedile, ard pontifcx maximus. His affable manners and boundless generosity won all hearts. As sedile, a part of his duty was to furnish amusement to the people, and he exhibited three hundred and twenty pairs of gladiators, clad in silver armor. His debts became enormous, the heaviest creditor being the rich Crassus, to whom half the senators are said to have owed money. Securing an appointment as proetor, at the termination of that office, according to the custom, he obtained a province. Selecting Spain, he there recruited his wasted fortune, and gained some military prominence. He then came back to Home, relinquishing a triumph in order to enter the city and stand for the consulship. This gained, his next step was to secure a field where he could train an army, by whose help he might become master of Rome. It is a strange sight, indeed, to witness this spendthrift, pale and worn with the excesses of the capital, fighting at the head of his legions, swimming rivers, plunging through morasses, and climbing mountains — the hardiest of the hardy and the bravest of the brave. But it is stranger still to think of this great general and statesman as a literary man. Even when riding in his litter or resting, he was still reading or writ- ing, and often at the same time dictating to from four to seven amanuenses. Besides his famous Commentaries, published in the very midst of his eventful career, he composed works on rhetoric and grammar, as well as tragedies, lyrics, etc. His style is pure and natural, and the polished smoothness of his sentences gives no hint of the stormy scenes amid which they were formed. " - B. C.] THE POLITICAL HISTORY. 59 <".es AR remained in Gaul about nine years. He re- duced the entire country, cros.-cd the Rhine, carrying the Roman arms into Ger- many for the first time, and twice invaded Britain —an island until then un- known in Italy except by name. Not only were the three hundred tribes of TraiisalpineGaul thorough- ly subdued, but they were made content with Caesar's rule. He became their civ- ilizer, building roads and introducing Roman laws. Institutions, manners and customs. Moreover, he trained nn army that knew no mind or will except that of its great general. Mean- while, Ctesar's friends in Borne, with the Gallic spoils which be freely sent them. bribed and dazzled and in- trigued t'> sustain their r'a power, and • him the next consulship. Crassus was c':osen joint-consul with Pompey (56 e. c.1 ; he secured the province 01 ^vria. Eager to obtain the boundless treasures of the East, he set out upon an expedition against Parthia. On the way, he plundered the tem- ple at Jerusalem. While crossing the scorching plains beyond the Eu- phrates, not far from Char- rae (the Haran of the Bible), he was suddenly surrounded by clouds of Parthian horsemen. Ro- man valor wis of no avail in that ceaseless storm of arrows. Durintr the retreat, Crassus was slain. His head was carried to the Parthian kin;:, who, in de- rision, ordered it to be filled with molten gold. The death of Crassus ended the Triumvirate. Pompey, after a time, was elected joint-consul with Crassus, and, later,sole consul ; he obtained the province of Gaul, which he governed by legates. He now rated Rome, but was bent on ruling the empire. The death of his wife had severed the link which bound him to the conqueror of Gaul. He accordingly joined with the nobles, who were also alarmed by Caesar's brilliant victories, and the strength his suc- cess gave the popular party. A law was therefore passed ordering Caesar to resign his office and disband his army before he appeared to sue for the consulship. The tribunes — Antony and Cassius— who suppo-ted Caesar, were driven from the senate. They fled to his camp, and demanded protection. Civil War between Csesar and Pompey (49 b. c).— Caesar at once marched upon "Rome. Pompey had boasted that lie had only to stamp his foot, and an army would Bpring from the ground; but he now fled to Greece with- out striking a blow. In sixty days, Ca\sar was master of Italy. The decisive struggle between the two rivals took place on the plain of Pharsalia (48 b. c). Pompey was beaten. Ee soughl refuge in Egypt, where he was treach- erously slain. Hi- head being brought to Caesar, the con- queror wepl a1 the Cate of his former friend. Caesar now placed the beautiful Cleopatra on the throne of the Ptolemies, and, marching into Syria, humbled Pharnaces, the son of Mithridates, so quickly thai he could write home this laconic despatch, Veni, Pidi, Vici (1 came, I saw, I conquered). Oato and other Pompeian 60 ROME. [46 b. C. leaders had assembled a great force in Africa, whereupon Caesar hurried his conquering legions thither, and at Thapsus broke down all opposition (46 b. a). Cato, in despair of the republic, fell upon his sword. The sons of Pompey rallied an army in, Spain, but, in the desperate conflict at Munda, Caesar blotted the broken remains of their party out of existence (45 B.C.). Caesar returned to Rome before this final struggle in Spain. A four-days triumph reddened the sands of the arena with the blood of wild beasts and gladiators. Every citizen received a present, and the populace regaled them- selves at a banquet spread on twenty-two thousand tables. The joy was unalloyed by any proscription. The adulation of the senate surpassed all bounds. Caesar was created dic- tator for ten years and censor for three, and his statue was placed in the Capitol, opposite to that of Jupiter. Caesar's Government. — At Caesar's magic touch, order and justice sprang into new life. The provinces rejoiced in an honest administration. The Gauls obtained seats in the senate, and it was Caesar's design to have all the provinces represented in that body by their chief men. The calendar was revised.* The distress among the poor was relieved by sending eighty thousand colonists, to rebuild Corinth and Carthage. The number of claimants upon the public dis- tribution of grain was reduced over one-half. A plan was formed of digging a new channel for the Tiber and draining the Pontine marshes. Nothing was too vast or too small for the comprehensive mind of this mighty statesman. He could guard the boundaries of his vast empire along the Rhine, Danube, and Euphrates ; look after the paving of the * The Roman year contained only three hundred and fifty-five days, and the mid- summer and the mid-winter months then came in the spring and the fall. Julius Csesar introduced the extra day of leap year, and July was named after him. See Steele's New Astronomy, p. 200. 44B. C.] THE POLITICAL HISTORY. 61 Roman streets ; and listen to the recitation of pieces for prizes at the theatres, bestowing the wreath upon the victor, with extempore verse. Caesar s Assassination (44 b. a). — Caesar, now dictator for life, was desirous of being kiug in name as in fact. While passing through the streets one day, he was hailed king ; as the crowd murmured, he cried out, "I am not king, but Caesar." Still, when Mark Antony, the consul and his inti- mate friend, at a festival, offered him a crown, Caesar seemed to thrust it aside reluctantly. The hatred of zealous republicans was excited, and, under the guise of a love of liberty and old Roman virtue, those who were jealous of Caesar or hated him, formed a conspiracy for his assassination. Brutus and Cassius, the leaders, chose the fifteenth of the ensuing March for the execution of the deed. As the day approached, the air was thick with rumors of approaching disaster. A famous augur warned Caesar to beware of the Ides * of March. The night before, his wife Calpurnia was disturbed by an ominous dream. On the way to the senate-house he was banded a scroll containing the de- tails of the plot, but in the press he bad no chance to read it. When the con- spirators crowded about him, no alarm was caused, as tiny were men who owed their lives to his leniency and their fortunes to bis favor. * in tin- Roman calendar, the months were divided Into three parte OaU mi . /f affairs, he suddenlyper- ' figure standing before him. He was startled, but exclaimed, " What art tin. ii. ami for what purpose art thou come t " "I am thine? evil genius," replied toe phantom ; " we shall meet again al Philippi ! " t Cleopatra ascended the Cydnusin a galley with purple sails. The oars, inlaid liver, moved to the soft music of flute arid pipe. She reclined under a gold- spangled canopy, attired as Venn-, and attended by nymphs, cupids, and graces. '• dr waa redolent with pert • A- she approached Tarsus, the whole city flocked to witness the mugnifh I leaving Antony sitting ulone in the tribunal. 64 ROME. [41 e. G and carried him to Egypt. They passed the winter in the wildest extravagance. Breaking away, however, for a time from the silken chains of Cleopatra, Antony, upon the death of Fulvia, married the beautiful and noble Octavia, sister of Octavius. But, at the first opportunity, he went back again to Alexandria, where he laid aside the dignity of a Roman citizen and assumed the dress of an Egyptian monarch. * Cleopatra was presented with several provinces, and became the real ruler of the East. Civil War between Octavius and Antony (31 B.C.). — The senate at last declared war against Cleopatra. There- upon, Antony divorced Octavia and prepared to invade Italy. The rival fleets met off the promontory of Ac'tium. Cleo- patra fled with her ships early in the day. Antony, basely deserting those who were dying for his cause, followed her. When Octavius entered Egypt (32 B.C.), there was no resist- ance. Antony, in despair, stabbed himself. Cleopatra in vain tried her arts of fascination upon the conqueror. Finally, to avoid gracing his triumph at Rome, she put an end to her life, according to the common story, by the bite of an asp, brought in a basket of figs. Thus died the last of the Ptolemies. Result. — Egypt now became a province of Rome. With the battle of Actium, ended the Roman republic. Cassar Octavius was the undisputed master of the civilized world. After his return to Italy, he received the title of Augustus, by which name he is known in history. The Civil Wars were over. * The follies and wasteful extravagance of their mad revels at Alexandria almost enrpass belief. One clay, in Antony's kitchen, there are said to have been eight wild boars roasting whole, so arranged as to be ready at different times, that his dinner might be served in perfection whenever he should see fit to order it. On another occasion, he and the queen vied as to which could serve the more expensive banquet. Removing a magnificent pearl from her ear, she dissolved it in vinegar, and swal- lowed the priceless draught 31 B. C.J THE POLITICAL HISTORY. 65 IMPERIAL ROME. Establishment of the Empire. — After the clamor of a hundred years, a sweet silence seemed to fall upon the earth. The temple of Janus was closed for the second time since the pious Xuma. Warned by the fate of Julius, Augustus did not take the name of king, nor startle the Roman prejudices by any sudden seizure of authority. He =- DIVISIONS OF ITALIA up to the time of Augustus SCALE OF ENGLISH MlLFS Caproa U 6fi ROME. [31B.C- kept up all the forms of the republic. Every ten years, he went through the farce of laying down his rank as chief of the army, or imperator — a word since contracted to emperor. He professed himself the humble servant of the senate, while he really exercised absolute power. Gradually, all the offices of trust were centered in him. He became at once proconsul, consul, censor, tribune, and high priest.* Massacre of Varus (9 a. d.). — Germany, under the vigorous rule of Drusus and Tiberius, stepsons of Augustus, now seemed likely to become as thoroughly Romanized as Gaul had been. (Brief Hist. France, p. 11.) Varus, governor of the province, thinking the conquest complete, attempted to introduce the Latin language and laws. There- upon, Arminius, a noble, freedom-loving German, aroused his countrymen, and in the wilds of the Teutoburg Forest took a terrible revenge for the wrongs they had suffered. Varus and his entire army perished. Dire was the dismay at Rome when news came of this disaster. For days, Augustus wandered through his palace, beating his head against the wall, and crying, "Varus, give me back my legions !" Six years later, the whitened bones of these hap- less warriors were buried by Germanicus (the son of Drusus, and step-son of Augustus), but with all his genius he could not restore the Roman authority in Germany, f The Augustan Age (31 b. c.-ll a. d.) was, however, one of general peace and prosperity. The emperor lived unos- * As consul, he became chief magistrate ; as censor, he could decide who were to be senators ; as tribune, he heard appeals, and his person was sacred ; as imperator, he commanded the army ; and, as pontif ex niaximus, or chief priest, he was the head of the national religion. These were powers originally belonging to the king, but which, during the republic, from a fear of centralization, had been distributed among different persons. Now the emperor gathered them up again. t Creasy reckons this among the twelve decisive battles of the world. " Had Arminius been defeated," says Arnold, " our German ancestors would have been en- slaved or exterminated, and the great English nation would have been struck out of existence." 14 A. T>.] THE POLITICAL HISTORY. 67 tentatiously in his house, not in a palace, and his toga was woven by his wife Livia and her maidens. He revived the worship of the gods. His chosen friends were men of letters. He beautified Rome, so that he could truly boast that he "found the city of brick, and left it of marble." There was now no fear of pirates or hostile fleets, and grain came in plenty from Egypt. The people were amused and fed ; hence they were contented. The provinces were well governed,* and many gained Eoman citizenshij). A single language became a universal bond of intercourse, and Eome ii her work of civilization and education. Wars having so nearly ceased, and interest in politics having diminished, men turned their thoughts more toward literature, art, and religion. The Birth of Christ, the central figure in all history, occurred during the wide-spread peace of this reign. The Empire was, in general, bounded by the Euphrates on the east, the Danube and the Rhine on the north, the Atlantic Ocean on the west, and the deserts of Africa on the south. It comprised about a hundred millions of people, of perhaps a hundred different nations, each speaking its own language and worshipping its own gods. An army of three hundred and fifty thousand men held the provinces in check, while the Praetorian Guard of ten thousand protected the person of the emperor. The Mediterranean, which the Romans proudly called, "Our own sea," served as a natural highway between the widely-sundered parts of this vasl region, while the Roman roads, straight as an eagle's flight, bound every portion of the empire to its center. Every- where, the emperor's will was law. His smile or frown was •One day wb tiling in the Bay of Baie, a Greek ship was pass- The callers, perceh Ing tin' emperor, stopped their vessel, arrayed themselves in white rod' ig on board his yacht, offered sacrifice to aim as a god, saying, " You hii'. ; Vou have secured to as our lives and oar good* " 68 ROME [1st cent. a. d. the fortune or ruin of a man, a city, or a province. His character determined the prosperity of the empire. Henceforth, the history of Rome is not that of the people, hut of its emperors.* In the following pages, a brief account is given of the principal monarchs only ; a full list of the emperors may be found, however, on page 121. None of the early emperors was followed by his own son, but, accord- ing to the Roman law of adoption, they all counted as Caesars. Nero was the last of them at all connected with Augustus, even by adoption, though the emperors called themselves Csesar and Augustus to the last. After the death of Augustus, COIN OF TIBERIUS CESAR. Tiberius (14 a. d.), his ;:tep-son, cecured the empire by a decree of the senate. The army on the Rhine would have * '' Of the sixty-two emperors from Cresar to Constaniine, forty-two were murdered, three committed suicide, two abdicated or were forced to abdicate, one was killed in a rebellion, one was drowned, one died in war, one died it is not known how, and no more than eleven died in the way of nature. Between the death of Caesar and the accession of Constantine. three hundred and nineteen years elapsed, giving to each Caesar an average reign of five years and two months. Comparing this rate of im- perial mortality against the usual terms of royal lives, the waste appears most strik- ing. The thirty-five sovereigns of England (omitting Cromwell as not affecting the return) since the Conquest have ' lived in the purple ' seven hundred and eighty-seven years— an average of over twenty-two years and five months. The kings of France, from Clovis to Louis Philippe, reigned, on the average, twenty-two years and two months. The German emperors, from the accession of Arnulf to the accession of Francis Joseph, each reigned nineteen years and three months. Even tbe czars of Russia, from Fedor to Nicholas, ruled for fourteen years and ten months each." — Atk. 14 A. D.J THE POLITICAL UiSTOKY. 69 gladly given the throne to the noble Germanicus, but he declined the honor. Jealous of his kinsman, Tiberius it is thought, afterward removed him by poison. The new emperor ruled for a time with much ability, yet soon proved to be a gloomy tyrant,* and finally retired to the island of Capreae, to practice in secret his infamous orgies. His favorite, the cruel and ambitious Seja'nus, prefect of the Praetorian Guard, remained at Rome as the real ruler, but, having conspired against his master, he was thrown into the Mamertine prison and there strangled. Many of the best citizens fell victims to the emperor's suspicious disposition, and all, even the surviving members of his own family, breathed easier when news came of his sudden death. The great event of this reign was the crucifixion of Christ f at Jerusalem, under Pilate, Roman procurator of Judea. Caligula J (37 a. d.) inherited some of his father's virtues, but he was weak-minded, and his history records only a madman's freaks. He made his favorite horse a consul, and provided him a golden manger. Any one at whom the emperor nodded his head or pointed his finger was at once executed. " Would," said he, ''that all the people at Rome had but one neck, so I could cut it off at a single blow." Nero (54 A.D.) assassinated hia mother and wife. In the great fire which destroyed a large part of Rome, he chanted a poem to the music of his lyre, while he watched the flames. To secure himself against the charge of having at least spread the fire, he ascribed the conila- • rti« character resembled that of Louis XT. S< Tlttory qf France, p. 94. + Over hi- 'T' a Inscription in three languages, significant of the three leveloptnenU then known of t lie human race— Homa.n LAW, Greek KIND, ami DXBBKW KM Til. i Ca f German ^gripplna— grand-daughter of Augustus— recel ■ <1 - the nickname oft • by which he is always known, )>. i he wore little bo I'dat) while with bis father m camp on the I' 1 70 ROME. [1st cent. a. d gration to the Christians. These were cruelly persecuted/" St. Paul and St. Peter, according to tradition, being mar- tyred at this time. In rebuilding the city, Nero substi- tuted broad streets for the winding lanes in the hollow between the seven hills, and erected, in place of unsightly piles of brick and wood, handsome stone buildings, each block surrounded by a colonnade. COIN OF NERO. Vespasian (69 a. d.) was made emperor by his army in Judea. An old-fashioned Eoman, he sought to revive the ancient virtues of honesty and frugality. His son Titus, after the capture of Jerusalem (p. 234), shared the throne with his father, and finally succeeded to the empire. His generosity and kindness won him the name of the Delight of Mankind. He refused to sign a death-warrant, and pro- nounced any day lost in which he had not done some one a favor. During this happy period, the famous Colosseum at Rome was finished, and Agricola conquered nearly all Britain, making it a Roman province ; but Pompeii and * Some were crncified. Some were covered -with the skins of wild beasts, and worried to death by dogs. Some were thrown to the tigers and lions in the amphi- theatre. Gray-haired men were forced to fight with trained gladiators. Worst of all, one night Nero's gardens were lighted by Christians, who, their clothes having been smeared with pitch and ignited, were placed as blazing torches along the course on which the emperor, heedless of their agony, drove his chariot in the races. 79 a. D.] THE POLITICAL HISTORY. 71 Herculaneum were destroyed by an eruption of Mount Vesuvius. Domitian * (81 a. d.) was a second Nero or Caligula. His chief amusement was in spearing flies with a pin ; yet he styled himself " Lord and God," and received divine honors. He banished the philosophers, and renewed the persecution of the Christians. At this time, St. John was exiled to the isle of Patmos. The Five Good Emperors (9G-180 a. d.) now brought in the palmiest days of Eome. Nerva, a quiet, honest old man, distributed lands among the plebs, and taught them to work for a living. Trajan, a great Spanish general, con- quered the Dacians and many Eastern peoples ; founded public libraries and schools in Italy ; and tried to restore freedom of speech and simplicity of life, f Hadrian traveled almost incessantly over his vast empire, overseeing the gov- ernment of the provinces, and erecting splendid buildings. Antoninus Pins was a second Numa, by his love of justice and religion diffusing the blessings of peace and order over the civilized world. Aurelius \ was a philosopher and loved quiet. But the time of peace had passed. The Germans, pressed by the Slave- who lived in Eussia, fled before them, and crossed the Roman frontiers as in the time of Marius. Tiie emperor was forced to take the field in person, and died during the eighth winter-campaign. Decline of the Empire.— The most virtuous of men was succeeded by his son Commodus, a weak, vicious boy. An era of military despotism ensued. Murder became * Domitian Is said to have once called together the senate to decide how a flsh should be cooked i"r 1 1 i — dinner. t Two centnriec afterward, at the accession of each emperor, the senate wished that bi >c "more fortunate than Augustus, more virtuous tlm'i Trajan. 11 X .M Aurelius was the adopted son <>f Antoninus, and, after the death of his adoptive father, assumed bis name, bo that this period is known as the Aye of tlit AiUuninca- 72 ROME. [180 A. D. domesticated in the palace of the Caesars. The Praetorian Guards put up the imperial power at auction, and sold it to the highest bidder. The armies in the provinces declared for their favorite officers, and the throne became the stake of battle. Few of the long list of emperors who succeeded to the throne are worthy of mention. Septim'ius Seve'rus (193 a. d.), a general in Germany, after defeating his rivals, ruled vigorously, though often cruelly. His triumphs in Parthia and Britain renewed the glory of the Eoman arras. Car'acal'lus (211 a. d.) Avould be remembered only for his ferocity, but that he gave the right of Roman citizenship to all the provinces, in order to tax them for the benefit of his soldiers. This event marked an era in the history of the empire, and greatly lessened the importance of Rome. Alexander Seve'rus (222 a. d.) delighted in the society of the wise and good. He favored the Christians, and over the door of his palace were inscribed the words, "Do unto others that which you would they should do unto you." He won glorious victories against the Germans and Persians, but, attempting to establish discipline in the army, was slain by his mutinous troops while he was yet only in the bloom of youth. The Barbarian G-oths, Germans, and Persians, who had so long threatened the empire, invaded it on every side. The emperor Decius was killed in battle by the Goths. Gallus bought peace by an annual tribute. Valerian Avas taken prisoner by the Persian king, who carried him about in chains, and used him as a footstool in mounting his horse. The temple at Ephesus was burned at this time by the Goths. During the general confusion, so many usurpers sprang up over the empire and established short-lived kingdoms, that this is known as the Era of the Thirty Tyrants. 268 A. D.j THE POLITICAL HISTORY. %3 The Illyrian Emperors (268-284 a. d.), however, rolled back the tide of invasion. Claudius vanquished the Goths in a contest which recalled the days of Marios and the Gauls. Aurelian drove the Germans into their native wilds, and de- feated Zenobia, the beautiful and heroic Queen of Palmyra, bringing her to Rome in chains of gold to grace his triumph. P rob us triumphed at the East and the West, and, turning to the arts of peace, introduced the vine into Germany, and taught the legions to work in vineyard and field. Diode' tian began a new method of government. To meet the swarm- ing enemies of the empire, he associated with himself his comrade-in-arms, Jfaximian ; each emperor took the title of Augustus, and appointed, under the name of Caesar, a brave general as his successor. War raged at once in Persia, Egypt* Britain, and Germany, but the four rulers vigilantly watched over their respective provinces, and the Roman eagles conquered every foe. In the year 303 a. d., the joint emperors celebrated the last triumph ever held at Rome. During the same year, also, began the last and most bitter persecution of the Christians* so that this reign i- called the Era of the Martyrs. Spread of Christianity. — The religion established in J mica by Christ, and preached during the 1st century by Paul and the other Apostles (see Ads of the Apostles), had now .-picad over the western empire. It was largely, how- . confined to the cities, as i- curiously shown in the fact that the word pagan originally meant only a countryman. While tin; Romans tolerated the religious belief of every nation which they conquered, fchey persecuted the Christian- alone. This was because tin- latter opposed the national * in 806 \ d., both emperor* resigned the purple. Diocletian amused himself by working in hi* garden, ami when Maxlmlan -<>uL r iit u, draw aim out of hi* retire" meat, be w\ ote : 'If ■ on could see the cabh >-'<■- l bave planted with my own hand, you would never a«k mc to remount the throue." 74 ROME. [4th cent. a. d. religion of the empire, refused to offer sacrifice to its gods, and to worship its emperors. Moreover, the Christians absented themselves from the games and feasts, and were accustomed to hold their meetings at night, and often in secret. They were therefore looked upon as enemies of the state, and were persecuted by even the best rulers, as Trajan and Diocletian. This opposition, however, served only to strengthen the rising faith. The heroism of the martyrs extorted the admiration of their enemies. Thus, when Poly- carp was hurried before the tribunal and urged to curse Christ, he exclaimed "Eighty-six years have I served Him, and He has done me nothing but good ; how could I curse Him, my Lord and Saviour." And when the flames rose around him he thanked God that he was deemed worthy of such a death. With the decaying empire, heathenism grew weaker, while Christianity gained strength. As early as the reign of Septimius Severus, Tertullian declared that if the Christians were forced to emigrate, the empire would become a desert. Loss of Roman Prestige. — Men no longer looked to Rome for their citizenship. The army consisted principally of Gauls, Germans, and Britons, who were now as good Ro- mans as any. The emperors were of provincial birth. The wars kept them on the frontiers, and Diocletian, it is said, had never seen Rome until he came there in the twentieth year of his reign to celebrate his triumph. His gorgeous Asiatic court, with its pompous ceremonies and its king wearing the hated crown, was so ridiculed in Rome by song and lampoon that the monarch never returned. His headquarters were kept at Nicomedia (Bithynia) in Asia Minor, and Maximian's at Milan. Constantine, the Caesar in Britain, having been pro- claimed Augustus by his troops, overthrew five rivals who 324A.D.] THE POLITICAL HISTORY. ?5 contested the throne, and became sole ruler (324 a.d.). His reign marked an era in the world's history. It was charac- terized by three changes : 1. Christianity became, in a sense, the state-religion.* 2. The capital was removed to Byzantium, a Greek city, afterward known as Constantinople (Constantine's city). 3. The monarchy was made an abso- lute despotism, the army being remodeled so as to weaken its power, and a court established, with its titled nobility, who received their honors directly from the emperor, and took rank with, if not the place of, the former consul, senator, or patrician. The First General ((Ecumenical) Council of the church was held at Nice (325 a.d.), to consider the teachings of Arius, a priest of Alexandria, who denied the divinity of Christ. Christianity soon conquered the empire. The emperor Julian, the Apostate, an excellent man though a pagan philosopher, sought to restore the old religion, but in vain. The best intellects, repelled from political discussion by the tyranny of the government, turned to the consideration of theological questions. This was especially true of the Eastern church, where the Greek mind, so fond of metaphysical subtleties, was predominant. Barbarian Invasions. — la the latter part of the 4th century, a host of savage Huns,f bursting into Europe, drove * According to the legend, when Constantine was marching against Maxentitis, tin- rivul Augustus at Borne, he saw in the sky at midday a darning cross, and beneath it the words Is tiii- i OHQi bh ! Oonstantlne accepted the new faith, and assumed the standard of the cross, which was henceforth borne by the Christian emperors. t The II a Turanian race from Asia. They were short, thick-set, with flat nones, deep-sunk eyes, and a yellow complexion. Their faces were hideously scarred with slashes to prevent the trrowth of the heunl. A historian of the time com- pared them in tiieir ugliness to the grinning head i clumsily carved on the posts of bridges. They bnlll do cltlei or houses, and never came under a roof ezcepl In Superstition! dread. They were clad in skins, wliieh wen' never changed Until they rotted oir. They lived on horseback, currying their families uud all their possessions in huge wagons. 76 ROME. [378 a. D. the Teutons in terror before them. The frightened Goths * obtained permission to cross the Danube for an asylum, and soon a million of these wild warriors stood sword in hand on the Roman territory. They were assigned lands in Thrace ; but the ill-treatment of the Eoman officials drove them to arms. They defeated the emperor Valens in a terrible battle near Adrianople, the monarch himself being- burned to death in a peasant's cottage, where he had been carried wounded. The victorious Goths pressed forward to the very gates of Constantinople. Theodosius the Great, a Spaniard, raised from a farm to the throne, stayed for a few years the inevitable progress of events. He pacified the Goths, and enlisted forty thousand of their warriors under the eagles of Home. He forbade the worship of the old gods, and tried to put down the Arian heresy, so prevalent at Constantinople. At his death (395 a. d.), the empire was divided between his two sons. Henceforth, the histories of the Eastern or Byzantine and the Western Empire are separate. The former is to go on at Constantinople for one thousand years, while Rome is soon to pass into the hands of the barbarians. The 5th Century is known as the Era of the Great Migration. During this period, Europe was turbulent with the movements of the restless Germans. Pressed by the Huns, the different tribes— the East and West Goths, Franks, Alans, Vandals, Burgundians, Longobards (Lombards), Al- lemanns, Angles, Saxons — poured south and west with irre- * The Goths were already somewhat advanced in civilization through their inter- course with the Komans. and we read of Gothic leaders who were "judges of Homer, and carried well-chosen books with them on their travels." Under the teachings of their good bishop Ul'philas, many accepted Christianity, and the Bible was translated into their language. They, however, became Arians, and so a new element of discord was introduced, as they hated the Catholic Christians of Rome. See Brief History of France, p. 14. THE POLITICAL HISTORY. 77 sistible fury, arms in hand, seeking new homes in the crumbling Roman empire. It was nearly two centuries before the turmoil subsided enough to note the changes which had taken place. Three G-reat Barbaric Leaders, Alaric the Goth, Attila the liun. and Genseric the Vandal, were conspicuous in the grand catastrophe. 1. Alaric having been chosen prince of the Goths, after the death of Theodosius, passed the defile of Thermopylae, and devastated Greece, destroying the precious monuments of its former glory. Sparta and Athens, once so brave, made no defence. He was finally driven back by Stilicho, a Van- dal, but the only great Roman general. Alaric next moved upon Italy, but was repeatedly repulsed by the watchful Stilicho. The Roman emperor Honorius, jealous of his successful general, ordered his execution. When Alaric came again, there was no one to oppose his progress. All the barbarian Germans, of every name, joined his victorious arms. Koine* bought a brief respite with a ransom of "gold, silver, silk, scarlet cloth, and pepper"; but the Eternal City, which had not seen an enemy before its walls since the day when it defied Hannibal.- I fell without a blow (410 a.d.i. No Horatius was there to hold the bridge in this hour of peril. The gates were thrown open, and at midnight the Gothic trumpet awoke the inhabitants. For six day- tie- barbarian- held high revel, and then their clumsy * " Rome, at this time, i ontained probably a million •>!' inhabitants, and its wealth might well attract tbecnpidltj ot the barbarous invader. The palaces of the senators were Oiled with gold and silver ornaments— the prize of man; a blood] campaign. The churches were rich with 1 1 •« - contributions of pions worshippers. Ontheen- trance of the Goths, :i fi arful scene '>f pillage ensued. Houses were flred i<> light the i numbers <>r citizens were driven <>ff to be Bold as slaves ; while others Bed to Africa, <>r the islands of the Mediterranean. Alaric being an Arian, tried to the churches, as well as the city, from destruction, But dow began that swift iv which -'Miti reduced Borne to heaps <>f rains, ami rendered the title 'Tho Stern i nd mockery. 1 '— «8iw»MA. 78 ROME wagons, heaped high with priceless plunder, moved south along the Appian Way. Alaric died soon after.* His suc- cessor married the sister of the emperor, f and was styled an officer of Some. Under his guidance, the Goths and Germans turned westward into Spain and southern Gaul. There they founded a powerful Visigothic kingdom, with Toulouse as its capital. 2. Attila, king of the hideous Huns, gathering a half million savages, set forth westward from his wooden palace in Hungary, vowing not to -stop till he reached the sea. He called himself the Scourge of God, and boasted that where his horse set foot grass never grew again. On the field of Chalons (451 a.d.), uE'tius the Ro- man general in Gaul, and Theodoric king of the Goths, arrested this Tu- ranian horde, and saved attila. Europe to Christianity and Aryan civilization. Burn- ing with revenge, Attila crossed the Alps and descended * The Goths, in order to hide his tomb, turned aside a stream, and, digging a grave in its bed, placed therein the body, clad in richest armor. They then let the water back, and slew the prisoners who had done the work. t During this disgraceful campaign, Honorius lay hidden in the inaccessible morasses of Ravenna, where he amused himself with his pet chickens. When some one told him Rome was lost, he replied, "That cannot be, for I fed her out of my hand a moment ago," alluding to a hen which he called Rome, THE POLITICAL HISTORY. 79 into Italy. City after city was spoiled and burned.* Just as lie was about to march upon Rome, Pope Leo came forth to meet him, and the barbarian, awed by his majestic mien and the glory which yet clung to that seat of empire, agreed to spare the city. Attila returned to the banks of the Danube, where he died shortly after, leaving behind him in history no mark save the ruin he had wrought. 3. Gen'seric, leading across into Africa the Vandals, who had already settled the province of Vandalusia in southern Spam, founded au empire at Carthage. Wishing to revive its former maritime greatness, he built a fleet and gained control of the Mediterranean. His ships cast anchor in the Tiber, and the intercessions of Leo were now fruitless to save Home. For fourteen days, the pirates plundered the city of t tie < ;esars. Works of art, bronzes, precious marbles, were ruthlessly destroyed, so that the word Vandal became Byuonymoua with wanton devastation. Fall of the Roman Empire (476 a. d.).— The com- mander of the barbarian troops in the pay of Rome now set ii 1 1 at pleasure one puppet-emperor after another. The las! of these phantom monarchs, Romulus Augustulus, by a sin- ir coincidence, bore the names of the founder of the city, and of tli«- empire. Finally, at the command of Odo'acer, German chief of the mercenaries, he laid down his useless sceptre. The senate sent the tiara and purple robe to Con- stantinople, and Zeno, the Eastern emperor, appointed Odoacer Patrician of Italy. So the Western empire passed away, and only this once proud title remained to recall its former glory. • The inhabitants of Aqaflela and other i ' Ing a refnge in the Island! of the Adriatic, founded the city of Venice, fltly named The Eldest Dan fhter of the Bmpire, 80 ROME, ROMAN CONSUL AND LICTORS. 2. THE CIVILIZATION. Society. — The early Koman social and political organization was similar to that of Athens. The true Roman people comprised only the patricians and their clients. The patricians formed the ruling class, and, even in the time of the republic, gave to Roman history an aristocratic character. Several clients were attached to each patrician, serving his interests, and in turn, being protected by him. The three original tribes of patricians (Ramnes, Tities, and Luceres) were each divided into ten curiae, and each curia theoreti- cally into ten gentes (houses, or clans). The members of a Roman curia, or ward, like those of an Athenian pliratry, possessed many interests in common, each curia having its own priest and lands. A gens comprised several families,* united usually by kinship and * Contrary to the custom in Greece, where family-names were seldom used, and a man was generally known by a single name having reference to some personal pecu- liarity or private circumstance, every Roman was given three names : the prcenomen or individual name, the nomen or clan-name, and the cognomen or family-name. Sometimes a fourth name was added to commemorate some exploit. Thus, in tho case of Publius Cornelius Scipio Afiicanus and his brother, Lajlius Cornelius ScipiQ Asiaticus (note, p. 45), we recognize all these titles, THE CIVILIZATION. 81 intermarriage, and bearing the same name. Besides this general organization, each family formed a little community by itself, governed by its " paterfamilias." who owned all the property and held the life of his children at will. The sons dwelt under the paternal roof, often long after they were married, and cultivated the family estate in common. Magistrates. — The consuls commanded the army, and executed the decrees of the senate and the people. They were chosen annually. They wore a white robe with a purple border, and were attended by twelve lictors bearing the axe and rods, emblems of the consular power. At the approach of a consul, all heads were uncovered, seated persons arose, and those on horseback dismounted. No one was eligible to the consulship until he was forty-three years of age, and had held the offices of questor, sedile, and praetor. The quextor* received and paid out the moneys of the state. The wUles, two (and, afterward, four) in number, took charge of the public buildings, the cleaning and draining of the streets, and the superintendence of the police and the public games. The praetor was a sort of judge. At first there was only one, but, finally, owing to the increase of Roman territory, there were sixteen of these officers. In the later days of the republic it became custom- ary for the consuls and the praetors, after serving a year in the city. to take command of provinces, and to assume the title of proconsul or proprietor. The two cenmrs were elected for five years. They took the cen- su-. not only of the names but of the property of the Roman citizens; arranged the different classes (p. 22); corrected the lists of senators and equites, Btriking out those who were unworthy, and filling vacan- cies in the senate; punished extravagance and immorality; levied the taxes; and repaired and constructed public works, roads, etc. The Army.