THE A. Christi XCVII. Life and Reign OF THE EMPEROR COCCEIƲS NERVA.
VOL. I.

AFTER the Death of Domitian, the Senate set up Cocceius Nerva to suc­ceed upon the Throne of the Em­pire of Rome.

The Statues of Domitian which were of Sil­ver, Domiti­an' s Sta­tues de­molish'd. and others which were of Gold, as he had [Page 2] many of both, were out of hatred to his Me­mory melted down: A great quantity of Mo­ney was made of them, and the many trium­phal Arches were destroyed that had been erected to his Glory.

Nerva remitted the Persecution which was Persecuti­on of the Christians remitted. raised against the Christians by Domitian, and pardon'd such as stood Condemned, and re­called home others that were fled. He put to Death all the Slaves and Servants, who had taken the Advantage of that Reign, by In­forming, to seek the Lives of their Masters. He ordered, that that Rank of People should not be heard in any Accusation against their Masters at all. He ordered, that none should be Prosecuted for being either of the Reli­gion of the Christians, or that of the Jews. But yet as he was a Prince who was slack in his Government, many Persons were not­withstanding upon the Accusations of Syco­phants condemned, and particularly Suras a Philosopher, was one of this number.

In fine, the Correction which he took of the ill Ministers of the last Reign, and the Liberties which he gave in his own, were an occasion that the Mouths of all the People were opened against one another, till Rome was in a Mutiny; hereupon Tirenta the Con­sul said, It is ill when a Prince ties up the People so, that there is no Liberty of any thing for any one; but yet a Liberty for every thing for every one is worse than none. Nerva was made sen­sible of it, and gave Orders for the time to come, to redress it.

He was Old when he came to the Empire, and very weak and infirm. His Stomach sel­dom retain'd what he eat. He allowed no Modera­tion of Nerva. Statues of him to be set up either in Silver or Gold. All the Goods about the Court, belong­ing to such as had been injured by Domitian, he restored to the Owners. He gave Six Hun­dred Sestertiums to be laid out upon a Purchase of Land to be divided amongst the Poor of Rome, and he appointed some of the Senators to buy it, and to make the Distribution. His Coffers being empty, he sold a great many rich Robes, and Plate, and Furniture both of what was his own before his elevation, and of the Furniture Royal, several Estates also, and Houses, and in general, all things, except the Necessaries that he could not be without. He was not difficult in the Prices for which he sold them. He did a kindness to many in the Peny-worths that he gave them. He took away divers Sacrifices, Races of the Cirque, and other publick Shews to save Char­ges, and retrench his Expences as much as he could.

He assured the Senate upon his Oath, That he never would be that Prince who should spill the Blood of any Senator. Which Oath he kept, notwithstanding the Conspiracy afterwards form'd against him, which might well have provoked him to other Sentiments. He did nothing without the Counsel of the Great Men. He made several Laws. Amongst the rest, he made a Law, To forbid the Gelding of any one for an Eunuch; and another, That no [Page 4] body should Marry his Brother's, or his Sister's Daughter.

He appointed Virginius Rufus to be the Con­sul Makes Viginius his Col­league. in conjunction with himself, although Vir­ginius Rufus was one, who when he com­manded in Germany, and had overcome Vindex in the time of Nero, had been often importuned by the Army to take upon him the Empire, which he refused. In Honour whereof, it was written afterwards upon his Tomb when he died, That overthrowing Vindex, he had asser­ted the Empire, not to himself, but to his Coun­trey; whose Service, signifying, he had in­tirely regarded without any Ambition in it of his own.

Nerva comported himself in his Reign in that manner, that he sometime said, He had done nothing to make him think, but that he could resign the Empire, and lead a private Life again in Safety.

Calphurnius Crassus of the famous Family of the Crassi, had with some others confederated Conspira­cy against him. in a Plot against him, which he was made acquainted with, to them unknown. He ob­served them, and placed them by his own Per­son at a Shew of the Combats of the Gla­diators in the Cirque; where he took up the Weapons, as if it were only to see if they were sharp, as is usual, and then he gave them out of his Hand into the Hands of the Conspi­rators. What think you, says he, will not these do? Are they not sharp enough? He intended this as a secret Reflection to them of his knowledge of that Design of theirs, and at [Page 5] the same time he seemed to shew such a Ne­glect of his Life, as if he did not care tho' they killed him upon the place.

The Captain of the Guards under him was Casperius Aelianus, who was the same before under Domitian. This Officer set the Soldiers against Nerva, and work'd them to a heighth, that they demanded the Heads of several that were about his Person, to which Nerva opposed himself so, that stripping bare his Bosom, and offering it bare to them in a Passion, says he, Take my Life, not theirs. However, this did not save them, for as many as Casperius Aelianus had mark'd out, fell a Sa­crifice to the Pleasure of the Guards.

The Age of Nerva was one thing which lost him much Respect. After this Action of the Guards, he went to the Capitol, and de­clared He adopts Trajan. his Adoption of Marcus Ulpius Trajan with a loud Voice thus,

Together with my hearty Wishes for the Prospe­rity of the Senate and People of Rome, and that what I do may be Happy to them and my self; I make Marcus Ulpius Trajan my Son.

Then he created him in the Senate his Cae­sar, which is the Title of a Person when he is chosen to succeed in the Empire; and having done this, he wrote to Trajan, who at that time commanded in Germany, with his own Hand, amongst other things a Greek Verse out of Homer, ‘ [...].’ [Page 6] by which he seemed to signifie, that he left it to him to do him Justice, and to revenge him of that Mutiny of the Guards.

Thus Trajan was appointed to succeed to the Empire, even in preference to Nerva's own Relations; whereof there were some whom he might have so honoured, if he had not been a Man who regarded the Good of the Publick above the Consideration of his Blood. Nor did it incline him the less to what he did, to know, that Trajan was a Spaniard, neither an Italian, nor of Italian born Parents; and that no Alien, as he was, had ever possessed the Roman Empire before. For he considered, That it was the Worth and not the Countrey of any one that was the thing, which he ought to respect. After which Nerva died, having Reigned one Year, four Months, and nine Days: And lived sixty His Death. five Years, ten Months, and ten Days.

THE A. Christi XCIX. Life and Reign OF THE EMPEROR Marcus Ulpius Trajan.

TRAJAN, before he was Empe­ror had a Dream, which seemed to tell him, that the Senate of Rome had Chose him, and Seal'd him, as it were for their own. A Person in the like Dress and Trajan' s Dream. Form of one, that in Picture the Senate is represented by, that is, in a Robe of State guarded with purple, a Vest purled with large [Page 10] Knaps of purple, a Crown upon his Head, a little elderly, came to him, he dream'd, and with a Seal which he had in a Ring, sealed him now on the right and now on the left Breast.

He wrote to the Senate after he was de­clared Emperor, several things with his own Hand, and amongst the rest, he assured them of this; That the Blood of no Man, who was an honest Man, should ever be spilt by him, neither should he be touch'd in his Fortunes or Honour. He assured them of this upon his Oath, and not only then, but he repeated the same to them at other times.

He sent for Aelianus Casperius, together with He puni­shes the old Muti­neers. such of the Soldiers of the Guards, as had mu­tined against Nerva, as though it were upon some Business to employ them. But he did not suffer their Crime and the Murders which they had committed to pass unpunished, for he put them to Death.

When he came to Rome he altered seve­ral things for the greater Good of the Pub­lick, and in the Favour of Persons who had deserved well. He shewed himself particular­ly careful of the Cities of Italy. He settled Alms and Pensions towards the Maintenance of Children of poor Families, and did a great deal of Good of that nature.

Plotina his Empress, at her first entrance His Em­press. into the Imperial Palace at Rome, turned her­self upon the Steps to the People and said, I go in here the same as I would wish my self to come out again; and through her whole Reign [Page 11] she preserved her esteem with a Conduct which was without Reproach.

After some stay at Rome, Trajan undertook an Expedition against the People of Dacia; unto which he was provoked by the Proceed­ings of that People who had augmented their Forces, and were become insolent; the Mo­ney besides which was paid to them every Year, and with which the Romans bought their Obedience, was a Burther, that Trajan was wil­ling to throw off.

Decebalus the King of Dacia was sufficient­ly The Daci­an War. apprehensive of a War made upon him under the Conduct of a Prince so formidable. He was sensible that he had another Force, and another Person to deal with, than when he had overthrown Domitian. For Trajan was a Prince with whom the Roman State intirely accorded. A Prince that excelled in Justice, Character of Trajan. Gallantry and Integrity of Life: Strong; in Body: In the Forty second Year of his Age when he began his Reign: In the full Ma­turity of his Mind: Past the Rashness of Youth, and not yet arrived to any thing of the feebleness of old Age. He was one, who envied no Man, and disobliged no Man. All such as he found were really deserving, he esteemed and preferred. The Estates of Men, no less than their Lives, remained un­touch'd by him. If he spent much Money upon his Wars, he spent much also to adorn the Times of Peace. This is seen in the Roads, Ports, and publick Edifices which are his, and which are great and necessary Works. As he [Page 12] was by Nature of a Temper to appear in what he did, Great and Magnanimous; he rebuilt the Cirque, which was decay'd, much larger than it was before, and more Beautiful. He wrote an Inscription upon it to signify, that he His Inscri­ption on the Cirque had done it so, to make it worthy to receive the People of Rome. He desired rather to be loved than Adored. He was affable to the People, and respectful to the Senate. All loved him. None dreaded him but the Enemy. He Hunt­ed, he Feasted with his Ministers, Visited their Offices, Jested with them: Many times sate amongst them in the fourth Place; came to their Houses without a Guard, and made his Conversation pleasant. Tho' he was not one who was studied in all Parts of Learning, yet he acquitted himself in that respect very well; every thing he did was Excellent. I know that he was given to love Boys, and to Drink; and had he been guilty of any thing in either respect that is Base, he would have been to be blamed. But in Drinking he went not to excess, and as to his love of the Boys, he forced or injured no one. He loved War; yet when he had adjusted Affairs, and weakened the E­nemy, and increased his Alliances, he was sa­tisfied. No such thing ever befel him, as is commonly happens to others that command Armies; that is, for the Soldiers to Mutiny and be Insolent. This was a Happiness owing to the Excellency of his Conduct, and there­fore if the King of Dacia feared him, it was not without reason.

As he was upon his March against the Ene­my, and near the place where they lay, some body had pretended to cut upon a large Mush­room, which was brought to him, with words in Latin, signifying, That others of his Allies, and particularly the Byrrhi, who bordered upon Dacia, advised him to make a Peace with the Enemy, and retire. But yet this did not hinder, but He fights the Ene­my. he began the Fight, in which many of the E­nemy were killed, and many of his own Men were wounded; to bind up whose Wounds he did not spare to tear his own Cloaths into Rags for Binders to give them; and for others of his Men that were killed, he built an Al­tar, and ordered that there should be Sacri­fices every Year offered thereupon in their Honour.

He pursued his Blow, directing his March over the Hills and Mountains from one to a­nother, not without great danger, till he came up to the Capital City of Dacia, whilst Lucius employed the Enemy on another side, and killed and took great Numbers of them.

Then Decebalus sent to Trajan to desire Peace, by some of his chief Officers, who Decebalus desires Peace. coming into his Presence, laid down their Arms, and prostrated themselves upon the Ground before him, and said, That Decebalus did above all things covet the Honour to come and confer with him in Person, being ready on his Part to receive all his Commands. But if this was otherwise to be resolved on, he desired that some Persons might be sent to him with Powers to Treat a Peace. Suras, and Claudius Livianus, [Page 14] the Captain of the Guards, were sent from Trajan upon this Subject; who were met by others on the side of Decebalus. But nothing being concluded, because Decebalus refused to appear, Trajan took his Castles, and therein his Arms, Artillery and Stores, together with a Roman Standard which had been lost for­merly under Fuscus. A Sister of Decebalus fell at the same time a Prisoner into the Hands of Maximus; and a strong Town in the Coun­try was taken by the same. All which coming upon the heels of one another, Decebalus re­collected himself again, and intirely complied Decebalus submits. with the Conditions that were offer'd him. He promised to deliver up his Arms, Artillery, the Artificers that made them, and the Deser­ters that had run over to him: To dismantle his Fortresses, retire from the Land that he had taken from his Neighbours, and have the same Friends and Enemies with the People of Rome: To entertain no Deserters, and to take no Soldiers into his Service, out of Places in the Dominions of the Romans; because most of his best Men were such, as he had inticed into his Service from thence. All which he promised, against his Mind, and being conducted to an Interview with Trajan, he threw himself upon the Ground and adored him.

He sent to the Senate of Rome his Em­bassadors, to have the same Peace con­firmed from them, that he had made with Trajan. The Embassadors were introduced into the Senate, where they laid down their Arms upon the Ground, and standing before [Page 15] the Senate with their Hands within their Fin­gers, as if they were Captives, they spoke in Terms of great Submission to the Senate, who ratified the Peace, and then they took up their Arms again. Warhel the Capital City of Dacia received a Garrison of the Ro­mans, and the rest of the Countrey being served accordingly, Trajan returned back to Italy.

He was received in Triumph, and the Title Trajan' s Triumph. of the Conquerour of Dacia was given him, and inserted into his Stile. The Combats of the Gladiators, in which he delighted, and the di­versions of the Stage in which Pylades was one that gained much of his Favour; were cele­brated for his Entertainment. Though he was a Military Prince, he took never the less Care of the Civil Policy, and minded the Affairs of Peace and Justice. In the Forum of Augustus, or in the Portico of Livia, or in other Places, he many times assisted in Person at the Causes which were pleaded there.

In the mean time Decebalus could not per­suade Decebalus renews the War. himself to keep the Conditions of the Peace which he had made. He proceeded to raise Men, provide Arms, entertain Deserters, re-fortify his Castles, and invite the Nations that were his Neighbours to joyn with him, to whom he represented; That if he was for­saken by them now, their own Ruine was the next thing to follow. It was easier, and the safest way for them, he said, to preserve their Liberties, by standing all by one another whilst [Page 16] they might, for the Common Defence, than it would be to do this after Decebalus was ruined, which would open a Gap to the Enemy to devour them one by one. Pursuant to this, he began the War by falling upon such as had appear'd against him in the former War, and by possessing himself of a part of the Countrey of the Jazyges, which was upon the Danube towards Dacia.

Hereupon the Senate declared Decebalus again an Enemy, and Trajan without com­mitting the War to another, went in Person to reduce him a second time. He marched against him with an Army which Decebalus was in an ill Condition by fair Force to resist; but by Deceit and Treachery, he was within a Treachery of Deceba­lus defeat­ed. little of effecting that, that he could not by his Arms. He sent Persons under the no­tion of Deserters into Moesia to assassine him, as Trajan was always easie of access; but then more particularly upon the Incidents of the War, any one was admitted to speak to him. That which disappointed this Design was, one of the Conspirators was taken up on suspi­cion and put to the Torture, who confessed the whole Plot.

There was a Commander of a Legion in the Roman Army of great Skill, and who had Longinus trapan'd. often signalized himself in the Wars against Dacia, called Longinus; Decebalus found means by Treachery to get this Colonel into his hands, and then sent to Trajan to tell him, That upon Condition the Countrey as far as the Danube, might be restored to him, and [Page 17] that Trajan allowed him for the Charges of the War, he courted his Friendship, and would re­turn Longinus again in safety. To which Tra­jan answered in a manner, that was to let him know, that he neither made a small, nor yet such a high Account of the Life of Longinus, as to buy it too dear. In the mean time, whilst Decebalus was resolving with himself what more to do, Longinus found means to procure a quantity of Poyson by the help of a Servant, and he took it in the night and died.

Trajan built a Bridge over the Danube, for Trajan' s Bridge o­ver the Danube. which I know not how I can sufficiently ad­mire him. The other Works of his are very Magnificent, but this is above them all. It is a Bridge of Nineteen Arches, all of square Stone; the Heighth one Hundred and Fifty Foot above the Foundation; the Breadth Sixty Foot, and the Distance between each Arch one Hun­dred and Seventy Foot. How shall I admire the Charge that this cost, and which way also it was possible to Found it in a great River, and a difficult Water which hath an ozy Gra­vel at the bottom, when in the mean time there was no turning the Stream aside into another Chanel? The River is in other places double and treble the breadth, that it is here where this Bridge covers it. Here it is at the straightest, and therefore so much the more fit place for a Bridge; but yet the Account that I have given, makes it a pretty broad Passage here also. But that which I would chiefly observe from the Breadth of the River [Page 18] in this and in other places is, that the broader and the more spatious a Flood it is as it comes hither, and the broader and the greater Com­pass that it challenges as it goes from hence, so much the deeper and the more rapid must it be where it is streightned in its Course; and this must make it the more difficult to cover it with a Bridge, where it is so deep and so rapid. Certainly the Greatness of the Soul of Trajan, shews it self in this Work; tho' it be of no use to us now, nor passable. The Peers are yet standing, which look as if they were only built to shew, That nothing is impossible to the Wit of Man. The reason of Trajan's Build­ing this Bridge was, to pass his Forces with rea­diness to the Succour of the Romans on the other side of the Danube, in case the Barba­rians attack'd them at a time when the River was frozen up. Hadrian fearing on the con­trary, that the Barbarians might sometime Force the Passage of this Bridge, and give themselves an easie descent by it into the Country of Moe­sia, demolished it, and broke down the Ar­ches.

Trajan passing his Army over the Danube by this Bridge, made rather a safe than a quick War, and with time and difficulty fi­nished the Conquest of the Kingdom of Dacia. He signalized his Conduct and his Gallan­try His Per­sonal Va­lour. in many things himself. The Soldiers by his Example were encouraged to contemn Dan­gers, and acquit themselves with Honour. A­mongst the rest a Horseman who was very much wounded, was brought out of a Fight to [Page 19] the Surgeon to be dress'd; but perceiving that his Life was desperate, and that his Wounds were uncurable, he quitted the Tent again before his Spirits failed him, and rejoyned the Battel, and died, fighting with great Bra­very.

In fine, Decebalus, after his Capital City Decebalus kills him­self. was lost, and his Country all taken, and him­self in danger to be taken, killed himself. His Head was brought to Rome: Dacia was made a Province of the Empire, and Trajan planted it with Colonies of Romans. He had hid his Treasure in the Bed of the River Istrig, not far from Warhel. For he had made his Slaves turn His hid­den Trea­sure. the Water aside another way, and into the Channel dig a Pit, in which he buried a great deal of Gold and Silver, and precious Things that could endure the Wet, which he covered with a heap of Stones and Earth, and then brought the River to run over them in its usual Course again. He hid his Robes and other things of that nature, in Caves of the Earth, by the Hands of the same Slaves, who when they had done their Work, were killed, be­cause they should say nothing. But one Bi­cilu, who was one of his Favourites, knowing the thing, and being taken Prisoner by Trajan, he discovered all to him, and the buried Treasure was brought to Light again.

About this time Palmas the Governour of Syria reduced the Stony Arabia under the Obe­dience of the Empire of Rome.

After Trajan was returned to Rome, Em­bassies Trajan re­turns to Rome. were sent to him from many Nations [Page 20] of the Barbarians, and amongst the rest from the Indians. The Publick Games and Shews were Celebrated one hundred twenty and three days together: in which eleven thou­sand Beasts of all sorts were killed, and ten thousand Gladiators diverted the People, spilling their Blood over the Fenns called Au­ferte Palude in the Campagnia di Roma. He made Causeways, and built Houses upon the Roads, and built Bridges which were very Magnificent.

He Called in, and Melted down all the Di­minished His Friend Licinius Suras dies. Coin. He buried Licinius Suras, when he died, with a Publick Funeral, and set up his Statue: who had attain'd to be so Rich and so Great, as to Found at his own Expence a Publick School for the Plays and Exercises of the Romans. This Person, and Trajan, had such a Friendship, and such an In­timacy in one another, that many times when the Enemies of Suras, who were such as en­vyed him, had Accused him to Trajan, Tra­jan went nevertheless to his House to Sup with him, Uninvited; and dismissing all his Guards, First he trusted himself to the Phy­sician of Suras, to do something to his Eyes and Eyebrows; then he trusted himself to his Barber to shave him; For this was antiently the Custom, as of all other Romans, so of the Emperours: For Hadrian was the first Em­peror that let his Beard grow unshaved. When this was done, he washed, and went to Sup­per. The day after he said to those about him, who were always suggesting something [Page 21] ill to him of Suras, If Suras had a mind to kill me, he would have done it Yesterday. This was a great thing in him, to trust his Person in the least with one, who was pursued with such Accusations. But yet it is more to be ad­mired, how unalterably he preserved with him his Friendship, and how that nothing was able to make him believe that ever Suras would hurt him. When first he made him a Captain of the Guards, which is to be done by a Cere­mony of delivering to him a Sword; he drew the Sword, and as he gave it, he said, Take this Sword to Use it for me, if my Reign de­serve it; or otherwise, to Use it against me.

He set up the Statues of Sossius, Palmas, and Celsus, who were three, that he had a Favour for before others. He referred the Conspi­racies at any time against him, to the Cogni­zance of the Senate, by whose Sentence the Offenders were Punished of which Number was Crassus. He built Libraries for Books. He His pub­lic Works. set up in his own Forum, a vast Column, partly for a Tomb for himself, when he dyed, and partly for an Historical Monument of all his Exploits. All the Ground, on which that Forum stands, was before a Mountainous Earth, which he digged down as deep as his Column is high, and so built the Forum Level. After this, He began a War against the Ar­menians and Parthians; pretending, it was, be­cause the King of Armenia had received his Crown at the Hands of the King of Parthia, and not of him; but really it was out of a de­sire of Glory.

When he came as far as to Athens on this His Par­thian Ex­pedition. Expedition, the Ambassadours of Chosroes the King of Parthia met him; who were sent to desire a Peace with him, and brought Presents to give him from their Master. For when Chosroes had received advice of the Preparati­ons of Trajan, and that Trajan was resolved to second his Words with good Blows, the Fear, that he was in, obliged him to abate of his Heighth, and to send to beg, That he might not be troubled with a War: For he hum­bly asked the Crown of Armenia at his Hands, in the behalf of Parthamasiris, his Nephew, the Son of Pacorus, the late King of Armenia; Exedreas, having, as being neither agreeable to the Romans nor the Parthians, Abdicated, he said, the Crown again. Trajan refused to Ac­cept their Presents, and returned no other Answer; than that a Man's friendship is to be proved by Actions, and not Words; and that when he came into Syria, he should do all things that were fitting. Persisting in which Opi­nion, he took his way through the Lesser Asia, Cilicia, and the rest of the Provinces, and so came to the City of Seleucia, and from thence to Antioch in Syria.

As he was at Antioch, Abgarus the King of Courted by the Eastern Kings. the Osrhoeni in Mesopotamia sent him Presents, and Messages of Friendship. But being e­qually in fear of the Romans and the Parthi­ans, and desiring to please both Sides, he de­clined for that reason the waiting upon him in person. Others of the Kings and Governours of the Countries, where he came, met him, [Page 23] brought him Presents, and amongst the rest, they Presented him with a Horse, that was taught to Adore; kneeling upon his Fore­feet, and bowing his Head to the Ground, as Trajan stood before him. He accepted all their Presents.

But the behaviour of Parthamasiris upon this Behavi­our of Par­thamasiris. Conjuncture, who had taken upon him the Crown of Armenia, was altogether a piece of Rashness. First, he wrote a Letter to Trajan, in which he gave himself the Name of King of Armenia: and receiving no Answer, He writ another, in which he omitted that Name, and desired that Marcus Junius the Governour of Cappadocia might be sent to him, as if he intended to mediate something by him. Tra­jan sent to him, the Son of that Junius. In the mean time Trajan march'd to the City of Schemsat in Comagena in Syria, and took it with­out a Blow. Then he came to Satala, which was the Seat of Anchiolus, the King of the Heniochi, and the Macheloni. Him he obliged so much, as to make him a Present. Then he came to the City of Elegia in Armenia, where Parthamasiris met him, and was re­ceived; but the manner thus.

Trajan sate, as in a Council of War, in the His Ap­pearance. before Trajan. Camp. After Parthamasiris had saluted him, He took the Crown, with which he came, off of his Head, and prostrated it at the Feet of Trajan, and stood silent; expecting when Tra­jan would return to him the Crown again. The Soldiers seeing this, set up an Huzza, and Congratulated Trajan, as is usual, after a Vi­ctory: [Page 24] For they cryed, This was a Victory without a Battel, an unbloody Victory; to see a King of the House of the Arsacidae, the Son of Pacorus, and the Nephew of Chosroes King of Parthia, stand before Trajan like a Captive with­out a Crown. Parthamasiris amazed at the Noise, and thinking that it was designed for an Affront to him, and to his ruin, turned himself about in a Passion to be gone. But as he was so well surrounded that he could not, he desired, Not to be obliged to speak, what he had to say, in that Crowd. So he was taken into the Tent of Trajan, to whom there he offered the Propositions that he had to make; but Trajan was not pleased to consent to them. Then he threw himself in a Passion out of the Tent, and was retiring through the Camp; when Trajan sent for him back again, and in the Council of War, where he had received him at first, he desired him to speak what he had to say Publickly, in the hearing of the Company; because Persons, who were igno­rant of what had passed betwixt them in Pri­vate, should not suggest false Accounts of it, and misrepresent it to the World. Hearing this, Parthamasiris could not contain himself longer; but with a great Courage, amongst other things, said, That he neither had been Conquered, nor taken Prisoner. He came thither His Speech in the Coun­cil of War. voluntarily, in confidence that no Injury would have been offered to him, and that he should re­ceive his Kingdom of Trajan, as Tiridates did of Nero. Trajan answered him, what he saw fitting, and withal told him; That Armenia [Page 25] should be no bodies Kingdom. It belonged to the Romans, and should receive a Roman Governour. As for himself, he gave him the liberty to go where he pleased. So he sent Parthamasiris, He is dis­mist. together with the Parthians that came with him, out of the Country under a Guard, that he should speak with no one, nor attempt no Novelties; but all the Armenians that came with him he ordered to abide in their Proper Dwellings, as being now his own Subjects.

Trajan secured the Country with conveni­ent Garrisons, and came from thence to the City of Rhoa in Mesopotamia, where he saw Trajan' s Congress with Ab­garus. King Abgarus, whose Seat was there. Ab­garus had before sent Presents and Persons to him often, to Complement him: but some­times for one, sometimes for another reason that he pretended, he had not as yet waited upon him himself, as neither had Manos the Governour of the Arabia next adjoyning, nor Sporaces the Governour of Arthemisia in Me­sopotamia. Now the Son of Abgarus, Arban­des, was a handsom charming Youth, whom Trajan had seen, and could not choose but love for his beauty. By the persuasion of this Son, and partly by the fear which Abgarus had of the presence of Trajan, Abgarus met him at his coming to Rhoa, and excusing him­self to him, Trajan received him very well, and admitted him to his Friendship. His handsome Son was indeed Apology enough for him. He entertain'd Trajan at a Banquet, in which he brought in his Son to dance be­fore him after the Barbarian Mode.

The Senate of Rome, among other things A new Title de­creed him. which they decreed in the honour of these Successes of their Prince, gave him the Title of Optimus, or the Best of Princes. He always marched on foot at the Head of all his Army; whom against every Expedition he Review'd and Furnished; and sometimes marched them in one manner, sometimes another. If they crossed the Rivers on Foot, so did he: some­times he told them a piece of false News, and acted the part of a Spy amongst them, to make them keep themselves the more carefully to their Duty, and to be ready and intrepid against every thing. He took the Cities of Nisibis: and Ecbatana, from the Parthians, upon which he was Saluted by the Style of Conquerour of the Parthians by the Army. But in none of all the Titles, that he acquired, did he delight so much as in that of the Best of Princes: because this was a commendation rather of his own Nature and Virtues, than of his Arms.

Whilst he Wintered at the City of Antioch A great Earth­quake. in Syria, a dreadful Earthquake happened, which did a great deal of mischief to many Cities in that Country, but Antioch was in a more particular manner afflicted with it. There was at that time a great number of Soldiers, and an extraordinary Concourse of others from all parts in the place, either upon Business of Law, or upon Embassies, or Trade, or Cu­riosity: whereby it was so, That there was no Nation, nor no Province but what had a share in the Calamity, and all the Roman World suffered in that one City. This Earthquake [Page 27] was preceded by great Thunders, and unusual Winds: but yet no body suspected from thence the mischief which followed. First, a mighty Fore-run­ners thereof. bellowing Noise was heard on a sudden, from the Earth; then followed a Shock which was was so violent, that it made all the Earth Bounce and Swell. The Houses Danced: some immediately fell with the Toss, and broke into pieces; some reeled to and fro like a Ship in the Sea, and took a com­pass on one side and the other, and then fell: And the noise of the cracking, and burst­ing of the Timber, the Brick, and Stones to­gether, was most dismal. A Dust was raised, that it was impossible to see any one, or speak, or be heard to speak. Many who were with­out their Houses suffered. They were so tos­sed up, and then down again, as in a Preci­pice, and struck against one another: some were wounded, some killed. Trees were torn up from the Roots. But of the rest, who were overtaken within their Houses, an infinite number perished; a great many with the Houses falling upon their Heads; a great many were suffocated under the Ruins: Others, who were held under the Wood and Stones so, by any part of their Bodies, that they could not possibly recover themselves, were in the highest degree miserable: they could not live, and yet they could not soon expire. If, out of such an infinite number as were overtaken within their Houses, several escaped with their lives, yet they were generally hurt; their Legs broken, or their Arms, or their [Page 28] Heads, or they vomited Blood. Pedo the Consul was one of these, who died soon af­ter. In short, there was no figure of Misery and Destruction but what was to be seen a­mongst these People. GOD shook the Earth for many Days and Nights together. The People were all in a Distraction, and without Miserable Effects of it. help to fly to. Whilst some were immedi­ately killed, and buried under the Ruins, others were starved to death, who were pen­ned up in any void Spaces left by the Tim­ber, or betwixt Pillars, and in Vaults. After the Earthquake was ceased, a Person who had the Courage to go presently upon the Ruins, heard the Voice of a Woman crying. Nor was she alone: the sucking Infant was with her; and she had kept both her Child and herself alive, with her Milk. They were digged up and saved: and search was made for others. But they found no body more alive, besides one Child, which was hanging upon the Breasts of its Mother, and the Mo­ther dead. When they took the Dead up out of the Ruins, it was so lamentable a sight, that the living had no Hearts to rejoyce so much as for their own safety; so great was the Calamity which then afflicted Antioch. Trajan escaped through a Window out of the House where he was, by the help of a Man who was extraordinarily Tall, and who came and carried him off, but not without some small Hurts. As the Earthquake continued several days, he kept himself all that time in the open Air, in the Cirque. The Moun­tain [Page 29] Lison was so shook, that the Top of it bowed and burst, and threatned to fall down upon the Town. Other Mountains fell, and great Waters started up where none was before, and Streams that had flown before, forsook their Course and vanished.

The Spring being returned, Trajan carried Trajan proceeds in his Ex­pedition. his Arms into the Country of the Enemy. He furnish'd himself with Boats for a Bridge to transport his Forces over the River Tigris, from the Woods about the City of Nisibis; because the Country upon the Banks of that River affords no Timber for that purpose. The Boats were all brought from thence to the River upon Land-Carriages; being built in that manner, that they were to be taken asunder, and joyned again into a Bridge at Pleasure. Which was done; and the Bridge was laid over the Tigris at the Foot of the Mountain Cardynus; not without the great annoyance of the Enemy on the other side, who were Posted to oppose it. To give whom a Diversion, whilst the Bridge was fitting with all speed, as Trajan had Men and Boats in plenty, he Armed out some Boats with Archers and other Soldiers, and detached them against the Barbarians. He detached others to be moving up and down, as it were to try to Land in other places, which so distracted the Barbarians, and especially they were so surprized to see such a number of Shipping gotten together in a Country that is destitute of Wood, that they gave way, and the Ro­man Army passed the River.

The Roman Army landed in the Country of Adiabene, which is a part of Assyria, and Assy­ria was then under the Obedience of the King of Parthia. They took all Adiabene, and the Towns of Arbela and Gaugamela, where Alexander the Great did heretofore overthrow Darius. The Barbarians call it Atyria, instead of Assyria, changing the Letters ss into t. But as the Forces of the Parthians had been di­minished in their Civil-Wars, and still they were at Variance with one another, there was such a scarcity of the Enemy to make Opposition to the March of the Romans, that they came up to the City of Babylon.

Here Trajan beheld the Lake of Bitumen, He comes to Baby­lon. with which the famous Walls of Babylon were built. It is a sort of a Slime so Clammy and so Strong, that when it is mixt with Brick and Pebbles, it makes a Wall that is stronger than any Stone, and Iron it self. He view'd the Mouth of it, from whence proceeds such a noxious Stench, that it kills all the Beasts, and all the Birds that are brought within its reach. And certainly did it arise much higher, to disperse it self far and wide in the Air, it would render the place Uninhabitable. But it Circulates within it self, and does not ex­ceed its limits. I have seen such another Lake as this at the City of Hierapolis in the Lesser Asia, and I made an Experiment of it in Birds; my self being in an Upper Apartment, from whence I overlook'd it. For it is shut up in a sort of a Cistern, and above it is built a Con­venience, where you look down and see the [Page 31] fatal effects of this Stench in safety. It kills every thing, Living: Men only excepted, that have been Gelt. I do not understand the rea­son of this. But I speak the things that I have seen, as I saw them, and the things that I have heard, as I heard them.

Trajan was once designing to make a Cutt for the River Euphrates upon which Babylon stands, to fall into the Tigris; that passing his Vessels by that Cut, out of the First into the other River, he might give himself a Bridge to March his Army over the Tigris to the Siege of Ctesiphon in Assyria. But when he understood that the Bed of the Euphrates was much higher than the Bed of the Tigris, he forbore that design, lest the abundance of the Water running into the Lower Bed should ren­der the Euphrates unnavigable. So he mount­ed his Vessels upon Land-Carriages, and brought them to the Tigris over the little Streight of Land which is betwixt the two Ri­vers; and having passed his Army, and taken the City of Ctesiphon from the Parthians, he Ctesiphon taken. was Confirm'd in the Title of the Conquerour of the Parthians, and the Senate of Rome de­creed, that he should enjoy what Triumphs, and what Festivals for the Honour of his Vi­ctories, soever he pleased.

After he had taken Ctesiphon, his Curiosity His Expe­dition to the Red Sea. led him to go on Board his Fleet, and Sail for the Red Sea; which is a Branch of the Indian Ocean, and called Erythraeum Mare, that is, the Red Sea, from a King of the Name of [Page 32] Erythrus, who was sometime very Powerful upon it. He took in his way the Island of Messene, which is in the Tigris, the King whereof was Athambylus, without any difficul­ty: only the Winter, the rapidity of the Tigris, and the Tides of the Ocean were something dangerous. The Town of Spasinum, belong­ing to Athambylus, received him well. From thence he came upon the Ocean, where in­forming himself in the Nature thereof, and discovering a Ship that was bound to India, he said, Was I Young, I would certainly make a Visit to the Indians. He enquired much about them, and their Actions, and admired the Happiness of Alexander, who had Conquered them, and who had gone so much further than he. He writ the same to the Senate; But yet at the same time he was not able, what he had already Conquered to keep. The Senate de­creed Honour done to him by the Senate. several things in his Honour; and a­mongst the rest, that in relation to as many Nations as he pleased, his Successes should be adorn'd with Triumphs. For they were more than were known to them, so much as by Name, as they continually understood by his Accounts. They set up in his Honor a Trium­phal Arch in his own Forum, and the Citizens prepared themselves to go a great way to meet him, at his return to Rome. But he never came thither; nor was the End of his Acti­ons suitable to his Beginnings, because what he had Conquered, he lost again.

In the time that he was Sailing for his Plea­sure upon the Indian Ocean, all his Conquests A general Revolt. were chang'd and revolted, and the Garrisons which he had left amongst them were either turned out or killed. It was nothing but the Fame of the Indian Ocean which had drawn him thither, together with his Honour for the Memory of Alexander the Great, to whom he had sometime sacrificed in the House, in which he dyed at Babylon. But as he met with nothing worthy of that Fame; Fables and Prospects of Ruins were his only Entertain­ments.

He was as yet on Board, when the News was brought to him of the revolt of his Con­quests; against whom, he dispatched Lucius and Maximus. Maximus was deseated and killed. Lucius acquitted himself very well, and amongst other things recovered the City of Nisibis, Storm'd, Plundered, and Burnt the City of Rhoa, whilst Erycius Clarus, and Ju­lius Alexander took and burnt the City of Se­leucia. In the mean time, fearing lest the Parthians of Ctesiphon should attempt some­thing, Trajan was willing to oblige them, by giving them, instead of a Roman Governour, a King of their own. He Assembled, when Trajan gives a King to the Par­thians. he came to Ctesiphon, all the Romans, and all the Parthians that were there into a large Plain; and raising himself upon a high Throne, and glorying in the great Actions that he had done, he appointed Parthamaspates King of the Parthians, and put the Crown upon him.

Then he came into Arabia, to Reduce Expediti­on against the Haga­rens. there the People called the Hagarens, who had also Revolted. Their Town is neither Great nor Rich; but the Country adjoyning to it is for the most part a Desart; without Water, which it seldom hath, and then it is naught; without Wood, and without Forage: all which make it impossible for a great number of Men to lye long before it, defended as it also is by the heats of the Sun, to which it is exposed. So it was neither taken by Trajan then, nor by Severus afterwards, though they both made Breaches in part of the Walls. Trajan disguised himself, and Headed a Body of Horse up to the Walls in Person; but his Horse returned in an ill Condition to the Camp, and himself escaped very narrowly: For the Barbarians believing it was he, by his Age and Presence, shot at him, and killed a Horseman that was next him. It Thundered and Lightened, Rainbows appeared in the Clouds, Storms of Hail and Wind fell upon the Romans, when they made their Attacks. The Flyes rendred their Victuals and their Drink nauseous. So Trajan raised the Siege, and fell sick not long after.

About this time the Jews about Cyrene in Jewish Barbari­ty. Africa, Commanded by one Andrew, whom they had set up over them, committed great Slaughters upon both the Romans and Grecians, They Eat their Flesh, made themselves Gar­lands of their Guts, washed themselves in their Blood, and Cloathed themselves in their Skins. [Page 35] They sawed many in Two, from the Head, with Saws. They threw others to Wild Beasts. They forced others to fight till they kill'd one another. About two hundred and twenty thousand Persons were destroyed by this means. They did the like in Egypt, and in the Island of Cyprus, under the Command of Artemion; where two hundred and forty thou­sand Persons more were destroy'd. For which reason, it is, that it is forbidden a Jew to set foot upon that Island; even though by Storm he is driven upon it, he is to be put to death. At length they were reduced under Obe­dience Jews quell'd. again, as by others, so particularly by Lucius, who was sent against them by Trajan.

Trajan was resolved to have carried the War anew into Mesopotamia, if his sickness, increasing upon him, had not obliged him to set Sail towards Italy, and to commit to Publius Aelius Hadrian the Command of the Army in Syria. And now all the Pains that had been taken, and all the Dangers which had been run by the Romans, in the Conquest of Ar­menia, the greatest part of Mesopotamia, and the Parthians, became in vain: for the Par­thians turn'd off King Parthamespates, of the appointment of Trajan, and betook them­selves to be Governed by their own Mea­sures.

Trajan suspected, in his own mind, that he was poisoned: but others say that he had been used every year to void Blood downward, and [Page 36] that this Evacuation had stopped; that he had a Dead Palsie upon him, and was insensible in a part of his Body, and that he was all over Dropsical. He came as far as to the Ci­ty Iclenos, which is otherwise called Trajanople Death of Trajan. from him, in Cilicia, in the Lesser Asia, and there immediately dyed; having Reigned nineteen Years, six Months, and fifteen Days.

THE A. Christi, CXVIII. Life and Reign OF THE EMPEROR Publius Aelius Hadrian.

IF we take the Original of the Emperor His Ex­traction. Hadrian at the highest, it is to be derived from the Antient People of the Marca d' Ancona, and particularly from the Town of Adria in Italy, which was the Place which his Ancestors were of, before they removed into Spain; where, as himself says in the [Page 39] Account which he writes of his own Life, they settled in Sevilla la Viegia, or Old Sevile, in the times of the Scipio's. His more imme­diate Descent was from that Family in Spain. Aelius Hadrian Afer was his Father, who was Cousin-German to the Emperor Trajan. His Mother was Domitia Paulina, who was Origi­nally of Cadiz. His Sister Paulina married Servianus. His Wife was Sabina, and his great Grand-father's Grand-father, Marullinus, was the first of the Family who was a Senator of the City of Rome. He was born at Rome up­on the Nineth of the Calends of February, in the Year when Vespasian and Titus were the Consuls, which was then the Seventh time of the Consulship of the first, and the Fifth of that of the other. In the Tenth Year of his Age, he lost his Father, and received for his Guardians, his Kinsman, Ulpius Trajan, who had been then a Praetor, and afterwards arri­ved to be Emperor, together with Caelius Ta­tianus, a Roman Gentleman.

In his Fifteenth Year after having finished His Stu­dies. his Greek, unto which his Genius inclined him in that manner, that by some he was called by the Name of the Little Grecian; he went into Spain, where he entred immediately into the Army, and was eager of exercising himself in Hunting, almost to a Fault. Trajan re-called him out of that Country unto Rome again, where he lived with him as his Son; and it was not long before he was put into the Commission of the Decemviri. He was removed from thence to be the Tribune or Colonel of the Second Auxi­liary [Page 40] Legion. After that, he was translated in­to the Lower Moesia, which was about the lat­ter end of the Reign of Domitian. In Moesia, he was informed by an Astrologer of the same Presages concern­ing him. thing, as to his future Succession to the Em­pire, which he had heard, that his great Uncle Aelius Hadrian, who also was skill'd in the Doctrine of Nativities, had sometime before predicted concerning him. He was sent out of Moesia at the time that Trajan was adopted by Nerva, with the Congratulations of the Army to the Emperor, upon the Subject of that Adoption. Nerva translated him into the Upper Germany, from whence he hastned, upon the News of the Death of Nerva, to be the first who should bring it unto Trajan. And His Di­ligence. altho' he was by Servianus, his Sister's Hus­band, who had endeavoured to possess Trajan against him, by telling him of his Expences, and his Debts, not only a long time detain'd, but furnished also with a Carriage that broke by the way, on purpose to stop his haste: He nevertheless prosecuted his Journey after­wards on Foot with that diligence, that he came up to Trajan before the Express, which the same Servianus dispatched upon the same occasion. And Trajan continued to love him, but yet he was not without those Enemies who represented him to that Prince, who was a Lover of Boys, to be as it were his Rival i [...] that sort of Pleasure. And because he was solicitous in this Conjuncture, to know what the Inclination of Trajan towards him was, as to his Adopting him to succeed in the Em­pire, [Page 41] he consulted his Fortune by Lots, in which he was answered in certain Verses out of Virgil that favoured his desire. Others say, That he received a Lot of the same na­ture out of the Verses of the Sibyls. But that which was a greater Presage to him still than all this, of the Empire unto which he should succeed, was, an Answer which he received from an Oracle of Jupiter Nicephorus, which Apollonius Syrus the Platonist hath set down in his Works. In fine, by the interposition of Suras in his Favour, he easily attained unto a higher Degree than ever of Favour with Trajan, whose Niece by his Sister's side, he married, which was a Match that was encouraged by Plotina, and consented unto by Trajan, as Marius Maximus says, at least in some mea­sure.

He was a Questor in the Year when Trajan He is made Que­stor. and Articuleius were the Consuls, which was then the Fourth time of the Consulship of Trajan. In this Office being to recite in the Senate, an Harangue made by the Emperor to them, and being laught at for his ill pronun­ciation of it, he set himself upon the Study of the Latin in that manner, that he acquired himself at length the greatest Skill and Elo­quence in that Language. After his Questor­ship, he was made the Clerk to the Senate. Next he waited upon Trajan to the War against Dacia; at which time, how intimate he was with him, may be seen by this; that he says himself, That he indulged to Drinking out of Obe­dience to the Pleasure and Methods of Trajan, [Page 42] and this gained him yet greater Favours from him. He was made a Tribune of the People in And Tri­bune. the Year of the Second Consulships of Candidus and Quadratus. In this Magistracy, it was an Omen (he says) to him of a perpetual Tribuni­tian Power; that is, of the Crown, that in wearing the Paenulae, (a sort of Hanging-Coat) as the Tribunes of the People were used to do in time of Rain, but the Emperors of that Age never, that Garment had slipped off from him. In the second Expedition against Dacia, Trajan gave him the Command of the First Legion of the Name of Minervia, and took him along with him. He distinguish'd him­self there by a great many fine Actions, in­somuch that Trajan presented him with the same Diamond that himself had been before presented with by Nerva, which served far­ther to raise his Hopes. He was a Praetor un­der the second Consulships of Suranus and Ser­vianus; at the same time he received from Trajan Forty Thousand Sesterces towards the Charges of the publick Games, with which he treated the People. After this, being made the Pro-Praetor of the Lower Pannonia, he brid­led the Sarmatae, disciplined the Army, and restrained the Procurators of the Province from exceeding, as they did, the just Limits of their Power; for these Services he was made a Consul. In which Magistracy, as soon as it And Con­sul. was understood from Suras, that he was to be adopted by Trajan, he was accordingly re­spected by all, who desired to preserve the Favour of their Prince. After the Death of [Page 43] Suras, his Interest with Trajan did still increase, because he succeeded into the Office of Suras, to write his Prince's Speeches, and his Letters as his Secretary; besides all which, he had the Favour of Plotina, by whose means he was appointed the Lieutenant of Syria, in the time of the Expedition against Parthia.

The Persons with whom he at this time en­tertained His Friend­ships. a Friendship, were Sossius Pappus and Pletorius Nepos, of the Order of the Senators; and Tatianus, who was before his Guardian, and Martius Livianus Turbo, of that of the Gentlemen; Palmas and Celsus had been al­ways his Enemies. But now those two being faln into Disgrace upon a Suspicion of a Design to usurp the Empire. This facilitated the Business of Hadrian's Adoption, so that be­ing through the Favour of Plotina, created a Consul a second time, he indeed conceived within himself entire Assurances of that Hap­piness. It was the Opinion of many, that he had to this end corrupted also the Servants of Trajan, and had made very much of the Boys who were Trajan's Paramours, and had fur­nished them with Oyntments and Washes in the time that he was conversant about the Court. However that is, the Letters of his He is a­dopted. Adoption came to him into Syria, whereof he then was Lieutenant, upon the Fifth of the Ides of August, which Day he therefore com­manded to be celebrated for a Festival for the same. Upon the Third of the same Ides, he received the News of the Death of Trajan, he commanded that Day to be celebrated for the [Page 44] Festival of his accession to the Empire. It had been many times before thought, that Trajan's Design was to have left Neratius Priscus, and not Hadrian his Successor; because many of his Friends had agreed with him in Priscus, to whom he sometimes also had said publick­ly, If I die, I recommend the Empire to you. Others say, That Trajan sometime had it in his Thought to die after the Example of Alex­ander of Macedonia, without appointing any certain Successor. Again, others tell us, That it was likewise in his Mind to have sent a Let­ter to the Senate, to let them know, that if he died, they themselves should give a Prince to the Empire of Rome; adding, as from him, some Names only, out of which they were at their Liberty to chuse the Best. Neither do we want those who have pretended, that the Adoption of Hadrian was a Trick, wrought by the Power of Plotina, after Trajan was dead, by suppositing a Person to speak the Thing for Trajan, in a languishing Voice.

However it was, Hadrian possessed himself And pos­sest of the Empire. of the Empire, and falling in immediately with the usual Methods of Business, he desired to secure and establish, as much as possible, the Peace of all Parts. In the mean time the Nations which Trajan had Conquered, had Re­volted. The Moors were making Incursions upon the Frontier Provinces; the Sarmatae had declared Open War, the Britains could not be contained under the Roman Power, Egypt was disturbed with Seditions, and Lycia and Pala­stine lifted up their Heads to a Rebellion. [Page 45] Therefore as for all the Countries beyond the Euphrates and the Tigris, Hadrian even relin­quished these by the Example as he said of Cato, who pronounced the Macedonians a Free People, because they would not be kept in subjection. And as he had observed, that Parthamaspates, the King of Parthia, of the Appointment of Trajan, was of no great Consideration amongst that People, he removed him from thence to be the King over some other Neighbouring Na­tions. He began his Reign in Clemency, His Cle­mency. whereunto he shew'd a great Regard by this Instance; that having in some of the first Days of it, had Notice given him by Tatianus, by Letters, of Three Persons, whom he advised him, that he should put them to Death; who were, Baebius Macer, the Governour of the City, in case he in the least opposed his Au­thority; Laberius Maximus, then in Banish­ment in an Island, because he was suspected to aspire at the Empire, and Frugi Crassus; yet nevertheless, he spared them all Three: For altho' the Governour of the Island where Crassus was, did execute him for an Escape which he would have made, with a Design of fomenting New Disorders, yet was that Ex­ecution a thing that was done without Ha­drian's Command. He doubled the usual Donative to the Soldiers, for a good Presage, to welcome in his Reign. He took away the Government of Mauritania from Lusius Quie­tus [...]nd dismiss'd him, because he was one wh [...] was suspected to aim also at the Empire; and when Martius Turbo had finished the Re­duction [Page 46] of the Jews, he appointed him Go­vernour of Mauritania, and to go and repress the Commotions which were there. He made a Journey out of Antioch to meet and receive with Respect the Ashes of Trajan, as they were upon the Road, under the Conduct of Tatianus, Plotina, and Mattidia. And having imbarked them in a Vessel for Rome, and being return­ed again into Antioch, he constituted Catilius Severus Governour of Syria, and then came himself to Rome by the way of Illyricum.

He first sent Letters which were very accu­rately Honour done to Trajan. writ to the Senate, to desire, That they should make Trajan a God; to which the Senate agreed unanimously, and even voted a great many more Things of their own accord, to his Ho­nour than what Hadrian had mentioned to them. At the same time, Writing to the Se­nate, he asked their Pardon, That he had not submitted his Judgment to them in the Affair of his assuming the Empire, the Occasion whereof had been this, that he had been saluted Emperor by the Army in Haste, because the State could not be without a Head to it. The Senate voted him the same Triumph, which was to have been given unto Trajan. He refused it for himself, but accepted it for the Image of Trajan to be carried in a Triumphal Chariot, that that In­comparable Emperor should not be without the Honor which he so well merited, no not though he was dead. The Title of Pater Pa­triae, or Father of his Country, which was Twice offered him, he declined, because it had [...]n late in the Reign of Augustus e'er this Title [Page 47] had been assumed by that Prince. He remit­ted to Italy all the Duties which they were to pay him upon his coming to the Crown, and abated the same to the Provinces, altho' it was very well known, that at the same time the Treasury was streightened for Money. Then receiving Advice of an Insurrection of the Sarmatae, and the Roxolani, he commanded his Troops into Moesia, and went thither in Per­son after them. He preferred Martius Turbo, after he had administred the Government of Mauritania, to the Presidentship of Pannonia and Dacia. As to the Affair of the Roxolani, he composed that by a Treaty, and a Peace was established betwixt them and Hadrian.

He had sometime designed to appoint Ni­grinus to be his Successor in the Empire; but Nigrinus became guilty of a Conspiracy against A Conspi­racy a­gainst him. the Life of Hadrian, which was to be exe­cuted as Hadrian assisted at the Sacrifices: Lusius and many others were in the same Plot with him, which Hadrian escaping, here­upon Palmas at Terracina, Celsus at Baiae, Ni­grinus at Faenza, Lusius upon the Road, by the Order of the Senate, were all killed. And because these Executions might be a means of creating an ill Opinion of him in the Minds of the People, as if it had been, tho' really it was not, as he says, by his Will, but by the Will of the Senate, that Four Persons, all of Consular Dignity, were sacrificed so all toge­ther: Hadrian came presently to Rome, com­mitting Dacia unto the Government of Turbo, whom to add to his Authority, he had likewise [Page 48] honoured with the Title of the Praefecture of Egypt: And at Rome he caressed the People to stifle the Apprehensions which were there of him, with a double Largess upon his arri­val, His Boun­ty. which was over and above a Bounty of three Pieces of Gold a head, which had been divided amongst them, in his absence before. He acquitted himself before all the Senate of the Fact that had passed; and as for his own part, he took his Oath, that he would never punish a Senator, otherwise than according to the very Sentence of the Senate. He proceed­ed to ease the particular Towns and Magi­strates of the Charge of the publick Post and Carriages, by ordering them to be maintained out of the Exchequer; in fine, to omit nothing to make himself to be esteemed, he forgave an infinite number of Debts, which were due to the Exchequer from private Persons in the City, and all over the Country; as also he re­mitted the Arrears of great Sums which were due from the Provinces; the Bonds and Regi­sters relating whereunto were all burnt in the Forum of Trajan, for a full Security to every one against those Claims. He suffered it not, that the Estates of Persons condemned, should be confiscated into his private Coffers, but or­dered them all to be return'd into the publick Treasury. And as Trajan had begun to pro­vide for the Support of the poor Infants of both Sexes, who were not by the Law to be admitted to the general Dole before such an Age, so Hadrian enlarged that Munificence, and made an Addition to their Pension. Unto [Page 49] such of the Senators as were reduc'd, but had not consumed their Fortunes by their ill Lives and Debauchery▪ he set out Pensions suitable to their Quality, and suitable to the Number of the Children which they had; continuing the same to many to their Deaths. It was not only to his Favourites to whom he exten­ded his Bounty, but to others he generously gave great Things, to enable them to acquit themselves in their Offices with Honour. To some necessitous Women he allowed Pensions towards their Maintenance. The Games of the Gladiators were exhibited Six Days toge­ther, and a Thousand wild Beasts at his Charge were exposed to be hunted and taken upon the Anniversary of his Birth.

He chose himself out of the principal Per­sons His Pru­dence and Modera­tion. of the Senate, an Imperial Council. He refused to accept of any other of the Games of the Cirque, which were decreed in his Ho­nour, than such as those which were cele­brated upon his Birth-Day. He said many times, both in his Discourse, and to the Se­nate, That his Government should be such, that the World should see, it was the Interest of the People which he minded, and not his own. As he was three times Consul himself, so he advanced se­veral Thrice to that Dignity: And for the Honor of a Second Consulship, he bestowed that upon a multitude of Persons. The Third time that himself was Consul, he officiated it no longer than Four Months; but yet he of­ten sat in Person in Judgment. He never was absent from the Senate, when he was either [Page 50] in Town, or nigh the Town upon the Solemn Days of meeting. He carried the Honour of His Re­spect for, the Senate. the Senate so high, and made such a Difficul­ty of creating Senators, that when he created Tatianus, who was a Captain of the Guards, and had had all the Ornaments given him of a Consul; he told him, That he had nothing in his Power to confer upon him, that was a greater Honour. He did not give leave to those of the Order of the Knights and Gentlemen, to sit in Judgment either without, or with him, in a Cause which concerned the Life of a Sena­tor; altho' until then, it had been the Custom, that when the Emperor takes the Cogni­sance of a Cause in Person, he call'd not only the Senators, but the Roman Gentlemen unto his Assistance, and pronounced Sentence according to the Opinions of all together. In fine, he proceeded even to execrate those Princes who had had a lesser Consideration for the Senators than they ought. He retained so great a respect for Servianus, his Sister's Hus­band, who had been Twice Consul before him, that he always went out of his Cham­ber to meet him coming; and he created him a Consul the Third time, without his solicita­tions for it; the Honour whereof was imper­fect in nothing but this, that he did not take him to be his own Colleague in that Third Consulship.

