Domitian, the brother of Titus, reigned fifteen years and five months. Next to Nero, he was the most cruel persecutor of the Christians. Hateful to all, particularly to the senate, he brought about his own destruction'.

Nerva held the empire of the world little more than a year.

Trajan reigned nineteen years and a half; governing Britain, as well as the other provinces, with singular vigour, and extending the empire, which since the time of Augustus had rather been defended than enlarged. He is the prince who for justice' sake plucked out one of his own eyes and one of his son's; and whom St. Gregory does not leave in hell. Those who read him will understand how perfect was the character of the man whom, though a heathen, he would not consign to condemnation. Suetonius thus eulogizes him: "Trajan, a prince highly accomplished and of exemplary courage, conquered Dacia and the country about the Danube, together with Armenia, which the Parthians had seized. He gave a king to the Albanians, and admitted to his alliance the kings of the Iberi, the Sauromati of the Bosphorans, the Arabs, the Osroenians, and the Colchians. He subdued and took possession of the countries of the Cordueni and the Marchamedians, with Antemusium, a great province of Persis, Seleucia and Ctesiphon, Babylon and the Messeni. He extended his frontier to the borders of India and the Red Sea, forming three provinces, Armenia, Assyria, and Mesopotamia, with the nations who border on Madena. Afterwards he reduced Arabia to the condition of a province, and fitted out a fleet on the Red Sea by means of which he ravaged the coasts of India. But his military glory was excelled by his humanity and moderation; bringing himself to the level of all, both at Rome and in the provinces, and visiting familiarly his friends and the sick. He mingled with them on festive occasions, and sat with them in the same chariots. No senator received injury from him, and though he was liberal to all, his revenue was

Our author does not notice the affairs of Britain during the reigns of Vespasian, Titus, and Domitian, in which its complete subjugation was effected under Julius Agricola, the greatest and best of the Roman generals in Britain, and who may be considered the founder of British civilization.

augmented by no injustice. He conferred riches and honours on those with whom he was but slightly acquainted. He embellished the whole empire with public buildings, conceding many privileges to the municipalities; doing nothing that was not gentle and kind, insomuch that during his whole reign only a single senator was condemned, and that one by the senate itself, without the knowledge of Trajan. Thus throughout the whole world he was the representative of the Deity; and there was no homage which he did not merit, whether alive or dead. Among other sayings which are attributed to him, the following is remarkable. When his friends objected to him, that he carried his complaisance to his subjects too far, he replied, that he wished so to treat private individuals, as emperor, as he himself, if in a private station, would wish emperors to treat him.' He was the only one who was buried within the city walls, his bones being collected in a golden urn, which was deposited in the forum he built, under a column 140 feet in height. His memory is still cherished, so that even in our age the phrase of the acclamations with which the emperors are hailed in the senate is, that they be fortu nate as Augustus, worthy as Trajan!'

6

Hadrian ruled the world twenty-one years. He reduced a fresh rebellion of the Jews, and having rebuilt Jerusalem, withheld from them permission to visit it. This is his character: "He was a prince of great moderation, and maintained peace during his entire reign. Once only he engaged in war, and then by one of his generals. He made a progress through the whole circuit of the Roman world. The edifices he built were numerous. He was very eloquent in Latin, and learned in Greek."

Antoninus Pius held the empire of the world twenty three years and a half: "An upright and exemplary prince, he may be compared to Numa Pompilius, as Trajan likened to Romulus. Severe to none, gracious to all, he wielded his military power with moderation, defending rather than extending the provinces. He sought out men of the greatest rectitude for the administration of affairs, holding the good in honour, recoiling without any bitterness 2 Ibid. viii. 4.

.1 Eutrop. viii. 3.

from the evil. He was so respected by kings in his alliance, that they submitted their quarrels to him, and accepted his arbitration. Munificent to his friends, he yet left the treasury rich. His clemency gained him the surname of Pius."

Marcus Antoninus Verus1, with his brother Aurelius Lucius Commodus, reigned jointly nineteen years and two months. The empire had been hitherto governed by a single monarch. A Parthian war was conducted with admirable valour and good fortune. During their reign, Eleutherius being the pontiff who governed the Roman Church, Lucius the British king implored him by letter to take measures for his conversion to Christianity. His embassy was successful, and the Britons retained the faith they received, inviolate and undisturbed, until the time of Diocletian. A panegyric of Antoninus Verus from the Roman history2: "After the death of Antoninus his consort from apoplexy, he remained sole emperor, with high renown. He never changed countenance either from joy or sorrow. Embued with the