— Every citizen between theagi Bof Bevente< □ and fifty was subject to military service, unless he was of the lowest class, or bad served twenty campaigns in the infantry or ten in the cavalry. Tin- drill was severe, and included running, jumping, swimming in full armor, and marching long distances at the rate of four mile- pel hour. The order of battle, i quipment, etc. varied at different times. Among the peculiarities were the four classes of foot-soldiers, viz.. theveliies, or light armed, who hovered in front ; the haatati, Bo-called use they anciently carried -pear- and who formed tie firs! line of battle; the prmcipes, so-named because in early times the; were put in front, and who formed the second line; ami the Iviiir'n. rans who composed the third line, i.aeh legion contained from 82 ROME. three to six thousand men. The legions were divided and sub- divided into cohorts, companies (manipuli), and centuries. Arms and Mode op Warfare. — The national arm of the Romans was the pifaim, a heavy iron-pointed spear, six feet long, and weighing ten or eleven pounds. This was thrown at a distance of ten to fifteen paces, after which the legionary quickly came to blows with his stout, short sword. The velites began the battle with their light javelins, and then retired behind the rest. The hastati, the principes, and the triarii, each, in turn, bore the brunt of the fight, and, if defeated, passed through intervals between the man- ipuli of the other lines, and rallied in the rear.* SIEGE OF A CITY. * Later in Roman history the soldier ceased to be a citizen, and remained con- stantly with the eagles until discharged. Marius arranged his troops in two lines, THE CIVILIZATION. 83 The Romans learned from the Greeks the use of military engines, and finally became experts in the art of sieges. Their principal machines were the baUista for throwing stones; the catapult for hurl- ing darts ; the battering ram (so called from the shape of the metal head) for breaching walls; and the movable tower, which could be pushed close to the fortifications and so overlook them. On the march each soldier had to carry, besides his arms, grain enough to last from seventeen to thirty days, one or more wooden stakes, and, often, intrenching tools. When the army halted, even for a single night, a ditch was dug about the site for the camp, and a stout palisade made of the wooden stakes, to guard against a sudden attack. The exact size of the camp, and the location of every tent, street, etc., were fixed by a regular plan common to all the armies. Literature. — For about five centuries after the founding of Rome, there was not a Latin author. When a regard for letters at last arose, the tide of imitation set irresistibly toward Greece. Over two centuries after iEschylus and Soj)hocles contended for the Athenian prize, Livius Andronicus, a Grecian-born slave (brought to Rome about 250 B. a), made the first Latin translation of Greek classics, and himself wrote and acted* plays whose inspiration was caught from the same source. His works soon became text-books in Roman schools, and were used till the time of Virgil. Nanrius, a soldier-poet, "the last of the native minstrels,'' patterned after Euripides in tragedy, and Aristophanes in comedy. The Romans resented the exposure of their national and individual weaknesses on the stage, sent the bold satirist to prison, and finally banished him. Bnniiu, "the father of Latin Bong," who (-ailed himself the Roman "Homer," and who unblushingly borrowed from his great model, decried the native fashion of ballad-w T riting, introduced hexameter verse, and built up a new style of literature, closely and Caspar generally in three, but the terms hastati, principe-, and tri.irli lost their Seance. The place of the velitee was taken by Orel m archers, Balearic ^ i i and Gallic and German mercenaries. In time, the army was Oiled with < the in'uvy pilom and breastplate were thrown aside ; all trace "f Roman equipment and, discipline dii tp ast. * For a long time, he was the only performer in these dramas. He recited the dialogue- and - and rang the '"■ accompaniment of a Bute. So ed by Roman andlence . and so often ■ neon '/. ili.it I rho hidden behind a curtain, rang the canticas, while Llvins, in front, made the appropriate TliN custom afterward became common on the Roman Mage, 84 EOME. founded on the Grecian.* His Annals, a poetical Roman history, was for two centuries the national poem of Home. Emiius, unlike Na3vius, flattered the ruling powers, and was rewarded by having his bust placed in the tomb of the Scipios. Plautus (254-184 b. c), who pictured with his coarse, vigorous, and brilliant wit the man- ners of his day, and Terence (195-159 b. a), a learned and graceful humorist, were the two great comic poets of Rome.f They were succeeded by Lucilius (148-103 B.C.), a brave soldier and famous knight, whose sharp, fierce satire was poured relentlessly on Roman vice and folly. Among the early prose writers was Cato the Censor (234-149 b. a), son of a Sabine farmer, who became famous as lawyer, orator, soldier, and politician (p. 45). His hand-book on agriculture, Be lie Rustica, is still studied by farmers, and over one hundred and fifty of his strong, rugged oratious find a place among the classics. His chief work, The Origines, a history of Rome, is lost. Varro (11C-28 b. c), " the most learned of the Romans," first soldier, then farmer and author, wrote on theology, philosophy, history, agriculture, etc. He founded large libraries and a museum of sculpture, cultivated the fine arts, and sought to awaken literary tastes among his countrymen. To the last century b. c. belong the illustrious names of Virgil and Horace, Cicero, Livy, and Sallust. First in order of birth was Cicero,\ orator, essayist, and delightful letter-writer. Most elo- * Ennius claimed that the soul of the old Greek bard had in its transmigration entered his body from its preceding home in a peacock. He so impressed his intel- lectual personality upon the Romans that they were sometimes called the " Enniau People." Cicero greatly admired his works, and Virgil borrowed as unscrupulously from Ennius, as Ennius had filched from Homer. + It is noticeable that of all the poets we have mentioned, not one was born at Rome. Livius was a slave from Magna Graacia ; Nsevius was a native of Campania ; Ennius was a Calabrian, who came to Rome as a teacher of Greek ; Plautus (meaning flat-foot — his name being, like Plato, a sobriquet) was an Umbrian, the son of a slave, and served in various menial employments before he began play-writing ; and Terence was the slave of a Roman senator. To be a Roman slave, however, was not incompatible with the possession of talents and education, since, by the pitiless rules of ancient warfare, the richest and most learned citizen of a captured town might become a drudge in a Roman household, or be sent to labor in the mines. X Marcus Tullins Cicero (106 43 B.C.), son of a book -loving, country gentleman, was educated at Rome, studied law and philosophy at Athens, traveled two years in Asia Minor, and then settled in Rome as an advocate. Plunging into the politics of his time, he soon became famous for his thrilling oratory, and was made, in succes- sion, questor, asdile, praetor, and consul. For his detection of Catiline's conspiracy, he received the title of Pater Patriae. His subsequent banishment, recall, and tmgic death are historical (p. 63). Cicero was accused of being vain, vacillating, nnamiable, and extravagant. He bad an elegant mansion on the Palatine Hill and THE CIVILIZATION. 85 quent of all the Romans, his genius was not exhausted in the rude contests of the forum and basilica, but his thoughtful political essays, and his gossipy letters, are esteemed as highly as his brilliant orations. He studied Greek models, and his four orations on the Conspiracy of Catiline rank not unfavorably with the Philippics of Demosthenes. His orations were used for lessons in Roman schools before he died, and, with his essays, Be RepubUca, Be Officii*, and Be Senectute, are familiar Latin text-books of to-day. SaJh/sf* a polished historian after the style of Thucydides, holds his literary renown by two short works — The Conspiracy of Catiline and The Jugurthine War, which are remarkable for their condensed vigor and vivid portrayal of character. Virgil\ and Horace, poet-friends of the Augustan Age, are well- known to u?. Virgil left ten Eclogues or Bucolics, in which he patterned after Theocritus, a celebrated Sicilian poet of the Alexandrian Age; The Ge&rgws, a work on Roman agriculture and stock-breeding, in confessed imitation of Hesiod's Works and Days; and the JEneid, modeled upon the Homeric poems. His tender, numerous country villas, his favorite one at Tusculuui being built on the plan of the Academy at Athens. Here he walked and talked with hie friends in a pleasant imi- tation of Aristotle, and here he had a magnificent library of handsomely-bound volumes, to which he continually added rare works, copied by his skillful Greek slaves. His favorite poet was Euripides, whose Uedea, it is said, be was reading when he was overtaken by his assassinators. * CaviK 8dUu$Uu8 Crispus (86-34 B.C.), who was expelled from the senate for immorality, served afterward in the civil war, and was made governor of Numidia by Julius Cesar. lie grew enormously rich on his provincial plunderings, and returned to Rome to build a magnificent palace on the edge of the Campus Martins, where, in the midst of beautiful gardens, groves, and flowers, he devoted his remain- ears to study and friendship. t The small paternal estate otPublilM Yirgiliws Maro (70-19 B.C.), which was confiscated after the fall of the republic, was restored to him by Augustus. The young country poet, who had been educated in Cremona, Milan, and Naples, ex- pressed his gratitude for the imperial favor in a Bucolic (shepherd-poem), one of ■ ral addressed to various friends. Their merit and novelty — for they were the flxsl Latin pastorals— atl racted 'he notice ol Maecenas, the confidential adviser of the em- peror; and, presently, 'tin.' tall, slouching, somewhat plebeian figure of Virgil was seen among the brilliant crowd of courtiers, statesmen, artists, poets, and historians who thronged tie' audience-chamber of the popular minister," in his sumptuous palace on tie- Bsquilinc Hill. Maecenas, who-'- wealth equal d his luxurious tastes, took gi del! men of letters, being himself well versed in Greet and Roman literature, the fin d natural history. Act in Svice, Virgil w the Georgia, upon which he ■-pent bi The ! written to pi "pious .(Eneas" of Troy, the hero of poem In hit last illness, Virgil, who had noi ye( polished hit great wort to suit hlsfairtldlon mid have destroyed it but for the entreaties of hlsfriei In accordance with hi* dying request, he was buried near Maple-, where his tomb is still shown above the Poffllppo Grotto. 86 ROME. brilliant, graceful, musical lines are on the tongue of every Latin student. The ^Eneid became a text-book for the little Romans within fifty years after its author's death, and has never lost its place in the school-room. CICERO, VIRGIL, HORACE, AND SALLUST. Horace* in his early writings, imitated Archilochus and Lucilius, and himself says: " The shafts of my passion at random I flung, And, dashing headlong into petulant rhyme, I recked neither where nor how fiercely I stung." -Ode 1. 15. * Quintus Horatius Flaccus (65-8 b. a), " the wit who never wounded, the poet who ever charmed, the friend who never failed," was the son of a freedman, who gave his boy a thorough Roman education, and afterward sent him to Athens— still the school of the world. Here he joined the army of Brutus, but after the defeat at Philippi— where his want of bravery was only too conspicuous — he returned to Rome to find his father dead, and all his little fortune confiscated. Of this time, he afterward wrote: " Want stared me in the face ; so then and there I took to scribbling verse in sheer despair." The proceeds of his poems and the gifts of friends bought him a clerkship in the questor's department, and made him modestly independent. Virgil introduced him THE CIVILIZATION. 8? But his kind, genial nature soon tempered this "petulant rhyme." His Satires are rambling, sometimes ironical, and always witty, dis- courses. Like Virgil, he loved to sing of country life. He wrote laboriously, and carefully studied all his metaphors and phrase;. His Odes have a consummate grace and finish. Liiy* who outlived Horace by a quarter of a century, wrote one hundred and forty-two volumes of Roman History, beginning with the fabulous landing of ./Eneas, and closing with the death of Drusus (8 b. a). Thirty-five volumes remain. His grace, enthusiasm, and eloquence make his pages delightful to read, though he is no longer accepted as an accurate historian. The First Century a. d. produced the two Plinys, Tacitus, Juvenal, and Seneca. Pliny the Elder ^ is remembered for his Xatural History, a work of thirty-seven volumes, covering the whole range of the scientific knowledge of his time. Pliny the Younger, the charming letter-writer, and Tacitus, the orator and historian, two rich, eloquent, and distinguished noble- men, were among the most famous intellectual men of their time.^ to Maecenas, who took him into an almost romantic friendship, lasting through life. From this generous patron, he received the gift of the " Sabine Farm,* 1 to which he retired, and which he has immortalized by his descriptions, lie died a few months after his "dear knight .Ma.-ci.-nas," to whom he had declared nearly a score of years before, " Ah, if untimely Fate should snatch thee hence, Thee, of my soul a part," " Think not that I have sworn a bootless oath, For we shall go, shall go, Hand linked in hand, where'er thou leadest, both The last sad road below." He was buried on the Eequiline Hill, by the side of his princely friend. * Titus Linus (59 b. c-17 a. d.). Little La known of his private life except that ■as the friend of the Caesars. So great was his renown in his own time that, ac- cording to legend, a Spaniard traveled from Cadiz to Rome to see him, looked upon him, and contentedly retraced his journey. + or this Pliny's Incessant research, bis nephew (Pliny the Younger) writes: "From the twenty-third of August he began to study at midnight, and through the winter he rose at one or two in the morning. During his meals a book read to him, he taking notes while it went on, for he read QOthing without making extracts, j,, facl In- thought all time lost which was not given to study." I'- hi- Natural History, Pliny tin- Elder wrote over sixty books on History, Education, and Military Tactics ; in- also lift "one hundred and sixty volumes of Extracts, written on both sides of the leaf, and in the minutest hand." H - him hi- life, fur he perished in approaching i<"> Dear in-, in tin- great eruption which buried Pompeii ami Herculaneum >7'.> \. d.). me day in 1 games, when a strangei entered into a learned ii in with him, and, after a while, Inquired, " Are you 88 feOM^. They scanned and criticised each other's manuscript, and became by their intimacy so linked with each other that they were jointly remembered in people's wills, legacies to friends being the fashion of the day. Of the writings of Tacitus, there remain a part of the Annals and the History of Rome, a treatise on Germany, and a Life of Agricola. Of Pliny, we have only the Epistles and an Eulogium upon Trajan. The style of Tacitus was grave and stately, sometimes sarcastic or ironical ; that of Plmy was vivid, graceful, and circum- stantial. Seneca (7 B. C.-65 A. D.), student, poet, orator, and stoic philoso- pher, employed his restless intellect in brilliant ethical essays, trag- edies, and instructive letters written for the public eye* His teach- ings were remarkable for their moral purity, and the Christian Fathers called him " The Divine Pagan." Juvenal, the mocking, eloquent, cynical satirist, belongs to the close of the century. His writings are unsurpassed in scathing denunciations of vice.t Libraries and Writing Materials. — The Roman stationery differed little from the Grecian. The passion for collecting books was now so great that private libraries sometimes contained over sixty thousand volumes. J The scribes and librarii, slaves who were attached to library service, were an important part of a Roman gen- tleman's household. Fifty or a hundred copies of a book were often made at the same time, one scribe reading while the others of Italy or from the provinces? " " You know me from your reading," replied the historian. " Then," rejoined the other, " you must be either Tacitus or Pliny." * Seneca was the tutor and guardian of the young Nero, and in later days carried his friendship so far as to write a defence of the murder of Agrippina. But Nero was poor and in debt ; Seneca was immensely rich. To charge him with conspiracy, sentence him to death, and seize his vast estates, was a policy characteristic of Nero. Seneca, then an old man, met his fate bravely and cheerfully. His young wife re- solved to die with him, and opened a vein in her arm with the same weapon with which he had punctured his own, but Nero ordered her wound to be ligatured. As Seneca suffered greatly in dying, his slaves, to shorten his pain, suffocated him in a vapor bath. t Juvenal's style is aptly characterized in his description of another noted satirist : " But when Lucilius, fired with virtuous rage, Waves his keen falchion o'er a guilty age, The conscious villain shudders at his sin. And burning blushes speak the pangs within ; Cold drops of sweat from every member roll, And growing terrors harrow up his soul." % Seneca ridiculed the fashionable pretensions of illiterate men who "adorn their rooms with thousands of books, the titles of which are the delight of the yawning owner." THE CIVILIZATION". b\) wrote* Papyrus, as it was less expensive than parchment, was the favorite writing material. The thick black ink used in writing was prepared from soot and gum ; red ink was employed for ruling the columns. The Egyptian reed-pen (calamus) was still in vogue. ROMAN LIBRARY. * A book was written upon separate strips of papyrus. When the work was completed, t ti<- strips were glued together; the last page was fastened to a hollow reed, 0761 which the whole was wound; the bases of the roll were carefully cut, smoothed, and dyed ; a small stick was passed through the reed, the ends of which were adorned with ivory, golden, or paintr 1 knob* (umMliri) ; the roll was wrapped in parchment, to protect it from the ravages of worms, and the title-label was afflxed :— the booh was then ready for the library shelf or circular case (jscrinium). The portrait of the author usually appeared on the Brat page, and the title of the book was written both at the beginning and the end. Sheets of parchment were folded and sewed in different sine, like modern books.— An author read Che Brat manuscript of his new workbefon an audience aa be could command, and Judged from Ita recep- tion whether it would pay to publish. "If you want to recite," says Juvenal, " Maculonii- will lend you his house, will range his freedmen on the furthest benches, and will put in tie- proper places hi lunged friendi (these corresponded to our modern daqueun or hired applauder >; but be will not give what it costs to hire lbs benches, »el up the galleries, and fill the stage with chairs." These readings often ie shore, and Pliny writes: "This year oat brought aa a great en. put' poets Audi'-i. mi lowly and reluctantly; even then they do not stop, but go away before the end ; tome indeed by stealth, other-' with perfect openness." 90 ROME. There were twenty-nine public libraries at Rome, of which the Ulpian, founded by Trajan, was the most important. Education. — As early as 450 b. c. Rome had elementary schools, where boys and girls were taught reading, writing, arithmetic, and music. The Roman boy mastered his alphabet at home, as most children do now, by playing with lettered blocks. At school, he chanted the letters, syllables, and words in class, after the teacher's dictation. His arithmetical calculations were carried on by the aid of his fingers, or with stone counters and a tablet ruled in columns — the counters expressing certain values according to the columns on which they were placed. He learned to write first on wax tablets, his little fingers being guided by the firm hand of the master; afterward he used pen and ink, and the blank side of second-hand slips of papyrus.* Boys of wealthy parents were accompanied to school by a slave, who carried their books, writing tablets, and count- ing boards, and also by a Greek pedagogue, who, in addition to other duties, practised them in his native language. Girls were attended to and from school by female slaves. Livius Andronicus opened a new era in school education. Ennius, Nsevius, and Plautus added to the text-books introduced by him, and the study of Greek became general. In later times, there were excellent higher schools where the master-pieces of Greek and Latin literature were carefully analyzed. National jurisprudence was not neglected, and every school-boy was expected to repeat the Twelve Tables from memory. Rhetoric and declamation were given great importance, and boys twelve years old delivered set harangues on the most solemn occasions.t As at Athens, the boy of sixteen years * The copies set for him were usually some moral maxim, and, doubtless, many a Roman school-boy labored over that trite proverb quoted from Menander by Paul, and which still graces many a writing-book : "Evil communications corrupt good manners." — Roman schoolmasters were very severe in the use of the ferula. Plautus says that for missing a single letter in his reading, a boy was " striped like his nurse's cloak" with the black and blue spots left by the rod. Horace, two centuries later, anathematized his teacher as Orbilius plagosus (Orbilius of the birch) ; and Martial, the witty epigrammatist and friend of Juvenal, declares that in his time " the morn- ing air resounded with the noise of floggings and the cries of suffering urchins." t Julius Csesar pronounced in his twelfth year the funeral oration of his aunt, and Augustus performed a similar feat. The technical rules of rhetoric and declamation were so minute, that, while they gave no play for genius, they took away the risk of failure. Not only the form, the turns of thought, the cadences, everything except the actual words, were modeled to a pattern, but the manner, the movements, the ar- rangement of the dress, and the tones of the voice, were subject to rigid rules. The hair was to be sedulously coifed ; explicit directions governed the use of the hand- kerchief ; the orator's steps in advance or retreat, to right or to left, were all num- bered. He might test only so many minutes on each foot, and place one only so THE CIVILIZATION, 91 formally entered into manhood, the event being celebrated with certain ceremonies at home and in the Forum, and by the assumjjtion of a new style of toga, or robe. He was now allowed to attend the instruction of any philoso- pher or rhetorician he chose, and to visit the Forum and Tribunals, being generally escorted by some man of note selected by his father. He finished his education by a course in Athens. Monuments and Art. — The early Italian Temples were copied from the Etruscans; the later ones were modifi- cations of the Grecian. Round temples ( Etruscan) were commonly dedicated to Vesta or Diana; sometimes a dome* and portico were added, as in the Pantheon. The Basilica, or Hall of Justice, was usually rectangular, and divided into three or five aisles by rows of columns, the middle aisle being widest. At the extremity, i semicircular, arched recess (apse) for the tribunal, in front of which was an altar — all important public business being preceded by sacrifice. Magnificent Palaces were built by the Caesars, of which the Golden House of Nero, begun on the Palatine and extending by means of intermediate structures to the Esquiliue, is a familiar example.t At Tibur (the modern Tivoli), Hadrian had a variety of many inches before the other ; the elbow raii-l not rise above a certain angle ; the should be set off with rings, but not too many or too large ; and, in raising the band to exhibit them, care must be taken not t<> disturb the head-dress. Every emotion had its prescribed gesture, and the heartiest applause oi the audience wan for the perfection of the pantomime. To run smoothly in all these physical as well at mental groovec of iashion, required Incessant practice, and Augustus, it i " never allowed a da without spending an hour in declamation, t<> keep bis In regular and maintain the armory Of dialectics furbished for ready * vaulted domet and large iracterlstic of Roman architecture, The favorite column I orinthian, for which a new compo Ite capital h d. The foundation Btone ol a tempi'' w:^ laid on the day consecrated totb to whom It ■ d, and the building was made to bee the point of thesun'e rising on that morah ■ ■ Etonian temple architecture are at Palmyra and Bsalbec in s t A court in front, surrounded by a triple colonnade a mile Ion;,', contained tho 92 ROME. structures, imitating and named after the most celebrated buildings of different provinces, such as the temple of Serapis at Canopus in Egypt, and the Lyceum and Academy at Athens. Even the valley of Tempe, and Hades itself, were here typified in a labyrinth of subterranean chambers. In Military Roads, Bridges, Aqueducts, and Harbors, the Romans displayed great genius. Even the splendors of Nero's golden house dwindles into nothing compared with the harbor of Ostia, the drainage works of the Fucinine Lake, and the two large aqueducts, Aqua Claudia and Anio Nova.* Military Roads. — Unlike the Greeks, who generally left their roads where chance or custom led, the Romans sent out their strong highways in straight lines from the capital, overcoming all natural difficulties as they went; filling in hollows and marshes, or spanning them with viaducts ; tunneling rocks and mountains ; bridging streams and valleys; sparing neither time, labor, nor money to make them perfect.f Along the principal ones were placed temples, emperor's statue, one hundred and twenty feet high. In other courts were gardens, vineyards, meadows, great artificial ponds with rows of houses on their banks, and woods inhabited by tame and ferocious animals. The walls of the rooms were covered with gold and jewels ; and the ivory with which the ceiling of the dining- halls was inlaid was made to slide back, so as to admit a rain of roses or fragrant waters on the heads of the carousers. Under Otho, this gigantic building was con- tinued at an expense of over $2,500,000, but only to be pulled down for the greater part by Vespasian. Titu3erected his Baths on the Esquiline foundation of the Golden Palace, and the Colosseum covers the site of one of the ponds. * The Lacus Fucinus in the country of the Marsi was the cause of dangerous inun- dations. To prevent this, and to gain the bed of the lake for agricultural pursuits, a shaft was cut through the solid rock from the lake down to the River Liris, whence the water was discharged into the Mediterranean. The work occupied thirty thousand men for eleven years. The Aqua Claudia was fed by two springs in the Sabine mountain, and was forty-five Roman miles in length ; the Anio Nova, fed from the River Anio, was sixty-two miles long. These aqueducts extended partly above and partly under ground, until about six miles from Rome, where they joined and were carried one above the other on a common structure of arches — in some places one hundred and nine feet high— into the city. t In building a road, the line of direction was first laid out, and the breadth, which was usually from thirteen to fifteen feet, marked by trenches. The loose earth be- tween the trenches having been excavated till a firm base was reached, the space was filled up to the proposed height of the road — which was sometimes twenty feet above the solid ground. First was placed a layer of small stones ; next, broken stones cemented with lime ; then, a mixture of lime, clay, and beaten fragments of brick and pottery ; and finally, a mixture of pounded gravel and lime, or a pavement of hard, flat stones, cut into rectangular slabs or irregular polygons. All along the roads milestones were erected. Near the Arch of Septimius Severus in the Roman Forum may still be seen the remains of the " Golden Milestone " (erected by Augus- tus)— a gilded marble pillar on which were recorded the names of the roads and their length from the metropolis. THE CIVILIZATION. 93 triumphal arches, and sepulchral monuments. The Appian Way — called also Iiegina Viarum or Queen of Roads — was famous for the number, beauty, and richness of its tombs. Its foundations were laid 312 b. c. by the censor Appius Claudius, from whom it was named. BRIDGE OF ST. ANGELO, AND HADRIAN'S TOMB (RESTORED). The Roman Bridget and Viaducts are among the most remarkable monuments of antiquity. In Greece, where the streams were nar- row, little attention was paid to bridges, which were usually of wood, resting at each extremity upon stone piers. The Romans applied the arch, of which the Greeks knew little or nothing, to the con- struction of massive stone bridges* crossing the wide rivers of their various provinces. In like manner, marshy places or valleys liable to inundation were spanned by viaducts resting on solid arches. Of these bridges, which may still be seen in nearly every corner of the old Roman Empire, one of the most interesting is the Pons * In early times, the bridges across the Tiber were i i icred, and tln-ir care «:i j confided to a special body of priest -. called pontifla (brldge-makei i. The name of Pontifex ifaxtmvi remained attached lo the High Prle t, and «- worn by iman emperor. I' li bow glv< n to the Pope, Bridges were Bomethnea nmdo of woodwork and UiUBoiiry Combined, 94 ROME. JEYnis, now called the Bridge of St. Angelo, built by Hadrian across the Tiber in Rome. Aqueducts were constructed on the most stupendous scale, and at one time no less than twenty stretched their long lines of arches* across the Campagna, bringing into the heart of the city as many streams of water from scores of miles away. In their stately Harlors the Romans showed the same defiance of natural difficulties. The lack of bays and promontories was supplied by dams and walls built far out into the sea; and even artificial islands were constructed to protect the equally artificial harbor. Thus, at Ostia, three enormous pillars, made of chalk, mortar, and Pozzuolan clay, were placed upright on the deck of a colossal ship, which was then sunk ; the action of the salt water hardening the clay, rendered it indestructible, and formed an island foundation. Other islands were made by sinking flat vessels, loaded with huge blocks of stone. Less imposing, but no less useful were the canals and ditches, by means of which swamps and bogs were transformed into arable land ; and the subterranean sewers in Rome, which, built twenty-five hundred years ago, still serve their original purpose. Triumphal Archesrf erected at the entrance of cities, and across streets, bridges, and public roads, in honor of victorious generals or emperors, or in commemoration of some great event, were peculiar to the Romans ; as were also the Amphitheatres^ of which the Flavian, better known as the Colos- seum, is the most famous. This structure was built mostly of blocks * Their remains, striking across the desolate Campagna in various directions and covered with ivy, maiden-hair, wild flowers, and fig-trees, form one of the most pic- turesque features in the landscape about Rome. " Wherever you go, these arches are visible ; and toward nightfall, glowing in the splendor of a Roman sunset, and printing their lengthening sun-looped shadows upon the illuminated slopes, they look as if the hand of Midas had touched them, and changed their massive blocks of cork- like travertine into crusty courses of molten gold." — Story's Roba di Roma. t Many of these arches stUl remain. The principal ones in Rome are those of Titus and Constantino, near the Colosseum, and that of Septimius Severus in the Roman Forum. The Arch of Titus, built of white marble, commemorates the de- struction of Jerusalem. On the bas-reliefs of the interior are represented the golden table, the seven -branched candlestick, and other precious spoils from the Jewish Temple, carried in triumphal procession by the victors. To this day, no Jew will walk under this Arch. X The Roman theatre differed little from the Grecian. The first amphitheatre, made in the time of Julius Caesar, consisted of two wooden theatres, so placed upon pivots that they could be wheeled around, spectators and all, and either set back to back, for two separate dramatic performances, or face to face, making a closed arena for gladiatorial shows. THE CIVILIZATION, 95 of travertine, clamped with iron and faced with marble ; it covered about five acres, and seated eighty thousand persons. At its dedication by Titus (a. d. 80), which lasted a hundred days, five thousand wild animals were thrown into the arena. It continued to be used for gladiatorial and wild-beast fights for nearly four hundred years. On various public occasions it was splendidly fitted up with gold, silver, or amber furniture. -.jubi /\'.y.:\_tf^'^ ■BAft m?m f^ii^if" <&&:■ THE RUINS OF THE COLOSSEUM The Thermm (public baths, literally warm waters) were constructed on the grandest scale of refinement and luxury. The Baths of Caracal la. at Rome, contained sixteen hundred rooms, adorned with precious marble-. Here were painting and sculpture galleries, libraries and museums, porticoed halls, open groves, and an imperial pala The arts of Painting, Sculpture, and Pottery were borrowed first from the Etruscans, and then from the Greeks;* in mosaics, the * "Roman art," t-ays Zerffl, "la a misnomer; it it Etruscan, Greek, Assyrian, and Roman garb bj foreign artiste, Tbe Pantheon contained a < atue of Venns, which, il Is said, had In one ear the half of the . i eopatra, To ornament a Greek marble tatue representing a Ideas win, pari o Ing of an Egyptian princess, is highly characteristic of Roman In mattei •>! urt." 96 ROME. Romans excelled* In later times, Rome was filled with the mag- nificent spoils taken from conquered provinces, especially Greece. Greek artists flooded the capital, bringing their native ideality to serve the ambitious desires of the more practical Romans, whose dwellings grew more and more luxurious, until exquisitely-frescoed walls, mosaic pavements, rich paintings, and marble statues became common ornaments in hundreds of elegant villas. 3. THE MANNERS AND CUSTOMS. General Character. — However much they might come in con- tact, the Roman and the Greek character never assimilated. We have seen the Athenian quick at intuition, polished in manner, art-loving, beauty-worshipping ; fond of long discussions and philosophical dis- courses, and listening all day to sublime tragedies. We find the Roman grave, steadfast, practical, stern, unsympathizing ; f too loyal and sedate to indulge in much discussion ; too uninetaphysical to relish philosophy ; and too unideal to enjoy tragedy. The Spartan deified endurance ; the Athenian worshipped beauty ; the Roman was em- bodied dignity. The Greeks were proud and exclusive, but not un- courteous to other nations ; the Romans had but one word (hostis) for strangers and enemies. Ambitious, determined, unflinching, they pushed their armies in every direction of the known world, and, appro priating every valuable achievement of the peoples they conquered, * The mosaic floors, composed of bits of marble, glass, and valuable stones, were often of most elaborate designs. One discovered in the so-called House of the Faun, at Pompeii, is a remarkable battle scene, supposed to represent Alexander at Issus. It is preserved, somewhat mutilated, in the museum at Naples. t What we call sentiment was almost unknown to the Romans. The Greeks had a word to express affectionate family love ; the Romans had none. Cicero, whom his countrymen could not understand, was laughed at for his grief at the death of his daughter. The exposure of infants was sanctioned as in Greece— girls, espe- cially, suffering from this unnatural custom— and the power of the Roman father over the life of his children was paramount. Yet, Roman fathers took much pains with their boys, sharing in their games and pleasures, directing their habits, and taking them about town. Horace writes gratefully of his father, who remained with him at Rome during his school-days and was his constant attendant. (Sat. I. 4.) It is not strange, considering their indifference to their kindred, that the Romans were cruel and heartless to their slaves. In Greece, even the helot was granted some little consideration as a human being, but in Rome the unhappy captive— who may have been a prince in his own land— was but a chattel. The lamprey eels in a certain nobleman's fish-pond were fattened on the flesh of his bondmen ; and, if a Roman died suspiciously, all his slaves— who sometimes were numbered by thousands- were put to the torture. The womeu are accused of being more pitiless than the men, and the faces of the ladies' maids bore perpetual marks of the blows, scratches and pin-stabs of their petulant mistresses. THE MANNERS AND CUSTOMS. 97 made all the borrowed arts their own, lavishing the precious spoils upon their beloved Rome. Their pride in Roman citizenship amounted to a passion, and for the prosperity of their capital they were ready to renounce the dearest personal hope, and to cast aside all mercy or justice toward every other nation. Religion. — The Romans, like the Greeks, worshipped the powers of Nature. But the Grecian gods and goddesses were living, loving, hating, quarrelsome beings, with a history full of romantic incident and personal adventure ; the Roman deities were solemn abstractions mysteriously governing every human action,* and requiring constant propitiation with vows, prayers, gifts, and sacrifices. A regular system of bargaining existed between the Roman worshipper and his gods. If he performed all the stipulated religious duties, the gods were bound to confer a reward ; if he failed in the least, the divine ven- geance was sure. At the same time, if he could detect a flaw in the letter of the law, or shield himself behind some doubtful techni- cality, he might cheat the gods with impunity. f 'I here was no room for faith, or hope, or love — only the binding nature of legal forms. Virtue, in our modern sense, was unknown, and piety consisted, as Cicero declares, in "justice towar.l the gods." In religion, as in everything else, the Romans were always ready to borrow from other nations. Their image worship came from the Etruscans ; their only sacred volumes % were the purchased " Sibylline Books"; they drew upon the gods of Greece, until, in time, they had transferred and adopted nearly the entire Greek Pantheon ; £ Phoenicia * The farmer had to satisfy "the Bpirit of breaking up the land and the spirit of ploughing it crosswise, the spirit of furrowing and the spirit of harrowing, the spirit of weeding and the spirit of reaping, the spirit of carrying the grain to the barn and the spirit of bringing it out again." The little child was attended by over tarty gods. Vaticanoe taught him to cry ; Fabulinus, to speak ; Edusa, to eat ; Potina, to drink: Abeona conducted him out of the house ; Interduca guided blm on his way; Idttca led him home, and Adeqna brought him in. 8o, also, there were deities controlling health, society, lo i and all the passions and virtues of men. + "If a man offered wine to Father Jupiter, and did not mention very precisely that it was only the cup-full which he held in his hand, the god might claim the whole year's vintage. On the other hand, if the god required so many heads in sacrifice, by the letter of the bond he would be bound to accept garlic-heads ; if he claimed an animal, it might be made out ofdoUgfa or wax." WUHflS'S Hum. Atltiq, t " Neither Romans nor Greeks had any sacred hook-. They have left poetry of the highesl order, hut no psalms or hymns, litanies or prayers, as the Egyptians have ■o largely done." /,'. nouf. | Jupiter (Zens) and Ye i (He tia)were derived by Greeks and Romans from their common ancestors. Among the other early Italian gods were Mai (afterward identified with the Greek An I Serculi (Hi rides). Juno (Hera), Minerva (Athena), and Neptune (Poseidon). The union of the Palatine Romans with the Qulrinal Babini lebrated by the mutual worship of Quirinn called the Janus wan erected Id the valley, afterward the it. of the Forum. This gate was 9$ ROME. and Phrygia lent their deities to swell the list ; and, finally, our old Egyptian friends, Isis, Osiris, and Serapis, became as much at home upon the Tiber as they had been for ages ou the Nile. The original religious ideas of the Romans can only be inferred from a few peculiar rites which character- ized their worship. The Chaldeans had astrologers ,* the Persians had magi ; the Greeks had sibyls and oracles ; the Romans had Augurs. Practical and unimaginative, the Latins would never have been content to learn the divine will through the ambiguous phrases of a human prophet ; they demanded a direct yes or no from the gods themselves. Augurs existed from the time of Romulus. Without their as- sistance no public act or ceremony could be performed. Lightning and the flight of birds were the principal signs by which the gods were supposed to make known their will ;* some birdS of omen communicated by their cry, others by their manner of flight. The Haruspices, who also expounded lightnings and natural phe- nomena, made a specialty of divination by inspecting the internal organs of sacrificed animals, a custom we have seen common in Greece. ROMAN AUGUR. always open in time of war, and closed in time of peace. All gates and doors were sacred to the old Latin god Janus, whose key fitted every lock. He wore two faces, one before and one behind, and was the god of all beginnings and endings, all open- ings and shuttings.