In the mean time, this is yet to be remem­bred His Im­perfecti­ons. of this Prince, that he abandoned a great many Provinces which had been by Trajan acquired to the Empire; and the Theatre [Page 51] which had been built by Trajan in the Campus Martius, he destroyed, contrary to the desires of all the World. And certainly these things seemed to be so much the worse, as he knew very well himself that they were displeasing, and yet he pretended that in doing them, he accomplished the Orders which had been left him by Trajan. He was willing when he be­came weary of the Power of Tatianus, the Captain of the Guards, who had been former­ly his Tutor, to have had him murdered; but that which call'd him off from those Thoughts, was, he had already a great deal of ill will up­on him, upon the occasion of the Murder of those Four Consular Persons before-mentioned, the Odium whereof he endeavoured to throw upon Tatianus. At length Tatianus, of his own accord laid down his Commission, which Ha­drian conferred upon Turbo. Similes the other Captain of the Guards, laid down his, which Hadrian conferred upon Septimius Clarus. Never­theless those two, Tatianus and Similes, were Per­sons who very well might have deserved his ut­most Favour. After this, he went a Progress into His Affa­bility and Complai­sance. Campania, where he endeavoured to oblige all Places into which he came, with the Kindnesses he did them, and the Largesses which he bestow­ed amongst them; admitting every where the Gentlemen of Estates and Quality to the Ho­nour of his Friendship. At Rome he repair'd of­ten in Person into the Courts of the Praetors and the Consuls. He honoured his Ministers with his Company at their Houses. When they were Sick, he visited them Twice or Thrice a Day. [Page 52] He visited some, when Sick, who were no more than Servants that he had manumit­ted, Comforting them in their Infirmities, and Assisting them with his Counsels. He received his Friends to his Table, and was as Easy always with them, as if he was a private Man. The Honours which he bestowed up­on his Mother-in-Law at her Death, were the greatest that were possible, in the Games of the Gladiators, which he exhibited, and in all other Rites, whereby he shewed his Duty to her.

Then he went into Gallia, where he signa­lized He goes into Gaul and Ger­many. himself by his great Bounties, and his for­wardness to Relieve all Persons that were in Necessity and Want. From thence he went into Germany, and tho' he was one who was a greater Lover of Peace than War, yet here he Exercised the Soldiers, as if he was imme­diately making ready for a War. He incul­cated to them the Precepts of Patience, to His de­meanor towards the Sol­diery. teach them to be hardy, and to be able to suffer. He gave them in himself a Model of the Life of a Soldier, visited them in their Tents; Eat and Drank in Publick of the same Provision as they did, that is, Bacon, Cheese, and sower Wine mixt with Water, after the Ex­amples of Scipio Aemilianus, Metellus, and his Father Trajan. Were his Commands harder upon them than ordinary, he gave them Mo­ney, or preferred them for their Encourage­ment. He revived as much as it was possi­ble the antient Military Discipline, which through the Negligence of many Princes his [Page 53] Predecessors, had been going to decay ever since the time of Augustus. He settled the Order of the Offices, and the Expences of the Army. He suffered no one to be absent from the Camp without a just Cause. The Tribunes of his Creation were such, as whose Merits re­commended them to him, and not the Fa­vour of the Soldiers. He excited all to do their Duty by the Example that he set in himself. He walked Twenty Miles together on Foot at the Head of them in his Arms. He put down the use of Arbors, shady Walks, Grot­to's, and Bowers in the Camp. He was dres­sed many times in a very ordinary Coat, with­out any thing of Gold to his Belt, without Jewels to his Cloaths or Buckles, and the Hilt of his Sword scarce of Ivory. He visited the Soldiers when they were Sick in their little Huts. He mark'd out the Camps. He made none a Centurion, who was not a strong Man, and of good Repute: Nor a Tribune, unless he was of such an Age, as by his Prudence and his Experience to be fit to sup­port the Weight of that Command. Neither did he permit the Tribunes to make the least unlawful Gain of the Soldiers; nor any Per­sons to serve themselves of nice and delicate Things, which were therefore wholly cashiered the Camp. He examined their Arms and their Equipages whether Clean and Neat, and a­mended them as he saw Occasion. He con­sidered what Age every one was of, because he would have none to serve in the Field con­trary to the antient Custom, who was either [Page 54] too young to be of a proper Strength to bear Arms, or too old and past it. He took Care that his Soldiers were personally always known to him, and he kept an Account how many of them precisely they were.

He gave himself the Trouble to examine into the State of the Magazines of Ammuni­tion and Provisions; and whether the Con­tributions of the Provinces were well paid, and into the State of the Provinces, that if any thing was amiss any where, he might supply the Defect. Particularly, he desired to cut off all superfluous Expences, and that his Officers should lay out their Money upon no­thing that was of no use. So having model­led his Army to his own Pleasure, he next set upon an Expedition into Great Britain, where as he corrected a great many Defaults, so he was the first who made a Wall there, that was His Wall in Britain. Fourscore Miles in Length, to serve for a Di­vision betwixt the Barbarians and the Romans. Septimius Clarus, a Captain of the Guards, and Suetonius Tranquillus, Secretary of the Dispatches, with others, having conversed without his Leave, a little more familiarly with the Em­press Sabina, than was well consistent with the Honour of the Court, he turned them out, and put others into their places. And certain­ly, he would, as he said, have discharged his very Empress, as one that he conceived disagreable and ill humored, had be been but as a private Per­son. He was not only inquisitive into all that His Intel­ligence. passed in his own Houshold, but likewise into the Houses of his Neighbours; insomuch, that [Page 55] by his Spies, he was told of all the secret Actions done amongst them, whilst they in the mean time never suspected it, nor knew any thing of it, until himself discovered it. Upon which occasion, it will not be unpleasant to insert a Passage wherein we may certainly see what a Knowledge he had of a great many things as to his Neighbours. A Person had received a Letter from his Wife, in which she told him, That he was so taken up with his Pleasures and the Baths, that he made no Thoughts of returning again to her Arms. Hadrian was informed of this by his Spies; so when that Person came to him to desire the leave of him to retire Home, Hadrian gave him a gentle Rub of his Baths and his Pleasures. Sir, says the Gentleman, Hath my Wife written the same to your Majesty, that she hath written to me? Indeed this Inqui­sitiveness was thought to be a very great Fault in Hadrian; all the Amours of the Sparks, and the Secret Adulteries of the married La­dies he took the Pains to pry into; but which was worse, he did not keep the Counsel when he had done, of his greatest Friends.

After having settled the Affairs of Great Bri­tain, he crossed over into Gallia, where he re­ceived Advice of a Sedition in Alexandria in Egypt, arisen about their God Apis; who ha­ving been brought to Light anew, after many Years that he had been lost, the Dispute in what City he ought to be plac'd, created strange Disorders amongst the People, because all of them earnestly contended to have him. At Nismes in Languedoc, he built a Temple to the [Page 56] Honour of Plotina, which was an admirable Work. Then he went into Spain, and passed He ar­rives in Spain. the Winter at Tarragona, where at his proper Charge he re-edified the Temple of Augustus; and having Assembled all the States of Spain together at Tarragona, he consulted with them with great Prudence and Dexterity in the Po­liticks, considering their Divisions about the raising of Levies amongst them. At Tarra­gona he escaped a very great Danger, and in a manner, which was not inglorious. As he was walking in a Garden, a Servant belonging to the Master of the House where he was, ran upon him furiously with a drawn Sword, to kill him, Hadrian closed with the Man, and took him Prisoner and delivered him to the Custody of the Guards, who were flocking in to his Assistance. But when it was plainly seen that the Man was Mad, he sent him to the Physicians to be cured, and took no more Notice of the Matter. In many Places where the Barbarians are not separated from the Ro­mans by Rivers, but only by Land-marks, he made Walls of Earth, supported by Stakes, and strengthened with Pallisadoes for a Partition betwixt them. He appointed a King over the Germans; he suppressed the Commotions of the Moors, so that he merited the Honour from the Senate to have Sacrifices and Solemn Prayers offered for him. The Parthians did but make a meen or single Motion towards a War, but it was composed again by one Con­ference with Hadrian.

After this he came by Sea along the Coast Several o­ther of his Voyages, &c. of Asia, and the Islands, unto the Province of Achaia, where he was initiated in the Eleusi­nian Rites, after the Examples of Hercules, and King Philip. He was very generous to the Athenians, and presided at their Games. He sailed from thence to Sicily, where he had the Curiosity to visit the top of the Mountain Aetna, from thence to view the Rising Sun; how various they say, it appears there in its Colours, in the Nature of those of the Rain­bow. From Sicily he came home to Rome, and from Rome he crossed the Sea again into Africa, leaving many Marks of his Liberality upon the Provinces of that Country; so that one may say, that scarce never hath there been a Prince known to Travel over so much Land, and with so much dispatch as he. He had no sooner returned back to Rome out of Africa, but he set upon a New Voyage into the East, and took his way through Athens. The Works which he had begun at Athens, he now finish­ed and dedicated; amongst the rest, the Tem­ple and the Altar of Jupiter Olympius. In Asia, as he travelled, he likewise Consecra­ted Temples there, which abide as so many Memorials of his Name. Whilst he was in Cappadocia, he admitted a Number of the People of that Country into the Service of his Army. He invited the Princes and the Kings of the Dominions where he came, to joyn in Friend­ship with him. Particularly he invited to his Friendship Chosroes the King of Parthia, to whom he returned his Daughter that Trajan [Page 58] had formerly taken Captive, promising the same as to a Chair of State, which had been then likewise taken and carried away in that War. He received those Kings when they came, so generously, and treated them in that manner, that others who staid away upon the Account, especially of Pharismanes, who in­solently slighted him, might have an occasion to repent themselves. As he traversed the Provinces, he punished some Procurators, and some Presidents of them for their Malversa­tions so severely, that they said, he had a mind certainly to encourage Accusers to appear a­gainst them.

He had a great Displeasure against the People of Antioch, wherefore it was in his Thoughts to separate Syria from Phoenicia, that Antioch should not be said to be the Metro­polis of so many Cities. The Jews about this time broke into a War, because they were for­bidden to Circumcise themselves. He went upon the Mountain Lison, which is near An­tioch, in the Night, for the Curiosity of obser­ving from thence the Rising-Sun. Jupiter was worshipped upon that Mountain, to whom, as Hadrian was Sacrificing there, a violent Storm arose with Thunder and Lightning, which blasted both the Victim and the Priest. He traversed Arabia, and came to the City of Pelusium or Belvais in Egypt. The Tomb of Pompey which is at this City being decayed, he rebuilt it with greater Magnificence.

As he was sailing upon the Nile, his dear Antinous died, for whom he wept with all the [Page 59] tenderness, and the weakness of a Woman His Grief for Anti­nous. weeping for her Husband. There are several reports about that Youth. Some say that he devoted himself a Sacrifice for Hadrian. Others, that he was what his Beauty might probably incite him to be, and the too great Pleasure which Hadrian took in a Burdash However it was, the Grecians, at the desire of Hadrian, made a God of him; and we are told of Oracles which have been uttered by him; but they are rather some supposed Compositi­ons of Hadrian; who was excellent at Verse, and indeed at all sorts of the Belles Lettres. For he had a great Hand at Arithmetick, Geometry, and Painting. He understood Musick, and played perfectly well upon ma­ny Instruments, and Sung. Loving his Plea­sures so excessively, as he did, he could not but Compose many Poems of his Amours. Together with which he was a Master in the matter of Arms; had the Military Art in per­fection, and was skilled at the Weapons of the Gladiatours. He was a Person equally Severe and Pleasant, Affable and Grave; Active and Considerate, Close and Liberal, Cruel and Merciful, in all things ever various.

He enriched his Friends, though they ne­ver did ask him any favour; and to others upon their asking he denyed nothing. But yet he was easie to give ear to every Tale which was but whispered concerning them. And this was the occasion, that almost all those whom either he had dearly loved, or whom he had raised to the highest Honours, [Page 60] were afterwards treated by him as Enemies; His Seve­rity and Injustice. as was Tatianus, Nepos, and Septimius Clarus. Thus also Eudaemon, who had once been Pri­vy to all his Counsels, and his Confident in the very Affair of his aspiring to the Empire, was reduced by him to extreme Beggery. He constrained Polyaenus and Marcellus to mur­der themselves. He made the most notorious defamatory Libels upon Heliodorus. He suf­fered Tatianus, under a pretence of his being in a Conspiracy against him, to be Arraigned and Proscribed. He persecuted Numidius Quadratus, Catilius Severus, and Turbo, very grievously. He put to death Servianus, his Sisters Husband, when he was in his Nineti­eth Year, only because he would be sure, that he should not out-live him. In fine, he Persecuted without remission both his Ser­vants and his Soldiers. As ready as he was at his Compositions, always in Prose and Verse, and skilled in all the Liberal Arts; he yet laught at the Publick Professors of the Arts, and triumphed over them; entered many times into Solemn Disputes with all of them together, and with all the Philosophers; only for the Glory of Composing better Books, or better Verses than they. He excepted once particularly against a Word, which was used by Favori­nus: who modestly submitting himself to him in it; but being blamed by his Friends for yielding the Cause so in a Word for which there was sufficient Authority to be produced out of good Authors; Favorinus made a very pleasant Jest upon it. Says he, My Friends, [Page 61] you are much mistaken, if you do not allow me to believe him to be a Learneder Man than us all, who is the Master of Thirty Legions.

So fond was he of his Glory, as to this Ta­lent, that he writ his own Life, and after­wards gave it to his Servants (that were Scho­lars) to publish it only under their Names: Thus the Books under the name of Phlegon, are Hadrians. The Catachriani are his, which are extremely obscure pieces, in imitation of Antimachus. The Poet Florus, having writ­ten to him, thus, as follows;

That is,

He answered him again thus;

That is,

He took more delight in the Antient Wri­tings His Learning. than the Modern, and was pleased with making Declamations. He preferred Cato to Cicero, Ennius to Virgil, and Caelius to Salust; the like Judgement he passed upon Homer and Plato. He pretended to understand Judicial Astrology so very well, that upon the Calends of January in the Evening he would con­stantly set down in Writing, what in the whole ensuing year afterwards was to happen to him; insomuch that in that Year in which he died, he had written a Scheme of things, as far as to his last hour. But although he gave himself the liberty, as hath been said, to reprehend the Musicians, Tragedians, Come­dians, Grammarians, Rhetoricians, Philoso­phers, and Oratours, and to teize them per­petually with Questions, yet he preserved a real kindness for them, and honoured them with the marks of his esteem: If he had been the occasion, that many times they went dissatis­fied from him, he said, He however took it ill, if he saw any body do so. He was more par­ticularly familiar with the Philosophers Epicte­tus and Heliodorus, Phavorinus, was much in his favour. And when these Doctors became by Age unfit any longer for their Professions, he took care of them, and dismist them from their Labours, with marks of Honour.

The Enemies which he had in his Private Some par­ticular Liberali­ties, &c. Life, he forgave after he was Emperor. To one of them, his Expression was, after he was Emperor, It is well, you have Escaped me. He gave always Horses, Mules, Cloaths, Mo­ny, [Page 63] and all their Equipages to his Officers that he sent into the Provinces. He often sent his Ministers upon the Feasts of Saturn Presents, and accepted of others from them again. When he made a Royal Banquent for the En­tertainment of a great number of Persons of the Court and the City, he hath ordered Dishes to be brought up to him from the lowermost Tables, to see whether they were well used there by the Servants of his Houshold. His Presents which he sent at any time to Princes, always exceeded those which they sent to him: He frequently Bathed in Publick, and in the Company of all the World without distincti­on: which gave an occasion to a pleasant Pas­sage, which was this. There was a Veteran Soldier at the Bath, whom he had known in the War, scrubbing his Back and his Body a­gainst the Wall in a Corner, by himself. Ha­drian seeing him, asked him what was his fancy to rub himself so against the Walls? The Man said, It was, Because he had never a Servant to rub him. Immediately Hadrian sent him one, and withal gave him an Estate to keep one. Another day, several other Old Men, in the like manner, were rubbing themselves against the Wall, in hopes to provoke Hadrian to be as bountiful to them. But instead of that he ordered them to be called out, and to take their turns to rub down one another. He was a lover of the Common People, and took a glory in shewing it. Fond of Travelling, and whatever he had read in Books concern­ing any part of the Earth, he was willing to [Page 64] learn the truth of it upon the Place. He en­dured the Cold and the Weather so hardily, that he never went with his Head covered. To several Kings of the Countries where he came, he paid a great deal of respect. The most part of whom entred into Leagues of Friendship with him; some indeed slighted him. And to many he made great Presents, but no one Person greater than he did to Pha­rismanes the King of Iberia; to whom, besides other things which were Magnificent, he sent fifty Elephants. The Presents in return, which that King sent to him, were also great. But among the rest he had sent Tunicks Embroy­dered in Gold: in derision of which, Hadrian ordered Three hundred Malefactours to be dressed in the like Tunicks embroydered in Gold, wherein to fight upon the publick Stage the Prizes of the Gladiatours.

When he sate upon Judgment in Person, he took to his assistance not only his Courtiers and Friends, but the professed Lawyers; espe­cially Juventius Celsus, Salvius Julianus, Nera­tius Priscus, and others, who were Men Uni­versally approved by the Senate. He ordered amongst other things, that no Houses in any City should in any wise be taken down, for the sake of rebuilding them in another, or transferring the Materials to another. He granted unto the Children of Persons pro­scribed, the twelfth part of the Estates of their Fathers. He admitted of no informations of High Treason. He refused to stand Heir to such as he did not know; neither would he [Page 65] accept the Inheritances of those he did, in case they had Children of their own to enjoy them. Concerning Treasure-Trouve, his Con­stitution was; that if the Party had found it in his own Ground, he should take it to him­self; if he found it in anothers, he should give a Moiety of it to the Proprietor of that Ground; if he found it upon the publick Ground, he should share it equally with the Exchequer. He made it unlawful for Ma­sters Some of his Laws. to put their Slaves to death; and order­ed, that Slaves should be Tried and Condem­ned by the publick Judges as they deserved it. His Law against such as had consumed their Estates, was, that if they were under their own Authority, they should be exposed to a publick Shame in the Amphitheatre, and then turned out of the Town. He took away the Private Prisons, for Servants and Slaves, which had used to be before in the Hands of their Masters. He separated the Baths for the di­stinct use of either Sex. If a Master was found kill'd in his House, he ordered that not all the Slaves should be put to the Question about the Murder, but those only who were near e­nough to have perceived and prevented it.

The Country of Hetruria nominated him to be their Praetor, and he was so, when he was Emperour. In like manner he was the Di­ctator, the Aedilis, and the Duumvir, that is, the Chief Magistrate so called, of several Towns in Latium. The City of Naples chose him to be their Demarchus. The City of Sevil in Spain, and that of Adria in Italy, which [Page 66] were the two Places of the Descent of him and his Ancestours, chose him to be their Quinquennalis. At Athens he was the Archon. In almost all the Cities where he came he Built, and gave publick Sports to the People. At Athens he exhibited a Chase in the Stadi­um, of above a Thousand Wild Beasts. He never served himself upon these occasions of any Huntsmen, or Players from the City of Rome. At Rome the Pleasures of the Festi­vals, which he Celebrated to the Honour of his Mother-in-Law were infinite. Amongst the rest he made the People a Largess of Aromatick Sacrifices: and upon the Festi­vals to the honour of Trajan he commanded the several Seats of the Theatre to be perfumed with Balm and Saffron. He had Plays of all sorts acted in the Theatre, as antiently. He permitted the Comedians of the Court to Act in the Plays which were given by private Per­sons. He exhibited in the Cirque many wild Beasts, and many times a hundred Lions to be killed at a time. He often treated the People with Anticks and Masquerades. He often went to see the Combats of the Gladiators. A­mongst the infinite number of Works which he built in several places, he never caused his own Name to be Engraved upon any of them, but upon the Temple of Trajan. He re-edi­fied the Pantheon at Rome, together with the Septa, the Temple of Neptune, a great many Religious Houses, the Forum of Augustus, and the Bagnio of Agrippa: all which he Conse­crated anew, but still under their Proper, and [Page 67] their Antient Names. He built a Bridge over th [...] Tiber, which he called by his own name, together with a Sepulchre for himself near the Tiber. He translated the Temple of the God­dess Cybele from the place where it was to ano­ther. He did the same to a Colossus which stood there, where now is the Temple of the City. This was a great and a laborious Task. It was removed in the Posture in which it was standing; being raised by the Architect Daetrianus; four and twenty Elephants were Employed upon it. After he had Re-conse­crated this vast Coloss to the Sun, which be­fore was Consecrated to Nero, whose Head was to it, he proposed to build such another Monument to the honour of the Moon, by the Hand of the Architect Apollodorus.

He was most extremely Affable and Cour­teous in his Discourses which he had with Persons of low degree; and he hated such as should Envy him a Pleasure which was so sensible to him, upon the pretence of main­taining the Gravity and Port of a Prince. At Alexandria, in the Academy, he both pro­posed several Questions to be answered by the Professors, and answered others which they proposed to him. Marius Maximus says, that he was in his own Nature Cruel; but yet that he did many Pious and obliging things: the reason whereof was his fear, that he might otherwise have the same Fortune with that which befel Domitian. Although he did not love Titles and Inscriptions upon his Works, he however called several Cities, even Car­thage [Page 68] it self, and a part of Athens, together with a multitude of Aqueducts, after his own name. He was the first who Created the Of­ficer called Advocatus Fisci, that is, Advocate of the Exchequer. He had a happy Memory, His Me­mory and Wit. and admirable Parts. He dictated all his own Speeches, and answered to every thing him­self. There are several of his Jests; being a very pleasant Man in Conversation. Amongst the rest, this is one: an old Man in Gray Hairs having asked him something, which he denyed him, and coming to ask it again, but with his Hair tinged first unto a youthful co­lour; says he to him, I have already denyed this thing to your Father. He remembred Per­sons by their Names so very well, without the help of a Prompter, that though he had heard them but once, he presently corrected any one that mistook them. He remembred even the Names of all the old Soldiers, whom he had disbanded. The Books which he read, though they were out of the common way, and difficult, he would repeat to you again al­most entirely by heart. At one and the same time, he Writ, Dictated, hearken'd to Dis­course, and discoursed himself with his Mini­sters. He retained in his mind all the Pub­lick Affairs so well, that no diligent Master of a Family, better knows those of his own House. He loved his Horses and Dogs to that degree, that he built them Tombs, and writ them Epitaphs. He built a Town, which he ca [...]led Adrianotherae, in a certain place, in Moesia; only because he had hunted with [Page 69] good Success there; at what time he kill'd a Bear with his own hand.

He made an exact enquiry always into all things acted by the Presidents of the Pro­vinces, until he was satisfied in the Truth. He suffered not his Servants, whom he had Manumitted, to Influence him, nor to be thought to do so. He said, that it was the easiness of the Princes his Predecessours, which had been the occasion always of the Vices of those Men. Therefore if any of his pre­tended to have gained an Interest in him, he presently punished them. We have an in­stance of this Nature, in what he did particu­larly to one of them, whom he saw out of a Window walking in the midst betwixt two Senatours. It is severe, and yet it comes something near to a piece of Raillery. He sent one to him, to give him a Box on the Ear, and to tell him; That it was not for him to walk betwixt two Senatours, to whom he might still be reduced to be a Slave. Of all Dishes of Meat, his fancy was especially for an Oglio of Pheasants, Brawn, &c. In his time a Famine, a Plague, and an Earthquake happen'd. For all which he expiated the Gods by Sacrifices as much as it was possible; and generously succoured the People and the Cities, that were laid wast by them: There was also an Inundation of the Tiber. He made several Cities free of Rome, and to others he remitted their Tribute. No great Expeditions happened under his Reign. His Wars passed over almost in silence. He was beloved by the Soldiers; because he took [Page 70] always a great Care of them, and was very bountiful to them. The Parthians were his stedfast Friends, because he delivered them from the Yoke which Trajan had imposed up­on them. He permitted the Armenians to have a King of their own; whereas under Trajan they received a Roman Lieutenant. He did not exact of the Mesopotamians the Tribute which was imposed upon them by Trajan. The Countries of Albania and Iberia were very affectionate to him: The Kings of the Bactri­ans sent their Ambassadors to him, and hum­bly desired his Friendship.

He oftentimes himself appointed the Per­sons His Care of the Publick. who should be the Guardians to minors. He took Care of the publick Manners, no less than he did of the Discipline of the Army. He commanded the Senators and the Roman Gentlemen to appear always in Publick in Gowns. Accordingly himself, when in Italy, went always in a Gown. He received the Se­nators standing, when they came to wait up­on him at his Banquets. He settled, with the help of the Magistrates for that purpose, the Expences, beyond which no one should ex­ceed in their Feasts; which he reformed ac­cording to the antient Julian Law. He for­bad the Citizens to appear attended with so much heavy Equipages as they did, coming out of the Country. He suffered not the Baths to be opened before Two a Clock in the Af­ternoon, unless it was for the Sick. He was the first of the Emperors who took of the Knights and Gentlemen to serve him as his [Page 71] Secretaries. He had a Compassion for such a­mongst them as were poor, and he knew were of an innocent Life; as much as on the other hand, he hated a Man who was grown Rich by Craft. He took great Care to observe the Holy Rites of the Religion of the Romans: But as for others which were of Foreign Insti­tution, he slighted them. He officiated in Per­son as High Priest. He many times had Cau­ses tried before him at Rome, and in the Pro­vinces; admitting the Consuls, the Praetors, and some of the best Heads of the Senate to his assistance, as his Council. He cleansed the Lake Fucinus. He appointed Four Pro­consuls for the Administration of Justice throughout all Italy. At his coming into Africa it rained, which it not having done in that Country before in five Years; this was an occasion that he was very dear to that People.

Going always in his Travels in all Parts, with his Head uncovered, and many times in the greatest Showrs, and the greatest Colds, at last he fell into a Sickness, which obliged He sickens him to take to his Bed; and being solicitous a­bout the Person whom he should make a Choice of for his Successour, his first Thoughts carried him upon Servianus; but upon a fur­ther Consideration, as hath been said, he put him to Death, together with Fuscus, whom he hated upon the account of certain Presages and Prodigies which had happened, and which might give Fuscus the Encouragement to dare to hope for the Empire. The like jealousie [Page 72] which he was inclined to have of Pletorius Nepos, made him, that now he hated him, as much as before he had loved him. Thus he hated also Terentius Gentianus, and so much the more, as he knew, that he was beloved by the Se­nate. In short, he had an aversion to every one, His Jea­lousie. upon whom he look'd with an Eye of jealousie, as if they aspired to the Empire in his place. But still he however stifled all the Motions of that Cruelty which was in his Heart, till such time as he was brought almost to his last, of a Flux of Blood at Tivoli; and then he ordered Ser­vianus directly to be put to Death, pretending he was one who had affected the Empire, ha­ving treated the Servants of the Court with Suppers, and sat himself down in the Chair which is for the Emperor, and courted the Favour of the Soldiers. Several others at the same time by his Order, either publick or pri­vate were put to Death; which is the less to be admired, because Sabina, his own Consort, died suddenly after, not without a Suspicion of her being Poysoned by him. In the next place, he took up a Resolution to adopt Cejo­nius He adopts Aelius Verus. Commodus Verus, the Son-in Law of Ni­grinus the Conspirator before-mentioned; be­ing a Youth whose Beauty had formerly re­commended him to him. So he accordingly did it, and called him by the Name and Title of Aelius Verus Caesar, how displeasing soever this was to others. To honour whose Adop­tion, he gave the Games of the Cirque to the People, and bestowed upon both the People and the Soldiers a Free Bounty. He made him a Prae­tor, [Page 73] and gave him immediately the Charge of the Province of Pannonia. He created him a Consul, and furnished his Expences. He ap­pointed him a second time Consul, till seeing him in so ill a Condition of Health, as not to be one likely long to live. I have, said he, depended upon a falling Wall, and the Four Thou­sand Sesterces are lost, which I spent upon the People and the Soldiers upon the Adoption of Commodus. And indeed Commodus was so ill, he was not able so much as to go and re­turn his Thanks to Hadrian in the Senate, for the Honour which he had done him. And ha­ving taken at last a Dose which happened to be Who dies. too strong for him, his Illness redoubled, and he fell into a Sleep, in which he died, the first Day of January; which being a solemn Day for Congratulating the Emperor upon the New Year, and of making Oblations to the Gods, there was an Order from Hadrian to put off the Mourning on that Day for his Death.

Aelius Verus Caesar being dead, and Hadrian finding himself still worse, as to his own In­disposition, He adopts Antoninus he adopted next Arrius Antoninus, who was afterwards called Antoninus the Pious; that is, he adopted him upon this Condition, that Antoninus should adopt two others, who were Annius Verus, and Marcus Antoninus: who as they were both afterwards Emperors, were the first Two that sate upon the Throne toge­ther, and reigned in Conjunction with one another. The reason of giving to Arrius An­toninus the Title of the Pious was, because he [Page 74] shew'd himself so careful of his Father-in-Law in his great Years, that he led him by the Hand, as he went to, or came from the Se­nate; or according to others, because he was the Occasion of the Preservation of the Lives of several of the Senators, when Hadrian was in his Frensie for killing them; or lastly, be­cause he performed great Honours to the Me­mory of Hadrian after his Death. However it is, there were many who regretted the Adoption of Antoninus, and especially Catilius Severus, the Governour of Rome; who was diligently paving himself a way to the Throne, which be­ing discovered, he was deprived of his Place, and another Person put into it. Hadrian im­patient His Impa­tience in his Sick­ness. under the last Pangs of Life, com­manded a Servant to run him through with a Sword. Antoninus being made acquainted with this, went in to him, in Company with the Officers of the Court, and beseeching him to take his great Sickness, as it was unavoidable, with more constancy, he was angry at them, and commanded that the Discoverer of what he had said to the Servant should be put to Death. But Antoninus saved him, and said, That he should think himself a Parricide, if he should suffer Hadrian, who had adopted him, to be murdered. Then he made his last Will, not forgetting therein the Interest of the State. He endeavoured, after he had made his Will, to kill himself with his own Hand. But the Weapon was wrested from him; and this made him perfectly furious. He commanded a Physician to give him Poyson, who, it is [Page 75] said, chose to kill himself upon the Place, ra­ther than to Poyson his Prince.

About this time, there came a certain Wo­man, who said, She had been admonished in a Dream, that she should go and advise Hadrian not to kill himself, because he would one day re­cover; which she not observing to do as she was ordered, she pretended she had been struck blind upon it. However, she said, she was com­manded upon the same Errand again, and told, that when she had done it, and had kissed the Feet of Hadrian, she should receive her sight; so she did it, and she received her Sight ac­cordingly, after washing her Eyes in the Wa­ter of the Temple from whence she came. There came out of Pannonia to Hadrian, whilst he was in a Fever, a Man, who also preten­ded he had been long blind; who touching Hadrian, not only received his Sight, but also Hadrian was quitted of his Fever: that is, says Marius Maximus, These things were all a Fi­ction, of the Contrivance of Antoninus, to heal the wounded imagination of Hadrian, and divert him from murdering himself. Then Hadrian went to Baiae, leaving Antoninus at Rome to govern: but nothing at that Place doing him good, he sent for Antoninus to him, and died in his pre­sence at Baiae upon the Sixth Day of the Ides His Death of July. A little before his Death, he ordered Servianus, who was Ninety Years old, as I said, to be kill'd, only because he should not out­live him, and as he imagined, gain the Em­pire. Many others for pretended Offences he ordered likewise to be so served; but [Page 76] Antoninus preserved them. Dying, he spoke these Verses;

That is,

He was the Author of some Greek Verses of this sort, which were not much better. He lived Seventy Two Years, Five Months, and Seventeen Days; and reigned Twenty One Years and Eleven Months. He was tall and well His Per­sonage. made as to his Person; his Hair naturally Curling; a long Beard, which covered some Spots which he had upon his Face, and of a robust Constitution. He rid and walked very well; exercised himself constantly at Arms, and the Javelin; often hunted, and hath kill'd a Lion with his own hand; his Friends hun­ted in Company with him. At his Banquets, he had the divertisements of Tragedies, Co­medies, Dancing, Musicians, Rehearsers, and Poets. He built a House at the City of Tivoli, which was an extraordinary Structure; and gave the Names of the Lycaeum, Academia, [Page 77] Prytanaeum, Canopus, Paecile, and Tempe, which are the most Famous Names of Places abroad, together with others of the Provinces, unto the several Parts of it; and that he might leave nothing undone to adorn it, he repre­sented in another Part in Painting, the In­fernal Regions. The Signs which fore-shew'd his Death, were these: As he was in his Pray­ers His Death fore-shew­ed. on the last Anniversary of his Birth, recommending Antoninus, his Son, to the Gods, the Lappet of his Robe which he threw over his Head, slipt down of it self, and left him un­covered. A Ring which had his Effigies cut upon it, fell in like manner of it self, off his Finger. The Day before that, there came one, I know not who, scrieking and crying into the Senate; none of the Senate understood what he said; but yet Hadrian was moved at him, as if he had said something concerning his Death: Speaking to the Senate, instead of post filii mei mortem, after the Death of my Son, which he intended to say, he said, post mortem meam, after my Death. He dreamt that he had asked, and had obtained of his Father a Potion to make him sleep: Another time, that he was oppressed by a Lion.

After his Death a great many Persons spoke very hard things against him. The Senate would have made void his Acts; neither had he been deifyed, but that Antoninus begged it; who not only did this, but built a Tem­ple to him at Pozzulo, and instituted in his Honour Games to be celebrated every Five Years, and appointed him his Priests and Fra­ternities, [Page 78] with all other things belonging to the Service of a God. Upon which account it was, as many think at least, and as I have already intimated, that the Title of the Pious was given to Antoninus.

THE LIFE OF Aelius Verus Caesar.

THE Life and Reign OF THE EMPEROR ANTONINUS the Prous. Dedicated to the EMPEROR DIOCLESIAN.

TItus Aurelius Fulvius Bononius Antoninus, called the Pious, derived his Origin by his Father's side, from Nismes in Lan­guedoc. His Grandfather by his Father's side His Ex­traction. was Titus Aurelius Fulvius, who through se­veral [Page 90] other Honours, came to be twice a Con­sul, and to be the Governour of the City of Rome. His Father was Aurelius Fulvius, who was also a Consul, and a Person of great Virtue and Integrity. His Mother was Arria Fadilla. His Grandmother by his Mother's side, Bojo­nia Procilla. His Grandfather by the same side, Arrius Antoninus who was twice Con­sul, and a holy virtuous Man; who instead of Congratulating, compassionated Nerva, to see him advanced to that difficult Station of a Prince. His Wife's Father was Julius Lupus, a Consul. His Sister, by the same Venter, was Julia Fadilla. His Wife was Annia Fau­stina: by whom he had two Sons and two Daughter. The eldest Daughter married Za­mia Syllanus: the yonger to Marcus Antoninus. Antoninus Pius was born at a Seat near Lavi­nia, in the Campagna di Roma, upon the thir­teenth of the Calends of October, in the Con­sulships of Domitian and Cornelius Dolabella; which was then the twelfth time of the Con­sulship of Domitian. He was brought up at another Seat, called Laurium, upon the Aure­lian way: where he afterwards built a Palace, which hath some remains of it, standing at this day. He passed his Infancy hetwixt his two Grandfathers, sometimes with the one, and sometimes the other; and being very du­tiful and observant to all his Relations, several of them left their Estates to him, which made him very Rich.

He was handsome as to his Person, full of His Per­sonage and Con­ditions. Wit, of a sweet and courteous Behaviour, a [Page 91] generous Countenance, Easie, Eloquent, and of a polite Literature. He was Sober, a great lover of the Country and Agriculture; Mild, Bountiful; not coveting other Men's Goods; Discreet, and all this without Vanity. He was every thing, which is commendable; and may be very justly compared with Numa Pompilius, according to the Opinion of most good Men. The Senate conferred upon him Why sur­nam'd the Pious. the Title of the Pious, either because he was used to lead by the Hand, in their sight, his decrepit Father-in-Law to and from the Se­nate; (tho' it would, be rather, an impious thing not to discharge such a Devoir, than it is an Argument of great Piety to do it;) or be­cause it was he, who had preserved the lives of those whom Hadrian in his Frenzy had com­manded to be murdered; or because he decreed such infinite and unexpected Honours, to Ha­drian his Father, after his death; or because when Hadrian would have killed himself, he hindred him from it with all the care he could; or lastly, because he was in his Nature a most mild Person, and had done nothing that was disoblinging or Cruel in all his life. He lent out his Money at the small Interest of four per Cent. to assist the Poor in their Occasions, with that Fortune which he had. He was a generous Questor; splendid and noble when he was a Praetor, and Consul in Conjunction with Catilius Severus. He lived for the most part in the Country, all the time he was a private man; but wherever he was, he was in great renown. So that when Hadrian com­mitted [Page 92] the Affairs of Italy unto the Admini­stration of four Proconsuls, he made a choice of him to be one of them, to Govern in that part where he had the greatest Estate: in which he equally consulted the Honour and the Repose of this great Person.

He received an Omen of his future Succes­sion to the Empire, in the time of this his Ad­ministration. Omens of his Suc­cession to the Em­pire. For amongst the Acclamations which were made to him, as he sat upon the Bench in the Court, some cried, Auguste, Dii te servent; The Gods save your Majest [...] Next he was made the Proconsul of Asia: where he behaved himself so well, that he alone out-did his Grandfather Arrius Antoninus; the Equity of whose Government no Person had ever surpassed before. In this Proconsul­ship he received another good Omen of his future Reign. The Priests, at the City of Tralles in Lydia, who according to Custom saluted the Proconsuls upon their arrival there with an Ave Proconsul, did not say Ave Pro­consul to Antoninus, but Ave Imperator, Hail, O Emperour. At the City Ciziqua upon the Propontis, a Crown which before stood upon the Head of an Image of a God, was tran­slated from thence, and found upon a Statue of Antoninus. His Statues throughout all the Country of Hetruria were covered with swarms of Bees. As he went to Asia, he lost his eldest Daughter. His Wife, they say; 'was one that contracted a great many Censures, by the too great Liberties which she allowd herself in her Life and Conversation; which [Page 93] Antoninus dissembled as much as he could; but not without some trouble to support her Credit. After his Proconsulship, he lived or­dinarily at Rome: where he was of the Council to Hadrian; and in all things upon which Ha­drian consulted him, he made appear the sweetness of his Sentiments; and gave his Ver­dict always on the most mild and merciful side.

The occasion of his Adoption was thus, His A­doption. When Aelius Verus Caesar died, whom Hadrian had Adopted in order to succeed in the Em­pire, a day being appointed for the Senate to Assemble; Antoninus came amongst the rest, leading and supporting by the Hand his decre­pit Father-in-Law; which was so agreeable a sight, that Hadrian, some say, Adopted him for that very reason. But yet this could not be all: because Antoninus was one, who challenged his consideration upon other ac­counts. For he had always executed his part in the Government very well, and in his Pro­consulship had approved himself a Person of great Fidelity and Ability. Therefore when Hadrian had declared to the World that it was his intention to Adopt him, he took a time to deliberate with himself, whether he should consent to it, or no. This Condition was imposed upon him; that as Hadrian did A­dopt him, so he should Adopt Marcus Anto­ninus, who was his Wife's Brother's Son; and Lucius Verus, who was afterwards called Verus Antoninus, the Son of Aelius Verus Caesar who had been the first Adopted by Hadrian. So Antoninus was Adopted upon the fifth of the [Page 94] Calends of March; and having thanked Ha­drian in the Senate for the great honour which he had done him; he received the Proconsu­lar and the Tribunitian Powers upon him, as a Colleague in the Empire with his Father. Then he presented the Soldiers and the People with a Largess upon this occasion; he g [...]ve them besides, what his Father Hadrian pro­mised them. He contributed a great deal to­wards the Works of Hadrian. The Tribute which upon the occasion of his Adoption was presented him by Italy and the Provinces, h [...] remitted wholly to the first, and a Moiety of it to the latter: and he was most religiously Observant of Hadrian all the time that they afterwards lived together.

When Hadrian died at Baiae, Antotinus re­moved His Be­haviour when Emperor. his Reliques with all due Respect and Ceremony to Rome: where he laid him in State in the Gardens of Domitian; and though contrary to the general Opinion, he caused him to be received as a God. The Senate gave to Faustina, who was the Consort of Antoninus, the Title of Augusta, which he permitted. To himself they gave the Title of Pius; he ac­cepted it. He accepted very freely the Sta­tues, which they likewise decreed to the honour of his deceased Father, Mother, Grand­fathers, and Brothers. He accepted the Games of the Cirque, which were appointed to Cele­brate his Birth-day. But other Honours which they offered him he refused. He hung up a most magnificent Shield to the honour of Ha­drian, and appointed him his Priests. He [Page 95] removed none of those, out of their Places, after he was Emperour, who had been pro­moted by Hadrian. He continued the same Persons Presidents and Governours, seven or nine year's together, if they deserved it, he was so little given to change. He made many Wars by his Lieutenants. He overcame the Britains by Lollius Urbicus: who at the same time repulsed the Barbarians, and built ano­ther Wall, which was of Turf, in that Coun­try, for a Partition betwixt the Roman-Britains and them. He forced the Moors to sue to him for a Peace; he Germans, the Daci, and se­veral other Nations. The Jews in their Re­bellion were repressed by his Presidents, and his Commanders. He repressed the rebelli­ous in Achaia and Aegypt; and the Alani in their Attempts were constrained to contain themselves within due Bounds.

He ordered that his Receivers should pro­ceed with all moderation in gathering the Tri­bute of the Provinces. If they exceeded their proper limits, he called them by his Authority to an account; because he was never pleased with a Gain, by which the Subject was op­pressed. He was always willing to hearken to the Complaints, which were made against his Officers and his Receivers. He moved the Se­nate for a full Indemnity for those whom Ha­drian had in his Frenzy condemned to die; because he said, Hadrian himself, had he lived, would have done it. He mixt the Grandeur and the Majesty of an Emperour with all the Civility of a Gentleman; which the more ad­ded [Page 96] to his Grandeur. His method as to Busi­ness, was, not to pass it through the Hands of others, but to speak to the Party himself: which disabled the Courtiers from amusing and cheating People out of their Money, at any time, with empty Pretences. He paid as great a respect to the Senate, when Em­perour, as he could wish, when he was a Pri­vate Man, it should receive from any other Prince. The Title of Pater Patriae, or Fa­ther of his Country; which the Senate gave him, but which he had declined to accept in the beginning, he afterwards received with a great deal of thanks. In the third Year of Honour done to his Reign he lost his Consort Faustina. The Senate Consecrated her a Goddess. They appointed her a Temple and Priestesses; Games in her honour, and Statues of Gold and Silver. And Antoninus ordered that her Ef­figies should be carried in the Procession al­ways to the Games of the Cirque. He ac­cepted the honour of having his own Statue set up in Gold, which the Senate had decreed him. He created Marcus Antoninus from a Quaestor a Consul, at the Prayer of the Se­nate. He created Annius Verus, who was af­terwards called Verus Antoninus, a Quaestor be­fore the due time by the Law. He Enacted nothing, neither concerning the Provinces, nor any other Affairs without the advice of his Ministers, and then he formed his Constituti­ons according to their Judgments. He per­mitted himself to be seen by his Friends, un­dressed; and sometimes wore within his House, Cloaths like any private Man.

So great was his Diligence, and so entire his His Dili­gence and Modera­tion. Application to Business, that he took a Care of all Persons and all Things, as particularly as tho' they were his own. All the Provinces flourished under him: He put down the Trade of Informers. Never fewer Estates were con­fiscated: The only Person proscribed, was Attilius Tatianus, who was convicted of a De­sign upon the Empire. For Antoninus forbad the Senate to enquire into his Accomplices, and continued his Kindness even to his Son, always in all things. It is true, Priscianus died also, for having favoured him: But his Death was what he voluntarily committed upon him­self; and he suffered no more search to be made into that Conspiracy. The Table of His Fru­gality. Antoninus was such, as to be Rich without Ex­travagance, and Frugal without any unhand­someness: His own Servants furnished it: His own Fowlers, Fishers, and Huntsmen. He exposed the use of his own Bath to the People, gratis; and alter'd in nothing from the Cu­stoms of his private Life. He subtracted Pen­sions from such as he saw did nothing for them to deserve them; because he said, It was most absurd and cruel, to suffer that a State should be pilled and gnawed by Persons who contribute no­thing to it by their Service, but live in Idleness. He diminished the Pension of Mesomedes, the Lyrick Poet of Crete. He informed himself in the Accounts of all the Provinces and their Tribute perfectly well. He gave his Daugh­ter his Paternal Estate, but yet so, as to hold [Page 98] it of the Crown. He sold such of the Furni­ture of the Palace, and all Superfluities, as had only served for the Luxury of former Empe­rors; and lived by times, according to the Sea­son, at his own private Seats. He took no Journeys, but to go to his own Lands in Cam­pania; because he said, The Retinue of a Prince is always heavy upon the Country through which he passes, let him be as sparing as he can. Ne­vertheless, his Authority was great amongst all Foreign Nations, whilst he kept himself in re­pose at Rome, the Heart and Centre, as it were, of the Empire; where by his Expresses, he ea­sily received the News of all Parts. He conti­nued to give Largesses to the People, and the Soldiers. He made a charitable Establishment for the Maintenance of certain young Chil­dren, whom he called by the Name of Faustina's Children, in the memory of his Consort. His Works at this day extant at Rome, are these; His pub­lick Works a Temple to the Honour of Hadriun: The Gracostadium, after a Fire, he rebuilt: He re­pair'd the Amphitheatre, the Sepulchre of Ha­drian, the Temple of Agrippa, and the Bridge elsewhere call'd Pons Sublicius over the Tyber: he repair'd the Light-Tower at the Port of Gajetta, and the Harbour at Terracina; as also the Bagnio at Ostia, the Aqueduct at Antium, and the Temples of Lavinia. He furnished seve­ral Cities with Money, either to make them­selves. New Works, or to restore their Old: He gave to Magistrates and to the S [...]natours Money, to inable them the better to discharge [Page 99] their Functions with Honour. He refused the Inheritances which were left him, where there were Children to enjoy the same. He never turned a good Officer out of his Place, to put in another: Orphitus the Governour of the City desired leave to lay his down: Gavius Maximus was Twenty Years together, the Cap­tain of the Guards under him; a severe Man: Succeeded afterwards by Tatius Maximus. After whose Death he made Two Captains of the Guards, who were Fabius Repentinus, and Cor­nelius Victorius: Some said, That a Mistress of Antoninus was the cause of the Preferment of the first. No Senatour was put to Death un­der this Prince. Nay, one who had con­fessed himself a Parricide, and by the Laws of Nature, deserved not to live, was banished in­to a Desart Island, rather than to execute him. He relieved in a Famine, the want of Corn, Wine and Oyl, amongst the People, at the Expence of his own Coffers; by buying those Commodities up, and giving them to the People for nothing.

The Prodigies, and the Calamities which Calami­ties in his Reign. happen'd in his time were these; the Famine we now mentioned; then the Cirque fell into ruin; an Earthquake destroyed the Towns of the Island of Rhodes, and others in Asia, which he rebuilt to admiration; a Fire at Rome con­sumed Three Hundred and Forty great Houses, which he rebuilt; a Fire at the City Narbon in Languedoc; another at Antioch; another in the Forum at Carthage. There was also an Inun­dation [Page 100] of the Tyber, and a Blazing-Star ap­peared. Prodigies. A Boy was born with Two Heads, and a Woman was delivered of Five Boys at a Birth. A Snake of a great Magnitude was seen in Arabia, which had devoured one half of its own Body from the Tail. A Pestilence in Arabia. Four wild Lions in Arabia came tame to the hand, and suffered themselves to be taken.

Pharasmanes the King of Iberia came to Rome Respect of foreign Princes to him. to see Antoninus, and paid him a greater Re­spect than he had done to Hadrian. He con­stituted Pacorus King of the Lazi, a People near Iberia. He obliged the King of Parthia to withdraw his War against Armenia, by only his Letter. King Abgarus out of the East came to Rome to wait upon him, induced by only the Authority of his Name. He arbitrated Differences betwixt Kings and Kings. The King of Parthia desired him to restore the Chair of State which had been carried away from that Kingdom by Trajan: But this he re­fused. He restored Rimethalces unto the Go­vernment of the Bosphorani upon the Maeotis, after a hearing of the Affair betwixt the Pro­curator there and him. He sent Succours by the Euxine Sea to the People of Olbiopolis upon the Nieper, to assist them against the Tartars; and he reduced the Tartars to give Ho­stages to the Olbiopolites for the performance of the Conditions of Peace. No Emperor had ever that Authority, as he, amongst Foreign Nations. He was always a Lover of Peace, [Page 101] and often used that Sentence of Scipio, That he had rather save one Subject, than kill a Thou­sand of the Enemy.

The Senate had decreed, that the Months of September and October should thenceforth be called Antoninus and Faustinus, in Honour of him and his Consort: But this Honour he refused. He celebrated the Espousals of his Daughter Faustina with Marcus Antoninus, so Nobly, that he gave the Soldiers a great Bounty upon that occasion. He created Verus Antoninus, after his Questorship, a Consul. He sent for Apollonius the Stoick, as far as from the City Chalcis in Syria, to educate Marcus Antoninus; and ha­ving invited him to the Court, in order to de­liver his Scholar to him, and Apollonius making Answer, That the Master was not to come to the Scholar, but the Scholar to the Master; he smiled and said, As if it was easier for Apollonius to come His Can­dour. from Chalcis to Rome, than to come from his Lodg­ings to the Court. The Avarice of which Philo­sopher, he remarked by his acceptation of the Recompences which were promised him. A­mongst other Arguments of the Piety of An­toninus, this is one; that as Marcus Antoninus was weeping for the Death of one who had been his Educator, and the Courtiers would have diverted him from it, as an unsuitable Ostentation of the Kindness which he had for him, he said to them, Give him leave to be, as he is, a Man; for neither Philosophy nor an Em­pire takes our Natural Affections from us. The Officers of the Provinces in his time, received [Page 102] from him, not only great Presents, but such as had not been Consuls, he honoured with the Marks of those that had. But if he found them guilty of Extortion and Bribery, tho' he restored the Fortunes of Fathers unto the Children, yet he did it under this Condition; that the Children should restore to the Pro­vinces all that their Fathers had unjustly stoln from thence. He had all the Inclinations imaginable to Acts of Grace and Pardon. In the publick Shews which he gave the People, he produced Elephants, Rhinocerots, Cro­codiles, Sea-Horses, Tygers, and all sorts of Beasts from all Parts of the World. He hath exposed a Hundred Lions together at one Shew.

His behaviour towards his Friends in his Reign, was just the same as before, when he was a private Person; and neither they, not his Servants, whom he manumitted, pretended to make any Gain to themselves of their In­terest in him; particularly, he was very strict with the Latter. He was much delighted with His Recre­ations. the Diversions of the Comedians, and in Fish­ing, Hunting, Walking, and Talking with his Ministers, to whose Entertainments he went; and sometimes to the Feasts of the Vintage. He gave Honours and Recompences in Money, in the Provinces, to the Rhetoricians and the Philosophers. The Speeches which are extant under his Name, are said by many to have been of the Composition of another: but Marius Maximus says they are truly his [Page 103] own. He made Entertainments for his Friends in particular, and in publick. He never Sa­crificed by a Proxy, unless he was Sick. When he desired any Honour for himself or his Sons, he did all things as a private Candidate in the same Case. He dined with his Ministers many times at their Houses. He went one time to see the House of Omulus; where admiring the Porphyry-Pillars which he had, and asking him from whence he procured them, Omulus said, When you came, Sir, into a Strangers House, you are to be both Dumb and Deaf. He took this patiently, as he did a great many other Jests of the same Person.

He made divers Laws, in which he served His Laws. himself of the best Lawyers of his time, who were Vinidius Verus, Salvius Valens, Volusius Metianus, Ulpius Marcellus, and Jabolenus. He put an end to whatever Seditions in any Part arose; not by Force and Cruelty, but by the Modesty and the Gravity of his Judgments. He prohibited the burying of the Dead with­in the City. He limited the Expences of the Games of the Gladiators. He facilitated things for the convenience of Travelling with all the Care he could. He gave Reasons for every thing he did, either to the Senate or in his E­dicts. He died in his Seventieth Year, but was His Death. as much lamented, then, as if it had been in the flower of his Age: And the manner of his Death, they say, was this; he had eaten with great Appetite at Supper, of the Cheese which is made upon the Alps, but he brought it up [Page 104] again in the Night, and the next Day was taken with a Fever; the third Day being worse, he recommended the Empire, and the Care of his Daughter unto Marcus Antoninus, in the presence of the Court. Then he or­dered the Golden Image of Fortune, which always stands in the Emperor's Bed-Chamber, to be removed out of his Room into that of Marcus Antoninus. Then he gave the word to the Tribune, which was Equanimity; and turn­ing himself as it were to sleep, he died at his own Seat at Laurium. He was light­headed in his Fever; at which times, all his Discourse was concerning the State, and the Kings who had given him an occasion of Displeasure. He left his Paternal Estate to his Daughter, and Legacies by his Will to all his Domesticks.

He was tall and graceful; but being apt to His Per­sonage. stoop a little in his old Age, he then wore a pair of Bodice on purpose to keep himself strait. In a morning, when he grew in years, before he was visited, he eat a little dry Bread for his Health. He spoke a little broad, but yet agreeably enough The Senate made him a God, in which all People were forward to concur with them, because his Goodness, Cle­mency, Wit, and Sanctimony were universally esteemed. They decreed him all the Honours which had ever been bestowed upon the best Princes. They appointed him an Order of Priests of his own Name, a Temple, and the Honour of the Games of the Cirque. He was [Page 105] absolutely the only one of all the Emperors who lived without having ever shed the Blood either of Citizen or Enemy; and as his Reign was attended with the same Felicity and Goodness, the same Security and Reli­giousness, with that of Numa Pompilius, he may very well be put in the Comparison with that Prince. He reigned Twenty Three Years.

THE A. Christi CLXII. Life and Reign OF THE EMPEROR Marcus Aurelius Antoninus, The PHILOSOPHER.

MArcus Antoninus was a Lover of Wis­dom, a Philosophical Man all his time, and the best, as to the Sanctity of his Life, of all the Emperors before him: His Father was Annius Verus, who died in his Praetor­ship: His Ex­traction. His Grandfather was another Annius [Page 107] Verus, who was twice Consul, and the Gover­nour of the City of Rome; having been ad­mitted amongst the Patricians by Vespasian and Titus, when they were Censours. His Uncle by his Father's side was Annius Libo, a Consul; the Empress Galeria Faustina was his Aunt: his Mother was Domitia Calvilla, the Daughter of Calvisius Tullus, who was twice Consul: his Father's Grandfather was Annius Verus, origi­nally of Succubae in Spain, who was a Praetor and a Senator: his Mother's Grandfather was Catilius Severus, who was twice Consul, and Governour of Rome: his Grandmother by his Father's side was Rupilia Faustina the Daugh­ter of Rupilius Bonus, who was a Consul also.

Marcus Antoninus was born at Rome, upon Mount Caelius, in the Gardens [...]e, the Sixth of the Calends of May, under the Consulships of his Grandfather and Augur, which was then the Second Consulship of his Grandfather. His Family, if we carry it up to the highest, is proved to partake of the Blood of Numa Pompilius by his Father's side, according to Marius Maximus; and by his Mother's, to come from Malennius, a King of the antient Salentini in Naples, who was the Son of Da­sumnus, who built Lopiae. He was brought up where he was born, and partly in the House of his Grandfather Verus, hard by the Lateran Palace. He had a Sister who was younger than he, called Annia Cornificia. His Wife was Annia Faustina, who was his Cousin German by his Mother's side. At first his Name was [Page 108] Annius Verus, from his Father and his Grand­father. Hadrian called him Annius Verissimus, because of the Integrity of his Temper. But afterwards he re-assured his first Name again of Annius Verus, because his Grandfather (his Father dying) adopted him, and educated him.

He was from his first Infancy grave and se­rious; and after he was out of those Years in which Children are in the hands of the Women, His Edu­cation. he was delivered to the Tuition of great Ma­sters, who prepared his way for Philosophy. His Masters to teach him his first Elements of Letters, were Euphorion the Grammarian, Ge­minus a Comedian, and Andron, who was both a Musician and a Geometrician. As these Three were they, who laid the Foundation for him to [...]eed to all other Learning, so he ever had [...] [...]n very great Respect. His Masters to teach him Grammar were, for the Greek, Alexander; for the Latin, Trosius Aper, Pollio, and Eutychius Proculus of Sicca in Africa. His-Masters to teach him Rhetorick, were for the Greek, Annius Marcus, Caninius Celer, and Herodes Atticus; for the Latin, Fronto Cornelius; amongst all which, he had a particular Re­spect for Fronto, and desired the Senate to set up his Statue; and Proculus he advanced to be a Proconsul. He applied himself extremely to the Study of Philosophy, whilst he was but yet a Youth. In his Twelfth Year he entred And Pro­ficiency. himself amongst the Philosophers, wore their Habit, practised their Severities, studied as they did, lay upon the Ground, and was with great [Page 109] Difficulty persuaded by his Mother to make use of an ordinary Couch. Commodus, whose Daughter it was designed that he should mar­ry, was another of his Masters; and also Apollonius a Stoick Philosopher of Chalcis in Syria.