Stoic philosophy, of the purest morals, and the highest erudition, he was profoundly versed both in Greek and Latin literature: never elated, he was courteous to all; his liberality was prompt, and his administration of the provinces mild and benignant. He fought successfully against the Germans; and waged the Marcomannic war against the Iquades, the Vandals, the Sarmatians, the Suetes, and the whole barbarism: no other such fourth war, to equal the Punic, is recorded. The hero of this great conflict triumphed as conqueror, with his son Commodus. The treasury being exhausted, he was compelled to sell the imperial regalia, which he afterwards redeemed from those who were willing to restore, taking no umbrage at those who chose to retain, what they had purchased. He allowed illustrious men to exhibit the like splendour, and to be served with similar ceremony in their entertainments, as himself. The magnificence of the games he celebrated in honour of his victo

1 There is some confusion in the names of these emperors, which Henry of Huntingdon borrows from Bede. Antoninus the philosopher was also called Marcus Aurelius. His associate in the empire was named Lucius

Verus.

2 Hist. Miscell. x.

ries was such that a hundred lions are said to have been exhibited at one time."

Commodus, son of the last-named Commodus, was emperor during thirteen years. He was fortunate in war against the Germans; and having caused the head of the Colossus to be removed, he replaced it by one taken from his own statue. Ælius Pertinax having reigned six months, was assassinated in his own palace by Julian a lawyer.

Severus Pertinax having put to death Julian the lawyer, reigned seventeen years. An African by birth from Lepti, a town of Tripoli, he was of a savage disposition and provoked by continual wars, but he ruled the state by vigorous efforts fortunately. Victorious in the civil wars, which were very harassing, and Didius Albinus, who had proclaimed himself Cæsar at Lyons, in Gaul, being slain, he passed into the British Islands. There, after many fierce battles, he resolved on dividing the part of the island he had recovered from that held by the unconquered tribes, not, as some consider, by a wall, but by a rampart. For a wall is built with stones, but a rampart for defence of a fortified camp is constructed of turfs, which, being cut from the soil, are built up like a wall; having in front a trench from which the turfs are raised, and in which stakes of stout wood are planted. Severus thus made a deep trench with a very strong rampart, fortified besides with frequent towers, from one sea to the other. He afterwards fell sick and died at York. He left two sons, Bassianus and Geta, of whom Geta was adjudged a public enemy, and died. Bassianus becoming emperor assumed the surname of Antoninus. Eutropius thus eulogizes Severus1: "He was engaged in various and successful wars; conquering the Parthians, the Arabs, and the Azabenians, whence he was surnamed Parthicus, Arabicus, Azabenicus. He restored the honour of the Roman name throughout the world; but he was illustrious also for civil pursuits, and was called Divus from his learning and cultivation of philosophy."

Antoninus Caracalla, the son of Severus, held the empire seven years. Macrinus, having reigned one year at Archelais, was slain, with his son, in a military tumult. Marcus

1 Eutrop. viii. 9.

Aurelius Antoninus1 was emperor four years; Aurelius Alexander thirteen. The latter was uniformly dutiful to his mother Mammea, and on that account was universally esteemed. "In the war which he carried on against the Persians, he conquered with glory their king Xerxes. He severely regulated the military discipline, cashiering entire legions which were insubordinate. At Rome he was very popular. He was slain in a military tumult in Gaul.” 3

Maximin the First reigned three years, and gained a victory over the Germans; Gordian, who conquered the Persians, reigned five. At this time Origen flourished, who wrote five thousand books, as Jerom relates. Philip, and his son Philip, reigned seven years. He was the first Christian emperor. In the third year of his reign, a thousand years from the building of Rome were completed, and this most august of all preceding eras was celebrated by the Christian emperor with magnificent games. "The temper of Philip the younger was so severe, that he was never provoked to merriment, and he turned his face away from his own father when he indulged in laughter. He continually resisted vice, and struggled in the upward path of virtue." "4 Decius reigned one year and three months. He persecuted the Christians from hatred to the two Philips, father and son, whom he had slain. Gallus, with Volucianus his son, reigned two years and four months. Valerian, with his son Gallienus, reigned fifteen years. Having raised a persecu-. tion against the Christians, he was soon afterwards taken prisoner by the Persian king, and, being deprived of sight, wore out the rest of his days a wretched captive.

Claudius the Second reigned one year and nine months. He subjugated the Goths who had devastated Illyrium and Macedonia for fifteen years; for which a shield of gold was dedicated to him in the senate-house, and a golden statue in the capitol. Aurelian reigned five years and six months. He being a persecutor of the Christians, a thunderbolt fell near him, to the great horror of the bystanders, and shortly afterwards he was slain by the soldiers. The eulogy of Aurelian from the Acts of Remarkable Men5: "As the 3 Eutrop. viii. 13. s Ibid.

1 Known as Elagabalus.

• Aurel. Victor.

2 Alexander Severus.