— With the adoption of the Greek gods, the Greek ideas of per- sonality and mythology were introduced, the Romans being too unimaginative to originate any myths for themselves. But, out of the hardness of their own character, they disfigured the original conception of every borrowed god, and made him more jealous, threatening, merciless, revengeful, and inexorable than before. " Among the thirty thousand deities with which they peopled the visible and invisible worlds, there was not one divinity of kindness, mercy, or comfort." * In taking the auspices, the augur stood in the center of a con- n secrated square, and divided the sky with his staff into quarters (cut); he then offered his prayers and, turning to the south, scanned the w heavens for a reply. Coming from the left, the signs were favorable ; from the right, unfavorable. If the first signs were not desirable, the augurs had only to wait until the right ones came. They thus compelled the gods to sanction their decisions, from which there was afterward no appeal. In the absence of an augur, the " Sacred Chickens," which were carried about in coops during campaigns, were consulted. If they ate their food greedily, especially if they scattered it, the omen was favorable ; if they refused to eat, or moped in the coop, evil was anticipated ! THE MANNERS AND CUSTOMS. % Their art was never much esteemed by the more enlightened classes, and Cato, who detested their hypocrisy, said that " one haruspex could not even look at another in the streets without laughing." The family warship of Vesta, Goddess of the Hearth, was more exclusive in Rome than in Greece, where slaves joined in the home devotions. A Roman father, himself the Priest at this ceremony, would have been shocked at allowing any but a kinsman to be present, for it included the worship of the Lares and Penates, the spirits of his ancestors and the guardians of his house. So, also, in the public service at the Temple of Vesta, the national hearth-stone, the patricians felt it a sacrilege for any but themselves to join. The worship of Vesta, Saturnus (the god of seed-sowing), and Opo (the harvest-god- dess), was under the direction of the College of Pontifices, of which, in regal times, the king was high- priest. Attached to this priestly college — the highest in Rome— were the Flamens* (flare, to blow the fire), who were Priests of Jupiter, .Mars, and Quirinus ; and the Vestal Virgins, who watched the eternal fire in the Temple of Vesta.f The Salii, or "leaping priests," received their name from the war- like dance which, dressed in full armor, they performed every March before all the temples. They had the care of the Sacred Shields, which they carried about in their annual processions, beating them to the * The Flamen Diali* (Priest of Jupiter) was forbidden to take an oath, mount a hone, or glance at an army. His hand could touch nothing unclean, and he never approached a corpse 01 a I onib. As he must not look at a letter, the rinix on bis finger was a broken one. and. as he could not wear a knot, his thick woolen toga, woven by hi- wife. \\a^ fastened with buckles. He was not allowed to approach a trailed vine, or to touch ivy. If his head-dress (a sort <>f circular pillow, on the top of which an olive-branch was fastened by a white woolen thread) chanced to fall off, he was obliged to re-ii'ii his office. In his belt he carried the sacrificial knife, and in his hand he held a rod to keep off the people on his way to sacrifice. As ho miLdit not look on any secular employment, he was preceded by a lictor, who com- pelled every one to lay down his work till the Flamen had passed. His duties were continuous, and he could not remain for a night away from his house on the Palatine. Hi- wili bject to an equally rigid code, she wore long woolen robes, and Shoes mad'- of tie- leather of sacrificed animal-. Her hair was tied with a purple woolen ribbon, over which was a kerchief, fastened with the bough of a lucky tree. She also carried a Bacriflcial knife. t Tit ft ini always dressed in white, with a broad band, like a diadem, round her forehead. Daring sacrifice or in proot rered with a white veil. was chosen for the service when from -i\- to ten years old. and her vow< held for thirty year-, after which time if -he chose, -lie W88 released and might marry. Any oil- me. r,(T. red her wa- punished with death. In public, every one, even the nl. made way for the lictor preceding the maiden, ami -in had the seat of honor ill publ c gami - and priestly banquets, it. however, she accidentally suffered the Bred fire U is liable to corporeal punishment by the pontifex mi mu-: If she brok< hervow carried m a bier totbeOampui Sceloratus, •.nil imi and buried ui Dumber of vestal virgins never exceeded nix at any one time. 100 ROME. measure of an old-time song in praise of Janus, Jupiter, Juno, Minerva, and Mars. One of the shields was believed to have fallen from Heaven. To mislead a possible pillager of so precious a treasure, eleven more were made exactly like it, and twelve priests were ap- pointed to watch them all. The Fetiales had charge of the sacred rites accompanying declara- tions of war, or treaties of peace. War was declared by throwing a bloody spear across the enemy's frontier. A treaty was concluded by the killing of a pig with a sacred pebble. Altars were erected to the Emperors, where vows and prayers were daily offered.* In the times of Roman degeneracy, the city was flooded with quack Chaldean astrologers, Syrian seers, and Jewish fortune-tellers. The women, especially, were ruled by these corrupt impostors, whom they consulted in secret and by night, and on whom they squandered immense sums. Under these debasing influences, profligacies and enormities of every kind grew and multiplied. The old Roman law which commanded that the parricide should be " sewn up in a sack with a viper, an ape, a dog, and a cock, and then cast into the sea," was not likely to be rigidly enforced when a parri- cide sat on the throne, and poisonings were common in the palace. That the pure principles of Christianity, which were introduced at this time, should meet with contempt, and its disciples with bitter persecution, was inevitable. Games and Festivals. — The Roman public games were a degraded imitation of the Grecian, and, like them, connected with religion. When a divine favor was desired, a vow of certain games was made, and, as the gods regarded promises with suspicion, the expenses were at once raised. Each of the great gods had his own festival -month and day. The Saturnalia, which occurred in December, and which, in later times, lasted seven days, was the most remarkable. It was a time of general mirth and feasting ; schools were closed; the senate adjourned ; presents were made ; wars were forgotten ; criminals had certain privileges ; and the slaves, whose lives were ordinarily at the mercy of their masters, were permitted to jest with them, and were even waited upon by them at table ; — all this in memory of the free and golden rule of ancient Saturn. The gymnastic and musical exercises of the Greeks never found much favor in Rome ; tragedies were tolerated only for the splendor of the costumes and the scenic wonders ; and even comedies failed to * " Not even the Egyptians, cronching in grateful admiration before a crocodile, so ontraged humanity as did those polite Romans, rendering divine honors to an em- peror like Amelias Commodus, who fought seven hundred and thirty-five times as a common gladiator in the arena before his enervated people."— Zerffi. THE M A X X E K S A X D CUSTOMS. 101 satisfy a Roman audience. Farces and pantomimes won great ap- plause ; horse and chariot races were exciting pleasures from the time of the kings; but, of all delights, nothing could stir Rome like a gladiatorial or wild-beast fight. At first connected with the Saturnalia, the sports of the arena soon became too popular to be restricted, and mourning sons in high life paid honors to a deceased father by furnishing a public fight, in which from twenty-five to seventy-five gladiators were hired to take part, the contest often lasting for days. » v Gladiatorial Shows were advertised by private circulars or public announcements. On the day of the performance, tbe gladiators marched in solemn procession to the arena, where they were matched in pairs,"" * The irltuliatorri fought in pairs or in matched numbers. A favorite duel was between a man wit limit arms, tint who carried a nel In which to ensnare his opponent and a three-pronged fork with which to spear him when canght, and another man In full armor, whose safety lay In evading his enemy while ho pursued and killed him. " Ii i- Impossible to de cribe the aspect of an amphitheatre when gladiators fought Theandieni frantic with excitement ; they rose from their seats; they yelled ; they shouted their applause as a ghastly blow was deal) which sent the li fe b lood spouting forth, l Hoohabet* 'he bas It'— 'he has it,' bnrsl from ten ■ ml throul.t, and was re-echoed, not only by u brutalized populace, '"it by 102 ROME. and their weapons formally examined. " An awning gorgeous with purple and gold excluded the rays of the midday sun ; sweet strains of music floated in the air, drowning the cries of deatli ; the odor of Syrian perfumes overpowered the scent of blood ; the eye was feasted by the most brilliant scenic decorations, and amused by elaborate machinery." At the sound of a bugle and the shout of command, the I tattle opened. When a gladiator was severely wounded, he dropped his weapons, and held up his forefinger as a plea for his life. This was sometimes in the gift of the people ; often the privilege of the vestal virgins ; in imperial times, the prerogative of the emperor. A turned-down thumb or the waving of a handkerchief extended mercy ; a clenched and upright fist forbade all hope. Cowards had nothing to expect, and were whipped or branded with hot irons till they resumed the fight. The killed and mortally wounded were dragged out of the arena with a hook. The Wild-Beast Fights were still more revolting, especially when untrained captives or criminals were forced to the encounter. Many Christian martyrs, some of whom were delicate women, perished in the Colosseum. We read of twenty maddened elephants turned in upon six hundred war captives, and, in Trajan's games, which lasted over one hundred and twenty days, ten thousand gladiators fought, and over that number of wild beasts were slain. Sometimes, the animals, made furious by hunger or fire, were let loose at one another. Great numbers of the most ferocious beasts were imported from distant countries fur these combats. Strange animals were sought after, and camelopards, white elephants, the rhinoceros, and the hippopotamus, goaded to fury, delighted the assembled multitudes. Noble game be- came scarce, and at last it was forbidden by law to kill a Getulian lion out of the arena, even in self-defence. Naval Fights, in flooded arenas, were also popular. The Colosseum was sometimes used for this purpose, as many as thirty vessels taking part. At an entertainment given by Augustus in the flooded arena of the Flaminian circus, thirty-six crocodiles were pursued and killed. Marriage was of two kinds. In one, the bride passed from the control of her father into that of her husband ; in the other, the imperial lips, by purple-clad senators and knights, by noble matrons and consecrated maids. 1 ' — ShepparcTs Fall of Rome. So frenzied with the sight of blood did the epi ctators become that they would rush into the arena and slay on every side ; and so sweet, was the applause of the mob that captives, slaves, and Criminals were envied the monopoly of the gladiatorial contest, and laws were required to restrict knights and senators from entering the lists. Some of the emperors fought publicly in the arena, and even women thus debased themselves. Finally, such was tin' mania, that no u ealthy or patrician family was without its gladiators, and no festival was complete without a contest. Even ai banquets, blood was the only stimulant that roused the jaded appetite of a Roman. THE MANNERS AND CUSTOMS, 103 DRESSING A ROMAN BRIDE. parental power was retained. The former kind of marriage could be contracted in any one of three different ways. Of these, the religious form was confined to the patricians ; the presence of the pontiles maximus, the priest of Jupiter, and ten citizens was necessary as witnesses ; a sacred cake (far) was broken and solemnly tasted by the nuptial pair, whence this ceremony was termed confarreatio. A second manner was by purchase (coemptio), in which the father formally sold his daughter to the groom, she signifying her consent before witnesses. The third form, by prescription (usus), consisted simply in the parties having lived together for a year without being separated for three days at any time. The marriage ceremony proper differed little in the various forms. The betrothal consisted of the exchange of the words sponde&ne (do you promise?) and spondeo (I promise), followed by the gift of a ring from the groom. On the wedding morning, the guests assembled at the house of the bride's father, where the auspices — which had been taken lii-l'orc sunrise by an augur or a haruspex— were declared, and the solemn marriage contract was spoken. The bride's attendant then laid her hands upon the shoulders of the newly married pair, and led them to the family altar, around which they walked hand-in-hand, while a cow, a pig, and a sheep were offered in sacrifice — the gall baving been first extracted and thrown away, to signify the removal of all bitterness from the occasion. The guests having made their congratulations, the feasi began. At nightfall, the bride was torn with a show of force from her mother's arms (in memory of the seizure of the Sabine women, (p. 16); two boys, whose parents were both alive, supported her by the arm-; torches weir lighted, and a gay procession, as in Greece, accompanied the party to the house of the groom. Here the bride, having repeated to her spouse the formula, lb; tu Gains, Sri ego Oaia" (Where thou art Cains, 1 am Caia), anointed tie- door-postS and WOUnd them with wool, and was lifted over the threshold. Having been formally welcomed into the atrium by her husband, they both touched fir" and water, and she was given the key- t . . tin- bouse The nexl day. at the second marriage least, the wife broughl bet offerings to the gods of her husband's family, of which she was now a ue mber. and a Roman matron. 104 ROME. Burial.* — When a Roman died it was the duty of his nearest rela- tive to receive his last breath with a kiss, and then to close his eyes and mouth (compare ^Eneid, iv. 684). His name was now called several times by all present, and there being no response the last fare- well (vale) was said. The necessary utensils and slaves having been hired at the temple where the death-registry was kept, the body was laid on the ground, washed in hot water, anointed with rich perfumes, clad in its best garments, placed on an ivory bedstead, and covered with blankets of purple, embroidered with gold.f The couch was deco- rated with flowers and foliage, but upon the body itself were placed only the crowns of honor fairly earned during its lifetime ; these accompanied it into the tomb. By the side of the funereal bed, which stood in the atrium facing the door, as in Greece, was placed a pan of incense. The body was thus exhibited for seven days, branches of cypress and fir fastened in front of the house announcing a mourning household to all the passers-by. On the eighth morning, while the streets were alive with bustle, the funeral took place. Behind the hired female mourners, who sang wailing dirges, walked a band of actors, who recited scraps of tragedy applicable to the deceased, or acted comic scenes in which were sometimes mimicked his personal peculiarities.^: In front of the bier marched those who personated the prominent ancestors of the dead person. They wore waxen masks (p. 113), in which and in their dress were reproduced the exact features and historic garb of these long-defunct personages. § The bier, car- ried by the nearest relatives, or by slaves freed by the will of the deceased, and surrounded by the family friends dressed in black (or, in imperial times, in white), was thus escorted to the Forum. Here the mask-wearers seated themselves about it, and one of the relatives mounted the rostrum to eulogize the deceased and his ancestors. After the eulogy, the procession reformed, and the body was taken to the * The Romans, like the Greeks, attached great importance to the interment of their dead, as they believed that the spirit of an unburied body was forced to wander for a hundred years. Hence it was deemed a religious duty to scatter earth over any corpse found uncovered by the wayside, a handful of dust being sufficient to appease the infernal gods. If the body of a friend could not be found, as in shipwreck, an empty tomb was erected, over which the usual rites were performed. t We are supposing the case of a rich man. The body of a poor person was, after the usual ablutions, carried at night to the common burial-ground outside the Esqui- line gate, and interred without ceremony. % At Vespasian's obsequies an actor ludicrously satirized his parsimony. " How much will this ceremony cost?" he asked, in the assumed voice of the deceased emperor. A large sum having been named in reply, the actor extended his hand and greedily cried out, " Give me the money and throw my body into the Tiber." § Frequently, the masks belonging to the collateral branches of the family were borrowed, that a brilliant show might be made. Parvenus, who belong to all time, were wont to parade images of fictitious ancestors. THE MANNERS AND CUSTOMS. 105 spot where it was to be buried or burned, both forms being used as in Greece. If it were burned, tbe nearest relative, with averted face, ligbted the pile. After the burning, the hot ashes were drenched with wine, and the friends collected the bones in the folds of their robes, amid acclamations to the manes of the departed. The remains, sprinkled with wine and milk, were then— with sometimes a small glass vial filled with tears— placed in the funeral urn ; a last farewell was spoken, the lustrations were performed, and the mourners separated. When the body was not burned, it was buried with all its ornamen s in a coffin, usually of stone* The friends, on returning home from the funeral, were sprinkled with water, and then they stepped over fire, as a purification. The house also was ceremoniously purified. An offering and banquet took place on the ninth day after burial, in accordance with Greek custom. Dress. — The toga, worn by a Roman gentleman, was a piece of white woolen cloth about five yards long and three and a half wide, folded lengthways, so that one edge fell below the other. It was thrown over the left shoulder, brought around the back and under the right arm, then, leaving a loose fold in front, thrown again over the left shoulder, leaving the end to fall behind. Much pains was taken to drape it gracefully, according to the exact style required by fashion. A tunic, with or without sleeves, and in cold weather a vest, or one or more extra tunics, were worn under the toga. Boys under seventeen years of age wore a toga with a purple hem ; the toga of a senator had a broad purple stripe, and that of a knight had two narrow etripes. The use of the toga was forbidden to slaves, strangers, and, in im- p-rial times, to banished Romans. The pcemda, a heavy, sleeveless cloak, with sometimes a hood attached, and the lacerna, a thinner, bright-colored one arranged in fold«, were worn out of doors over the toga. The paludamentum, a rich, nd cloak draped in pic uresque folds, was permitted only to the military general-in-chjcf, who, In imperial times, was the emperor himself. Tie was a short military cloak. The syntliem, a gay- colored easy robe, was worn over the tunic at banquets, and by the nobility during the Saturnalia. Poor people had only the tunic, and in cold weather a tight-fitting wool or leather cloak. When not on a journey 'he Roman like tbe Gr ek, lefl his head uncovered, orpro- t tcted it with his toga Rank decided the style of shoe : a consul used a nd one, a Benator a black one with a silver crescent, ordinary folk a plain black, slaves and ] oorest people wooden clogs. In the house, dalfl only were worn, and at dinner oven these were laid aside. * Thai from Aasos in Lycia was i< tbe entire body, except the teeth, In forty fir.-: beoce ii ■•.a- rail"! sarcophog aOngJ, a name which came to eland for any coffin. 106 ROME. A Roman matron dressed in a linen under-tunic, a vest, and the stola, a long, short-sleeved garment, girdled at the waist and flounced or hemmed at the bottom. Over this, when she went out, she threw a palla, cut and draped like her husband's toga, or like the Greek himation. Girls and foreign women, who were not permitted the stola, wore over the tunic a palla, arranged like the old Doric chiton. Women — who, like the men, went hatless — protected their heads with the palla, and wore veils, nets, and various light head-coverings. This led to elaborate fashions in hair-dressing. A caustic soap im- ported from Gaul was used for hair dyeing, and wigs were not uncom- mon. Bright colors, such as blue, scarlet, violet, and especially yellow — the favorite tint for bridal veils — enlivened the feminine wardrobe. Finger-rings were worn in profusion by both sexes, and a Roman lady of fashion luxuriated in bracelets, necklaces, and various ornaments set with diamonds, pearls, emeralds, and other jewels, whose purchase frequently cost her husband his fortune. SCENES IN REAL LIFE. Scene I. — A Day in Rome. — Let us imagine ourselves on some bright, clear morning, about eighteen hundred years ago, looking down from the summit of the Capitoline hill upon the "Mistress of the World." As we face the rising sun, we see clustered about us a group of hills crowned with a vast assemblage of temples, colonnades, palaces, and sacred groves. Densely packed in the valleys between are towering tenements,* shops with extending booths, and here and there a templed forum, amphitheatre, or circus. In the valley at our feet, between the Via Sacra and the Via Nova — the only paved roads in the whole city fit for the transit of heavy carriages — is the Forum Romanum, so near us that we can watch the storks that stalk along the roof of the Temple of Concord f This Forum is the great civil and legislative heart of the city. Here are the Regia or palace of the chief pontiff, with its two adjoining basilicas ; the Temple of Vesta, on whose altar burns the sacred flame ; the Senate House, fronted by the Rostra, from which Roman orators address assembled multitudes ; various temples, including the famous one of Castor and Pollux ; and * Ancient authors frequently mention the extreme height of Roman houses, which Augustus finally limited to seventy feet. Cicero says of Rome that " it is suspended in the air"; and Aristides, comparing the successive stories to the strata of the earth's crust, affirms that if they were laid out on one level they " would cover Italy from sea to sea." To economize lateral space, the exterior walls were forbidden to exceed a foot and a half in thickness. t Storks were encouraged to build in the roof of this temple, as peculiar social instincts were attributed to them. (See Steele's Zoology, p. 147.) THE MANNERS AND CUSTOMS. 107 At our right is many beautiful marble arches mans, and statues. the crowded district of the Vela- >rum, and beyond it, between the Palatine and Aventine hills, is the Circus Maximus, from which the Appian Way sweeps to the south- east, through the Porta Capena and ider the great Aqua Crabra, a sol- idly-paved street, many-days jour- ney in extent, and lined for miles beyond the city walls with mag- nificent marble tombs shaded by cypress trees. Among the temples on th • Palatine stands the illustrious one sacred to Apollo, along whose p irticoes hang the trophies of all na- tions, and to which is at- tached a famous library ROME IN THE TIME OF AUGUSTUS C^-.SAK. 108 ROME. of Greek and Roman books ; near it is the Roma Quadrata, a square mass of masonry believed to be mysteriously connected with the for- tunes of the city, and beneath which certain precious amulets are de- posited. Interspersed among these public buildings on the Palatine are many isolated mansions surrounded by beautiful gardens fragrant with the odors of roses and violets, in which the Romans especially delight. There is no arrangement of streets upon the hills ; that is a system confined to the crowded Suburra, which adjoins the Roman Forum at our front and lies at the foot of the Quirinal, Viminal, and Es- quiline hills. This district, which was once a swampy juugle and afterward a fashionable place for residences (Julius Csesar was born in the Suburra), is now the crowded abode of artificers of all kinds, and is the most profligate as well as most densely populated part of Rome. Turning about and facing the west, we see, toward the north, the Campus Martius, devoted from the earliest period to military exercises and the sports of running, leaping, and bathing. On this side of the open meadows stand some of the principal temples, the great Flaminian Circus, and the theatres of Pompeius and Marcellus with their groves, porticoes, and halls. Precisely in the center of the plain rises the Pantheon of Agrippa, and, further on, we see the Amphitheatre of Taurus,* and the Mausoleum of Augustus. At our front, beyond the curving, southward-flowing Tiber, is a succession of terraces, upon whose heights are many handsome residences. This quarter, the Janiculum, is noted for its salubrity, and here are the Gardens of Caesar, and the Naumachia (a basin for exhibiting naval engagements) of Augustus, fed by a special aqueduct, and surrounded by walks and groves. Glancing down the river we see the great wharf called the Kmporium, with its immense store-houses, in which grain, spices, candles, paper, and other commodities are stored ; and, just beyond it, the Marmorata, a special dock for landing building-stone and foreign marbles. It is yet early morning, and the streets of Rome are mainly filled with clients and their slaves hurrying to the atria (p. 114) of their wealthy patrons to receive the customary morning dolc.f Here and * The whole of this northern district comprehends the chief part of modern Rome, and is now thronged with houses. t In early times the clients were invited to feast with their patron in the atrium of his mansion, but in later days it became customary, instead, for stewards to dis- tribute small sums of money or an allowance of food, which the slaves of the clients carried away in baskets or in small portable ovens, which kept the cooked meats hot. " Wedged in thick ranks before the donor's gates, A phalanx firm of chairs find litters waits. Once, plain and open was the feast. And every client was a bidden guest ; Now, at the gate a paltry largess lies, And eager hands and tongues dispute the prize." — Juvenal, THE PLAN OF ANCIENT ROME. SHOWING THE DIVISION INTO XIV REGIONS OF AUGUSTUS AND THE POSITION OF THE PRINCIPAL BUILDINGS. I. Porta Capena. i Porta C* '.'. Valley "I Kf.-riu. 3. T b ol - d| II. CiELIMONTIUM. 4. Temple of Dina Claudia* 5. Arrh of Constantine. III. LilS ET SERAPIS. 6. Coliseum. ". Balk* of Tim.. 8. Balln of Trajuri. V. Via Sacra. 1, 1 rum of Veftpanlan. in. BmIIIi ii "1 Conitantlne. V. EsQIILINACUM VlMI NAI.I. 1 1. T'lMpI' ot Juno. FT Alta Sf.mita II II. i D IfltUW. l.'i. Temple ol Flora. 14. Tempi* ofQnlrtnut. 16. Itit'h* of ( oriKthnllne. VII Via Lata. 16. Arrh iif Aurollut. II. Arch of Claudlua. VIII 18. Amphithentre of Taorna. 19. Column of Antoninus. 50, t lamp of Agrippa. 51. Temple of"I«i» and Se- raph). Forum Bomaxvm. '.'.'. Capltollne Hill. l l3. Tamplfl ol Jupiter Ti nuns VI. An. '.'.'■. Golden Milestone. n, Roman Forum. '.'7. Tamplfl of Vealii. S8. Via Sacra. 29. Lupercal. 80 Tarpalan Rock. :;i Ann of BflTeraa. Turin (Banal* llmiae.) . r orom of AuKUKtu*. i Ba*lllca Uli.ia. 85. Tampl* ol Jaoua. IX. Circuh Flaminitjh. .'16. Tbaatr* ■■! Han 87. Port, "i OeUTiui and PblllpM. 88. Cinmi Flnmuilun. 89. Temple of Apollo. log 40. Temple of Bellona. 41. Sapta Julia. 42. Dirlbltorium. 48. Bath* of Agrippa. 44. Port, of Pompay. 46. Theatre ol Ponipcy. 46. Pantheon, 47 BflUll of Nero. 48. Re C 49. Hanaolflum of Augustus X. Palatum. 60. Palace ol N< ro, 61. Patacfl of Augustus. XI. Circcb Maximtjb. 62. Vellibrum. 5:i. Forum I rlltorlum. 64. Forum Bnarium. 66. Cirrus Miniums. XII. PlHCTNA PUBLICA. Bath* "i AiK.iiiiuu". Xin. AvENTINTJS. r.7. Balnaa Buras. I i,,|. i mm. XIV. Thanh Tiberim. 69. Templo of ifeaculaplua. 110 ROME. there a teacher hastens to his school, and in the Suburra the workers in metal and in leather, the clothiers and perfume sellers, the book- dealers, the general retailers, and the jobbers of all sorts, are already beginning their daily routine. We miss the carts laden with mer- chandise which so obstruct our modern city streets ; they are forbidden by law to appear within the walls during ten hours between sunrise and sunset. But, as tbe city wakes to life, long trains of builders' wagons, weighted with huge blocks of stone or logs of timber, bar the road, and mules, with country produce piled in baskets suspended on either side, urge their way along the constantly increasing crowd. Here is a mule with a dead boar thrown across its back, the proud hun- ter stalking in front, with a strong force of retainers to carry his spears and nets. There comes a load drawn by oxen, upon whose horns a wisp of hay is tied ; it is a sign that they are vicious, and passers-by must be on guard. Now a passage is cleared for some dignified patri- cian, who, wrapped in his toga, reclining in his luxurious litter, and borne on tbe broad shoulders of six stalwart slaves, makes his way to the Forum attended by a train of clients and retainers. In his rear, stepping from stone to stone * across the slippery street wet by the recent rains, we spy some popular personage on foot, whose advance is constantly retarded by his demonstrative acquaintances, who throng about him, seize his hand, and cover his lips with kisses, f The open cook-shops swarm with slaves who hover over steaming kettles, preparing breakfast for their wonted customers ; and the tables of the vintners, reaching far out upon the wayside, are covered with bottles, protected from passing pilferers by chains. The restaurants are hung with festoons of greens and flowers ; the image of a goat, \ carved on a wooden tablet, betokens a milk depot ; five hams, ranged * In Pompeii, the sidewalks are elevated a foot or more above the street level, and protected by curbstones. Remains of the stucco or the coarse brickwork mosaic which covered them are still seen. In many places the streets are so narrow that they may be crossed at one stride ; where they are wider, a raised stepping-stone, And sometimes two or three, have been placed in the center of the crossing. Though these stones were in the middle of the carriage-way, the wheels of the biga, or two- horsed chariot, could roll in the spaces between, while the loosely harnessed horses might step over them or pass by the side. Among the suggestive objects in the exhumed city are the hollows worn in these stepping-stones by feet which were for- ever stilled more than eighteen hundred years ago. t " At every meeting in the street a person was exposed to a number of kisses, not only from near acquaintance, but from every one who desired to show his attach- ment, among whom there were often mouths not so clean as they might be. Tiberius, who wished himself not to be humbled by this custom, issued an edict against it, but it does not appear to have done much good. In winter only it was considered improper to annoy another with one's cold lips." — Becker's Gallus. X A goat driven about from door to door, to be milked for customers, is a common sight in Rome to-day, where children come out with gill or half-pint cups to get their morning ration. THE MANNERS AND CUSTOMS. Ill in a row, proclaim a provision store ; and a mill, driven by a mule, advertises a miller's and baker's shop, both in one. About the street corners are groups of loungers collected for their morning gossip, while gymnasts and gladiators, clowns, conjurors, snake charmers, an J u crowd of strolling swine — who roam at will about the imperial city — help to obstruct the narrow, tortuous highways. The professional street-beggars are out in force ; squatting upon little squares of mat- ting, they piteously implore a dole, or, feigning epilepsy, fall at thj feet of some rich passer-by. Strangers, too, are here, men of foreign costume and bearing, come from afar to see the wonders of the world- conquering city, and, as they gaze distractedly about, dazed by the din of rambling wagons, shouting drivers, shrill-voiced hucksters, braying asses, and surging multitudes, suddenly there comes a lull. The slaves, whose task it is to watch the sun-dials and report the expiration of each hour, have announced that the sun has passed the midday lino upon the pavement. Soon all tumult ceases, and for one hour the city is wrapped m silence. The luxurious siesta over, Rome awakes to new enjoyment. Now conn the pleasures and excitement of the circus and the theatre, or the sports upon th ■ Campus Martins, whither the youug fashionables repair in crowds, to swim, ran, ride, or throw the javelin, watched by an admiring assembly of seniors and women who, clustered in porticoes, are sheltered from the burning sun. Then follows the luxury of the warm and vapor baths, with perfuming and anoiuting, and every refinement of physical refreshment as a preparation for the coming or dinner']> 116). But wherever one may seek enjoyment for the early evening, it is well to b • housed before night conies on, f >r the streets r of this spacious room,f with the curtains all THE HOUSE OF PANSA. (VIEW FROM THE ENTRANCE-DOOR OF THE ATRIUM.) drawn aside, we look down a long an 1 beautiful vista ; past the central fountain and altar ; through the open tablinum, paved with marbles and devoted to the master's use ; into the peristyle, a hand- some open court surrounded by pillared arcades, paved with mosaics and beautified, like the atrium, with central fountain and flowers ; and still on, through the large banqueting hall, or family state-room (mens), beyond the transverse corridor, and into the garden which stretches across the rear of the mansion. If we stop to glance into the library which adjoins the tablinum, we shall find its walls lined with * Pliny speaks of the craving for portrait-statues, which induced obscure persons, suddenly grown rich, to buy a fictitious ancestry, there being ready antiquarians then, as now, who made it a business to furnish satisfactory pedigrees. t The atrium in the House of Pansa was nearly fifty feet long and over thirty wide. As this was only a moderate-sized house in a provincial town, it is reasonable to suppose that the city houses of the rich were much more spacious. THE MANNERS AND CUSTOMS. 115 cupboards stored with parchment rolls and adorned with busts and pictures of illustrious men, crowned by the presiding statues of Minerva and the Muses. In general furniture, we notice beautiful tripod-stauds holding graceful vases, chairs after Greek patterns, and lecti* on which to recline when reading or writing. Occasionally there is a small wall-mirror, made of polished metal, and the walls themselves are brilliantly painted in panels, bearing graceful floating figures and scenes of mythological design. The floors are paved with bricks, marbles, or mosaics, and the rooms are warmed or cooled by pipes through which flows hot or cold water. In extreme weather there are portable stoves. There is a profusion of quaintly- shaped bronze and even golden lamps, whose simple oil-fed wicks give forth at night a feeble giimmer.f As we pass through the fauces into the peristyle a serpent slowly uncoils itself from its nest in one of the alae, which has been made the household sanctuary,:): and glides toward the triclinium in search of a crumb from the midday meal. The large triclinium, at the right of the peristyle, is furnished with elegantly inlaid sofas, which form three sides of a square about a costly cedar or citrus- wood table. § At banquets the sofas are * A lec/us was neither bed nor sofa, but a simple frame with a low ledge at one end, and Btrung with girth on which a mattress and coverings were laid. Lectiwere made of brass, or of cedar inlaid with ivory, tortoise-shell and precious metals, and were provided with ivory, gold, or silver feet. Writing-desks with stools were un- known ; the Roman reclined on the lectus when he wrote, resting his tablet upon his knee. t The Romans were in the habit of making New- Year's gifts, such as dried figs, dates, and honeycomb as emblems of sweetness, or a little piece of money as a hope for good luck. But the favorite gift was a lamp, and great genius was displayed in the variety of elegant designs which were invented in search of the novel and unique. X Serpents were the emblems of the Lares, and were not only figured upon tho altar-, but, as a pn ience of good omen, a particular kind was keptas pets in the houses where they nestled about the altars and came out like dogs or cats to be noticed by visitors, and to beg for something to eat. These sacred reptiles, which were of considerable size but harmless except to rats and mice, bore such a charmed life that their numbers became an intolerable nuisance. Pliny intimates that many of the fires in Borne were kindled purposely to destroy their eggs. § The citrus-wood tables, so prized among the Romans, cost from SKI. 000 to ?50,ooo apiece. Seneca is Bald to have owned live hundred citrus-wood tables. i murrha a substance Identified by modern scientists with glass, Chinese porcelain, agate, and fluor Bpar were fashionable, and fabulous sums were pawl for them. An ex-consul under Nero bad a murrha wine-ladle which cost him |300,ooo, and which on hi- death bed he deliberately dashed to piece-, to prevent its (ailing into the hands of the grasping tyrant. Bronze and marble statues were abundant in the nou e and garden of the rich, and co I from $l."0 for the work of an ordinary -■i-ulptor to .f:{n.(Kii for a genuine Phidias, Scopas, or Praxiteles. To gratify such expensive tasti . tai fortune- were nece ary, and the Etonians— Id early timi to anything bul arm- and agriculture— developed shrewd, harp business qualities, They roamed over foreign countries In Bearch of speculations, and turned out -warms of bankers and merchants, Who a ma sed enormous sums to 116 ROME, docked with white hangings embroidered with gold, and the soft wool- stuffed pillows upon which the guests recline are covered with gor- geous purple. Here, after his daily warm and vapor bath, the per- fumed and enervated Roman gathers a few friends — in number not more than the Muses nor less than the Graces — for the evening supper (caina). The courses follow one another as at a Grecian banquet. Slaves * relieve the master and his guests from the most, trifling effort, PLAN OF THE HOUSE OF PANSA. (v) The Vestib ulum, or hall; (i) The Ostium; (2) The Atrium, off which are six cubicula or sleeping-rooms ; (3) The Impluvium, before which stands the pedestal or altar, of the household gods; (4) The Tablinnm, or chief room ; (5) The Pinacotheca, or library and picture gallery; (6) The Fauces, or corri- dor; (7) The Peristylium. or court, with (8) its central fountain; (9) The ALcus, or state-room j (10) The Triclinium ; (11) The kitchen ; (12) The transverse corridor, with garden beyond ; and (13) The Lararium, a recepta- cle for the more favorite gods, and for statues of illustrious personages. carving each person's food or breaking it into fragments which he can raise to his mouth with his fingers — forks being unknown — and pouring water on his hands at every remove. The strictest etiquette prevails ; long-time usages and traditions are followed ; libations are offered to the protecting gods ; spirited conversation, which is undignified and Greekish, is banished ; and only solemn or caustic aphorisms on life and manners are heard. "People at supper," says Varro, "should be neither mute nor loquacious: eloquence is for the forum ; silence for the bed-chamber." On high days, rules are banished ; the host becomes the " Father of the supper," convivial excesses grow coarse and absurd, and all the follies and vices of the Greek symposium are exaggerated. be spent on fashionable whims. (See Business Life in Ancient Home. Harper's Half-hour Series.) * There were slaves for every species of service in a Roman household, and their number and versatility of handicraft remind one of the retinue of an Egyptian lord. Even the defective memory or limited talent of an indolent or over-taxed Roman was supplemented by a slave at his side whose business it was to recall forgotten incidents and duties, to tell him the names of the persons he met, or to suggest ap- propriate literary allusions in his conversation. THE MANNERS AND CUSTOMS. 