Such was his great Love to the Study of Philosophy, that after his adoption into the Im­perial Family, he went himself to the House of Apollonius to learn there of him. He likewise went to hear the Dictates of Sextus a Philosopher of Chaeronea in Beotia, and the Kinsman of Plu­tarch, as also Junius Rusticus, Claudius Maximus, and Cinsia Catullus, all Stoicks. For the Peri­patetick Philosophy he heard Claudius Severus. Amongst these, he had particularly a Respect His Re­spect for his Pre­ceptors. for Junius Rusticus, and followed him; being one who was not only excellent at the Stoick Philosophy, but a very understanding Person besides, whether in Peace or War. With him he communicated all his publick and private Counsels: He saluted him always before he did the Captain of the Guards: He made him twice Consul, and after his Death, desired the Senate to set up his Statue. He had that great Honour for his other Masters, that he set up their Images in Gold in his Closet, and vi­sited their Sepulchres, which he adorned with Crowns, and Victims, and Flowers. To all this, he studied the Law, in which he heard the Dictates of Lucius Volusius Metianus. In fine, the Labour and the Travel which he be­stowed in Study, really affected his Health; his excess in it, was the only Fault of his [Page 110] Youth. He went often to the Declamations at the Publick Schools. His fellow Students, whom he more particularly loved, were Sejus Fuscianus, and Aufidius Victorinus, of the Se­natorian Families: and Baebius Longus, and Calenus, of the Gentlemen: to whom he was very generous, and such as he could not for the condition of their lives prefer to Employ­ments, he inriched by other means.

He was Educated in some sort in the bo­some of Hadrian, who called him, as I have said, Annius Verissimus, and at six years of Age conferred a mark of Honour upon him, and at eight years of Age, put him into the College of the Priests of Mars: in which he passed through the several Functions and Offices of that Order, not without receiving an Omen there of his succession to the Em­pire. He put on the Roman, that is, the Man's Gown in his fifteenth year; and presently the He is Contra­cted. Daughter of Lucius Cejonius Commodus was Contracted to him, according to the last Will of Hadrian. He was left the Governour of Rome, in the interim whilst the Consuls went to the Sacrifices of the Latinae Feriae upon Mount Alban. In which honour he ac­quitted himself to the general Approbation. He released all his Paternal Estate to his Sister. His Mother would have advised him to divide it only; but he said, he was contented with the Estate of his Grandfather; and if she pleased, she also might give his Sister her Estate to make her the better match for her Husband: He had so much complaisance for others, [Page 111] that he suffered himself to be persuaded, some­times against his will, to go either to the Chases of the Amphitheatre, or the Plays of the Stage, or other Shews. He learnt Paint­ing, in which his Master was Diognetus. He His Exer­cises and Chara­cter. loved the Games of Fencing, Wrestling, Run­ning, Fowling and Hunting, for Exercise. He played at the Ball. But above all these things the study of Philosophy gained his Heart; and rendred him perfectly grave and serious. Not but that yet he was in all respects obliging and courteous to every one; especially his Friends, and such as were but in the least known to him. So that he was Reserved with­out Opiniatrety, Modest without Flatness, and Grave without Austereness.

This being his Character, when Hadrian, after the death of Aelius Verus Caesar was to chuse some other Person to be his Successour in the Empire, which this Youth was not Pro­per for as yet, upon the account of his Age, being then only eighteen years old; he A­dopted Antoninus the Pious, who was Uncle to him, under a condition that Pius should Adopt Marcus, and that Marcus should A­dopt Lucius Commodus Verus. Marcus received His A­doption. the News of his Adoption, more with a Con­sternation, than Joy; and when he was or­dered to be removed into a House of Hadrian's, it was with an unwilling mind, that he took his leave of that of his Mother. Insomuch that his Servants asking him, why he came so sad into the Royal Family, he reasoned with them upon the Evils which are contained in [Page 112] the life of a Prince. Then he began first to be called, instead of Annius, Marcus Aurelius; because by the Right of his Adoption he was Translated into the Aurelian Family, that is, into that of Antoninus Pius. This was in the eighteenth year of his Age, under the Second Consulship of Antoninus his (now) Father: and the Senate dispensing with him, as to that Age, at the request of Hadrian he was made a Quaestor. He paid to all his Rela­tions, after he was Adopted, the same Re­spects altogether, as before. He observed his Studies as much, and was as good a Husband of his Expences: and he resigned himself wholly both to act, speak, and think, according to the instructions of his Father.

When Hadrian dyed at Baiae, and Pius was also gone thither to remove his Body to Rome; Marcus Antoninus was left at Rome to order the Funeral Obsequies of his Grandfather; and being then Quaestor, he exhibited to the People the Games of the Gladiatours. Now Hadrian had ordered, when he Adopted Antoninus Pius, that Pius should Marry his Daughter to Verus the Son of Aelius Verus Caesar, and that the Daughter of Lucius Cejonius Commodus should Marry Marcus Antoninus. But Verus was not as yet of an Age for that Daughter. There­fore when Hadrian was dead, it was thought fit by Pius and his Empress, to break off the Match of Marcus Antoninus with the Daughter of Commodus, and to Marry their own Daugh­ter Faustina to him; to which Marcus con­sented. Hereupon Pius advanced him, from [Page 113] a Quaestor, to be Consul in Conjunction with himself, and gave him the Title of Caesar. He made him one of the six Seviri; and honoured him with his presence at his Publick Games. He appointed his Apartments in the Court, and ordered him to be there attended (contra­ry to his own Inclination) with all Pomp and Ceremony. He passed him thro' the Colleges of the Priests, according to the desire of the Senate. He made him a second time Consul with himself; when himself entred upon his fourth Consulship. But at the same time that Marcus was possessed of these high Honours, and assisted at all things which his Father did in order to be formed to the Go­vernment of the Empire, he went passionately nevertheless to his Studies. He married Fau­stina, His wife and Rela­tions. by whom he had a Daughter. Then the Tribunitian, and the Proconsular Powers were given him, and the right of a fifth Re­ference: so that his Interest became so great, that his Father never easily Promoted any one without him. He was always the most duti­ful to his Father, that it was possible for any one to be; howsoever some were willing to whisper Pius in the Ear with things against him; particularly Valerius Omulus; who one day taking notice of Calvilla the Mother of Marcus, as she was at her Devotions in a Gar­den before an Image of Apollo, says he to Pius, That Lady there is now Praying for your death, and for the Reign of her Son. But this was al­together of no weight with him: because he [...]aw the great Probity of Marcus, and with [Page 114] what Modesty he carried himself under the Honour of his Ascension to the degree of a Prince.

He was so careful to weigh all things well, to preserve his Reputation, that in his youth­ful years he always ordered his Servants to do nothing that was hard upon any body; and sometimes when Estates were left to him, he refused them, if he could, to give them to the next of the Family, He lived three and twenty years together in the Court with his Father, and yet he was every day beloved more and more; and in all that time he was not absent from him above two nights. Where­fore when Antoninus Pius came to dye, he cal­led his Ministers and his Friends about him; and recommended to them all, Marcus, as his Successour in the Empire. He gave the Tri­bune the Word, which was Aequanimity, and immediately he ordered the Golden Image of Fortune, which stood in his Bedchamber, to be translated into the Bed-chamber of Marcus. After the death of Pius, the Senate constrain­ing He is cre­ated Em­peror, and Verus his Partner. Marcus to take the Publick Government upon him, he nominated Verus to be his Part­ner in the same; declaring him Caesar and Em­peror; from which time they equally began to Reign together, and were the first two Em­perours, who sate at once upon the Throne of Rome. He called himself by the name of Marcus Antoninus; and he called his Brother Emperour by the name of Verus Antoninus; to whom he Contracted his Daughter Lucilla For an Act of goodness upon the occasion of [Page 115] this Conjunction, they inlarged the Charity of their Predecessors, for the Maintenance of the Children of poor Families, and added other Pensions to them. From the Senate, af­ter having finished their Affairs there, they both went together to the Camp of the Guards: where they promised the Soldiers a Bounty of twenty thousand Sesterces, and to the Officers proportionably, as usual, upon the occasion of their joynt Reigns. They made a magnificent Funeral for their Father, whom they interred in the Sepulchre of Ha­drian. They proceeded to Consecrate him a God. Each made an Oration in Publick in his Praise; and having appointed him his Or­der of Priests out of the number of his Friends, they distinguished them, by calling them after the name of his Family.

Possessed thus of the Empire, they both Their good Govern­ment. comported themselves so well, that none could complain of the loss of the gentle Reign of Pius. Marullus, the Satyrical Poet of that time, had some flings at them, but he passed un­punished. They concluded the Funeral Ob­sequies of their Father, with the Games of the Gladiatours. In the mean time Marcus gave himself still to Philosophy, and courted the love of the People. But the felicity and the quiet of their Reigns was interrupted, first by an Inundation of the Tyber, which was very terrible. It not only carried away several Buildings of the City, and destroyed a great many Cattle, but it produced a most grievous Famine: which Calamities were moderated [Page 116] as much as possible by the Care and the Pre­sence of Marcus and Verus. Then the Par­thian Several Wars be­gun. War arose; which Vologesus, the King of that Country, had been hatching under Pius, but he did not Proclaim it till the Reign of Marcus and Verus; at what time he attack'd Atidius Cornelianus, the Lieutenant of Syria, and put him to flight. Also a War with the Britains was upon the point of kindling, and the Catti had already made Incursions into Germany and Rhaetia. So against the Britains Calphurnius Agricola was sent. Against the Catti, Aufidius Victorinus. But to the Parthian War the Emperour Verus was appointed to go, with the advice of the Senate; whilst Marcus tarried at Rome, where the Civil Affairs re­quired the presence at least of one Emperour. He accompanied Verus as far as to Capu [...], and honoured him with a Retinue of Great Men out of the Senate, and Officers for his Court of all sorts, to be both his Ministers and his Companions with him in the Expedition. But no sooner was Marcus returned to Rome, but he received advice, that Verus was sick at Ca­nosa in Naples. He offered his Vows in the Senate for his Recovery, and then went in all haste to see him there: and being return'd to Rome the second time, he next received an ac­count, that Verus was safely arrived in Syria; where he passed his time in Sports and Hunt­ing, and lived at Antioch and the Village of Daphne in the greatest pleasure, whilst his Ge­nerals carried on the Parthian War; in which they had the Victory of the Enemy. In [Page 117] the mean time Marcus was continually attent upon the Affairs of the State; and seemed to take the Pleasures of his Brother, as if he was indifferent to them, or knew nothing of them. He ordered and managed all things necessary for the War, and yet lived the distance of Rome from it.

The Affairs of Armenia were prosperous, Their Suc­cess. and the City Teflis upon the Araxis was taken by Statius Priscus. Hereupon both the Em­perours were presented with the Title of Con­querours of the Armenians, which Marcus in modesty first at refused, but afterwards accepted. They were both in like manner, after the War was over, presented with the Title of Con­querours of the Parthians; and this also Mar­cus at first refused, but afterwards accepted. The Title of Pater Patriae, or Father of his Country, which had been offered to Marcus in the absence of Verus, he deferred to meddle with, till the return of Verus: because he would not assume it, but in Conjunction with him. In the mean time having Contracted his Daughter Lucilla in Marriage to him, he presented her richly, and sent her into Sy­ria, in the midst of the War, attended by his Sister, and Civica, the Uncle of Verus. He went with her himself, as far as to Brin­disi in Naples, and had intended to see her over the Water, if the Discourses of some, as if he had desired to Challenge to himself the glory of finishing the War, and upon that account was for going into Syria, had not cal­led him back to Rome. He writ to the Pro­consul [Page 118] to take care, that she was not inter­rupted by any in her Journey.

Whilst these things passed, Marcus Antoninus Publick Constitu­tions. made a Law, which is an extraordinary secu­rity to People, in cases concerning their Free­dom; he was the first that contrived it, and it is thus; he ordered every Roman Citizen, who had a Child born, to enter the name of the Child before the Treasurers of the Ex­chequer, within thirty days. In the Provinces he erected Publick Notaries, before whom the same thing should be done upon the Births there, as before the Treasurers of the Ex­chequer at Rome: so that when any Person born in any Province hath a Cause in Hand concerning his Freedom, he hath no more to do, than to bring from that Province a Testi­ficate of his Birth; this corroborated the whole Law concerning Freedoms. He made other Laws concerning Bankers and Auctions.

In divers Causes, in which himself espe­cially Great De­ference to the Senate. was concerned, he made the Senate the Judge. He ordered, that Actions, having reference to the Freedom or Servitude of Persons Defunct, should be brought within five years from their deaths, or be ex­cluded for ever. No Prince ever deferred more to the Senate than he. He delegated to several of them, of the degree of Praetors and Consuls, the decision of many Affairs; only that their command so far in the Law should be a means to possess them with the greater Honour. He admitted several of his Relations into the Senate, whom he had made [Page 119] Aediles or Praetors. He granted to several Se­natours, that were poor, provided that it was without reproach, the Offices of Tribunes and Aediles. He made no one a Senatour, un­less he had a very good knowledge of him. In this also he shew'd his respect to them, that whenever a Senatour underwent a Tryal for his life, he heard him first in private, be­fore he tryed him in publick; and he suffered none of the Order of the Knights and Gen­tlemen to assist in such a Case. He went con­stantly, as much as possible, to the Senate, though he had nothing to propose to them, if he was at Rome: but when he had any thing to propose to them, he came in Person to do it, if it were out of Campagnia. He often assisted in the Courts of Judicature, till it was night; and never withdrew out of the Senate till the Consul himself dismist it. He made the Senate the Judge in cases of Appeals from the Consuls. He shew'd himself very di­ligent upon all Judiciary matters. He marked out the Law-days in the Kalendar, when Business was to be done, and Causes tryed. In the whole year, they were to the number of two hundred and thirty. He first gave the Praetors a power to appoint Guardians to Mi­nors, who before were appointed by the Au­thority of the Consuls; which he did, to ex­pedite the Actions in that case.

He regulated the excess of the Publick Ex­pences in Feasts and Games. He interposed against the Trade of Informers; and when he found them false, he branded them. He con­temned [Page 120] the Accusations, which were suggested to him to enrich his Exchequer. He contrived many things very Prudently relating to the Publick Stores. He made Senatours the Cu­ratours to several Cities; to extend so much the more, the glory of their Order. He re­lieved the Cities of Italy in a time of great Fa­mine, with Corn sent from Rome. He look­ed after every thing, that concerned the Ma­gazines of Corn. He moderated the Games of the Gladiatours, all manner of ways. He diminish'd the Gratuities, given to, or ex­acted by the Comedians. He took a great care of the Streets of the City, and the High­ways. He appointed Officers over the Pro­vinces of Italy, for the Administration of Ju­stice, in the Nature of the Proconsuls, which had been before appointed by Hadrian. He repeopled Spain, which was exhausted by con­tinual Levyes, with Colonies from Italy. In which contravening the Ordinances of Tra­jan, he expressed himself with great modesty and respect to the memory of that Prince. He added other Laws concerning the Tax called Vicessima, the Tutelage of Servants, Maternal Estates, and the succession of the Children unto them. He ordered, that such Senatours, who were Foreigners, should however buy themselves a fourth of their Estates in Italy. He gave power to the Curatours of the Towns and the Highways either to punish, or to re­mit to the Governour of Rome to be punished, such as exacted more from any Persons, than what they were justly taxed to. As to the [Page 121] rest, he rather restored the old Laws, than created new ones. He had Lawyers always with him, by whose Opinion, and according to whose Forms he gave Sentence in Law, and published his Ordinances. Particularly Scaevola, was one excellent Lawyer that he much used.

The People lived under him, altogether as Modera­tion of Antoni­nus. in a Free-City. He was extremely well disposed in all things, to deter Persons from evil, and to invite them to good. He re­warded plentifully, and pardoned graciously: he made them of ill, good Men; and of good Men, he made them extraordinary good. He took a Raillery upon these occasions very patiently. One Veterasinus, who was of an ill Fame, begging an honourable Employment of him, he advised him to clear himself first from the Censures of the People. Veterasinus answering, he saw some that were made Prae­tors, that he had fought Prizes with upon the Publick Stage; the Emperor took it, and said nothing. He was not forward to punish. If any Praetor had behaved himself in some things ill, yet he did not turn him out of his Praetorship, but ordered him to remit his Busi­ness intirely into the Hands of his Col­league. He never in his Judgments favoured the Exchequer in a Matter of Gain, when it hath been upon himself to give Sentence. He was firm to himself, and his purpose; and yet his Resolution was set off with Modesty, espe­cially where he was even obliged to give re­pulse. After his Brother was returned a Con­querour [Page 122] from Syria, the Title of Pater Patria was given to them both. For Marcus had in his absence comported himself to all the Sena­tours, and all People, well. An Oaken, or which is otherwise called a Civick Crown, was equally presented to them both; and Ve­rus desired that Marcus should Triumph with him. He desired that the Sons of Marcus should be also called Caesars. But such was the great moderation of Marcus, that though he joyned in the Triumph, in Company with him, he relinquished to him intirely (when Verus was dead) the Title of the Conquerour of the Parthians; and stiled himself only the Con­querour of the Germans; which was a Title he had from a War of his own. So they car­ried the Children of Marcus of either Sex, in the Triumph with them; even his Virgin-Daughters; and they beheld the Games which were Celebrated upon the occasion, with their triumphal Habits upon them. Amongst other remarkable things of the Pity of Marcus, it is not fit to forget this; that he ordered Fea­ther-beds to be spread under the Rope-dancers, after an accidental fall of a Boy from the Rope: which is the reason that we have a Cu­stom of hanging a Net under them at this day.

Whilst the Parthian War was yet on Foot, War with the Mar­comanni. another War kindled with the Marcomanni in Germany: which was suspended a good while by the Art of the Officers upon the Frontiers, that it should not trouble us till the Oriental War was over. It was five years from the begin­ning [Page 123] of that War, to the return of Verus. At whose return, Marcus declared to the Senate, that as he had sometime before given them In­timations of a War in Germany, so it was ne­cessary that now both the Emperours in Person should repair to it. Now the terrour of this Marcomannick War was so great, that Marcus was obliged to send for Priests from all parts, to dispatch the vast number of Sacrifices, which were vowed and offered upon this occasion. He Celebrated all the Sacred Foreign Rites that were ever seen at Rome; and purged the City of Rome all manner of ways; and Cele­brated the Feasts of Lectisternia seven days together. A Pestilence at the same time pre­vailed, A great Plague. which was so great, that the dead were carried off in Carts and Wagons. This obliged the two Princes to make strict Laws con­cerning Burials and Sepulchres: in which they provided, that it should not be at the Liberty of Persons to build their Sepulchres in what place they pleased; which is still in force at this day. Many thousands dyed of this Pesti­lence; several of the Nobility: whereof the most considerable had their Statues set up by Marcus Antoninus. Who in his great Cle­mency took that care of the Common People, that he ordered them to be buried upon his own Expence. The Marcomanni and their Confederates being now actually in Arms, and putting all things into Confusion, the two Emperours, arrayed in their Military Apparel, set forward together upon the Expedition. Their March had no small effect with it, as [Page 124] soon as they came, but as far as to Aquileia. For the Kings of the Enemy for the most part not only retreated with their Men, but put to death the Authors of their Insurrection. The Quadi, whose King was dead, said that they would not confirm the Person his Successour, who had been Created in his place, till our Emperours approved him: others sent Am­bassadours to them to ask their Pardon for their disobedience: so that Verus his Opinion, who had set out much against his will in the beginning, was for returning back to Rome: especially having lost the Captain of the Guards, Furius Victorinus, and a part of the Army. But Marcus believing that the Bar­barians dissembled, and that both their Re­treat, and the other things which they did, were only out of a fear of being oppressed with the weight of so great a Force, he de­clared himself to be for pursuing the War. Therefore they marched on, and crossed the Alpes, having settled all things in order, for the safety of Italy and Illyricum. However Verus was urgent for going back to Rome: to which Marcus at last consented, and that the Senate should have notice given them of it by Letter. But as they were afterwards upon the Road in the Coach together Verus was Death of Verus. suddenly taken with an Apoplexy and died.

Marcus was so little affected for his part with those Pleasures, which were the real Rea­son of Verus his desire to return to Rome, that he both Read, and hearkned to any one's Business, and signed Orders whilst he hath [Page 125] been at the shews of the Cirque; which made the People, they say, sometimes pass their Raille­ries upon him. Geminas and Agaclytus, two manumitted Servants of Verus, had a great In­fluence over their Master. But yet Marcus dissembled, and even excused the Faults of Verus, tho' they displeased him never so much. He deified him after his Death. He provided honourably for his Aunts and his Sisters. He appointed a great many Sacrifices to his Ho­nour. He appointed his Priests, and gave him all the other Respects which are paid to the Gods. But as there is no Prince but is subject to the most outragious Censure; Marcus was for all this represented, as if he had either poy­soned Verus by a Knife invenom'd on one side, with which he cut a piece of a Sacrifice, and gave Verus the invenomed part to eat, whilst he reserved the sound to himself, or at least, that he killed him by his Physician Posidip­ [...]us, by letting him Blood unseasonably.

After the Death of Verus, Avidius Cassius re­volted from Marcus. Tho' Marcus was so indulging to Verus his Relations, and all that belonged to him, that he did them all the Ho­nours that it was possible. Commodus his Son, Commo­dus decla­red Caesar. as wicked and profligate as he was, received from him the Title of Caesar, the Dignity of the Priesthood, the Title of Emperor, a share [...]n the Triumph with him, and the Consulship. At the same time the Father attended the Tri­umphal Chariot of the Son on Foot, in the Cirque. Now when Marcus reigned alone after the Death of Verus, he was much more [Page 126] easie, and more abundant in good Actions than he could be before, because he was hin­dered with the Errours of his Brother. He was one for his own Part, of that Tranquil­lity of Mind, that he never changed his Coun­tenance either with Sorrow or Joy; following exactly the Precepts of the Stoick Philosophy, which he had learnt from all the best Masters, and which he had diligently collected from all Parts. Hadrian would have made him his im­mediate Successour, had not his Minority the [...] hindred it. Nevertheless, he chose him for one, whom he obliged Pius to adopt; that a he was deserving of the Roman Empire, i [...] should sooner or later certainly come to him.

So he treated the Provinces with a great deal of Moderation and Goodness, and managed his Affairs happily against the Germans. He went through with the Marcomannick War End of the Mar­comannic War. than which a greater hath not been known in any Age, with a Bravery equally extraordi­nary as the Success; and this at a time when a grievous Pestilence swept away many Thou­sands of the People and the Army. The Marcomanni, the Sarmatians, the Vandals, the Quadi, being extinguished by him, he deli­vered the Country of Pannonia out of its Ser­vitude; for which he triumphed at Rome, and his Son Commodus with him, whom he had created Caesar. He had exhausted all his Coffers upon this War; and because he could not persuade himself to command any thing from the Provinces to over-charge them, he [Page 127] made an Auction in the Forum of Trajan of the Goods of his Houshold. He sold the Ves­sels of Gold, Crystal and Myrrh, the Royal Services, Rich Garments of his Wife's which were embroidered with Gold, and several Je­wels which were laid up in the Cabinet of Hadrian. The Sale continued Two Months, and such a considerable Sum was produced by it, that having prosecuted the Reliques of the Marcomannick War with it, according to his desire, he gave the Buyers the Liberty to re­turn if they pleased their Purchases, and take their Money again. But whether they did or no, he was satisfied, and allowed Gentlemen to have their Tables as splendid as himself. In the publick Shews which he gave the People at his Triumph, he was so Magnificent, that he exposed a Hundred Lions together, to be shot to death with Arrows.

Having therefore Reigned to the general Love of all the People, who called him by the endearing Terms of, sometimes their Brother, sometimes Father, sometimes Son, as every one's Age was, he died in the Eighteenth Year Death of Antoninu [...] of his Empire, and the Sixty First of his Age. The Love of him amongst all the People ap­pear'd on the Day of his interment. Because none thought him then an Object to be lamen­ted, but assured themselves, that as he had been formed and lent them by the Gods, so he was returned to the Gods. Before his Fune­ral was well finished, a thing which never was known to be done before, nor since, the Se­nate and the People in one Body upon the [Page 128] place, pronounced him a Propitious Deity. This great Man, who was so Excellent him­self, and so ally'd to the Gods, both in his Life and Death, left a Son, Commodus, who was so ill on the other hand, that it had been happy he had never had him. Nay, it was a small thing, that Persons of all Ages, Sexes, Conditions and Dignities, honoured Marcus as a God; for he was judged Sacrilegious, who­ever had not his Image in his House, if his fortune permitted him. To this day in many Families, the Statues of Marcus Antoninus stand, amongst the Houshold Deities; and some Per­sons have firmly and publickly averred, that he hath predicted many future and true thing to them in Dreams. A Temple was erected to him, and an Order of Priests of his own Name appointed him, with all other things which to consecrated Persons have ever been ascribed by Antiquity.

Some say, and it is not unlikely, that Com­modus Antoninus his Successor and his Son, was a sort of an Adulterous Birth, the Story where­of is represented commonly thus. Faustina Story of the Birth of Com­modus. the Wife of Marcus, and formerly the Daugh­ter of Antoninus Pius, seeing one Day the Gla­diators enter the Amphitheatre, fell in love with one of them to that degree, that she la­boured under a long Sickness upon it, till at last she confessed the Cause to her Husband. Marcus advised with the Magicians, whose Counsel it was, to put to Death that Gladia­tor, and that Faustina should wash her Secrets with his Blood, and then lie with her Hus­band: [Page 129] This was done, and her Love cured. But Commodus was born after it, more a Gladiator than a Prince; because when he was Emperor, he fought almost a Thousand Combats with the Gladiators, in the publick view of the People, as we shall have occasion to say in his Life. And that which makes this Story the more credible, is, this Son of so Holy a Father, was a Man of those profligate Manners, that no com­mon Sword-player, Actor, Baiter of Beasts, nor in fine, no one, tho' of the sink of all Shame and Wickedness, was like him. O­thers say, that he was absolutely a Bastard; and that Faustina, when she was at the Port of Gajetta, chose herself there by the Eye, the Seamen generally working naked, what Men she saw were the best provided, both out of the Sea-men and the Gladiators; wherefore Mar­cus Antoninus was advised by one, if he would not punish her by Death, to divorce her. To which he answered, If I divorce my Wife, I must return her her Dower. But her Dower was the Empire which he had received from her Father, who had adopted him at the de­sire of Hadrian. Certainly the Virtue, the In­tegrity, the Tranquillity, the Piety of a good Prince, is a thing of that prevalence, that the ill Character, not so much as of the nearest Relation, can defame him. And so it was with Marcus Antoninus, who persevering still in his own virtuous way, and not changing in any thing upon the whispers or calumnies of the People, neither his Gladiator-Son was a prejudice to him, nor his impure Consort. [Page 130] He is (as he hath ever been) esteemed a God to this Day; and particularly by you, O most Sacred Emperor Dioclesian, who have a Vene­ration for him, even above the rest of your Gods, and are pleased often to say, That you chiefly wish yourself like him in his Life, and the Clemency which he always exercised; tho' should Plato return into the World again, he could not parallel him with all his Philosophy. The things that passed under Marcus Antoninus, after the Death of Verus, were these: First, the Body of Verus was brought to Rome, and interred in the Sepulchre of his Ancestors, and Ver [...] made a God. Then Marcus thanked the Se­nate for having Consecrated his Brother, but intimated at the same time, As if the Counsels by which the Parthians were overcome, had been much owing to himself; and that now, he would govern as it were upon a new and better Founda­tion. The Senate took it in the Sense which Marcus meant, and seemed to congratulate, that Verus was departed this Life. However, Marcus provided very honourably for Verus's Sisters, Relations and Servants. Indeed he was very Curious of his Reputation, and enquired always what every one said of him, and cor­rected himself accordingly in such things as they seemed to blame him for, with reason Going to the War in Germany, he re-married his Daughter to Claudius Pompeianus, the Eldest Son of a Roman Knight, of a Family of the City of Antioch, but not of the highest No­bility. He afterwards made him Twice Con­sul, in consideration that his Daughter was [Page 131] so much his Superior; which Match however, did neither please her nor her Mother.

The Moors laying waste almost all Spain, he Tumults, &c. quel­led. employed his Lieutenants against them, who reduced them: In Egypt, the Robbers about the Parts called Bucolia, committing divers great Disorders, they were also reduced by Avidius Cassius, who afterwards set himself up for the Empire. About this time Marcus An­toninus, whilst he was at his Retreat at Pale­strina, lost his Son called Verus Caesar, of the Age of Seven Years, by lancing a Tumour which he had under his Ear. The Mourn­ing for whom was kept but Five Days, and then he applied himself again to the publick Business. It was the time of the Celebration of the Games of Jupiter, which he would not suffer to be interrupted by a more solemn Mourning; so he only ordered Statues to be set up to the Memory of the deceased, and his Image in Gold to be carried in Pomp in the Cirque, and his Name to be inserted into the Hymn of the Priests of Mars. In the time of the Pestilence beforementioned, Marcus was especially diligent to restore the Worship of the Gods. Against the Marcomannick War, he made Soldiers of Slaves and Gladiators. Others he had who were called Voluntiers. He listed the Robbers of Dalmatia and Dar­dania. He served himself of some Troops out of Phrygia, and fought Auxiliaries of the Ger­mans against the Germans. He used all man­ner of Diligence to compleat his Legions for this War; and because he would not exact [Page 132] Money upon the Provinces, he made an Au­ction, as I said, of the precious Moveables of his Houshold in the Forum of Trajan; in which, besides Cloaths and Plate, he sold the Images and the Pictures which were of the Hands of the Great Masters. At length, he defeated the Marcomanni at the Passage of the Danube, and restored their Spoils to the Provinces.

All the Nations from the Borders of Illyri­cum The Con­federate Nations. as far as to Gallia, had confederated a­gainst us. The Marcomanni, the Narisci, the Hermunduri, the Quadi, the Suevi, the Sarmatae, the Latringes, and the Bursi. To these were joyned, the Victovali, the Sosives, the Sicobotes, the Roxolani, the Bastarnae, the Alani, the Pe [...] ­cini, the Costoborei, and others. His other Wars were the Parthian War, and the Britannick War. Now it was with great Pains and La­bour, that he overcame as he did, Nations so stubborn as all these. The Soldiers followed his Example; the Lieutenant-Generals, and the Captains of the Guards marched in Per­son at the Head of their Men; so he obliged the Marcomanni to surrender themselves, and a great many of them were transplanted into Italy. But before he went upon any thing of Importance, not only in War, but in the Civil Affairs, he advised always with his great Officers. It was always his saying, It is more fitting that he should follow the Counsel of so many faithful Friends, as they were, than that they all should follow him who was but one. A great many of the Nobility were kill'd in that German or Marcomannick, or rather, that War of a mul­titude [Page 133] of Nations, whose Statues he set up in the Forum of Trajan. Therefore his Friends intreated him often to retire from the Dan­ger and come to Rome: But he persisted in his own Resolutions, and did not withdraw till all was finished. He changed the Pro­consular Provinces into Consular, and the Con­sular into Proconsular, or Praetorian, accor­ding as the occasions of the War required. He composed by his Severity, and the rigour of his Discipline, the Troubles that were arisen in Burgundy and in Portugal. He sent for Commo­dus puts on the Gown. his Son Commodus to the Frontiers of Ger­many, where he put upon him the Man's Gown; upon which occasion he gave a Lar­gess to the People, and next he made him a Consul, although it was before his proper time.

When any Person was at any time proscri­bed by the Governour of Rome, he did not at all take the News well. He was always very reserved how he gave away publick Money; which is rather to his Praise than to his Re­proach. And yet he was always disposed to give Money to good Men, towards the Relief of Towns which were fallen into decay; and where he saw a Necessity for it, he remitted the Tribute and the Taxes. In his absence he ordered that the publick Divertisements of Rome should be taken care of by such as were the richest to publish them. This obviated a Discourse which was amongst the People, when he had carried away the Gladiators to the War, as if he designed to put down those [Page 134] Sports, and to force all the World to Philoso­phy. He commanded that the Stage-Players, Tumblers, and those sort of Men should not be­gin their Shews upon the Market-days, till later than ordinary, because they should not hinder the Market. Some talk'd of some of those sort of Men, being beloved by his Wife; but he purged himself of all that by his Let­ters. He forbad the going in the Town on Some of his Con­stitutions. Horseback, or in Coaches. He took away the promiscuous Bagnios, wherein Men and Women washed together. He moderated the Luxury of the Women, and of the young No­bility. He rescued the Sacrifices of the God Serapis from that Rabble, and those Disturban­ces which annoy them at the City of Belv [...] in Egypt. It was said, that some, under the pretence of being Philosophers, had that Inte­rest in him, that they were a prejudice to the publick, no less than private Persons. But of this he purged himself, and shew'd that it was in no wise true.

He generally inflicted upon all Crimes a lesser Punishment, than what it was the Cu­stom to do by the Laws; and yet sometimes against notorious and high Offenders he con­tinued inexorable. He took the Cognizance himself of the Capital Causes of Persons of the better Quality, and managed them with all imaginable Equity. He would reprimand a Praetor that gave Judgment upon too shor [...] a hearing, and order him to try the Cause over again; saying, It is for the Honour of him who judges for the People, to hearken to the Rea­sons [Page 135] of the accused to the last. He observed to do Justice impartially as to Prisoners taken in War, and he settled infinite Numbers of the Barbarians in the Roman Territories. When the Enemy had by a Stratagem so shut up his Army that they could come to no Water, he extorted from Heaven by his Prayers a Storm of Rain which relieved them, when they were ready to perish with Thirst. He had designed to erect Marcomannia into a Province, and likewise Sarmatia; and he had done it, if Avidius Cassius had not rebelled against him Avidius Cassius rebels. in the East, who set himself up as Emperor, by an Intrigue, some say of Faustina, when she began to despair of the long Life of her Husband. Others say, it was pretended that Marcus was dead, and that Cassius did not set up himself till after Marcus was declared a God. But however it was, Marcus was not very much moved at the Defection; neither did he Revenge himself upon the Wife, or Fa­mily, or Friends of Cassius: But Cassius was adjudged an Enemy by the Senate, and his Estate was confiscated into the publick Trea­sury.

Then leaving the War against the Sarmatae and the Marcomanni, he marched against Cassius. In the mean time, some at Rome were in a fear, that Cassius in his absence would have Who is kill'd. come thither. But Cassius was presently kill'd, and his Head brought to the Emperor, who without rejoycing at his Death ordered the Head to be buried. A Son of Cassius, called Maecianus, to whom he had committed Alex­andria, [Page 136] met with the same Fate; and the Cap­tain of the Guards that Cassius had made, was also killed by the Army. He forbad the Se­nate to take Vengeance upon the Accomplices of the Defection; desiring, if possible, at the same time, that no Senator might be put to Death in his Reign, because it should not be polluted with Blood. He ordered such Per­sons as were banished, to be recall'd. Some few Centurions lost their Heads. He pardon­ed the Cities which had complied with Cassius. He pardoned the Antiochians, who had said se­veral things against himself, and in Favour of Cassius; from whom, however, he took a­way their Shews, their publick Conventions, and all sorts of Assemblies, by a strict Edict; because they were a seditious People, as he in­timates in his Speech in Marius Maximus, which he made to his Ministers upon the Sub­ject of this Defection. He designed not to see Antioch, when he went into Syria, nor the City Cyr, or Carin, of which Cassius was.

But however, afterwards he went to Antioch. He was at Alexandria, and was very obliging to that City. He transacted many things with the Kings of those Parts, who met him, to­gether with the Ambassadors of the Persians, and he established a Peace with them. He made himself dear to all the Oriental Pro­vinces, and left the Prints of his Philosophy amongst them, by his weighty Discourse. He acted the Citizen and the Philosopher in Egypt, in all the Academes, Temples, and publick Places where he came. Though the Alexan­drians [Page 137] had said several things to the Advan­tage of Cassius, he pardoned them, and left a Daughter of Cassius with them. After this he lost his Consort Faustina, at a Village called Death of Faustina. Halala, at the Foot of the Mountain Taurus, where she died suddenly. He desired the Se­nate to make her a Goddess, and give her a Temple; praising her, though she had labour­ed under such a Censure of Unchastity, which either he knew nothing of, or at least he dis­sembled it. Some Alms-Children for whom he made a Provision, he called by her Name, in her Honour. She had accompanied him into the Field in the Summer, and therefore had the Title of the Mother of the Camp. He made the Village a Colony where she died, and erected her a Temple there; which was afterwards re-dedicated to Heliogabalus. At the same time that he marched against Cassius, he gave no Commands for the killing him, out of his Clemency. Heliodorus his Son was banished. Others, who banished themselves, were allowed a part of their Estates. And for the rest of the Children of Cassius, they enjoyed above a half of their Father's For­tune. His Daughter Alexandra, and Druncia­nus her Husband, had their free Liberty of going any whither. And certainly Marcus Antoninus was sorry for the Death of Cassius; because, he said, He desired to have passed his Reign, with­out shedding the least drop of the Blood of the Senators.

After he had settled the Affairs of the East, he came to Athens; where amongst other things, he visited the Temple of the Goddess Ceres, to shew his Innocency, because this was solemnly forbid­den to wicked Persons; and he was admitted in­to the Sacresty all alone. In his return by Sea into Italy, he was overtaken with a great Storm. At his Landing at Brindisi in Naples, he b [...]h put on the Roman Gown himself, and commanded the Soldiers to habit themselves accordingly, who never went in their Soldiers Coats in Italy in his Reign. Being come to Rome, he trium­phed there, and from thence he went to Lavinia. He made his Son Commodus his Colleague in the Tribunitian Power. He entertain'd, the People with a Largess, and extraordinary fine Shews. He reformed many things in the Ci­vil Policy, and set proper Bounds to the Ex­pences of the Games of the Gladiators; ha­ving this Sentence of Plato much in his Mouth, Happy the States where either the Philosophers are the Emperors, or the Emperors are Philosophers. He match'd a Daughter of Bruttius Praesens, who was of the Consular Dignity, to his Son Commodus: But the Espousals were celebrated Espousals of Com­modus. with no more than ordinary Magnificence; on which occasion he gave a Largess to the People. Then he re-assum'd the Old War with the Marcomanni again. For he had made War with those, and with the Hermunduri, the Sarmatae, and the Quadi, three Years before together; and now if he had lived but one Year longer, he had reduced them into Pro­vinces. But he died as he was making his [Page 139] preparations for that Conquest. Two days be­fore he died, his Officers being admitted into his Chamber, he gave them to understand that he had as ill an Opinion of his Son Commodus, as Philip of Macedon had a good Opinion of his Son Alexander; saying, as Philip did, he was not sorry to dye, since he left behind him such a Son; but meaning that the Roman Empire would scarce be large enough to hold the Vices of him; who made it appear already, de­parting from the Rules of Life, which his Fa­ther had prescribed him, that he was Cruel, The Death of Antoni­nus. and Infamous. His death was thus: when he began to be sick, he called his Son to him, and advised him first of all not to slight the Reliques of the War, for fear that he should seem to betray the Empire. To which Commodus an­swering, that he should be obliged for his own safety to be gone from the Army, because of the Pestilence which raged: he told him a­gain, He might do as he would; but he desired him rather to tarry, at least a few days, because he would do well to appear to hold it a little against the Barbarians: After this, he would neither eat nor drink, because he desired to dye, and this increased his Distemper. The sixth day he called in his Friends, and discoursing to them about the Vanity of Humane things, and the Contempt of death, he said, Why are you sorry for me, when you ought rather to think of the Pestilence which rages, and of the com­mon death of every one? As they retired from him, he sighed and said, If you see me no more, I bid you farewel; I go before you. They asked [Page 140] him to whom he recommended his Son. He said; To all you, if he deserves it, and to the Gods Immortal. The Army upon the notice of his sickness was very much troubled; for they loved him dearly. The seventh Day he was worse, and saw none but his Son: whom he presently dismissed again, for fear he should be infected. His Son being gone, he threw the Cloaths over his Head, as if he went to sleep; and died that night. Some say, that when he saw that Commodus would prove such a Man, as afterwards he did, he rather wished him dead, than that he should make another Nero, Caligula, or Domitian, by his Reign.

One thing Marcus Antoninus is blamed for, which is, That he promoted to several Honors Tertullus, Utilius, Orphitus, and Moderatus, who were his Wife's great Lovers. He had Licenti­ousness of Faustina. surprized Tertullus one day actually at Dinner with her. The Buffoon upon the Stage gave him a Rub as to this Man, in his own Pre­sence. ‘What, says he to him that was with him, is the name of that Man, that you say Gallants my Wife; the other answered, Tul­lus, Tullus, Tullus. He asked him the same Question again: says the other, I have told you.’ By which the Audience plainly saw, that he meant, that his crying three times Tullus, signified Tertullus. So every body talk'd very much of this Spark, and blamed the Patience of Antoninus. Sometime be­fore his death, and before he went the second time to the Marcomannick War, he took his [Page 141] Oath in the Capitol, that not one single Se­natour by his knowledge, had been put to death. And he said, He should have saved the lives even of the Rebels with Cassius, if it had been left to him. He was so far from seek­ing to enrich himself with the Estate of Pro­scribed Persons, that he abhorred and shun'd nothing more than the scandal of Covetous­ness: against which he purges himself in se­veral Letters. Some pretend to say that he was a Dissembler and not really of that Sin­cerity as he seemed to be, or as either Pius or Verus was of. And again they say, that he too much raised the Pride of the Court, by estranging his Friends from his Company and his Banquets. He ordered a Deification for his Parents, and honoured the Friends of his Relations with Statues, though they were Persons that were dead. He did not easily believe things upon Trust; but gave himself always time enough to find out the truth. Af­ter the death of Faustina, Fabia the Sister of Verus was Ambitious to Marry him. But he rather chose to content himself with a Con­cubine, of a Daughter of a Servant to his late Wife, than over so many Children, which he had, to superinduce a Step mother.

THE A. Christi CLXII. Life and Reign OF THE EMPEROR VERUS ANTONINUS.

I Know very well, that several Persons who have written the History of the Actions of Marcus and Verus, have done it in such a method, as to give the Reader an ac­count of Verus in the first place; following the order not of their Reigns, but their Deaths. [Page 143] But I have thought it my Duty to give the pre­cedence, as to this, to Marcus, and to treat of Verus afterwards; because Marcus was the first of the two upon the Throne; and because his survival after the death of Verus made but a continuation still of the same Reign.

Lucius Cejonius Aelius Commodus Verus Anto­ninus, who by his Adoption into the Aelian Family by the Will of Hadrian, was called Aelius, and by his Alliance with Marcus Antoni­nus, received the name of Verus Antoninus, was a Prince, whom we do not reckon in the number of the Best, nor yet on the contrary in the number of the Worst Princes. For as his Virtues were not abundant, so neither were his Vices formidable. One thing is, he did not Reign an Independent Monarch of himself; for he was under Marcus; but yet of an equal Majesty with him in the Empire; and at the same time he very much differed from him in this, that he was Licentious in his Manners; and was of an humour that was frank and open, and could dissemble nothing. His Father was Lucius Aelius Verus, who for­merly had been Adopted by Hadrian, being the first of the Title of a Caesar, as it is used to denote the Person appointed to be the Suc­cessour to the Empire; and who died in that Quality. His Grandfathers, and Great Grand­fathers, together with many of his other An­cestours, Verus his Birth and Extracti­on. had been Consuls. He was born at Rome in the Praetorship of his Father, upon the eighteenth of the Calends of January, which was heretofore also the Birth-day of the [Page 144] Emperor Nero. His Family by his Father's side was for the most part out of the Coun­try of Hetruria, and by his Mother's, out of the City Faenza.

This being his Extraction, he, upon the A­doption of his Father by Hadrian, came into the Family of that Emperour; continuing wherein after his Father's death, when Ha­drian was pleased, out of his care for the good of Posterity, to take Antoninus Pius to be his Son, and Marcus Antoninus to be his Grand­son; he not only obliged at the same time the former to Adopt this Verus, but to give him al­so his Daughter to Wife: which Daughter was married however to Marcus Antoninus, and not to Verus, because Verus in respect of his Age was not then judged proper for her, (as we have said above,) and Verus married Lucilla, the Daughter of Marcus. He was brought up in the Court. His Master in Grammar, His Pre­ceptors. for the Latin, was Scaurinus, the Son of that Scaurus, who was the Grammarian to Hadrian: For the Greek, he had Telephas, Hephaestion, and Harpocration. His Masters in the Greek Eloquence were Apollonius, Celer Caninius, and Herodes Atticus; for the Latin, Cornelius Front [...]. His Masters in Philosophy were Apollonius and Sextus: all whom he loved very well, and they loved him; but he was one, that had little of a natural Genius to Learning. He pleased himself the most at first in making Verses; and afterwards in making Orations. It is said, he was a better Oratour than a Poet; or rather, to speak more properly, that [Page 145] he was a worse Poet than he was an Orator. Others say, he had the Wits of his Friends to assist him; and that in those very things of his which are Extant, whatsoever they are, he served himself of the same. For, they say, he had several Men of Learning and E­loquence always with him. The Governour of his Youth was Nicomedes. He was Vo­luptuous; and shew'd great gaiety in all sorts of Pleasures, Sports and Divertisements, which became him but too well. He was Adopted at the Age of seven years, and was formed upon the Manners and Authority of Marcus Antoninus. He loved Hunting, Wrestling, and all the Exercises of Youth; and was as a private Person in the Court no less than three and twenty years together.

The day that he put on the Roman, that is, the Man's Gown, Antoninus Pius dedicated a Temple to his Father Aelius Verus, and gave a Bounty to the People. When he was made Quaestor, and entertained, at his admittance into that Office, the People, with the Pub­lick Games, he took his place in the midst be­twixt Antoninus Pius and Marcus. After his Quaestorship he was presently made Consul, He is made Con­sul. in Conjunction with Sextilius Lateranus. Some years after that he was made a second time Consul, in Conjunction with Marcus Antoni­nus: after which, he continued a long time [...]n the Estate of a private Man, and was not adorned with the same Honours as Marcus was. He did not sit in the Senate, before his Quae­storship: neither did he accompany so much [Page 146] with the Emperor, as with the Captain of the Guards; and he had no other name of Honor added to his own more than this, that he was called the Emperor's Son. He much delighted in the Races of the Cirque, and in the Games of the Gladiatours; but as his Pleasures and his Luxury were continually the occasions of his falling into many errours; it seems, as if he was not retained in the Royal Family by Antoninus Pius, but upon this account; because Hadrian had commanded him to Adopt him so expresly, that he call'd him his own Grand­son: and so he retained him, it is supposed, more to discharge his Trust, than as a mark of his Love. That which he approved in hi [...] was the Simplicity and the Debonaireness of his Temper: he advised him, as much as he could to form himself upon the Model of his Brother. In fine, when his Father was dead, his Brother conferred all things upon him, even to the participation of the Sovereignty; and made him his Colleague, although the Se­nate He is made Col­league in the Em­pire. had deferred the Empire to himself a­lone.

Elevated thus to the Empire, and the Tri­bunitian Power being given him, and the honour of a Proconsulship, his Brother Mar­cus Antoninus ordered him to be called by the name of Verus Antoninus. As a testimony o [...] his Sense of so high Favours, he received Mar­cus, upon all occasions, with the respect of a Lieutenant to a Proconsul, or of a President of a Province to the Emperour. He con­formed himself in all things at first with grea [...] [Page 147] care to the intentions and will of Marcus; who at the same time harangued the Soldiers in the name of them both upon this occasion. But when Verus was gotten into Syria, the great His Lu­xury. liberty which he gave himself in living at his ease; with his lewd Amours, and the Debau­cheries of all sorts, to which he was abandon­ed, so changed him to another Man, that he defamed his Reputation. In like manner, af­ter his return out of Syria he made a perpe­tual Tavern of the Court; where after having dined with Marcus, he retired to his own Com­pany, and diverted himself with all sorts of filthy Persons. He passed whole nights at Game, according to a Custom that he had learnt in Syria: and to such a degree did he Rival the Vices of Caligula, Nero, and Vitellius, that he roved up and down in the night amongst the Taverns and the Stews in disguise; and pleased himself to make Debauches with the Mob, and to joyn in their Quarrels; out of which he often however came off with a black Face: But notwithstanding his Disguises, he was known in the publick Houses where he came; where, at other times, he was for Breaking the Glasses and other Vessels, and then he paid very well for them. He favoured very much the Green-Coat-Party in the Races run in the Cirque. He had Gladiators fre­quently to fight at the Entertainments which he made, and which he prolonged till mid­night; till he fell a sleep upon his Coach, and was taken up in his Cloaths, and carried to Bed. He slept but little, and had an easie [Page 148] digestion. In the mean time Marcus dissem­bled all these things, as if he knew nothing of them, out of Modesty, not to put to shame his Brother.

One Banquet, that he made, is remarkable: he had in the first place twelve Guests; where­as the known Proverb, as to the number at such a time, is, Septem convivium, novem convi­tium; that is, Seven's a Company, Nine is but Noise. Every one of these had a handsome Boy at his Back to serve him. Every one his Sewer, and his Dishes to himself, which were of their own chusing. Every one his fresh Cup of Myrrh, or of the Crystal of Alexan­dria as oft as he drank. There were also Cups of Gold and Silver, and others set with Jew­els. Then they had Crowns upon their Heads, adorned with golden Labels, and Flowers, such as for the Season were Rarities. They had their golden Boxes filled with pretious Oint­ments; and at parting they all had their Ca­leshes drawn with Mules in Harness of Sil­ver, presented to them, to carry them home. The whole Treat was estimated at sixty hun­dred thousand Sesterces: which when Marcus heard of, he sighed, and lamented the mis­fortune of the Publick in the Person of his Brother. After Supper they played at Dice all that night, till it was morning. And this he did after his return from the Parthian War, to which Marcus had sent him purposely, that he should not commit those sort of Actions in the sight of all the World at Rome; think­ing besides that Travelling might teach him [Page 149] frugality, and the dangers of War make him better, and more sober, or at least teach him to know himself to be an Emperour: but how much the better he was for it, this Sup­per alone shews, as well as the rest of his Life.

His love of the Races of the Cirque was such, that he sent and received many Letters about them, into, and out of the Provinces. When present at them, and in Company with Marcus, he has suffered several Affronts from the contrary Party, for his over great Zeal to that to which he sided. He had a Horse cal­led Swift, whose Image he cut out in Gold, and fed him with Raisins and Almonds, in the Manger, instead of Corn; covered him with a Cloath of Purple, and ordered him to be kept in a Room in the Court. When this Horse died, he Erected a Monument to him upon the Vatican. And it was first in the fa­vour of this Horse, that they began the Cu­stom of gathering Money for the Winning Horses, in the way, as it were, of a Praemium. For this Horse was so much beloved; that a Bushel of pieces of Gold hath often been thrown to him by those of his Side in the Cirque.

When Verus set forward upon his Expe­dition His negli­gent Con­duct. to the Parthian War, Marcus accom­panied him as far as to Capua. But going on his way from Capua, he Revelled it so, at all the great Houses where he came, that he contracted an Illness, and fell Sick at Canosa in Naples, whither Marcus took a second Jour­ney to visit him there. Certainly many ill [Page 150] and unhandsome things appear in the Conduct of Verus, which he did during the time of the War. For when both the Lieutenant of Sy­ria was killed, and the Legions there were cut off; the Syrians Meditating a Revolt, and the East laid Waste by the Enemy, then was he passing his time in Hunting in Apuleia. At Corinth and Athens, he had his Musical Con­sorts, and Entertainments of Voices and In­struments. At every Port of note in Asia, Pamphylia, and Cilicia, where he came, he made a stay to take his Pleasures.

After he was come to Antioch, he followed his Luxuries to excess for his own part, whilst his Generals carried on the Parthian War; who were Statius Priscus, Avidius Cassius, and Martius Verus. In four years they went through Babylon, the Kingdom of Media, and recovered Armenia: which procured to him the honourable Title of Conquerour of the Armenians, Parthians, and Medes, which was also Communicated to Marcus at Rome. He passed the Winters in those four years, at the City of Laodicea; the Summers at the Village of Daphne, and the rest of the time at An­tioch. All the Syrians made a jest of him; and several Railleries, which they passed up­on him upon the Stage in their Plays, are ex­tant. He admitted his Slaves to be as free with him at all times, as the Custom is to be upon the Feasts of Saturn. He went, at the solicitation of his Courtiers, as far as to the Banks of the Euphrates twice; and he came up to Ephesus to meet his Wife Lucilla, who was [Page 151] sent to him from Marcus her Father. But his design in this last Journey principally was to prevent Marcus, that he should not come down with her into Syria, and so detect his ill deportments: because Marcus had told the Se­nate, that he would bear his Daughter Com­pany into Syria. At last, when the War was ended, he appointed Kings over the respective Kingdoms, and gave the Governments of the Provinces amongst his Officers: and then re­turned His re­turn to Rome. himself to Rome, but much against his inclination, though it was to take the honour of a Triumph; because to leave Syria, was to leave, as it were, his own Proper Kingdom. So he came and triumphed in Company with his Brother, and the Senate consirmed the Titles to him, which he had before received from the Army.

He shaved his Beard (which he had not done before) in Syria, only to pleasure an ordinary Mistress, that he had gained there; which gave the Syrians an occasion to say se­veral things upon him. The time of his return to Rome was unfortunate: for it seemed, as if he brought the Plague with him thither, and into the Provinces through which he passed. This Plague arose first in the Country of Ba­bylon; where out of a small golden Coffer, which a Soldier had plundered in the Temple of Apollo, proceeded, it is said, such a Pesti­lentious stench, as spread itself from thence into Parthia, and so over the World. Not that this was yet a fault of Verus, but of Cas­sius; who, contrary to his Faith given, rased [Page 152] the City of Seleucia, after it had received our Forces, as Friends. At the same time, a­mongst others, Quadratus, a Writer of the Parthian War, Vindicates Cassius too against this accusation; and lays the blame upon the Seleucians themselves, for breaking their Faith with Cassius the first. But however that is, Verus had so much reverence for Marcus, that he desired to Communicate to him, upon the day that they triumphed together, the same Titles and Names of Honour which had been deferred to himself. But yet, after his return from the Parthian War, he was not altogether so very observant of Marcus as formerly, suf­fering his Servants to have too great an influ­ence over him, and acting in many things by them, without the advice of his Brother. To which it is to be added, that he brought a His other Vanities. Company of Mimicks with him out of Syria, as if they had been so many Kings to adorn his Triumph. The principal of whom called by the name of Paris. Then he built himself a famous Seat upon the Via Clodia; where he Revelled with great Luxury for several days together in Company with his Servants, and such of his chosen Friends, whose presence brought no constraint upon him. He invited Marcus thither one day to see him; who came, but it was to shew to him the sanctity of his life, which was great and worthy to have been the subject of his imitation. Mar­cus tarried with him five days; but employed his time all the while in continual Business, [Page 153] whilst Verus was either Feasting, or providing for his Feasts. Another Mimick that he brought with him out of Syria, as a Trophy of the Parthian War, was one, that he called by the Name of Apolaustus; but his former Name was Agrippus Memphis. He brought with him besides, for his diversion, Fidlers, Pi­pers, Players, Buffoons, Juglers, and of all those sorts of Slaves which Syria and Alexan­dria are so delighted with; that really one would think by his Captives, that he had been making War, not against Parthia, but against the Stage.

It was not openly visible to the World, but yet it was privately whispered, that this diver­sity of his Life to that of Marcus, with many other things, occasioned an ill Understanding betwixt them. Especially, this was said upon the Death of Libo, who was a Cousin German to Marcus, and who had been sent by him, as his Lieutenant into Syria; where behaving him­self more haughtily than a Senatour in that Quality ought to have done, and saying, That be would write to Marcus to be satisfied, if per­haps he doubted in any thing; Verus could not take it, that he paid no more Respect to him, who was an Emperor upon the Place; and after this Libo died suddenly, with almost the Marks of Poyson upon him. From which some thought, that he was poysoned by the hand of Verus. And though Marcus was not of this Opinion, yet the thing served to en­crease the rumor of their disagreement. Ge­minas and Agaclytus, two Servants of Verus, had [Page 154] a great Influence over him, as I have already said in the Life of Marcus. He married the latter to Libo's Widow, although contrary to the desire of Marcus, who therefore denied his Presence to the Espousals. Codes, and Aelius Laetus or Electus, were two others of his ma­numitted Servants: He had more besides, who were all ill Men enough, and whom Marcus dismissed, after the Death of their Master; only Aelius Laetus he retained, who afterwards was the Author of the Death of his Son Commodus. In fine, when the German War The Ger­man Ex­pedition. came on, because Marcus neither thought fit to send Verus to it alone, nor yet to leave him in the Town alone, upon the Account of his great Luxury, they went both together to it, and came to the City of Aquileia; where Verus did nothing but divert and enjoy himself, whilst Marcus took upon him the Care of all things. They crossed the Alps, although this was much against the Inclination of Verus; and as for what passed afterwards betwixt the Ambas­sadors of the Barbarians on the one hand, beg­ging Peace, and our Emperors on the other, it hath been already represented sufficiently in the Life of Marcus. So the heat of the War being over, and Verus urging to return to Aquileia again, because he longed for the Pleasures of Rome, it was resolved by both to go back to Rome. But as Verus was in the Coach, not far from the City of Altino, he was taken suddenly with an Apoplexy; for which, lifting him immediately out of the Coach, and letting him Blood, they brought [Page 155] him alive unto Altino, where he continued three Days speechless, and then died. Death of Verus.