117 Scene III. — A Triumphal Procession. — Rome is in her holiday attire. Streets and squares are festively adorned, and incense burns on the altars of the open temples. From steps and stands, improvised along the streets for the eager crowd, grow loud and louder shouts of ' Io triumphe," for the procession has started from the triumphal gate on its way through the city up to the Capitol. First come the lictors, opening a passage for the senate, the city magistrates, and important citizens. Pipers and flute-players follow. Then appear the spoils and booty ; art treasures, gold and silver coins, valuable plate, products of the conquered soil, armor, standards, models of captured cities and ships, pictures of battles, tablets inscribed with the victor's deeds, and statues personifying the towns and rivers of the newly-subjected land, — all carried by crowned soldiers on the points of long lances, or on portable stands. Chained kings, princes, and nobles, doomed to the Mamertine prison, walk sullenly behind their lost treasures. In their wake are the sacrificial oxen with gilt horns, accompanied by priests ; and then, preceded by singers, musicians, and jesters, the cen- tral object of all this grand parade — the victorious GKNER \l.* Clad in a tunic borrowed from the statue of the Capitoline Jupiter, with the eagle-topped ivory scepter in his hand and the triumphal crown held above his head, the conqueror proudly stands in his four-horse chariot, followed by his equally proud, victorious army. Through the Flami- nian Circus, along the crowded Velabrum and the Circus Maximus, by the Via Sacra and the Forum, surges the vast procession up to the majestic Capitol. Here the triumphator lays his golden crown in the lap of Jupiter and makes the imposing sacrifice. A feast of unusual suinptuousiuss ends the eventful day. Scene IV. — The, last of a Roman Emperor. — "It i3 the Roman habit to consecrate the emperors who leave heirs. The mortal re- mains are buried, according to custom, in a splendid manner ; but the wax image of the emperor is placed on an ivory bed, covered with gold- embroidered carpets, in front of the palace. The expression of the face is that of one dangerously ill. To the left side of the bed stand, during a greater part of the day, the members of the senate ; to the right, the ladies entitled by birth or marriage to appear at court, in the usual simple white mourning-dresses without gold ornaments or neck- This ceremony lasts seven days, during which time the imperial physicians daily approach the bed as if to examine the patient, who, of coins'-, la declining rapidly. At last they declare the emperor dead. The bier is now transported by the highest born knights and the * Only dictators, consols, pnetors, and occasionally, legates wore permitted tho triumphal entrance. Bomedmet tin i train of spoils and captives was ho great that two, three, md even four days were required for the parade. In later times, the triumphal proce- loo W II uxclusively reserved for the einperor. 118 ROME. younger senators through the Via Sacra to the old Forum, and there deposited on a scaffolding built in the manner of a terrace. On one side stand young patricians, on the other noble ladies, intoning hymns and paeans in honor of the deceased to a solemn, sad tune ; after which the bier is taken up again, and carried to the Campus Martius. A wooden structure in the form of a house has been erected on large blocks of wood on a square base ; the inside has been filled with dry sticks ; the outside is adorned with gold-embroidered carpets, ivory statues, and various sculptures. The bottom story, a little lower than the second, shows the same form and ornamentation as this; it has open doors and windows ; above these two stories rise others, growing narrow toward the top like a pyramid. The whole structure might be compared to the lighthouses erected in harbors. The bier is placed in the second story, spices, incense, odoriferous fruits and herbs being heaped round it. After the whole room has been filled with incense, the knights move in procession round the entire structure, and per- form some military evolutions ; they are followed by chariots filled with persons wearing masks and clad in purple robes, who represent historic characters, such as celebrated generals and kings. After these ceremonies are over, the heir to the throne throws a torch into the house, into which, at the same time, flames are dashed from all sides, which, fed by the combustible materials and the incense, soon begin to devour the building. At this juncture an eagle rises into the air from the highest story as from a lofty battlement, and carries, accord- ing to the idea of the Romans, the soul of the dead emperor to heaven ; from that moment he partakes of the honors of the gods." — Herodian. 4. SUMMARY. 1. Political History. — Rome began as a single city. The growth of her power was slow but steady. She became head, — first, of the neighboring settlements ; second, of Latium ; third, of Italy ; and fourth, of the lands around the Mediterranean. In her early his- tory, there was a fabulous period during which she was ruled by kings. The last of the seven monarchs belonged to a foreign dynasty, and upon liis expulsion a republic was established. Two centuries of con- flict ensued between the patricians and the plebs, but the latter, going ofttimes to Mount Sacer, gained their end and established a democracy. Meanwhile, wars with powerful neighbors and with the awe-in- spiring Gauls had developed the Roman character in all its sternness, integrity, and patriotism. Rome next came in contact with Pyrrhus, and learned how to fortify her military camps ; then with Carthage, and she found out the value of a navy. An apt pupil, she gained the SUMMARY. 119 mastery of the sea, invaded Africa, and in the end razed Carthage to the ground. Turning to the west, she secured Spain — the silver- jr.-duciug country of that age — and Gaul, whose fiery sons filled the depleted ranks of her legions. At the east, she intrigued where she could and fought where she must, and hy disorganizing states made them first her dependencies, and then her provinces. Greece. Macedon, Asia Minor, Syria, Egypt, Babylon, were but stepping-stones in her progress until Parthia alone remained to bar her advance to the Indus and the ocean. But within her gates the struggle between the rich and the poor ciill went on. Crowds of slaves — captives of her many wars — thronged her streets, kept her shops, waited in her homes, tilled her land, and tended her flocks. The plebeians, shut out from honest toil, straggled for the patrician's dole. The Civil Wars of Sulla and Marios drenched her pavements with the blood of her citizens. The triumphs of Caesar shed a gleam of glory over the fading republic, but the mis-aimed daggers of Brutus and Cassius that slew the dictator struck at the heart of liberty as well. Augustus brought in the empire and an era of peace. Now the army gained control of the state. Weak and wicked emperors, the luxury of wealth, the influx of Oriental profligacy, the growth of atheism, and the greed of conquest, undermined the fabric of Roman greatness. The inhabitants of the provinces were made Romans, and, Rome itself being lost in the empire it had created, other cities became the scuts of government. Amid the ruins of the decaying monarchy a new religion supplanted the old, and, finally, Teutonic hordes from the north overwhelm d the city that for centuries their own soldiers had alone upheld. 2. Civilization. -As in Greece the four ancient Attic tribes were subdivided into phratries, gentcs, and hearths, so in Rome the three original patrician tribes branched into curiae, gentes, and families, the paterfamilias owning all the property, and h tiding the life of his children at will. The cull magistrates comprised consuls, questors, rediles, and praetors. The army was organized in legions, cohorts, companies, and cen- turies, with four classes of txrt-soldierB, who foughl with the pilum and the javelin, protected themselves with heavy breastplates, and carried on si igea by the aid of balliatas, battering-rams, catapults, and movable towers. In later times, the ranks were filled by foreign and mercenaries, Roman literature, child of the Grecian, is rich with memorable name? Ushered in by Livius Andronicu n '.'reekslave.it grew with NseviuB, Ennius, Plau us, Terence, Cato, anl Lucilius. The learned 120 ROME. Varro, the florid Cicero, the sweet strained Virgil, the genial Horace, the eloquent Livy, and the polished Sallust, graced the last century before Christ. The next hundred years produced the studious Pliny the Elder, the two inseparable friends — Pliny the Younger and Taci- tus, the sarcastic Juvenal, and the wise Seneca. The monuments of the Romans comprise splendid aqueducts, triumphal arches, military roads, bridges, harbors, and tombs. Their magnificent palaces and luxurious thermae were fitted up with reckless extravagance and dazzling display. All the spoils of conquered nations enriched their capital, and all the foreign arts and inventions were impressed into their service. The proud, dignified, ambitious Roman had no love or tenderness for aught but his national supremacy. Seldom indulging in sentiment toward family or kindred, he recognized no law of humanity toward his slaves. His religion was a commercial bargain with the gods, in which each was at liberty to outwit the other. His worship was mostly confined to the public ceremonies at the shrine of Vesta, and the con- stant household offerings to the Lares and Penates. His public games were a degraded imitation of the Grecian, and he took his chief delight in bloody gladiatorial shows and wild-beast fights. A race of borrowers, the Romans assimilated into their nationality most of the excellences as well as many of the vices of other peoples, for centuries stamping the whole civilized world with their character, and dominating it by their successes. " As to Rome all ancient history converges, so from Rome all modern history begins." Finally, as a central point in the history of all time, in the midst of the brilliancy of the Augustan Age, while Cicero, Sallust, Virgil, and Horace were fresh in the memory of their still living friends, with Seneca in his childhood and Livy in his prime, the empire at its best, and Rome radiant in its growing transformation from brick to marble under the guiding rule of the great Augustus Caesar, there was born in an obscure Roman province the humble Babe whose name far out- ranks all these, and from whose nativity are dated all the centuries which have succeeded. READING REFERENCES. Merivale's History of the Romans. — lane's History of Rome, and Early Rome.— History Primers ; Rome, and Roman Antiquities, edited by Green.— Arnold's His- tory of Rome.—Niebuhr's History of Rome.— Smith's smaller History of Rome.— Gibbon's Decline and Fall of the Roman Empire. — Guhl and Koner's Life of the Greeks and Romans. — Knight's Social Life of the Romans— Plutarch' s Lives.— Mil- man's History of Christianity .—Momm sen' s History of Rome. — Fronde's Life of C&sar. —Becker's Charicles, and Gallus.—Macaulay's Lays of Ancient Rome. — Shakspere's CHROXOLOG y. 121 Julius Ccesar, Coriolanus, and Antony and Cleopatra.— Forsyth's Life of Cicero.— Napoleon's (III.) Life of Caesar.— Canines Edifi:c< of Ancient Rome.—Fergussori's History of Architecture.— Bulwer's Last Days of Pompeii, and Rienzi The Last of the Tribunes— Michtlet' s Roman Republic— Heeren's Historical Researches.— Putz's Hand-book of Ancient History— Hare's Walks in Rome.— Kin g-Jey's Ilypatia— Lord's Old Roman World.— Mann's Ancient and Mediavoal Republics.— Lawrence's Primer of Roman Literature.— Collins' Ancient Classics for English Readers (a series giving stnkiwj passages from the Greek and Roman classics, with excellent explana- tory notes, lives of the authors, etc.). — Dyer's Pompeii. — Herbermann's Business Life in Ancient Rome. — Quackenbos' Ancient Literature (a useful resume). — Watson's Marcus Aurelius.— Church's Roman Life in the Days of Cicero. CH RONOLOGY. B. C. Rome founded 753 Republic established 009 The Decemvirs 451 Rome taken by Gaiils 390 First Samnite War 343-341 Great Latin War 340-338 Second Samnite War 326-3C4 Third " " 298-290 Wars with Pyrrhus 280-276 Hrst Punic War 264 -211 Second " " 218-201 Battle of the Trebia 218 " " Lake Trashnenus 217 " " Cannae 216 Siege of Capua 214-211 Battle of the Metaurus 207 " " Zama 202 Second Macedonian War 2 K) -197 Battle of Magnesia 190 Death of Hannibal and Scipio AM- canus 183 Third Macedonian War 171-168 Battle of Pyilna 168 Third Punic War 119-116 Fall of Carthage and Corinth 146 Death of Tiberias Gracchus 133 Jugurtblne War 111-104 as defeated TeutoneB at Aquas Sextisa CAlx) 102 Marias defeated Clmbri 101 Social War Fir-t MithridatiC War irlufl 87 Second Ultbridatic War Bulla's Proscriptions 83 Third Mlthridatic War ; i 68 War of Spartacnt . 73-71 Mediterranean Pirates 67 rary of Catiline 03 B.C. First Triumvirate 60 Caesar in Gaul 58-49 " invades Britain 55 " crosses the Rubicon 49 Battle of Pharsalia— death of Pom- pey 48 Suicide of Cato 46 Caesar murdered 44 Second Triumvirate, death of Cicero 43 Battle of Philippi, death of Brutus and Cassius 42 Battle of Actium 31 v - fAugustus 31 A. D. Nei Tiberius. . , Caligula .. Claudius... Nero Galba Otho \ it. Ilius... Vespasian. Titus Domitian.. 14 37 41 54 68 69 69 69 79 81 90 Trajan 98 Hadrian 117 Antoninus Pins 138 M. Aurelius Antoninus 161-180 L. Verus 161-169 Commodus i so Pertrnax i" ; i Didins Julianas 198 Septimiuf Several 198 Caracallus 211-217 Gcta 211-212 Macrinus 817 EJagabalus (the sun-priest) 218 Alexander Severn! 222 122 ROME. 1 H. in. r 238 A.D. Maximums 235 Gordian Gordian Pupienus Maximus I gag Balbinus f Gordian III 238-244 Philip the Arabian 244 Decius 249 Gallus 251 ^Emilian 253 Valerian 253 Gallienus 260 Claudius II 268 Aurelian 270 Tacitus 275 Florian 276 Probus 276 Cams... 282 CarinusandNumerian . . 283 Diocletian, with Maxim ian , 284 Constantius, with Galerius 305 Constantine I. (the Great), with Ga- lerius, Severus, and Maxentius ... 306 A.D. Constantine, with Licinins ......... 307 Constantine, with Maximums 308 Constantine, alone 323 Constantine II., Constantius II., Constans 1 337 Julian the Apostate 361 Jovian 363 Valentinian 1 364 Gratian and Valentinian II 375 Valentinian II 383 Theodosius (East and West) 392 Honorius 395 Theodosius II. (East and West) 423 Valentinian III 425 Petronius Maximus 455 Avitus 455 Majorian 457 Libius Severus 461 Anthemius 467 Olybrius 472 Glycerins 473 Julius Nepos 474 Romulus Augustulus 475-476 a&8 TOMBS ALONG THE APPIAN WAY. Part II. READINGS IN ROMAN HISTORY THE ORIGIN OF THE ROMANS. The first question in the history of every people is, What was their race and language? and next, What was the earliest form of their society, their social and political organization? Let us see how far we can answer these questions with respect to Rome. The Latin Race and Language.— The language of the Romans was not called Roman, but Latin. Politically, Rome and Latium were clearly distinguished, hut their language appears to have been the same. This language is different from the Etruscan, and from the Oscan ; the Roman-, therefore, are so far marked out as distinct from the great nations of Central Italy. On the other hand, the connection of the Latin language with the Greek is manifest, Many common words, which no nation ever derives from the literature of another, are the same in Greek and Latin; the declensions of the nouns and verbs are, to a great degree, similar. It is probable tint thr Latins belonged to that great race which, in very early times, overspread both Greece and Italy, under the various names of Pelaagian, Tyrsenians, and Liculians. It maj he believed, thai the Bellenians were anciently a people of this -ami' rare, imi thai some peculiar circumstances gave to them a distinct and snperior character, and raised 124 READINGS IX ROMAN HISTORY. them so far above their brethren, that, in after-ages, they disclaimed all connection with them. But in the Latin language there is another element besides that which it has in common with the Greek. This ele- ment belongs to the languages of Central Italy, and may be called Oscan. Further, Niebuhr has remarked, that whilst the terms relating to agriculture and domestic life are mostly derived from the Greek part of the language, those relating to arms and war are mostly Oscan. It seems, then, not only that the Latins were a mixed people, partly Pelasgian and partly Oscan; but also that they arose out of a conquest of the Pelasgians by the Oscans : so that the latter were the ruling class of the united nation ; the former were its subjects. Differences between the Romans and other Latins. — The Latin language, then, may afford us a clue to the origin of the Latin people, and, so far, to that of the Romans. But it does not explain the difference between the Romans and the Latins, to which the peculiar fates of the Roman people owe their origin. We must inquire, then, what the Romans were, which the other Latins were not; and as language cannot aid us here, we must have recourse to other assistance, to geography and national traditions. And thus, at the same time, we shall arrive at an answer to the second ques- tion in Roman history, What was the earliest form of civil society at Rome ? If we look at the map, we shall see that Rome lies at the furthest extremity of Latium, divided from Etruria only by the Tiber, and having the Sabines close on the north, between the Tiber and the Anio. No other Latin town, so far as we know, was built on the Tiber ; some were clus- tered on and around the Alban hills, others lined the coast of the Mediterranean ; but from all these Rome, by its READINGS IX ROMAN HISTORY. 125 position, stood aloof. Tradition reports that as Rome was thus apart from the rest of the Latin cities, and so near a neighbor to the Etruscans and Sabines, its population was in part formed on of one of these nations, and many of its rites and institutions borrowed from the other. Tradi- tion describes the very first founders of the city as the shepherds and herdsmen of the banks of the Tiber, and tells how their numbers were presently swelled by strangers and outcasts from all the countries round about. We know that for all points of detail, and for keeping a correct account of time, tradition is worthless. It is very possible that all Etruscan rites and usages came in with the Tarquinii, and were falsely carried back to an earlier period. But the mixture of the Sabines with the original people of the Palatine hill, cannot be doubted; and the stories of the asylum, and of the violence done to the Sabine women, seem to show that the first settlers of the Palatine were a mixed race, in which other blood was largely mingled with that of the Latins. Tribal Divisions of the Romans. -The people or citizen- of Borne were divided into the three tribes of the Iiamnenses, Titienses and Lnceres, to whatever races we may suppose them to belong, or at whatever time and under whatever circumstances they may have become united. Each of these tribes was divided into ten smaller bodies called curiaa; so thai the whole people consisted of thirty curia?; these same divisions were in war represented by the thirty centuries which made up the legion, just as the three tribes were represented by the three centuries of horsemen ; but that the soldiers of each century wereexactly a hundred, i- an unfounded conclusion. I have said that each tribe was divided into ten curiae; it would be more correct to say, thai the anion of ten curias 126 READINGS IN ROMAN HISTORY. formed the tribe. For the state grew out of the junction of certain original elements ; and these were neither the tribes, nor even the curia?, but the gentes, or houses which made up the curiae. The first element of the whole system was the gens, or house, a union of several families who were bound together by the joint performance of certain religious rites. The Houses and their Clients. — The state being thus made up of families, and every family consisting from the earliest times of members and dependents, all the original inhabitants of Rome belonged to one of two classes: they were either members of a family, and, if so, members of a house, of a curiae, of a tribe, and so, lastly, of the state ; or they were dependents on a family, and, if so, their relation went no further than the immediate aggregate of families, that is, the house. With the curias, with the tribe, and with the state, they had no connection. These members of families were the original citizens of Eome ; these dependents on families were the original clients. The Commons, or Plebs. — The idea of clientship was that of a wholly private relation ; the clients were some- thing to their respective patrons, but to the state they were nothing. But wherever states composed in this manner, of a body of houses with their clients, had been long estab- lished, there grew up amidst, or close beside them, created in most instances by conquest, a population of a very dis- tinct kind. Strangers might come to live in the land ; or, more commonly, the inhabitants of a neighboring district might be conquered, and be united with their conquerors as a subject people. Xow this population had no connection with the houses separately, but only with a state composed of those houses ; this, therefore, was wholly a political, not a domestic relation ; it united personal and private liberty R E A DINGS I X K M A X HISTORY. 1 2 ? with political subjection. This inferior population possessed property, regulated their own municipal us well as domestic affairs, and as free men fought in the armies of what was now their common country. But, strictly, they were not its citizens; they could uot intermarry with the houses; they could not belong to the state, for they belonged to no house, and therefore to no curiae and no tribe ; consequently, they had no share in the state's government, nor in the state's property. What the state conquered in war became the property of the state, and therefore they had no claim to it ; with the state demesne, with whatever, in short, belonged to the state in its aggregate capacity, these, as being merely its neighbors, and not its members, had no concern. Sueh an inferior population, free personally, but subject politically, not slaves, yet not citizens, was the original Plebs, tin- commons of Rome. Only Members of the Houses were Citizens. — The mass of tin' Roman commons were conquered Latins. These, besides receiving grants of a portion of their former lands, to be held by them as Roman citizens, had also the hill Aventinus assigned as a residence to those who removed to Rome. Tie- Aventine was without the walls, although Dear to them : thus the commons were, even in the nature of their abode, like the Pfalburger of the Middle Ages, men not admitted to live within the city, but enjoying its protection againsl foreign enemies. I: will In- understood at once, that whatever is -aid of the people in these early times, refers only to the full citizens, that is, to the members of tin- houses. The assembly of the people was the assembly "l' the curire; that is, the great council of the memberd of the houses; while the senate, Consisting of two hundred senators, chosen in equal num- 128 READINGS IN ROMAN HISTORY. bers from the two higher tribes of the Ramnenses and Titienses, was their smaller or ordinary council. — Arnold. CAUSES OF ROME'S EARLY GREATNESS. The Campagna and the Tiber. — To trace the great- ness of Rome from her first beginnings, we must go back to a time when the Tiber flowed through the open waste of the wide Campagna. This plain, a scene so memorable in history, extends along the central portion of the western shore of Italy, for the length of about ninety miles, having an average breadth of twenty-seven miles. A spectator, standing on Mount Janiculus, overlooking the site of Rome, sees the lower chain of the Apennines across the undulating surface of the Campagna at the distance of about ten or fifteen miles, and behind it the central ridge, capped with snow for half the year. The chief objects of the panorama are as memorable for their historical and poetical associations, as they are conspicuous for their beauty. To the north-west, the plain of the Aro is bounded by the Etruscan hills. On the north about twenty miles distant, stands out Soracte, whose snow-clad summit invited Horace to enjoy the pleasures of winter. Eastward, across the Tiber, lies the beautiful range of the Sabine Apennines ; and conspicuous above the rest the peak of Lucretilis, which sheltered the poet's summer retreat. Nearer in the foreground, where the Anio bursts out of the hills, is Tibur, whose beauties he extols above all the most famous sites of Greece. Then follow the hills of Latium, with their sterner associations ; the rocky summit of Praeneste standing out in front of the chain, celebrated in medieval as well as ancient history; and the isolated volcanic mass of the Alban Mount, the sanctnarv of the Latin race, down the side of which the BEADIK G S IN ROMAN HISTORY. 129 "Long White City" extended to the lake of the same name. Its highest summit, crowned of old with the temple of Jupiter Latiaris, was visible even to mariners at sea. From this point there is an uninterrupted view to the south-east over the plain, till it sinks into the sea, which is dis- tinguished from the land only by the brighter light reflected from its waters. The southern extremity of the Campagna forms a dead level, opening on to the Gulf of Gketa, and watered by several streams. The "Pomptinus Ager" as it was called, from Pontia (a town which disappeared very early), was once celebrated for its fertility, and contained twenty-three flourishing towns. But before the middle of the second century b. c, the neglect to regulate the water-courses had converted it into a pestilential marsh, which was only partially drained by Cethegus (b.c. 160) and Julius Caesar. The canal, which continued the Via Appia through the Pomptiue Marshes to the temple of Feronia, at the foot of the hill of Anxur, furnished Horace with his well-known picture of the lazy and extortionate boatmen, and the traveler, kept awake by gnats and frogs, singing of his mistress till he falls asleep. The drainage works were resumed about the end of the eighteenth century, but the marshes are still a hot-bed of malaria in the summer. Their extent is about twenty-four miles long by eight or ten wide. The northern part of the Campagna is watered by the Tilier and its confluents, of which the Anio is the chief. The sacred river of the Romans, "Father Tiber," has a course of about 200 miles from its source near Tifernum, in the Apennines, to its mouth at Ostia. From Ostia the Tiber was navigable Tor the largest ships up to Rome, where the river is about 300 feel wide, and from L2 to L8 deep. Tin- character of the Tiber, as a rapid mountain stream, 130 READINGS IN ROMAN HISTORY. flowing through no lake to regulate its volume and receive its alluvial deposits, is summed up in the one line of Virgil, " Vorticibus rapidis et multa iiavus arena ;" and its turbid water still justifies the frequent epithet of the " yellow Tiber." Its rapid eddies, frequent floods, and large alluvial deposits, have produced great effects on its course through the Campagna and on the site of Kome itself. All the engineering skill of the masters of the world was unable to protect their city from the inundations of its sacred stream. It was not indeed till the Etruscan kings executed the great drain, the " Cloaca Maxima,'' that the valleys between the hills of Rome were made dry land ; and it seems that at no distant time the hills nearer to the river were islands. — Philip Smith. The Palatine Hill.— The Cradle of Rome.— The Romans regarded the Palatine as the cradle of the " City of the Seven Hills." It was from the opposite slope of the Janiculum that they delighted to behold the chain of eminences which surrounded this central summit, and comprehended within its circuit the most interesting sites and monuments of their history. The configuration of the six exterior heights, from the Capitoline to the Aventine on the right, presented an almost continuous ridge of unequal elevation, abutting at either extremity on the channel of the Tiber. Between the Aventine and the Caelian a small stream made its way into the inclosure, and the ravine in this quarter was diligently fortified from an early period. But in the depths of antiquity, before the foundations of Rome were laid, the single outlet to the waters which collected round the base of the Palatine, was choked by a desolate morass, and the rank growth of primitive forests buried the central eminence in almost impenetrable conceal- READINGS IN ROMAN HISTORY. 131 merit. Such a position was admirably adapted for a place of retreat, and offered an impregnable shelter to crime and rapine. It seemed created by nature herself to be the stronghold of a people of reserved character and predatory habits. It was destined to become the den of the "Wolves of Italy." The legend of the foundation of the Eternal City, which affirmed that the divine omens decided the contest of the brothers and the pretensions of the rival summits, furnished a striking illustration of the subsequent fortunes of the Roman people. They chose between a career of con- quest and plunder, and of discovery and commerce. Romulus founded Rome, Remus might have founded a Carthage. — Merivale. The Seven Hills and the Power of Political Con- federacy. — What was the cause, we may well ask. that gave such a superiority to Rome over other cities of Italy ? Why did not Veii, or Naples, or Syracuse become the nucleus of a great empire? Had Rome an advantage over them with regard to soil, climate, or geographical situation ? This question must be answered in the negative. The soil in the neighborhood of Rome was comparatively sterile, the climate unhealthy, the situation unfavorable for commerce. The city had no good port, nor was there a large fertile country behind it which might have supplied materials for exports and markets for foreign goods. If Borne had no such advantages, was il to any advantages ,of race and descent that Bhe owed her eminence? Again we must answer in the negative. The people of Rome were of the same race as their neighbors. They could boasl of no superiority on the score of descent. The Sabines and Latins, who combined to form the fundamental elemenl of the Roman people, were offshoots of the Sabellian Btock to which all the native, or aboriginal population of Italy belong, from 132 READINGS IN ROMAN HISTORY. the Apennines south of the Po to the extreme end of the peninsula. It was therefore not superiority of race which gave the Romans predominance in Italy. Perhaps we may be led to surmise that it was a fortunate succession of great men which raised the Romans above the other Italian communities. But Rome was singularly sterile in great men. She was made powerful and predominant by the almost unheeded labor of a vast number of citizens of average ability, not by men whoso names have the ring of Solon, Pericles, Epaminondas, or Alexander. The kings and statesmen to whom the establishment of the State and the laws is ascribed, such as Romulus, Numa, Servius, and Brutus, belong not to authentic history, but to pre- historic fable; and when politicians arose who exerted an influence beyond that of private citizens in the service of the State, men who, like Sulla and Cgesar, wielded in their hands the power of the whole community, the greatness of republican Rome had passed away. If, then, the first cause of Roman greatness, the first impulse given to national development, is to be found neither in the advantages cf soil and situation, nor in the superiority of race, nor in the genius of great men, shall we be driven to say that it was mere chance, or, in more reverent language, Divine Providence, which selected Rome as the seat of empire over Italy and the world ? Such a conclusion would be but an evasion of the difficulty and a confession of weakness unworthy of the spirit of historical inquiry. Providence does not act contrary to fixed laws, but accord- ing to them ; and it is for us to investigate these laws, not to ignore them. If we compare the site of Rome with the sites of the numerous cities which simultaneously with the earliest settlement on the Seven Hills covered the plain of Latium READINGS IX ROMAN HISTORY. loo aud the adjoining hills, we find that each of the other towns was built 011 some steep, or easily defended hill. Some of these hill-towns, such as Prseneste, were actually stronger than either the Roman Capitol, or the Palatine hill. But nowhere do we find, as on the Tiber, a group of hills possess- ing each the advantage of defensibility, and yet lying so close to one another that the political isolation of each was impossible, and that some kind of federation for the main- tenance of internal peace became absolutely necessary. People who live at a distance from each other may indulge in occasional strife; bnt if by proximity of habitation they are compelled to have daily intercourse with one another, they are obliged to agree upon some terms of amicable life, if they do not prefer the miseries which internecine Avar must entail on all. This was the condition of the various settlements on the seven hills, which lay so near together that nature itself seemed to have destined them to form a combined city. There are dim, half-fabulous traditions which speak of wars waged between the people of the Quirinal hill and that of the Palatine. But the same tradi- tions also report an amicable settlement of the combats, an agreemenl to live in peace, a combined government of the respective chiefs ; in feet, they describe a confederation of the two |>eoples, and their combination into one political community. Thus, then, arose a spirit of political association based iipnii calculation- of interest, but sanctioned by the sense of righl : nor when it had accomplished its firs! task, the security of the Seven hills, did it die away, but continued to work on a large scale when Rome bad become great. City after city and tribe after tribe were invited, or compelled, lo join the leading power as allies, until the whole of Italy, 134 READINGS IN ROMAN HISTORY. though in fact subject to Rome, appeared to be only one vast confederacy. We have seen that the geographical position of Rome, and the peculiarity of race, cannot be deemed to have been the first causes of Roman greatness. Now, however, after we have discovered the first cause, we may and must admit that both these circumstances powerfully contributed to accelerate the growth of Rome. The comparative sterility of the territory encouraged the warlike spirit of the early Romans, whose frequent wars seem to have been undertaken oftener for the sake of booty than in just self-defence. It is possi- ble, too, that the unhealthiness of the surrounding district at certain seasons of the year may have served as a barrier to ward off attacks, when other resources failed. The remoteness of the sea and the waut of a good port were a protection from the numerous pirates who infested the Tyrrhenian waters. But it was especially the situation of Rome in the middle of the peninsula, cuttiug off the northern from the southern half, which enabled her to divide her enemies and to subdue them separately. Lastly, the similarity of race, which bound the Romans by the ties of blood and common customs to all the indigenous races of Italy, enabled them to repel the invasions of their non- Italian enemies, and to appear in the light of champions and protectors of Italy. — InxE. The Rapid G-rowth of the Imperial City. — The progress of Rome was rapid during the Republic; during the Empire it became j>ortentous. The city soon climbed to the summits of the five remaining hills, and, descending their sides, filled the intermediate spaces with piles of masonry raised so high that "one story," says Cicero, " toppled over another, and seemed to be suspended in the air." She descended to the Tiber, and stretched herself like some READINGS IN ROMAN HISTORY. 135 great monster along its banks, crowning with roofs the Janiculum, and then the Vatican hill, northward to the Milvian bridge, and to the south in the direction of the great port which connected her with the Mediterranean and the outer world. In other directions it was the same. Toward the Tiber and Prseneste, she covered the fields of Latium with a cloud of edifices, " like the snow of Homer's Olympus/ 5 says the rhetorician Aristides, "which veils the summit of the mountains, the wide plains, and the culti- vated farms of men.'" — Sheppard. Rome the Mistress of the Mediterranean. — Atten- tion has not perhaps been sufficiently accorded to the cen- tral situation of Rome itself among the vast regions over which her well-organized executive extended. The Mediter- ranean rolled like a great artery through this compact body of states and countries. This sea has from immemorial ages formed the highway of the nations as they passed to and fro on the mission of civilization. More has been said and sung in its praise than has been said or sung of any other portion of the earth's surface, not excepting Italy itself. "The grand object of traveling,*' says Samuel Johnson, "is to sec the shores of the Mediterranean. All our relig- ion, almost all our arts, almost all that sets us above savages, has come to us from the shores of the Mediterranean." Oonqnest, commerce, civil liberty, and science, all seem to have started into life upon its banks, and pushed their pathwav across its waxes. All the gnat cities of the ancient world looked down upon its waters, or their tributary seas, — Tyre, Carthage, Athens, Corinth, Alexandria, Rome, Con- stantinople. .Marseilles. The tide of conquest was perpet- ually rolling toward it- shores. Shalmaneser, Sennacherib, Nebuchadnezzar, sought, one alter another, to win the Syrian seaboard. The greal rulers of the Persian dynasty, 13G READINGS IN ROMAN HISTORY. Cyrus, Xerxes, and Darius, precipitated themselves upou Ionian and European Greece. Beside its waves, in a pass between the sea and the Cilician mountains, Alexander smote down the Persian Empire, and returned to found a capital for the world at the spot where it receives the waters of the Nile. Soon Carthage spread her commerce along its southern shore, colonized the coast of Spain, and passed upon her adventurous path beyond the Pillars of Hercules. Carthage, in her turn, surrendered the central sea, the symbol and means of empire, to her rival Rome; and Rome embraced it more completely still, with the encircling arms of conquest, from Gades to Byzantium. — Sheppard. ROMAN BALLADS THE SOURCE OF ROMAN LEGENDARY HISTORY. The Latin literature ivhich has come down to us is of later date than the commencement of the second Punic War, and consists almost exclusively of works fashioned on Greek models. The Latin meters, heroic, elegiac, lyric and dra- matic, are of Greek origin. The best Latin epic poetry is the feeble echo of the Iliad and the Odyssey. The best Latin eclogues are imitations of Theocritus. The plan of the most finished didactic poem in the Latin tongue was taken from Hesiod. The Latin tragedies are bad copies of the master- pieces of Sophocles and Euripides. The Latin comedies are free translations from Demophilus, Menander, and Apollodo- rus. The Latin philosophy was borrowed, without altera- tion, from the Portico and the Academy; and the great Latin orators constantly proposed to themselves as patterns the speeches of Demosthenes and Lysias. But there was an earlier Latin literature, a literature truly Latin, which has wholly perished, which had, indeed, almost READINGS IX ROMAN HISTORY. 137 wholly perished long before those whom we are in the habit of regarding as tiie greatest Latin writers were born. We can scarcely hesitate to pronounce that the magnifi- cent, pathetic, and truly national legends, which present so striking a contrast to all that surrounds them, are broken and defaced fragments of that early poetry which, even in the age of Cato the Censor, had become antiquated, and of which Tally had never heard a line. The early history of Rome is indeed far more poetical than anything else in Latin literature. The loves of the Vestal and the God of War, the cradle laid among the reeds of Tiber, the fig-tree, the she-wolf, the shepherd's cabin, the recognition, the fratricide, the rape of the Sabines, the death of Tarpeia, the fall of Hostius llostilius, the struggle of Me- tius Curtius through the marsh, the women rushing with torn raiment and disheveled hair between their fathers and their husbands, the nightly meetings of Xuma and the Nymph by the well in the sacred grove, the fight of the three Romans and the three Albans, the purchase of the Sibylline books, the crime of Tullia, the simulated madness of Brutus, the am- biguous reply <>f the Delphian oracle to the Tarquins, the wrongs of Lucretia. the heroic action of Horatius Codes, of i-vola, and of Clu-lia, the battle of Eegillus won by the aid of Castor and Pollux, the defence of Cremera, the touching iryof Coriolanus, the still more touching story of Virginia, the wild legend about the draining of the Alban lake, the combal between Valerius Corvus and the gigantic Gaul, are among the man} instances which will at once suggest them- Belves to every reader. It is not difficult t » trace the process by which i\\c old songs were transmuted into the form which they now wear. Funeral panegyric and chronicle appear to have been the in- termediate links which connected the lo~t ballads with the 138 READINGS IN ROMAN HISTORY. histories now extant. From a very early period it was the usage that an oration should be pronounced over the remains of a noble Roman. The orator, as we learn from Polybius, was expected on such an occasion to recapitulate all the ser- vices which the ancestors of the deceased had, from the ear- liest time, rendered to the commonwealth.. There can be little doubt that the speaker on whom this duty was imposed, would make use of all the stories suited to his purpose which were to be found in the popular lays. There can be as little doubt that the family of an eminent man would preserve a copy of the speech which had been pronounced over his corpse. The compilers of the early chronicles would have recourse to the speeches ; and the great historians of a later period would have recourse to the chronicles. It may be worth while to select a particular story, and to trace its probable progress through these stages. The de- scription of the migration of the Fabian house to C rem era is one of the finest of the many fine passages which lie thick in the earlier books of Livy. The Consul, clad in his mili- tary garb, stands in the vestibule of his house, marshaling his clan, three hundred and six fighting men, all of the proud patrician blood, all worthy to be attended by the fasces, and to command the legions. A sad and anxious retinue of friends accompanies the adventurers through the streets, but the voice of lamentation is drowned by the shouts of admir- ing thousands. As the procession passes the Capitol, prayers and vows are poured forth, but in vain. The devoted band, leaving Janus on the right, marches to its doom through the Gate of Evil Luck. After achieving high deeds of valor against overwhelming numbers, all perished save one child, the stock from which the great Fabian race was destined again to spring for the safety and glory of the common- wealth. That this fine romance, the details of which are so BEADIXGS IN KOMAN HISTORY. 139 full of poetical truth, and so utterly destitute of all show of historical truth, came originally from some lay which had often been sung with great applause at banquets, is in the highest degree probable. Xor is it difficult to imagine a mode in which the transmission might have taken place. The celebrated Quintus Fabius Maximus, who died about twenty years before the First Punic War, and more than forty years before Ennius was born, is said to have been in- terred with extraordinary pomp. In the eulogy pronounced over his body all the great exploits of his ancestors were doubtless recounted and exaggerated. If there were then extant songs which gave a vivid and touching description of an event, the saddest and most glorious in the long history of the Fabian house, nothing could be more natural than that the panegyrist should borrow from such songs their finest touches, in order to adorn his speech. A few genera- tions later the songs would perhaps be forgotten, or remem- bered only by the shepherds and vine-dressers. But the speech would certainly be preserved in the archives of the Fabian nobles. Fabius Pictor would be well acquainted with adocumenl so interesting to his personal feelings, and would insert large extracts from it in his rude chronicle. That chronicle, as we know, was the oldest to which livy had Livy would at a glance distinguish the bold strokes of the forgotten poel from the dull and feeble narrative by which they were surrounded, would retouch them with deli- cate and powerful pencil, and would make them immortal. Such, or nearly such, appears to have been the process by which the logj ballad-poetry of Borne was transformed into history. To reverse thai process, to transform some portions of early Soman history back into the poetry out of which they were made, i- the object of this work. — Preface to "Lav- OP \\mint ROME." MaoAULAY. 140 HEADINGS IN ROMAN HISTORY. THE BATTLE OF LAKE REGILLUS * * * But north looked the Dictator ; North looked he long and hard ; And spake to Caius Cossus, The Captain of his Guard ; " Caius, of all the Komans Thou hast the keenest sight ; Say, what through yonder storm of dust Comes from the Latian right ? " Then answered Caius Cossus: " I see an evil sight ; The banner of proud Tusculum Comes from the Latian right ; I see the plumed horsemen ; And far before the rest I see the dark-grey charger, I see the purple vest ; I see the golden helmet That shines far off like flame; So ever rides Mamilius, Prince of the Latian name." " Now hearken, Caius Cossus : Spring on thy horse's back ; Ride as the wolves of Apennine Were all upon thy track ; Haste to our southward battle, And never draw thy rein Until thou find Herminius, And bid him come amain." So Aulus spake, and turned him Again to that fierce strife ; And Caius Cossus mounted And rode for death and life. * * * Herminius beat his bosom, But never a word he spake ; He clasped his hand in Auster's mane, He gave his reins a shake: READINGS IN R OMAN HISTORY. 141 Away, away went Auster, Like an arrow from tbe bow ; Black Auster was the fleetest steed From Aufidus to Po. Mamilius spied Herminius, And dashed across the way : — 1 Herminius, I have sought thee Through many a bloody day. One of us two, Herminius, Shall never more go home ; I will lay on for Tusculum, And lay thou on for Rome ! " All round them paused the battle, While met in mortal fray The Roman and the Tusculan, The horses black and grey. Herminius smote Mamilius Through breast -plate and through breasl And fast flowed out the purple blood Over the purple vest. Mamilius smote Herminius Through head-piece and through head ; And side by side those chiefs of pride Together fell down (had. r -* y \ Qg&kJ=Z 1-12 READINGS IN ROMAN HISTORY, * # * Fast, fast, with heels w ild spurning, The dark-gtey charger fled : He burst through ranks of fighting men ; He sprang o'er heaps of dead. His bridle far out-streaming, His flanks all blood and foam, He sought the southern mountains, The mountains of his home. The pass was steep and rugged, The wolves they howled and whined ; But he ran like a whirlwind up the p: S! And he left the wolves behind. Through many a startled hamlet Thundered his flying feet ; He rushed through the gate of Tusculum He rushed up the long white street ; He rushed by tower and temple, And paused not from his race Till he stood before his master's door In the stately market-place. But, like a graven image, Black Auster kept his place, And ever wistfully he looked In his dead master's face. Then Aulus the Dictator Stroked Auster's raven mane, With heed he looked unto the girths, With heed unto the rein. Now bear me well, black Auster, Into yon thick array ; And thou and I will have revenge For thy good lord this day." So spake he ; and was buckling Tighter black Auster's band, When he was aware of a princely pair That rode at his right hand So like they were, no mortal Might one from other know : White as snow their armor was ; Their steeds were white as snow. READINGS IX ROMAN HISTORY. 143 Never on earthly anvil Did such rare armor gleam ; And never did such gallant steeds Drink of an earthly stream. And all who saw them trembled And pale grew every cheek ; And Aldus the Dictator Scarce gathered voice to speak. t * * Then the fierce trumpet -flourish From earth to heaven arose ; The kites know well the long stern swell That bids the Roman close. Tli"ii the good sword of Aulus Was lifted up to slay : Then, like a crag down Apennine, Rushed Auster through the fray. But under those strange horsemen Still thicker lay the slain ; And after those strange horsi s Black Auster toiled in vain. Sempronius Atratinus Sate in the Eastern Gate, side him were three Fathers, h in his chair of state ; And all around the portal, And high above the wall, ■da great throng of people, But sad and silent all ; ing lads, and stooping elders That might noi bear the mail, Matrons with lips thai quivered, And maids with faces pale. Since the fir-; gl< am of daylight, Sempronius had no1 ceased To listen for the rushing Of horse-hoofs from the east. The mi-t of eve was rising, The sun was hastening down, When he was aware of a princely pair pricking towards the town. 144 READINGS IN ROMAN HISTORY. So like tbey were, man never Saw twins so like before ; Red with gore their armor was, Their steeds were red with gore. " Hail to the great Asylum ! Hail to the hill-tops seven ! Hail to the fire that burns for aye, And the shield that fell from heaven ! This day, by Lake Regillus, Under the Porcian height, All in the lands of Tusculum Was fought a glorious fight. To-morrow your Dictator Shall bring in triumph home The spoils of thirty cities To deck the shrines of Rome ! " Then burst from that great concourse A shout that shook the towers, And some ran north, and some ran south, < 'rying, " The day is ours ! " Bir on rode these strange horsemen, With slow and lordly pace ; And none who saw their bearing Durst ask their name or race. On rode they to the Forum, While laurel-boughs and flowers, From house-tops and from windows, Fell on their crests in showers. When they drew nigh to Vesta, They vaulted down amain, And washed their horses in the well That springs by Vesta's fane. And straight again they mounted, And rode to Vesta's door; Then, like a blast, away they passed, And no man saw them more. Macaulav READINGS IN ROMAN HISTORY. 145 PEEIOD OF THE PTTSTIC WAES. Rome in the Third Century B. C. — From the Gallic conflagration Rome gradually rose to greater splendor. By degrees the forum assumed a more imposing appearance. In the place of the butchers' shops beautiful porticoes were ROMAN HOME. erected, when' silversmiths and bankers carried on their busi- ness : on festive occasions the columns were ornamented with captured arms. The platform for the public orators was decorated with the beaks <>l" the ships taken at Antinm (338 B. < .). Various works of art and statues were erected all around.* In the short space of twelve years, eight new * Mosl of these, probably, were bought in Etrurla or were spoils from Etmsran ■ad Greek towni and were falsely given onl ae Soman work-. Nothing wai easier thantoglvi i Knman name. almost any Greek male statue might pass foi Romulus it was customary to convej solemnly to Borne the principal 'lHty of a conquered town, and to give 11 ■' name and place In the Soman worship. What wan more natural than thai other works of art shonld share the same fate T 146 READINGS IN ROMAN HISTORY. temples are said to have been vowed or built. A large portion of the booty made in the wars with the Samnites and with Pyrrhus was devoted to the adornment of the town. Care was now taken not only to adorn Eome with works of art, but also to make improvements for the convenience, health and comfort of the inhabitants. The grandest public work of this class was the great sewer, which is stated to have been constructed in the Etruscan period under Tar- quinius Priscus. Gradually the rodiles began to pave a few streets from the proceeds of fines inflicted for the violation of the Licinian land laws. Appius Claudius constructed the first aqueduct, and after the termination of the war with Pyrrhus, Manius Curius began to build a second with the spoils taken in that war (273 b. a). While Rome, in consequence of the extension of the Roman dominion, became more and more the seat of industry, trade, and art; while increasing wealth banished the old simplicity and rustic contentment, and changed the external appearance of the city, a greater freedom showed itself in the observance of the old customs and in the rules of social and family life. The strict laws of the paternal authority were relaxed ; the political ties which bound together the members of a house and of a family were loosened. The solemn form of mar- riage by "confarreatio," connected with auspicia and sacri- fices, was more and more superseded even in patrician houses by a kind of civil marriage. In every way the barriers were broken down which in former times had confined the individ- ual within the limits of his family, had hampered his free- dom of action, and had placed an intermediate authority between him and the state. The ancient tribes of Ramnes, Tities, and Luceres became things of the past and were sur- rendered to oblivion; the members of the different houses READINGS IN ROMAN HISTORY. 147 ceased to act for common political or social purposes : religious ceremonies alone preserved a faint memory of what had once been a vigorous institution. During the Samnite wars, the great mass of the Roman people retained the old simplicity of life in their dress, their dwellings, their food and drink. Their recreations and CHARIOT RACE. rejoicings, their popular festivals and domestic pleasures. were essentially the same as before. They were always fond of holydays and religious shows. They never tired of public processions. The highesl aspiration of the most ambitious citizen was in enter Rome at the head of a victorious army, exhibiting rich spoils and captured enemies; to pass along the Sacred Way and the Forum amidsl the acclamations of the people dressed in their holyday attire; to ascend the Capitol, and in the temple of Jupiter to render thanks, in the name of the people, for the victory which the god had 148 READINGS IN ROMAN HISTORY. vouchsafed to them. Whilst the triumphant consular gen- eral ascended-the steps to the Capitol, the captive leader of the enemy was led into the dismal dungeon to die. (See in- stance of Caius Pontius, p. 33.) The triumphal processions were the first public rejoicings of the warlike people of Rome, but at a very early period the so-called Great or Roman games were established, and several others in course of time. These games consisted at first of chariot racing and boxing, and were celebrated in the great race-course, between the Aventine and the Palatine. For a long time the Romans were contented with these innocent and bloodless exhibitions. But in the beginning of the Punic wars, the hideous gladiatorial combats (p. 101) were intro- duced. — Ihne. HANNIBAL. The Genius of Hannibal. — The Duke of Wellington was of opinion that Hannibal was the greatest of all generals. Twice in history has there been witnessed the struggle of the highest individual genius against the re- sources and institutions of a great nation ; and in both cases the nation has been victorious. For seventeen years Hanni- bal strove against Rome; for sixteen years Napoleon Buona- parte strove against England: the efforts of the first ended in Zama, those of the second in Waterloo. It is not merely through our ignorance of the internal state of Carthage, that Hannibal stands so prominent in all our conceptions of the second Punic war; he was really its moving and directing power ; and the energy of his country was but a light reflected from his own. History therefore gathers itself into his single person ; in that vast tempest, which from north and south, from the west and the east, broke upon Italy, we see nothing but Hannibal. HEADINGS IN ROMAN HISTORY. 149 But if Hannibal's genius may be likened to the Homeric god, who in his hatred of the Trojans rises from the deep to rally the fainting Greeks, and to lead them against the enemy; so the calm courage with which Hector met his more than human adversary in his country's cause, is no unworthy image of the unyielding magnanimity displayed by the aristocracy of Rome. The senate which voted its thanks to its political enemy, Varro, after his disastrous defeat, "because he had not despaired of the Common- wealth," and which disdained either to solicit, or to reprove, or to threaten, or in any way to notice the twelve colonies which had refused their accustomed supplies of men for the army, is far more to be honored than the conqueror of Zania. Never was the wisdom of God's providence more manifest than in the issue of the struggle between Rome and Carthage. It was clearly for the good of mankind. that Hannibal should be conquered: his triumph would have stopped the progress of the world. — Arnold. Hannibal at the Gates of Rome (p. 43). — Under the walls of Casinum, Hannibal remained encamped for two days, ravaging the country all around; thence he came into the Fregellan territory, to the river Liris, where he found the bridge broken down by the Fregellans in order to impede his progress. A messenger from Pregella, who had traveled a day and a night without intermission, arriving at Rome, caused the greatest consternation ; and the whole city was thrown into a state of alarm by the running up and down of persons who made vague additions to what they heard, and thus increased the confusion which the original intelligence created. The lamentations of women were qoj only heard from private houses, bui the matron- from every quarter, rushing into the public streets, ran op and down around the jhrines of the . sweeping the altars with 150 READINGS IN ROMAN HISTORY. their disheveled hair, throwing themselves upon their knees and stretching their uplifted hands to heaven and the gods, imploring them to rescue the city of Eome out of the hands of their enemies, and preserve the Bo man mothers and their children from harm. The senate sat in the forum near the magistrates, in case they should wish to consult them. Some were receiving orders and dejjarting to their own department of duty; others were offering themselves wherever there might he occasion for their aid. Troops were posted in the citadel, in the Capitol, upon the walls around the city, and also on the Alban mount, and the fort ofiEsula. Meanwhile, Hannibal advanced his camp to the Auio, three miles from the city. Fixing his position there, he advanced with two thousand horse from the Colline gate as far as the temple of Hercules, and riding up, took as near a view as he could of the walls and site of the city. Flaccus, indignant that he should do this so freely and so much at his ease, sent out a party of cavalry, with orders to displace and drive back to their camp the cavalry of the enemy. After the fight had begun, the consuls ordered the Numidian deserters who were on the Aventine, to the num- ber of twelve hundred, to march through the midst of the city to the Esqniliae, judging that no troops were better calculated to fight among the hollows, the garden walls, and tombs, or in the enclosed roads which were on all sides. But some persons, seeing them from the citadel and Capitol as they filed off on horseback down the Bublician hill, cried out that the Aventine was taken. This circumstance occasioned such confusion and terror, that if the Cartha- ginian camp had not been without the city, the whole multitude, such was their alarm, would have rushed out. They then fled for refuge into their houses and upon the roofs, where they threw stones and weapons on their own READINGS IX ROMAN HISTORY. 151 soldiers as they passed along the streets, taking them for enemies. Nor could the tumult be repressed, or the mis- take explained, as the streets were thronged with crowds of rustics and cattle, which the sudden alarm had driven into the city. The battle between the cavalry was success- ful, and the enemy were driven away: and as it was necessary to repress the tumults which were arising in several quarters without any cause, it was resolved that all who had been dictators, consuls, or censors, should be invested with authority till such time as the enemy had retired from the wall. The next day Hannibal, crossing the Anio, drew out all his forces in order of battle; nor did Flaccus and the consuls decline to fight. When the troops on both sides were drawn up to try the i-sue of a battle, in which Rome was to be the prize of the victors, a violent shower of rain mingled with hail created such disorder in both the lines, that the troops, scarcely able to hold their arms, retired to their camp-. On the following day, likewise, a similar tempesl separated the armies marshaled on the same ground ; hut after they had retired to their camps the weather became wonderfully serene and tranquil. The Carthaginians considered this circumstance as a Divine interposition, and ii is reported thai Hannibal was heard to say, that "sometimes he wanted tin- will to make himself master of Rome; at other limes the opportunity. 9 ' Two other eireiim-taii' o, one inconsiderable, the other important, diminished hi- hope-. The important one was. that while la- lay with his armed troops near the walls of the city, be was informed that troops had marched out of it with colors flying, a- a reinforcement for Spain ; that of less importance was, thai he was informed h\ one of his prisoners, thai lie' very ground on which hi- camp stood 152 HEADINGS IN ROMAN HISTORY. was sold at this very time, without any diminution in its price. Indeed, so great an insult and indignity did it appear to him that a purchaser should be found at Rome for the very soil which he held and possessed by right of conquest, that he immediately called a crier, and ordered that the silversmiths' shops, which at that time stood around the Roman forum, should be put up for sale. Induced by these circumstances, he retired to the river Tutia, six miles from the city, whence he proceeded to the grove of Feronia, where was a temple at that time celebrated for its riches. The Capenatians and the people of other states in the neighborhood, by bringing here their first fruits and other offerings according to their abilities, kept it decorated with abundance of gold and silver. Of all these offerings the temple was now despoiled. After the departure of Hanni- bal, vast heaps of bmss were found there, as the soldiers, from a religious feeling, had thrown in pieces of uncoined brass. — Livy. HASDRUBAL. At the Metaurus (p. 44). — In order to determine Hannibal's movements, Hasdrubal, when he left Pla- centia, sent off six horsemen, to say he was marching upon Etruria. and that the two brothers were to effect their junc- tion in Umbria. With marvelous skill and good fortune HasdrubaFs horsemen made their way through the whole length of Italy. But Hannibal's rapid movement into Brut- tium disconcerted them : they attempted to follow him thither; but mistaking their way, and getting too near to Tarentum, they fell in with some foragers of the army of Q. Claudius, and were made prisoners. The praetor instantly sent them under a strong escort to Nero (the consul). They were the bearers of a letter from Hasdrubal to his brother, READINGS IN ROMAN HISTORY. 153 containing the whole plan of their future operations; it was written, not in cypher, but in the common Carthaginian language and character; and the interpreter read its con- tents in Latin to the consul. Nero took his resolution on the instant. He despatched the letter to the senate, urging the immediate recall of Ful- vius with his army from Capua to Rome ; the calling out of every Roman who could bear arms; and the marching for- ward of the two home legions to Narnia, to defend that nar- row gorge of the Flaminian road against the invader. At the same time he told the senate what he was going to do himself. lie picked out 7000 men, of whom 1000 were horse, the flower of his whole army; he ordered them to hold them- selves in readiness for a secret expedition into Lucania, to surprise one of Hannibal's garrisons ; and as soon as it was dark, lie put himself at their head, leaving his lieutenant, Q. ('alius, in command of the main army, and began his march. Hi- march was not towards Lucania. Already before he lefl his camp had he sent forward horsemen on the road lead- ing to Picenum and TTmbria, with the consul's orders that all the provisions of the country should be brought down to the road-side, thai all horses and draughi cattle should be led thither also, and carriages for the transport of the weaker or wearied soldiers. Life ami death were upon his speed, -the life and death of his country. His march was towards the camp of hi- colleague, before Sena; his hope was to crush Easdrubal with their combined and overwhelming forces, whilst Eannibal, waiting for that letter which he would never receive, should remaiu still in Apulia. When Nero had reached a sufficient distance from Eanni- bal, he disclosed the secret of his expedition to his soldiers. They frit the glory of their mission, and shared the spirit of 154 HEADINGS IN ROMAN HISTORY. their leader. Nor was it a little thing to witness the uni- versal enthusiasm which everywhere welcomed their march. Men and women, the whole population of the country, crowded to the roadside ; meat, drink, clothing, horses, car- riages, were pressed upon the soldiers ; and happy was the man from whom they would accept them. Every tongue blessed them as deliverers; incense rose on hastily built altars, where the people, kneeling as the army passed, poured forth prayers and vows to the gods for their safe and vic- torious return. The soldiers would scarcely receive what was offered to them ; they would not halt ; they ate stand- ing in their ranks ; night and day they hastened onwards, scarcely allowing themselves a brief interval of rest. In six or seven days the march was accomplished. Livius had been forewarned of his colleague's approach, and Nero entered the camp by night, concealing his arrival from Hasdrubal no less successfully than he had hidden his departure from Hannibal. The new comers were to be received into the tents of Livius' soldiers; for any enlargement of the camp would have betrayed the secret. They were more than seven thou- sand men, for their numbers had been swelled on their march ; veterans who had retired from war, and youths too young to be enlisted, having pressed Nero to let them share in his en- terprise. A council was held the next morning; and though Livius and L. Porcius, the praetor, urged Nero to allow his men some rest before he led them to battle, he pleaded so strongly the importance of not losing a single day lest Han- nibal should be upon their rear, that it was agreed to fight immediately. The red ensign was hoisted as soon as the council broke up ; and the soldiers marched out and formed in order of battle. The enemy, whose camp, according to the system of ancient warfare, was only half a mile distant from that of the Ro- READINGS IX ROMAX HISTORY. 155 mans, marched out and formed in line to meet them. But ae Hasdrubal rode forward to reconnoitre the Roman army, their increased numbers struck him ; and other circumstances, it is said, having increased his suspicions, he led back his men into their camp, and sent out some horsemen to collect information. The Romans then returned to their own camp ; and Hasdrubal's horsemen rode round it at a distance, to see if it were larger than usual, or in the hope of picking up some stragglers. One thing alone, it is said, revealed the secret: the trumpet, which gave the signal for the several duties of the day, was heard io sound as usual once in the camp of the praetor, but twice in that of Livius. This, we ure told, satisfied Hasdrubal that both the consuls were before him. Unable to understand how Nero had escaped from Hannibal, and dreading the worst, he resolved to retire to a greater distance from the enemy ; and having put out all his fires, he set his army in motion as soon as night fell, and retreated towards Mctaurus. According to Liw, Hasdrubal marched back fourteen miles; but his guides deserted him and escaped unobserved in the darkness, so that, when the army reached Metaurus, they could not find the fords. He began to ascend the river, in the hope of passing it easily when daylight came, but its windings delayed him; and as he ascended further from the . he found the' bank- steeper and higher. Thus Hasdrubal was overtaken by the Romans and obliged to fight. It is clear from Polybius thai he bad encamped for the nighl after his wearisome march: and' retn-at being fatal to the discipline of barbarians, the Gaule became unmanageable, and indulged so freely in drinking, that, when morning dawned, many of them were lying drunk in their quarters, utterly unable to move. And now the Roman army was seen advancing in order of 156 READINGS IN ROMAN. HISTOUY. / battle;. and Hasdrubal, finding it impossible to contiuue bis retreat, marched out of bis camp to meet tbem. His Gaulish infantry, as many as were fit for action, were stationed on his left, in a position naturally so strong as to be unassailable in front ; and its flank would probably be covered by tbe river. He himself took part with his Spanish infantry, and attacked the left wing of the Roman army, which was commanded by Living (Nero's associate consul). Nero was on the Roman right, the praetor in the center. Between Hasdrubal and Livins, the battle was long and obstinately disputed, the elephants being, according to Polybius, an equal hindrance to both parties ; for, galled by the missiles of the Romans, they broke sometimes into their own ranks, as well as into those of- the enemy. Meanwhile, Nero, seeing that he could make no progress on his front, drew his troops out of the line, and, passing round on the rear of the praetor and of Livins, fell upon the right Hank and the rear of the enemy. Then the fate of the day was decided ; and the Spaniards, outnumbered and surrounded, were cut to pieces in their ranks, resisting to the last. Then too, when all was lost, Hasdrubal spurred his horse into the midst of a Roman cohort, and there fell sword in hand, fighting, says Livy, " with honorable sympathy, as became the son of Hamilcar and the brother of Hannibal." The conquerors immediately stormed the Carthaginian camp, and there slaughtered many of tbe Gauls, whom they found still lying asleep in the helplessness of brute intoxica- tion. The spoil of the camp was rich, amounting in value to 300 talents: of the elephants, six were killed in the action; the other four were taken alive. All the Cartha- ginian citizens who had followed Hasclrubal, were either killed or taken ; and 3000 Roman prisoners, who were found in the camp, were restored to liberty. READINGS IN ROMAN HISTORY. 157 With no less haste than be had marched from Apulia, Nero hastened hack thither to rejoin his army. All was quiet there: Hannibal still lay in his camp, waiting for intelligence from Hasdrubal. He received it too soon, not .from Hasdrubal, but from Nero. The Carthaginian prisoners were exhibited exultingly before his camp; two of them were set at liberty, and sent to tell him the story of their defeat; and a head was thrown down in scorn before his outposts, if his soldiers might know whose it was. They took it up, and brought to Hannibal the head of his brother. He had not dealt so with the remains of the Roman generals: but of this Nero recked nothing; he was as in- different to justice and humanity in his dealings with an enemy, as his imperial descendants afterward showed them- selves towards Rome, and all mankind.* — Arnold. An Atonement, a Suspense, and a Thanksgiving. — [Before the Battle of Metauras.] The popular mind, tortured by religious terrors, now saw everywhere signs of the divine anger, and it gave itself up to horrid delusions, and to the cruelty of superstition. Again it rained stones, rivers ran blood, and temples, walls, and gates of towns were struck by lightning. Bui more than usual terror was caused by the birth of a greatly deformed child. Soothsayers were speciall} senl tor from Etruria, and at their suggestion Hie wretched creature was placed in a box ami cast into the sea far from the coast. Then the pontifices ordained a grand national festival of atonement, from the temple of Apollo before the town, the procession marched solemnly to the * Ten years bad pawed since Hannibal liar expel out of the senate any one who lived intem- perately and out of order. It was also their business to take an estimate of what every one was worth, and to put down in registers everybody's birth and quality ; besides many other prerogatives. FTifl treatment of Lucius, a brother of Scipio, and one who had been honored with a triumph, occasioned some odium ♦ The Romans with tlieir narrow dews of lite, their rustic parsimony, and their military liking for coercive measures, delighted in meddling In the affairs of private lif<-, in prescribing how manj Bute-players b! Id be allowed at a funeral, how much Bllver plate people should have In their houses, what ornaments thej • exhibit in their dress. Even In tbe Twelve Tables there are traces of very minute regulations of thi* kind : and In spite of all the teaching "f experience and all iho evidence of tbe oseletsneat of such restrictions, 1 1 » • - Romans continued to hope that mcli --riirrcroWit would keep off Immorality.— I am, 164 READINGS IN ROMAN HISTORY. against Cato; for he took his horse from him, and was thought to do it with a design of putting an affront on Scipio Africanus, now dead. Manilius, also, who, according to the public expectation, would have heen next consul, he threw out of the senate, because, in the presence of his daughter, and in open day, he had kissed his wife. But he gave most general annoyance, by retrenching people's luxury; for though (most of the youth being thereby already corrupted) it seemed almost impossible to take it away with an open hand and directly, yet, going as it were, obliquely around, he caused all dress, carriages, women's ornaments, and household furniture, whose price exceeded one thousand five hundred drachmas, to be rated at ten times as much as they were worth ; intending by thus making the assessments greater, to increase the taxes paid upon them. He also ordained that upon every thousand asses of property of this kind, three should be paid, so that people burdened with extra charges, and seeing others of as good estates, but more frugal and sparing, paying less into the public exchequer, might be tired out of their prodigality. And thus, not only those who bore the taxes for the sake of their luxury, were disgusted at Cato, but those, too, who on the other side laid by their luxury for fear of the taxes. However, the people, it seems, liked his censorship wondrously well; for, setting up a statue for him in the temple of the goddess of Health, they put an inscription under it, not recording his commands in war, or his triumph, but to the effect, that this was Cato the Censor, who by his good discipline and wise and temperate ordinances, reclaimed the Roman commonwealth when it was declining and sink- ing down into vice. — Plutarch. The Debate of Cato the Censor and Lucius Valerius upon the Oppian law (197 B.C.).— Amid the serious con- READINGS IN ROMAN HISTORY. 105 eerns of important wars, an incident intervened, trivial to be mentioned, but which, through the zeal of the parties con- cerned, issued in a violent contest. Marcus Fundanius and Lucius Valerius, plebeian tribunes, proposed to the people the repealing of the Oppian law. This law, which had been introduced by Caius Oppias, during the heat of the Punic war, enacted that "no woman should possess more than half an ounce of gold, or wear a garment of various colors, or ride in a carriage drawn by horses, in a city, or any town, or any place nearer thereto than one mile ; except on occasion of some public religious solemnity." Marcus and Publius Junius Brutus, plebeian tribunes, supported the Oppian law, and declared, that they would never suffer it to be repealed; while many of the nobility stood forth to argue for and against the motion proposed. The Capitol was rilled with crowds, who favored, or opposed the law; nor could the matrons be kept at home, either by advice, or shame, nor even by the commands of their husbands ; but beset every street and pass in the city, beseeching the men as they went down to the forum, that in the present nourishing state of the commonwealth, when the private fortune of all was daily increasing, they would sutler the women to have their former ornaments of dress restored.. This throng of women increased daily, for they arrived even from the country towns and villages; and they bail at length the boldness \<> come up to the consuls, praetors, and magistrates, to urge their request. One of the consuls, however, they found especially inexorable- Marcus Porcius Gato, who spoke to this effecl : — "If, Boman8, every individual among us had made it a rah' to maintain the prerogative and authority of a husband with respecl to his own wife, we should have less trouble with the whole Bex. Bui now, our privileges, overpowered 1G6 READINGS IN ROMAN HISTORY. at home by female contumacy, are, even here in the forum, spurned and trodden under foot ; and because we are unable to withstand each separately, we now dread their collective body. It was not without painful emotions of shame that I just now made my way into the forum through the midst of a band of women. Had I not been restrained by respect for the modesty and dignity of some individuals among them, rather than of the whole number, and been unwilling that they should be seen rebuked by a consul, I should have said to them, ' What sort of practice is this, of running out into public, besetting the streets and addressing other women's husbands ? Could not each have made the same request toher husband at home? Are your blandishments more seducing in public than in private ; and with other women's husbands, than with your own ? Although, if the modesty of matrons confined them within the limits of their own rights, it does not become you, even at home, to concern yourselves about what laws may be passed, or repealed here.' Our ancestors thought it not proper that women should perform any, even private business, without a director ; but that they should be always under the control of parents, brothers, or husbands. Now, it seems, we suffer them to interfere in the management of state affairs, and to intro- duce themselves into the forum, into general assemblies, and into assemblies of election. For what are they doing, at this moment, in your streets and lanes ? What, but arguing : some in support of the motion of the plebeian tribunes ; others, for the repeal of the law ? Will you give the reins to their intractable nature, and then expect that themselves should set bounds to their licentiousness, when you have failed to do so ? What will they not attempt, if they now come off victorious ? " Recollect all the institutions respecting the sex, by which READINGS IN ROMAN HISTORY. 