There was a Discourse, as if he had been Incestuous with his Wife's Mother, Faustina; and that Faustina had contrived his Death, by putting Poyson in his Oysters, because the Conversation which he had with the Mother, he discovered to the Daughter. There was another Story made of his Death, which I have set down in the Life of Marcus, but which is utterly inconsistent with the Virtue of that great Man. Others attributed his Death to his own Wife, because he was a little too indulgent to the Love which he had for Fabia his Sister, whose Power she could not brook. And cer­tainly there was that great Kindness betwixt Verus and Fabia, that it was also reported, that they two had consulted together to kill Marcus; but when this was discovered to Marcus by Agaclytus the Servant of Verus, Faustina pre­vented the Murder of Marcus, and she herself killed Verus.

As to his Person, he was well shaped, with His Per­sonage. a good Visage, and a Beard, before he shaved, extraordinary long, like a Barbarian; tall, and a frown upon his Brow that was awful. He had yellow Hair, which he took a great Care of, and used an Art with Gold Dust, to make it glitter, and look yellower still. He was a little slow in Speech, a great Lover of Game, always Luxurious, and in many things a Nero, ex­cepting Cruelty and Buffoonry. Amongst the rest of his Curious Furniture for his Luxury, he had a Crystal Cup, that he called Swift, [Page 156] after the Name of his beloved Horse; and it was of so large a size, it held a Draught in­deed more fit for a Horse, than any thing else. He lived Two and Forty Years, and reigned Eleven, in Conjunction with his Brother.

His Body was interred in the Sepulchre of Hadrian, where his Father the Caesar also lies. The Story which I now said, is inconsistent with the Virtue of Marcus Antoninus is well known, and it is this; That Marcus with a Knife empoysoned on the one side of it, di­vided a Piece of a Sacrifice to Verus, and gave that Part thereof to Verus to eat, which was touched with the Poyson; which is a Crime impossible to be conceived of Marcus, what­ever the Life and Actions of Verus might per­haps deserve. Neither do we leave it in doubt, but wholly reject it as a false and supposititi­ous thing; being assured, that excepting your Majesty, O Dioclesian, as yet, since Marcus, Flattery it self hath not been able to form a better and a more accomplished Prince than he.

THE LIFE OF AVIDIƲS CASSIƲS,

AVidius Cassius, was, as some think, de­scended His Ex­traction. from the Antient Family of the Cassii; but yet this was only by the side of his Mother: for his Father was Avidius Severus, who from a private Extra­ction, and the Degree of a Centurion, raised himself unto the highest Honours; of whom [Page 158] Quadratus makes mention in his History; and indeed so much to his Advantage, that he calls him a great and necessary Man in the State, and who had a great Interest with the Emperor Marcus Antoninus, in whose Reign he died. This Cassius, of the Family, I say, of those Cassii, who had conspired against Julius Caesar, was one that secretly hated a Monarchy, and could scarce endure the very Name of an Emperor: He said, That no State was so in­tolerable, as an Empire, which cannot be put down without another Emperor. In his younger Years, he had attempted to depose Antoninus Pius. It is true, his Father being a great and worthy Person, covered him against the Charge of that Ambition, but yet he was al­ways looked upon as a suspicious Person.

This is what Verus and what Marcus Anto­ninus, severally wrote concerning Cassius. Now we shall explain in short the Temper and the Manners of this Person; which is all that can well be known of such, whose Lives, no one presumes to write to their Advantage, out of Respect to those by whom they were destroy­ed; only we shall add something of his as­sumption of the Empire, and of his Death. Having in this Design that we are upon, pro­posed to ourselves to take in the Histories of all that in any wise have born the Title of Em­perors, whether justly or unjustly, to the end that your Majesty, O Dioclesian, should have a perfect Account before you, to your own Person, of the Events of the Empire of Rome. He was a Man of that Variety in his Man­ners, that now he was cruel and ill humored, then mild and obliging; now he was very Religious, then Profane; sometimes he drank hard, then he was as abstemious; sometimes he eat very much, another time he fasted as [Page 161] much; sometimes he was all for Women, then he was all for Chastity; so that People were not wanting to call him a Catiline; and he said, they might call him what they pleased, so he but gained his Point of the Dialogist; by which Name he meant Marcus Antoninus, who was so eminently skill'd in Philosophy, that going to the War against the Marcomanni; and every body being in fear for him, lest any thing ill should happen to him, they de­sired him before he went, that he would dis­cover to them his Precepts of Philosophy; which at their Entreaty he did, in Discourses to them, which he continued three Days toge­ther. Besides this, Avidius Cassius was a strict Man for Military Discipline; insomuch, that he was willing to have himself be called a Marius.

Now having begun to make mention of his His strict Discipline Strictness, there are many Instances not to be omitted, in which he shew'd himself not so pro­perly to say strict, as he was cruel. For first, if the Soldiers had taken but the least thing by vio­lence from the People of the Provinces, he crucified them immediately upon the place, where they committed the Fact. He had a­nother way of executing them, which was purely of his own Invention, which was this. A great Stake of Timber was set up, which was Eighty, or a Hundred Foot high; the con­demned were tied to this Stake in Ranks, from the top to the bottom; at the bottom was a Fire, which burnt some to Death, whilst o­thers were suffocated with the Smoak, and [Page 162] others were sometimes frightned to Death. He hath ordered Ten in a Body to be chain'd, and thrown into a River, or into the Sea to­gether. To Deserters, he many times cut off their Hands, or their Legs and Thighs; say­ing, The Example of a Criminal living in that manner in misery, is of a greater Force, than if he was kill'd at a blow. A Party of the Auxi­liaries, once in the Army under his Command, had without his knowledge surprised the Sar­matae, as they were lying carelesly upon the Banks of the Danube, of whom they killed Three Thousand, and returned to their Corps again, with a great Booty. And as it was their Centurions that had put them upon this Action, the Centurions expected to be re­warded for it; because with a handful of Men they had killed such a Number of the Ene­my, whilst the Tribunes and the other Offi­cers had neglected the Opportunity that was offered. But for their Reward, he ordered them to be all taken, and, which is a thing without Example, crucified like Slaves. He said, It might have happened, that the Enemy had had a Trick in it, and an Ambuscade, which would have much reflected upon the Honour of the Roman Name. So a great Mutiny upon this arising in the Army, he came immediately to them, and said, Kill me, if you think fit, and add that Fact more to this Corruption of Disci­pline At which they were all appeased. He shew'd he did not fear them; and this made him to be feared by them: Which added such Strength to the Discipline of the Romans, and [Page 163] struck such a Regard on the other side into the Enemy, that they came and begged of the Emperor Antoninus an Hundred Years Peace, having had the Satisfaction to see those very Persons who had gotten a Victory over them, condemned to Death, by the Judgment of the Roman General himself; because without his permission, they had without Orders gained that Victory.

Many more of his Severities upon the Sol­diers are to be seen in Aemilius Parthenianus; he caused them to be beaten with Rods in the Markets, and in the midst of the Camp; he cut off their Heads, or many times their Hands. He forbad them to carry any thing with them in an Expedition, beside Bacon, Bisket, and Vinegar; which if he found they transgressed, he not a little punished their Luxury.

Nor were they mistaken in their Judgments which they had of Avidius Cassius. He im­mediately commanded the Soldiers to their respective Colours, and published an Order, that if any one of them was but seen at Daphne, he should be cashiered. Every Seventh Day he examined their Arms, and Cloaths, and E­quipages. He banished all sorts of Pleasures from the Camp, and unless they corrected their Manners, he assured them, they should pass the Winter there in their Tents; which cer­tainly had been done, if they had not lived more soberly. He exercised the whole Body of them every Seventh Day at their Arrows and their Arms. It was a miserable thing, he said, that Wrestlers, Huntsmen, and Gladiators should be continually exercised, and not Soldiers; to whom their Labours are always the less, after they are once accustomed to them. Thus corre­cting the Discipline of the Army, and order­ing all things well in Armenia, Arabia, and Egypt, he made himself to be beloved by all the Eastern People, especially by those of Antioch; insomuch, that that City consented to his As­sumption of the Empire, as Marius Maximus says in the Life of Marcus Antoninus, who in his Second Book of the same Life says also, that when the Robbers of the Parts called Bu­colia in Egypt, had committed many Disorders there, which were heavy upon that Kingdom, they were reduced again under subjection by Cassius.

Now this Cassius set himself up in the East Cassius u­surps the Empire. to be Emperor, some say by an Intrigue of [Page 166] Faustina, who despairing of the long Life of her Husband Mareus Antoninus, was in a fear, that she alone should not be able to protect her Infant-Children, and that somebody should come upon the Throne, who would destroy them. But however this is, to take the Sol­diers and the People off of their Love to Marcus Antoninus, in order to bring them to consent to himself, Cassius served himself of an Artifice, which was, to give out, that Marcus was dead, and to qualify the Regret of his Loss, he mentioned him with the Re­spect of one made a God. Then as Empe­ror, he chose himself a Captain of the Guards, and made one of his Sons Governour of the City of Alexandria, which Two were after­wards both kill'd by the Army, but it was done against the Will, and without the Know­ledge of Marcus Antoninus; who neither fell into any Passion to hear of the News of the Rebellion, nor sought his Revenge upon the Children or Friends of Cassius. The Senate declared him an Enemy, and confiscated his Estate, which Marcus Antoninus forbidding to be returned into his proper Coffers, it was paid by the Order of the Senate into the pub­lick Treasury. Some pretended, which struck a Terror into the City, that in the absence of Antoninus, Avidius Cassius, as he was entirely beloved by all, excepting the looser sort of People, would come to Rome, and expose it to Free-Plunder; upon the Account of the Senatours especially, who had declared him an Enemy, and confiscated his Estate. On [Page 167] the other hand, the Love of Antoninus him­self to Cassius, appeared very much in this, that when he was killed, and every body, unless the Citizens of Antioch were contented at it, he was not killed by the Command of him; for there is no doubt, but he would have spared him, if it had been in his Power so to do.

And when his Head was brought to him, Clemency of Antoni­nus. he did not rejoyce, nor was he elevated at it at all, but on the contrary, he was very sorry that he was deprived of an occasion to shew his Mercy; and said, He would rather have had him taken alive, to have convinced him of his Ingratitude, and then saved him. One said, That Antoninus was to blame for being so fa­vourable to his Enemy, and to his Enemy's Friends and Children, and all his adherents: Adding, That if Cassius had got the better, what then? Antoninus answered, We have not so served the Gods, nor so lived, as that it should be his luck to Conquer us. Upon which he reckoned up all the Princes that had been killed, and said, That there were Reasons for which they had de­served it; for scarce ever any good Prince had been either killed or conquered by an Usurper; for Nero deserved it; Caligula deserved it; Otho and Vitellius were not fit to reign. He thought as much of Galba for his Covetousness, and said, That Avarice in an Emperor is a most bitter Fault. In fine, not Augustus Caesar, nor Tra­jan, nor Hadrian, nor Antoninus Pius his Fa­ther, could ever be surmounted by the Rebols, tho' they had many of them; but it was the Re­bels [Page 168] Fate to be destroyed, sometime even without the Knowledge, and contrary to the Will of those Princes. So he desired the Senate not to ani­madvert too severely upon the Accomplices of the defection of Cassius, wishing that no Se­natour might be put to Death in his Reign; which gained him an extraordinary deal of Love. Some few Centurions were punished, and then as for others who were banished, he ordered them to be re-called and pardoned them.

He pardoned the Antiochians, who had so firmly adhered to the Usurpation of Cassius, together with other Cities that had assisted him. For tho' at the first he was very angry at the for­mer, so as to take away their publick Games, and many other Ornaments of their City, yet he afterward restored them to them again. He bestowed a Moiety of the Estate of Cassius up­on his Sons, and gave his Daughters the Gold, Silver; and Jewels. Alexandra, who was one of them, and Druentianus her Husband, had free Power from him to go whither they would, and lived in the greatest Security, not like the Pledges of an Usurper, but the Chil­dren of a Senatour. He forbad the Fortune of their House, so much as to be cast in their Teeth; and some who were rude to them up­on that Account, were by his Order prosecu­ted and punished for it.

This obviates what Marius Maximus says of Faustina, who desiring to defame her, makes her accessary to the Usurpation of Cassius. Her Answer in which she presses him to be very severe was this.

By these Letters, one may see that Faustina was not at all Privy to the Enterprise of Cassius, upon whom she is so severe. What Antoninus writ to her again, the following Letter shews us

You, it is true, my Faustina, Advise very well in your love to your Husband and Children. I have Read your Letter, in which you desire me to prosecute the Accomplices of Cassius. But yet I shall spare his Children, Son in-Law, and Wife, and write to the Senate to be Favourable [Page 171] to all the Party. For there is not any thing that more recommends a Roman Emperour to all the World, than Clemency. This made Caesar a God. This Consecrated Augustus. This particularly adorned your Father with the Title of Pious. In a word, if they had gone according to the judg­ment of my Advice upon the War, not so much as Cassius should have been killed. So be then satisfied. The Gods protect me: my Piety is pleasing to the Gods. I have declared our Pom­peianus, Consul for the next year. This is what Antoninus writ to his Wife.

Now let us see what an Oration, upon this occasion, he sent to the Senate. A part of it is thus.

Fathers of the Senate; you have now my Son­in Law to be your Consul: I say, Pompeianus; whose Age had long ago been rewarded with that Office, but that other extraordinary Men have intervened, to whom it was just to pay the Honour, that the State hath owed them. Now as for what concerns the Defection of Cassius, I beg and con­jure you Fathers of the Senate, that you would continue to me, nay to your selves, the Character of Piety and Clemency, and let the Senate put none to death. Let not one member of the Senate be put to death, nor the blood be spilt of any one that is Noble. Let the banished return, and the Pro­scribed receive their Estates. I wish I could raise even the dead to life again. For Revenge is never good in an Emperor, it appears ill in his own Caus [...] let it be never so just. You will give a Pardon therefore to the Children of Avidius Cassius, his Son-in-Law, and his Wife. But why do I say [Page 172] Pardon, when they have committed nothing? Let them live in safety, knowing that they live under the Reign of Marcus Antoninus. Let them en­joy the Patrimony of their Parents, which hath in part been already granted to them. Let them have the Gold, the Silver, and the Wardrobe. Let them be rich. Let them be safe. Let them have their full Liberty, and in the sight of all People. Let them be as so many instances of mine, and in­stances of your Clemency. Nor is this such a great Grace, Fathers of the Senate, to grant a Pardon to the Wives and Children of persons Proscribed. I do further desire of you, that such of the Se­natorian, and Equestrian Orders, as have been Accomplices in this Defection, be Protected also by your Authority from Murder, from Proscription, from Fear, from Infamy, from Envy, and from all kind of Injury; and that you allow this Honour to my Reign, that none upon these accounts are killed in it, but who only in the very Tumults are killed.

This great Clemency of his was followed by the Senate, with these Acclamations. The Gods preserve Antoninus the Pious, the Gods save Antoninus the Merciful. O Antoninus the Merciful! the Gods save you. Your Maje­sty hath refused to do what you very well might have done: we have done but what became us. Make Commodus, your Son, Emperor with you Strengthen your Race. See that your Children are safe. No Force can touch a good Reign. We beg the Tribunitian Power for Commodus An­toninus. We beg the Presence of your Majesty with us. We Congratulate you for your Philoso­phy, [Page 173] your Patience, your Learning, your Nobility, your Innocence. You conquen your Foes. You sur­mount your Enemies. The Gods save you.

So the Posterity of Avidius Cassius lived in Safety, and were admitted unto Honours, till Commodus Antoninus succeeded after the Death of his Father, and then commanded them all to be burnt alive, as much as if he had surpri­sed them in the very Act of some Treason.

This then is what we have found concer­ning Avidius Cassius, who in his Temper was always various, but more especially propense to Correction and Cruelty: But yet if he had carried the Empire, he would have been flatter­ed with the Name of not only of a Gracious, but an Useful, and an Excellent Prince.

This Letter very well shows, what a strict sort of an Emperor Cassius would have made, if he had reigned.

THE Life and Reign OF THE EMPEROR Commodus Antoninus,

AS for what concerns the Family of His Ex­traction. Commodus Antoninus, we have spoken sufficiently already upon that Head in the Life of his Father Marcus. He was born at Lavinia, the Day before the Ca­lends of September, under the Consulships of [Page 176] his Father and his Uncle. It is said, his Grand­father by his Mother's side had been formerly born at the same place. When Faustina was big of him, she dreamt, She should be brought to Bed of two Serpents, but that one of them was more Fierce than the other. So she was brought to Bed of Commodus and Antoninus, at one Birth; the latter died at four Years of Age, and yet the Mathematicians had promised him by his Stars, an equal Fortune and Life with Commodus.

Marcus Antoninus educated Commodus as well, His Pre­ceptors. according to his own Precepts, as to those of the great and the best Men. Onesicritus was his Master in the Greek; Capella Antistius in the Latin, and Atteius Sanctus in Rhetorick. But as many Masters as he had in the good Arts, they signified nothing to him; whether the Fault was in his natural Genius, or in those who had the Conduct of his Youth at the Court. For from a Boy, he was Naught, Fil­thy, Cruel, Lewd without Shame; at the same time, Excellent at things not belonging to the Quality of an Emperor, as Glass-making, Dan­cing, Singing, Playing upon the Pipe; a Buf­foon, and a Gladiator in Perfection. He gave an early mark of his Cruelty at Civita Vecchia, in the Twelfth Year of his Age; when Ba­thing, and the Water happening, to be a little too hot, he commanded his Servant to take the Man that attended the Bath, and throw him into the Furnace: In whose stead, the Ser­vant threw in a Sheep-skin, which he did, to make him believe, that it was indeed the [Page 177] Bagnio man, by the filthiness of the Stench. He had the Title of Caesar given him, when a Boy, together with Verus, a Brother of his; and in his Fourteenth Year, he was entred in­to the College of the Priests.

He was declared Prince of the Roman Youth, at the same time that he put on the Man's, that is, the Roman Gown; before which, he had already given a Largess to the People. He put on that Gown upon the Nones of July, the Day that Romulus died, and the Year that Cassius revolted from Marcus Antoninus. He went with his Father into Syria and Egypt, and returned with him again back to Rome. Then by a Dispensation of the Law, as to his Age, he was made Consul; and upon the Fifth of the Calends of December, under the Con­sulships of Pollio and Aper, he was declared Em­peror He is de­clared Em­peror, A. C. CLXXXI. in Conjunction with his Father, and tri­umphed with him; the Senate having de­creed it so to his Honour. He went with his Father to the German War: But as for such of the Officers of his Court, and of his At­tendants, as were Persons of Virtue, he could never endure them. All the worst sort of Men he gladly kept in his Service; and if they were removed from him, he was sick till he had them again. Hence he made a Tavern and His De­bauchery. a Bawdy house continually of the Court, ne­ver sparing for Cost or Modesty; playing at Dice, and hiring the lewd Women of the Town, which were any thing pretty, to be with him, to make a Sport with in all manner of Debauchery. Sometimes he went about [Page 178] the Markets with small Wares like a Pedlar; sometimes he was a Horse-Merchant, some­times he drove his own Chariots in the Coach­men's Cloaths. He eat and drank with Gla­diators, pimped to the Whores with Washes, and appeared to be born rather for the most infamous uses, than for that Place unto which Fortune raised him.

He turned off at his coming to the Empire, his Father's old Servants, and his old Friends. And one day he made an attempt upon the Modesty of a Son of Salvius Julianus, who was one of his Commanders. But being re­pulsed, he ever after stuck upon the skirts of his Father. All the best sort of Men about the Court were turned away, either in dis­grace, or by removing them to other places which were unworthy of them. The Mimicks represented him, as a Burdash, for which he presently banished them. He quitted the War which his Father had almost finished, and granted to the Enemy every thing that they desired, and then came to Rome; where when he triumphed, he had one Soaterus in the Cha­riot with him at his back, to whom he many times turned about, and kissed him publickly; and so he did in the Cirque. In the Evenings he gave himself the Liberty to run up and down to the Taverns and the Bawdy-houses; he made Men Governours of the Provinces, who were either the Companions of his Crimes, or recommended by as ill as those that were: which brought him so much on the one hand into the hatred, and on the other into the contempt [Page 179] of the Senate, that he set himself in Revenge upon the destruction of that great Order.

In fine, the Cruelty of Commodus was a thing that moved Quadratus and Lucilla to en­ter into a Conspiracy to kill him, not without the privity of Tarruntinus Paternus the Captain of the Guards. The care of giving him the fatal Blow, was committed to Claudius Pompeia­nus his Kinsman; who going in to him with a Ponyard, prepared for that purpose, as he had his Opportunity to strike, he broke out first into these Words, The Senate sends you this; whereby detecting his Design too soon, he A Conspi­racy a­gainst him defeated. failed to accomplish it, the Company taking the Part of Commodus. Upon this in the first place, Pompeianus and Quadratus, were put to Death; then Norbana, and Norbanus, with Pa­ralius and his Mother; and Lucilla was banish­ed. Another Reason of Commodus his falling into so great an odium, being upon the Ac­count of Saoterus, whose Power the People of Rome could not brook; the Captains of the Guards very civilly drew this Man out of the Court, under the colour of going to assist at some Sacrifice, and as he was returning back again, their Spies (that they had set) fell up­on him, and killed him. This was worse taken by Commodus, than the Conspiracy that had been form'd against himself; and looking up­on Tarruntinus Paternus to be the Author of it, as he was, and privy also to the intended Assassination of his own Person, he first re­moved him from his Place and Power of Cap­tain [Page 180] of the Guards, by the way of doing him the Honour to make him a Senatour, (because these two Places were then inconsistent with one another) and in a few days after, he charged him, not only with the said Conspi­racy, but with promising his Daughter in mar­riage to the Son of Julianus, in order as he pretended, that the Empire should be trans­ferred upon Julianus. So both Paternus, and His cruel Severity. Julianus, and Vitruvius Secundus, who was a particular Friend of Paternus, and who was one of the Secretaries to Commodus, were put to Death. All the House of the Quintilii were extinguished, except Sextus the Son of Condia­nus Quintilius who passed under the notion of being dead. Vitrasia Faustina, Velius Rufus, and Egnatius Capito were put to Death; the latter of which had been a Consul. The Consuls Aemilius Junctus, and Attilius Severus were banished, and many others were severely treat­ed in divers ways.

Commodus did not so easily appear after this in Publick, nor suffer himself to be spoken with upon any Business, but what was first referred to Perennis; who knowing very we [...] Perennis. governs all. the Inclinations of his Master, took the Op­portunity which was now in his hands, to ag­grandize his own Person. He persuaded Com­modus, that he had nothing to do, but to pursue his Pleasures, while he took care of th [...] Affairs of the State, to which Commodus con­sented without Difficulty. So Commodus [...] ving with his Three Hundred Concubines, o [...] the handsomest he could get of the Ladie [...] [Page 181] and the Mistresses of the Town, and with Three Hundred other Bardaccio's which he had collected indifferently out of the Plebeians and the Gentry by their Beauties, passed his time in Revels, and in Feasts, and the Baths; sometimes he butchered the Sacrifices himself, in the stead of the Sacrificator, whose Office that was; sometimes he fought upon the pub­lick Stage with the Gladiators at Foils, and sometimes at home with own Servants at sharps. Perennis was the Minister in the mean time that did every thing. Whom he would, he put to Death; others he plundered. He sub­verted all the Laws, and whatever he took, he put it into his own Pocket. As for Commodus, he first ravished, and then killed his Sister His In­cests. Lucilla. He violated in like manner the rest of his own Sisters, and lay with a Cousin-German of his Fathers, and gave the Names of his Mother and of his own Wife to one of his Concubines; which Lady he afterwards taking great with another Man, he turned her off, banished her, and then killed her. Yet he hath other times commanded his own Concubines to be enjoyed by others in his sight; nor was he without the most scandalous use of Boys. He corrupted himself with both the Sexes, in every part of his Body, even to his Mouth. Claudius Pompeianus, whose Son had gone into the Chamber to him with the Poinyard, was set upon, as if it were by Thieves at this time, and killed. Many other Senators were, without Law or Judgment up­on them, executed, and some rich Ladies. O­thers [Page 182] in the Provinces were for their Riches, first falsly accused, then plundered or killed. And if they wanted a Crime to fasten upon them, it was enough to say, that they had re­fused to assign the Inheritance of their Estates to the Emperor.

The Affairs of Sarmatia about this time passed very well, which Perennis attributed to the Conduct of his Son there, when indeed the Honour of it was due to the other Com­manders. But at last this Perennis, who was Perennis slain. so Omnipotent in the Government, having displaced some Senatours to put in others who were of the Equestrian Order, to command in the Army that served in the War in Great Britain; and the thing being remonstrated a­gainst by their Deputies, he was on a sudden declared an Enemy of the Army, and deli­vered up to be torn in pieces by the Soldiers; and Cleander, one of the Officers of the Bed-Chamber, was appointed to succeed in his place. Then after the Death of Perennis and his Son, who was also killed, Commodus re­scinded several of his Acts, as if they had not been done by his Order, and as if he was re­establishing all things in their first Estate. But he could not hold on this shew and pre­tence of Repentance above Thirty Days; committing worse things afterwards by the Ministry of Cleander, than he had before by Cleander succeeds in his Mi­nistry. that of Perennis. It was in his Ministry only that Cleander had succeeded to Perennis. For as for his Place of Captain of the Guards, Niger had that, and possessed it, they say, but [Page 183] six hours. For the Captains of the Guards were changed daily and hourly; Commodus carrying himself in every thing now, worse than he had done before. Martius Quartus was Captain of the Guards five Days; the rest that followed after him, were either re­tained or put to Death at the Pleasure of Cleander; by whose Authority, manumitted Slaves were brought into the Senate, and made Patricians. We had then Five and Twenty Consuls in One Year, which was never known before. The Governments of all the Provinces were sold. For Cleander made a Sale of every thing for Money. He re-called what Exiles he pleased, and put them into Offices, and re­scinded the Acts of the Courts. He prevailed so much over the Weakness of Commodus, that when Byrrhus, who was Commodus's Sister's Husband, took the Liberty to blame his Mi­nistry, and to tell Commodus what had been done, he made no more, but charged him with High-Treason in Revenge for it, upon which he put him to Death, and many others with him, who had stood in the Defence of him. Amongst the rest was Aebutianus the Captain of the Guards, in whose place Clean­der himself succeeded in Conjunction with Two others of his own nomination; which was the first time that there were Three Cap­tains of the Guards together, and one of those was a late Slave made free.

But at length Cleander also met with that end that his Life deserved. For having by Treachery, and upon false Accusations, con­demned [Page 184] and put to Death Arrius Antoninus, the Proconsul of Asia, in favour of Atallus, at which the People were so incensed, that Commodus could not sustain the Envy that it had brought upon him; he was delivered up as a Sacrifice to the People, and Apolaustus Cleander slain. and others of his Creatures about the Court, were killed with him. Amongst other things that he had done, he gave himself the Liber­ty to use his Master's own Concubines, by whom he had Children, who after his Death were killed, together with their Mothers. His Successours were Julianius and Regillus, who were afterwards also killed by Commodus. The same Fate befel Servilius and Duillius, with all that belonged to them. Then he killed Antius Lupus, Petronius Mamertinus, Suras, and Anto­ninus, who was his Sister [...]s Son by Mamertinus. Then he put to Death six others at once, who had all been Consuls, to wit, Allius Fuscus, Celius Felix, Luceius Torquatus, Lartius Euripianus, Va­lerius Bassianus, and Pactumeius Magnus, together with all those that belonged to them. In Asia he put to Death Sulpitius Crassus, the Pro­consul; Julius Proculus, and Claudius Lucanus, a Consul. He put to Death Faustina Annia, his Father's Cousin-German in Achaia, and an infinite Number of others. He had marked out Fourteen others ready for the Slaughter, then when his own time came, and when the Roman Empire with all its Power was no longer able to sustain his Weight.

Now whilst these things past, the Senate in secret Derision of him, upon his making his Mother's Gallant a Consul, called him the Commo­dus flat­ter'd by the Se­nate. Pious Commodus; and when he had cut off Perennis, they called him the Happy Commodus. So this Pious, this Happy Commodus, to add to the many Murders that he had committed dai­ly, as if he was a New Sylla, contrived and invented a Plot upon himself, for an occasion still of Murdering more. By flattery they sti­led him likewise, Conquerour of the Britains, when the Britains would have set up an Em­peror against him. They called him the Ro­man Hercules, because he had slain Wild Beasts in the Amphitheatre at Lavinia; which was a common Exploit with him. He arrived to that degree of Vanity, that he would have the City of Rome to be called the Colony of Commodus; which was a thing that he was put upon amidst his Gallantries with Martia his Mistress. He drove in Person the Cha­riots in the Races in the Cirque. He ap­peared in publick in a Dalmatick, which is an effeminate Habit, and gave the Signal to the Chariots to start. When he signified his Pleasure to the Senate about New Naming the City of Rome, Colonia Commodiana, they pretended, not only willingly to accept the Proposition, but called by derision their own Assembly, the House of Commodus, and him nothing less than a Hercules and a God.

He once pretended, that he would make a Voyage into Africa; but it was for no other end, than under that pretence, he might exact [Page 186] Money for his Charges, as he did, and spent it when he had done, in Feasting and Gaming. He poysoned Motilenus, a Captain of the Guards with a Fig. He had his Statues set up in the Habit of a Hercules, and they sacrificed to him as to a God. He observed the Sacrifices of Isis, His strange Pranks. insomuch, that he shaved his Head, and bore the Image of Anubis upon his Shoulders about the City. He obliged the Priests of Bellona, out of a Spirit of cruelty, really, to cut and slash their Arms; and the Priests of Isis, to beat their Breasts with Pines, in earnest, till they had almost killed themselves. As he assisted at the carrying about of the Image of Anubis, he di­verted himself with giving the Priests now and then, a good knock with the Head of it. Old Men that were lame and weak that they could not walk, he took, and dressed them up so, that with the Clouts and Patches which he put about them, they looked like so many Dragons, and then he made it his Sport to shoot them through with Darts. He polluted the Sacrifices of the Sun with real Homicides; whereas what at o­ther times is used to be said or acted there of that kind, is only a Matter of Shew.

From an Infant, he was ravenous and disso­lute; he debauched all sorts of Persons that came about him; and if any dared to deride him, he cast them to the Wild Beasts. He did this to one who had but read to him the Life of Caligula out of Suetonius, because it appeared, that he and Caligula were born upon the same day. If any one had happened to say, Would I was dead, he put him to death at his word, [Page 187] whether he would or no. He was a pernicious Man in his Jests. He slashed open a fat Man cross the Belly, for the Curiosity to see in an instant his great Guts. When he had cut off a Leg of any one, he said, He was now of the Nation of the Monopodii; and when he had cut out an Eye, he called him Luscinius (a Nightingal) by an allusion to the word Luscus, which signifies one-eyed. He murdered many in a way of gayety in places up and down; sometimes because he met them ill dressed, some­times on the contrary, because they lookt no­ble and handsome. He was pleased with Men of obscene Names, and often kissed them. He had one Man with him called Onon, who ex­ceeding in a private Part, the measure of almost any Animal, he was extremely dear and kind to him, and preferred him to be the Ruler over the Priests of Hercules Rusticus.

With humane ordure it is said, he defi­led often his best Dishes of Meat, and then pleased himself in drawing in the Company to eat of them. He pusht Julianus a Captain of the Guards, into a Pond in his Cloaths, as he was waiting; and at another time he comman­ded him to Dance naked before his Concu­bines, playing upon a Cymbal, with his Face disfigured. He seldom was without all sorts of Beans, Pease and Pulse-meats at his Table, for the benefit of their provocativeness. He bathed seven or eight times a day, and sometimes eat in the very Baths. He polluted the Temples of the Gods with Whoredoms, and Murders; some­times he pretended to play the Surgeon, and [Page 188] to let Blood: but then he cut off an Ear, or a Nose, with the Instruments. The Months of the Year were new-named by his Flatter­ers, according as he was pleased to have them. August was called Commodus, September was called August, October was called Hercules, No­vember was called Invincible, December was called Exuperatorius, and January Amazonius: which last Title was one that was occasioned by his Concubine Martia; whom he fell in love with, by seeing her pictured in the dress of an Amazon; for which reason he some­times also appear'd in the Amphitheatre himself in an Amazonian Dress. He entred the Lists with the Gladiators, and hath been as much pleas'd to be huzza'd by the Mob upon those times, as if he had received a Triumph. He practised the Weapons in the Common School, where the Gladiators learn them. Every time that he Fought he ordered it to be entred up­on the Publick Records; and in all, it is said, he Fought seven hundred and thirty five times.

He was created the Caesar, the fourth of the Ides of October, under the Consulships of Pudens and Pollio. He received the honour of the Title of Conqueror of the Germans upon the same Ides, in the Consulships of Maximus and Orphitus. He past into the Colleges of the Priests upon the thirteenth of the Calends of November, when Piso and Julianus were Consuls. He went into Germany, the 14. of the Calends of June (which Month he af­terwards called Aelius) under the Consulships [Page 189] of the same Persons. He put on the Roman Gown, and was declared Emperor in Con­junction with his Father, the fifth of the Ca­lends of December, when Pollio and Aper were Consuls, which was then the second Consul­ship of Pollio. He triumphed upon the tenth of the Calends of January, the same Persons being Consuls. He went his second Journey into Germany, the third of the Nones of Au­gust, when Orphitus and Ruffus were Consuls. And as he was thinking upon a third Expedi­tion, the Senate and the People of Rome de­tained him from it. Together with these things, it is upon Record, that he fought in Publick before his Father died, three hundred sixty and five times. He did it again so often after­wards, and still with success, that he subscribed himself the Conqueror of a thousand Gladia­tors. He killed many Thousands of wild Beasts of divers sorts with his own hand, a­mongst the rest Elephants; and this he did often, in the sight of all the People of Rome.

In all these things as vigorous as he was, His great Strength. he had yet a Rupture in his Scrotum, so large that one might discern it through his Silks. Many Verses were made upon him, which Ma­rius Maximus hath Collected with care. His strength in killing the wild Beasts was such, that at once he hath struck an Elephant thro' with his Spear, and pierced the Horn of a wild Goat with his Lance, and killed thousands of great wild Beasts, one after another, at a blow. He came to the Theatre and Amphi­theatre often in Women's Cloaths, in which [Page 190] he impudently called for Wine, and drank in the sight of all the Company. It was thus that he past his time, whilst his Lieutenants abroad overcame the Moors and the Dacae, and composed the Troubles of Pannonia. For the Provinces of Great Britain, Germany and Dacia, had endeavoured to reject the Yoak of his Empire: but his Lieutenants quieted them. He did not care to trouble himself so much as His Neg­ligence. to subscribe his Dispatches. In many of which he used the same form; and in several of his Letters all that he writ was the word Fare­wel.

By this sort of Negligence, and with that waste of Provisions together, which was made by those who were in Power under him, there arose a great scarcity at Rome, in a year that was not itself unfruitful. So upon this, he put several that had made that waste, to Death, and Confiscated their Estates. Then he les­sened the Prices of things; but that made the Scarcity still greater. Many in his time bought off another's Punishment, and purchased their own safety with Money. He made Money by Commutations of one Punishment for another, and by the Sepultures of the dead, and by putting to death some in others steads. He sold the Governments of the Provinces: part of the Money going to those by whom he sold them, and part to himself: He sold to some Persons the Massacre of those they hated: and by his example, his Servants made a Sale of the Justice of the Courts. He did not long continue either Paternus or Perennis, [Page 191] Captains of the Guards. Neither did any of their Successors, keep in so long as three en­tire years under him: because he dispatched them either with Poyson, or the Sword: and with the same facility he chang'd the Go­vernors of the City of Rome.

He made nothing of putting to death the Officers of his Houshold, though they were Men who had been used to advise him in all things. One of them, by name Electus or Aelius Laetus, perceiving this, resolved to be before Hand with him, and so engaged with the Party that Conspired to his death. Besides, he had this Custom with him, that every thing he did, though never so Base, Impure, Cruel, Gladiator, or Pimp-like, he order'd it to be entred upon the Records of the City. One day fighting as a Gladiator, and fancy­ing that the People derided him, he had given Orders to Massacre them all upon the place, and burn the City: which had been Executed but that the Captain of the Guards deterred him from it. He hath been called six hundred times by the name of Patus, that is, the name of the Chief of the Gladiators; and tri­umphed in it.

The Prodigies that attended his Reign, whe­ther Publick or Private ones, were these. A Prodigies in his Reign. Comet appear'd. The Statues of the Gods in the Forum moved their Feet, as if they had a mind to be gone. An excessive heat of Wea­ther. On the Calends of January a great darkness on a sudden covered the Cirque. Ominous Birds came in the night. He re­moved [Page 192] out of the Palace; because, he said, he could not possibly sleep there, unto a House upon Mount Caelius. The Temple of Janus opened of it self, and the Marble Image of Anubis appeared to move. The Brazen Statue of Hercules, which is at one of the Gates of Rome, Sweat for several days. An Owl ap­peared over his Bed-chamber, both at Rome and at Lavinia. He obliged Persons to come to the Games of the Gladiators, not in their Gowns, but in such other Coats as they ordina­rily were at Funerals, and presided at them himself dressed in Black. His Helmet fell off of his Head twice at the Gate called the Gate of Death, through which the dead are car­ried out of the City.

At length, although too too late, Quintus Aelius Laetus the Captain of the Guards, and Martia, one of the Concubines of Commodus, entred upon a Conspiracy to kill him. They first gave him Poyson; but that operating in­effectually, He is slain. they strangled him by the Hands of one with whom he was used to Wrestle for Exercise.

He was of a just size and shape of Body, a His Per­sonage. heavy sottish sort of a Look, no fine Discourse, yellow Hair, which he used Art with to make it still yellower: his Beard he took off him­self, for fear of trusting to a Barber. Both the Senate and the People desir'd to have him drag'd, and thrown into the Tyber: but Per­tinax buried him in the Sepulchre of Ha­drian.

There are no Works of his extant, besides the Baths, which Cleander built in his name. He did not so much as perfect those of his Father. Where he had cut his own name upon the Works of others, the Senate erased it again. He set up a Corn-fleet to Carthage, to be for a relief, in case that other from Alex­andria, and the Corn from thence should chance to fail: upon which he ridiculously called the City of Carthage, Alexandria Com­moda Togata, and this Fleet of his Commodiana Herculea. He added some Ornaments to the Statue of the Sun, which were all afterwards abolished. In the Place of the Head of Nero, he had put up his own upon the Body of it, with all his empty Titles at the bottom; not forgetting that of his Conquests over so many Gladiators, and that of Amazonius, which he took from his Mistress. All which not­withstanding the Emperor Severus, who was one that in no wise indeed differed from his name, made this Prince a God, out of his opposition, as it is supposed, to the Senate: and he appointed him the same Chief Priest, under the same Title, to ferve him, that Commodus had provided for himself before he died.

He left behind him three Sisters. The same Emperor Severus ordered the Anniversary of his Birth to be observed. The Imprecations of the Senate against him after his death were extraordinary: and because it is fit to know them, I will set them down out of Marius Maximus, together with the Decree of the Senate.

Let the Enemy of his Country be degraded of The Se­nate's De­cree upon him. all his Honors. Let the Parricide be degraded of his Honors. Let the Parricide be dragged. An E­nemy of his Country, a Parricide, a Gladiator, let him Rot upon the Dunghil. An Enemy of the Gods. A Butcherer of the Senate. An Enemy of the Gods. A Parricide of the Senate. An Enemy of the Gods. An enemy of the Senate. A Gladiator, to the Dunghil. He Murdered the Senators, throw him to the Dunghil; drag hi [...] about the Streets. He murdered the Innocent, drag him about the Streets. An Enemy, a Par­ricide, that spared not his own Blood, let him be dragged about the Streets. He who would have murdered your Majesty, let him be dragged about the Streets Your Majesty was in the same fear with us, in the same danger with us. Preserve Pertinax, thou most great, most excellent Jupi­ter; so we also shall be safe. We Congratulate the Fidelity of the Guards. We Congratulate the Prae­torian Bands. We Congratulate the Roman Ar­mies. We Congratulate the Piety of the Senate. Let the Parricide be dragged. We beg of your Maje­sty, that the Parricide may be dragged. We beg this, that the Parricide be dragged. Hear us, Caesar; the Delatours to the Lions! Hear us Cae­sar; Delators to the Lions! Hear us Caesar, Speratus to the Lions. We Congratulate the Vi­ctory of the People of Rome. We Congratulate the Fidelity of the Soldiers. We Congratulate the Fidelity of the Guards. We Congratulate the Praetorian Bands. Down every where with the Enemies Statues. Down every where with the Parricide's Statues. Down every where with the [Page 195] Gladiator's Statues. Down with the Statues of the Gladiator and the Parricide. Let the Mur­derer of his People be dragged. Let the Parri­cide of his People be dragged. Down with the Statues of the Gladiator. Under your Majesty we are safe. Now we are Free; now we are Secure; and the Delators in fear. Let the De­lators be ever in fear, and we in safety: De­grade them, Cudgel them, cast them to the Li­ons, Cudgel them to death.

Let the memory of the Parricide, the Gladia­tor, be abolished. Let the Statues of the Par­ricide, the Gladiator, be taken down. Let the memory of the filthy Gladiator be abolished. The Gladiator, to the Dunghil. Hear, Caesar, let the Murtherer be dragged about the Streets. Let the Murtherer of the Senate be dragged about the Streets, after the manner of old. He who was Crueller than Domitian, and Filthier than Nero; thus did, thus let him suffer. Let the Memories of the Innocent be preserved with Honor. We beseech your Majesty, restore the Honors of the In­nocent. Let the Carcase of the Parricide be drag­ged about the Streets. Let the dead Body of the Gladiator be dragged about the Streets. Let the Carcase of the Gladiator be thrown upon the Dunghil. Ask, ask us all, if we do not all Judge him to be dragged about the Streets. He who Murdered all sorts of Persons, let him be dragged about the Streets: that spared no Age, let him be dragged about the Streets, that spared no Sex, let him be dragged about the Streets: that spared not his own Blood, let him be drag­ged about the Streets. He who Plundered the [Page 196] Temples, let him be dragged about the Streets: that abolished the last Testaments of the dead, let him be dragged about the Streets: that robbed the living, let him be dragged about the Streets. We have been Slaves to his Slaves: He who sold the Lives of his People, let him be dragged about the Streets: that took the Money, and yet kept not his faith, let him be dragged about the Streets. He who sold the Senate, let him be dragged about the Streets: that deprived Children of the Inheritance of their Fathers, let him be dragged about the Streets: Delators, Informers, Suborners of false Witnesses, be for ever banished the Senate. Even your Majesty hath been in the same fear with us. You know all things. You have seen the good, and the bad. You know all things. Amend all things. We have been in fear for you. O happy we in your Life and Reign! This about the Parricide, is the Advice, the Judgment, the Decree of us all round. We beg your Presence among us. The Innocent lye unburied; let the Carcase of the Parricide be dragged. The Parricide hath pulled the very Dead out of their Graves, let the Carcase of the Parricide be dragged.

But the Body of Commodus being how­ever by Livius Larensis his Servant, delivered into the hands of Fabius Chilo, the Consul, [...] was privately buried in the night by the order of Pertinax. Hereupon the Senate exclaimed, By whose doing is this, that he is Buried? Let the Parricide be taken up again out of the place where he is, and be dragged. Then Cineius Severus said, He is Buried against Law: as I say this, as a High-Priest, the whole College of [Page 197] the Priests says the same: And I am further ob­liged to declare and pronounce, That as he lived to the destruction of the People and his own shame, his Statues are every where to be destroyed, de­stroyed: His Name to be erased out of all the pub­lick and private Monuments, and the Months of the Year to return to be called by the old Names they had, when first this Pest befel the State.

THE A. Christi CXCIV. Life and Reign OF THE EMPEROR Publius Helvius Pertinax.

PUblius Helvius Pertinax was the Son of His Ex­traction. Helvius Successus, who was the Son of a late Slave made free. He had the Name of Pertinax given him by his Fa­ther, from nothing but his wilful and pertina­cious adherence for a long time, to the poor Occupation of his Father, which was drying and burning of Wood, and making of Char­coal. He was born in a Village in the Apen­nine; and at the same time, an Accident hap­pened at his Birth, which moved his Father [Page 199] to go to an Astrologer to enquire about his Fortune; who telling him such great and such extraordinary things of him, as were past his belief, he said, he had but flung away his Mo­ney in consulting him. After he had be­gun to take to Letters, and had studied A­rithmetick and Greek, and was put into the hands of Sulpitius Apollinaris, he came to be a Professor of Grammar himself. But making but little Advantage by it, he changed that course of Life, and by the means of Lollius Avitus, who was his Father's Patron, and had been a Consul, he got himself made a Cen­turion. Then he rose to be a Captain of a Cohort in Syria, which is a Body of Foot of, it may be, Six Hundred Men; and going Post into Syria in the Reign of Antoninus Pius, with­out the Authority of the Emperor's Letters so to do, the President of Syria obliged him to follow the rest of his Journey, to his Com­mand, on Foot, as far as from the City of Antioch.

He deserved very well by his Services in the His pub­lick Em­ployments. Parthian War, which made him be translated into Bithynia. Then he commanded a Part of the Army in Moesia, and afterwards in Germany, where his Mother who had followed him thi­ther died, and her Sepulchre is said to be stand­ing at this day. From Germany he was remo­ved to be the Governour of Dacia, with a Sa­lary of Two Hundred Sestertium's; but the Emperor Marcus Antoninus, being made to suspect him as one that was ambitious of the Empire, he was re-called from that Govern­ment, [Page 200] and was afterwards chosen by Claudius Pompeianus, the Son-in-Law of Marcus Antoninus, to be his Assistant in the Command of the Auxiliaries. He behaved himself so well, that he was created in the next place a Senator. And his Innocency appearing, as to the Am­bition of which before he was maliciously ac­cused, for a compensation of that Injury done him, the Emperor made him a Praetor, and gave him the Command of the First Legion; by the means whereof, he presently recovered Rhaetia, and the Country of Noricum from the Enemy. This was so Eminent a Service, that the Emperor made him a Consul; who very often in publick in his Speeches, which it would be too long here to insert, but one of them is extant in Marius Maximus, commended him both to the Soldiers and the Senate, and ex­pressed himself before all the World, sorry, that he could not make him a Captain of the Guards, because of his being a Senator. After the Rebellion of Cassius was at an end, Pertinax was commanded out of Syria, to the Defence of the Danube. Next he was made Gover­nour of both the Moesia's, and then of Da­cia; and from his well managing of those Provinces, he gained the Government of Syria.

Hitherto, that is, to his Government of Syria, he had conducted himself, in a manner that was altogether unblameable. But after the Death of Marcus Antoninus, he strangely ap­plied his Care to the amassing of Money; which failed not to bring upon him the Re­proaches [Page 201] of the People. He came a very rich Man into the Senate; where he first appear­ed to take his place in Person, in the time of Commodus, after he had been the Governour of Four Consular Provinces, and had had the Honour of a Consulship given him in his ab­sence. But it was not long before Perennis, the great Minister under that Prince, banished him, and commanded him to retire to the Vil­lage, in the State of Genoa, where his Father had kept his Charcoal-Kiln. So he came, and being there, he bought himself a great quanti­ty of Land, and surrounded his Father's Kiln, which he left standing in the same Form as it was before, with an infinite company of fine Buildings. He resided there three whole Years, in which he past his time in his old Trade, which he carried on by his Servants. After Perennis was kill'd, Commodus took Per­tinax into Favour, and ordered him to go in­to Great Britain. He went, and repressed the Mutiny of the Forces there, who were for setting up a New Emperor. They would have set up even Pertinax himself. Nor was it with­out much difficulty that he appeased their Seditions. He was almost killed in one of them, at least he was left among the dead; which he severely resented and punished. Then he desired leave to be re-called, because he said his Discipline amongst them had made the Army averse to him. So another Person being appointed to succeed him, he was first made General of the Provisions, and soon after the Proconsul of Africa.

During his Proconsulship of Africa, he was, they say, troubled with several Seditions there also, occasioned by the pretended Prophesies of the Goddess Caelest is at Carthage. Then he was made the Governour of the City of Rome, in which place succeeding Fuscianus, who was a most severe Man, and he behaving himself on the contrary with the greatest mildness and humanity, he pleased every one, and a­mongst the rest, Commodus so well, that he He is made Consul, took him to be Consul in Conjunction with himself; which was then the Seventh time of the Consulship of Commodus. Then came on the Conspiracy to kill Commodus, which Per­tinax did not reject, when made acquainted with it; and the thing being done, the Cap­tain of the Guards, and Electus a great Offi­cer of the Houshold, came to him, and set him up for the Empire, and carried him to the Camp. Pertinax harangued the Soldiers, and promised them a Donative. He told them, how that those Two great Officers had thought him a Person, not unworthy to be proposed for the Empire, since Commodus was dead; not saying, that Commodus was killed, but that he was dead of a Sickness only. In fine, Per­tinax And de­clared Emperor. was saluted Emperor at the first but by a few. This was the day before the Calends of January; and he was then above Sixty Years of Age. After this, late that Night, he came from the Camp to the Senate; and the Chappel of the Senate not being ready open­ed for him, he went into the Temple of Con­cord; where Claudius Pompeianus, the Son-in-Law [Page 203] of Marcus Antoninus meeting him, and Complementing him, Pertinax would have per­suaded him, to have taken upon him the Em­pire; but he refused it, because he saw that Pertinax was already the Man. Immediately all the Magistracy with the Consuls came to the Senate, and as soon as they were entred, they declared Pertinax Emperor, tho' it was then midnight.

After the Consuls had set forth his Praises in such Speeches as the occasion required, and that the Senate had also ended their Impreca­tions against the Memory of Commodus, Per­tinax returned his Solemn Thanks to them. He returned his Thanks particularly to the Captain of the Guards, by whose means it was, both that Commodus was cut off, and that him­self was raised to be Emperor: And tho' it was true, he said, as Falso objected, that the said Captain of the Guards, and Martia toge­ther, had been the Instruments of many of the wicked Deeds of Commodus, yet he told them, that they were to consider the Necessity there was of obeying the Orders of that Prince; for otherwise, what they had done was against their own Inclination. The same day, his Wife Flavia Titiana was declared Empress. He was the first Emperor that ever received the Title of Father of his Country, together with the Proconsular, and the Tribunitian Powers, and the Right of a fourth Reference, the first day of his Reign. Which thick and sudden accumulation of so many Honours, was lookt upon as an Omen but of a short Reign. [Page 204] Then he went to the Palace, which was void, because Commodus had been killed in a House upon Mount Caelius, and the Tribune coming to him the first day for the Watch-word, his Word was, Militemus, let us Fight; which was the same indeed that he had given before un­der all his Administrations; but upbraiding by it, as it seemed, the remissness of the times past, the Soldiers were touched to the Quick, and presently thought of changing the Empe­ror again.

The same day, being the first of the New Year, he invited the Magistrates, and the Chief of the Senate to a Banquet, which was an antient Custom that had been however omitted by Commodus. The next day as the Statues of Commodus were thrown down, the Soldiers appeared to be troubled, and so much the more, because Pertinax had given them again the same Word as before; and War was a thing not to be admitted, they thought, under an Emperor so old as he. Upon the Third of the Nones following, tho' it was the Thanks­giving Day for his accession to the Empire, they would have drawn Triarius Maternus La­scivius, a Noble Senator, into the Camp, to have set up him to be Emperor; but he re­fused it, and escaped from them, and came to the Court to Pertinax, to assure him of his Fidelity, and afterwards withdrew out of the Town. In the mean time, all this obliged Pertinax in fear, to confirm to the Soldiers and the Veteranes, all the Pay, and all the Gifts that had been granted them by Commodus. He [Page 205] also courted the Senate, and owned himself to receive the Empire at their Hands. He as­sured them under his Oath of his innocency from having had any hand in the malversa­sation of the last Reign. He re-called such as were in Banishment, and restored the Memo­ries of others to their Honour, who had been unjustly put to Death. The Senate conferred the Title of Caesar upon his Son: But as he had not yet approved the Honour which they had shewn to his Wife, so as to this of his Son; he said, Let it be when he deserves it. And whereas Commodus had added by his Authority many Persons to the Order of the Praetors, who had never exercised the Office of a Praetor, and yet he allowed them to take their Places in common with those that had; Pertinax passed an Edict as to this, to command, that those who had never exercised the Office of a Praetor, but had received that Honour only by the Creation of Commodus, should give place to such as had been Praetors indeed; which brought an odium from many upon him.

He ordered the publick Account of the His pub­lick Ordi­nances. Estates, and the valuation of all Persons to be over-look'd, and stated a new. He ordered severe Punishments to be taken upon Persons that had informed against others falsly. But yet he was not altogether so severe, as his Pre­decessors, with Relation to Persons of Qua­lity, who were brought before him for any Crime. He made a Law, for the first Will al­ways to stand good, until another that is Po­sterior [Page 206] to it is established and received in due Form in its stead. He declared, that as for himself, he would never enter upon any Inhe­ritance, which either was devoted to him in Flattery, or by any litigious Right, or to the prejudice of the Lawful Heirs; using these Words upon the same occasion, It is better, Fathers of the Senate, that the Crown should be poor, than that it should get never so much Riches by ill means, and dishonourable Actions. The Largesses to the Soldiers and the People, which himself, and also Commodus had promised them, he paid. But yet the Exchequer was so ex­tremely low at his coming to the Crown, that he declared, he had not found in it above Ten Sestertiums; so that this obliged him to ex­act some Payments which Commodus had im­posed, although he had before promised to remit them. Lollianus Gentianus a Consul, asking him therefore why he broke his Word, he told, him the Reason was, Necessity. He made an Au­ction of the Goods belonging to Commodus; ordered his very Bardaccio's and Concubines to be sold, excepting such of them, as ap­peared to have been retained in the Court by him by violence. And of those which were sold, there were many that afterwards redeem­ed their Fortunes, and under other Princes ar­rived as high as to be Senators. The Buffoons and Jesters of Commodus, such as were Men of obscene Names, he sold, and of the Money that he made of this Negotiation, which was a great deal, he gave a Bounty to the Soldiers. He exacted also from the Servants of Com­modus, [Page 207] an Account of all things that their Master had lavishly given them, to enrich them.

The most principal Things in the Auction Auction of Com­modus' s Goods. of the Goods of Commodus were these, Gar­ments of Cloth of Gold, Tunicks, Cloaks, Hanging-Coats, Dalmaticks, Fringed Vests, Coats of Mail, and others of other sorts; Arms for the Exercises of the Gladiators, en­rich'd with Jewels and Gold, vast Herculean Swords; Collars for the Gladiators; Vessels of fine Gold, Ivory, Silver and Citron; Drinking-Vessels, which were some of them of obscene Fi­gures; other Vessels belonging to the Arts of the Gladiators; Chariots of a rare Invention, with the Seats to turn so, as either to decline the Sun, or take in the Air, as you please; with other things to measure the Way, and shew the Hour; and whatever else was agreeable to the Plea­sures of that Prince in all sorts of Vices.

As for such Servants as had been taken out of private Houses into the Court, Pertinax re­stored back those to their proper Masters. He reduced the Table, and cut off all the prodi­gious Expences of Commodus. He contented himself with a little, and the Example of his Frugality was of great effect upon all things. In fine, he reduced the Expence of the Hou­shold of the Emperor, to a Moiety of what it was accustomed to be before.