1G7 our forefathers restrained their limine freedom, and subjected them to their husbands; and jet, even with the help of all these restrictions, you can scarcely keep them within bounds. If, then, you suffer them to throw these off one by one, to tear them all asunder, and, at last, to be set on an ecpial footing with yourselves, can you imagine that they will be anv longer tolerable? The moment they have arrived at an equality with you, they will have become your superiors. I should like, however, to hear what this important affair is which has induced the matrons thus to run out into public in this excited manner, scarcely restraining from push- ing into the forum and the assembly of the people. Is it to solicit that their parents, their husbands, children, and brothers, may be ransomed from captivity under Hannibal ? By no means: and far be ever from the commonwealth so unfortunate a situation. Yet, even when such was the case, you refused this, to their pmyers. What motive, that even common decency will allow to be mentioned, is pretended for this female insurrection? Why, say they, that we may shine in gold and purple ; that, both on festal and common days, we may ridethrough the city in our chariots, triumphing over vanquished and abrogated law, after having captured and wrested from yon your suffrages; and that there may he no ion mis to our expenses and our luxury ! ••< H'teii have you heard me complain of the profuse expenses of the women— often of those of the men : and that not only of men in private Btations, Inn of the magistrates: and that the state was endangered by two opposite vices, luxury and avarice; those pests, which have been the ruin of all great empires. These do I dread the more, a the circumstances of the commonwealth gro"w daily more prosperous and happy ; ji~ t h* empire increases; as we have now passed over into Greece and Ada, — places abounding with every kind of 1G8 EE A DINGS IN BOMAN niSTOKY. temptation that can inflame the passions; and as we have begun to handle even royal treasures: so much the more do I fear that these matters will bring us into captivity, rather than we them. Believe me, those statues from Syracuse were brought into this city with hostile effect. I already hear too many commending and admiring the decorations of Athens and Corinth, and ridiculing the earthen images of our Roman gods that stand on the fronts of their temples. For my part, I prefer these gods, — propitious as they are, and as I hope will continue to be, if we allow them to remain in their own mansions. Within the memory of our fathers, Pyrrhus, by his ambassador, Cineas, made trial of the dispo- sitions, not only of our men but of our women also, by offers of presents. At that time the Oppian law had not been made ; and yet not one woman accepted a present. If Cineas were now to go round the city with his presents, he would find numbers of women standing in the public streets to re- ceive them Of all kinds of shame, the worst, surely, is the being ashamed of frugality or of poverty; but the law relieves you with regard to both; since that which you have not it is unlawful for you to possess. ' This equali- zation,' says the rich matron. ' is the very thing that I can- not endure. Why do not I make a figure, distinguished with gold and purple ? Why is the poverty of others concealed under this cover of a law, so that it should be thought that, if the law permitted, they would have such things as they are not now able to procure ?' Romans! do you wish to ex- cite among your wives an emulation of this sort ? As soon as the law shall cease to limit the expenses of your wife, you yourself will never be able to do so. Do not suppose that the matter will hereafter be in the same state in which it was before this law was made. It is safer that a wicked man should never be accused, than that he should be acquit- READINGS IX ROMAN HISTORY. 1G9 ted; and luxury, if it had never been meddled with, would be more tolerable than it will be, now, like a wild beast, irritated by having been chained, and then let loose. My opinion is, that the Oppian law ought, on no account, to be . repealed. Whatever determination you may come to, I pray all the gods to prosper it." Then Lucius Valerius spoke in support of the measure he had himself introduced : — " If this law had been passed for the purpose of setting a limit to the passions of the sex, there would be reason to fear lest the repeal of it might operate as an excitement to them. But the real reason of its being passed, the time itself will show. Hannibal was then in Italy, victorious at Cannes: he already held possession of Tarentam, of Arpi, of Capua, and seemed ready to bring up his army to the city of Rome. Our allies had rted us. We had neither soldiers to fill np the legions, nor seamen to man the fleet, nor money in the treasury. Slaves who were to be employed as soldiers, were purchased on condition of their price being paid to the owners at the end id' tin- war. The farmers of the revenues had declared that they would contract to supply grain and other matters which the exigencies of the war required, to be paid for at the same time. We gave np our slaves to the oar. in num- bers proportioned to our properties, and paid them out of our own incomes. All our gold and silver we dedicated to the use of the public. Widows and minors lodged their money in the treasury. It was provided by law that we should not keep in our bonses more than a certain quantity of wrought gold or silver, or more than a certain sum of coined Bilver or brass. At such a time as this, were the matroi i eagerly engaged in luxury and dress, that the Oppian law was requisite to repress Mich practices? 170 READINGS IN ROMAN niSTORY. Shall we men wear the purple bordered gown in magistracies and priests' offices ? Shall our children wear gowns bor- dered with purple? Shall we allow the privilege of wearing the toga prajtexta to the magistrates of the colonies and borough towns, and to the very lowest of them here at Eome, even to the superintendents of the streets ; and shall we interdict the use of purple to women alone ? Elegance of appearance, and ornaments, and dress, these are women's badges of distinction; in these they delight and gloiy ; these our ancestors called the woman's world " Although all these considerations had been urged against the motion and in its favor, the women next day poured out into the public in much greater numbers, and in a body beset the doors of the tribunes who had protested against the measure of their colleagues; nor did they retire until this intervention was withdrawn. Thus was this law an- nulled, in the twentieth year after it had been made.— Livy. READINGS IN ROMAN HISTORY. 171 PERIOD OF THE CIVIL WARS. ROME AT THE OPENING OF THE CIVIL WARS. The New Nobility. — While Rome was thus acquiring the dominion of the civilized world, her internal state was marked by the decay of the old Roman virtues, the dissolu- tion of the bonds of her old constitution, and the beginning of new troubles that were to end only with the fall of the Republic. The old distinction of patricians, clients, and plebeians had vanished. With the admission of the plebeians to the higher magistracies, the increasing power of wealth to influence elections, and the custom of admitting those who had held tiie offices of state to the Senate, a new nobility had arisen, under the names of the Optimates, and a rabble, misnamed plebeian, had grown up by their side. The nobility were in possession of the Senate, whose iuitia- *tive in legislation had grown into the dominant power in the state ; and the old equality of the Roman citizens was publicly annulled by the innovation carried by the elder African us, in his second consulship (b. c. 194), of assigning tbc front Beats in the theater to the senatorial order. The curule offices, and consequently the senate, became more and more the virtual inheritance of a few great houses, and the entrance of a ''new man'' into the well-fenced circle was regarded as an usurpation, unless he had some close personal tie with the noble families. Public Improvements. — Meanwhile, Ihe growth of the empire itself absorbed a large proportion of the new reve- nues in roads, bridges, aqueducts, and those other works which the Romane never performed negligently, besides the 172 BEADING S IN ROMAN HISTORY. expenses of civil administration. Large sums were ex- pended in perfecting the system of roads in Italy itself; and the public works in the capital and its neighborhood formed some of the best uses of the public wealth. The construc- tion of the great system of sewers which ramified beneath the city from the Cloaca Maxima,* appears to have been contracted for in b. c. 180. Six years later, the streets of Eome were paved. In b. c. 160, the Pomptine marshes were drained ; and P. Scipio Nasica, in his consulship in the following year, set up a public clepsydra, or water-clock, the city of Eome hav- ing gone on for six centuries without any accurate means of knowing the time by night as well as day. But the most magnificent work of this period was the great aqueduct con- structed under the direction of the Senate, in b. c. 144. Eome had hitherto been supplied with water by only two of the fourteen aqueducts which spanned the Campagna with their long line of arches, and of which three still suffice to bring into the city a pure and copious stream that puts our boasted sanitary science to shame. — Philip Smith. THE GRACCHI. Tiberius and Caius G-racchus (p. 51) were the sons of Tiberius Gracchus, who, though he had been once censor, twice consul, and twice had triumphed, yet was more renowned and * This immense Sewer, constructed by Tarquin (p. 13) to drain the marshy hollows between the hills, and which astonished the Augustan age in that its massive structure had resisted time, earthquakes, and inundations for 600 years, still remains "with scarcely a stone displaced." The cleanliness and perfect ventilation of these ancient watercourses may be inferred from the fact that the public-spirited sedile Agrippa (son-in-law to Augustus Caesar and erector of many splendid buildings, including the Pantheor) is said to have sailed through them to the Tiber in his barge. "An idea of their vastness may be obtained," says Story, " from the fact that the mere cleansing of them was on one occasion contracted for at no less a sum than 3000 talents " (about $3.000,000).— E. B. S. READINGS IN ROMAN HISTORY. 173 esteemed for his virtue than his honors. Upon this account, after the death of Scipio who overthrew Hannibal, he was thought worthy to match with his daughter Cornelia, though there had been no friendship or familiarity between Scijiio and him, but rather the contrary. There is a story told, that he once found in bis bedchamber a couple of snakes, and that the soothsayers, being consulted concerning the prodigy, advised that he should 2ieither kill them both nor let them both escape ; adding, that if the male serpent was killed, Tiberius should die, and if the female, Cornelia. And that, therefore, Tiberius, who extremely loved his wife and thought, besides, that it was much more his part, who was an old man, to die, than it was hers, who as yet was but a young woman, killed the male serpent, and let the female escape; and, soon after, himself died, leaving behind him twelve children borne to him by Cornelia. Cornelia, taking upon herself all the care of the household and the education of her children, approved herself so dis- creet a matron, so affectionate a mother, and so constant and noble-spirited a widow, that Tiberius seemed to all men to have done nothing unreasonable, in choosing to die for such a woman : who, when king Ptolemy himself proffered her his crown, and would have married her. refused it, and chose rather to live a widow. In this state she continued, and lost nil her children, except one daughter, who was married to Scipio tin' younger, and two sons, Tiberius and Cains, whose t, lives wo are now wril ing. Those she brought up wilh such care, that though they were without dispute in natural endowments and dispositions the first among the Romans of their time, yet they seemed to owe their virtues even more to their education than to their birth. And as, in the statues and pictures made of Castor and Pollux, though the brothers resemble each other, yet there 174 READINGS IN ROMAN HISTORY. is a difference to be perceived in their countenances, between the one, who delighted in the cestus, and the other, that was famous in the course, so between these two noble youths, though there was a strong general likeness in their common love of fortitude and temperance, in their liberality, their eloquence, and their greatness of mind, yet in their actions and administrations of public affairs, a considerable variation showed itself. It will not be amiss, before we proceed, to mark the difference between them. Tiberius, in the form and expression of his countenance, and in his gesture and motion, was gentle and composed ; but Caius, earnest and vehement. And so in their public speeches to the people, the one spoke in a quiet, orderly manner, standing throughout on the same spot ; the other would walk about on the hustings, and in the heat of his orations pull his gown off his shoulders, and was the first of all the Romans that used such gestures. Cains' oratory was impetuous and passionate, making everything tell to the utmost ; whereas Tiberius was gentle, rather, and persuasive, awakening emotions of pity. His diction was pure, and carefully correct, while that of Caius was vehement and rich. The same difference that appeared in their diction, was observable also in their tempers. The one was mild and reasonable, the other rough and passionate, and to that degree, that often, in the midst of speaking, he was so hur- ried away by his passion against his judgment, that his voice lost its tone, and he began to pass into mere abusive talking, spoiling his whole speech. As a remedy to this excess, he made use of an ingenious servant of his, one Licinius, who stood constantly behind him with a sort of pitchpipe, or instrument to regulate the voice by, and whenever he per- ceived his master's tone alter and break with anger, he struck a soft note with his pipe, on hearing which, Caius READINGS IS ROMAN HISTORY. 175 immediately checked the vehemence of his passion and his voice, grew quieter, and allowed himself to he recalled to temper. Such are the differences between the two brothers; but their valor in war against their country's enemies, their justice in the government of its subjects, their care and in- dustry in office, and their self-command in all that regarded their pleasures were equally remarkable in both. Tiberius was the elder by nine years; owing to which their actions as public men were divided by the difference of the times in which those of the one and those of the other were performed. And one of the principal causes of the failure of their enterprises was this interval between their careers, and the want of combination of their efforts. The power they would have exercised, had they flourished both together, could scarcely have failed to overcome all resistance. — Plutarch. MARIUS AND SULLA. " The mother of the Gracchi cast the dust of her murdered sous into the air. and out of it sprung Caius Marius." — Mirareau. The father of Marius was a day laborer, and he himself served in the ranks in Spain. Soon made an officer, Marius won Scipio's Favor as a brave, frugal, incorruptible and trusty soldier. On coming home, he was lucky enough to many the aunt of Julius Caesar, whose high birth and wealth opened I be door to Btate honors, which to a man of his origin was at this time virtually closed. In 119 b. c. he was tribune, and had won the reputation of an upright, and patriotic politician, who would truckle neither to the nobles nor the mob. In 115 he gained the praatorship, and in Spain the nexi year he showed his usual vigor in putting down brig- andage. With the soldiers he was as popular as Xey was 176 READINGS IN ROMAN HISTORY. with Napoleon's armies, for he was one of them, rough- spoken as they were, fond of a cup of wine, and never scorn- ing to share their toils. While he was with Metellus at Utica, a soothsayer prophesied that the gods had great things in store for him, and he asked Metellus for leave to go to Rome and stand for the consulship. Metellus replied that when his own son stood for it, would he time enough for Marius. The man at whom he sneered resented sneers. He at once set to work to undermine the credit of his com- mander with the army, the Roman merchants, and Gauda, saying, that he himself would soon hring the war to an end if he were general. Gauda and the rest wrote to Rome, urging that Marius should have the army. Metellus, with the worst grace, let him go just twelve days hefore election. But the favorite of the gods had a fair wind, and traveled night and day. The artisans of the city and the country class from which he sprang thronged to hear him abuse Metellus, and boast how soon he would capture or kill Ju- gurtha, and he was triumphantly elected consul for the year 107. But already there were drops of bitterness in the sweet cup of success. It was Metellus who was called Numidicus, not he, and it was Sulla (p. 53) whose dare-devil knavery had entrapped the king. Marius fumed at the credit gained by these aristocrats; and when there was dedicated on the Capitol a representation of Sulla receiving Jugurtha's sur- render, he could not conceal his wrath. Sulla was the very antipodes of Marius in every thing except bravery, good generalship, and faith in his star. He was an aristocrat. He was dissolute. He was an admirer of Hellenic literature. War was not his all in all as a profession. If he had a lion's courage, the fox in him was even more to be feared. He, like Marius, owed his rise partly to a woman, but, characteristically, to a mistress, not R E A D I X G S IX ROM A N HISTO R Y . 177 a wife. If the boorish nature of the one degenerated with a<*e into bloodthirsty brutality, the other was from the first cynically destitute of feeling. He would send men to death with a jest, and the coldblooded, calculating, remorseless infamy of his entire career excites a repulsion which we feel for no other great figure in history. Sulla's whole soul must have recoiled from the coarse manners of the man under whom he first won distinction, and, as he saw him gradually floundering into villainy, have felt the supreme superiority of a natural genius for vice. — Beesly. JULIUS C^SAR. The Man. — In person, Caesar (p. 58) was tall and slight. His features were more refined than Avas usual in Roman faces ; the forehead was wide and high, the nose large and thin, the lips full, the eyes dark gray like an eagle's, the neck extremely thick and sinewy. His complexion was pale. His beard and mustache were kept carefully shaved. His hair was short and naturally scanty, falling off toward the end of his life and leaving him partially bald. His voice, especially when he spoke in public, was high ami Bhrill. ili^ health was uniformly strong until his pear, when he became subject to epileptic fits. lie was a great bather, ami scrupulously clean in all his habits, abstemious in bis food, and careless in what it consisted, rarely or never touching wine, and noting sobriety as the highest of qualities when describing any new people. He was an athlete in early life, admirable in all manly exercises, and especially in riding. In (Jaul, as has already been said, he rode a remarkable horse, which be had bred himself, and which would hi no one but (';e-ar mount him. From his boyhood it was observed of him that he was the truest of 178 READINGS IN ROMAN HISTORY. friends, that he avoided quarrels, and was most easily appeased when offended. In manner he was quiet and gentlemanlike, with the natural courtesy of high-breeding.* The Soldier. — It was by accident that Cassar took up the profession of a soldier ; yet perhaps no commander who ever lived showed greater military genius. The conquest of Gaul was effected by a force numerically insignificant which was worked with the precision of a machine. The variety of uses to which it was capable of being turned implied, in the first place, extraordinary forethought in the selection of materials. Men whose nominal duty was merely to fight, were engineers, architects, and mechanics of the highest order. In a few hours they could extemporize an impreg- nable fortress on an open hillside. They bridged the Rhine in a week. They built a fleet in a month. The legions at Alesia held twice their number pinned within their works, while they kept at bay the whole force of insurgent Gaul, entirely by scientific superiority. The machine, which was thus perfect, was composed of human beings who required supplies of tools, and arms, and clothes, and food, and shelter ; and for all these it depended on the forethought of its commander. Maps there were none. Countries entirely unknown had to be surveyed ; routes had to be laid out ; the depths and courses of rivers, and the character of mountain passes, had all to be ascertained Csesar's greatest successes were due to the rapidity of his movements, which brought him on the enemy before they heard of his approach. He traveled sometimes a hundred miles a day, reading or writing in his carriage, through countries without roads, * Once when he was dining somewhere the other guests found the oil too rancid for them. Cajsar took it without a remark, to spare his entertainer's feelings, When on a journey through a forest with his friend Onpiu^. he came one night to n hnt where there was a single bod. Oppius being unwell, Caesar gave it up to him, and slept on the ground. EEADI.VliS IN ROMAN HISTORY. 1 TO and crossing rivers without bridges. Xo obstacles stopped bim when he had a definite end in view. In battle he sometimes rode ; but he Avas more often on foot, bareheaded, and in a conspicuous dress, that he might be seen and recognized. Again and again, by his own efforts, he recovered a day that was half lost. He once seized a panic-stricken standard-bearer, turned him round, and told him that he had mistaken the direction of the enemy. He never misled his army as to an enemy's strength, or if he mis-stated their numbers it was only to exaggerate. In Africa, before Thapsns, when his officers were nervous at the reported approach of Juba, he called them together and said briefly, " You will understand that within a day, King Juba will be here with the legion?, thirty thousand horse, a hundred thousand skirmishers, and three hundred elephants. You are not to think or ask questions. I tell you the truth, and vou must prepare for it. If any of you arc alarmed, I shall send you home."' Yet he was singularly careful of his soldiers. He allowed his legions rest, though he allowed none to himself. He rarely fought a battle at a disadvantage. He never exposed his men to unnecessary danger. When a gallant action was performed, he knew by whom it had been done, and every soldier, however humble, might feel assured that if he deserved praise he would have it. And thus no general was ever more loved by, or had greater power over, the army which served under him. The Orator and Author.— Most of Caesar's writings are lost ; but there remain seven books of commentaries on the wars in Ganl (the eighth was added by another hand), and three books upon the civil war, containing an account of its causes and history. Of these it was that Cicero said, that "fools might think to improve on them, but that no wise 180 READINGS IN ROMAN HISTORY. I man would try it." In his composition, as in his actions, Caesar is entirely simple. He indulges in no images, no labored descriptions, no conventional reflections. The coarse invectives which Cicero poured so freely upon those who dif- fered from him are conspicuously absent. The facts are left to tell their own story. About himself and his own exploits there is not one word of self-complacency or self-admiration. He wrote with extreme rapidity in the intervals of other labor; yet there is not a word misplaced, not a sign of haste anywhere. The Commentaries (in which he usually speaks of himself as Cmsar), as a historical narrative, are as far superior to any other Latin composition as the person of Caesar himself stands out among the rest of his contempora- ries. His other compositions have perished. There was a book on the Auspices, which, coming from the head of the Eoman religion, would have thrown a light much to be desired on this curious subject. In practice, Caesar treated the auguries with contempt. He carried his laws in open disregard of them. He fought his battles careless whether the sacred chickens would eat or the calves' livers were of the proper color. His own account of such things in his capacity of Pontifex would have had a singular interest. Ccesars Mission. — Of Caesar it may be said that he came into the world at a special time and for a special object. A new life was about to dawn for mankind. Poetry, and faith, and devotion were to spring again out of the seeds which were sleeping in the heart of humanity. But the life which is to endure grows slowly ; and as the soil must be pre- pared before the wheat can be sown, so before the Kingdom of Heaven could throw up its shoots there was needed a kingdom of this world where the nations were neither torn in pieces by violence, nor were rushing after false ideals and spurious ambitions. Such a kingdom was the Empire of the READINGS IN ROMAN HISTORY. 181 Caesars - a kingdom where peaceful men could work, think, and speak as they pleased, and travel freely among prov- inces ruled for the most part by Gallios, who protected life and property, and forbade fanatics to tear each other in pieces for their religious opinions. "It is not lawful for us to put any man to death,*' was the complaint of the Jewish priests to the Roman governor. Had Europe and Asia been covered with independent nations, each with a local religion represented in its ruling powers, Christianity must hare been stifled in its cradle. If St. Paul had escaped the sanhedrim at Jerusalem, he would have been torn to pieces by the sil- versmiths at Ephesus. The appeal to Caesar's judgment-seat wii- the shield of his mission, and alone made possible his success. — Froude. POMPEY THE GREAT. At an age when Caesar was still idling away his time, Pompey (p. 59) had achieved honors such as the veteran gen- erals of Rome were accustomed to regard as the highest to which they could aspire The civil war still con- tinued to rage, and few did better service to the party of the aristocrats than Pompey. others were content to seek their personal safety in Sulla's camp; Pompey was resolved himself to '1" something for the cause. He made bis way to Picenum, where his family estates were situated and where his own influence was great, ami raised three legions (nearly twenty thousand men), with all their commissariat and transport complete, and harried to the assistance of Sulla. Three of the hostile generals Bonghl to intercept him. He fell with his whole force on one of them, and crushed him. carrying off. beside- hi- victory, the personal distinction of 182 READINGS IN ROMAN HISTORY. having slain in single combat the champion of the opposing force. A second commander, who ventured to encounter him, found himself deserted by his army and was barely able to escape; a third was totally routed. Sulla received his young partisan, who was not more than twenty-three years of age, with distinguished honors, even rising from his seat and uncovering at his approach. During the next two years, his reputation continued to in- crease. He won victories in Gaul, in Sicily, and in Africa. As he was returning to Rome after the last of these cam- paigns, the great Dictator himself headed the crowd that went forth to meet him, and saluted him as Pompey the Great, a title which he continued to use as his family name. But there was a further honor which the young general was anxious to obtain, but Sulla Avas unwilling to grant, — the supreme glory of a triumph. " No one," said Sulla, " who was not or had not been consul, or at least pra3tor,could triumph. The first of the Scipios, who had won Spain from the Car- thaginians, had not asked for this honor, because he wanted this qualification. Was it to be given to a beardless youth, too young even to sit in the Senate?"' But the beardless youth insisted. He even had the audacity to hint that the future belonged not to Sulla, but to himself. " More men,'' he said, "worship the rising than the setting sun." Sulla did not happen to catch the words, but he saw the emotion they aroused in the assembly, and asked that they should be repeated to him. His astonishment permitted him to say nothing more than "Let him triumph! Let him triumph." And triumph he did, to the disgust of his older rivals, whom he intended, but that the streets were not broad enough to allow of the display, still further to affront by harnessing elephants instead of horses to his chariot. READINGS IX ROM AX HISTORY. 183 On the 31st of December, B. 0. 71, being still a simple gentleman — that is, having held no civil office in the State — ' he triumphed for the second time,* and on the following day, being then some years below the legal age, and having held none of the offices by which it was usual to mount to the highest dignity in the commonwealth, he entered on his first consulship, Orassus being his colleague. Still he had not yet reached the height of his glory. During the years that followed his consulship, the pirates who infested the Mediterranean had become intolerable. In 67 B. c. a law was proposed appointing a commander (who, however, was not named), who should have absolute power for three years over the sea as far as the Pillars of Hercules (the Straits of Gibraltar), and the coast for fifty miles inland, and who should be furnished with two hundred ships, as many soldiers and sailors as he wanted, and more than a million pounds in money. The nobles were furious in their opposition, and prepared to prevent by force the pas ing of this law. The proposer narrowly escaped with his life, and Pompey himself was threatened. But all r< ristance was unavailing. The new command was created, and, of course, bestowed upon Pompey. The result amply justified the choice. A still greater success remained to be won, and, in 61, Pompey returned to Rome to enjoy a third triumph, and thai the most splendid which the city had ever witnessed (j). 51 ). The revenue of the Slate had been almost doubled by these conquests. Never before was such a sight seen in the world, and if Pompey had died when it was finished, he would have been proclaimed the most fortunate of man- kind. Certainly he was oever so greai again as he was on * Thi-» was after Hit! "Gladiatorial War" (|i .v.) concerning which Pompej proudly boasted:— 1 Cra i defeated tbe enemy, bat 1 palled up the war by the rooti/' 184 HEADINGS IN ROMAN HISTORY. that day. When with Caesar and Crassus he divided all the power of the State, he was only the second, and hy far the second, of the three. His influence, his prestige, his popularity declined year by year And then his young wife, Julia, Caesar's daughter, died, and the hope of peace was sensibly lessened by her loss. Perhaps the first rupture would have come any how; when it did come it found Pompey quite unprepared for the conflict. He seemed indeed to be a match for his rival, but his strength collapsed almost at a touch. "I have but to stamp with my foot," he said, "and soldiers will spring up;" yet when Caesar declared war by crossing the Kubicon, he fled without a struggle. In little more than a year and a half all was over. The battle of Pharsalia was fought on the 9th of August, and on September 29th the man who had triumphed over three continents lay a naked, headless corpse ou the shore of Egypt. — Alfred Church. The First Triumvirate (p. 58). — For Pompey to wit- ness the rising glory of Caesar, and to feel in his own per- son the ascendency of Caesar's character, without an emo- tion of jealousy, would have demanded a degree of virtue which few men have ever possessed. They had been united so far by identity of conviction, by a military detestation of anarchy, by a common interest in wringing justice from the Senate for the army and people, and by a pride in the great- ness of their country, which they were determined to up- hold. These motives, however, might not long have borne the strain but for other ties, which had cemented their union. Pompey had married Caesar's daughter, to whom he was passionately attached ; and the personal competition between them Avas neutralized by the third element of the capitalist party represented by Crassus, which, if they quarreled, would secure the supremacy of the faction to READINGS IN ROMAN HISTORY. 185 which Crassus attached himself. There was no jealousy on Caesar's part. There was no occasion for it. Caesar's fame was rising. Pompey had added nothing to his past distinc- tions, and the glory pales which does not grow in luster. No man who had once been the single object of admiration, who had tasted the delight of being the first in the eyes of his countrymen, could find himself compelled to share their applause with a younger rival without experiencing a pang. So far Pompey had borne the trial well. He was on the whole, notwithstanding the Egyptian scandal, honorable and constitutionally disinterested. He was immeasurably superior to the fanatic Cato, to the shifty Cicero, or the proud and worthless leaders of the senatorial oligarchy. Had the circumstances remained unchanged, the severity of the situation might have been overcome. But two mis- fortunes coming near upon each other broke the ties of family connection, and by destroying the balance of parties laid Pompey open to the temptation of patrician intrigue. In the year 54 Caesar's great mother Aurelia, and his sister Julia, Pompey's wife, both died. A child which Julia had borne to Pompey died also, and the powerful if silent influence of two remarkable women, and the joint interest in an infant who would have been Caesar's heir as well as Pnmpey's, were swept away together Then came the miserable end of Crassus The one thought of the leaders of the Senate was to turn the opportunity to advantage, wresl the constitution free from military dicta- tion, shake off the detested laws of Caesar, and revenge themselves on the author of them. Their hope was in Pompey. If Pompey could be won over from Caesar, the army would be divided. Pompey they well knew, unless he had a stronger head than his own to guide him, could be aged till the victory was won. and then be thrusi aside. ISC READINGS IN ROMAN HISTORY. Ca?sars time was running out, and when it was over lie had been promised the consulship. That consulship the faction of the conservatives had sworn that he should never hold. Cato was threatening him with impeachment, blustering that he should be tried under a guard. Marcellus was saying openly that he would call him home in disgrace before his term was over The aristocracy had watched his progress with the bitterest malignity. When he was straggling with the last spasms of Gallic liberty, they had talked in delighted whispers of his reported ruin. But Cassar had conquered. He had made a name for himself as a soldier, before which the Scipios and the Luculluses, the Syllas and the Pompeys, paled their glory. He was coming back to lay at his country's feet a province larger than Spain — not subdued only, but reconciled to subjugation ; a nation of warriors, as much devoted to him as his own legions. If he came to Eome as consul, the Senate knew too well what it might expect. What he had been before he would be again, but the more severe as his power was greater. Their own guilty hearts, perhaps, made them fear another Marian conscription. Unless his command could be brought to an end in some far different form, their days of power were numbered, and the days of inquiry and punishment would begin. Cicero had for some time seen what was coming. He had preferred characteristically to be out of the way at the mo- ment when he expected that the storm would break, and had accepted the government of Cilicia and Cyprus. He was thus absent while the active plot was in preparation. One great step had been gained — the Senate had secured Pompey. Caesar's greatness was too much for him. The first step was to weaken Cassar and to provide Pompey with a force in Italy. The Senate discovered suddenly that Asia Minor was READINGS IN" ROMAN HISTORY. 187 in danger from the Parthians. They voted that Caesar and Pompey must each spare a legion for the East. Pompey gave as his part the legion which he had lent to Csesar for the last campaign. Caesar was invited to restore it and to furnish another of his own. Caesar was then in Belgium. He saw the ohject of the demand perfectly clearly ; hut he sent the two legions without a word, contenting himself with making handsome presents to the officers and men on their leaving him. When they reached Italy the Senate found that they were wanted for home service, and they were placed under Pompev's command in Campania. — Froude. The Battle of Pharsalia. — One morning, on the Enip- eus, near Larissa, the 9th of August, old style, or towards the end of .May by real time, Cassar had broken up his camp and was preparing for his usual leisurely march, when he per- ceived a movement in Pompey's lines which told him that the moment which he had so long expected was come. La- bienus, the evil genius of the Senate, who had tempted them into the war by telling them that his comrades were as dis- affected as himself, and had fired Caesar's soldiers into inten- sified fierceness by his barbarities at Durazzo, had spoken th^ decided word: " Believe not." Labienus had said, "that thi- is the army which defeated the Gauls ami the Germans. 1 was in those fatties, mid what I say I know. That army bae disappeared. Pari tell in action ; part perished of lever in the autumn in Italy. .Many were left behind, unable to move. The men you see before you are levies newly drawn from ih'' colonics beyond the Po. Of the veterans that were left, the besl were killed at Durazzo." A council of war had been held at dawn. There had been ;i solemn taking of oaths again. Labienus swore thai he would not return to the camp except as a conqueror ; so swore Pompey; o swore Lentnlus, Scipio. Domitius: so 188 HEADINGS IN ROMAN HISTORY. swore all the rest. They had reason for their high spirits. Porapey had forty-seven thousand Roman infantry, not in- cluding his allies, and seven thousand cavalry. Csesar had but twenty-two thousand, and of horse only a thousand. Pompey's position was carefully chosen. His right wing was covered by the Enipeus, the opposite bank of which was steep and wooded. His left spread out into the open plain of Pharsalia. His plan of battle was to send forward his cav- alry outside over the open ground, with clouds of archers and slingers, to scatter Cassar's horse, and then to wheel round and envelop his legions. Thus he had thought they would lose heart and scatter at the first shock. Caesar had foreseen what Pompey would attempt to do. His own scanty cavalry, mostly Gauls and Germans, would, he well knew, be unequal to the weight which would be thrown on them. He had trained an equal number of picked active men to fight in their ranks, and had thus doubled their strength. Fearing that this might be not enough, he had taken another pre- caution. The usual Roman formation in battle was in triple line. Cffisar had formed a fourth line of cohorts, specially selected, to engage the cavalry ; and on them, he said, in giving them their instructions, the result of the action would probably depend. — Feoude. There was in Cesar's army a volunteer of the name of Crastiuus, who the year before had been first centurion of the tenth legion, a man of pre-eminent bravery. He, when the signal was given, says, "Follow me, my old comrades, and display such exertions in behalf of your general as you have determined to do : this is our last battle, and when it shall be won, he will recover his dignity, and we onr liberty." At the same time he looked back to Caesar, and said, "General, I will act in such a manner to-day, that you will feel grate- ful to me living or dead." After uttering these words, he READINGS IN ROMAN HISTORY. 189 charged first on the right wing, and about one hundred and twenty chosen volunteers of the same century followed. There was so much space left between the two lines, as sufficed for the onset of the hostile armies : but Porapey had ordered his soldiers to await Caesar's attack, and not to advance from their position, or suffer their line to be put into disorder. And he is said to have done this by the advice of Cains Triarius, that the impetuosity of the charge of Caesar's soldiers might be checked, and their line broken, and that Pompey's troops remaining in their ranks, might attack them while in disorder; and he thought that the javelins would fall with less force if the soldiers were kept in their ground, than if they met them in their course; at the same time he trusted that Caesar's soldiers, after running over double the usual ground, would become weary and exhausted by the fatigue. But to me, Ponipey seems to have acted without sufficient reason : for there is a certain impetuosity of spirit and an alacrity implanted by nature in the hearts of all men, which is inflamed by a desire to meet the foe. This a general should endeavor not to repress, but to in : nor was it a vain institution of our ancestors, thai the trumpets should sound on all sides, and a general shout be raised; by which they imagined that the enemy were -truck with terror, and their own army inspired with I in t our men, when the signal was given, rushed forward with their javelins ready to be launched, bul perceiving that Pom] men did not run to meet their charge, having acquired experience by custom, and being practiced in former battles, they of their own accord repressed their speed, and halted almost midway, thai they might no! come up with the en em j when their strength was exhausted ; and after a shorl re-pit'- they again renewed their course, and 190 READINGS IN ROMAN HISTORY. threw their javelins, and instantly drew their swords, as Caesar had ordered them. Nor did Pompey's men fail in this crisis, for they received our javelins, stood onr charge, and maintained their ranks; and, having launched their javelins, had recourse to their swords. At the same time, Pompey's horse, according to their orders, rushed out at once from his left wing, and his whole host of archers poured after them. Our cavalry did not withstand their charge; but gave ground a little, upon which Pompey's horse pressed them more vigorously, began to file off in troops, and flank our army. When Caesar perceived this, he gave the signal to his fourth line, which he had formed of the six cohorts. They instantly rushed forward and charged Pompey's horse with such fury, that not a man of them stood ; but all, wheeling about, not only quitted their post, but galloped forward to seek a refuge in the highest mountains. By their retreat the archers and slingers, being left destitute and defenceless, were all cut to pieces. The cohorts, pursuing their success, wheeled about upon Pompey's left wing, whilst his infantry still continued to make battle, and attacked them in the rear. At the same time, Caesar ordered his third line to advance, which till then had not been engaged, but had kept their post. Thus, new and fresh troops having come to the assistance of the fatigued, and others having made an attack on their rear, Pompey's men were not able to maintain their ground, but all fled; nor was Caesar deceived in his opinion, that the victory, as he had declared in his speech to his soldiers, must have its beginning from those six cohorts, which he had placed as a fourth line to oppose the horse. For by them the cavalry were routed ; by them, the archers and slingers were cut to pieces ; by them, the left wing of Pompey's army was surrounded, and obliged to be READINGS IX ROMAN HISTORY. 