He appointed certain Recompences for the Soldiers that acquitted themselves with Ho­nour. The Debts that he contracted on the first occasions of his Reign, he discharged. He [Page 208] restored the Credit of the Exchequer. He set a-part a Sum for Publick Works. He gave Money for the Reparation of the High-ways. He paid a great many Soldiers that had served well, their Arrears. He put the Exchequer, in a word, in a Condition to discharge its Debts. But whereas there was due to the Alms-Chil­dren of Trajan's Establishment, the Allowan­ces of Nine Years, he quite sunk that Debt, which was severe, and a great Reflection up­on him. It is true, he was not exempt from the aspersion of Covetousness, in the time he was a private Man. He had oppressed with Usury his Neighbours upon the Lake di Sabat [...], and had turned them out of their Lands, to extend further the Limits of his own. He was called really a Money-monger; and many have writ, that he did sordid things in the Consular Provinces which he governed; they say, that he sold the Discharges from, and the Commands in the Army. His Parents had little or no Estate to leave him, and no Inheritances fell to him from others, yet he was grown a rich Man on a sudden. He restored after he was Emperor, to every one, the E­states which were taken from them by Com­modus, but yet he exacted a Consideration for it. He came constantly to the Senate, and always reported some thing or other to them. He shew'd himself always gracious to all those that came to pay their Reverences to him, or ask him any Favour. He discharged some from the Accusations of their Slaves, and a­venged the Death of others by crucifying their Accusers.

Whilst these things pased, Falco the Consul formed a Design against him, out of an Am­bition to set up himself. Pertinax complained in the Senate of it; but however, forgave him, and begg'd his impunity of the Senate, where­by Falco lived in Safety upon his Estate, and his Son was his Heir when he died. Many in­deed said in his behalf, that whatever Design there might have been amongst others to make him Emperor, he knew nothing of it himself; and that the Slaves who were his Accusers, did him wrong, and were corrupted, and had not agreed in their Evidence. But however it is, a worse Faction than this was made against Pertinax by Laetus, the Captain of the Guards, and those to whom the Sanctimoniousness of this Prince was offensive. For Laetus had re­pented himself of his Services in having ad­vanced him to the Crown, because he had re­proved his Conduct in some things. Nor were the Soldiers without their Resentments, because Pertinax had put to death several in the Business of Falco, upon the simple Deposition of one Slave.

Therefore a Party of Three Hundred Sol­diers Pertinax slain. of the Guards, well equipped, assaulted the Palace, and killed him. The same Day, no Heart was found in the Sacrifice, at which Pertinax had assisted; and in another, no Li­ver. Therefore having intended to have gone that Day to the Athenaeum, to hear the perfor­mances of a Poet; but putting it off, because of the ominousness of the Sacrifices; the Guards that were to attend him, had Orders to retire [Page 210] to their Camp, wh [...]n on a sudden they turned upon the Palace, from whence it was not pos­sible to repel them, nor yet to give Advice to Pertinax of them in due time: for all the Courtiers regarded him so little, that they en­couraged rather the Soldiers on to the Enter­prise. So they surprized him, as he was giving some Orders about the Affairs of his Houshold; and being come up into the Gallery, as far as to a place which is called Sicily, and the Ban­queting-Hall of Jove, as soon as Pertinax knew of it, he sent Laetus to them: but Laetus avoided them, and went another way, hiding his Face, and slinked Home. After they were broken in further, Pertinax came forth to them him­self, and be spoke them in a long and a grave Oration which sweetned them: till one Tau­sius, one of the Troop of Tongres that served in the Guards, putting them into a new fre [...], darted his Javelin at Pertinax's Breast; who then Invocating Jupiter the Avenger, threw his Gown over his Head, and the rest fell upon him, and Stabbed him. Electus died with him, having first killed two of the Assas­sines. The other Officers of the Chamber that were about him, fled: some say that the Sol­diers had broken into the Bed Chamber, and that they killed him there, hiding himself a­bout the Bed.

He was a Venerable old Man, with a long His Per­sonage. Beard, curling Hair, pretty Gross, his Belly standing a little out, of a Princely Stature; wanted not Eloquence, but was rather Grati­ous in his Words than thought Sincere. He [Page 211] obliged every body in Words, but in Deeds was illiberal and almost sordid; and particu­larly in his Entertainments and Presents. He had as yet made no Change in the Officers that had been put into the Government by Commodus; expecting the Anniversary of the Birth-day of the City of Rome, (that is the eleventh or twelfth of the Calends of May) be­cause he design'd to date from thence his be­ginning of all things. And therefore they say the Officers of the appointment of Commodus, who were afraid to be turned out, had resolved to kill him in the Baths by that time, if it had not been done to their Hands before.

Certainly Empire, and all the Honors there­unto His Cha­racter. belonging, made so little an impression upon him, that he always shew'd himself greatly displeased with them, and he desired to appear still the same Man, that he had ever been. He carried himself to the Senate, the most respectfully in the World. When they Congratulated him, he Complemented them again, and divided his Discourses to all of them, as if he was but the Governour of the City of Rome. He would willingly have laid down the Empire, and have return'd to a pri­vate life; and he would not suffer his Children to be brought up in the Court. Indeed he was so saving, and such a lover of Profit, that he Trafficked at the Lake di Sabato by his Ser­vants, when he was Emperor, in the same manner, as he did when he was a private Man. Persons who spoke freely of him, said, he was one that promised Well, but did No­thing. [Page 212] Those of his own Country, who re­sorted much to him upon his being made Em­peror, obtained as good as nothing from him, and said the same. Yet he was free to suffer himself to be presented, with any thing to his advantage. He left a Son and a Daughter behind him; together with his Wife, who was the Daughter of Flavius Sulpitianus, whom he made the Governor of Rome in his own place. He did not much concern himself with the im­pudicity of his Wife; who in the sight of all the World entertained for her Lover, a Musi­cian. On the other hand he had for his Mistress, one Cornificia; to whose love they say he was extremely abandoned. He was extraordinary strict upon the Servants about the Court: and this therefore made him be much hated by them.

The signs forerunning his Death were these Signs of his Death. Three days before he was killed, he thought he saw a Man by reflexion in a Pond, making at him with a Sword. The day that he was killed, it was observed that the Pupils of his Eyes, as if they were dead, did not represent the Images of Persons that look'd on him: and as he sacrificed in his private Oratory, the Fire went out; and neither the Heart, nor the Liver were found in the Victims. Stars very bright, though near the Sun, appeared in the day time some days before. What him­self said of Didius Julianus, was an Omen of the succession to him of that Person. For Ju­lianus bringing his Kinsman, his Brother's Son to him, to whom he had promised to give [Page 213] his Daughter in Marriage, he advised the young Man to observe the Commands of his Uncle, for says he, He is my Colleague and my Successor: For he had been his Colleague in his Consulship, and had succeeded him in his Proconsulship: and at last he succeeded him in the Empire too. The Soldiers and the Courtiers both hated Pertinax. But the People took his death with Indignation, because they saw he was one, who might have re-settled all things in the good order as they were of old. The Soldiers that had killed him, stuck his Head upon a Spear, and brought it through the City into the Camp. But it was retrieved again, and together with his Body buried in the Sepulchre of his Wife's Grand-father, by Julianus, with all the honour that he could do it: only he made no publick Harangue upon him, either to the People or the Senate; but yet when afterwards it was his own fate to be in like manner deserted, and killed, then the Senate and the People did translate Pertinax into the number of the Gods.

This was done in the time of the Emperor Honours paid to him af­ter. Severus; when Pertinax having had a very great Character given him by the Senate, a Royal Funeral was solemnized for him, in which he was represented by his Effigies, and Severus himself did him the honor to make the Ora­tion in his praise: loving the memory of him to that degree, that he was pleased to be cal­led by the Senate by the same name of Perti­nax. The Son of Pertinax was made the Chief Priest to his Father; and the Priests of the [Page 214] Emperor Marcus Antoninus were appointed, as his Associates. The Games of the Cirque were Celebrated for his Ascension to the Em­pire, and the day of his Birth was kept: which last is remaining still: but the others were afterwards laid aside by Severus. He was born upon the Calends of August, under the Consulships of Verus and Bibulus. He was kil­led upon the fifth of the Calends of April, in the Consulships of Falco and Clarus. He lived sixty six Years, seven Months, and twenty six Days. He Reigned two Months, and twenty seven days. He gave a Largess to the People of a hundred Roman Penies a Man: and he had promised another to the Guards of twelve thousand Sesterces; but he gave them but the half: what he had promised the Army, was not given them, because his death prevented him. There is a Letter of his, in the History of his life, written by Marius Maximus, which I have not thought fit to insert here, because of its too great length, but which is a certain Proof, that Pertinax was one that had a Hor­ror for the Station of an Emperor.

THE A Chris [...]. CXCIV. Life and Reign OF THE EMPEROR DIDIUS JULIANUS.
Addressed to the EMPEROR DIOCLESIAN.

DIdius Julianus, who succeeded in the His Ex­traction. Empire after Pertinax, had for his Great Grandfather, Salvius Julianus; who was twice Consul, the Governor of the City of Rome, and which rendred him yet the more remarkable, was that he was [Page 216] a Professor of the Law. His Mother was cal­led Clara Aemilia; his Father Petronius Didius Severus; his Brothers, Didius Proculus and Num­mius Albinus; his Uncle by his Mother's side, Salvius Julianus; his Grandfather, by his Fa­thers side, an Insubrian of Milan: and his Great Grandfather by his Mothers side was Salvius Julianus, who was of the City Maho­meta in the Kingdom of Tunis. He was brought up by the hand of Domitia Lucilla, who was the Mother of the Emperor Marcus Antoninus; and by whose Interest he was first put into the Commission of the Viginti Viri. Then he was made a Quaestor, although a year His Ad­vance­ment. sooner than the Law permitted him in point of age. Then he was made an Aedile and a Praetor, by the favour of Marcus Antoninus. And after his Praetorship, he had the Com­mand in Germany of the Twenty Second Le­gion, called Primigenia. After that he Go­verned in Gallia Belgica very well, and very long: where the Cauchi, a People of Germa­ny, who bordered upon the River of Elbe, making an Eruption upon him, he resisted them so well with only the tumultuous Forces of the Province, that he merited by it a Con­sulship. In like manner he overcame the Catti. Then he was translated to the Govern­ment of Dalmatia; which he very well main­tained against the bordering Enemies. Next he was removed to the Lower Germany, and after that he was made the General of the Provisions in Italy.

He was once accused by one Severus Claris­simus, a Soldier, of being in a Conspiracy with Salvius Julianus, against Commodus. But because Commodus had already put many Sena­tors to death, who were great and powerful Persons, and because he was willing a while to forbear his further Cruelty, Didius Julia­nus was discharged at that time, and his Ac­cuser Condemned; after which he was re­manded again to his Province. Then he had the Government of Bithynia given him; in which however he came short of that Fame, that he had acquired in his other Govern­ments. Next he was made a Consul in Con­junction with Pertinax, and he succeeded to Pertinax in the Proconsulship of Africa; who therefore always called him his Collegue and his Successor: But this was more especially re­marked to be Ominous, one day when Juli­anus came with his Kinsman to him, when Emperor, to be Contracted to a Daughter of Pertinax. For as Pertinax received him with the respect and kindness that was due; he said to him at the same time, You, Sir, Are [...] my Colleague and my Successor: and presently after that, followed the death of that Prince. Now he who first put up to be Emperor after the death of Pertinax, was Sulpitianus, who was then in the Camp of the Guards. In the mean time the Senate as­sembled; whither Julianus together with his Son-in-Law coming, and finding the Doors shut, and the two Tribunes P. Florianus and Vectius Aper standing at the Door, those two [Page 218] Tribunes began to persuade him to possess him­self of the Empire that was vacant. To which he answering, that it was already di­sposed of to another, they nevertheless took him even against his will, and carried him to the Camp: where they found Sulpitianus, who was the Governor of Rome, and Son-in-Law to Pertinax, haranguing the Soldiers in his own favour so strongly, that they refused to hearken in the least to Julianus, till he had wisely advised them not to make Choice of one who would Revenge the Murder of Pertinax, who was Father-in-Law to him; and then they all immediately tacked about to Julianus; who giving it them under his Hand in Writing, that he would restore the Memory of Commodus, they proclaimed him, engaging him to bear no displeasure however against Sulpitianus for the Pretensions which he had made to their Favour.

Then he Chose, by their Advice, Flavius Gentalis, and Tullius Crispinus to be the Cap­tains of the Guards; and whereas he had pro­mised, that he would give the Soldiers a Boun­ty of five and twenty thousand Sesterces, he gave them thirty. In the Evening, after he had Harangued them according to Custom, he came from the Camp to the Senate, to whom he intirely referred himself: the Se­nate accepted him; and first Inrolled him a­mongst the Families of the Patricians; then they declared him Emperor. The Tribunitian Declar'd Emperor. and the Proconsular Powers were conferred upon him; and his Wife called Mallia Scan­tilla, [Page 219] and his Daughter Didia Clara were ho­noured by them with the Titles of Empress, and Princess. From the Senate he repaired to the Palace, whither he took his Wife and Daughter with him; but they went trembling, and against their wills, as if their minds gave them some secret Presages of an approaching Destruction. He made Cornelius Repentinus, his Son-in-Law, the Governor of the City of Rome, in the place of Sulpitian. But in the mean time the Populace bore to Julianus a Publick hatred, as if he would revive the times of Com­modus, and as if he had been the Murderer of Pertinax, because he proposed to amend his Faults. They pretended to say further, that despising the Frugal Table of Pertinax, he had from the first day provided himself ano­ther that was Luxurious, full of all sorts of excellent Meats; but this however was false. For besides that his Table was sufficiently Fru­gal, he did not Eat at all the first day, till the Body of Pertinax was buried; and then he did it with a great Melancholy upon him, and spent all the night afterwards sleepless, he was so concerned for his Friend's death.

The next Morning, as soon as it was light, the Senate and the Gentry coming to wait upon him at the Palace; he admitted them, and called them all, with a great deal of Civility, according to every one's Age, his Father, or his Son, or his Brother. Nevertheless the Populace both in the Forum, and before the House of the Se­nate, loaded him with perpetual Reproaches, as if they hoped by that means to oblige him [Page 220] to lay down the Empire, that he had received at the Hands of the Soldiers. They threw a Shower of Stones at him; and as he came to the Senate Cursed him publickly, and Cursed him again as he was at his Devotions, by which they wished he might never obtain any thing of the Gods. In the mean time as they threw Stones at him, he only waved his Hand to­wards them to Pacifie them: and what he said to the Senate was very sweet and prudent. He thanked them that they had admitted him to Administer, in Conjunction with them, the Soveraign Power; and for the Honor they had done, not only to himself, but to his Wife and his Daughter. He accepted from them the Title of the Father of the Country; but he re­fused to have his Statue set up in Silver, which they offered him. Going from the Senate a­gain to the Capitol, the Populace made a stop to him; till they were forced aside, partly by Blows with Sword in Hand, and partly by good Words and promises of Money. From thence he went to the Publick Games in the Cirque; where the People Crowding them­selves indifferently into all the Seats, redoubled their outragious Reproaches against him; and called aloud upon Pescennius Niger, who was said to have already taken upon him the qua­lity of the Emperor, to come to the Succour of the City of Rome; yet all this took he quietly, and appeared to be of an extraordinary sweet Temper all the time of his Reign. The People inveighed no less bitterly against the Soldiers, who had kill'd Pertinax, they said for Money. To [Page 221] conciliate therefore the favour of these People, several things which Commodus had well ap­pointed, and Pertinax had abolished, Didius Julianus restored again. He spoke nothing, neither good nor bad, as to Pertinax himself; which seemed to several to be very strange; but the only reason, why he was silent of his Honor, was the fear of the Soldiers, who had killed him.

Now Julianus had no apprehension of any Opposition being made to him on the side either of the Forces in Great Britain, or those in Illyricum. But fearing especially those in Syria, which were commanded by Pescennius Niger, he sent a Centurion thither with Or­ders to cut him off. Hereupon Pescennius Ni­ger Niger and Severus revolt. in Syria, and Septimius Severus in Illyricum, revolted from Julianus with the Armies under their Commands. Being told of the latter, from whom he had suspected nothing; he came in Anger to the Senate, and caused him to be declared an Enemy, and the Soldiers with him, unless they deserted him by such a day: to whom Messengers were sent at the same time from the Senate, to persuade them to renounce Severus, and adhere to Julianus. Amonst whom was Vespronius Candidus, who was a great Senior in the Rank of the Con­suls, but hated of old by the Soldiers, because of his Severities. Valerius Catulinus was sent in the Quality of Successor to Severus: as if it was an easie thing to be the Successor of a Man, who had an Army to defend him. Together with these was sent Aquilius, the Centurion, a [Page 222] known Assassin, who having already mur­dered many Senators, might try his Hand once again, and do no less to Severus. In the mean time Didius Julianus ordered the Guards to be exercised, and their Camp to be refortified. But as the Soldiers were become idle, and dis­solute by being accustomed to the Luxuries of Rome, it was very much against their wills, that they were brought to their Arms; inso­much that they hired others for Money to sup­ply their places, and do their duties in their steads.

Septimius Severus took his march towards the City of Rome, with the Army under his Command; whilst the People there, every day more both hated and derided Julianus. Nor was he able to do any good upon the Soldiers of the Guards; and thinking that Laetus was a Favourer of the Cause of Severus, he un­gratefully commanded him to be killed, who was one that had formerly saved his life from the Hands of Commodus; and Martia he com­manded to be killed with him. But whilst these things were in passing, Severus possessed him­self of the Fleet and City of Ravenna; and the Embassadors of the Senate, that had pro­mised this Succour to Julianus, changed sides, and engag'd on the part of Severus. Also Tul­lius Crispinus, the Captain of the Guards, who had been sent to make Head against his Troops, received a defeat, and returned back by Rome. When Julianus saw all this, he pro­posed to the Senate, that the Vestal Virgins and all the Priests, together with the Senate, [Page 223] should march forth to meet the Army of Se­verus, Arrayed all in their several Habits, and should conjure and persuade him fairly to de­sist his Hostilities. A vain thing indeed, to sup­pose of an Army of desperate Soldiers. There­fore Faustinus Quintillus, an Augur, and a Consul, took the liberty to contradict him in that Proposal; and boldly said, to which ma­ny of the Senators gave their consents; That a Man was not fit to Command, who could not resist his Adversary by force of Arms. Julianus in great Anger sent for Soldiers out of the Camp, to force the Senate into a Compliance with him, or Massacre them upon the place. But neither did this take. For certainly it was very unreasonable, that when the Senate had adjudged Severus an Enemy upon the account of Julianus, the same Julianus should turn such a Butcherer of the Senate. So he came to the Senate with another and a better Pro­posal, which was that there might be an Act for the participation of the Empire betwixt Severus declar'd Partner in the Empire. Severus and him, and this was done imme­diately. Every one now called to mind an Omen of all this, which came from the Mouth of Julianus himself, when he had the Empire given him. For when the Consul had said in the name of the Senate, I order Didius Julianus to be proclaimed Emperor, Julianus prompted and corrected him thus, say Didius Ju­lianus Severus, that is, because Severus was a third name which he took from his Grandfather, and Great Grandfather. Some indeed deny, that there was any such Order of his, as that of [Page 224] murdering the Senate, who had been so kind to him. But however that is, after passing that Act, he sent immediately Tullius Crispinus, his Captain of the Guards, to Complement Severus. He also Created Veturius Macrinus, another Captain of the Guards; because he un­derstood that Severus had sent Letters to make him one. In the mean time the People said a­loud, and Severus suspected as much, that this Peace was but a Feint, and that Tullius Crispinus was sent to him rather with private Orders to kill him. So Severus, with the advice of his Army, chose to be his declared Enemy, rather than his Partner; and accordingly he writ to a great many Persons in Rome, his Friends, who secretly received and dispatched his Or­ders. As for the rest, Julianus tried all sorts of things by the Magicians, that could be de­vised to mitigate the hatred of the People, or to bridle the Arms of the Enemy. And cer­tainly the Magicians offered such Sacrifices for him upon this occasion, as were by no means consonant to the Rites of the Romans. They tried their Charms in Profane Verses, and o­ther Charms which they do with a Looking­glass: but yet all went ill on the side of Ju­lianus; and all that they discovered from them was, the coming in of the one, and the departure of the other Emperor.

As Tullius Crispinus came as far as to meet the Avant-Guards of Severus, he was killed by his order, in which he followed the ad­vice that was given him by Julius Laetus. Then Julianus convoked the Senate again, [Page 225] and asked their Opinions, what more was to be done; but the Senate could not resolve him. He ordered after that, of his own motion, the Gladiators of Capua to take Arms under the Command of Lollianus Titianus. He in­vited Claudius Pompeianus, from his Retreat at Tarracina, to joyn with him in the Government, because he had long commanded Armies, and was the Son-in-Law of an Emperor. But Pom­peianus excused himself, and said, he was an Old Man, and wanted his sight. In the mean time, the Army of Severus was encreased, by Soldiers that came to him out of the Province of Ombria; and he sent Letters before him to Rome, to order the Murderers of Pertinax to be secured. So in a little time, Didius Julianus was abandoned by all the World, and remained in the Court, with only Genialis, one of his Cap­tains of the Guards, and his Son-in-Law Repen­tinus with him▪ The next thing was to depose He is de­posed. him from the Empire, by the Sentence of the Senate: This was done, and all his Power abro­gated, and Severus immediately declared Empe­ror in his place. Afterward it was pretended that he had poysoned himself; but in effect, there were Persons immediately sent on the part of the Senate, who caused him to be killed by the hands of a mercenary Soldier, imploring, as he fell, the Faith of Caesar; that is, Severus. He had given all his Paternal Estate to his Daughter, and emancipated her upon his Elevation to the And slain. Empire. But as well her Riches, as her Illustrious Title of Princess, were soon taken from her again. His Body was delivered by Severus, to [Page 226] Manlia Scintilla his Wife, and to his Daughter, to be buried; who put it into a Tomb of his great Grandfather, five Miles from Rome, upon the Via Lavicana, that is, the High-way, called by that Name.

Now the things condemned in this Prince were these; that he gormandized, that is, eat to excess, gam'd much, plaid at the Wea­pons of the Gladiators; and did all this, being an Old Man, tho' he had never before been at­tached to those Vices in his Youth; and that he was Proud; but this is not to be believed, for in his Reign he shewed himself the most humble Man in the World; the most obliging in his Entertainments; the most courteous in his Subscription of himself in his Letters, and of a most excellent Temper in allowing of the Liberties of his Friends. He lived Six and Fifty Years and Four Months; and reigned but Two Months and Five Days. Therefore his great Error was, that he ought by his absolute Au­thority to have governed those, whom on the contrary he made absolute over himself, to go­vern the State.

THE A. Christi CXCIV. Life and Reign OF THE EMPEROR Septimius Severus, Dedicated to the EMPEROR DIOCLESIAN.

SEVERUS, who enjoyed the Empire after the Death of Didius Julianus, was born in Africa, at the Town of Napoli His Ex­traction. di Barbaria, in the Government of Tripoli. His Father's Name was Geta. His Ancestors had been Knights of Rome of old Time. His Mo­ther [Page 228] was Fulvia Pia. His Uncles by his Fa­ther's side were Marcus Agrippa and Severus, who had both been Consuls. His Grandfather by his Father's side was Macer; by his Mo­ther's, Fulvjus Pius. He was born under the Consulships of Erucius Clarus, and Severus, which was then the second Consulship of the first, upon the sixth of the Ides of April. When he was but a Child, and before he had any Tincture of the Latin and Greek Letters, in which he was afterwards so very perfect, he loved to play altogether at a Sport, in which having Bundles of Rods and Axes carried be­fore him, and a row of Boys standing about him, he sate himself down as a Judge, and tried Causes.

In the Eighteenth Year of his Age, he d [...] ­clamed in Publick. Afterwards he came to Rome to make his Studies; where through the Favour of his Kinsman, Septimius Severus, who had been twice Consul, he received the Ho­nour of the Emperor Marcus Antoninus to be He is made a Senator. created a Senator. Now his Landlord with whom he lodged at Rome, upon his first coming thither, was at that moment Reading the Life of the Emperor Hadrian, which he was quick to observe, as an Omen to himself of future Grandeur. Another Omen that he had, was more parcicularly, as to his Reign, which was this; being once invited to a Banquet of the Emperor, he came in his Cloak, when he ought to have come in his Gown; which the Emperor taking Notice of, he gave him a Gown of his own to put on, which was the [Page 229] same that he wore when he sate in Judgment. The same Night he dreamt that he sucked the Breasts of a Wolf, as if he was a Remus or a Romulus. He sate himself down in the Em­peror's Chair, which a Servant had put out of its place, without thinking any thing of it, nor knowing that this was not permitted. As he was asleep once at his Lodgings, a Serpent came and had twisted it self about his Head; which the Servant perceiving, cried out, and he awaked, and the Serpent went from him again without doing him any hurt.

His Youth was full of Fury and Wildnesses, which were sometimes criminal. He was ar­raigned for Adultery, but was acquitted by Didius Julianus, the Proconsul of Africa, to whom he succeeded in the Charge of that Pro­consulship, and was his Colleague in his Con­sulship, and again succeeded him in the Em­pire. He discharged his Questorship of the City of Rome, very well, into which he was elected unanimously. Afterwards he was cho­sen a Military Questor, that is, Pay-Master, or Commissary to the Army, for the Province of Hispania Boetica. From thence he went into A­frica to receive the Succession to his Father who was dead there. And whilst he was in Africa, instead of the Province of Boetica, he was made the Questor for the Island of Sardinia, because the Moors had laid waste Hispania Boe­tica. This Administration being over, he was advanced to be the Proconsul of Africa; in which place a Plebeian of his own Town of Napoli di Barbaria coming to him, whilst the [Page 230] Rods were carried before him, and presuming to embrace him, as his old Companion, he ordered him to be taken and well Cudgelled, with this Inscription over his Head, You who are a Plebeian, have a care of touching so a Pro­consul of the People of Rome. Since which time, the Custom is for the Proconsuls to go out al­ways in a Coach, whereas before they walked on Foot. He consulted, being in Africa, with an Astrologer, about his Fortune, which he was solicitous to know. The Astrologer took the Hour of his Birth, and observing great things from it, says he to him, Give me your own Horoscope, and not another Man's: Sever [...] protesting, that it was his own, he told him of all the things which afterwards arrived to him.

By the Favour of the Emperor Marcus An­toninus, he was made a Tribune of the People, which he discharged with the greatest Exact­ness, and all the Strictness that could be de­sired. Then he married Martia, of whom he says nothing himself, in his History of his pri­vate Life. But after he was Emperor, he set up her Statues. In the Thirty Second Year of his Age, he was chosen a Praetor, before a Number of others that were Competitors a­gainst him. At the same time, he was sent into Spain. Upon which he dreamt, that i [...] was said to him, that he should restore the Temple of Augustus at the City of Tarra­gona, which was falling into ruin; and the [...] that from the top of a very high Moun­tain, he had a Prospect given him of a [...] the Earth, but particularly of the City o [...] [Page 231] Rome, about which all the Provinces were joyn­ing in a Consort of Harps, Voices, and sweet Flutes. He gave the People the diversion of the publick Shews in his absence. Then he had the command of the Fourth Legion, cal­led Scythica, which was in Syria. In his way to which, he went to Athens, for the Curio­sity of observing the Studies and the Rites, the Works, and the Antiquities of that Seat of the Muses: But because he received some Injuries there from the Athenians, he became their Enemy; and when he was Emperor, he was willing to avenge himself of them, by cut­ting short their Privileges Next he was removed to the Province of the Lionnois in Gal­lia, to be the Lieutenant there. And having lost his Wife, and proposing to marry ano­ther, he took the Care first to be informed, being very well vers'd in the knowledge of Astrology himself, in the Nativities of his Mi­stresses; and as he had heard, that there was a Lady in Syria, who had found by her Nativity, that she was to be married to a King, he court­ed her, and in fine, married her, whose Name His second Marriage was Julia, by whom he was soon after made a Father.

His Exactness, his Honour, and his great Sobriety, caused him to be so much beloved a­mongst the Gauls, as never Person was. He was translated from thence to the Government of Pannonia, with a Proconsular Power. From Pannonia to Sicily, which was another Procon­sulship; and when he had made his return a­gain to Rome, he received of his Wife a se­cond [Page 232] Son. Being in Sicily, he was accused of consulting the Chaldaeans and the Astrologers about his coming to the Empire, for which he was ordered to be heard before the Captains of the Guards; who, it then being the time that the Emperor Commodus began to fall into an universal odium, acquitted him, and cru­cified the Man that calumniated him. He was Consul the first time in Conjunction with Apuleius Ruffinus, by the particular appoint­ment of Commodus. After his Consulship, he continued an entire Year at Rome, without Employ; and then by the recommenda­tion of Laetus, he was preferred to the Com­mand of the Army in Germany. He had li­ved till now at Rome, in a very little House with one small Plat of Ground to it. But as he went to take the Possession of this last Charge, he purchased himself a spatious Villa; where once taking a small Repast together with his little Infants, and Fruit being brought, his Eldest Son, who was then of the Age of Five Years, distributed it amongst the Children, his Play. Fellows, so liberally, that his Father said to him, Not so fast, my Son, you have not the Riches of a King. The Child of Five Years old, answered, But I shall have. So being gone to his Command in Germany, he acquitted himself in that sort, that he raised his Name, which was already ennobled, to a far higher pitch of Glory.

Hitherto he had followed Arms, but in the Quality of a private Person. But now the News coming that Commodus was killed, [Page 233] and that Didius Julianus, who for the present was upon the Throne, was universally hated; the German Legions encouraged him no less than he declined it, to put up for the Empire. They declared him Emperor upon the Ides of Declared Emperor by the Army. August; at the same time he gave them a Bounty of Fifty Thousand Sesterces, which was more than any Prince had ever done before; and having secured the Provinces which he left at his Back, he hastened his March to Rome. Every one opened the way to him in all the places where he came. The Armies of Illyricum and Gallia, swore Fidelity to him. And every where they received him, as the Avenger of the Murder of Pertinax. In the mean time, Didius Julianus prevailed with the Senate to declare him an Enemy, and the Se­nate sent their Commissioners to his Army to command the Soldiers in their Names to de­part from his Service. It is true, it put him first into a great concern: but afterwards he managed the thing so, that he corrupted those very Commissioners, so that they spoke to the Soldiers for him, and came over themselves to his side. Julianus who was soon advertised of a Conduct so extraordinary, obtained then a Decree of the Senate, in which it was de­clared, that the Empire should be participated betwixt himself and Severus: but whether this was with a sincere, or a treacherous Intention, it is uncertain, because in truth, he had before sent some known Assassines to him, to kill him; and others, at the same time, to kill Pescennius Niger, who had also taken up the [Page 234] Empire against him, upon the Authority of the Forces in Syria. However it was, Severus escaped their Hands, and writ Letters to the Guards at Rome to abandon and slay Julianus; which was executed upon him accordingly, as he was in the Court, and Severus was invited to enter into Rome; who with a Fortune, which hath never happened to any before him, be­came a Conqueror as it were with a Word, Enters Rome. and so marched on to Rome at the Head of his Troops.

He kept himself all the while in his Camps and Tents, in his march in Italy, no less than if he still appeared there with the face of an Enemy. The Senate deputed a Hundred out of their Body, as their Envoys to compliment and congratulate him; who came up to him at the City of Teramo in Abruzzo. He re­ceived them when they saluted him, all in Ar­mour, and in the midst of his armed Troops. The next day all the Domesticks of the Court arrived to pay their Reverences to him. He pre­sented the Envoys of the Senate with seven hun­dred and twenty Pieces of Gold, and dismissed them. But yet if they pleased, he welcomed them to stay and to return to Rome in his Company. Then he immediately made Flavius Juvenalis the Captain of the Guards, who was one that Julianus had chosen to be a third Captain of the same under him. In the mean time, the Trouble was very great at Rome, amongst the Soldiers and the Citizens; because Severus whom they judged their Enemy, approached to them with a puissant Army. At the same [Page 235] time the Legions in Syria had set up Pescennius Niger, Emperor; whose Edicts therefore, and whose Letters to the People or to the Senate, Severus intercepted, that they should not be read to the one or the other. And as he judged very well, that it concerned him to secure himself a­gainst him, he sent Heraclius to take in the Coun­try of Bithynia; and Plautianus, to make himself Master of the Children of Pescennius Niger. Then coming up to the City of Rome, before he made his entrance into it, he ordered the old Guards there to appear before him without their Arms, which they did, and he held a Council of War upon them, and surrounded them with Guards of his own Troops.

In fine, as he made his publick Entrance into the City, himself and his Soldiers, all under their Arms, he took his way strait up to the Capitol. From the Capitol, he proceeded in the same form to the Palace, with the Banners which he had taken from the old Guards carried before him, not fly­ing, but furled, as in mourning. All the City over did the Soldiers spread themselves, and filled the Temples, the Piazza's, and the Houses of the Court, like so many Inns. At their Discretion they took all things, without Buying, and threatned to plunder all the City; so that certainly one may say, the Entrance of Severus was odious and terrible. The next day he came, accompanied with his Friends, and a great Guard of his armed Soldiers, to the Senate, where he gave the Senate an Ac­count of his assumption of the Empire, and [Page 236] complained, that Didius Julianus had sent Men, who were known Assassines, to him, to kill him. He obliged them to pass an Act, that it should be unlawful for the Emperor to put to death a Senator, without taking the ad­vice of the Senate. But whilst he was there, the Army that had brought him in, demanded of the Senate seditiously ten thousand Sester­ces, after the example of those who had for­merly brought in Augustus Caesar, and had received that Sum. Severus would have re­pressed them, but he could not, without sweet­ning them with Money; which sent them a­way pacified. In the next place, in honour of the Memory of Pertinax, he solemnized a Royal Funeral for him, in which he was represented by his Image; and he Consecrated him a God, and appointed his Priests. He was willing to be called Pertinax himself, till the complaints of his Friends made him abolish the name again, as if it was ominous of a short Reign.

After this he rendred to every one what belonged to him; and he married his two Daughters, having endowed them well, to Probus and Aetius. To the former of whom he offered the Government of the City of Rome; but he refused it, and said, That he thought it less to be the Governor of Rome, than to be the Son in Law of a Prince. He made both of them Consuls, and gave them great Riches. Another day he came to the Senate, and made a Proscription of the Friends of Didius Julianus; such as against whom there were Accusations brought, and afterwards or­dered [Page 237] them to be Executed. He heard a great many Causes Pleaded before him. He se­verely punished the Magistrates of the Pro­vinces, who stood accused by their People, if he found the matter of their Accusations proved against them. He looked so well after the affair of the Magazines of Corn, which he found in a very low condition, that when he died, he left enough for seven years to come. He took up an Expedition into the East to establish the State of Affairs there; not speak­ing any thing as yet openly of Pescennius Ni­ger, only he immediately sent some Legions into Africa, for fear that Niger should possess himself of Alexandria or Carthage by the way of Libya and Egypt, and so afflict the People of Rome with a want of Corn. He left Domitius Dexter, Governor of the City of Rome, in the place of Bassus, and within thirty days of his coming thither, he set out from it again. Af­ter His Ex­pedition against Niger. he had marched as far as to a place called Saxa Rubra, he had an occasion to appease a great Sedition which was arisen in his Army up­on the subject of their Encampments. Here his Brother Geta met him; whom he Commanded to do his Duty in what had been ordered him; but Geta had been full, when he came, of other Hopes. Here also the Children of Pescennius Niger were brought to him, whom he received and entertained with the same Kindness, as if they were his own. He had sent a Legion to secure the Countries of Greece and Thrace, a­gainst Niger. But, notwithstanding that, Ni­ger had already seized upon Byzantium and [Page 238] pretended to do the same to the City of He­raclia; and having put to death a great many Persons of his Army, because he suspected them, Severus declared him, together with Aemilianus, the Proconsul of Asia, an Enemy. Niger invited Severus to agree to a Participati­on of the Empire; but this was slighted. Se­verus promised him, if he pleased, his Life in Safety: But he would give no Quarter to Ae­milianus; who therefore being beaten soon af­ter upon the Coasts of the Hellespont by the Captains of Severus, fled first to Cyziqua, and then to another City, in which he was killed: and the Troops of Niger were also put to the Niger defeated, Rout by the same.

Severus with the News of this, sent Letters to the Senate, as though his Work was done. He fought next in Person with Niger, and killed him by the City of Cyziqua, and ordered and slain. his Head to be carried about upon a Spear: whose Children, after this, whom he had hi­therto received with the same kindness as his own, and their Mother, he banished. Im­mediately he gave the Senate, by Letter, an ac­count of his Victory; and he put none to death of the Senators, who had been of the side of Niger, except only one. He was an­gry with the City of Antioch; because they had both made a mock of his Administration of things in the East, and had furnished Ni­ger with Provisions; so he deprived them of many of their Privileges. He deprived also the People of Sichem in Palestine, of their Freedom of Rome: because they had been a [Page 239] long time armed for the service of Niger. He chastised several other Cities that had followed him; and by the losses and damages which he made them suffer, he left upon them the marks of his Resentments. After this, he did a great many things about Arabia. He obliged the Parthians to yield to him, and the People of the Country of Adiabene, who were all in the same Interests with Pescennius Niger. Where­fore at his return, he was offered the honour of Triumph, and was Entitled Conqueror of the Arabians, Adiabenians, and Parthians; but the Triumph he refused; lest it should be pre­tended that he triumphed a for Victory, gained as it were over his own Subjects, and he re­fused the Style of Conqueror of the Parthians, not to offend the Parthians too sensibly.

But no sooner was he returning to Rome from the Civil-War of Pescennius Niger, but he had the News of another, which he was to Revolt of Clodius Albinus. sustain against Clodius Albinus, who had re­volted in Gallia. This occasioned him to com­mand the Children of Niger, and their Mo­ther to be put to death. Then he immediately declared Albinus an Enemy, and all his Adhe­rents, if they had but written tenderly to him, or answered his Letters. And as he was upon his way against him, meeting with his eldest Son Bassianus at the Village of Vimy near Lions, he conferred upon him the Title of Caesar, and called him by the name of Aurelius Antoninus Bassianus. The reason whereof was, to cut off his Brother Geta from the hopes which he had conceived of the Empire. And he called [Page 240] him by the name of Antoninus, either because he had dreamt that an Antoninus should succeed him, for which reason some say that Geta had had given to himself the same name; or be­cause Severus himself had sometime formerly been of a mind to pass out of his own Fami­ly into that of Marcus Antoninus. The Cap­tains of Severus were at first defeated by those of Clodius Albinus; which cast him into that concern, that he consulted with the Augurs of Pannonia about his Fortune; who told him that he should be the Conqueror, but yet th [...] his Adversary should neither fall into h [...] power, neither save himself; and that h [...] should perish by the side of a Water. No [...] was it long after this, before several of the Friends of Albinus abandoned him, and came and presented themselves before Severus, and others of his Captains were taken Prisoners, upon whom he exacted a rigorous Chastise­ment.

After a great many things had past variously on both sides, the Battel of Tournom near Lions was fought, in which Severus carried the Day Albinus over­thrown. with the greatest success; only he was once thrown from his Horse, and the Army believing him to be killed, was just upon the point of making another Emperor. The Senate had a [...] this time read some things, which were in the praise of Clodius Celsinus, who was of the City of Mahometa in Africa, and the Kinsman of Albinus: which disobliging Severus, as if they had meant it in the favour of Albinus himself, and thinking that he could not better revenge [Page 241] [...]t upon them, than by Consecrating Commo­dus a God; he first of all pronounced him a God amongst the Army, and then writ the same to the Senate, with a recital of the Vi­ctory, and commanded that the Bodies of the Senators who were killed in the fight, should [...]e left abandoned and unburied. The Body of Albinus being brought to him, but half dead, he ordered his Head to be cut off, and [...]arried to Rome with the Letters which he writ [...]pon this Subject. He was overcome the ele­ [...]enth day of the Calends of March; his [...]ody was exposed before his own Tent till stunk: Severus rid his Horse over it; and [...]e Horse boggling at it with horror, he forced [...]im on with the Spur. At last he ordered it [...] be thrown into the River of Rhosne, toge­ [...]er with those of his Wife and Children.

He put to death after this an infinite num­ [...]er His ex­treme Se­verity. of Persons of the Party of Albinus, and [...]mongst the rest, many of the Chief of Rome, [...]nd several Ladies of Quality. All whose [...]states were Confiscated, and returned into [...]he Exchequer. He did the same, on this oc­ [...]asion, with several of the Grandees of Spain [...]nd Gallia. So that he gave the Soldiers the [...]reatest Pay by this means, that any Prince [...]ver did; and to his Children by virtue of this [...]roscription he left the most of any Prince at [...]s death. For he had amassed to himself the [...]eatest part of the Gold and Silver that was Gallia, and in all Spain, and all Italy. He [...]as the first that Constituted the Officer of [...]rocurator of the Private Affairs of the Em­peror; [Page 242] or Keeper of the Privy Purse. Many others of the Party of Albinus, keeping their Faith to him, which they had promised, were defeated in Battel, likewise by Severus. The Arabian Legion had revolted to him. All which aggravated the Revenge of Severus upon the Party; of whom having killed a great many more, and extinguished the whole Family of the Albini, he came to Rome in a Choler a [...] the People and the Senate: where he applauded Commodus publickly both to the one and the other: called him a God; said they were only infamous Persons and Poultrons, to whom be had been displeasing: you might see, he was evidently furious. Then he discoursed upon his own Clemency, though of all Men he had been the most Cruel, and had murdered th [...] Senators following, without any legal Tryal, who were all illustrious Personages: Mu [...] ­us Secundinus, Asellius Claudianus, Claudius R [...] ­fus, Vitellius Victor, Papius Faustus, Aeli [...] Celsus, Julius Rufus, Lollius Professus, Aru [...] ­leius Cornelianus, Antoninus Balbus, Posth [...] Severus, Sergius Lustratus, Fabius Paulinus, N [...] ­nius Gracchus, Mustius Fabianus, Casperius A­grippinus, Cejonius Albinus, Claudius Sulpit [...] ­nus, Memmius Rufinus, Casperius Aemilia [...] Cocceius Verus, Erucius Clarus, L. Stilo, Cl [...]di [...] Rufus, Egnatuleius Honoratus, Petronius Junior Festus, Neratianus, Aurelianus, Materianus, J [...] ­lianus, and Albinus, of the Family of the Pes­cennii; Macrinus, Faustinianus, Julianus, o [...] the Family of the Cerellii; Herennius Nep [...] Sulpitius Canus, Valerius Catulinus, Novius Re­fus, [Page 243] Claudius Arabidnus, and Marius Ascellio. Of these, the greatest part wre of the de­gree of the Consuls, others Praetors, but all certainly very excellent Men: the murdering of whom, so many and so illustrious, as they were, made the Africans admire Severus as a Deity. He charged Cincius Severus with a de­sign to have Poysoned him, and so likewise put him to death. He threw Narcissus, who had strangled Commodus, to the Lions. Many of obscure Note and Birth besides he killed, not to speak of the rest who were taken off by the rights of War.

After all this, being willing to recommend himself to the People, he removed the Charge of the Post, and the Publick Carriages from Private Persons, to lay it upon the Exchequer. He ordered his Son Bassianus Antoninus, to be Declares his Son Caesar. declared Caesar by the Senate, and to wear the Ensigns of Majesty accordingly: and next of his own absolute Authority, he erected Sta­tu [...]s to his Father, Mother, Grandfather, and his first Wife. He conceived such a great disgust against Plautianus, after knowing his Life, that from an intimate Favourite, he de­clared him a publick Enemy, and did him the disgrace to throw down his Statues which before had been placed next to those of the Relations and Allies of Severus, in all places of the Empire where they were. He remitted the People of Palestine, the Punishments which [...] had menaced them with in the Cause of Pescennius Niger. Afterwards he received Plau­ [...]ianus into favour again, and banished his Ene­mies: [Page 244] who entred the City, as it were in Tri­umph, and went up to the Capitol; and yet in Process of time, for all that he killed him. He gave the Man's, or the Roman Gown, to Geta his youngest Son; and married his Eldest to a Daughter of Plautianus. He made them both Consuls; but Geta, his own Brother, he killed. Then the Parthian War came on; upon his going to which, he first treated the People with the Games of the Gladiators, and gave them a Largess. But still he put to death several Persons, whether for real, or pre­tended Causes, whilst these things past. Some because they Rallied upon him; others because they held their Tongues and said nothing. Some because they had said, He was an Em­peror that had not his name for nothing. A right Pertinax, a right Severus.

As for the Parthian War, certainly it was The Par­thian Ex­pedition. generally said that Severus affected it out of a desire of Glory, rather than that he was car­ried upon it by any necessity. He imbarked his Army at the Port of Brindisi; from whence continuing on his Journey, he came into Sy­ria, where he prepared himself to make Wa [...] upon the Parthians in their own Country, after he had driven them out of their Footings i [...] this. Together with which, by the advice o [...] Plautianus, he hunted after the Reliques of th [...] Faction of Pescennius Niger, and slew the [...] without Mercy. Others he slew, pretendin [...] that they had consulted the Astrologers an [...] the Diviners concerning his death. Partic [...] ­larly he suspected every one that was but pro­per [Page 245] to make an Emperor of. Whilst his Sons were yet little, which was the time for Men to try their Fortunes, either he heard, that it was said by them, or he imagined, that they said so. But yet as to some, who were mur­dered, he excused himself, and denied that it had been done by his order; and particularly Marius Maximus says, he did it in the Case of Laetus. His own Sister making him a Visit from the Town of Napoli di Barbaria, where he was born, had brought her Son along with her: and as she was one that was scarce able to speak the Latin Tongue, she made the Emperor blush for her very much: who gave her several rich Presents, and made her Son a Senator; but when that was done, he ordered her to go back to her own Country again, and take her Son with her, who soon after died.

The Summer being over, because in those Parts the Winter is the best Season for War, he entred into the Kingdom of Parthia; and obliging the Enemy to give way to him, he marched forward, and set himself down before Ctesiphon, which he took. But as his Soldiers had lived but upon the Roots of the Herbs which they found, whereby they had contracted great sicknesses, and particularly the Flux, which hindered their Marches, he satisfied himself with the Conquest which he had made, having killed a great number of the Enemy, and put to slight their King, which gained him the Title of Conqueror of the Parthians. His eldest Son the Caesar Bas­sionus Antoninus, of thirteen years of Age, was [Page 246] upon this occasion by the Army proclaimed a Partner in the Empire with his Father; and his younger Son, Geta Antoninus, was declared at the same time Caesar. Wherefore Severus gave to the Army a very large Donative, and all the Booty of the Town of Ctesiphon, accord­ing to their desire, which they were become the Masters of. From thence he returned a Conqueror into Syria. The Senate offered him the Honor of a Triumph: which he re­fused, Refuses a Triumph. be [...]se he could not sit in the Chariot, by reason of the Gout, which afflicted him. But he permitted his Son to receive it in his Place; to whom the Senate had decreed a Triumph in relation to the successes over the Jews. For all things had passed well in Syria, as well as Parthia, under the Conduct of Se­verus. In fine, being come to Antioch, he granted to his eldest Son the Roman Gow [...], and appointed him to be Consul with himself. Accordingly they both entred upon their Con­sulships in Syria. After which, having gratified the Army with a Bounty upon that Subject, they took their way to Alexandria.

In this Expedition he made a great many Laws to Establish the Rights of the People of Palestine. He forbad Men to turn Jews, un­der a great penalty, and he made the like Ordi­nances as to the Christians. He granted to the City of Alexandria the Privilege of a Senate; besides which he changed their Laws in several things. He was much pleased with his Voy­age into these Parts, to see the Worship of the God Serapis, and because of the singular strang­ness [Page 247] of the Animals, and places which he saw here. He viewed Memphis and Memnon, the Pyramids and the Labyrinth, with great Care and great Satisfaction.

It would be too tedious to pursue the Life of this Prince in Matters of a lesser Note. Therefore his diminishing the Power of the Pretorian Guards at Rome, after Julianus was conquered and killed, and his consecrating Pertinax a God, contrary to the Will of the Sol­diers, were bold and great Actions. He seems to have deserved the Name of Pertinax, (which once he assumed) not so much for his Affection to Pertinax the Emperor, as for the austerity of his manners, and his own pertinaciousness in what he did. As one of the Enemy, who was taken had cast himself humbly at his Feet, and said to him; Sir, what would your self have done in my place? He not at all softened with so pru­dent an Expression, commanded him to be killed without remorse. He was bent upon utterly extirpating the Parties that were against him, and almost from no place did he come off less than Conqueror.

He conquered Abgarus, the King of Persia. His other Successes. The Arabians yielded themselves under his Obedience. He made the Adiabeni Tributary to him. He fortified Great Britain, which is the greatest Ornament of his Reign, with a Trench drawn cross the Island, from the one Ocean to the other, from whence he received the Title of Conqueror of the Britains. He put his Native Country of Tripoli into a Condi­tion of the greatest Security, and a lasting [Page 248] Peace, by subduing those most Warlike Na­tions, which lie all about it; for which the Tripolines in return, presented him with Oyl and Corn, every Year in abundance; and gave for that purpose some fruitful Fields for ever to the People of Rome. As he was of a Temper to be implacable towards such as trans­gressed their Duty; so on the other hand, he was of a singular good Judgment in making Choice of Persons to serve him, who were Men of Fidelity. He was much addicted to the Studies of Philosophy and Eloquence, and had a desire to know the rest of the Sciences He was a mortal hater of Robbers. He writ his own Life himself faithfully, as he was a private Man, and as he Emperor; in which however, he excuses as much as he can, the Fault of his Cruelty. The Senate gave this Judgment upon him, that either he ought ne­ver to have been born, or he ought never to die. Because he seemed at once to be too Cruel to keep, and too useful to lose.

In the mean time, as to his Affairs within his His Wife suspected. own Family, he was not so very Prudent. For the Virtue of his Wise Julia was much to be su­spected. She was also an Accomplice in a Con­spiracy that was form'd against him, yet he spa­red her, and kept her with him. Whilst he lay lame of the Gout in his Feet, which retarded the Operations of the War, which the Army bore impatiently, they had nominated his Son Bassia­nus, to march as Emperor at the Head of them. Severus immediately upon this, called a Coun­cil of War, to which, causing himself to be [Page 249] taken up, and carried and placed upon the Tribunal; and having cited to it all the Tri­bunes, Centurions, Captains, and the principal Officers of the Army, that had been the Au­thors of that Action, together with his Son; he demanded of them all, Whether they were returned to their Duty? who all, except his Son, whom he had pardoned, prostrating themselves before him for mercy; says he, I hope now you are satisfied, it is the Head that rules, and not the Feet. Another very remarkable Expres­sion of his, is, being one whom Fortune had raised from a low Birth by several degrees to the Empire, with the Assistance of Letters, and the Knowledge that he had acquired in Arms; says he, I have been all things, and all's worth nothing.

He died at York in Great Britain, in an ad­vanced His Deaht. Age, and the Eighteenth Year of his Reign, of a very violent Malady, the Gout, after having subdued the Nations which were troublesome to the Repose of that Country. He left Two Sons, Antoninus Bassianus and Geta, to which latter he gave the same Name of Antoninus, in Honour of the Emperor Mar­cus Antoninus. He was interred in the Sepul­chre of Marcus Antoninus, for whom of all the Emperors, he had that Honour, and held his Memory so dear, that he consecrated even his Son Commodus Antoninus a God, and thought that for the future, the Name of Antoninus ought to be inseparable from the Person of the Emperor, as well as that of Augustus, for ever. The Senate, his Children, and those of his Fa­mily, joyned to make a magnificent Funeral [Page 250] for him, and he was likewise enrolled in the Number of the Gods. The publick Works of his that are extant, are chiefly these; the Sep­tizonium, his Baths, and his Jani. The Judg­ment that was passed upon him after his Death was so much the more to his Honour, as his Son, and those Princes that came after, proved unfortunate to the State; when all things were abandoned into the Hands of Robbers, that made a Prey of all the Grandeur and the Ri­ches of the Romans. He was so little curious of fine Cloaths, that his Vest had scarce any Studs of Purple upon it; and over that, he wore a loose shagged Coat. He eat little, and loved above all things the Pease, Beans, and Pulse of his own Native Country; he sometimes drank pretty freely; often quite abstained from flesh. He was handsome as to his Person; big, with His Per­sonage. a long Beard; his Hair naturally curl'd; of an awful Countenance; a sweet Voice, but some­thing of an African Tone with it to the last. After his Death, he was more beloved than ever he had been during his Life; because People then had ceased to envy him, and be­cause they were out of the fear of his Cruelty.

I remember, I have read in Aelius Maurus, the manumitted Servant of Phlegon of Tralles, that this Prince, when he died, rejoyced infi­nitely, that he left behind him two Sons of the Name of Antoninus to succeed in the Em­pire, and to be of equal Power with one ano­ther, after the Example of the Emperor Anto­ninus Pius, who was succeeded at once by Marcus Antoninus and Verus Antoninus, who [Page 251] yet being the Sons of that Prince but by A­doption; it pleased Severus so much the more, to think that his two Sons were his own, and derived of his own Blood; that is, Bassianus Antoninus, whom he had by his first Wife, and Geta Antoninus, whom he had by Julia. But he was much mistaken in his good hopes as to them both. The untimely Murder of the one, and the Vices of the other equally de­prived the State of reaping any Good by them.

And really when I have sometime reflected upon this, I have with astonishment observed, may it please your Majesty O Dioclesian, that seldom any of the great Men have ever left a good and an useful Son behind them. But either they have died all without Issue, or if they have had Children, their Children have been such, that it had been better for their Glory to have left none at all. To begin with Romulus, he left the World no Children; nor Numa Pompilius, who were of any Service to the State. What shall I say of Camillus? Had he any Children like himself? What had Scipio? What had the Cato's, who were all such great Men? What shall I say of Homer, De­mosthenes, Virgil, Salust, Terence, Plautus, and so many other excellent Persons? What shall I say of Caesar? What shall I say of Tully? but that it had been much better, that he had left no Children neither. What shall I say of Augustus himself? who had not a good even adoptive Son, though he had all the World to chuse out of. Trajan was also mistaken in the [Page 252] Choice that he made of his own Country man, and one of his own Blood. But to o­mit any more adoptive Sons for the sake of Antoninus Pius and Marcus Antoninus, who were Two such Divinities: What had been hap­pier than Marcus Antoninus, if he had not left Commodus his Heir? what more Glorious than Septimius Severus, if he had never begotten Bassianus? who murdered his Brother, for a Crime maliciously invented by himself, and then charged it upon him who married his Mother-in-Law, who was as good as an own Mother to him, and in whose Arms he had before killed her Son, his Brother; who killed Papinian, that Sanctuary, that Treasure of all the Doctrine of the Laws, only because he would not justify so cruel a Fratricide Therefore in comparison with this Son, Severus the Father, though he was in all Respects a hard, or rather a cruel Prince, was accounted Pious, and worthy of the Consecration of a God; who as he lay on his Death-Bed, sent, they say, to this his Son, that Divine Oration in Salust, of the King Micipsa to his Children. But it was so quite lost upon Bassianus Anto­ninus, that he lived long in the hatred of the People, to whom although he gave a Bounty of those Coats called Caracalla, from whence himself hath the Name of Caracallus; and though he built those Baths of his Name, which are very Magnificent, yet that Holy and Ve­nerable Stile of Antoninus, became much the less beloved for his sake. He, as we are told, built besides the Portico which is at Rome, with [Page 253] very great Splendor, in which there are repre­sented, the memorable Exploits of Severus his Father.

The Signs fore-running the Death of the Signs fore­running his Death. Emperor Septimius Severus, were these. He dreamt, that he was carried up to Heaven in a Chariot, drawn by four Eagles, and enrich'd with precious Stones, and I know not what large humane Form flying before him: that as he was elevated in the Air, he display'd the Numbers Eighty Nine, beyond which Age pre­cisely he did not live; for he was already old, when he came to the Empire. Then that he continued a long time alone and destitute of help, in a great Circle by himself, till at last, fearing to fall to Earth again, he saw himself called by Jupiter, and placed amongst the Anto­ninusses. One day whilst the Games of the Cirque were celebrating, as there were three Figures of Victory, with Palms in their hands placed according to Custom upon the Platform where the Emperor's Throne is; that in the middle bearing a Globe, on which was in­scribed the Name of Severus, was blown down with a blast of Wind to the Ground, and there lay. The other, which was inscribed with the Name of Geta, fell, and was broken to pieces; but that which was inscribed with the Name of Bassianus stood, but with much ado, and lost its Palm-branch in the Wind. After he had finished his Wall or Trench in Great Britain, and was returning to the next Garrison victorious, having hereby assured the Peace of that Country for ever, he was think­ing [Page 254] in his mind, what sort of Omen he should meet with upon it; a Black-moor who was of the Number of his Soldiers, and who was a famous Droll, always ready to make some plea­sant piece of Rallery, presents himself before him, with a Crown in his hand made of Cy­press; Severus in anger, commanded him im­mediately to retire out of his sight, being sen­sibly touched with the double ill Omen of his Hew, and the Matter of his Crown. In the mean time said the Man, Your Majesty hath been all Things, and conquered all Things, no [...] be a God. Being afterwards returned to the City of York, and going to discharge his Devo­tion, he was conducted by a mistake of an Augur, into a Temple of Bellona, and next the Beasts which were presented to him to Sa­crifice, were black: But he refusing to Sacri­fice in that colour, retired to the Palace, and the same black Victims being left neglected by the Priests, went after him as far as to the Gates of the Palace.

In a great many Cities there are Works His pub­lic Works. which he ordered to be done, which are excel­lent; but particularly at Rome, all the publick Edifices which were decaying by old Age, and the course of time, he restored, and which was a great Action in him, without scarce ever in­scribing his own Name upon one of them, but every where continuing upon them the Names of their antient Founders. At his Death he left in the publick Stores, Corn to serve for Seven Years to come, at the rate of expending Seventy Five Thousand Modii a day, whereof [Page 255] each Modius was a Peck and half. And for Oyl, he left such a Quantity, as was sufficient not only for the City of Rome, but all Italy upon occasion, for Five Years. They say that his last Words were these; I found the State when I received it, every where in Disturbance. I leave it in Peace even to the Britains. Old and Lame, as I am, I leave the Empire firm to my Sons, if they are good: But in a feeble Con­dition for them, if they are bad. The last Watch­word which he ordered to be given to the Tri­bune, was, Laboremus, let us take Pains; as that of Pertinax, the first day that he was ad­mitted to the Empire, was, Militemus, let us fight. He had designed a second Royal Image of Fortune to be made and added to that which always stands in the Emperor's Cham­bers, and is used to accompany them in all Places where they go; he desired to leave of those most sacred Figures, to each of his Sons one. But when he found himself pressed with the approaching hour of his Death, it is said, he ordered that that Image of Fortune, which there was, should be carried alternative­ly into the Chambers of his Two Sons; but Bassianus Antoninus slighted that Order, even before he had killed his Brother.

His Body was brought from Great Britain to Rome, where it was received with the greatest Reverence of all the Provinces; though some say, it was only his Ashes which were brought to Rome, reposed in a little Urn of Gold, which was interred in the Sepulchre of the Antoninusses; and that the Body was burnt up­on [Page 256] the place where he died. When he built the Septizonium, he had no other Design in it, but to make appear the Magnificence of his Work, to the Eyes of those, who particularly should come out of his Native Country of Africa; and if he had not been prevented, it is supposed, he would have made a stately Intrado from thence to the Palace Royal; as afterward the Emperor Alexander Severus would have done, but that the Soothsayers prohibited him, for Reasons in their Art.

THE A Christi CXCIV. LIFE OF PESCENNIUS NIGER, Dedicated to the EMPEROR DIOCLESIAN.

IT is a difficult thing, and such as we rare­ly see done, to publish to the World a just Account of Persons who die under the Notion of Rebels and Usurpers, by being Conquered, and because they are concluded [...]o by another Person's Victory. All the Cir­cumstances [Page 268] of such are scarce ever fully ex­pressed in the Monuments, and the Annals of the Antients; for that which is great of them, and to their Honours, is either generally de­praved and turned another way, or it is sup­pressed. Neither is there so much Care taken to seek into the things that concern their Ori­gine and their Lives, as to recount their Ends. For when they have brought them to that, and told the War, in which they were over­come, and how they suffer'd for the boldness of their Attempts, they persuade themselves they have said enough about them. Thus Pesce [...] ­nius His Ex­traction. Niger was, as some say, born of very or­dinary, as others, of honourable Parents; that is, the latter say, that his Father was An [...] Fuscus, his Mother Lampridia, his Grandfather the Curator of the Town of Aquino; accor­ding to which, his Family was of the Eque­strian Order: but yet this is a thing which [...] this day, others will dispute. His Instruction in Letters was but indifferent, no more tha [...] was his Estate. His manner of Life was mo­derate; his Temper hot enough; but particu­larly of an unbridled Passion to Liberty. H [...] was a long time a Centurion, and afterward through several other Commands in the Wa [...] came to be the General of the Forces [...] Syria, unto which the Emperor Commodus [...] preferred him, by the Credit and the reco [...] ­mendation chiefly of that very Person, as [...] things went at that time, who afterwar [...] strangled Commodus.

After the Death of Commodus, and the Death also of his Successor Pertinax, Pescennius Niger set up for the Empire upon the Authority of the same Forces of Syria; encouraged to it from Rome, where Didius Julianus, who had suc­ceeded to Pertinax, was so hated by the People, that they publickly cursed him, and threw Stones at him, and prayed, that the Gods would give them Niger to be their Prince, and Niger to come to the Succour of the City. Here­upon Julianus sent a Centurion with Orders to bring him the Head of Niger, which was a very imprudent Fancy indeed, as if it was such an easie matter for a single Centurion to make himself the Master of one, who was at the Head of a puissant Army, and could very well main­tain himself. With the same imprudence it was that he proposed to take off the Head of Se­verus, after he had already been declared Em­peror, and to send a Man to command in his place. For he had sent the known Assassine, Aquilius a Centurion, to him to kill him; as if so powerful a General, was so easily to be killed by a Centurion. But yet all this was as Judicious, as his pretending to prohibit Se­verus from the Empire by Law, because him­self was in the prior Possession of it.

In fine, the Inclinations of the People to­wards He is be­lov'd by the People Pescennius Niger, and their aversion to Julianus, appeared sufficiently in this; that whilst Julianus was Entertaining them with the Games of the Cirque; even then, they called upon the Name of Pescennius Niger, and wished publickly for his coming to the [Page 270] Succour of the City. Upon which occasion Julianus it is said pronounced these Words, That if they had him, he would not Reign long over them, no more than himself. But Severus, he said, might, though he was the most of all to be hated by every body; which in the event proved true.

Now in the time that Severus was the Lieu­tenant Befrien­ded by Severus. of the Province of Lugdunum in Gallia, Pescennius Niger and he had contracted a very great Friendship with one another; insomuch, that the latter having acquitted himself in some Actions there with a great deal of Bravery and Honesty against the Enemy; he rendred himself so perfectly agreeable to Severus, that Severus recommended him to the Emperor Commodus, and engaged for him, as a Person that was necessary to be employed in the State. And certainly he was a very good Sol­dier, and understood the Discipline of War perfectly well. He never suffered his Men to extort from their Quarters in the Provinces, Wood or Oyl, or any manner of Service. He never made Gain to himself out of their Pay; nor when he was a Tribune, did he suffer the other Officers to do so: And after he was set up to be Emperor, he commanded two Tri­bunes who were guilty of making Advantages to themselves out of the Pay of their Soldiers, to be stoned to Death.

So much the Emperor Severus owned con­cerning his Rival Pescennius Niger, of whom he had gotten the Victory. The Emperor Marcus Antoninus hath a Letter to Cornelius Balbus concerning him, which says thus.

The Emperor Commodus says thus of the same Person.

Pescennius, I know, he is a Valiant Man; [...] have employed him Twice as a Tribune, and i [...] a little time, I will advance him to be a Gene­ral, as soon as the old Age of Aelius Corduenu [...] engages him to quit the Service of the State.

These were the Opinions of all Person [...] therefore about him. Severus had often said he would give him his Life with all his heart if he would desist from his Enterprise. H [...] was made Consul by the Emperor Commodus who in that point gave him the precedenc [...] even to Severus, at which Severus was disobliged [Page 273] Severus says in his own Life, that before that his Sons were come to be of an Age to succeed him, he had intended when he was sick, if he had died, to appoint before all others Pescennius Niger, and Clodius Albinus to be his Successors; though afterwards they were both the one and the other his greatest Enemies. But however, this is an Argument of the good Opinion that once Severus had of Niger.

If we may believe Severus, Pescennius Niger was a Man ambitious of Glory, of a Life close and reserved, and of an advanced Age, when [...]he invaded the Empire; from which last Cir­cumstance he takes the Liberty to blame him, as if himself had come to the Empire much younger; whereas he reigned but Eighteen Years, or thereabouts, and yet died at the Age of Eighty Nine. At the same time that Severus sent Heraclius into Bithynia to secure that Country, he sent Fulvius to go and get into his Custody the Children of Pescennius Niger, who were then in the Flower of their Youth. He took no notice at all of their Father to the Senate, but immediately began an Expe­dition to compose the State of the East. But withal, he commanded some Legions into Africa, to prevent that Niger should not possess himself of that Quarter, and thereby afflict the People of Rome with a want of the Corn from thence. For though the Passage both by Sea and Land was difficult, yet it did not seem impossible for Niger to do this, especial­ly if he took his way through the Countries of Egypt and Libya.

In the mean time, Niger was in the posses­sion of Greece, Thracia and Macedonia, when Severus came against him into the East. He proposed to Severus, that they might be Part­ners in the Empire, with one another, but this was slighted; on the other hand, Severus of­fered him his Life in Exile, but this Niger slighted. So whereas he had put to death se­veral illustrious Persons, Severus declared him, together with Aemilianus, an Enemy. Then the Captains of Severus engaged first with He is defeated and slain. Aemilianus, and beat him. After which they en [...]ged with Niger himself, over whom ha­ving gotten the Victory, he fled, but mortal­ly wounded; and being taken by a Lake, which is by the City of Ciziqua, and brought in the Condition that he was in to Severus, he expired presently after.

His Head was carried about upon a Spear, and sent to Rome; his Sons killed, his Wife killed, his Estate confiscated, and his whole Family extinguished. But yet it was not till after the News of the Rebellion of Clodius Al­binus, that all this was done; because till then, the Banishment of his Wife and Chil­dren had contented Severus; who was made much worse, and much more unmerciful, than he was in this, by the next War he had with Clodius Albinus; for then he slew an infinite number of Senators, and some called him a [...] African Sylla, some a Marius, for all that civi [...] Blood which he spilt.

Pescennius Niger was very tall, and well made His Per­sonage. as to his Person; his Hair curling up to his Ears, a Voice so very clear and strong, that he could make himself to be heard, when he spoke in the Camp, if the Wind was not a­gainst him, a Mile; a modest Countenance, apt to blush; rather fat than meager; loved a Glass of Wine, eat but little; never lay with his Wife but to Conception, and then he abstained, which made him when he was in Gallia, be publickly celebrated for his Chastity. In the Arch of the Gallery which is in the Gardens of Commodus, we have to this day his Picture done in Mosaick Work, amongst the great Friends of that Prince, assisting at the Mysteries of the Goddess Isis. Niger was therefore a very Excellent Soldier, a Valiant Tribune, a Wise General, an Illustrious Con­sul; happy in his Affairs at home and Employ­ments abroad; but an unhappy Emperor. He might have been of great use to the State, under such a Prince as Severus, if so be that he would have served on his side. But he was misled by the Counsels of Scevus Aurelianus, who had contracted his Daughters to his Sons, and who for that reason had urged him on, to persist, as much as he could, to make the Empire his own.

We may see how considerable a Man he was by this; that his Authority and his Cre­dit at the Court was so great, that he writ first to the Emperor Marcus Antoninus, and afterwards to Commodus, when he perceived how much the Provinces were ruined by [Page 276] making too frequent changes in the Persons who governed them; that in the first place, no President, or Lieutenant, or Proconsul of His Skill in Civil Affairs. a Province should be succeeded by another, be­fore the term of Five Years; that when that term was expired, the said Magistrates should give an Account, how they had administred the Power which they had been intrusted with; and then that no Persons who were not of good Extractions, should be ad­mitted to serve in those high Offices of State. Besides this, it was a suggestion of his, that the Assessors attending upon the Gover­nours and other Magistrates of the Provinces, to assist them in Counsel, should be prefer­red in their turns unto the highest Honours; which was observed afterwards by the Empe­ror Severus, and thenceforward by many o­thers, as appears by the Examples of Paulus and Ulpian, who had been both Assessors to Papinian, and were both of them afterwards, first employed in the Office of Secretaries, the one for the Dispatches, the other for the Registers, and then soon after they were made the Captains of the Guards. It is also from him that no body is an Assessor to a Judge, but in his own Province; and that no one admini­sters that Charge at Rome, but what is a Na­tive of the City. He added besides, that there should be Salaries appointed for certain Coun­sellors, that they might not be a Charge up­on those who were the Assessors, because a Judge (he said) was neither to give nor take any thing. As for the Soldiers, he was so [Page 277] strict upon those, that when some of them And Mili­tary Disci­pline. who were in Garrison upon the Frontiers in Egypt had asked him for some Wine, he an­swered, You have the River Nile there, and do you ask me for Wine? And certainly, the Water of that River is so sweet and so pleasant, that those of the Country have no desire at all to drink Wine. Others that had been beaten by the Saracens, murmuring, and being upon the point of a Sedition, saying, We have had no Wine to drink, we cannot Fight. He answered, For shame, when those that beat you drink Water! The People of the Province of Palaestine, pray­ing, that the Tax which was upon their Lands might be abated, because they cried they were overcharged; he made them Answer, You would have the Tax taken off of your Lands, but I will tax your very Air that you breath.

During that great Commotion of the State, when there were three Emperors set up at one and the same time, that is, Septimus Se­verus, Pescennius Niger, and Clodius Albinus; the Oracle of Delphos was consulted, which of them would be the best for the Publick to carry it. The Oracle answered in some obscure Words in Greek, but which were understood to signify, that Niger was the best, Severus was well enough, and Albinus the worst of the Three. After this, their Curiosity lead them to ask the Oracle, which of the Three then should be the Person that should at last carry it; the Answer was to this effect, That the White and the Black, that is, Albinus and Niger should be killed, and an African born (which [Page 278] Severus was) should possess the Empire of the World. Then they asked further, who should succeed that African, the Oracle answered, That he should be one, who was of the Name of the Pious. Which was not at all understood, till Bassianus the eldest Son of Severus assumed the Name of Antoninus, who was the only Per­son of the Title of the Pious, and then it was concluded to be meant of Bassianus. Lastly, it was asked, how long a time he, who of the Three Competitors carried the Empire, should Reign; and the Answer was to this effect,

That is, understanding by the Italian Sea, the Roman Commonwealth; it signified very plain­ly, that Severus should, as he did, Reign about Ninetten or Twenty Years.

This is what I humbly present before your Majesty, O Dioclesian, who are the greatest of Emperors, concerning Pescennius Niger. I have collected it for the purpose out of seve­ral Writings, wherein he comes to be but oc­casionally mentioned. For as for the entire Lives of Persons, who either have not actually reigned, or have not been declared Emperor by the Senate, or perhaps have been killed be­fore they have establish'd their Fame in the World, it is seldom, as I said in the beginning, that any body dares to write them. Which is the reason that we have none of the Life of Vindex, and that we know nothing of the Life of Piso; nor almost of all those who either [Page 279] have been only adopted to be Caesars, and no more, or have been barely saluted Emperors by the Soldiers, and no more, as Anthony was under Domitian; or by being betimes killed, have pre­sently ended their Usurpations, and their Lives together. But yet that I may not seem to omit any thing here, of what relates to this Person, that I can any where find, the Astrologers made this Remark upon him; that neither living nor dead, should he fall into the hands of Severus, but that he should perish by the side of a Water. Some say, Severus himself had said this of him, by his own Skill in Na­tivities. Nor was the Prognostication void altogether of Truth, for he was found half a­live, and half dead by a Lake.

He had one day observed some Soldiers in His strict Orders. an Expedition, drinking out of a Cup of Sil­ver; whereupon he was so strict, that he com­manded that all Silver at such times should be cast out of use, and that they should drink out of Vessels of Wood; which however, they did not very well like, because he said, it may pos­sibly be, that the Baggage may fall into the Power of the Enemy; and he would not have it, that the Barbarians should find any such opportunity to set themselves off with our Silver, when there are other things to be car­ried, which if taken, will give them a less oc­casion of Glory. He ordered, that no Man upon an Expedition should drink Wine, but that all should content themselves upon a day of Battel with Vinegar. He forbad Bakers to follow the Army, being not willing that the Soldiers [Page 280] should eat any thing that day but Bisket. For the stealing of one Pullet, he had ordered Ten Comerades, that were at the eating of it, tho' only one of them had stoln it, to lose their Heads; which had certainly been execu­ted, but that all the Army interposed for them, in a manner so high, that they were al­most in a Mutiny; to prevent which, he mo­derated his Sentence, and ordered, that the Ten that had eaten together of the Theft, should pay to the Country-man the Price of Ten Pullets, for that One that he had lost. He suffered them not to make Fires to get themselves any hot Meat, but caused them to be contented with dry Bread on something that was cold, and set Spies upon them, to see that it was justly observed. He for bad the Soldiers, when they went to Battel, to keep any Gold or Silver about them in their Pockets, but to trust it in such safe and pub­lick hands, as should restore it again to them faithfully, after the Battel was over; or other­wise pay it to their Children, or Wives and Executors, who should come to demand it; because if any Blow of Fortune should hap­pen, yet he would have no Booty to fall into the hand of the Enemy All which Orders, by reason of the dissoluteness of the times of Commodus, gained him then but only so much the more ill will. For though no Man made an exacter Commander in his time, than he, yet it redounded rather to his prejudice, till after his Death; when Envy and Malice being laid aside, such sort of Examples were valued.

Upon every Expedition that he took, he His perso­nal Hard­ships. eat himself of the Soldiers Amunition-Bread, and Victuals in publick. He never wore any thing upon his Head to cover him, either a­gainst the Sun, or against the Rain, in which he had no Persons like him. He set before them all an Example of Industry in himself and his Servants. For he imposed Burdens of things upon the backs of his Servants, because they should not appear to walk at their ease, whilst the Soldiers were loaded, which might make them envy them. He protested in a Speech that he made to them, that as long as he had been, or should be ever employed in the occasions of War, he should behave him­self as freely with them, as if he was a pri­vate Man: having always Marius and such great Generals as he before his Eyes, and ma­king his Discourses always of Hannibal and the like. When a certain Person would have recited a Panegyric before him, upon his be­ing saluted Emperor, he said to him, Write the Praises of Marius or Hannibal, or some such excellent Captain that is dead; and tell us what he hath done, for us to imitate him in: But to praise the Living is a Jest, especially Emperors; from whom there are expectatiosn of all things on the one hand, and fears on the other. They can reward, protect, kill, proscribe; as for me, I desire only to please while I live; when I am dead, then praise me.

Above all the Emperors, he loved Augustus, Vespasian, Titus, Trajan, Antoninus Pius, and Marcus Antoninus. The rest, he said, were ei­ther [Page 282] effeminate and shadows of Emperors, or they were Vipers. He always was particular­ly pleased with the Accounts in History of Camillus, Marius, and Quintus Martius Corio­lanus. Being asked what he thought of the Scipio's; he said, They were rather happy Men, than great Captains; which he proved by their domestick Lives and their Youths, which were too loose and too easie in the one and the o­ther. Therefore it is a thing very evident, that if Peseennius Niger had gained, and peace­ably enjoyed the Empire, he was one who would have amended all things, which Sever [...]i either could not, or he would not amend; and all this without Cruelty. He would have done it, on the contrary, with great sweetness, and yet in a manner becoming a Soldier, and with out that lenity that is foolish and ridiculous. His House is to be seen at this day at Rome, in the Campus Jovis, retaining his Name; in which, in one of the Rooms is his Statue, which was set up by Statius Postumius in the black Marble of Thebes, who had received it from the King of Thebes, who had caused it to be done to the Life. Upon the Basis there­of is written an Epigram in Greek to this pur­pose; Here stands the Great Niger, the Terror of Egypt, the Allie of Thebes, who had proposed a Golden Age to all. Kings, Nations, Rome it self loved him. He was dear to the Antoninus' s, and to the whole Empire. As his Name was Niger, (that is, Black) so we have fashioned him in Black, that the Statue and the Person should cor­respond. Severus would never suffer this In­scription [Page 283] to be erased, altho' the Captains of his Guards, and others of his great Officers advised him to it. For, save he, if Pescen­nius Niger was so great a Potentate as this makes him, let the World know what a Man we have conquered; if he was not, let them however think, that we have conquered such a Man.

It remains, that now I proceed to an Ac­count of Clodius Albinus, who was as it were the Companion of this Person, both in his Rise and Fall. For they both in effect, re­volted about the same time against Severus, and were both of them overcome and killed by Severus. But though the Fortune of Clodius Albinus was much what the same, and ran pa­rallel with this of Pescennius Niger, yet his Life was sufficiently different.

THE LIFE OF CLODIƲS ALBINƲS, Dedicated to the EMPEROR Constantine the Great.

AFTER the Death of the Emper [...] Pertinax, who was killed by an i [...] trigue of Clodius Albinus, these Fo [...] Persons were proclaimed Empero [...] almost at one and the same time: Did [...] Julianus by the Senate at Rome, Septimius S [...] verus [Page 285] by the Army in Illyricum, Pescennius Niger in the East, and Clodius Albinus in Gallia.

As for Clodius Albinus, he was, according to Herodian, declared by Severus in order to make him his Successor, actually a Caesar. But whilst out of their Envy to one another, the one thought scorn of the other's Reign; and that the Army in Gallia on the one hand would not endure Severus, nor the Army in Germany on the other accept of Clodius Albinus, because they were each for their own Prince; all things in all Parts went to confusion.

Clodius Albinus was of an Honourable Roman His Ex­traction. Family, although born of the Town of Ma­hometa in Africa. And being therefore ori­ginally an African, as well as Severus; he was willing to apply himself to the Oracle of Del­ [...]bi, which we have before mentioned in the Life of Pescennius Niger; and which said, That [...]n African born should possess the Empire of the World.

But before I shall enter further into the Ac­count of his Life or Death, I think fit to take [...]n here a Passage, which is the thing of the World that renders him the most Noble. The Emperor Commodus had formerly written a Letter to him, in which he did him the Ho­ [...]our, so long ago, to constitute him a Caesar. The Letter was this.

But however, upon the receipt of this Let­ter, Clodius Albinus would by no means offer to take upon him to do what Commodus had appointed him, because he was afraid of the Odium that Commodus was in, by reason of his Manners, by which he ruined the State, and dishonoured it from day to day, killing the People with both Hands; and because he was afraid besides of being found some time or o­ther in the number of those whom he should order to the same Massacre. In fine, his own Speech, which he made to his Army at the time that they set him up to be Emperor, takes notice of this; and likewise shews, that his advancement to the Empire was what was con­firmed, or at least was once pretended to be confirmed by Severus himself, when he called him his Caesar and his Brother; the Speech was this.

Nor can it be denied, but that Severus did at first intend, as Marius Maximus says, if he had died early, to substitute Pescennius Niger, and [Page 288] Clodius Albinus to be his Successors. But after­wards his own Sons growing up, whose For­tunes he had a desire to make, and envying Albinus the love which he had amongst the Senators; he changed those Sentiments, and oppressed both Albinus and Niger by a War, upon which he was more especially urged by the Entreaties of his Wife. This besides he had done for Albinus, he made him a Consul, which if he had not believed him to be an ex­traordinary Person, without doubt he would never have done; so very careful as he was, in the choice that he made of the publick Of­ficers of the Empire.

But to return to the beginning of his Story, Clodius Albinus was born, as I said, at the Town of Mahometa; but yet that which made him Honourable in the Eyes of all who knew him, was, that he derived his Descent from the Roman Family of the Post humii, and the Albini Cejonii, which is at this day very Noble, and hath been much augmented by the Benefactions of your most excellent Majesty, O Constantine; and there is reason to believe, that your Majesty will augment it yet much more, as formerly it received a great encrease from the Empe­rors Gallienus and the Gordiani. He was born but to a very small Patrimony, of a Father, who was called Cejonius Post humius, and a Mo­ther called Aurelia Messalina, to whom he was their first Child. When he was taken from the Birth, instead of having according to the usual manner of other Children new-born, hi [...] Flesh red, he was extreme white, and wa [...] [Page 289] therefore called Albinus. And that this is true, appears by a Letter of his Father sent on pur­pose to notifie it to Aelius Bassianus, the then Proconsul of Africa; who, as the same Let­ter signifies, was a Relation of the Family of the Albini, as well as he.

He passed all his Infancy in Africa, took his Greek and Latin Learning pretty well, but had a Martial Heart, and was of a haughty Disposition by Nature. Amongst the little Boys of his Age, at School, he was often, they say, singing that Verse of Virgil, ‘Arma amens capio, nec sat rationis in armis.’ repeating, especially the first part of it, Arma amens capio, that is, I am for being a Soldier right or wrong, and come what will. They say, [Page 290] that several things happened after his Birth, which were so many Omens of his future Omens of his Ad­vance­ment. Greatness. And certainly the same day there was born a Calf as white as Snow, with Horns upon his Head, of a deep purple; which Horns were a long time afterwards to be seen in the Temple of Apollo at the City of Cumae, where himself had bestowed them, when he was a Tribune. Enquiring at the same Tem­ple one day of the Oracle about his Fortune, he was answered in these Verses of Virgil,

Accordingly, it is very true, as to what the latter Verse says of the Gauls, that Clodius Al­binus did subdue many Nations of them. A­nother Omen was this; whilst he was a little Infant, a Fisher-man happened to take a Tor­toise which was of a very great bigness, and made a present of it to Albinus's Father; who being a Person of some Learning, and look­ing upon it as a good Sign, accepted it, and or­dered the Shell of it to be kept, and set apart for the use of his young Son to wash in; be­cause it was a peculiar Custom in the Imperial Family, for the young Princes to wash in Shells of Tortoises. It was a rare thing, to see Ea­gles in that place, where Clodius Albinus was born; and yet upon the seventh Day after, which was appointed for the Solemnity of gi­ving him his Name, seven young Eagles were taken out of a Nest, and brought to the side [Page 291] of his Cradle; which his Father, not rejecting the good omen, ordered to be well kept, and that they should take great care of them.

These things therefore, and such others that occurred, were so many assured Presages of his future Elevation; which are more particularly pursued by Aelius Cordus; to whom I must refer the Reader, if he shall desire any fur­ther satisfaction.

He betook himself to the Army early in his Youth; and became known to the Em­perors the Antoninusses, by the means of Lollius Serenus, Baebius Maetianus, and Cejonius Post hu­mianus, who were all related to him. He was some time a Tribune of Dalmatian Horse. Af­ter His Mili­tary Pre­ferments. that he commanded the First and Fourth Legions. He kept the Army in Bithynia, which next he Commanded, very well to their Duty, in the time of the Rebellion of Avidius Cassius. The Emperor Commodus translated him from thence into Gallia, where after having defeated some Nations on the other side of the Rhine, he gained himself a famous name equally amongst the Romans, and a­mongst the Barbarians: insomuch that it moved Commodus, to honour him the more, to offer him the Title of Caesar, with the leave to pre­sent the Soldiers with a Bounty upon it, and to wear a Cloak of Scarlet in his presence. All which he prudently, and with great satisfaction declined, as if he suspected, that Commodus's design was only to find Persons, whom to in­volve in his own ruin, and whom to Massacre under some sort of pretence.

He had not served in the Office of an Ae­dile above ten days, before he was made a Quaestor, and sent with precipitation to the Army: His Praetorship, which he passed un­der the Reign of Commodus, was very famous. For to the usual Games, with which he enter­tained the People, Commodus himself added Fights, both upon the Theatre and Amphi­theatre. Then the Emperor Severus made him a Consul; which was done about that time, that he proposed to have called him to his Succession, in Conjunction with Pes [...] ­nius Niger.

He was advanced in years, and even older than Pescennius Niger, as Severus says, when he was set up to be Emperor. The Senat [...] had a more than ordinary kindness for him, be­cause of the Antiquity of his Family. There­fore Severus having changed his first Senti­ments, as to the Honour that he had intended to Pescennius Niger and him, and resolving to preserve the Empire to his own Children, and having beaten and killed Pescennius, he in the next place sent the following Letter to Clodius Albinus, which I have met with in Cordus, in these Words.

Now the Persons who were sent with this Letter by Severus, being such as had the great­est Affection for his Service, so that he knew he could confide in them; he ordered them to delivered it to Clodius Albinus in Publick: but when they had done, they should say, that Treachery of Seve­rus. they desired privately to speak to him about some things, which were of the secrets of the Camp and the Court. And having taken him aside, as if it were only to deliver what they were charged with, five strong Men of their [Page 294] Retinue, having Ponyards hid under their Robes, should fall upon him and kill him. And certainly they did not betray the Confi­dence imposed in them; nor were wanting in their Endeavours to execute their Orders. For when they were come to Albinus, and had given him the Letter, which he Read, and had told him that they had some other things in particular to discover to him, which were to be spoken more privately, he took them apart into a long Gallery; but in the mean time they were so over-careful that no other Persons should follow them, pretending as if it were out of a fear lest their Message should be discovered, that Albinus began to suspect something; upon which he immediately caused them to be seized, and put them to the Que­stion. Who at first denyed it; but being at last forced to yield to the violence of the Tor­ment, they confessed then all that Severus had given in Charge to them. Wherefore, Albi­nus being satisfied in the just suspition that he had conceived, gathered together a great Ar­my, and put himself upon his March with them to make War against Severus, and a­gainst his Commanders.

In his first Engagement which he had with the Lieutenants of Severus, Albinus had cer­tainly the better of it. After which Severus went in Person against him, having first pre­vailed with the Senate to adjudge him an Enemy. They fought it very severely on both sides, in Gallia, not without always a great va­riety of Fortune: insomuch that Severus was [Page 295] so concerned at it, that he thought fit to con­sult the Opinion of the Augurs; who answered him, as Marius Maximus says, that Clodius Al­binus should indeed fall into his Power, but it should be neither living nor dead; and it was so. For when the last Battel was fought, Al­binus, after an infinite number of his Men were killed, a great many others put to flight, and others taken Prisoners, fled himself; and whether it was that he struck himself through the Body, or whether, as some say, one of his own Slaves, or some of the Soldiers did it, de­manding some acknowledgment from him of Severus, I cannot say; but he was brought half alive, and half dead to Severus; which made good the Prediction. He left one Son, or as Maximus says two; to whom at the first Severus was pleased to shew favour; but after­wards he ordered them and their Mother to be kill'd, and their Bodies to be thrown into the Ri­ver. The Head of Albinus was cut off, and carri­ed about upon a Javelin, and then sent to Rome; accompanied with Letters to the Senate, where­in Severus insulted them for the Affection which they had a long time born to Albinus, and for the Honours and Kindnesses that they had shewn to his Brother and his Relations: but e­specially his Brother. His Body was exposed in its Gore for several days before the Tent of Severus, till it stunk, and then it was torn into pieces by Dogs, and thrown into the River.

As for the Manners of Clodius Albinus, they His Tem­per and Manners. are represented variously. Severus says, he was deformed with Vices; Malicious, Lewd, Wick­ed, [Page 296] Dishonest, Envious, and Luxurious. But it is to be observed, that it was in the time of the War with him, or after, that he speaks so ill of him, which makes it the less to be be­lieved. Because before, he frequently sent Letters to him as his particular Friend, and certainly many People had a much better Opi­nion than that of him. Besides, that Severus himself, had once called him his Caesar, and had set him the first before his Eyes for his Suc­cessor. There are also some Letters of the Emperor Marcus Antoninus concerning him, Antoninus his good Opinion of him. which give a great Testimony of his Virtues and Manners. One of which, written to the Captains of the Guards, it will not be impro­per, I think, to insert here.

These two Letters therefore make it appear that Clodius Albinus was an useful Person. And certainly his sending of Money towards the restoration of those Cities, which had been laid waste by Pescennius Niger, is another great Argument of a Publick Spirit, and what had gained him Friends amongst the Inhabitants there. Aelius Cordus, pretends at the same time to say, that he was such a Glutton, that particularly he would eat more Fruit at a time, than it is possible to imagine. He says, [Page 298] that he has eaten, at a Breakfast five hundred Figs, one hundred Peaches, ten Melons, twenty Bunches of Grapes, a hundred of the little Birds called Beccafico's or Fig-Peckers, and four hundred Oisters. But yet he says that he drank but little; in which Severus does not a­gree with him: for he tells us that he drank to excess, even in the time of the War. And whether it was because of this his great drink­ing, which Severus charges him with; or be­cause of his Moroseness of Humour, it is said, he never lived well with his Family: but was very disagreeable to his Wife, and unjust to his Servants; as well as hard upon the Sol­diers. As to which latter, he many times crucified Centurions, when there hath been as good as no occasion given for it. He beat others often with Rods, and pardoned not the least fault. He was proper in his Cloaths, and as improper in his Repasts; in which he minded nothing but Abundance. He was a great lover of a Mistress, but not at all of a Bardaccio; being so far from that, that he severely punished it upon such as were. He was perfectly well skilled in Agriculture; in­somuch that he writ a Book of Georgicks.

He was as much beloved by the Senate as any Prince ever was: but the great occasion of it was; their mortal hatred to Severus, which they had against him upon the account of his Cruelty. Therefore as many of them, as either were, or such as were but suspected to have been of Albinus's side, he put to death after the Victory. He ordered the Letters of Albi­nus [Page 299] to be searched, to discover his Correspon­dents: and all that he found whatever, he first caused them to be declared Enemies by the Senate; then put them without mercy to death, and Confiscated their Estates into the Treasury.

There is a Letter, which he writ to the Senate, that shews his very Soul, as to these things; a Copy whereof is as follows.

By this it is to be seen how eager Severus was, and how he always blamed the Factions both of Pescennius Niger, and of Clodius Albi­nus; of all which, if any one desires a more particular account, let him read Marius Maxi­mus for the Writers in the Latin Tongue, and Herodian for the Greek, who have delivered a [...] great many things very faithfully.

Clodius Albinus was Tall, his Hair naturally His Per­sonage. Curling, full Visaged, but withal so wonder­fully fair and clear in Complexion, that mos [...] thought he took the the name of White, that is [Page 301] Albinus, from nothing else. He had an Ef­feminate Voice, as shrill almost as an Eunuchs. He had an easie meen; but yet he was ill to be angred, and worse to be opposed. He was changeable in his Luxury; for many times he would Drink, and many times again Abstain. He was perfectly brave for Arms; one may, not improperly, call him the Catiline of his time. As for what remains, it will not, I think, be amiss to shew how it was that he gain'd him­self Reason of his Popu­larity. so much of the love of the Senate. Whilst he Commanded the Army in Great Britain by the orders of Commodus, a Report came, but yet it was false at that time, that that Prince was killed; upon which occasion he came to the Head of the Army, and Ha­rangued them thus.

If the Senate, and the People of Rome had evermore retained their antient Empire; and that a State so great had never been submitted to the power of a single Person, there had been no Vi­tellius, no Nero, no Domitian, to have fallen by the Stroke of an Assassine. And then it was during the time of the Consular Government, that those Families flourished, of the Cejonii, the Al­bini, and the Posthumii: of whom your Fathers have many things to say, which they have heard from their Grandfathers before them. Certainly it was the Senate that annexed Africa to the Ro­man Empire. The Senate subdued Gallia and Spain. The Senate gave Laws to the Provinces of the East. The Senate had often attempted the [Page 302] Parthians, and had reduced them, if so Covetous a General as Crassus; had not then been at the Head of the Roman Army. It was when Cae­sar was a Senator; that he conquered Great Bri­tain: at least he had not been declared Dictator then. And how much better had it been for Com­modus himself, if he had stood in fear of the Se­nate. Their Authority held good, as far as to the times of Nero; being not afraid to Condemn that sordid and impure Prince, nor to pronounce their Judgments against him, though he then had the full Power of Life and Death in his hands. Wherefore, my Fellow Soldiers; I for my part, who have had the Title of Caesar conferred up­on me by Commodus, renounce that preten­sion, and the Gods grant that others may do so too. Let the Senate Reign, and distribute the Provinces. Let the Senate make us Consuls: or why do I say the Senate? Let your selves, and your Fathers. For your selves will also be Se­nators.

This Speech was brought to Rome, whilst Commodus was yet living; who was so moved by it against the Author, that he presently sent to turn him out, and gave his Place to Junius Severus, who was one of his Guards. However the Senate was pleased with the Speech, and as well before as after Commodus was killed, they honoured Albinus in his ab­sence with extraordinary Acclamations; so that some of them advised Pertinax, to take him for his Colleague in the Empire: in [Page 303] whose sudden Fall afterwards the Authority of this Person was very considerable; being provoked to it by a turn of Affairs, for the un­derstanding of which I shall add a Letter of Commodus to his Captains of the Guards, wherein he signifies his mind as to the killing of Clodius Albinus, thus.

Now Pertinax, who was advised to chuse Albinus for his Partner in the Empire, and did not do so, falling upon this Letter, published [Page 304] it to bring an Odium upon the Person that he had thought fit to refuse. In revenge where­of Albinus sat so close upon his Skirts, that he was the Author of the design against the life of Pertinax, in favour of the Succession of Didius Julianus.

THE A. Christi CCXII. Life and Reign OF THE EMPEROR Bassianus Antoninus Caracallus.

THE Emperor Septimius Severus left two Sons, Bassianus and Geta. The first and eldest had the name given him of Bassianus Antoninus, and was Cre­ated a Caesar by his Father; the other had the name given him of Geta Antoninus, and was declared a Caesar by the Army. The first succeeded to enjoy the Throne; the other was quickly adjudged an Enemy, and murdered by his Brother: concerning whose Ance­stors I think it in vain to make any repeti­tion here, because I have said enough upon that Head, in the account of the Life of their Father.

Bassianus Antoninus was when he was a youth His Cha­racter when a Youth. and under the Tutelage of his Parents, endear­ing, ingenious, dutiful to them, obliging to all o­thers, acceptable to the People, and to the Senate, and ready to offer at any thing to ingra­tiate himself. He was not slow at his Learning. He was not sparing of his Bounty. He was not negligent in giving Marks of his Clemency. If he was present, whenever any condemned Per­sons were thrown to the Beasts, he either wept, or turned away his Eyes from the Sight, which was an extraordinary pleasing thing to the Peo­ple. When he was a Boy of seven Years old, and saw another Boy who was his Play-fellow beaten severely for making profession of the Christian Religion, he was a long time out of humour both with his own, and with the Boy's Father, and all such as were the occasion of the Boy's beating. He obtained that the Cities of Antioch and Constantinople should be restored to their antient Rights, by his interposition in their behalf with his Father, under whose displeasure they had faln, for assisting in the Rebellion of Pescennius Niger. He con [...]ived a hatred against Plautianus, because of his Cruelty. If his Parents had presented him with things, as is usual to do, about the Feast of Saturn, he gave them away again of him­self to either his Masters or his Servants. A [...] which good Qualities made up his Carriage when a Youth.

But afterwards, as he grew more a Man And when a Man. whether it was by the suggestions of his Father or whether he did it of his own head, becaus [...] [Page 307] he thought to equalize himself with Alexander the Great, of Macedonia, he turned very re­served and grave, and affected such a fierce­ness in his Countenance, that many who knew him a Boy, could scarce believe him to be the same Person. He had always Alex­ander the Great in his Mouth. He was often in publick Company praising Tiberius and Sylla. He was prouder than his Father, who was one that was high enough, and he despised his Bro­ther Geta, because of his great Modesty. Where­fore after the Death of his Father, he came to the Camp of the Guards, and complained that Geta had been in a Conspiracy against him, for which he had caused him to be put to death Puts his Brother to death. in the Palace, and his Body to be immediate­ly burnt. He told them particularly, that he had designed to poyson him, and that he had been undutiful also to his Mother; concluding, that to engage them to be the more faithful to himself, he presented them with a Bounty. There was another encampment at this time, near the City of Albano, where the Murder of Geta was highly resented; all the Soldiers say­ing, that as it was to both the Sons of Severus equally, that they promised Fidelity, so they ought to keep to them both, refusing to open their Gates; so that Bassianus was a long time in getting entrance to them, nor could he cool them at last, but with the finest words and promises of what a prodigious Bounty he would give them, as this way seldom fails of quieting the Heats of Soldiers. From thence he returned to Rome, where he came to the [Page 308] Senate in a Cuirass under his Robes, and his Soldiers in Arms guarding him, whom he placed in Files in the middle betwixt the Seats, and made his Speech; in which he much com­plained of the evil designs of his Brother against his Life, to whom he said, to charge his Me­mory, and excuse himself, he had been so kind, and that he had denied him nothing, and had delivered him from the dangers that he had been in; but instead of having a due Sense of these Favours, he had attempted his Life, and had not answered his good Inten­tions. But yet he uttered all this confusedly, and with such an ill Grace, that the Senate did not very well accept what he said.

After this Speech, he declared, that it was his pleasure to restore all that were in exile to the Liberties of their Country again; and then from the Senate he return'd to the Guards, and lay in the Camp. The next day he came to the Capitol; from the Capitol he repair'd to the Palace-Royal, supported by Papinian and Chilo. In the mean time, those that he had a design to murder, he bespoke himself the most kindly to. He had observed the Mother of Geta, with other Women, weeping bitter­ly, and had it not been that he was restrain­ed with the Sense, that it would make the Cruelty of his Brother's Murder look much worse, he was for putting them all to Death. He sent Poyson to Laetus, and obliged him to take it; who, as he was the first of those that had persuaded him to the Murder of Geta, was the first that fell a Sacrifice to his Ghost. [Page 309] He afterwards often pretended to lament Geta's Death, and killed several that had been privy to it, and honoured his Memory and his Image. He had sent a Present to one, that was his Cousin-German, an African by Nation, but the day before that he ordered him to killed; who throwing himself down from a Window to escape his Persecutors, broke his Leg, but yet had crept to his Wife, where they took him, and afterwards made a very sport of kil­ling him. He put to death Pompeianus, the His many Cruelties. Grandson of the Emperor Marcus Antoninus, and the Son of that Pompeianus, to whom Lucilla married, after the Death of the Empe­ror Verus, who had made him a Consul twice, and had intrusted him with the Command of his Armies in all his Wars. The way which he took to do this Murder, was, he ordered him to be set upon as it were by Thieves.

Papinian was executed in his presence by the Soldiers, with an Axe; and after it was done, he said to the Murderer, You ought according to my Order, to have done it with a Sword. Petronius was killed by his Command before the Temple of Antoninus Pius, and both the Bo­dies of the one and the other were dragged about the Streets, without any regard to hu­manity. He put to death the Son of Papinian, who but three days before had treated the City with a magnificent Shew, upon his entrance into the Office of a Questor. An infinite Number of others were killed upon the same days, who had favoured the side of Geta. The Servants that had waited upon him. In all [Page 310] places, and in the very Baths, were there Mas­sacres committed upon some as they were at their Suppers; amongst whom was Sammoni­cus Severus, who is known by his many Learn­ed Books. Chilo who was twice Captain of the Guards and Consul, was in the greatest danger, for only having advised the two Bro­thers to an agreement with one another. For the Soldiers had stript him, and were hurrying him away to the Execution when further Or­ders came to spare him. He put to death Helvius Pertinax, for no other reason, but be­cause he was the Son of an Emperor. He ne­ver ceased to kill, upon some occasion or other, those who had been his Brother's Friends. He frequently and proudly inveighed both against the Senate and the People, not forbearing to value himself one day, because he was another Sylla.

Then he went into Gallia, whither he was no sooner come, than he put to death the Pro­consul of the Narbonnoise. He made such a havock, and such a confusion amongst the Ma­gistrates of this Province, that he was as much hated, as the most outragious Tyrant ever was. Sometimes nevertheless he would disguise his sanguinary and cruel Nature, and pretend to be gracious. He did a great many things here against the Rights of the Country, and the People. And then he was taken with a great sickness, and yet he was afterwards very Cruel to those; who even recovered him. Next His Da­cian Ex­pedition. he prepared himself for an Expedition into the East, and so came into Dacia. He new [Page 311] great Numbers of the Barbarians about the Country of Rhaetia, encouraging on his Sol­diers, and gratifying them with his Bounty, as if they were the Soldiers of a Sylla. He suffered not himself to be called indeed by the Name of any God, as Commodus was, whom they called a Hercules, because of his killing a Lyon, and other Wild Beasts. But having received a Victory over the Germans, he called himself Germanicus, without any regard to the nearness of that Name to Germanus, that is, his own Brother whom he had killed. And had he, he said, overcome the Lucani, he would have been called Lucanicus, although it is a word which in another Sense, signifies an A­ction of Dishonour. He put to death such as had but made Water in the place, where stand the Statues or the Images of the Emperor; or had taken off the Crowns from the Heads of any Images to place them elsewhere, or used Amulets about their Necks, for Charms a­gainst Quartan and Tertian Agues. He took his way by Throce, in company with the Captain of the Guards; and thence crossing the Sea into Asia, his Sail-yard broke, and he was in danger to be wreckt, had he not got­ten into the Pinnace, and so was taken into a stout Vessel, where the Admiral was that convoy'd him. He often with his Sword in His Strength. hand, hath stood a Combate with Wild-Boars. Once he fought a Lyon, of which he gloried much in his Letters, which he sent to his Friends, and boasted, that he was arrived to the Power of Hercules.

Coming into Asia, he applied himself to the matter of the War with the Armenians and Par­thians, in which he appointed a General to com­mand, who was of the same Kidney with him­self. He went to Alexandria, where assem­bling His Bar­barities in Egypt. the People together in the Schools, he made a sharp Speech to them, and commanded a draught of the stoutest Men to be made out of them for Recruits, as he pretended, for his Forces. But when this was done, he put them all to the Sword, after the Example of Ptolemy Euergetes, the Eighth of that Name, King of Egypt, who had practised the like Bar­barity. At the same time, upon a signal given to his Soldiers, they fell every one upon his own Host and murdered him, and committed a vast slaughter throughout the City of Alex­andria. Afterwards he marched against the Parthians, by the Borders of the People called Cadusii, and the Country of Babylon; and coming to a tumultuary Engagement with them, he let loose amongst them Wild Beasts; after which he sent his Dispatches about it to the Senate, to the end, to obtain the Title of Conqueror of the Parthians, as if he had got­ten never so great a Victory. He was pre­paring himself for another Campaign, when going from the City of Rhea in Mesopotamia, where he wintered, to Heren or Charan, to as­sist at the Worship of the Moon, and by the way, alighting from his Horse to make Water, he was stabbed the same moment upon the Eighth of the Ides of April, being his Birth-Day, and the Festival of Cybele, by a Con­spiracy, [Page 313] which was laid for the purpose by Macrinus the Captain of the Guards, who in­vaded the Empire after him. Those who were privy to the same besides, were Nemesianus, and his Brother Apollinaris, and Rhaetianus who commanded the second Legion; nor was the design unknown to Martius Agrippa the Ad­miral, nor to a great many other principal Of­ficers, who had been brought into it by the in­stigation, especially, of one Martial a Centu­rion.

He was killed in the midway, betwixt the Cities of Rhea and Heren, where he had an occasion to alight, as I said, from his Horse. The Guards were of the number of the Con­spirators; and so as the Quirry lifted him up to his Horse again, he struck him into the Body with a Dagger.

Now concerning the Death of Papinian, I Papinian' s Death. know very well, that it is variously represented by a great many, as if they did not know the real cause it. However, I think fit to pub­lish what to me seems to be the Truth, ra­ther than I will be silent upon the Murder of so great a Person. Papinian, it is said, was one in very great Favour with the Emperor Septi­mius Severus, to whom, some add, that he was somewhat akin by his second Wife. There­fore Severus had recommended unto him the Care of his two Sons, whom accordingly he exhorted to a good Agreement with one ano­ther, and so interposed against the Murder of Geta. But for this, he, together with the rest who were Favourers of Geta, was killed by the [Page 314] express Order of Bassianus, who, as some fur­ther add, had desired Papinian to extenuate for him, to the Senate and the People the death of Geta. But Papinian answered, That it was not so easie to excuse a Murder, as it was to commit it. They say also that Papinian did de­cline to dictate the Speech, in which Bassianus was to inveigh against his Brother, to the end, to render his own Cause the better in killing him; and that Papinian said, that, to accuse the Innocent, who had been murdered, was in the nature of another Murder. But all this however, does not very well agree. Because it was not for the Captain of the Guards to form the Emperor's Speeches; and then it is certain that Papinian was for no other reason killed, but as he was a Fautor of Geta. As the Soldiers were hurrying him away to his Execution, he said, That he should be very im­prudent, who was the Captain of the Guards after him, if he did not severely revenge the Cruelty that was shewn to his place. Which was afterwards done. For Macrinus his Successor, was the Author of the Death of Bassianus, and was afterwards himself made Emperor in the Camp; whose Son Diadumenus, was immediate­ly new named Antoninus Diadumenus, to gra­tify the Soldiers, because the name of an Anto­ninus was so dear to them.

Bassianus Antoninus Caracallus lived Forty Three Years, and reigned Six. He was No­bly buried, and left a Son, who was after­wards called Varius Antoninus Heliogabalus; the dear Name of Antoninus being so fixt in the [Page 315] Hearts of Men, that it was no more to be re­moved, than that of Augustus from the Person of the Emperor. He was a Prince of ill man­ners, and crueller than his too cruel Father. He eat and drank freely, but was hated by his Servants, and by all the Men of the Sword, only the Guards. The Works which he left His pub­lie Works. behind him at Rome were, the famous Baths of his own Name, in which there is one Room so Curious, that the Architects say, it is alto­gether inimitable. He left also a Portico of the Name of his Father, representing the prin­cipal Actions of his Father's Life, with his Wars and Triumphs. He received the Name of Caracallus from a Garment so called, which he first brought up and gave to the People of Rome for a Bounty. He repaired the Via Nova, which is below his Baths, so well, that you will scarce find a Street in Rome, that is fairer than it. He erected stately Temples in all places to the Honour of the Goddess Isis, whose Sacrifices he celebrated with much greater Reverence than ever had been used before at Rome. His Body was interred in the Sepulchre of the Antoninus's, that the same place should receive his Reliques, which had given him that Name.

It is now fit that I should relate how it is said that he came to marry his Mother-in-Law, Julia; she was very handsome, and as she hap­pen'd one day in negligence, to discover her Body a little naked; Ah, Madam, said he to [...]er, I would, if I might. Sir, said she again, If you please, you can; you are an Emperor, and [Page 316] to give Laws to all the World, and not take them from any. He no sooner had under­stood the sense of those Words, but his un­bridled Passion led him to resolve upon the accomplishment of the Crime, and so he real­ly celebrated those Nuptials with her, which His in­cestuous Marriage. were in effect the same, as to take to Wife his own Mother, and to add Incest with his Mo­ther, to the Murder of his Brother. It will not be improper here to remark a very picquant thing, which was said of him. As he had a­scribed to himself the Titles in his stile of Germanicus, Parthicus, Arabicus, and Aleman­nicus, because of his Conquests over the Ger­mans, and those other Nations; Helvius Per­tinax, the Son of the Emperor Pertinax, smi­ling said, His Majesty might be pleased to add Geticus Maximus: In which word Geticus, there is an equivocation, with a double relation to Geta his Brother, whom he had killed; and with relation to the Goths, called Getae, whom he had overcome in some running Fights, in his passage into the East.

The Death of Geta was prognosticated by several Prodigies, as we shall shew by and by in his own Life, which follows. In the mean time we shall only observe farther, that for­merly, when the Army had proposed Bassianus Antoninus to march at the Head of them, in the place of Severus his Father, who was so sick of the Gout, that he could not well follow the War; Severus was then for putting to death th [...] his Son Bassianus, if the Captains of the Guards had not over-persuaded him against it. On [Page 317] the contrary, others say, that the Captains of the Guards were for punishing Bassianus with Death, but that his Father was against it; be­cause he was not willing, that the foolish Rash­ness of a young Man should be resented so se­verely, as for his own Father to kill him, when the Soldiers rather were the great occasions of the Crime. However it is, this most cruel Prince Bassianus Antoninus Caracallus, who in a word was a Parricide, Incestuous, an Enemy of his Father, Mother, and Brother, was yet by Macrinus that killed him, out of fear of the Soldiers, and especially those of the Guards, after his Death made a God. A Temple was given him, and an Order of Priests appointed to serve him. Even the Temple of Faustina, built by Marcus Antoninus at the Foot of the Mountain Taurus, was re-dedicated to him; and his Son Antoninus Heliogabalus, translated the same again afterwards, to either Jupiter Syrius, or the Sun, or himself, but to which of the Three, I cannot very well assert.

THE LIFE OF ANTONINƲS GETA,
Dedicated to the EMPEROR Constantine the Great.

I Am sensible, Sir, that your Majesty, wit [...] many others, may perhaps admire, why I do take in here the Life of Geta Antoni [...] For indeed, I must confess that there is no [...] much to be said of him, because he was ca [...] out of the World, as soon almost as he came [Page]

IMP. CAES. P. SEPT. GETA PIVS AVG.

IMP. CAES. M. OPEL. SEV. MACRINVS AVG

M OPEL. ANTONINVS DIADVMENIANVS CAES

IMP. CAES. MAVR. ANTONINVS PIVS AVG.

IMP. CAES. MAVR. SEV. ALEXANDER AVG.

MAXIMINVS PIVS AVG. GERM.

P. 318. Vol. 1.

[Page] [Page 319] upon the Throne as a Partner with his Brother, however I shall observe, that he had the name of Antoninus given him, no less than his Brother, by the Order of the Emperor Seve­rus, his Father; and the reason of it, which I shall premise, before I proceed further, was this. His Father sometime, had had a Dream, Occasion of his Names. that he should be succeeded by an Antoninus. Upon which he immediately went to his Sol­diers, and at the head of them gave his eldest Son Bassianus, the name of Marcus Aurelius Antoninus Bassianus. And when he had done this, whether it was out of his Paternal Affe­ction unto Geta, or whether it was that Julia his Wife, who knew the Dream, had put him upon it, because Geta should not be altoge­ther precluded Access to the Empire, he or­dered that he also should be called by the name of Antoninus Geta: and always in his fa­miliar Letters, which he writ afterwards in his absence to his Friends, he said of them both equally, Salute from me my Antoninusses, my Sons, and my Successors. But yet however all this Caution of neither the Father, nor the Mother availed any thing. For only the elder possessed the Empire, who was the first honoured with the name Antoninus.

His other name of Geta was what he had from either his Father's Brother, or from his Grandfather, whose names were Geta. There were yet other reasons for the addition of that name of Antoninus, to this of Geta. Severus would have had it to be a Rule, that all Princes in the time to come should be Entitled Antonini, [Page 320] in the same manner as they are Augusti. Which was the effect of his great love to the Em­peror Marcus Antoninus, whose Son he was pleased to call himself, and whose Wisdom and the Precepts of his Philosophy he always endeavoured to imitate. And not only the effect of his love to that Prince, who was an Antoninus but by Adoption, but of his Love and Honour also to Antoninus Pius the Suc­cessour of Hadrian; by reason, that it was Antoninus Pius, who had preferred him from a Practicer in the Law to be the Keeper of the Exchequer; which was a happy Rise to him, and which had opened him the way to those great Advantages, that afterwards he came to attain unto: who thought therefore, that he could not borrow a name from any Prince better, than from one whose Reign had been so happy; nor a name more honourable than that, that had already run through four Emperors. Being skilful in the Doctrine of Astrology, as many of the Africans generally are, he said one day, because he knew the Na­tivity of Geta; I admire, dear Juvenalis, (who was the Captain of the Guards to him) to think, that my Geta shall be a God, in whose Nativity I see nothing to make him an Em­peror. Nor did his skill at all deceive him; for after Geta had been killed by his Brother, and his Brother apprehended that he had drawn upon himself the hatred of a Tyrant by the Crime, he understanding that it would be sweetned if he did but declare Geta a God, cried, Sit Divus dum not sit Vivus; Let him be [Page 321] a God, so he is not an Emperor; and so he Con­secrated him; by which the Murderer in some measure retrieved to himself the good Grace of the People again.

Geta Antoninus, was born at the City of Mi­lan, under the Consulships of Severus and Vi­tellius, upon the sixth of the Calends of June. His Mother was Julia; who was Severus's se­cond Wife, being her whom he had chosen to Marry, because he had heard, that she had it Good and bad O­mens. in her Nativity to be the Wife of a King; though himself was at that time a private Per­son, only in a good Employment in the State. As soon as he was born, it was told by one that a Hen had laid an Egg in the House, which was of a Purple colour. So the Egg was brought up; but Bassianus taking it in his hands and letting it fall, like a Child, to the Ground, that it brake, Julia said to him laughing, You wicked Villain, you have killed your Brother. Severus took more notice of this Expression at that time, than any other Body: but afterwards all the Company lookt upon it as a thing spoken, as it were, by In­spiration. Another Omen that happened was this: upon the same day, and in the same hour that Geta was born, a Plebeian of the name of Antoninus, had at his Farm in the Country a Lamb kidded, with a mark upon his Head of the colour of Purple: and being informed by a Soothsayer, that an Antoninus should suc­ceed to the Empire after Severus, he very fondly interpreted it of himself; but how­ever killed the Lamb (in which consisted the [Page 322] sign of the death of Geta) for fear that the Omen of so high a Fortune should bring him into danger. I would add one thing more, which the Event made People to interpret to the same purpose; which is, that when Seve­rus one day Celebrated the Birth of Geta, his Brother Bassianus killed the Sacrifice himself, in the place of the Priest. A Circumstance not then considered nor taken notice of; but it was afterwards very well understood, when that Brother had sacrificed his Brother.