191 the first to flee. But when Pompey saw his cavalry routed, and that part of his army on which he reposed his greatest hopes thrown into confusion, despairing of the rest, he quitted the field, and retreated straightway on horseback to his camp, and calling to the centurions, whom he had placed to guard the praetorian gate, with a loud voice, that the soldiers might hear: "Secure the camp," says he, -defend it with diligence, if any danger should threaten it ; I will visit the other gates and encourage the guards of the camp." Having thus said, he retired into his tent in utter despair, yet anxiously waiting the issue. ( Isesar, having forced the Pompeians to flee into their entrenchment, and thinking that he ought not to allow them any respite to recover from their fright, exhorted his soldiers to take advantage of fortune's kindness, and to attack his camp. Though they were fatigued by the intense heat, for the battle had continued till mid-day, yet, being prepared to undergo any labor, they cheerfully obeyed his command. The camp was bravely defended by the cohorts which had been left to guard it, but with much more spirit by the Thracians and foreign auxiliaries. For the soldiers who had fled for refuge to it from the field of battle, affrighted and exhausted by fatigue, having thrown away their arms and military standards, bad their thoughts more engaged on their farther escape than on the defence of tin- camp. Nor could the troops who were posted on the battle- ments long withstand the immense number of our dart-, but, fainting under their wounds, they quitted the place, and, under the conduct of their centurions and tribunes, fled, without stopping, to the high mountains which joined the camp. In Pompey** camp you might Bee arbors in which tables uirc laid, a large quantity of plate sel out, the floors of the 192 READINGS IK ROMAN HISTORY. tent covered with fresh sods, the tents of Lucius Lentnlus and others shaded with ivy, and many other things which were proofs of excessive luxury and a confidence of victory, so that it might readily he inferred that they had no apprehensions of the issue of the day, as they indulged themselves in unnecessary pleasures, and yet upbraided with luxury Caesar's army, distressed and suffering troops who had always been in want of common necessaries. Pompey, as soon as our men had forced the trenches, mounting his horse and stripping off his general's habit, went hastily out of the back gate of the camp, and galloped with all speed to Larissa. Nor did he stop there, but with the same despatch, collecting a few of his flying troops, and halting neither day nor night, he arrived at the sea-side, attended by only thirty horse, and went on board a victualing barque, often complaining, as we have been told, that he had been so deceived in his expectation that he was almost persuaded that he had been betrayed by those from whom he had expected victory, as they began the flight.— Caesar's Commentaries. Two hundred only of Cesar's men had fallen. The officers had suffered most. The gallant Crastinus, who had nobly fulfilled his promise, had been killed, among many others, in opening a way for his comrades. The Pompeians, after the first shock, had been cut down unresisting. Fifteen thou- sand of them lay scattered dead about the ground. There were few wounded in these battles. The short sword of the Romans seldom left its work unfinished. " They would have it so," Caesar is reported to have said, as he looked sadly over the littered bodies in the familiar patrician dress. " After all that I had done for my country, I, Caius Caesar, should have been condemned by them as a criminal if I had not appealed to my army." DEATH OF CAESAR, WITH EMBLEMS OF AKCH.EOLOGICAL EXPLORATION, READINGS IN ROMAN HISTORY. 193 So ended the battle of Pharsalia. A hundred and eighty - ndards were taken, and all the eagles of Pompey's legions. In Pompey's own tent was found his secret correspondence, implicating persons, perhaps, whom Caesar had never sus- pected, revealing the mysteries of the past three years. Curi- osity and even prudence might have tempted him to look into^ it. His only wish was that the past should be forgotten ; he burnt the whole mass of papers unread. — Froude. BRUTUS AND ANTONY OVER CESAR'S DEAD BODY. [Scene. The Forum.— Enter Brutus and Cassius and a throng of citizens. Brutus goes into the rostrum. Citizen. The noble Brutus is ascended : — Silence! Brutus, Be patient till the last. — Komans, countrymen, and lovers! hear me for my cause; and be silent, that you may hear : believe me for mine honor ; and have respect to mine honor, that you may believe: censure me in your wisdom: and awake yum- sen \ bat you may the better judge. If there I e any in this assembly, any dear friend of Caesar's, to him I say, that Brutus' love to Caesar was no less than his. If ii that friend demand, why Brutus rose against Caesar, tins i-- my answer: — Not that I loved Caesar less, hut that I loved Rome more. Had you rather Caesar were living, and die all slaves, than that Caesar were (hail, to live all free men ? As Caesar loved me, I weep for him; as be was fortunate, I reji it; as he was valiant, 1 honor him: but, as he was ambitious, I slew him. There i- tears tor his love; joy, for bis fortune; honor, for his valor; and death, for his ambi- tion. Who i.^ here so base, that would hen bondman? If any, speak; for him have I offended. Who is here so rude, that would not he ;i Roman? if any, -peak; for him have 1 194 READINGS IN ROMAN HISTORY. offended. Who is here so vile, that will not love his country ? If any, speak; for him have I offended. I pause for a reply. All. None, Brutus, none. Bru. Then none have I offended. — I have done no more to Csesar, than you shall do to Brutus. The question of his death is enrolled in the Capitol: his glory not extenuated, wherein he was worthy; nor his offences enforced, for which he suffered death. » [Enter Antony and others, with Caesar's body.] Here comes his body, mourned by Mark Antony, who, though he had no hand in his death, shall receive the benefit of his dying, a place in the commonwealth; as which of you shall not ? With this I depart ; that, as I slew my best lover for the good of Rome, I have the same dagger for my- self, when it shall please my country to need my death. ****** Antony. Friends, Romans, countrymen, lend me your ears. I come to bury Csesar, not to praise him. The evil that men do lives after them; The good is oft interred with their bones; So let it be with Csesar. The noble Brutus Hath told you, Caesar was ambitious : If it were so, it was a grievous fault ; And grievously hath Ca?sar answered it. Here, under leave of Brutus, and the rest (For Brutus is an honorable man, So are they all, all honorable men) Come I to speak in Csesar's funeral. He was my friend, faithful and just to me : But Brutus says, he was ambitious ; And Brutus is an honorable man. He hath brought many captives home to Rome, Whose ransoms did the general coffers fill : READINGS IN ROM AX HISTORY. 195 Did this in Ca?sar seem ambitious? When, that the poor have cried. Caesar hath wept: Ambition should be made of sterner stuff: Yet Brutus says, he was ambitious; And Brutus is an honorable man. You all did see, that, on the Lupercal, I thrice presented him a kingly crown, Which he did thrice refuse. Was this ambition ? Yet Brutus says he was ambitious ; And sure he is an honorable man. I speak not to disprove what Brutus spoke. But here I am to speak what I do know. You all did love him once, not without cause; What cause withholds you then to mourn for him? judgment, thou art fled to brutish beasts, And men have lost their reason ! — bear with me ; My heart is in the coffin there with Caesar, And I must pause till it come back to me. Bui yesterday the word of Caesar might Have stood against the world ; now lies he there And Done bo poor to do him reverence. Masters! If I were disposed bo stir Your hearts and minds to mutiny and rage 1 should do Brutus wrong, and Cassius wrong, Who, you all know, are honorable men. ill not do them wrong; I rather choose To wrong the dead, to wrong myself, and you, Than I will wrong Buch honorable men. Bui li re's a parchment with (lie seal of Caesar. i mnd it in his closet. 'Tie his will. Lei but the commons hear this testamenl — Which, pardon me, I do not mean to read — And they would go and kiss dead < "a-sar's wounds, 190 READINGS IN ROMAN HISTORY. Ami dip their napkins in his sacred blood ; Yea, beg a hair of him for memory, And, dying, mention it within their wills, Bequeathing it, as a rich legacy, Unto their issue. Cit. We'll hear the will : Eead it, Mark Antony. All. The will! the will! we will hear Caesar's will. Ant. Have patience, gentle friends: I must not read it; It is not meet you know how Caesar loved you. You are not wood, you are not stones, but men ; And, being men, hearing the will of Caesar, It will inflame you, it will make you mad : 'Tis good you know not that you are his heirs; For if you should, oh, what would come of it ! 1 Plebeian. Eead the will ; we will hear it, Antony ; You shall read us the will ; Caesar's will ! Ant. You will compel me then to read the will ? Then, make a ring about the corpse of Caesar, And let me shew you him that made the will. Shall I descend ? And will you give me leave ? All. Come down, come down! [Antony quits the Rostrum.] Cit. Eoom for Mark Antony; most noble Antony! Ant. Nay, press not so upon me; stand far off. All. Stand back ! room! bear back! Ant. If you have tears, prepare to shed them now ; You all do know this mantle : I remember The first time ever Caesar put it on ; 'Twas on a summer's evening, in his tent, That day he overcame the Nervii : — Look, in this place, ran Cassius' dagger through: See, what a rent the envious Casca made : Through this the well-beloved Brutus stabbed; READINGS IX ROMAS HISTORY. 197 And, as he plucked his cursed steel away, Mark how the blood of Caesar followed it. As rushing out of doors to be resolved If Brutus so unkindly knocked, or no ! For Brutus, as you know, was Caesar's angel : Judge, oh, you gods, how dearly Caesar loved him ! This was the worst, unkindest cut of all : For, when the noble Caesar saw hirn stab, Ingratitude, more strong than traitor's arms, Quite vanquished him : then burst his mighty heart; And, in his mantle muffling up his face, Even at the base of Pompey's statue, Which all the while ran blood, great Caesar fell. 0, what a fall was there, my countrymen! Then I, and you, and all of us fell down, Whilst bloody treason flourished over us. — Oh, now you weep ; and, I perceive, you feel The dint of pity: these are gracious drop . Kind souls! What, weep you when you but behold Our Caesar's vesture wounded ? Look you here. Here i- himself, marred, as you see, with traitors. 1 Pie. 0, piteous spectacle! 2 Pie. 0, noble Caesar ! 3 Pie. 0, woful day! ■1 l'h\ 0. traitors, villain - ! 2 Pie. We will be revenged! revenge; about — seek — burn — fire — kill — slay! — let not a traitor live. Shakspere. 198 HEADINGS IN ROMAN HISTORY. ANTONY, OCTAVIUS, AND CICERO. There were some things in which Maek Antony resembled Caesar. At the time it seemed probable that he would play the same part, and even climb to the same height of power. He failed in the end because he wanted the power of managing others, and, still more, of controlling himself. He came of a good stock. His grandfather had been one of the greatest orators of his day ; his father was a kindly, generous man; his mother a kinswoman of Caesar, and a matron of the best Roman type. But he seemed little likely to do credit to his belongings. His riotous life became con- spicuous even in a city where extravagance and vice were only too common, and his debts, though not so enormous as Caesar's, "were greater," says Plutarch, "than became his youth," and amounted to about fifty thousand pounds. He was taken away from these dissipations by military service in the East, and he rapidly acquired considerable reputation as a soldier. Here is the picture that Plutarch draws of him: There was something noble and dignified in his appearance. His handsome beard, his broad forehead, bis aquiline nose, gave him a manly look that resembled the familiar statues and pictures of Hercules. There was indeed a legend that the Antonii were descended from a son of Hercules ; and this he was anxious to support by his appearance and dress. Whenever he appeared in public he had his tunic girt low about the hips, carried a great sword at his side, and wore a rough cloak of Cilician hair. The habits that seemed vulgar to others — his boastfulness, his coarse humor, his drinking bouts, the way he had of eating in public, taking his meals as he stood from the soldiers' tables — had an astonishing effect in making him popular READINGS IN ROMAN HISTORY. 199 with the soldiers. His bounty, too, which he gave with a liberal hand to comrades and friends, made his way to power easy. On one occasion he directed that a present of three thousand pounds should be given to a friend. His steward, aghast at the magnitude of the sum, thought to bring it home to his master's mind by putting the actual coin on a table. "What is this?" said Antony, as he happened to pass by. "The money you bade me pay over," was the man's reply. " Why, I had thought it would be ten times as much as this. This is but a trifle. Add to it as much more." When the civil war broke out, Antony joined the party of Caesar, who, knowing his popularity with the troops, made him his second in command. He did good service at Pharsalia, and while his chief went on to Egypt, returned to Rome as his representative. There were afterwards differences between the two ; Caesar was offended at the open scandal of Antony's manners and found him a trouble- some adherent ; Antony conceived himself to be insufficiently rewarded for his services, especially when he was called upon to pay for Pompey's confiscated property, which he had bought. Their close alliance, however, had been renewed before Caesar's death. That event made him the first man in Rome. Tin- chief instrument of his power was a strand ie; the Senate, seeing that the people of Rome I and admired the dead man. passed a resolution that all the wishes which Caesar had left in writing should have tin- force <>f law — ami Antony had the custody of his papers. People laughed, ami called th" documents "Letters from the Styx.*' There was I In- gravest suspicion thai many of them were forged. Bui fora time they were a very power- ful machinery for effecting his purpose. Then came a check. Caesar's oephewand heir, Octavius, 200 READINGS IN ROMAN HISTORY. arrived at Rome. Born in the year of Cicero's consulship, he was little more than nineteen ; but in prudence, state-craft, and knowledge of the world he was fully grown. In his twelfth year he had delivered the funeral oration over his grandmother Julia. After winning some distinction as a soldier in Spain, be had returned at his uncle's bidding to Apollonia, a town on the eastern coast of the Adriatic, where he studied letters and philosophy under Greek teachers. Here he had received the title of "'Master of the horse," an honor which gave him the rank next to the Dictator himself. He came to Eome with the purpose, as he declared, of claiming bis inheritance and avenging his uncle's death. But he knew how to abide his time. He kept on terms with Antony, who had usurped his position and appropriated bis inheritance, and he was friendly, if not with the actual murderers of Caesar, yet certainly with Cicero, who made no secret of having approved their deed. For Cicero also had now returned to public life. For some time past, both before Caesar's death and after it, he had devoted himself to literature. Now there seemed to him a chance that something might yet be done for the republic, and be returned to Rome, which he reached on the last day of August. The next day, there was a meeting of the Senate, at wbich Antony was to propose certain honors to Cassar. Cicero, wearied, or affecting to be wearied, by his journey, was absent, and was fiercely attacked by Antony, who threatened to send workmen to dig him out of his house. The next day, Cicero was in his place, Antony being absent, and made a dignified defence of his conduct, and criticised with some severity the proceedings of his assailant. Still, so far, there was no irreconcilable breach between the two men. He still believed, or professed to believe, that Antony was capable of patriotism. If he had any hopes of READINGS IX ROMAN H I S T 11 T . 201 peace, these were soon to be crushed. After a fortnight or mure spent in preparation, assisted, we are told, by a professional teacher of eloquence, Antony came down to the Senate and delivered a savage invective against Cicero. The , object of his attack was again absent. He had wished to attend the meeting, but his friends hindered him, fearing, not without reason, actual violence from the armed attend- ants whom Antony was accustomed to bring into the senate- house. The attack was answered in the famous oration which is called the second Philippic* In this, Cicero says, speaking of Antony's purchase of Pompey's confiscated property: — " He was wild with joy, like a character in a farce ; a beggar one day, a millionaire the next. But, as some writer says, '111 gotten, ill kept.' It is beyond belief, it is an absolute miracle, how he squandered this vast property — in a few months do I say ? — no, in a few days. There was a great cellar of wine, a very great quantity of excellent plate, ly stuffs, plenty of elegant and even splendid furniture, jusl as one might expect in a man who was affluent without g Luxurious. And of all this within a few days there nothing left. I can scarcely believe that the whole m could have swallowed up so quickly possessions so numerous, so scattered, and lying at places so distant. Nothing was locked up. nothing sealed, nothing catalogued. Whole store-rooms were given away to the vilest creatures. ;•- and a< ■ v ^ | Pgi '-'"4.,) READINGS IN ROMAN HISTORY. 205 talents, high aspirations, and true desire to do right, with an infirmity of purpose and a latent insincerity of character which neutralized and could almost make us forget his nobler qualities. In his own eyes he was always the first person. He had been made unhappy by the thought that posterity might rate Pompey above himself. Closer acquaint- ance had reassured him about Pompey, but in Caesar he was conscious of a higher presence, and he rebelled against the humiliating acknowledgment. Supreme as an orator he could always be, and an order of things was, therefore, most desirable where oratory held the highest place. Thus he chose his part with the boni, whom he despised while he supported them, drifting on through vacillation into treachery, till " the ingredients of the poisoned chalice were commended to his own lips." In Cicero, nature half-made a great man and left him uncompleted. Our characters are written in our forms, and the bust of Cicero is the key to his history. The brow is broad and strong, the nose large, the lips tightly compressed, the features lean and keen from restless intellectual energy. The loose bending figure, and the neck, too weak for the weight of the head, explain the infirmity of will, the passion, the cunning, the vanity, and the absence of manliness and of veracity.* — Fboude. * As an example of Cicero's insincerity compare tli<' following : n 'n Caesar.— [Shortly before the assassination.] " How can we praise, how can we lore yon sufficiently ? By th <1 . the wry wall* of thi- ii..n-r a >.' < -i« >• i n> -i ■ t with gratitude By the lawa of war we were under your feet, to be destroyed, if yon so willed. We live by your goi Be you, therefore, watchful and lei at be diligent. Who ie bo careless of his own and the common welfare a- to lie ignorant thai on your preservation his own depends, and that all t>n r lives are bound np In yoursi I, as In dutj bou i - think of you by ulghl and day; [pi er the accident of humanity, the uncertainty of health fhe frailty .11 r common nature, and I rievi to think thai the commonwealth which ought to be Immortal should hang on the breath of a Bingle man Salvation there can be none for u, Cesar, unless yon are preserved. Therefore, we exhort you, nre beseech yoo, to ■ atch over your own safety, i*on believe that yon are threatened by a secret peril. From my own heart I my, and I speak for others as well as my- 206 READINGS IN ROMAN HISTORY. DEATH OF CATO THE STOIC* The last army of the republic had been destroyed at Thapsus, and Caesar was undisputed master of the world. Cato vainly endeavored to stir up the people of Utica, a town near Carthage, in which he had taken up his quarters; when they refused, he resolved to put an end to his life. A kinsman of Cajsar who was preparing to inter- cede with the conqueror for the lives of the vanquished leaders, begged Cato's help in revising his speech. "For your sake," he said, "I should think it no shame to clasp his hands and fall at his knees." " Were I willing to take my life at his hands," replied Cato, "I should go alone to ask it. But I refuse to live by the favor of a tyrant. Still, as there are three hundred others for whom you are to intercede, let us see what can be done with the speech." This business finished, he took an affectionate leave of his friend, commending to his good offices his son and his friends. On his son he laid a strict injunction not to meddle with public life. Such a part as was worthy of the name of Cato no man could take again ; to take any other would be shameful. Then followed the bath, and after the bath, dinner, to which he had invited a number of friends, magistrates of the town. He sat at the meal, instead of reclining. This had been his custom ever since the fated self, we will stand as sentries over your safety, and we will interpose our own bodies between you and any danger which may menace you." Cicero cf Ctesar.— [After the assassination.] " What difference is there between ad- vice before-hand and approbation afterward ? What does it matter whether I wished it to be done, or rejoiced that it was done ? Is there a man, save Antony and those ■who were glad to have Caesar reigD over us, that did not wish him to be killed, or that disapproved when be was killed ? All were in fault, for all the Boni joined in killing him. so far as lay in them. Some were not consulted, some wanted courage, some opportunity. All were willing." * Great-grandson of Cato the Censor. HEADINGS IN ROMAN HISTORY. 207 day of Pharsalia. After dinner, over the wine, there was much learned talk, and this not other than cheerful in tone. But when the conversation happened to turn on one of the favorite maxims of the Stoics, '"Only the good man is free ; the bad are slaves," Cato expressed himself with an energy and even a fierceness that made the company suspect some terrible resolve. The melancholy silence that ensued warned the speaker that he had betrayed himself, and he hastened to remove the suspicion by talking on other topics. After dinner he took his customary walk, gave the necessary orders to the officers on guard, and then sought bis, chamber. Here he took up the Phaedo, the famous dialogue in which Socrates, on the day when he is to drink the poison, dis- cusses the immortality of the soul. He had almost finished the book, when, chancing to turn his eyes upwards, he per- ceived that his sword had been removed. His son had removed it while he sat at dinner. He called a slave and asked, "Who has taken my sword?" As the man said nothing, he resumed his book; but in the course of a few minutes finding thai search was not being made, he asked for the sword again. Another interval followed ; and still it was not forthcoming. His anger was now roused. He vehemently reproached the slaves, and even struck one of them with bis list, which he injured by the blow. "My son and my slaves," he said, "are betraying me to the enemy." lb- would listen to no entreaties. 'Am I a madman," he said, "that 1 am stripped of mj arms? Are you going to bind my hands and give me up to Caesar? As for the sword I can do without it; I need but hold my breath, or dash my head against the wall. It is idle to think that you can keep a man of my years alive against his will." It was felt to lie impossible to persist in the face of this determina- tion, and a young slave-boy broughl back the sword. Oato 208 READINGS IX ROMAN HISTORY. felt the weapon, and finding that the blade was straight and the edge perfect, said, "Now I am my own master.'"' He then read the Phaedo again from beginning to end, and afterwards fell into so profound a sleep that persons stand- ing outside the chamber heard his breathing. About mid- night he sent for his physician and one of his freedmen. The freedman was commissioned to inquire whether his friends had set sail. The physician he asked to bind up his wounded hand, a request which his attendants heard with delight, as it seemed to indicate a resolve to live. He again sent to inquire about his friends and expressed his regret at the rough weather which they seemed likely to have. The birds were now beginning to twitter at the approach of dawn, and he fell into a short sleep. The freedman returned with news that the harbor was quiet. When he found himself again alone, he stabbed himself with the sword, but the blow, dealt as it was by the wounded hand, was not fatal. He fell fainting on the couch, knocking down a counting board which stood near, and groaning. His son with others rushed into the chamber, and the physician finding that the wouud was not mortal, proceeded to bind it up. Cato, recovering his consciousness, thrust the attendants aside, and tearing open the wound, expired. — Alfred Church. Comparison of Cato and Caesar. — Within my rec- ollections there have arisen two men of remarkable powers, though of a very different character, Marcus Cato and Cains Caesar, w r hom, since the subject has brought them before me, it is not my intention to pass in silence, but to describe, to the best of my ability, the disposition and manners of each. Their birth, age, and eloquence, were nearly on an equality; their greatness of mind was similar, as was also READINGS IN ROMAN HISTORY. 209 their reputation, though attained by different means. Caesar grew eminent by generosity and munificence ; Cato by the integrity of his life. Oaesar was esteemed for his humanity and benevolence; austereness had given dignity to Cato. Caesar acquired renown by giving, relieving, and pardoning; Cato by bestowing nothing. In Caesar there was refuge for the unfortunate ; in Cato, destruction for the bad. In Csesar, his easiness of temper was admired; in Cato, his firmness. Caesar, in fine, had applied himself to a life of energy and activity; intent upon the interest of his friends, he was neglectful of his own; he refused nothing to others that was worthy of acceptance, while for himself he desired great power, the command of an army, and a new war in which his talents might be displayed. But Cato's ambition was that of temperance, discretion, and, above all, of austerity; he did not contend in splendor with the rich, or in faction with the seditious, but with the brave in fortitude, with the modest in simplicity, with the temperate in abstinence; he was more desirous to be, than to appear, virtuous; and thus, the less he courted popularity, the more it pursued him. — Sallcst. THE AUGUSTAN AGE. Rome Under Augustus. — The course of Roman story now runs with almost unbroken smoothness over a level routine. Peace be severed from freedom. The laws and alive are .-till marked by rigor and sagacity, bui they no longer wear the impress of free debate, or election. No rival acton arouse the passions, or command the attention of the senate. Even the annual elect ions rarely disturb the 210 READINGS IN ROMAN HISTORY. slumbers of the forum ; Hortensius and Cicero have vanished with Milo and Clodius. It may have been more pleasant to live under a well-regulated police and be always within t i'u m pet-call of the Praetorian Guards, than to run the risk of being knocked on the head by day, or burnt out at night by a mob of paid or volunteer ruffians; yet it is difficult to invest a staid and decorous city with the interest that per- tains to the election of the Gracchi. The Rhenish and Danubian frontiers still bustle with garrisons and now and then a panting courier gallops along the Flaminian Way with a budget of disastrous news. But though Varus and his legions are exterminated, the Cimbri have not yet passed the Alps. All the great beacons of war are burned down ; Gaul is quiet; Parthia is engrossed by its own factions; the Mediterranean is as clear of pirates as the Lucrine Lake; and the ceaseless tramp of the legions is succeeded by the routine of stationary garrisons. Above all, rises the impos- ing figure of the Augustan C»sar, solitary as the statue of Athene upon the Acropolis. — Edinburgh Eeview. The Personal Augustus. — In his personal habits and demeanor Augustus carefully distinguished between the Imperator and the Princeps. He protected his personal dignity by withdrawing from the familiarity with which Julius Cajsar had allowed himself to address his legionaries. The conqueror of the Gauls had deigned to call the instru- ments of his victories by the name of fellow-soldiers ; but Augustus never spoke of them but as his soldiers only. At the same time, however, as the prince of the senate and the people, he studiously disguised all consciousness of his deserts, and shrank from the appearance of claiming the honors due to him. Amidst the magnificence displayed around him, which he chose to encourage in his nobles, his own manners were remarkable for their sip.rplieity, and were READINGS IN ROMAN HISTORY. 211 regulated, not by his actual pre-eminence, but by the posi- tion he affected to occupy of a modest patrician. His man- sion on the Palatine hill was moderate in size and decora- tion, and he showed his contempt for the voluptuous appli- ances of patrician luxury by retaining the same bed-chamber both in winter and summer. It was from a peculiarity of taste, however, rather than any politic calculation, that, instead of works of painting, or sculpture, he was fond of collecting natural curiosities, such as the fossil bones of mammoths and saurians, which were found in abundance in this island of Oaprese, and were vulgarly reputed to be the remains of giants and heroes. His dress was that of a plain senator, and he let it be known that his robe was woven by the hands of Livia herself and the maidens of her apart- ment. He was seen to traverse the streets as a private citizen, with no more than the ordinary retinue of slaves and clients, addressing familiarly the acquaintances he met, taking them courteously by the hand, or leaning on their shoulders, allowing himself to be summoned as a witness in their suits, and often attending in their houses on occasions of domestic interest. At table his habits were sober and decorous, and his mode of living abstemious: he was generally the* last to approach and the earliest to quit the board. His guests were few in number, and chosen, for (he part, for their social qualtities: Virgil and Horace, the plebeian poet-, were as welcome to his hours of recreation as Poll io or Meesala. His conversation turned on subjects of intellectual interest; he disdained the amusement which the vulgar rich derived from dwarfs, idiots, and monsters. He was vigilant in marking, and stern in repressing, all of defiance, or presumption on the part of his subjects. The mild and affable patrician, whose whole heart seemed to be wrapped up in schemes for the promotion of general 21:2 READINGS IN ROMAN HISTORY. prosperity and individual comfort, was changed at once into a jealous tyrant at the first sign of political rivalry. Painful was the impression made upon the public mind when it appeared, from one melancholy instance, that the mere frown of so kind a master was felt as a disgrace at his court, and that disgrace at court was regarded as no other than a sentence of death. Cornelius Gallus, a Soman knight, a man of fashion and accomplishments, a poet himself of considerable mark, and the companion of poets and statesmen, had been entrusted by Augustus with the government of Egypt, where he had done him faithful service. But the splendor of his position, as the first Soman who had sate on the throne of the Ptolemies, and the flattery of the cringing Orientals, who in the vicegerent of the emperor beheld the successor of their own absolute sovereigns, intoxicated his vain mind, and he suffered his subjects to erect statues in his honor, and to inscribe his name and exploits on the stones of the pyra- mids. In a senator and a proconsul such conduct might have given no pretext for complaint ; but the case of the government of Egypt was exceptional. The jealousy of the emperor was peculiarly sensitive in regard to every act and word of his factor at Alexandria ; and the indiscretions of Gallus were magnified into a charge of treason against the interests of the republic. The senators hastened with ready adulation to declare him guilty, and desired his removal from his command. Augustus appointed an officer to supersede him, and required his presence in Some. On his return, the loss of his master's favor, the cold reception he encountered from the courtiers, the sense of disgrace and the apprehension of severer punishment so affected his weak mind, that he threw himself upon his own sword. Augustus was shocked at this unexpected catastrophe ; he rebuked READINGS IN ROMAN HISTORY. 213 the excessive zeal of the officious and selfish accusers, and complained that he was the only citizen who could not be angry with a friend without making him an enemy. The logical habit of bis mind is curiously exemplified in the statement that he insisted in writing according, not to established orthography, but to spoken sounds. On the same principle, he was legitimately careful to avoid affectation and curious refinement in the choice of words : his chief care, it is said, was to express his meaning clearly, and, with this view, he disregarded even grammatical rules, and took no pains to avoid repetitions. He amused himself with ridicul- ing the opposite vices in the style of Maecenas, whose sen- tences he compared to frizzled ringlets, and whose language, be said, seemed steeped in myrrh and unguents. lie was as timid as a child in all that related to the super- stition- of his time. He trembled at thunder and lightning, not from the vulgar fear of their fatal effects, but from hor- ror at their occult and mysterious causes; he marked the portents which seemed to attend on his own career not less anxiously than the weakest of his subjects ; he considered hi- own and others' dreams with painful solicitude, and observed all signs and auguries with a serious curiosity. After all, the mosl agreeable feature in his character is the good-humored cheerfulness, which sprang apparently from a deep-seated contentment, and showed itself, among other thing-, in the pleasure he took in the simple sports of chil- dren, whom he was always glad to have about him and to play wiih, and which overflowed in tokens of affection towards his nearesl connexions. His playful intercourse with Maecenas and Horace, with bis daughter Julia, with his grandsons Cains and Lucius, and even wit 1 1 the morose Tihcrius. was the yearning of unaffected feeling, [fa Roman had any true sensibility, it was in his friend-hips that he displayed it, and 214 READINGS IN ROMAN HISTORY. towards his friends Augustus was both constant and delicate. A generation had now grown up to whom the horrors of the proscriptions were only a whispered tale; the revolutionary triumvir had become in their eyes a kind and genial old man, grown gray in serving the commonwealth, and still the guardian genius of the country he had saved. That the citi- zens should have forgotten, under their own vines and fig- trees, the crimes he had committed against their unhappy sires, may not be hard to comprehend : it is more difficult to understand the real feelings of the man who had done such things, and betrayed to the close of life no uneasy recollec- tion of them. On the morning of his death, being now fully sen- sible of his approaching end, Augustus inquired whether there were any popular excitement in anticipation of it. Being no doubt reassured upon this point, he called for a mirror, and desired his gray hairs and beard to be decently arranged. Then asking of his friends around him whether he had played well his part in the drama of life, he muttered a verse from a comic epilogue, inviting them to greet his exit with applause. He made some incpiiries after a sick grandchild of Tiberius, and falling at last into the arms of Livia, had just strength, in the moment of expiring, to recommend to her the memory of their long union. — Merivale. TOWN AND COUNTRY LIFE. My prayers with this I used to charge, — A piece of land not very large, Wherein there should a garden be, A clear spring flowing ceaselessly, And where, to crown the whole, there should A patch be found of growing wood. All this, and more, the gods have sent, And I am heartily content HEADINGS IN ROMAN" HISTORY. 215 So, when from town and all its ills I to my perch among the hills Retreat, what better theme to choose Than satire for my homely Muse ? No fell ambition wastes me there, No, nor the south wind's leaden air, Nor Autumn's pestilential breath, "With victims feeding hungry death. Sire of the morn, or if more dear The name of Janus to thine ear, Through whom whate'er by man is done, From Life's first dawning is begun, (So willed the gods for man's estate,) Do thou my verse initiate! At Rome you hurry me away To bail my friend ; " Quick, no delay. Or some one — could worse luck befall you? — Will in the kindly task forestall you." So go I must, although the wind Is north aud killingly unkind, Or snow, in thickly falling flakes, The wintry Jay more wintry makes. And when, articulate and clear, I've spoken what may cost me dear, Elbowing the crowd that round me close, I'm sure to crush somebody's toes. "I say, win-re arc you pushing to? What would you have, you madman, you?" S > flies he at poor me, 'tis odds, And curses me by all his I N ft S I N R M A N 11 I STO R Y . the farthest ends oi* his empire by the unhappiuess he occasioned; for by murders, and imprisonments, and every species of suffering, men's hearts and minds were bowed down beneath this invisible and irresistible oppressor. Self- respect was at an end, and liberty was not even wished for. The Emperor had swallowed up the empire, and there was no authority or influence beside. This is the main feature of the first or Imperial Century, that, wherever we look, we see but one — one gorged and bloated brutalized man, sitting on the throne of earthly power, and all the rest of mankind at his feet. Humanity at its flower had culminated into a Tiberius; and when at last he was slain, and the world began to breathe, the sorrow was speedily deeper than before, for it was found that the Imperial tree had blossomed again, and that its fruit Avas a Caligula. This was a person with much the same taste for blood as his predecessor, but more open in the gratification of it. He did not wait for trial and sentence — those dim mockeries of justice in which Tiberius sometimes indulged. He had a peculiar way of nodding with his head, or pointing with his finger; and the executioner knew the sign. The man he nodded to, died. For the more distinguished of the citizens he kept a box — not of snuff, but of some strong and instantaneous poison. Whoever refused a pinch died as a traitor, and whoever took one died of the fatal drug. Even the degenerate Eomans could not endure this long, and Chaereas, an officer of his guard, put him to death, after a sanguinary reign of four years. Still the hideous catalogue goes on. Claudius, a nephew of Tiberius, is forced upon the unwilling senate by the spoilt soldiers of the capital, the Praetorian Guards. Colder, duller, more brutal than the rest, Claudius perhaps increased the misery of his country by the apathy and stupidity of his mind ; and his wife, the READINGS IX ROMAN HISTORY. 