Geta, was in his temper a rough sort of a His Perso­nage and Conditi­ons. Youth; though not to a Fault; handsome, a little eager, a lover of delicious Wines and good Chear. There is this Story of him, which is remarkable, when he was a Boy. His Fa­ther the Emperor Severus being for Eradicating wholly the Parties that opposed him, said once to his Sons, I do but rid you of your Enemies. So Bassianus advised him to cut them off all Root and Branch; them and their Children: but Geta askt the question, how many of them they were? His Father telling him, says he again, Have they Parents and Relations living? Yes. Then, says he, there will be more People in Rome sorry for your Victory, than there will be that are glad of it. And certainly Geta's Opinion had carried it, had not Plautianus the Captain of Guards, and Juvenal who had great interests, insisted upon the contrary, in hopes of enriching themselves by the Confis­cation of the Estates: which was again se­conded by the excessive Cruelty of Bassianus, who persisting in his first Opinion, and say­ing, [Page 323] He would have them all cut off; them and their Children; says Geta to him; You; who spare no Body, would kill your own Brother. Which, as then spoken, signified nothing: but afterwards it appeared to be a sort of a Prophesie.

He had an excellent Memory to improve himself by what he read in the Antients, and by what his Father taught him. His Brother had always hated him; but he was more be­loved by his Mother Julia, than ever Bassianus was by his. He spoke agreeably, though some­thing Stammering: he was curious in his Dress, to excess: and whatever was presented him, he applied it to his own Ornament, without giving it away to any body living. After the Parthian War, at what time his Father flourish­ed in great glory, as Bassianus was declared a Part­ner in the Empire with his Father, so Geta was Created a Caesar, and honoured with the name of Antoninus Geta. It was an usual diversion with him to propose to the Grammarians, Que­stions about the several Cries and Voices of Animals, As the Sheep Bleats, the Swine Grunts, the Dove Coos, the Lion Roars, the Elephant Brays, the Frog Croaks, the Horse Whinnies, the Ass Brays, the Ox Lows; and to prove the use of the proper Latin Terms for each, out of the Antients. He read much in the Books of Se­renus Sammonicus, written to Antoninus. As to the Table, he took a pleasure to observe an Alphabet; according to which, as every Letter came on each day in its Course, his Servants that knew it, and were well skilled in the [Page 324] Arts of eating, provided things of the names, beginning with that Letter. As for example, for the Letter P. Puddings Plover, Pullet, Par­tridge, Peacock, Pig, Piscis, Plumbs, and so upon other days for the other Letters in order. Which is an Argument that from his Youth he had a gay choice of things, and was a very pleasant Person.

After he was killed by his Brother, a Party of the Soldiers who had not been Corrupted, re­sented his Murder very ill; saying all of them, That they had promised Fidelity to the two Sons of Severus, and ought to keep it equally to them both. Accordingly they kept fast the Passes of their Camp; and refused to give entrance to Bassia­nus, till he had flattered them up, and had ap­peased their Heats by giving them a Bounty, which was vastly great. After this Papinian, and many others were Massacred, who had either encouraged the good agreement of the two Brothers, or had appeared to be of the Side of Geta. Persons of Quality of both the Senatorian and the Equestrian Orders were Butchered, up and down publickly in the Baths and other places. Papinian died by the Axe; Bassianus finding fault with the Executioner that he had not done it with a Sword. In the mean time he was so afraid of his own Person, that he wore a Coat of Mail under his Purple, when he went to the Senate, to give them an account of what he did, and of the death of Geta. At which time, as Faustinus the Praetor repeated the Imperial Style, saying, Sarmati­cus Maximus, and Parthicus Maximus, Titles [Page 325] which Bassianus had gained by his Victories over the Sarmatae and the Parthians, Helvius Pertinax, the Son of the Emperor of that name, suggested it to him to say, and add to the rest Geticus Maximus; as if he meant it, in relation to his Victories over the Goths, who were then called Getae; but there was an Equi­vocation in the Word; for it also referred to the Murder of his Brother Geta. This sunk deep into the Breast of Bassianus, as it appeared afterwards by his putting to death the Author, and not him only, but those others, as I have said above. More particularly, as to Helvius Pertinax, he was willing to cut him off, upon the account that he was in the good esteem of all the World; and then besides he was the Son of an Emperor, which it self was no very safe Circumstance for a private Person.

The Funeral of Antoninus Geta was so very His so­lemn Fu­neral. Fine, that one would not have thought the same Brother that buried him, had killed him. He was buried in the Sepulchre of his Ance­stors, that is to say, of Severus his Father, which is upon the Appian way. In fine it is to be observed, that the Caresses of Antoninus Ca­racallus Bassianus, were more to be dreaded than his Frowns. He had an unaccountable Quality with him, to speak the fairest and the kindliest to those in appearance, whom he re­solved to destroy. And again, it was a Mi­racle to all to see him lament, as he did, the death of Geta, as often as his name was menti­oned, or his Picture, or his Statue came in sight. He was therefore a Man of many [Page 326] Windings and Turnings in his Humour; and this being accompanied with as much Cruelty as if he thirsted after Blood, it made him, that he would one time Massacre the Friends, ano­ther time the Enemies of Geta, as Fortune of­fered them to him; so that the loss of Geta, by the same means, became lamented more and more.

THE A. Christi CCXVIII. Life and Reign OF THE EMPEROR OPILIUS MACRINUS. Dedicated to the EMPEROR DIOCLESIAN.

WHen Princes, either have not sat very long upon the Roman Throne, or have not been Per­sons of any extraordinary Characters before their Accession to it, so that there is but little to be said of their Reigns, for the shortness of [Page 328] them, and less perhaps of their private Lives, in which they might never have been known, if they had not aspired to the Empire; It is not to be admired if their Memories should sometimes lye buried in obscurity. Therefore for my part, what I can find, that I do think may be deserving to be committed to Poste­rity, and worthy to be reseued out of the ac­counts of divers Historians, I shall produce it to the World; apprehending this to be the Duty of him, who proposes to write the Lives of others; that is, not to recount every thing th [...]t a Man does, but with Judgment to make a Choice of what is more particularly deserving of Memory. So that I should think, that Aelius Junius Cordus, who hath taken the Pains to publish the Lives of those Emperors, whom he believes to be more obscure and less known than others, hath not yet acquitted himself of his Design with the greatest Success. Because as short as he is, he hath yet reported things that are scarce worth the Labour of the Writing them. He suffers not the least trifles to escape him, as if concerning Trajan, Antoninus Pius, or Marcus Antoninus, it signifieth any thing to know every time that they went abroad, or how they changed their Habits, and who every Person was that they preferred, and when; or when they were served with other Via [...]ds upon their Table, than ordinary: all which he recounts, and fills his Books with them, and so makes his History a Tale of a Tub. Where­as, I think, that as for things that are so cheap, and of no value, no mention at all ought to be [Page 329] made of them; unless it is, when it is proper to give a Judgment by them of certain Incli­nations, which may be really worth the know­ledge; and even then, it is fit to touch them only in part and to leave the rest to be gather­ed by the Reader.

After the Death of the Emperor Bassianus Antoninus Caracallus, his Captain of the Guards, Opilius Macrinus, who had before that been the keeper of his Privy-Purse, possessed him­self of the Empire. A Man of a low Birth, His Ex­traction and Cha­racter. not a Gentleman born or bred; full of assu­rance both in his Humour and his Looks; sometimes he called himself by the Name of Severus, sometimes Antoninus; but yet every body hated him, as well the Soldiers, as the People. He ingaged himself immediately in the War with the Parthians, to take away by that means from the Soldiers the leisure to make Reflections upon him, and so to con­firm his Power, or at least to stop the ill Re­ports from growing, as much as it was pos­sible, under which he lay. The Senate in­deed willingly accepted him to be Emperor; but yet it was chiefly, out of their hatred to the memory of Antoninus Caracallus, in relation to whom they oried out with one Voice, Any body rather than a Parricide; any Person rather than an incestuous, and an impure Homicide; any one, rather than a Murderer of the Senate and the People. It may be perhaps a Matter of some admiration, why Macrinus, having been the Author of the Death of his Predeces­sor, who was by Name an Antoninus, should [Page 330] nevertheless order his Son Diadumenus, to be called Antoninus Diadumenus. Now that which I find upon the Annals, as to that matter, is this.

The Oracle of the Goddess Coelestis in Car­thage, having been consulted by the Proconsul, about the State of the Empire, and the pub­lick Affairs, in the time of Antoninus Pius, about the Emperors. After other things, she particularly repeated the Name of Antoninus eight times; whereby it was understood, that the Emperor Antoninus Pius should Reign eight Years. But when that Prince had out-lived that term, so that if any Faith was to be given to the Oracle, something else than that was designed by it, which time was to produce. It was supposed at last to signifie, that the number of the Emperors of the Name of Antoninus, should be eight; and so they are. To wit, Antoninus Pius, the First; Marcus Antoninus, the Second; Verus Antoninus his Colleague in the Empire, the Third; Commodus Antoninus, the Fourth; Antoninus Caracallus, the Fifth; An­toninus Geta, the Sixth; Antoninus Diadume­nus, the Seventh; and Antoninus Heliogabalus, the Eighth. For as for the Two Gordiani, or Severus, or Pertinax, or Julianus, or Opilius Macrinus, who did all of them sometimes call themselves Antonini, they are never to be ac­counted of the number of the true Antonini, but only those Eight now mentioned, by whom that Name was more retained, than any of their own. Now Macrinus was willing to give his Son the Name of an Antoninus, for [Page 331] this reason, because the People should have the less occasion to suspect, that the late Em­peror of that Name had been kill'd by his Orders; and because he knew very well, that every one had such an extraordinary Love for that Name, that unless the Emperor was cal­led Antoninus, they could scarce think him an Emperor.

After Opilius Macrinus was also kill'd, and the Senate was assured that Varius Heliogabalus the Son of Antoninus Caracallus, was declared Emperor by the Army; then it was, that it was loudly represented in the Senate, what an ignoble Person Macrinus was. Aurelius Victor Pinnius spoke thus.

Macrinus, a Slave the other day, that drud­ged His mean Original. in the servile Offices of the Emperor's Family! a Bougre! a Hireling! He lived a paltry Life [...]der Commodus. Severus thought him not fit at first for the most miserable Employments, but turned him out, and banished him into Africa; where to cover his Infamy, he betook himself to Letters, and came to plead some small Causes, and to declaim, and at last to be a Justice. Then he was created a Gentleman, and so at length, ar­rived to be the Keeper of the Exchequer under Severus, by the Favour of Festus, who was an infranchised Slave of that Prince.

This relation however, is not so undoubted, but that others give us the Steps of his Promo­tion thus. That he was a Gladiator, and had sought in that quality publickly. Obtaining afterwards his Freedom, he went into Africa, where he was a Notary, and raising himself [Page 332] after that, to be the Keeper of the Emperor's Exchequer, from thence he succeeded unto the highest Honors. Whilst he was the Captain of the Guards, he contrived the Death of his Ma­ster, with that dexterity of Intrigue, that it could not be perceived, that he had the least hand it it. He gained upon a Quirry to give the Blow; what with the Money he bri­bed him with, and what with the great Pro­mises that he made him. And then it was so ordered, that it should be said, that he was killed in a Mutiny of the Soldiers; because for his murdering his Brother, and the Incest of his marrying his Mother, he was so odious to them.

But no sooner was this done, but Macrinus Make his Son Caesar. possessed himself of his place, and made his Son Diadumenus, whom he immediately called by the Name of Antoninus Diadumenus, his Part­ner with him in the same. Then he sent the Body of the deceased to Rome, to be interred in the Sepulchre of his Ancestors; and com­manded his Captain of the Guards, who was his own late Colleague in that Office, to take care of burying him in all respects honoura­bly; knowing that the Common People loved him for the Habits and the Largesses that he had given amongst them.

As he was afraid of a popular Emotion, and that some body should intervene and hinder his Reign, so he was glad to take the Empire, as it were by surprise; but yet in the mean time he served himself of that common Artifice to pretend, that it was against his Inclination. [Page 333] Particularly he was jealous of the Captain of the Guards, his late Colleague, because some People hoped, that if he had the Consent but of one Legion, he would not refuse an Op­portunity, in which they would be ready to serve him, out of the hatred they had to Opilius Macrinus for his ill Life, and for the ignoble­ness of his Education and Birth. He took up­on himself, as I said, the Name of Severus, though he had no relation to that Prince; which occasioned a good raillery upon both him and his Son; Macrinus is a Severus, as Dia­dumenus is an Antoninus.

Now to put a stop to any Commotion of the Soldiers, he immediately gave a Bounty, as well to the Legions, as the Guards, which was more than ordinarily large; and as it is the Custom so to do, his Money supplied the de­fect of his Innocence; and what he wan­ted in one, he made up with the other; by virtue whereof, he continued in the Em­pire for some time, although he was a Man of all manner of Vice. He writ Letters to the Senate, concerning the Murder of Antoninus Caracallus, in which he stiled him a God; protesting as to himself, that he was innocent, and had known nothing of it; and so he ad­ded to the Crime that he had committed Per­ [...]ury, to begin his Reign withal.

It is fit to know, what a sort of an harangue [...]t was which he made, when he writ to the Senate upon this occasion; that we may see [...]he Confidence of the Man, and the Sacrilege with which he commenced his Reign. The [Page 334] Heads of it were these, done in the joynt Names of the Emperors Macrinus and Diadume­nus.

We should have been heartily glad, Fathers of His Mes­sages to the Se­nate. the Senate, to have had our Sovereign Antoni­nus yet in safety, and returning to you in Tri­umph. We should all have been happy in such a flourishing State of the Empire, and under a Prince, who was a Successour of the Antonini, and given us from the Gods. But since this Happiness hath not befaln us, by reason of a Mutiny of the Sol­diers, which hath deprived us of it, we make you acquainted with what the Army hath done as to us in the first place; and next we with your Consents, decree an Apotheosis to be given imme­diately to our late Prince, whose Murder the Army hath thought no Man more worthy to avenge than his own Captain of the Guards, to whom himself had left it, to chastise the Faction, had he escaped their hands and lived.

In another place, says he, They have presented me with the Empire, which I have therefore taken into my Protection; and I shall continue it, if the same thing be pleasing to you, Fathers of the Se­nate, which is so pleasing to them, to whom I have given a Bounty, and done every thing as the Cu­stom is for the Emperors to do upon these occa­sions.

Again, My Son Diadumenus, whom you know, the Army hath made my Partner in the Empire, and hath not denied him the Name of Antoninus. Indeed, they have done him a greater Honour by that Name, than by that de­gree of a Prince; which we desire may be ap­proved [Page 335] by you, Fathers of the Senate, as a good and happy Omen, that you shall never want a Prince of a Name which you do so dearly love. Again, We and all the Army have equally de­creed the Honours of a God unto Antoninus Ca­racallus. And though we might with the Autho­rity of Emperors command the same from you, Fathers of the Senate; yet we rather desire you to do it, and to dedicate to him, two Statues on Horseback, two more standing in Military Habit, and two others sitting in a Civil one. We dedi­cate also two triumphal Statues to the Emperor Severus. All which, Fathers of the Senate, you will command to be performed, at our earnest Request.

When this was read in the Senate, they took the news of the death of Antoninus Caracallus very well, and hoping that Opilius Macrinus would maintain the publick Liberty, they first made him a Patrician, who was a Man originally of no Family, and little known; then they made him High-Priest, (a Title annexed to the Em­perors) who sometime before, had been a Clerk to the minor Priests: And lastly, they voted him the Title of Pious. Nevertheless, at the first, upon the News of the Death of Cara­callus, there was a long silence in the Senate, because no body dared to be forward to be­lieve it. But it was no sooner confirmed to them, that he was really killed, but they in­veighed against him as a Tyrant; immediate­ly they conferred the Proconsular and the Tribunitian Powers upon Macrinus, who ac­cepted from them the Title of the Happy, in­stead [Page 336] of that of the Pious, and was pleased that the Name of Antoninus should be confirmed by them to his Son.

And here I may observe, that this Name which began in a Prince, who was in reality, as well as by Title Pious, came by degrees, through a number of others one after another, who impaired its Reputation more and more, to end at last in a Man so impious, that he was the very scum of the Earth. Marcus An­toninus was the only Prince after Pius, who adorned it by a Life worthy of it: Verus An­toninus his Partner, degenerated from it, and Commodus Antoninus even polluted it. What shall I say of Antoninus Caracallus? Or what of Antoninus Diadumenus? What shall I say of Antoninus Heliogabalus? But as he was the last of the Antoninusses, and base born, so he is re­membred to have lived in the greatest im­purity.

Opilius Macrinus being thus established in the His Par­thian Ex­pedition. Empire, he made great preparations to conti­nue the War against the Parthians; and pro­posed to abolish the infamy of his former Life, and the baseness of his Birth, by the greatness of his Victories. He engaged the Enemy, as they were commanded by Artabanus their King, who fought obstinately. But after this, a Peace being agreed upon, then Macrinus re­tired to the City of Antioch, where giving him­self up to Luxury, his Legions took a just pre­tence from thence to revolt from him to Varius Heliogabalus, who was the reputed Son of Anto­ninus Bassianus Caracallus; and who coming with [Page 337] an Army against him, defeated him, and killed He is slain. him, after he had reigned but a little more than one Year.

There was a Lady called Moesa, alias Varia, a Phoenician, of the City of Emissa, the Sister of Julia, the Wife of the Emperor Severus, who after the Death of Antoninus Caracallus, was banished the Court by Macrinus; but yet she was allowed to take along with her, all the effects which she had amassed in the long time of her continuance there. This Lady had two Daughters, called Semiamira and Mam­maea: The first and eldest was the Mother of Varius Heliogabalus, who was a Priest of the Sun, and had taken the Name of Heliogabalus, in the Phoenician Language, from the Name of the God that he worshipped. And being as well by his noble Stature and his Beauty, as by his Office remarkable to all that came to the Temple, especially the Soldiers, his Grand-Mother Moesa, alias Varia, took her opportu­nity to say to them, that he was the Son of the Emperor Antoninus Bassianus Caracallus, which from one to another, came to be made known to all. And as she was herself very rich, and Heliogabalus very prodigal, she made such Pro­mises to them in his behalf, that she seduced the Legions to a revolt; who accordingly re­ceived him and his Mother, and their follow­ers into a Garrison by Night, and proclaimed him Emperor, by the Name of Antoninus, and invested him with the marks of that Dig­nity.

When this Account was brought unto Ma­crinus at Antioch, he admiring at the boldness of the Woman, which he could not but slight at the same time, sent Julianus the Captain of his Guards with his Legions to besiege her. But no sooner did the New Antoninus shew himself in Person to those Men, but they were all so marvellously inclined to love him, that they killed Julianus their Captain, and passed over in a Body to his side. Then Antoninus Helio­gabalus having formed his Army set himself to march against Macrinus, as Macrinus was march­ing against him; and joyning Battel, Macri­nus was defeated; occasioned by the Trea­chery of his own Soldiers, by reason of their Love to Antoninus. So he fled with some few in company with him, and particularly his Son. But both he and his Son were after­wards pursued and killed in a Village of Bi­thynia, and his Head cut off and brought to the Conqueror. And all that his Son had gotten by the Empire, was his Destiny only to be killed with his Father.

Certainly Macrinus was in the time that he reigned more rigorous, and more austere than he had ever been before, thereby hoping to suppress the Reports of all his by-past Actions, and to bury them in oblivion; on the contrary, that Severity did but open a fresh occasion to People to blame him. Thus he was for ha­ving himself to be called a Severus and a Pertinax: And when the Senate had given him the Titles of the Happy, and the Pious, he [Page 339] only accepted the first, and refused the other, which occasioned a Libel to be made upon him, which was put up in the Forum in Greek and Latin Verse to this purpose; That an old, ugly, troublesome, sour, and unreasonable Man of a Stage-player (alluding to his fighting, formerly, as a Gladiator) pretending to be Happy, with­out being at the same time Pious, it was a thing unnatural and irrational, for those were two Vir­tues not to be separated. An impious Reign will make his Subjects unhappy, and he who makes his Subjects so, must be unhappy himself. His Tem­per and Cruelties.

Macrinus was therefore one of a proud and bloody Mind; he loved to govern with the arbitrariness of a Soldier; accused the Disci­pline of former times, and praised Severus a­lone, of all the Emperors. He condemned his Soldiers to the Cross, and always punished them with the punishments of Slaves. In any Mutiny he generally decimated; sometimes he contented himself to centesimate them; which last was a peculiar word of his own, when he drew out but every hundredth Man when to execute, which he accounted a Mercy, he had said, they deserved to be decimated, or vicesimated. Certainly, it would be too tedious here to recount all his Cruelties. How­ever, one I will mention, which was not great as he thought it; and yet it is something worse than the Barbarities of all the Tyrants that ever were. Two Soldiers were reported to have forced their Landlord's Maid against her Will, to lye with them, at the same time she [Page 340] was one that had been debauched long before He hearing of it by his Spies, sent for them and examined the Matter; and it appearing to be true, he ordered Two vast great Oxe [...] to be opened alive suddenly, and the Men to be stuffed into their Bellies, there to remain till they died, with only their Heads out, that they could talk to one another; which was a sort of a Punishment that had nothing like it then, or in any former times, in the case of Adultery itself. In his Wars, always in­deed, against the Parthians, Armenians, and Arabians, he quitted himself with equal bra­very and success. A Tribune one day having neglected to appoint the Guard, he dragged His ex­treme Se­verity. him alive and dead in a miserable Condition at a Cart's Tail, all his march. He revived the Punishment of Mezentius, of tying the li­ving to the dead, for both to rot together: Therefore it was said by the People in the Cirque, in favour of his Son Diadumenus, who was a very lovely Youth,

He shut up others betwixt four Walls, till they died starving. For Adultery he always tied the Parties body to body, and burnt them to­gether alive. Servants that had run from their Masters, he condemned to be made Gladia­tors of. Unless Informers proved what they said, he made it Capital to them; if they did [Page 341] it, they received a Reward in Money, but he dismissed them with all their Infamy upon them.

He was not a little versed in the Know­ledge of the Laws of the Romans, insomuch, that he made no scruple to supersede all the Rescripts of the antient Emperors, to act ac­cording to Right, and not according to Re­scripts. And it was a shame, he said, that the Wills of such as Commodus and Caracallus, and others that were unworthy to be Emperors, should be Laws; when Trajan would not al­low that a Rescript that is written perhaps in favour in one case should be made a precedent in another; because things ought to be examined by the Rules of good Sense. He was liberal in his allowances of Bread and Provisions to the Poor, but sparing in giving Money. Towards his Ser­vants he was so severe, and so cruel, that they called him instead of Macrinus, Macellinus, from Macellum a Shambles; because his House, like a Shambles, flowed with the Blood of the Servants that he killed. He eat and drank very freely, sometimes to excess in the Eve­nings. If he had dined at any time more sparingly, in his supper he would be very pro­fuse. He admitted the Men of Letters to his Table, with whom talking, he prolonged his Meals.

But as every one called to mind the base­ness of his Birth, and former Life, and on the other hand, observed his Cruelty, which [Page 342] was excessive, and the many horrid things that he did, which the Soldiers, especially, very well knew, they were not able longer to endure such a Nusance upon the Throne, and so they resolved to rid themselves of him.

There was a Libel once made upon his A Libel upon him. Son to this purpose. I dreamt I saw a Youth of the Name of Antoninus, who hath a Slave to his Father, his Mother such a Whore, she hath had a Hundred, and ask'd a Hundred more. From such a Father, such a Mother, let him be a Pius or a Marcus, he cannot be a Verus Antoninus; alluding to the Empe­ror of the Name of Verus, but intending to to say, that he cannot be a true, but only a visionary, and a Bastard Antoninus. When Macrinus was told this, he answered it in some Iambics, which they say were very well done; but we have them not, because they perished with him in the Fray that he was kill'd in, when all that he had was plunder­ed by the Soldiers.

The manner of his Death was such as we have represented it before already; that is, his Army revolting, and carrying all their Inclinations upon Antoninus Heliogabalus, he fled, and was afterwards taken and kill'd in a Village of Bithynia; his Attendants all yielding, or otherwise cut in pieces or disper­sed in flight. This made Heliogabalus famous, because he appeared to have revenged the Death of his Father. So he succeeded to [Page 343] the Empire, and as he certainly disgraced it afterwards with Vices of Luxury, Impurity, Riot, Pride, and Cruelty, and as he lived an unhappy Life, so he met with the like tragical Death.

This is what I have discover'd concerning Macrinus, out of a great many Historians that mention him. I humbly present it to your Majesty, O Dioclesian; being assured, that your Majesty takes a pleasure in view­ing the Accounts of the Emperors of the an­tient Times.

THE Life and Reign OF THE EMPEROR Antoninus Diadumenus.

ANtoninus Diadumenus being but a Youth when the Army created him Empe­ror, together with his Father, after the Death of Antoninus Caracallus; his Life affords us little that is remarkable, more than the Account of his reception of the Name of Antoninus, and the stupendious Omens that appeared to fore-tell his Reign, and also that it was to continue but a short time. For as to the first, as soon as it was known amongst [Page 345] the Legions, that the fatal Stroke was given to Antoninus Caracallus, that which was a matter of great trouble to them all, to observe, was, that they had not another Antoninus to suc­ceed him, as if they thought that the very Roman Empire was certainly to perish with that Name. Macrinus hearing this, and fear­ing, by reason that there were several Rela­tions of Antoninus Pius that were Captains in the Army, lest the Army might cast their In­clinations upon some one or other of those, for the Empire; he immediately put himself at the Head of them, with this Harangue.

You see here, my Fellow Soldiers, my self, and my He is de­clared an Antoninus Son Diadumenus. I am well advanced in years, but my Son by the mercy of the Gods, you will have long to be your Emperor. I understand that there is remaining amongst you, a great Affection for the Name of Antoninus. Wherefore since for my own part, according to the Condition of humane Frailty, I have not much time left me to live, I name this young Son, an Antoninus, with your Consents, and wish you long to enjoy him.

They cried, The Gods save the Emperor Ma­crinus. The Gods save Antoninus Diadumenus. We all beg, that Antoninus Caracallus may be made a God. Then most Excellent and most Power­ful Jupiter, preserve the Lives of Macrinus and Antoninus. Thou knowest, O Jupiter, Macri­nus is invincible. Thou knowest, O Jupiter, Ma­crinus is inconquerable. Having an Antoninus, we have all things. The Gods, have given us [Page 346] an Autoninus. Antoninus and his Father me­rit the Empire.

Macrinus replied, My Fellow Soldiers, we give you a Bounty of three pieces of Gold, to each of you, upon the occasion of our Accession to the Empire; and for the Name of Antoninus, five pieces of Gold more, besides your ordinary Pay, which shall be doubled to you. The Gods grant that this may be done often; for as much as we now give you this day, we will repeat it to you, every Fifth year of our Reigns. His Speech to the Army.

After this, Antoninus Diadumenus the young Emperor spoke to them in these words. I thank you, my Fellow Soldiers, for the Honour of the Empire, and of the name which you have given me, for it is you that have thought my Fa­ther and me, worthy to be the Emperors of Rome, and to command the State: to the Government whereof My Father will take the Care not to be wanting, and it shall be my best endeavours not to be wanting to the Glory of the name of Antoninus. I am sensible, it is a name in which the Emperors Pius, Marcus, and Verus, have gone before me: who were Persons, to whom it is a difficult thing to answer worthily. I can only say, I will do all that is in my power: and in the mean time, upon the joynt occasion of my Reign and my Name, I promise you the same, as my most honoured Fa­ther hath done; who hath but considered you at you deserve.

The Greek Historian Herodian, hath omit­ted these passages, and speaks Diadumenus un­der no higher a quality than a Caesar. How­ever after this Harangue, a Coin was [Page 347] stamped at Antioch, in the name of Anto­ninus Diadumenus: the other, which was to be in the name of Macrinus was deferred, till they had the express Orders of the Se­nate; to whom Letters were sent to ac­quaint them, with what was past, and with the New Antoninus, who desired their approbation. And whether it was as some say, because their hatred to Antoninus Caracallus made them wil­ling to have any other Emperor, rather than him, they accepted of this Change freely. Had Macrinus lived, he intended to have given to the People of Rome a Present of some Vest­ments, after the example of the Donation of Caracallus: and also to establish a Charity, for the maintenace of the Children of some Poor Families; whom he intended to call by the name of his Son; to the end, as his own Words in the Edict are, to render so much the more agreeable and more recommendable the glory of the name of Antoninus. At the same time, he says, that he wishes that he was pre­sent with the People of Rome; that his Son, their new Antoninus, might with his own hand distribute a Largess of Corn amongst them. In the next place he ordered the Colours, and the Standards of the Antoninusses to be put up in the Camp. He erected the Statues of Antoninus Bassianus Caracallus, in Gold and Silver; and Celebrated a Festival of seven days, for the Honour of the name of Antoninus.

Antoninus Diadumenus was certainly one of His Per­sonage. the beautifullest Youths in the World. He was pretty tall, with bright yellow Hair, black Eyes, and a pretty long Nose; his Chin perfect­ly handsome, and a grace to his whole Face; a full kissing Lip, and then he was natural­ly Stout, and proper in his Exercises. When first he was dress'd in the Imperial Robes of Scarlet and Purple, and the other Military En­signs of the Empire; he shined like a Star, or as one newly dropt from Heaven, and every body loved him, for the Charms of his Beau­ty.

In the next place, as to the Omens which pro­gnosticated Omens of his Reign. his Reign, they are indeed stupen­dous. The day that he was born, his Father over-seeing and examining the Purple Robes of the Emperor in his Office, had ordered some of them to be brought where his Son Diadumenus was born in two Hours after. And as some Children that are born, have a skin upon their Heads in the nature of a Coif, being a natural sort of a Cover upon the Head, which is afterwards taken away by the Mid­wives; Diadumenus, instead of this had a per­fect Diadem in the place of it, which was a thin, but strong Flesh, made of a great many Veins and Fibres, like the strings of a Bow, from whence he was called at first Diadematus; but as he grew up, he was called by the Name of Diadumenus, from his Grandfather by the side of his Mother; and there is not much difference betwixt the one Name and the o­ther. At a House of his Father's in the Coun­try, [Page 349] twelve Lambs were kidded, all of a Wool of the colour of Purple, except one, which was of divers Colours. The same day that he was born, an Eagle came and dropt a Ring-Dove into his Cradle as he slept, and retired without doing him any hurt. Other Doves, from whence the Soothsayers prognosticated great Riches and Honour, came and made their Nests in his Father's House. As he was one day walking in the Fields, an Eagle came and took from off his Head his Cap, and afterwards dropt it upon the Head of a Statue of an Emperor. He was born, not only upon the same day of the Month, but in the same hour, and almost under the same Constellations, as was the Emperor Antoninus Pius. Therefore the Astrologers said, That he would be both the Son of an Emperor, and an Emperor himself. A Woman, who was of his Kindred, observing that he was born upon the Birth-day of that Prince, cried, Let him be called an Antoninus. But Macrinus was a­fraid to do that, because it was an Imperial Name, which none of his Family had ever had; and he thought it was safer to let it a­lone, especially, the Report being already put about of the greatness of his Birth. Another Omen that still more particularly deserves our observation, is this; as Diadumenus was in his Cradle in a Garden, a Lyon that had broken loose, and was very fierce, came and lick'd him, and left him without offering him the least violence; but yet meeting his Nurse, he fell upon her, and bit her so cruelly, that she died.

This is what hath seemed to me to be wor­thy of memory concerning Antoninus Diadu­menus, whose Life I had even intermixt with the Actions of his Father, but that my Honour for the Princes of his Name, obliged me to Great Honours paid to the Name Antoni­nus. such a particular Account of him. And cer­tainly, it was a Name so amiable to these times, that it seems, as if he who was not call'd an Antoninus, was not fit to be Emperor. There is a Letter of Opilius Macrinus, in which he declares, that he glories not so much of his elevation to the Empire, whereof he was the second Person in rank before, as Cap­tain of the Guards, as of being the Father of a Son, of the Name of Antoninus, which at that time was so Famous, that not any Name of the Gods themselves was more. Therefore, said one, It is a thing void of all Reason, and unsuitable to the Dignity of Commo­dus, to covet, as he did, the Name of Hercules, as if that of Antoninus was not Honour enough. For would he be a God, he could never more eminently be so, than as he was an Emperor of so excellent a Name? I mention this, in this place, only to shew, how highly the Antoni­nusses were valued, to have their Names set a­bove the very Gods. And yet all this was wrought by only the Charms of three Princes of that Name, whose Wisdom, whose Good­ness, and whose Piety consecrated them for ever to Posterity; that is, Wisdom in the Per­son of Marcus Antoninus, Goodness in his Bro­ther Verus, and Piety in the first of the three, Antoninus Pius. I come now to the Letter which I mention'd of Opilius Macrinus.

By this Letter we see, how great an Ho­nour he looked upon it to be, that his Son was received by the Name of an Antoninus. However, this fine Son was killed, together with his Father, in the Fourteenth Month of their Reigns. And it is to be observed, that as young and as amiable as he was, he was yet one that was very severe upon many Per­sons beyond his Age; witness these two Let­ters following, written to his Father and Mo­ther; which as they are Pieces contributing to this History, so I have thought fit to insert them here.

Now whether himself, or Caelianus his Ma­ster in Rhetorick formed this Letter, it shews what a severe young Man he would have been if he had lived.

These Letters, says Lollius Urbicus, in the History that he hath made of his time, being betrayed to the Soldiers by his Secretary, did Diadumenus the greatest prejudice, and cost him his Life. For some of them considering that he was but a Youth, had been at first for saving him, after they had killed his Father. But when these Letters were produced and He is slain by the Sol­diers. read, then they killed him also; and both their Heads were carried about upon the top of a Javelin. Then all the Army agreed to set up Varius Antoninus Heliogabalus, being the re­puted Son of Bassianus Antoninus Caracallus. They say, he was a Priest of the God Helio­gabalus; that is, in the Phoenician Language, [Page 354] the Sun; but certainly the most impure, and the most dissolute Man upon Earth, and by some Fate, sent entirely to dishonour the Roman Empire. As there are a great many things to be said of him, I shall reserve my self to speak of him in his place.

THE A. Christi CCXIX. Life and Reign OF THE EMPEROR Varius Antoninus Heliogabalus. Dedicated to the EMPEROR Constantine the Great.

VArius Antoninus Heliogabalus, passed his Life in a manner, which was so very impure, that I should eternally excuse my self from committing it to Writ­ing; nor should it be known by my hand, that ever such a Person was the Emperor of [Page 356] Rome, if we had not had a Caligula, a Nero, and a Vitellius upon the same Throne before him. But as we see the same Earth produces as well Poysons as good Grain; and is diversified with things which are some wholsome, and some hurtful; here Vipers, and there other Crea­tures, that are tame, and good for the Life of Man: the prudent Reader will easily make himself an amends for such prodigious Ty­rants, if he pleases but to read the Reigns of Augustus, Vespasian, Titus, Trajan, Hadrian, A [...] ­toninus Pius, and Marcus Antoninus, in opposi­tion to them. For by the comparison, he will perceive the Judgments of the Romans upon the one and the other; how that these latter reigned long, and ended their days at last with natural Deaths. But the others were murder­ed, shamefully dragged, branded as Tyrants, their Names thought unworthy so much as to be mentioned; or not to be mentioned without horror. After the Death of Macrinus and his Son, the Empire was conferred upon Varius Antoninus Heliogabalus, for this reason especi­ally, becaused he was the reputed Son of Bassianus Antoninus Caracallus. He had been Reason of his Names. before a Priest, either of Jupiter, or the Sun, and had taken to himself the Name of Anto­ninus, not only for an Argument of his Birth, but because he knew that that Name was so very dear to the World, that even the Parti­cide his Father was loved for its sake. His other Name from his Grandfather Varia, was Varius. Then he called himself Heliogabalus, from the Name of the God in the Phoenician [Page 357] Language, whose Priest he was; and when he came to the Empire, he was declared an Antoninus, and he was the last of the Roman Emperors of that Name.

His Mother was Semiamira, to whom he was so devoted, that he did nothing in the Govern­ment without her. She in the mean time lived in the manner of an impudent Courtezan, and pursued her lewdnesses of all sorts in the very Palace. For as it was under that Character, that formerly Antoninus Caracallus had had commerce with her, so the promiscuous Issue, her Son, might very well also be called Varius, if it had been only from thence, who after his Father was killed, fled, it is said, for fear of Macrinus into the Temple of the God Helio­gabalus, as into an Asylum, and made his Priest­hood there his Protection. But thus much as to his Name; that holy Name of Antoninus, so pol­luted by this Man, but which is, however, so venerated by you, Most Sacred Constantine, that your Majesty hath the greatest Honour in the World for the Emperors Antoninus Pius, and Marcus Antoninus; setting them before you, no less than you do Constantius and Claudius, for your Royal Imitation; whereby you in­deed adopt the Virtues of the Antients to be your own, and certainly they very well suit with the happy Inclinations of your Majesty.

After then, Varius Antoninus Heliogabalus was in the possession of the Empire, he sent his Ac­counts of it to Rome, where all the Orders of the Nobility, Gentry and People being eleva­ted at the Name of an Antoninus, which seem­ed [Page 358] in him to be restored, not as it was in Antoninus Diadumenus in Title only, but also in Blood, because he writ himself the Son of Antoninus Caracallus: There was great Joy made for him; and this was yet further in­creased by those good Apprehensions, which Men generally have of a New Prince, who succeeds after a Tyrant; and by that great Af­fection, that they are then prone to express, but which yet is not lasting, unless where i [...] meets with an extraordinary deal of Virtue for its support, because many indifferent Prin­ces have soon lost it again. So when the Let­ter of Heliogabalus was read in the Senate, they received it with as many Acclamations of Joy and Kindness to him, as on the other hand they inveighed against Macrinus and his Son. All were willing to declare him Em­peror, and industrious to believe him a wor­thy Antoninus; as the wishes of Men are apt to impose upon their Credulity, and what they desire that it should be true, they love to make themselves believe that it is so. But he was no sooner come to Rome, to omit the Comes to Rome. things which he did in the Provinces, but he set up the Worship of his God Heliogabalus, which he had brought with him out of Syria. He built upon Mount Palatine, near the Pa­lace, a Temple to him, into which he was al­together for removing the Image of the great Mother of the Gods, Cybele; the Vestal Fire, the Palladium, or Image of Pallas; the Sacred Shields, and all the Holy Utensils of the Ro­mans; not being willing that any other God [Page 359] should be worshipped at Rome but his own. He said, that he would command the Wor­ship of the Jews, the Samaritans, and the Chri­stians, to be thither also transferred; that the Mysteries of all Religions should be contained within the Temple, and applied to the Honour of Heliogabalus.

The first day afterwards that the Senate sat, His Mo­ther sits with the Senate. he caused his Mother to be admitted as a Member of that Assembly, who was called in, and came and took her place by the Seats of the Consuls, and was present at the pas­sing of a Decree of the Senate. Indeed, he is the only Person of all the Emperors, whose Reign hath given us a Senatress; a Woman to come into the Senate, to act as a Man. He also created a little Senate of Women, which met on Collis Quirinalis; whose Decrees, assembled under the Direction of Semiamira, and the Laws that they made concerning the Ladies are very diverting. They made Laws, What Cloaths every one should wear; who should give place to whom; who salute whom; who go in a Coach; who ride upon a Horse; who upon an Ass; who go in a Litter, drawn by Mules; who to be drawn by Oxen; who carried in a Chair, and whether the Chair should be of Lea­ther, or inlaid with Bone, or Brass, or Ivory, or Damaskt with Silver; and who should wear Gold or Jewels at their Shoes.

Whilst he wintered in the City of Nicomedia in Bithynia, which was before his coming to Rome, he carried himself so lewdly there, be­ing carnally enter'd by Men, and grunting at [Page 360] the Work, like a Sow that is brimmed, that the Soldiers soon repented themselves of ha­ving conspired against Opilius Macrinus to make this Person a Prince; and then turned their Thoughts upon Alexander a Cousin-German of Heliogabalus, whom the Senate had created Caesar upon the Death of Macri­nus. For who indeed could endure to see a Prince more than bestial, leaving no conca­vity His Be­stiality. of his Body unpolluted by those he loved. And coming afterwards to Rome, he made it his great Business to be furnished with Men out of all Parts that were the best provided for his purpose. He had the Comedy of Paris per­formed in his Apartments, in which himself acted the part of the Venus, and suddenly his Cloaths falling down to his Heels, and leaving his Body all naked, he put himself into a Posture fit for his Associates to make their lewd Approaches. He made himself to be drawn in the figure of a Venus, with a delicate Face, and all his Body smooth, and thought it the greatest Happiness of his Life to be tempting and agreeable to the Lusts of more and more Men.

Himself, his Servants, and his Pimps, one His base Govern­ment. with another, made a common Sale of the Degree and Places of Honour, and the Places of Power and Command. He created any one indifferently a Senator for Money, without regard to Age, Estate, or Birth. The Mili­tary Offices of Captains, Tribunes and Gene­rals, were sold, as also the Governments of the Provinces, and the Offices of the Hou­shold. [Page 361] Two Coach-men, whom he took out of the Cirque, that is, Protogenes and Gordius, he made the great Companions of his Life, and his Privadoes to every thing he did. He took several into the Court out of both the Theatre and the Amphitheatre, where they had been Players, Charioteers, or Gladiators, only because their Bodies promised him to the Eye, something filthy that pleased him. He loved a Youth called Hierocles so, that he used to kiss what it is immodest to name in him, and said, That it was to celebrate a Game to the Goddess Flora. He committed Incest upon His Incest and Sacri­lege. a Vestal Nun. He profaned the most Holy Rites and Mysteries of the Romans, breaking into the Sacristies of their Temples, and car­rying all things away thence into that of his own God. He would have extinguished the perpetual Vestal Fire. Nor was he only this upon the Religions of the Romans, but all the World over, he desired to have no other God worshipped but Heliogabalus. He broke into the Sanctuary of the Temple of the Goddess Vesta, polluted as he was, with all kind of Filthiness, and his Company as bad and as vi­cious as he, to take from thence the inviola­ble Image of Pallas. He thought that he had really carried off the Jar which is consecrated to the Temple, and the Rites of the Goddess Cybele; but only the superior of the Virgins belonging to that Goddess, had shewn him a false one in the room of the true; and finding nothing in it that was extraordinary, he broke it in pieces. So he also seized upon an Image [Page 362] of Pallas; which was adorned with Gold; but which he likewise mistook for the true Palladium, and he placed it in the Temple of his own God. He initiated himself in the Rites of the Goddess Cybele; and was washed in Bull's Blood; only to get an opportunity by the means to steal away the Image of that Goddess, and other Sacred Utensils that are kept altogether lockt up. He tossed his Head and his Hair about, as the Fanatick Priests of that Goddess do, amongst whom he offi­ciated: every thing that those Priests do, so did he; till at length, he stole off the Ve­nerable Image of the Mother of the Gods, and reposed it in the Sacristy of his own God. He Celebrated the Feasts of Adonis, with all the Mourning and the Tossing the Body, which is used in the worship of that God in Syria. He imitated Venus, weeping and bewailing his loss; which was but a presage from himself of his own approaching ruin. All the Gods, he said, were the Servants of his God; to whom some were his Chamberlains, some his Ushers, and others, were destin'd to serve him in all sorts of Offices. He endeavoured to possess himself of the Statue of the Goddess Diana; being the same Sacred Statue which Orestes had stoln out of her Temple in Scythia Tau­rica, and had afterwards reposed it in another Temple Dedicated to her at the City of Lao­dicea in Asia. The same Orestes built a City of his own Name, Oresta, upon the Bank of the Hebrus, in the Country of Thrace; which the Emperor Hadrian ordered to be re-called Hadri­anople, [Page 363] from himself, about the time that he City of Adriano­ple. was in his Frenzy, when he commanded so many Senators to be killed: whom Antoninus on the contrary saving, and afterwards bring­ing them into the Senate, when every body had thought them dead, he very well deserved to be Entitled, as he was, the Pious Antoninus: And some allay it gave to that Frenzy of Ha­drians, at that time to tell him; That whilst his Majesty was giving his Name to a City, it was to be feared that some mad House should take it up.

Antoninus Heliogabalus offered Sacrifices to Cruel I­dolatry. his God, of young and pretty Boys, that were Gentlemens Sons, whom he Kidnapped for the purpose over all the Country of Italy, and whose Fathers and Mothers were yet living. The reason of his choice of such, as whose Fa­thers and Mothers were yet living, I cannot understand, unless it was this; to make the Trouble of their loss so much the more sen­sible as it reached to both their Parents, and that their deaths should be accompanied in the Ears of his God, with á more general La­mentation. He had all sorts of the Diviners, Magicians, and Priests of the East with him, daily employed in the bloody Works of his Religion; in which he encouraged them on; thanking the Gods, that he was so well sup­plied with the peculiar Friends, as he called them, and Servants of theirs: and then he pryed himself into the Entrails of the murder­ed Children; and discussed the Victims, ac­cording to the Rites of the Country, from whence this Service came.

The Largess with which he Caressed the People, when he entred upon his Consulship, was not little pieces of Money (of Gold or Silver) cast amongst them, nor a Collation of Fruits, Wines, and the like; but he gave them Fat Oxen, Camels, and Asses, to divide a­mongst them; and Slaves to serve them: This, he said, was great, and becoming an Emperor, and for the Honour of Heliogabalus his God.

He was very severe upon the memory of O­pilius Macrinus; but yet worse against his Son for assuming the name of Antoninus: he called him a Pretended, a Spurious Antoninus; and he could not endure to hear him wel [...] spoken of; nay he obliged some Persons, that writ his Life, to Slander him with things tha [...] were horrid and intolerable. He set up a Pub­lick Bath in the Court, which he exposed to the free use of all the World; the design where­of was only to see, what Men were the bes [...] Provided for his use, and to take them to him­self: for those were the Creatures, in the World, the most in Vogue with him, and great Care was used to find them out, abou [...] all the Town, insomuch as out of the very Water-men.

In the mean time, the Persons who disco­vered his Practises the most to the World, wer [...] such especially, as had born him Company i [...] the Exercises of his Lusts, and had been wea­ried, with his Men, that were so Potent, an [...] so filthily Hung. His death was a thing, be­gun first to be thought of amongst those of h [...] [Page 365] own Family. Neither could the Soldiers en­dure to see such a Pest upon the Throne, and therefore they all turned their inclinations up­on Alexander, his Cousin German, whom the Senate (as it was said) had Created Caesar at the death of Macrinus. Aurelius Zoticus Ma­girus His fil­thiness with Ma­girus. was a very great Favourite unto Helioga­balus. All the Principal Officers of the Court respected him, as if Magirus was the Husband, and Heliogabalus the Wife; Magirus the Ma­ster, and Heliogabalus the Mistress. But the Master did so abuse the Tye of the Familia­rity which he had with this Mistress, that he made a Practise by it of really cheating, out of their Money all the World at once. Some he threatned; some he promised; took Money of all: and coming out from Heliogabalus, His way was, Sir, I told the Emperor this of you; I heard him say this of you, (to another.) This will be done about you, (to a third.) And yet all false; as all these sort of Men do, who when admitted to too great a Familiarity with Princes, make no scruple to Sacrifice the Re­putation of them to their own advantages: Let the Princes themselves be bad or good, it is the same; for so long as either through their Folly, or their Innocence, they do not per­ceive the Cheat; it is Meat and Drink, and Honour, and Riches to such as pursue it. He­liogabalus perfectly Married this Man, and lay with him as his Bride; and his word was, Vi­gorously, Magirus: not bating him so much as the time that Magirus was sick of a Dose that had been palmed upon him by an angry Ri­val. [Page 366] Then he askt the Philosophers, and the gravest Persons about him, whether they in their Youths had not done the same thing. Which he expressed in the lewdest words, for he never spared for those, and acted the Postures upon his Fingers, without any sense of Shame, to be seen and heard by all the Company.

He made his infranchised Slaves the Pre­sidents, Lieutenants, and Proconsuls of the Provinces. The Commands in the Army and all Places of Honour, he polluted with baseborn and profligate Men. When he kept the Feast of the Vintage, to which he had invited several of the Nobility and Gentry, and the Company being repos'd, began im­pudently His h [...]r­rid Im­modesty. to ask first the Gravest of them, one after another, Was be ready for the Exer­cises of Venus? They blushing at the Question, he cryed; He Blushes, that's enough, his silence gives consent; and then he told them of his own Performances, and how he was ready to do all things for his part without seeking a Veil for his Modesty. The Graver Men blushing still, and saying nothing, because either their Age or their Honour refuted such Stuff, he proceeded to apply his Discourses to the young Fry, to whom he uttered all sorts of filthy Questions; who answering him again such things, as come from those of their Years: he was mightily diverted, and said, This now is to be free, and this is the right way of keeping the Feast of the Vintage. There were those in the Company that were lewd enough, and some too that were old, and in appearance [Page 367] Philosophers, with their Heads in Caps, who confessed that they did indeed love the Female Part, and what Men they had that had served them in the Faculty of Husbands. But I can­not tell whether they did not dissemble, to in­gratiate themselves the more in the favour of Heliogabalus, by the Correspondence of their Vices unto his.

He preferred one Man to be a Captain of Prefers base Per­sons. the Guards, who had been a Publick Stage-Dancer at Rome. He made Gordius, a Coach­man, Captain of the Lieutenancy of the City: he made Claudius, a Barber, the Commissary of the Stores, and to other Places he pro­moted Men as they recommended themselves to him by the large size of their Secrets. He made a Mule-driver a Commissioner of the Tax, called Vicesima, together with a Post­man, a Cook, and a Locksmith. When he came either to the Camp or the Senate, it was in the Company of his Mother, whose Au­thority kept him a little in Countenance, and who was the first Woman, as we have said, that ever had that access to the Senate, to give her Vote there. At his Banquets he particularly loved to place by himself, and to Favour, the Bardashes; and took a great delight to Handle them, and to Provoke their Lusts, though it was before all the Company.

Whilst these things passed, he conceived a great displeasure against Alexander his Cousin German, whom before he had Adopted; and yet it was only, because he would not be as lewd as he. He ordered him to be removed from [Page 368] him; and repented that he had adopted him, and ordered the Senate to Depose him from the Dignity and Title of Caesar. But as Alexander was a very excellent Youth, and ac­ceptable to both the Senate and all the Gen­try, and beloved by the Soldiers, as he ap­proved himself worthy thereof afterwards in his Reign, the Senate when this motion was made to them, was very silent upon it. Then Heliogabalus's Fury carried him upon the worst His Hate to Alex­ander Se­verus. of Wishes. He set Men expresly to Murder him. In order to which, he retired himself from the Palace, to the Gardens by the old Temple of Hope; as if he had designed that Place, in the way of an Omen, that he might succeed in his Hopes against this so promising, and so ne­cessary a Youth; whom he left behind him, in the Palace, in Company with his Mother and his Grandmother; and had commanded that he should be killed there. At the same time he sent Orders to the Camp to abrogate, amongst them, his Title and Honour of Cae­sar. He sent Persons to besmear with Dirt his Statues, which were in the Camp; and to de­face the Inscriptions upon them, as it is done usually to the Statues of Traitors. He sent to others, that were his Attendants, to engage them by promises of Rewards and Honour, to kill him by what way soever they pleased; either in the Bath, or by Poison, or the Sword.

But the Counsels of the Wicked are of no ef­fect against the Innocent. No Body by any en­deavours, could be prevailed with, to the per­petration of a Fact so Villainous. On the contrary, all his Weapons recoiled against [Page 369] himself; and those Persons, by whom he aimed to take away Alexander's Life, became the Masters of his own. All the Soldiers were in a Flame to see the Statues and the Titles of Alexander besmeared with Dirt. Some made towards the Palace, some towards the Gardens in which Heliogabalus was; directly to assert the Cause of Alexander, and to drive away this Impure Man, and in his Heart a Murderer, by violence from the Throne. Coming to the Palace, they first took a care of the preservation of the Person of Alexander, and his Mother, and Grandmother; and sent them to the Camp; whither Semiamira the Mother of Heliogabalus, followed them on Foot, in a great disquiet for her Son, and to see what she was able to effect in his Favour. From the Palace, they went to the House where Heliogabalus was. They found him employed about a Match for a Chariot-Race; but withal full of expectation of the News, when it should come, that his Counsin-German was killed. The sudden Noise of the Soldiers frightned him. He threw himself into a Cor­ner, and by the help of a Curtain hanging over a Chamber-door, escaped out of their sight. So he dispatched one of the Captains of the Guards immediately to the Camp to appease the Soldiers there; and another to sweeten those, that were come into the House. An­tiochianus was he who was employed to the latter: who spoke to them, and upon their Oaths Conjured them to be satisfied, and in­treated them so kindly, that in fine he pre­vailed with them (they not being very many in [Page 370] number) to abandon their Enterprise for that time. As to the other Officer, who was sent to appease the Camp, the Soldiers there re­plyed to him; that they were willing to for­give Heliogabalus; provided that he would re­move the Impure Men, and the Charioteers, and Stage-Players from his Person, and would betake himself to Reason: particularly they desired the removal of such as had made use of their Ministry for a Cloak to Cheat all the World out of their Money. So Hierocles, Gordius, Murissimus, and two more of his Lewd A Mutiny of the Soldiers appeased. Favourites; who as ill as he was, made him much worse, by the absolute power which they had over him, were removed. The Sol­diers further desired, that the Captains of the Guards should take care not to suffer him to lead so ill a life again; and that Alexander should be preserved in safety from him, and not be visited by any neither of his Company; because no Taint of their filthiness or example should reach his imitation. But yet Heliogaba­lus, not only instantly redemanded Hierocles, who was one that was most extremely Lewd; but he daily carried on designs against the life of the young Prince. Upon the Calends of January, when they both were appointed Con­suls together, he refused to appear with him in the Procession, according to Custom, to the Senate, and the Capitol: till at last his Grand­mother, and his Mother told him, that the Soldiers were ready to Murder him, unless he agreed better with his Cousin, German; and then, though it was twelve a Clock, first he [Page 371] put on his Robes, and marched to the Senate; whither his Mother repaired in a Chair at the same time: but he would by no means be per­suaded to go from thence to the Capitol to fi­nish the Ceremony, and to perform the ac­customed Vows and Rites there. For all things were done there by the Governour of the Ci­ty, as in the case of the absence of both the Consuls.

Nor did he still forbear to prosecute his de­sign against the life of Alexander. But in the mean time fearing, that after he had killed him, the Senate would in return cast their thoughts upon another Emperor, he resolved to be before hand with them, and on a sud­den he banished the Senate out of the City. All The Se­nate ba­nish'd. of them though their Chariots or Servants were wanting, and their Equipages not in a readi­ness, were commanded nevertheless immedi­ately to be gone. So they went; some of them upon Carts, and others by any manner of Con­veniences, that Chance offered to them. Sa­binus, who had been a Consul, and one to whom Ulpian the Lawyer Dedicates his Books, tarrying a little behind the rest, he sent for a Centurion, and commanded him to kill him. But speaking it something low, and the Cen­turion being a little deaf, the Centurion thought that his command had been to drive him out of the Town by force: which he did, and the mistake saved Sabinus his life. At the same time he Banished Ulpian, for no other reason, but because he was an Honest Man, and like­wise the Rhetorician Silvinus, who had been [Page 372] Alexander's Master; and the latter he after­wards put to death: but Ulpian was spared.