227 infamous Messalina, has become a symbol of nil that is detestable in the female sex. Some people, indeed, in read- ing the history of this period, shut the book with a shud- der, and will not believe it true. They prefer to think that authors of all lands and position have agreed to paint a fancy picture of depravity and horror, than that such things were. But the facts are too well proved to be doubted. We see a dull, unimpassioned, moody despot ; fond of blood, but too indolent to shed it himself, unless at the dictation of his fiendish partner and her friends; so brutalized that nothing amazed, or disturbed him ; and yet to this frightful combination of ferocity and stupidity England owes its subjection to the Roman power, and all the blessings which Roman civilization — bringing as it did the lessons of Christianity in its train — was cal- culated to bestow. In the forty-fourth year of this century, and the third year of the reign of Claudius, Aulus Plant ins landed in Britain at the head of a power- ful army ; and the contrast between the central power at Rome, and the officials employed at a distance, con- tinual fir a long time the most remarkable circum- stance in the history of the empire. Tiberius, Caligula, Claudius, vied with each other in exciting the terror ami destroying tin' happiness of the world; but, in the remote extremities of their command, their generals displayed the courage and virtue of an earlier age. They improved as well as conquered. They made roads, and built bridges, and cut down woods. They established military stations, which soon became centers of education and law. . . . But murder, and treachery, and unspeakable iniquity, went their wav :i- nsual in bhe city of the Caesars. Messalina was put to death, and another disgrace to womanh 1. in the person of Agrippina, took her place beside the phlegmatic tyrant. 228 READINGS IN ROMAN HISTORY. Thirteen years had passed, when the boundary of human patience was attained, and Home was startled one morning with the joyful news that her master was no more. The combined cares of his loving spouse and favorite physician had produced this happy result — the one presenting him with a dish of deadly mushrooms, and the other painting his throat for hoarseness with a poisoned feather. — White. The Adulations of a Praetor. — After Tiberius had seen his father restored to heaven, and had paid respect to his body with human and to his name with Divine honors, the first act of his administration was the regulation of the elections, on a plan left by the deified Augustus in his own handwriting. At the same time, my brother and I had the honor, as Caesar's candidates, of being elected praetors, in the places next to men of the highest rank, and the priests; and we were remarkable in being the last recommended by Augustus, and the first by Tiberius Caesar. Of the transactions of the last sixteen years, which are fresh in the memory of all, who shall presume to give a full account ? In that time, credit has been restored to mercan- tile affairs, sedition has been banished from the forum, cor- ruption from the Campus Martius, and discord from the senate-house; justice, equity, and industry, which had long lain buried in neglect, have been revived in the state ; authority has been given to the magistrates, majesty to the senate, and solemnity to the courts of justice; the dissen- sions in the theater have been suppressed, and all men have had either a desire excited in them, or a necessity imposed on them, of acting with integrity. For this best of princes teaches his countrymen to act rightly by his own practice ; and while he is the greatest in power, is still greater in example. Tiberius Caesar has had, and still has, iElius Sejanus, a READINGS IN ROMAN HISTORY. 229 most excellent coadjutor in all the toils of government, a man remarkable for fidelity in the discharge of his duties : assuming nothing to himself, and hence receiving every honor ; always deeming himself inferior to other men's esti- mation of him; calm in looks and conversation, but in mind indefatigable, vigilant. In esteem for Sejanus' virtues, the judgment of the public has long vied witb that of the prince. During this period, Caesar's sorrows have been aggravated by the loss of his most excellent mother, a woman who resembled the gods more than human beings.* Jupiter Capitolinus, Jupiter Stator, Mars Gradivus, author of the Roman name! Vesta, guardian of the eter- nal fire! all ye deities who have exalted the present magnitude of the Roman empire to a position of supremacy over the world, guard, preserve, and protect, I entreat and conjure you, in the name of the Commonwealth, our present Btate, our present peace, [our present Prince!] And when he shall have completed a long course on earth, grant him successors to the remotest ages, and such as shall have abili- ties to support the empire of the world as powerfully as we have seen him support it ! — Velleius Paterculus. THE SIEGE OF JERUSALEM, (a. d. 70.) A Description of Roman Armies and Camps. — Now here one cannol but admire the precaution of the Romans, * If we wonder at Hie remarkable flatteries li< i <■ paid to Tiberius SejanuB, and Li via, \v should remember thai In those i ij many an injudicious Roman was Aung from the Tarpeian Bock toradversi reflections on Imperial manners, and that at the time this was written Sejanus was in full power. One year more, and the fall n favorite had been strangled In the depths of the Mamertine prison, involving in bis ruin, perhaps, V e11< In 1 The depth or the Emperor's sorrow for the loss of his mother ma] be Inferred from the fact thai be neither visited her In her 1 1-1 illness, nor atten led her obsequies, bin spent the day of her funeral in bin usual or B. B. s. 2'30 READINGS IN" ROMAN" HISTORY. in providing themselves such household servants as might not only serve at other times for the common offices of life, but might also be of advantage to them in their wars. And indeed, if any one does but attend to the other parts of their military discipline, he will be forced to confess, that their obtaining so large a dominion, hath been the acquisition of their valor, and not the bare gift of fortune ; for they do not begin to use their weapons first, in time of war, nor do they then put their hands first into motion, while they avoided so to do in time of peace ; but as if their weapons did always cling to them, they have never any truce from warlike exer- cises ; nor do they stay till times of war admonish them to use them ; for their military exercises differ not at all from the real use of their arms, but every soldier is every day exer- cised, and that with great diligence, as if it were in time of war, which is the reason why they bear the fatigue of battle so easily: for neither can any disorder remove them from their usual regularity, nor can fear affright them out of it, nor can labor tire them : which firmness of conduct makes them always to overcome those that have not the same firm- ness : nor would he be mistaken that should call their exercises unbloody battles, and their battles bloody exercises. Nor can their enemies easily surprise them with the sudden- ness of their incursions ; for as soon as they have marched into an enemy's land they do not begin to fight till they have walled their camp about ; nor is the fence they raise rashly made, or uneven; nor do they all abide in it, nor do those that are in it take their place at random; but if it happens that the ground is uneven, it is first leveled ; their camp is also four square by measure, and carpenters are ready in great numbers, with their tools, to erect their buildings for them. As for what is within the camp, it is set apart for tents, but the outward circumference hath the resemblance to a wall READINGS IN ROMAN HISTORY. 231 and is adorned with towers, at equal distances, where between the towers stand the engines for throwing arrows, and darts, and for slinging stones, and where they lay all other engines that can annoy the enemy, all ready for their several opera- tions. They also erect four gates, one at every side of the circumference, and those large enough for the entrance of the beasts, and wide enough for making excursions, if occa- sion should require. They divide the camp within into streets, very conveniently, and place the tents of the com- manders in the middle; but in the very midst of all is the general's own tent, in the nature of a temple, in so much, that it appears to be a city built on the sudden, with its market-place, and place for handicraft trades, and with seats for the officers, superior and inferior, where, if any dif- ferences arise, their causes are heard and determined. The camp, and all that is in it, is encompassed with a wall round about, and that sooner than one would imagine, and this by the multitude and the skill of the laborers ; and, if occasion require, a trench is drawn round the whole, whose depth is four cubits, and its breadth equal. When they have thus secured themselves, they live to- gether by companies, with quietness and decency, as are all their other affairs managed with good order and security. Each company hath also its own wood, and corn, and water broughl to it, when it stands in need of them; for they neither sup nor dine as they please, themselves singly, but all together. Their times also for sleeping, and watching, and rising, are notified beforehand, by the sound of trumpets, nor is anything done without such a signal : and in th^ morning, the soldiers go every one to their centurions, and these centurions !■> their tribunes, to salute them : with whom all the superior officers x<> to the general <>f the whole army, who then gives them the watchword, and other 232 READINGS IN ROMAN HISTORY. orders, to be by them carried to all that are under their command. Now when they are to go out of their camp, the trumpet gives a sound, at which time nobody lies still, but, at the first intimation, they take down their tents, and all is made ready for their going out ; then do the trumpets sound again, to order them to get ready for the march : then do they lay their baggage suddenly upon their mules, and other beasts of burthen, and stand, as at the place of starting, ready to march ; when also they set fire to their camp, and this they do, because it will be easy for them to erect another camp, and that it may never be of use to their enemies. Then do the trumpets give a sound the third time, in order to excite those that, on any account, are a little tardy, that so no one may be out of his rank, when the army marches. Then does the crier stand at the general's right hand, and ask them thrice, in their own tongue, whether they be now ready to go out to war or not? To which they reply as often, with a loud and cheerful voice, saying, ''We are ready." And this they do almost before the question is asked them : and they do this, as filled with a kind of martial fury, and at the same time that they so cry out, they lift up their right hands also. When, after this, they are gone out of their camp, they all march without noise, and in a decent manner, and every one keeps his own rank, as if they were going to war. The footmen are armed with breastplates and head-pieces, and have swords on each side ; but the sword which is on their left side is much longer than the other, for that on the right side is no longer than a span. Those footmen also, that are chosen out from the rest to be about the general himself, have a lance and buckler, but the rest of the foot soldiers have a spear, and a long buckler, besides a saw and a basket, READINGS IN ROMAN HISTORY. 233 a pick-ax, and an ax, a thong of leather, and a hook, with pro\ isions for three days ; so that a footman hath great need of a mule to carry his burthens. The horsemen have a long -word on their right sides, and a long pole in their hand; a shield also lies by them obliquely on one side of their horses, with three or more darts, that are borne on their quivers, having broad points, and not smaller than spears. They have also head-pieces, and breastplates, in like manner as have all the footmen. And for those that are chosen to be about the general, their armor no way differs from that of the horsemen belonging to other troops ; and he always leads the- legions forth, to whom the lot assigns that employ- ment. This is the manner of the marching and resting of tharate triumph by himself. So, when notice had been given beforehand of the day appointed for this pompous solemnity to be made on account of their victories, not one of the immense multitude was left in the city, but everybody went out so far as to gain only a station where they might stand, and left only such a passage as was necessary for those that were to be seen to go along it. Now, all the soldiery marched out beforehand, by com- panies, and in their several ranks, under their several com- manders, in the night-time, and were about the gates, not of the upper palaces, but those near the temple of Isis; for there it was that the emperors had rested the foregoing night. And, as soon as ever it was day, Vespasian and Titus came out, crowned with laurel, and clothed in those ancient READINGS IN R ML A N HISTORY. 243 purple habits which were proper to their family, and then went as far as Octavian's walks; for there it was that the senate, and the principal rulers, and those that had been recorded as of the equestrian order, waited for them. Now a tribunal had been erected before the cloisters, and ivory chairs had been set upon it; and when they came and sat down upon them, the soldiery made an acclamation of joy, and all gave them attestations of their valor. Vespasian accepted these shouts ; but while they were still disposed to go on in such demonstrations, he gave them a signal of silence. And when everybody entirely held their peace, he stood up, and covering the greatest part of his head with hi- cloak, he put up the accustomed solemn prayers: the like prayers did Titus put up also; after which prayers, Vespasian made a short speech to all the people, and then sent away the soldiers to a diuner prepared for them by the emperor-. Then did he retire to that gate which was called the Gate of Pomp, because pompous shows do always go through that gate; there they tasted some food, and when fchey bad put on their triumphal garments, and had offered sacrifices to the gods placed at the gate, they sent the triumph forward, and marched through the theaters, that they might be tin' more easily seen by the multitudes. Now. it is impossible to describe the multitude and magnificence of t he shows •. Bucb, indeed, as a man could not easily think of, as performed either by the labor of work- men, or the variety of riches, or the rarities of nature. Here was seen a mighty quantity of silver, and gold, and ivory, contrived into all sorts of things, which did not appear as carried along in pompons show only, but, as a man may -ay. running along like a river. There were also precious tones that were transparent, some set Ln crowns of gold, and some in other ouches j and of these BUCh a vast 24 i- READINGS IN ROMAN HISTORY. number that we could not but thence learn how vjiinly we imagined any of them to be rarities. The images of the gods were also carried, being as well wonderful for their largeness, as made witli great skill of workmen ; nor were any of these images of any other than very costly materials ; and many species of animals were brought, every one in its own natural ornaments. The men also, who carried these shows, were great multitudes, and adorned with purple garments, all over interwoven with gold ; having also about them such magnificent ornaments as were both extraordinary and surprising. Even the great number of the captives was not unadorned, while the variety and the fine texture of their garments con- cealed from sight the deformity of their bodies. But, what afforded the greatest surprise of all was the structure of the pageants that were borne along ; for, indeed, he that met them could not but be afraid that the bearers would not be able firmly enough to support them, such was their magni- tude : for many of them were so made that they were three or even four stories one above another. Their magnificence also afforded one both pleasure and surprise : for, upon many of them were laid carpets of gold. There was also wrought gold, and ivory fastened about them all ; and many resem- blances of the war, in several ways, and a variety of con- trivances, affording a most lively portraiture of itself. For there was to be seen a happy country laid waste, and entire squadrons of enemies slain ; while some of them ran away, and some were carried into captivity, with walls of great altitude and magnitude overthrown, and ruined by machines, with the strongest fortifications taken, and the walls of most populous cities upon the tops of hills seized on, and an army pouring itself within the walls ; as also every place full of slaughter, and supplications of the enemies, when they were READINGS IX ROMAN HISTORY. 245 no longer able to lift up their hands in way of opposition. Fire also sent upon temples was here represented, and houses overthrown, and falling upon their owners; rivers also, after they came out of a large and melancholy desert, ran down. not into a land cultivated, nor as drink for men, or for cattle, but through a land still on fire upon every side; for the Jews related that such a thing they had undergone dur- ing this Avar. Now, the workmanship of these representa- tions was so lively in the construction of the things, that it exhibited what had been done to such as did not see it, as if they had been there really present. On the top of every one of these pageants was placed the commander of the city that was taken, and the manner wherein he was taken. More- over, there followed those pageants a great number of ships: and, fa- the other spoils, they were carried in great plenty. But, for those that were taken in the temple of Jerusalem, they made the greatest figure of them all ; that is, the golden table, of the weight of many talents; the candle-stick also, that was made of gold, though its construction was now changed from that which we made use of : for its middle shaft was fixed upon a basis, and the small branches were produced out of it to a great length, having the likeness of a trident in 1 1nir position, and had every one a socket made «>f brass for a lamp at the top of them. These lamps were in oomber seven, anil represented the dignity of the number en among the Jews; and, last of all the spoils, was carried the law of the dews. After these spoils, passed by a great many nun, carrying the images of victory, whose structure wae entirely either of ivory or of gold. After which. Ves- pasian marched in the fir i place, and Titus followed him; Domitian also rode along with them, and made a glorious appearance, and rode on a borse thai was worthy of ad- miration. 24G HEADINGS IN ROMAN HISTORY. Now, the last part of this pompous show was at the temple of Jupiter Capitolinus, whither, when they were come, they stood still ; for it was the Romans' ancient custom, to stay till somebody brought the news that the general of the enemy was slain. This general was Simon, the son of Gioras, who had been led in this triumph among the cap- 'tives, and had withal been tormented by those that drew him along ; a rope had also been put upon his head, and he had been drawn into a proper place in the forum, for the law of the Romans required that malefactors condemed to die should be slain there. Accordingly, when it was related that there was an end of him, and all the people had set up a shout for joy, they then began to offer those sacrifices which they had consecrated in the prayers used in such solemni- ties. When they had finished, they went away to the palace. And, as for some of the spectators, the emperors entertained them at their own feast; and for all the rest, there were noble preparations made for their feasting at home; for this was a festival day to the city of Rome, as celebrated for the victory obtained by their army over their enemies. After these triumphs were over, and after the affairs of the Romans were settled on the surest foundations, Vespasian resolved to build a temple to Peace, which was finished in so short a time, and so glorious a manner, as was beyond all human expectation and opinion : for, having now by Provi- dence a vast quantity of wealth, besides what he had formerly gained in his other exploits, he had this temple adorned with pictures and statues and all such rarities as men aforetime used to wander all over the habitable world to see ; he also laid up therein those golden vessels and instruments, that were taken out of the Jewish temple, as ensigns of his glory. But he gave order that they should lay up their law, and the READINGS IN ROMAN HISTORY. 247 purple vails of the holy place, in the royal palace itself, and he kept them there. — Josephus. THE COLOSSEUM. Of all the ruins in Home none is at once so beautiful, so imposing, and so characteristic as the Colosseum. Here throbbed the Roman heart in its fullest pulses. Over its benches swarmed the mighty population of the central city of the world. Here emperor, senators, knights, and soldiers, the lowest populace and the proudest, citizens, gazed together on the bloody gladiatorial games, shouted together as the favorite won, groaned togetber fiercely as the favorite fell, and startled the eagles sailing over the blue vault above with their wild cries of triumph. Here might be heard the trum- peting of the enraged elephant, the savage roar of the tiger, the peevish shriek of the grave-rifling hyena. The sand of this arena drank alike the blood of gladiator, beast, and mar- tyred Christian virgin. Rome — brutal, imperial Rome — built in her days of pride this mighty amphitheater, and, outlast- ing all her works, it .-till stands, the best type of her grandeur and brutality. The imperial palaces are almost level with the earth. Over the pavemeni where once swept the purple robes now slips the gleaming lizard, and in the indiscrim- inate ruin- of these splendid halls the cniiltnli no plants his potatoes and -ells for a paul the oxidized coin which once may have paid the entrance fee to the great amphitheater. The golden house of Nero is gone. The very Forum where Oicero delivered hi- immortal orations is almost obliterated, and antiquarian quarrel over the few columns that remain. I'.ut the Colosseum still stands; noble and beautiful even in its decay. But what a change has come over it since the bloody scenes 248 READINGS IN ROMAN HISTORY. of the Caesars were enacted ! Thousands of beautiful flowers now bloom in its ruined arches, tall plants and shrubs wave across the open spaces, and Nature has healed over the wounds of time with delicate grasses and weeds. Where, through the podium doors, wild beasts once rushed into the arena to tear the Christian martyrs, now stand the altars and stations that are dedicated to Christ. In the summer after- noon the air above is thronged with twittering swallows : and sometimes, like a reminiscence of imperial times, far up in the blue height, an eagle, planing over it on wide-spread motionless wings, sails silently along. As you dream over this change, the splendor of sunset blazes against the lofty walls, and transfigures its blocks of travertine to brown and massive gold; the quivering stalks and weeds seem on fire ; the flowers drink in a glory of color, and show like gems against the rough crust of their setting ; rose clouds hang in the open vault above, under which swift birds flash incessantly, and through the shadowed arches von see long molten bars of crimson drawn against a gor- geous sky beyond. Slowly the great shadow of the western wall creeps along the arena ; the cross in the center blazes no longer in the snn ; it reaches the eastern benches, climbs rapidly up the wall, and the glory of sunset is gone. Twi- light now swiftly draws its veil across the sky, the molten clouds grow cool and gray, the orange refines into citron and pales away to tenderest opaline light, and stars begin to peer through the dim veil of twilight. Shadows deepen in the open arena, block up the arches and galleries, confuse the lines of the benches, and shroud its decay. You rise and walk musingly into the center of the arena, and, looking- round its dim, vast circumference, you suddenly behold the benches as of old thronged with their myriads of human forms— the ghosts of those who once sat there. That ter- READINGS IS ROMAN HISTORY. 249 rible circle of eyes is shining at you with a ghastly expression of cruel excitement. You hear the strange, exciting hum of confused voices, and the roar of wild beasts in the caverns below. You are yourself the gladiator, who must die to make a Roman holiday, or the martyr who waits at the stake for the savage beasts that are to rend you. A shudder comes over you, for the place has magnetized you with its old life ; — you look hurriedly round to seek flight, when suddenly you hear a soprano voice saying, " Francois, where did the Vestal Virgins sit ?" and you wake from your dream. Such is the Colosseum at the present day. Let us go back into the past, and endeavor to reconstruct it. In the beginning of the reign of the great Julius, the stormy populace of Borne has no amphitheater, and its gladiatorial games and wild beast-fights take place in the Forum, whither the people throng and crowd the temporary seats which enclose a small arena. This is soon felt to he insufficient, and Julius erects in the Campus Marlins a great wooden structure, to which is given the name of amphi- theatrum. In the reign of Augustus, this wooden amphi- theater gives way to one of stone, which at the instance of the emperor is built in the Campus Martins by Statilius Tamil-. This is too small, however, to satisfy the wishes of the people, and Augustus thinks at one time of building one still larger on the very spot now occupied by the Colosseum; but. among his various Bchemes of embellishing the city, this i- abandoned. Tiberius does nothing. Caligula begins to build a large -i • amphitheater, but dies before it makes much progress, and it is not continued by bis successor. Nero builde a temporary amphitheater of wood in the Oampae Martins, where are represented those remarkable games ai which he is not only a spectator but an actor. II PI ;it tillie- he |||;i\ 1 h ■ ,~ee|| lollllgillg Oil tile st/l/f/rs/us ill 250 READINGS IN ROMAN HISTORY. loosely-flowing robes of delicate purple, his head crowned with a garland of flowers, and looking so like a woman in his dress. Unit you might easily be deceived as to his sex, were it not for that cruel face with its hawk nose and small fierce eyes, that looks out under the flowers. In this arena he plays his harp, recites poetry, and acts, winning golden opinions from the populace. Here, at other times, half- naked and armed like a gladiator, he fights, and woe be to him who dares to draw imperial blood ! If we could look in at one of the games given in this amphitheater, we should see not only the emperor playing the gladiator's part on the arena, but at his side, and fighting against each other, at times no less than four hundred senators and six hundred Roman knights. Meanwhile, he has built his golden house on the Palatine Hill, with its gorgeous halls, theaters, and corridors, thronged with marble statues ; and at its base is an artificial lake, fed by pure waters brought from the mount- ains, in which at times he celebrates his naval combats. This occupies the very spot on which the Colosseum is after- wards to be built, but it is only a lake during the reigns of Galba, Otho, and Yitellius. When Nero sets the torch to Rome, among the many buildings which are consumed is the old amphitheater of Statilius Taurus, and Rome has left only that of the Campus Martius. But when Titus and Vespasian return after the conquest of Jerusalem, enriched with spoils, a great change takes place. Then it is that the Lake of Nero is drained, and out of the Jewish captives who have been brought to Rome to grace the imperial triumph, twelve thousand are driven, under the smack of the whip, to lay the first stones of the Amphitheatrum Flavium, which now goes by the name of the Colosseum. For long years these unhappy wretches toil at their work; but when they have reached the third tier READINGS IN ROMAN HISTORY. 251 of seats, Vespasian dies. Titus then continues the construc- tion, and dedicates the amphitheater (80 a. d.), at which time the games last for one hundred days, and fifty wild beasts are killed every day. Under Domitian, the building is at last finished, and a magnificent structure it is. Looking at it from the outside, we behold a grand elevation of four stories, built of enor- mous blocks of travertine. The lower story is Doric ; the second, Ionic ; the third, Corinthian ; and the fourth. Composite ; the lower three being composed of arches with engaged columns, and the upper being a solid wall pierced with square openings, and faced by pilasters. High up against the blue sky is drawn the curved cornice of its sum- mit, with huge projecting brackets on which the poles sup- porting the velarium (awning) are fixed. The two middle rows of arches are th rouged with marble statues, and over the principal entrance is a great triumphal car drawn by horses. Just before it is the "meta sudans," over whose simple cone, fixed upon a square base, the water oozes through a thousand perforated holes, and streams into a basin below. Above, on the Palatine, are the splendid porticoes and pillars of the Golden House, with its green banging gardens, and beyond, on theVia Sacra, is the grand triumphal arch of Titus, and, afterwards, of Trajan. It i- a holiday, and games are to be given in the amphi- theater. The world of Komc is flocking to it from all quar- ters. Senators and knights, witb their body-guards of slaves and gladiators; soldiers glittering with silver and gold; youths with their pedagogues; women, artisans and priests; companies of gladiators marshalled by Lanistse ; cohorts with flashing bucklers and swords, and dense masses of freedmen, slaves, and the eoiiinion populace, are pouring down the Via Sacra, and filling the air with uproar. Shouts of laughter 252 READINGS IN EOMAIf HISTORY. and cheering mingle confusedly with the screams of women and the clash of swords. At times the clear, piercing shriek of a trumpet or the brazen clash of music rises above this simmering cauldron of noise, and here and there, looking up the human river that pours down the slope of the Via Sacra, you see gray sheaves of bristling spears lifted high above the crowd, or here and there a golden eagle that gleams and wavers in the sun, where some Roman legion sharply marches through the loitering mass of people. We push along v i t h the crowd, and soon we arrive at the amphitheater, where we pause and struggle vainly te read the libeUum, or program, which the editor, or exhibitor, has affixed to the walls, to inform the public of the names of the gladiators, and the different games and combats of the day. The majestic por- ticoes which surround the whole building are filled with swarms of people, some lingering and lounging there till the time shall come- for the games to begin, or looking at the THE ARCH OF TITUS. B E A I) I X G S IX ROMAN HISTORY. 253 exquisite designs in stucco with which they arc adorned, and some crowding along the vomitorice, which at regular dis- tances lead up to the seats. Here we procure our tickets for a numbered seat, and soon push up the steps and come into the interior circle of the mighty amphitheater, glad enough at last to be jostled no longer, and, under the direction of a locaritis, to get our seat. Already the lofty ranges of benches are beginning to be filled, and at a rough guess there must be even now some 50,000 persons there. But many a range is still empty, and we know that 87,000 persons can be seated, while there is standing room for 22,000 more. The huge velarium is bellying, sagging, and swaying above our heads, veined with cords, and throwing a transparent shadow over the whole building. How it is supported, who can tell ? But we may congratulate ourselves that we are on the shady ode, where the sun does not beat; for the mad emperor, when the games have not been fierce and bloody enough to please him, has many a time ordered a portion of the vela- rium to be removed, so as to let the burning sun in upon those who were unlucky enough to be opposite to it, and has then prohibited any one from leaving his plare under penalty of instant deatli. Looking down, we see surrounding the arena a wall about 15 feet in height, faced with rich marbles, and intended to guard the audience against the will beasts. This is some- times called the podium, though the term is more appropri- ately applied to the ten-ace on top of the wall, which extends in front of the benches, and is railed round by a trellis-work. This, in the amphitheater of Nero, was made of bronze, but Carinus afterwards substituted golden cords, which were knotted together at their intersections with amber. There is the seal of honor, and three or four ranges of chairs are se< aparl for persons entitled to the distinction of the curule 254 READINGS IN ROMAN HISTORY. chair. Those taking their seats in them now are, or hare been, praetors, consuls, curules, acdiles or censors. There, too, is the Flamen Dialis. Opposite to the praetors, that group of white-robed women, also in the podium, is the Vestal Virgins ; and there, on the raised tribune, is the seat of the editor who exhibits the games. Above the podium arc three tiers, called the mceniana, which are separated from each other by long platforms run- ning round the whole building and called prwcinctiones. The first of these, consisting of fourteen rows of stone and mai'ble seats, is for the senators and equestrian orders, and they have the luxury of a cushion to sit upon. The second tier is for the populus, and the third, where there are only wooden benches, is occupied by the pullati, or common people of the lower classes. Above these is a colonnade or long gallery set apart for women, who are admitted when there is to be no naked fighting among the gladiators ; but as yet the seats are empty, for the women are not admitted before the fifth hour. On the middle seats, where the plebe- ians sit, there is not a single person in black, for this was prohibited by Augustus Caesar; and it was he also who ordered that the ambassadors should not stand, as they used to do, in the orchestra or podium, and that the young nobles should always be accompanied by their pedagogues. While we are looking ronnd we can hear the roar of the wild beasts, which are kept in great caves under the pave- ment of the arena; and sometimes we see their fierce glaring faces through the arched doors with which the walls of the podium are pierced. They are now protected by portcullises, which later will be drawn up by cords. The arena where the combats will take place, is sunken from 13 to 15 feet below the lowest range of scats, and is fenced around with wooden rollers turning in their sockets, READINGS I N K M A N HISTO B Y . 255 and placed horizontally against the wall, so as to revolve under any wild beast, in. case he should attempt to reach the audience by leaping over the boundary wall. For public security, all around the arena are the euripi, or ditches, built by Caesar, and flooded so as to protect the spectators against the attacks of elephants,, which are supposed to be afraid of water. The floor of the arena was originally strewn with yellow sand (and from this its name was derived), so as to afford sure footing to the gladiators ; but Caligula sub- stituted borax, and Nero added to the borax the splendid red of Cinnabar, with which it now is covered. Underneath this is a solid pavement of stones closely cemented so as to hold water; and when naval battles are given, there are pipes to flood it, so as to form an artilicial lake on which galleys may float. Near the northern entrance you will see a flight of broad stairs, through which great machines are sometimes introduced into the arena. The air i.s PdJed with perfumes of saffron infused in wine, and balsams, and costly tinctures, and essences, which are carried over tbe building in concealed conduits, and ooze out ovei the statues through minute orifices, or scatter their spray into the air. There is now a sudden stir among the people, and the amphitheater resounds with the cry of "Ave Impera/or" as the emperor in bis purple robes, surrounded by his lictore and imperial guard, enters and takes his seal on the elevated chair called the suggestus opposite to the main entrance. Then sound the trumpets, and the gladia- tors who are to fight enter the arena in a long procession, and make the tour of the whole amphitheater. They are now matched in pairs, and (heir swords are examined by the editor, and even by the emp ror, to see if they are Bharp and in good condition. A /irwhtsiti, or sham battle, follows, and at la-t the fnimnet again sounds and the lir- f on the 256 R E A I) I X (i S IN ROMAN II I S T O R T . list advance to salute the emperor before engaging in their desperate contest.* The famous picture of Gerome, the French artist, gives one a vivid notion of what the spectacle in the Colosseum was at this moment. The fat, brutal, overfed figure of Domitian is seen above in the imperial chair, and in the arena below a little group of gladiators is pausing before him to salute him with their accustomed speech: "Ave, Im- perator, morituri te salntant ! '" The benches are crowded row above row with spectators, eager for the struggle that is to take place between the new combatants. They have already forgotten the last, and heed not the dead bodies of man and beast, that slaves are now dragging out of the arena with grappling-irons. A soft light, filtering through the huge tent-like velarium overhead, illumines the vast circle of the amphitheater. Thousands of eager eyes are fixed on the little band, who now only wait the imperial nod to join battle, and a murmurous war of impatience and delight seems to be sounding like the rea over the vast assembly. Looking at this picture, one can easily imagine the terrible excitement of a gladiatorial show, when 100,000 hearts were beating with the combatants, and screams of rage or triumph saluted the blows that drank blood, or the cruel "upturned thumb" (p. 102) announced his fate to the wretched victim as he sank in the arena, f * In the museum of San Giovanni in Laterano is a large mosaic pavement, taken from the Baths of Caracalla, on which are represented colossal head* and figures of some of the most celebrated gladiators of the day. Their brutal and bestial physiognomies, tbeir huge overdeveloped muscles, and Atlantean shoulders, their low flat foreheads and noses, are hideous to behold, and give one a more fearful and living notion of the horror of those bloody games to which they were trained, than any description in words could convey. They make one believe that of all animals, none can be made so brutal as man. It is very probable that some of these were the favorite gladiators of Caracalla, and made a part of the imperial retinue.— Story. t The manner in which Christian martyrs were exposed to the wild beasts is shown by some small rilievi in bronze found in the catacombs, where the lions are represented as chained to a pilaster, and the martyrs lie naked and unarmed at their READINGS IN HOMAN HISTORY. 251 On the Kalends of January, in the year 404, while, in the presence of an immense crowd of spectators, the gladiators were fighting in the arena, a monkish figure, clothed in the dress of his order, was suddenly seen to rush into the midst of the combatants, and with loud prayer and excited gesture endeavor to separate them. This was Telemachus (or Almachius), who had traveled from the far East for the express purpose of bearing his testimony against these un- christian games, and sacrificing his life, if necessary, to ob- tain their abolition. The Praetor, Alybius, who was passion- ately attached to them, indignant at the interruption, and excited by the wild cries of the audience, instantly ordered the gladiators to cut the intruder down, and Telemachus paid the forfeit of his life for his heroic courage. But the crown and the palm of martyrdom were given him, and he was not only raist d to a place in the calendar of saints, but he accomplished in a measure the great object for which he had sacrificed himself ; for, struck with the grandeur and justness of the courageous protest which he had sealed with his blood, the Emperor Ilonorius abolished the gladiatorial games, and from that time forward no gladiator has fought in the < Jolosseum against another gladiator. • iiili.it- with wild beasts continued down to the death of Theodoric, in 526, when they fell into disuse, and the edict of Justinian absolutely abolished them. Up to this period theColosseum had been kepi in repair, but this edict having ridered i< useless a- an amphitheater, it was thenceforward atari doned to the assaults of time ami weather, ami the caprice of man. The earthquakes ami floods of the seventh feet. It ■■•.■ins i.l-o, I hat the sacrifice of the Christians generally ended Hi''