But the Soldiers, and especially those of the Guards, knowing what Rods Heliogabalus was making for their Backs, and observing the grudge that he bore them, for their last at­tempt, in which they had rescued Alexander out of his Hands, resolved upon a Conspiracy with one another, for the deliverance of the State. Accordingly they fell first upon his Lewd Associates; whom they put to death in several ways; some by ripping them up, and taking out their Entrails; some by boring them through the Fundament; that their deaths and His Asso­ciates and himself slain. their lifes should be alike. Next they broke by violence in upon himself; who fled for shelter into a House of Office. They killed him there; then they dragged him through the Streets. They added this Despite to his Body that they threw it into the Kennel; and the Kennel not being big enough for it, they fastned a weight to it, that it should not float and be afterwards found, and buryed, and so cast it from the Aemilian Bridge into the River of Tyber. But before they threw him into the Tyber, they had dragged him up and down the Cirque. His Name, that is, that of Antoninus was erased, and nothing but that of Varius Heliogabalus was left to stand upon the Records, because he had so much affected, to retain nothing but the Name, to shew him­self to be the Son of an Antoninus. They called him after his death, the Tyberine, Drag­ged, Impure Heliogabalus, and by many other [Page 373] such Names, upon any occasion of remark­ing the Passages of his Reign. Of all the Princes, he was the only one that was both dragged and thrown into the Kennel, and thrown into the Tyber too. It was what befel him from the general hatred in which he died, and which Princes by his Example ought to take great heed how they incur; because, if so be that they live so, as not to merit the Love of either the Senate, People, or Soldiers; nei­ther will they be thought to deserve the Ho­nour to be buried. His publick Works were, Hsi pub­lic Works. he built a Temple to his God Heliogabalus, whom some interpret the Sun, some Jupiter. He repaired the Amphitheatre after a Fire. He carried on the Work of the Baths, that had been begun by his Father, but which had been left imperfect for want of some Galleries to them, which therefore this Prince enterpri­sed; but neither were those brought unto their last perfection till the Reign of Alexander Severus.

He was the last of the Princes of the Name of Antoninus. And certainly the Life, the Man­ners; and the Lewdness of him are so odious, that as the Senate erased out of the publick Re­cords his Name of Antoninus, my self should not give it him, but for the sake of distinction, and the Laws of History, which oblige me. His Mother Semiamira was killed with him; a Woman without Honour, and worthy of such a Son; upon whose account, it was before all things ordained by the Senate, after his Death, that no Woman for the future should ever be [Page 374] received a Member there again, and the Head of him by whom this had been done, contrary to the Sentiments of all the World, they de­voted to Hell for it. Many were the obsceni­ties of his Life, which I think not fit to men­tion. His Riot in some things, when a private Man, and in others when Emperor, and what concerns his Luxury in that kind, I may the better describe. For even in his private Life, he professed to imitate the Luxury of Apicius; and when Emperor, his Examples were Nero, Otho, and Vitellius.

He was the first of all private Men, who co­vered His Lu­xury in his House. his Bed with furniture of Cloth of Gold, which he did in virtue of an Act, that had admitted it of Marcus Antoninus, when that Em­peror made an Auction of all the unnecessary moveables of his Houshold to raise Money for the Marcomannick War. He garnished his En­tertainments throughout the Summer, with Glasses and things, all of the same colour, and the colour every day various. He was the first that furnished his Kitchin with Pots and Pans of Silver, whereof some were of a hundred pound weight, and ingraved with venereal Fi­gures. He first brought up the Wines of the infusion of Mastick, Roses, and other things, which the Luxurious have at this day. For though the Wine of the infusion of Roses had been invented before, yet he rendred that still more fragrant by a mixture in it of the Pine. Neither do we read of so many several mix­ture of Wines before the time of Heliogabalus, every moment of whose Life was spent in [Page 375] quest of new Pleasures. He is the first that made a sort of Saulages of Fish, such as Oy­sters, Muscles, Lobsters, Crabs, Shrimps. His Dining Rooms, Tables, Couches, and Galle­ries where he eat or walked, were strewed with Roses, Lilies, Violets, Hyacinths, Daffa­dils, and all sorts of Flowers. He went not into the Baths, but they were first perfumed with noble Oyntments, or Saffron. The Pallets, upon which he reposed himself at Table, were of the Skins of Hares, or the Feathers of Par­tridges, and he often changed his leaning Pil­lows for softness. Sometimes he vilified the Senate so, that he called them Slaves of the long Robe; and the People of Rome, the poor Labourers of one Field; and slighted the Eque­strian Order, as worth nothing. He often took the Governor of the City, and the Cap­tains of the Guards, to drink with him after Supper, and spared them not their measure. He had designed, if he had lived, to appoint a distinct Governour to every Region of the City, in all fourteen, which was to be a pre­ferment for so many of his Pimps, the filthiest of Men, and of the basest profession of Life. He had Couches of Massy Silver, both for his Dining-Rooms and his Chambers. He was served with Dishes frequently in imitation of the Luxury of Apicius, of the Hoofs of Camels, the Combs of Cocks cut off from them alive, and the Tongues of Peacocks and Nightingals; because he said, These are good things against an Epi­lepsie. He taught the Court the Dainties of the Intrails of Barbels, the Brains of Red Tails. [Page 376] the Eggs of Partridges, the Brains of Thrushes and the Heads of Parrets, Pheasants, and Peacocks. It is to be admired, how he gathered together such a quantity of the Fins of Barbels, that he had great Dishes and large Plates served of them, being things as rare as they are useless. And which is altogether astonishing, he fed his Dogs with the Livers of Geese.

Lions and Leopards, being first disarmed of Other of his immo­derate Va­nites. their Claws and Teeth, and taught by Masters to be tame, and to know their Commands, he had a great delight in. And at the second or third Services, on a sudden, he called them into the Room to him, where the Company not knowing that they were disarmed, it was a mighty laughing matter to him to see what a vain Fright it gave them. He sent Raisins in the Sun to be put into the Mangers to his Horses. He sed his Lions and his other fierce Beasts, with Parrets and Pheasants. For ten days together, he had once every day served up to him thirty of the Meats that are made of the hinder Part of so many Sows newly far­rowed. His Pease were garnished with Grains of Gold. His Lentils with precious Stones, which matched them. His Beans with Beads of Amber, and his Rice with Pearl. Pearl was sprinkled amongst his Fish and his Mush­rooms, like so much white Pepper. He some­times stifled some of his Company at Table, with the vast number of Violets, and other Flowers, made by a Contrivance to fall upon their Heads.

It is said, that he represented a Fight of [Page 377] Gallies in the Amphitheatre, upon a Sea all of, Wine, which was let in by the Pipes. At the same time he perfumed the Seats for the People, with sweet Oyntments. He ran a Race of four Chariots drawn by four Elephants a piece, upon the Vatican, being himself the Driver, and le­velling the ground for the purpose; and another within the Circuit of his Palace, of as many Ca­mels drawing the Chariots. He once ordered a great quantity of Serpents to be gathered toge­ther for him; so when he had them, he let them fly suddenly amongst the Company that was as­sembled in the Cirque at a publick Shew, of whom many were bitten, and others put to the scamper to save themselves. He had some Tu­nicks so thick beset with Jewels, that he said, He was even loaded with the eight of his finery. He wore at his Shoes, Jewels of the Cut of the greatest Artists, which was but thought ridicu­lous; as if the fineness of the Stone, and the gravery, signified at the Foot any thing where it could not be distinguished. He dressed his Head with Jewels, to make him look more of the Countenance of a Lady. He made great Ponds of Sea-water in the inland Parts at a great distance from the Sea, and filled them with Fish from the Sea. He had Mountains of Snow in Summer preserved for him, which was fetched from all Parts. He never would eat Fish near the Sea; but in places at a very great distance from the Sea, he would be al­ways served with the Curiosities of the Sea; and treated the very Rusticks there with the soft Roes of Lampries and Sturgeons.

His Fish was dressed with an Art, that when they were brought upon the Table, they look­ed as if they were alive, just taken out of the Water. He bathed and swam in Ponds of Aromatick Wine, which were filled in an in­stant for him, and sprinkled with the Flowers of Roses; himself and all the People drink­ing of the Wine of the Ponds, and his Seat in them perfumed with exquisite Nard. For his Lamps, he had of the Oyl of Balm. He never lay with the same Woman twice, unless it was his Wife. His House was a Bawdy-house for all his Company, Friends and Servants. His Suppers never cost less than one hundred thousand Sesterces; and sometimes reckoning all things, he [...]ed at the rate of thrice that Expence. He it did the sumptuous Suppers both of Apicius and the Emperor Vitellius. His Fishing-Nets were drawn out of the Ponds, by a Yoke of Oxen. He tied some of his poor Retainers sometimes to a Wheel which went under Water; in which, giving them a good plunge, and then up again, he said, Those were his Friends of the Race of Ixion. He pav'd the Courts before the Palace, with La­cedamonian and Porphyry Marble, which was also yet in being in our memory, and but late­ly taken up and changed. He had designed to give to the City a large Column, having an ascent within it to the top, where he intended to place the God Heliogabalus. But though he proposed to fetch the Stone from Thebais in Egypt, he could not be provided with a Rock that was great enough for his Work.

He many times had an humor, when his His vain Frolicks. Company was well in drink, to lock them up, and in the Night on a sudden to send in Lions, Leopards, and Bears (disarmed) into the Room to them; that when they awaked in the Morning, or which was worse, in the Night, and found themselves in the same Room with Lions, Bears and Panthers, they were sometimes, struck dead with the fright. As to others of his Guests of an inferiour Con­dition, he placed them upon Sacks about the Ta­ble, filled only with Wind, which being let out suddenly, they were thrown down in an instant at the foot of the Table, with their Meat in their Mouths. When the Players upon the Stage [...]ad sometimes pretended to punish a Man for Adultery, for example thus and thus, in shew; [...]e hath commanded the said Punishments to [...]e literally executed. He was so kind to the Whores, that he often redeemed them at the Hands of all such as made a Traffick of them; [...]nd paid for their freedom, and then set them [...]t Liberty. He had often Gladiators to fight before him, as he and his Company were at Table together. He caused a Banquetting-Room to be set up for him in the Amphi­ [...]heatre, where, as he dined, he fed his Eyes with the Combats of Gladiators, and the Chase [...]f Wild Beasts. He was the first of the Ro­ [...]ans that ever wore a Garment of Velvet. He never put on the same Linen twice; he [...]id, It was for Beggars to wear Linen twice [...]ashed. He appeared in publick after Supper [...]ftentimes in a Dalmatick, calling himself a [Page 380] Fabius and a Scipio, when he was in this effe­minate Dress, only because those Persons had sometime worn it in their Youths, which were delicate to a Fault. He pickt up all the Wo­men of Pleasure that he could find about the Cirque, the Play-house, the Race, the Baths, and wherever they were; and assembling them all together in some publick House, he made an Harangue to them in the Phrase of my Fel­low Soldiers, as it was a General speaking to his Army, and then he treated upon the Questi­ons with them concerning the several sorts of Postures and infamous Pleasures. Next he had the like Conference with all the Pimps and lascivious Catamites, old and young, that were to be gotten from all Parts. he dressed himself in the Habit of a Lady, being to meet these, with his Breasts bare; and having con­cluded his Speech to them, he promised them for their Encouragement, as if they were so many old Soldiers that had well served in his Cause, a Donative of three pieces of Gold each, desiring them to pray to the Gods, to make him happy in the good encrease of their Com­pany.

He commanded his Servants upon a piece of Work which is sufficiently ridiculous, and yet he did it with promises to them of a Re­ward for their care and pains in it, which was this; that they should bring him a thousand pound weight of Spiders. He had gotten to­gether, at length, by this means, no less than ten times that weight; from whence he said, it was easie to make a Judgment of the Great­ness [Page 381] of the City of Rome. He sent the Ser­vants of his Kitchin to some with Vessels, sup­posed to be full of Provision that he had pre­sented them with; but when they were open­ed, they were found full of Frogs, Scorpions, Serpents and Flies. Dining, or supping he had continually Chariot-Races run before the Rooms and Galleries, where he was; in which he obliged old Men, and some of the most honourable too, to mount the Box, for the greater diversion. He ordered ten thousand Mice, one thousand Weasels, and another thou­sand of Rats to be gathered together, and shewn to him at once. He often tantalized his poor Retainers, with Mock-Dinners, done all in Glass, or Wax, or Ivory, or Earthen Ware; upon their Tables and their Napkins, they had Services curiously represented in Paintings, all which did not hinder them, but they might starve for Hunger, and yet none dared to complain of the excellency of the Feast, but washed, and went away, as if they had dined never so well. He commanded that out of the publick Stores of Corn, which Trajan and Severus had amassed for the Ser­vice of the People of Rome, for seven Years, at a certain Rate of so much a Year, there should the allowances of two Years, be given to the Whores, Pimps, and Catamites about the Town; the first Year, to go to as many of them as lived within; the second, to as many of them as lived without the Walls of the City.

He had sometimes four great Dogs to draw his Chariot, as well after he was Emperor as before, when he was at his private Seat in the Country. He appeared at other times in pub­lick, drawn by four great Stags; at other times by Lions; and then he caused himself to be called the Mother of the Gods: Sometimes Tygers, and then he named himself Bacchus, whose Chariot is drawn by Tygers; and at the same time he habited himself as those Dei­ties are represented, whom he imitated. He had at Rome of the little Dragons of Egypt, as also Sea-horses, a Crocodile, a Rhinocerot, and of all the strange Beasts of Egypt, that were ca­pable to be transported. Ostriches were often a part of his Bill of Fare. He once entertain­ed the principal Persons of the City, upon Seats all made of Saffron, which was wonder­ful; and to complement them, he said, It was but Grass in comparison to what they deser­ved. He passed the Actions of the Day in the Night, and those of the Night in the Day; esteeming this as necessary a part of Luxury, as any thing. In the Evening he rose, and received the Complements of the Court for that Day; when it was Morning, he went to Bed again. He daily presented his Favourites with something or other of importance. He suffered no one scarce to go from him, but he made him a Present, as if it was of a thing only that he had found, and that he did not value it so much, as to keep it himself.

His Coaches and his Chariots were gilt, and His ex­treme Pr [...] ­digality. all covered with Jewels; he scorned such as [Page 383] were but silver'd over, or done with Ivory or Brass. He sometimes caused his Chariot to be drawn by naked, young, and very handsome Girls; two, or three, or four, or more of a Front; and as they were all naked, so for the most part was he. He had also this Custom, to invite to his Banquets eight old Men, all with bald Heads; eight others blind of one Eye; eight others lame of the Gout; eight o­thers that were Deaf; eight Blacks; eight o­thers that were so fat, that their Table could scarce hold them; and then his Fancy was to make himself and the Court merry with them all round. All the silver Plate that was served at his Banquets, and all the drinking Cups, and Side-board Vessels, he gave away frankly amongst the Company, and did this often. Then as a matter of great importance, he proposed it to the Company, to invent e­very one some new Rules about Pickles, and Sawces, and fine Eating; they did so, and he whose Invention was pleasing to his Palate, received for it a great Reward in a Gar­ment of Silk, which at that time was a Ra­rity, and held in great Honour. But he whose Invention had displeased him, he desired him to eat only always of that Dish, till he should find a better out. He was always placed him­self in a Seat in the midst of Flowers, and precious Odours. He loved nothing but what he was told, was very dear; Because, he said, the greatness of the Price raiseth the Appetite.

He was a perfect Monsieur-Ragou in his House, as also a Perfumer, a Vintner, and a Pimp, [Page 384] and caused himself to be drawn in Pictures ac­cordingly. At one Supper he hath had the Heads of six hundred Ostriches, for the sake only of the Brains. Sometimes his Banquet was in this manner. He had two and twenty Services of all sorts of Viands, whose Names at each Service, which was made in the order of the Letters of the Alphabet, began all with one and the same Letter. Then betwixt every Service they washed, and after that, every Man betook himself to his Mistress; he and his Friends, and they were to swear, that it was not without an accomplish'd Pleasure. Ano­ther time, his Banquet was in this manner; he ordered each Service to be made ready at the House of a several Friend, and as one li­ved by the Capitol, another upon Mount Pa­latine, another at a third place, another upon Mount Caelius, and another on the other side of the Tyber; the Company all went to every one's House to eat each Service in order; and then washing at each Service and enjoying their Mistresses, the whole day was scarce time enough for them to finish one Feast. Some say, that he built Baths in several Places, and only washed once in them, and then imme­diately destroyed them, for fear of accustom­ing himself to any; and that he did the same with several Houses and Apartments that he built. But I am apt to think, that those things and many others, which exceed all belief are rather imposed upon him by Persons who have been willing entirely to blacken his me­mory, only to make him so much the better foil for his Successour.

It is said, that he redeemed one Courtesan, who was very handsome, at the Price of a Hundred Thousand Sesterces, and afterwards honoured her, as much, as if she was a Virgin untouched. One asking him, whilst he was a private Man, being then so Extravagant, if he did not fear the becoming Poor; he an­swered, What can I do better for my self, than to be my own Heir, and the Heir of my Wife? However, he had Estates demised to him by a great many, in consideration of his Father. He said that he desired to have no Children, for fear, that it should make him a good Hus­band. Instead of Coals, he burnt Frankin­cense, Cinnamon, Cassia, and other Indian Sweet-Woods for his Fires, in his Dining Rooms. He never when a private Man, tra­velled with less than a Train of sixty Car­nages; which made his Grandmother many times to say of him, that he would spend all. But when Emperor, he never went but with a Train of six hundred; saying that the King of Persia, when he travels, employs Ten Thou­sand Camels; and Nero had been attended in­to the Country with Fifteen Hundred Chari­ots: The occasion of which great Train of Heliogabalus, was the multitude of his Pimps, Bawds, Whores, Bardasses, and his filthy Crew of Men and Women, that he had always with him. Bathing he was always accom­panied with Women; whom he most offici­ously rubb'd and smooth'd, and took away their superfluous Hair, with a depilatory Unguent, made for that purpose; and which, [Page 386] after them, he used to himself, and took off his Beard with it: and after this, he with a Rasour, with his own Hand shaved, what can­not modestly be spoken of; the Men also that he loved, and to whom he subjected his Body in the nature of a Mistress; for the filthy plea­sures that he found in them. He strewed one whole Gallery belonging to the Baths, all over with the Dust of Gold and Silver; regretting that it could not be done with Amber too: and this he did often, whithersoever he stirred out on Foot, if it was but to his Horse, or to his Coach; as the Custom is, to do it with the finest Sand to the Emperors at this day.

He never wore the same Pair of Shooes twice. It is denyed that he ever put on the same Rings twice. His best Robes he often­times tore and slashed in pieces. He com­manded Ships to be sunk in the Port, that were come in from abroad, laden with Mer­chandises; saying that this was a mark of a great Spirit. His Closestools were of Gold; and his Chamber Pots were of Alabaster and Myrth. Had I, he said, Ever an Heir, I would appoint him such a Governour, as should oblige him to do all the things that I have done, or shall do. He had also this Custom with him; that one day, he would have nothing at his Table but Pheasants, and all his Services should be of the flesh of Pheasants drest in several ways. Another day nothing but Pullets. A­nother day all of one sort of Fish. Another, of another. Another day all Pork. Another day all O [...] riches. Another day all Herbs; [Page 387] and so of Fruits, and milk Meats, and sweet Meats. He often said to his Company, that he had provided them Mistresses of extraordinary Beauty to lie with; as they would find when they went to their Beds. But he sent them to Bed in the dark, because they should not see their Faces, till the next Morning; and then, who were they, but old Negroe Women? He put the same Trick upon them, with Negroe Boys. He laughed so loud in Publick, that sometimes in the Play-house, no body was heard but only he. He Sung, he Danced to the sound of the Flute, he sounded the Trum­pet, he played upon the Shepheards Pipe, and touch'd very well the Organ. He hath gone about in one day to all the Whores of the Cirque, the Play-house, the Amphitheatre, and all parts of the City disguised: and giving them, every one, some pieces of Gold in their Hand; without effecting any with them: says he, Antoninus gives you this, but tell no body.

He invented certain new ways for his Lusts, in which he out-did the monstrous Postures of all former times, and all the Conjunctions of Tiberius, Caligula and Nero. His Fortune was His death foretold. foretold him by the Priests of Syria, that as he would be a great Profaner of the means that serve to Generation; so he should one day come to dye by his own Hands. He believed it, and provided himself therefore for it. For he had provided himself silken Cords, if ne­cessity was, to Hang himself. He had provi­ded himself Swords of Gold, if necessity was, to Stab himself. He had provided himself [Page 388] Poysons, which he carried about him in Eme­ralds, Jacynths, and other Pretious Stones, if any thing ill happened, that he could no o­therwise avoid, to Poyson himself. He had built a very high Tower, with steps to it of Gold, enriched with pretious Stories, from whence to throw himself down headlong: be­cause he would have his death, he said, to be, as his life was, sumptuous; there should be a lively Image of Luxury in it; and it should be said, that no body had dyed so, as he. But all this signified nothing. For he was killed by a Rabble of He is kil­led by the Rabble. For he was killed by a Rabble of Soldiers; and dragged most nastily through the Streets; and drawn through the Kennel, and at last thrown into the River of Tyber; with whom ended the Princes of the name of Antoninus. A name, to which if his Birth, as it was Spurious, was any Title; yet his Life was the last Disgrace to it, in the sight of all the World.

Your most Sacred Majesty, O Constantine, will perhaps think it strange, with others; that this Pest, which I have given this account of, was suffered to Reign so long, as almost three whole years; and that none appeared in the mean time to rescue out of his Hands the Honour of the Roman Empire: because in the Reigns of Nero, Caligula, Vitellius, and the rest of the Princes of this stamp, there never wanted a Man to murder a Tyrant. But above all things, Pardon me if I have been offensive to your modesty in any of the Passages of so dissolute a Life: I have willingly suppressed a great many other of his Lewdnesses, because [Page 389] I could not name them for shame: and as for those, that I have named, as they are what I have sound amongst divers Writers, so I have wrapped them up in as clean a Napkin as I could; remembring very well, what your Ma­jesty is used to say; That to be an Emperor is a stroak of mere Fortune; which raises sometimes very Indifferent, and sometimes the Worst of Men to be so: and your Majesty does very graciously to add to that, That it lies upon the Persons themselves, whom Fortune hath reduced under that necessity of an Empire, to make them­selves worthy of the Place, where they are.

Thus much concerning therefore Varius An­toninus Heliogabalus. It is what I have col­lected indifferently out of the Greek and La­tin Historians. Your Majesties Commands to me, to present you with this Life in its place, after the others which are antecedent to it, and which your Majesty hath accepted, was an Authority abundant to me to super­sede all those thoughts that had otherwise made me unwilling, and possessed me with a Reluctancy to meddle in a thing of this Nature. I shall now proceed to the Lives of those that follow. The first of which is, that most excellent Prince, Alexander Severus; who was one of thirteen years Reign. Then there will be Aurelian, who was another excel­lent Prince; and Claudius, of whom, being the Author of your Majesty's Race, I should be afraid to write the real Truth to you, lest those who have not all the respect that they ought, for the praises which are due to great [Page 390] Souls, should pretend that I Flatter, if I did not know, that I should be fully justified by others in all that I have to say. To these is to be added Dioclesian, the Father of an Age of Gold; and Maximian, the Father of an Iron Age, as they commonly call them; with all the rest, to the Person of your Majesty; whose Reign, I would say, Sir, yours, will be a Subject to employ the Eloquentest Pens, and happy are they to whom Nature is so kind, to have enabled them with gifts for so grand a Work. Nor yet are we to omit Licinius, or Marcus Aurelius Severus, or Maxentius; whose Rights are all devolved upon your Majesty; and from whose Virtues we ought not to dero­gate: For though it is the method of the Ge­nerality of Writers to take away from the un­successful and the beaten Side, yet I shall think this an unfit thing to be done, when I consi­der, that when I shall have faithfully said all the good of them, that I can find in our Me­moirs to be never so true, yet it will all but make so much the greater Accession to your Glory.

THE A. Christi CCXXIII. Life and Reign OF THE EMPEROR Aurelius Alexander Severus. Addressed to the EMPEROR Constantine the Great.

AFter that Pest of an Emperor, Varius Heliogabalus was killed, who had re­ally nothing of a true Antoninus in him; and therefore as the Senate, by their Authority, degraded him from that name, and erased it out of the Records, so neither am I [Page 392] very willing to give it him. Aurelius Alexander Severus his Cousin-German, who was Born at His Ex­traction. the City of Arca Caesarea in Phanicia in Syria, being the Son of Varius Marcellus by Mammaea, the Sister of Semiamira, the Mother of Helioga­balus, received the Empire to the general Re­lief and Comfort of Mankind. He had some years before been Created Caesar by the Senate, at the time of the death of Opilius Macrinus; and now the Senate both made him Emperor, and Honours done to him. gave him the Title of the Father of the Coun­try, and invested him with the Tribunitian and Proconsular Powers; and with the right of a fifth Reference, all in one and the same day. And for fear that such an accumulation of Honours should seem to be Precipitate, I will here in the first place mention the Reason, as well why he suffered it on his part, as why the Senate had thought fit to do it on theirs; because certainly otherwise, it was neither for the Gravity of the Senate to confer all those things at once; nor for the Reputation of a good Prince so to accept them. The Army had several times been guilty of a Practice of making whom they pleased Emperors in a hurry, and changing them as easily, when they had done; saying, in the defence of themselves, that they did not know that the Senate had on their part nominated any Person at all to the Empire. For thus they had set up Pescennius Ni­ger, Clodius Albinus, and Avidius Cassius; as here­tofore they did Julius Vindex, and Lucius Anto­nius. Severus was himself set up by them, in one place, about the same time that Niger was in [Page 393] another, and Albinus in another; and yet then the Senate had actually appointed Didius Juli­anus to succeed after Pertinax. And this thing had occasioned Civil-Wars in the Empire; in which Countrymen against Countrymen fighting, what were they but Murderers one of another? Upon this account therefore it was that all expedition was used to invest A­lexander Severus with all the Honours of the Crown immediately, and at once, which he should otherwise have received successively and in the course of many years. And this was yet further promoted, by the very great inclinati­on which both the Senate and the People had towards him, after that Pest, who had not on­ly dishonoured the name of the Antoninusses, but was a shame to all the Roman Empire. So all the marks of Power, and the Titles of Honour, belonging to the Crown, were given him with a forwardness, in which every one appeared to have an Emulation to excel. He was the first of all the Emperors that ever received so many Royalties all at one time: and indeed his Quality, as he had been al­ready for some years a Caesar, spoke for him; but yet the honesty of his Life and Manners did it much more; and it had gained him be­sides a great esteem, that Heliogabalus had at­tempted to kill him, but could not, because of the Opposition to it of the Soldiers and the Se­nate. And then that which Crowns all, is; he approved himself worthy of that Care that the Senate had taken of his Preservation, wor­thy of the Affections of the Soldiers, and [Page 394] worthy of the Sentiments all good Men had to prefer him, as they did, to the Empire.

His Mother being called Mammaea, as I said, he is mentioned by a great many by the name of Alexander Mammaeus, from her. This Alexander from a Child, was so instructed in His Edu­cation and Masters. the knowledge of the good Arts concerning the things, as well Civil as Military, that he willingly suffered not one day to pass, in which he did not exercise himself in the one or the other. His first Masters, in his Infancy, for the Elements, were Valerius Cordus, Titus Ve­turius, and Aurelius Philippus, a Servant of his Fathers, who hath since writ his life. His Ma­ster in the Grammar, was Neon; in Rheto­rick, Serapion; and in Philosophy, Stylion: that is, this was in his own Country, and for the Graecian Learning. At Rome, for the Latin, his Master in the Grammar was Scau­rinus, the Son of the famous Doctor of that name; in Rhetorick, Julius Frontinus, Baebius Macrinus, and Julius Granianus; of the lat­ter of which, there are Declamations now extant. But in the Latin Learning, his Pro­ficiency was not over-great; as it sufficiently appears by his Speeches which he made to the Senate; and those others that he made to the Soldiers and to the People. Nor did he very much love the Latin Eloquence. But the learned Men in it, he had a great esteem for, and apprehended thir Pens; for he was not willing that they should give him an ill report in their Writings; therefore he thought them worthy to be By him upon all occasions; and [Page 395] with every thing that he did, publickly or privately, if they had not been present at it, he acquainted them himself, and desired them to be informed carefully of the truth of all things, and accordingly to represent them to the World.

He renounced the Title of Dominus, that His Mo­desty and Moderati­on. is Lord; and ordered that they should write Letters to him, as to a private Person, reser­ving only the name of Emperor. He refused the Jewels, to his Shooes and his Cloaths, which had been worn by Heliogabalus. He went in a White Vestment, as he is commonly Drawn; and plain, not Embroidered nor Fringed with Gold; and of the Common Stuffs. He car­ried himself so frankly with his Friends, that he often obliged them to sit down by him; and went to their Houses to their Entertain­ments without Ceremony; and received them again continually to his own Table without a formal Invitation. He was to be waited upon, with as easie Access as a Senator: whereas be­fore in some other Reigns, a Prince would not suffer himself. to be seen. He was Hand­some, His Per­sonage. as to his Person, and well made, as we see him at this day in his Pictures and Statues. He had a Cavalier Meen and Stature, his Strength answerable; and he both knew his Vigour, and took care to preserve it. Some called him the Pious Alexander, he was so ami­able, at least as a good and useful Prince, all the Earth esteemed him. He drew a Lot at the Temple of Fortune, at the City of Palestrina, in [Page 396] the time that Heliogabalus waited for his Life, out of Virgil; which was this, Aen. 6.

Which was as much as to signifie; That if he but escaped the present Danger, that he was in, he would be a glorious Emperor.

The occasion of his Name of Alexander Occasion of his Name. was from hence. In his Native City of Arca Caesarea in Phaenicia, there was a Temple Dedi­cated to Alexander the Great, whither upon the Festival of that Prince, according to the Custom of the Country, his Father, and Mammaea his Mother, went to assist at the usual Solemnities. But by accident his Mother fell into Labour, and was delivered of him in this Temple; so she called him Alexander: and the day of the Birth of Alexander the Son of Mammaea, is the same with the day of the Death of Alexander the Great. The Senate offered him, the name of Antoninus. But he refused it; although he had an Affinity, as well as Heliogabalus, to the Emperor Antoninus Ca­racallus; and an Affinity, which was so much better than his, as it was without the stain of his Bastardise: For the Emperor Septimius Se­verus had Married a Noble Lady out of the East, whose Horoscope, as he had heard it was; That, she should be the Wife of a Prince; though he was then but in a private Conditi­on. Which Lady's Sister's Daughters, were one of them the Mother of this Alexander, and [Page 397] the other the Mother of Varius Heliogabalus. So the two Sons were truely Cousin- Germans to one another, and equal upon that Foot in their Relation to Antoninus Caracallus. But it was not only the name of Antoninus which he refused; but the Senate by a Decree presented him the Title of Alexander the Great, and he refused that also.

Now it will not be amiss here to subjoyn his Speech to the Senate, in which he excuses his Acceptation of the one and the other Name. Only in the first place I will report the Se­nate's Acclamations upon this occasion, out of the Records of the City, as I find them up­on the Day, but one, before the Nones of March; when the Senate being assembled in the Temple of Concord, and Alexander at their repeated request dispensing at last with him­self to repair to them, though he knew that their Business was to treat of the Honours which they designed to give him, they cried as he entred thus;

The Gods save our Innocent Augustus. The Acclama­tions of the Se­nate. Gods save the Emperor Alexander. The Gods have given you to us. The Gods preserve you. The Gods have delivered you out of the Hands of the Impure. The Gods Eternalize your Reign. You suffered a great deal under the Impure Ty­rant, Impure and Obscene as he was, you always regretted to see him. The Gods have Rooted him up. The Gods preserve your Majesty. That Infa­mous Emperor hath justly been Condemned. Under your Reign we are happy. The State is happy to [Page 398] be subjected to you. The Infamous Emperor hath been dragged for an Example. That Luxurious Prince is justly punished. The Profaner of all Honour hath been justly Punished. The Immortal Gods give a long Life to your Majesty. The Judgments of the Gods appear in your Eleva­tion.

Here Alexander gave them thanks; and then they went on again.

Antoninus Alexander, the Gods save you. Antoninus Aurelius, the Gods preserve you. Antoninus the Pious, the Gods preserve you. We beseech your Majesty to take the name of An­toninus. To do that Honour to the good Emperors of that Name, to be called an Antoninus. Pu­rifie the Name of the Antoninusses. What Heliogabalus hath Deformed, let your Majesty Purifie. Re-establish the Honour of the Name of the Antoninusses. Let the blood of the Antoni­nusses know it self again. Antoninus Marcus hath been injured. Let your Majesty Avenge him. Avenge the injury done to Verus Anto­ninus. Avenge the injury done to Antoninus Caracallus; whose Fortitude at least was ad­mirable. Worse than ever was Commodus, was Heliogabalus only; who really was no Em­peror, nor an Antoninus, nor a Citizen, nor a Senator, nor a Gentleman, nor a Roman. Health and Life attend your Majesty. The Lives of the Antoninusses attend Alexander, and let him Prosper. Let him be called an Antoninus, and let him Prosper. Let Antoninus Consecrate a­gain [Page 399] the Temples of the Antoninusses. Let An­toninus surmount the Parthians and Persians. Let a Sacred Person receive a Sacred Name. The Gods preserve you. In you, Antoninus, we have all things: with you, Antoninus, we have all things:

After these Accclamations, the Emperor took the Liberty to speak thus to them.

Fathers of the Senate,

THis is not the first of my Obligations to you. I am to thank you for the Honour of my Name of Caesar, which you gave me so long since, and for my Life which you also have pre­served. I thank you, as for the Empire, so for the Style of Augustus, which you now give me; and for the Pontifical, the Tribunitian, and the Proconsular Powers; all which by altogether a new Example, you have liberally conferred up­on me in one day.

The Senate reply'd, and cry'd;

As your Majesty hath accepted these things, so accept the Name of Antoninus. Let not the Se­nate, let not the Princes the Antoninusses be un­worthy to receive this favour of your Majesty. The Gods save the Emperor Antoninus. The Gods preserve you. Let a Coin be made in the Name of Antoninus. Let Antoninus Consecrate again the Temples of the Antoninusses.

The Emperor resumed his Discourse, and said;

Fathers of the Senate, I earnestly desire you not to engage me to be called to the necessity of sa­tisfying so great a Name as that is, when my Own, which I have from my Birth, and which is but a Foreign one, I find is too Burdensome to me. For so it is with these Great Names, they are Burdens; and not to answer them, it is as ill as if the Name of Cicero should be born by a Mute, or the Name of Varro, by a Blockhead, or that of the Pious Metellus by a Villain. And that the Gods may avert so ill an Omen, who is there that can be pleased to see, that a Name from whence great Actions are expected, is not sustained in its Grandeur, by him that bears it; if he is in a Sta­tion so to do.

Here the Senate interrupted him, with the like Acclamations as before; and then he went on.

You know, Gentlemen, to what a heighth of Glory, or rather to what a Divinity the Name of Antoninus hath been carried in the Persons of four Princes; whose Piety, whose Learning, whose Innocence, and whose Fortitude, if we consider them severally; What could be more Religious than Antoninus Pius? What more knowing than Marcus Antoninus? What more sincere than Ve­rus Antoninus? And what more Brave and Valorous than Antoninus Caracallus? I am not willing to mention Commodus Antoninus up­on this occasion to you; except it is to say that he was so much the worse, because with that ill life of his, he yet continued in the use of the [Page 401] Name of Antoninus. Antoninus Diadumenus, had not time, nor Age to shew himself: an Art of his Father, had put that Name upon him.

Here the Senate broke out into the like Acclamations as before: and then he said,

But especially you may easily remember, Gen­tlemen, How things lately went, when the Filthi­est not only of all Men, but Brutes, took it upon him to bear the Name of Antoninus; who at the same time in Impurity and Luxury outdid Nero, Vitellius, Commodus, and all their wicked Con­federates. You remember, what Sighs passed at that time, in all Companies of the People and the Gentry: and how they all cryed with one Voice, that this Wretch is not fit to be at all called an Antoninus. This Pest violates that Holy Name.

Here the Senate replyed in these Acclama­tions.

The Gods Protect us from all the like evils a­gain. We fear them not under your Reign. We are secure under the Government of your Majesty. Your Majesty is above all Vice. Your Majesty hath surmounted, hath vanquished the Temptation of all such Crimes and Disgraces. You are an Honour to the Name of Antoninus. We are certain of this; we are well persuaded of it; we presume upon it, without the fear of ever repenting our­selves: we have approved you from your Youth, and this day, we are confirmed in our Senti­ments.

The Emperor replied again and said,

It is not, Fathers of the Senate, that I appre­hend Refuses the Name Antoni­nus. my falling at any time into such Vices, that I desire to decline a Name, which is to all so Ve­nerable; nor yet can I distrust the Merits of my past Life so, as to be ashamed to take it upon me. But it is in Truth, because in the first place, I do not delight to assume what is the Name of a strange Family; and next, because I see very well, that it is to impose too great a burden upon me.

Here the Senate repeated their Acclamati­ons as before. He went on,

For with as much reason as I should take the Name of Antoninus, I might take that of Tra­jan too: I might as well take that of Titus: I might as well take that of Vespasian.

The Senate answered him to this.

Your Majesty is an Augustus, and accepts that Name; so be you also an Antoninus.

The Emperor said,

I see very well, now, Fathers of the Senate, what it is that moves you to press this Name upon us. You think, that we may as well be called Antonini, although it is the Name of another's Family, as all we who succeed to the Empire are entitled in our Stiles Augusti: which we are, be­cause we have an hereditary Right to be so, as [Page 403] being as it were by Adoption, the Sons of the first Augustus, who was the Founder of the Empire. The Antoninusses themselves were called Augusti. Now Antoninus Pius adopted Marcus and Ve­rus, to be his Sons and Successors. This Adoption made it a Right to them, to take his Name, which became also hereditary to Commodus, by reason that he was the Son of Marcus; but with­out this Right, it was a Trick of his Father, which put the Name upon Diadumenus. It was affected in the Person of Caracallus, and it was profaned to the last degree by Heliogabalus.

Here the Senate cried,

The Gods save the Emperor Alexander, our Augustus. We congratulate your Modesty, your Prudence, your Innocence, your Integrity. This shews us what will be the excellency of your Reign. We are ravish'd at it. Your Majesty will direct the Senate hereafter to make a Choice of the best Princes. Your Majesty will justifie the Judgments of the Senate. The Gods save Alexander, our Augustus. Let Alexander our Augustus, con­secrate the Temples, of the Antoninusses. Our Caesar, our Augustus, our Emperor, the Gods save you. Conquer, Prosper, and Reign many Years.

The Emperor resumed himself again, and said,

I understand then, I have obtained from you, Fathers of the Senate, what I desired. I take this very obligingly, and I give you, and owe [Page 404] you infinite Thanks. It shall be my endeavour, that my own Name, which I bring with me, the first of any upon the Throne of Rome, may be­come such as not to be unworthy to be coveted by others after me, and to be recommended by the good Opinions of this most Pious Senate.

Here the Senate cried,

Alexander the Great, the Gods save you. Tho' your Majesty refused the Name of Antoninus, receive the Title of the Great. The Gods save Alexander the Great. They repeated this often.

The Emperor said,

You have offered to me, Gentlemen, in this, a and the Appella­tion of Great. thing of a greater difficulty to do, than it was to assume the Name of Antoninus; to which if I had consented, it might have been attributed to either my Affinity to the Princes of that Name, or to a mutual Love of the same Name, upon the same Throne. But why me, to take your Title of Great? What have I yet done, that is so? If Alexander and Pompey were so called, yet it was after the great Exploits of the one, and the great Triumphs of the other. Therefore speak no more of this, my honoured Fathers, and rather than suggest to me the Title of the Great, be­lieve me to be one of yourselves, and you cer­tainly are a magnificent Assembly.

After this, they repeated the Acclamation, The Gods save Aurelius Alexander our Augustus, and so ended this matter.

There were several other things done in the Senate, that day. But when the House had risen, the Emperor returned as it were in Triumph home, with much more Honour up­on him by refusing, than if he had accepted of those supposed Names. His Firmness to himself in it, and the entire Gravity of his be­haviour gave him a Reputation, which every body was sensible of, to observe, that the whole Senate together was not able to over-persuade one young Man. He discovered the same Vi­gour of mind in his Affairs with the Soldiers, and a wonderful and singular Constancy in correcting their Insolencies; so that although he could not be persuaded by all the solicita­tions of the Senate, to receive either the Name of Antoninus, or of Alexander the Great; yet Why call'd Severus. the Soldiers fixed upon him that of Alexander Severus; and this not only conciliated him a great Respect in his own time, but it will much redound to his Glory to all Posterity; consi­dering that it is derived purely from his own Bosom, and it is what his intrinsick Merit and Courage, directed them to give him. He did not stick indeed to cashier whole Legions at a time, for daring to mutiny; nor to animadvert very severely upon the Soldiers, that had com­mitted any thing which but seemed to be un­just, wherein he exceeded the Exactness and Boldness of all the Princes his predecessors, since the formation of the Empire under Julius Caesar.

There were some Omens which from his Birth had presignified his future Reign, which [Page 406] were these. First, the day of his Birth was the Omens of his future Reign. same with the day of the Death of Alexander the Great; in whose Temple his Mother was delivered of him, and whose Name he there­fore took from thence. Then the same day that he was born, a Pigeon's Egg of the co­lour of Purple, was taken, and by a good Wo­man presented to his Mother; from whence the Soothsayers said, That he would one day, and it would be quickly too, be an Emperor, but not that he would reign long. In the mean time, whilst his Mother was delivered of him in the Temple, a Picture of the Emperor Trajan, which was hanging over the head of her Bed at home, fell down into the Bed. His Nurse was of the Name of Olympias; and the Mother of Alexander the Great was of the same. His Fo­ster-Father was a Country-man, of the Name of Philip, and the Father of Alexander the Great was the same. Upon the day that he was born, they say, there appeared a Star of the first magnitude in the Heavens, all the day long over the City of Arca Caesarea; and the Sun was crowned with a bright Circle about it, whilst it pointed upon his Father's House. A Laurel in his Father's Garden which was set by the side of a Peach, in one year had over-topped the Peach. The Peach being malum Persicum; this, those who pretended to Augury, said, was an Omen that he should one day Conquer the Persians. The Night be­fore his Mother was delivered of him, she dreamt she should be brought to Bed of a little purple-coloured Dragon; and his Father had [Page 407] dreamt at the same time that he was carried up to the Heavens upon the Wings of the I­mage of Victory, which is in the House of the Senate at Rome. He consulted, when he was a Youth, with a Soothsayer about his Fortune in the way of drawing Lots. The first Lot which he drew said, That the Empire of the Heavens, the Earth, and the Sea, awaited him; by which it was easie to understand, that he should one day be Deified. The second said, That the Empire paramount, awaited him; which was plainly no other, than the Empire of Rome. Another Lot that he drew, was these Verses of Virgil, Aen. 6.

That is, That his Arts should be Government, and the giving of Laws of War and Peace; and that he should be the Minister of Mercy and Justice to the People. There were several o­ther signs of his future Grandeur besides all these. He had a Fire and a Vivacity in his Eyes extraordinary. He looked one down with it, you could not hold your Eyes against his long. His Mind discovered a Power of Divination in it very frequently, so that he spoke of things to come, as really they did. He had a Memory so happy, that none but Acholius, hath said, that he was once prompted or assisted in any thing.

Coming very young to the Empire, he acted altogether in all things with the Advice of his Mother, as if she had reigned in Conjunction with him. And indeed shew was a good and pious Lady, but covetous, and loved to amass Money to a fault. He began his Reign with a general purgation of all the Magistrates and Officers of the promotion of the impure Helio­gabalus; being Persons whom that Prince had preferred to the greatest Dignities out of the very Lees of Mankind. He clear'd the State of them. He purged the Senate and the Order of the Reforms the Go­vernment. Gentry of them. He purged the Tribes of the City. He turned out all obscene and in­famous Persons from all Places in the Court, in which last, he made such a Reform, that retain'd not a Mouth, but what was necessary. Because an Emperor, he said, was an ill Ste­ward of the People; who out of their Bowels feeds a Company of unnecessary Mouths, that are useless to the State. He looked carefully after the Magazines of Provisions, and the admi­nistration thereof to the Soldiers; out of whose allowances, if the Tribunes had made any unlawful Gain to themselves, he punish­ed it with Death. As for Causes and Mat­ters of Law, he ordered them first to be well considered in all their Circumstances by his Ministers, and his Council Learned in the Law, whereof Ulpian was the Chief; and when they had done, he directed them to make a Report of their Judgments to him.

He moderated an infinite number of Laws concerning the Rights of the People, and those [Page 409] of the Exchequer. In which cases he always communicated them with twenty great Law­yers, besides others who were wise and elo­quent Men, to the number of no less than fifty generally; so that there were as many Votes to a Constitution of his, as to an Act of the Senate. These Persons spoke admi­rably well in his Councils; every one's suf­frage was asked, which they writ down one after another; time being allowed them first to examine things very well, and to weigh what they had to say, because no one should complain that he had been obliged to give his Judgment upon such Matters of Importance, without a due premeditation. Then he had this Custom, that if it was a thing of Right to be tr [...]ted upon, he called only the Learn­ed and the Eloquent Doctors to speak to it. But if it was a Military Affair, he sent for the old Officers and Soldiers, Men skilled in War and Encampments, and the Situation of pla­ces; and together with those he particularly advised with such as understood that History; of whom he enquired, what had at any time been done in the like rencounters, by the an­tient Emperors, or other great Captains, whe­ther at home or abroad. If at any time he happened to see a Man who lay under the Character of having robbed the Province un­der his Government, he was ready with his Fingers as it were (says Encolpius, who was one that was very familiar with him) to pull out his Eyes, he had such a hatred to that baseness. To which Septimius adds, that altho' [Page 410] they had not been as yet convicted, yet he had such an aversion to them, for the Scandal only, that if he saw them by any sudden Ac­cident, the Commotion he was in, would set him vomiting, and all his Face on a Fire, and he would not be able to speak for some time. And certainly, as one called Septimius Arabi­nus, who had been tried for this, but acquit­ted in the Reign of Heliogabalus, came one day in Company with some of the Senators to salute him, he no sooner saw him, but he cried; O ye supreme Powers! O Jupiter! O ye immortal Gods! Is Arabinus alive, and a Sena­tor? It may be, he hopes for the same favour from me, that he had from Heliogabalus. But I am sorry he takes me to be such a Fool.

The Complement in saluting hi [...] was [...]ery plain, and by his own Name, Hail Alexander. If any one had pretended to do, or say any thing that was sweeter than the Custom was to be, he was sent away as a Flatterer, if the place permitted it; or he was laught at sufficiently in case that his Condition did not make him subject to a greater Affront. He ordered to all the Senators, as they had sa­luted him, Chairs to sit down. But he de­clared to admit none to pay their Reverences to him in this kind, but Persons of Honesty and good Repute; forbidding all such as knew themselves to be otherwise, by the common Crier, to come near him; for if he once dis­covered them, it should cost them their Lives. He refused to be adored as Heliogabalus was, after the manner of the Kings of Persia. The [Page 411] most corrupt Magistrates, he said, always com­plain the most of Poverty, thinking by that means to conceal the Crimes of their Bri­beries and ill Lives. This he said often, and it was his real Sentiment. To which he added a known Observation upon this Subject, That he who takes away a great deal, and gives but a little to Vouchers to speak for him, will how­ever always be safe.

He chose himself one Captain of the Guards, His Defe­rence to the Se­nate. and appointed a Governour of the City of Rome entirely by the Advice of the Senate. He made a second Captain of the Guards, of one who had retired out of the way, purposely to avoid it; saying, The unwillingness of a Man to accept of Commands in the State, was the best Recommendation to them. He never created a Senator without the Concurrence to it of all the Members of that House that were present; whose Votes were asked round, after Testi­monies given of the Life and Manners of the Party to be chosen, by grave Persons; who if they falsified, were to be degraded, and cast into the lowest Class of all the People; and sometimes condemned, as in Cases of Perjury, to lose their Estates, and be banished for ever without Mercy. He created no Men Sena­tors, but upon great Recommendations; say­ing, That a Man ought to be very considerable, th [...] is worthy to be so advanced; and he never neither advanced the Sons of infranchised Servants, to be Gentlemen; because he said, The Order of the Gentry was the Seminary of the Senate.

He was a Prince of that great Temper, that His excel­lent Tem­per. he never suffered his Servants to part with him when once they were placed. He was so cour­teous and so gracious to every body, that he visi­ted when sick, his Friends, of whatever Condi­tion they were. He desired every one to speak their Sentiments freely to him, and he hear­kened to what they said patiently; and or­dered things according to their Advices, as much as in Justice it was possible. And if any thing by them had not been done so well as it ought, he convinced them of it, but it was without haughtiness and without bitterness. He obliged them all to sit down upon Chairs by him, and informed himself always about the absent. In fine, his Mother Mammaea, and Memmia his Wife, who was the Daugh­ter of Sulpitius, of the Consular Order, and the Grand-Daughter of Catulus, objected to him his too great Civility, and told him, It weakned his Sovereign Power, and rendred it de­spicable; to which he answered, That on the contrary it was the way to live long, and with safety. He passed no day without doing some­thing that was sweet, obliging and pious; but yet with that measure, as not to exhaust the publick Coffers. Rarely any Estates were con­fiscated into the Exchequer in his Time. He remitted the Tribute to several Cities, towards their publick Buildings. He lent Money out of the Exchequer at four in the hundred. And to a great many poor, he lent them▪ Money without use, to purchase themselves Grounds, under the condition of paying the [Page 413] Debt only in the Product. He added to his Captains of the Guards the Senatorial Dig­nity, His Care of his Sol­diery. which had seldom or never at all been done before in other times; because it was inconsistent then, to be a Captain of the Guards, and a Senator, as Marius Maximus hath often observed. But Alexander Severus was willing that his Captains of the Guards should be Senators for this reason, because no body should have the Power to judge a Sena­tor, but who was himself a Senator. He had the Muster-Rolls of his Armies in all Parts, always in his Cabinet by him; and when he was alone, he was reviewing their Accounts, Numbers, Actions, Officers, Stations, and Ap­pointments; so that where-ever they were, he had a perfect knowledge of them, and up­on occasion, he mentioned a great many of their Names. He kept a Register of all such as merited to be considered for their Services. He refreshed his Memory of things, by look­ing into his own Memoirs, in which he set down the dates, and who, and what every one was, and upon whose recommendation promoted. He assisted the Convoys of the annual Provision of Corn for the People of Rome in that manner; that whereas Helioga­balus had dissipated the Stores which were a­massed in the Granaries, he re-established them again at his proper Charge and Expence.

He encouraged the Merchants to come to Rome to Traffick, by allowing to them great Immunities. The quantity of the Oyl, which the Emperor Severus had gained to the City, [Page 414] but which Heliogabalus had diminished, by put­ting the Stores into the hands of Men, cor­rupted with all sorts of Vice, he intirely re­established. He set up a great many Me­chanick Works at Rome. He tolerated the Jews, and the Christians. He deferred so much to the Chief Priests, and to the Quindecimviri, and the Augurs, in Sacred Things, that after some Causes of that kind had been heard and determined by himself, he hath suffered those Persons to re-examin them, and to decide them otherwise. Such of the Presidents of the Provinces, as he found that he should truly esteem, being Men of Integrity and Honour, and whose Praises, were not directed by a Spi­rit of Faction, he always took in the Coach with him abroad, and made them Rich Pre­sents, saying, That as much as others who are corrupt in their Governments ought to be turned out and beggered; these deserve to be purchased and inriched. The People of Rome petitioning him to lower the Prices of Provisions, when they were one time at an excessive heighth; he asked what sort of Provisions particularly they were, that they thought too dear. They answered, Beef and Pork. Now he did not think fit to fix a cheaper Price upon them immediately, according to the Letter of their desire; but instead of that, he ordered, that no body should kill a Sow, Pig, Cow or Hei­fer, under such an Age prefixt: And by this means, that which before was eight Pence a Pound, was at length brought down to two Pence.

He hearkened to the Complaints of the Sol­diers against their Tribunes, in that manner, that if he found the Tribunes in a Crime, he punished them according to the Quality of it, without Favour. He made enquiry about all sorts of Persons by his secret service Men, whom he continually employed, to others un­known. He kept his Slaves always in the Cloaths of Slaves, his infranchised Men in the Habits of Free men. He suffer'd no Eunuchs He slights the Eu­nuchs. to be in any Places about himself, but left them to serve his Wife in the quality of her Slaves. He reduced them to a certain Number, and suffered them to have to do with nothing in the Court, but the Baths of the Ladies; where­as Heliogabalus, who was the Slave of these Slaves, had preferred many of them to great Offices. He took from them even their an­tient Privileges; saying, They were a third Spe­cies of humane kind that ought not to be seen or imployed amongst Men, and scarcely neither a­mongst Women of Honour. One of them par­ticularly who had pretended to have an Inte­rest in him, and had received of a Gentle­man a hundred pieces of Gold to assist him in something, he crucified for an Example up­on the High-way.

He changed several Praetorian Provinces in­to the nature of Praesidial Provinces, and di­sposed of the Proconsular Provinces according to the will of the Senate. He forbad the use of mixt Baths at Rome of both Sexes together, as they had been forbidden formerly under the Reigns of other pious Princes, till only Helio­gabalus [Page 416] had revived them. He suffered not the Tax upon the Pimps, Whores, and Bur­dashes to be returned into his own Coffers, but he assigned it towards the Reparation of the Theatre, the Cirque, and the Amphithe­atre. He had sometime had the Thoughts of making a Law against the Burdashes, as the Emperor Philip afterwards did. But he was a­fraid that it would only occasion more lewd­nesses to be coveted in private, because Man­kind run with a greater gust upon some things when they are denied them; and the prohi­bition encreases the desire to obtain. He im­posed a Tax upon the Drapers, Glass-makers, Tanners, Locksmiths, Silversmiths, Goldsmiths, and several other Crafts, out of which he ordered the Baths to be fitted and maintained for the publick use of the People. He furnished the same Baths with Wood and Oyl, for the Lamps in the Night, whereas before they were not used to be opened till Nine in the Mor­ning, and at Sun-set were shut up again.

It is not altogether true, what some Persons have writ, that his Reign was without Blood. For as the Soldiers had given him the Name of Severus; he made it appear in the Corre­ctions that he exacted, that he had not that Name for nothing. He repaired the Works of His pub­lic Works. the antient Emperors, and added many new ones to them of his own. Amongst which are the Baths of his Name, hard by those of Nero, which are supplied by an Aqueduct that carries also his Name at this day. He added thereunto a Plantation of a Grove, in the [Page 417] place of a private House adjoyning, which he bought, and afterwards expresly pulled it down for this purpose. He finished the Galleries to the Baths of Antoninus Caracallus, and adorned that whole Work. He first brought up the Alexandrian Work of Building and Paving with two sorts of Marble together, the Porphyry and the Lacedaemonian; with which he adorned the Court. He set up several Colossusses in the City, fashioned by the hand of the most excel­lent Artists that he could procure from all Parts. He made a great many Medals with impresses of his Portraiture, some of fine Brass, but the most of Gold. He forbad Wo­men of an ill Repute, of what Quality soever, to come to visit his Mother or his Wife. He made many Harangues to the People, in places about the City, as heretofore the Tribunes and the antient Consuls did. He thrice gave the People a Largess, and thrice the Soldiers a Bounty; and to the Bread and the Corn which he gave to the People in their Largesses, he ad­ded Portions of Flesh.

He brought down the Use of Money to four He re­forms the Interest of Money. in the hundred, at the hands of the Money­changers, and the Usurers themselves. As for the Senators in this case, he first of all had or­dered that no Senators should take Use, un­less it was some Present in the way of ac­knowledgment, for having assisted a poor Friend in his Necessity. But afterwards he allowed them to take a moiety of the Use, which was paid to the Usurers; but then nothing in the way of a Present at all. He translated the [Page 418] Statues of the great Men from all parts of the City, into the Forum of Trajan. Paulus and Ulpian were in singular esteem with him, and the Captains of his Guards; the latter had been always his Counsellor, and both of them Assessors to Papinian. He had built a Royal Other of hsi pub­lic Works. Structure of his Name, betwixt the Field of Mars and the Bars of Agrippa, being one hun­dred Foot in breadth, and one thousand in length, and supported all by Columns; but however, he could not perfect it, because he was prevented by his Death. He beautified extremely the Temples of the Egyptian Dei­ties, Isis and Serapis, furnishing them with Ima­ges, and Vessels of the Marble of Delos, and with all the things belonging to the mystical Ceremonies of that Worship. He was entire­ly affectionate and pious towards his Mother Mammaea; insomuch, that he gave her Name to some Buildings which he added to the Pa­lace at Rome; as also to a Royal Mansion, and to a Pond which he made at Baiae, where they do still retain it at this day. In the same place he built other magnificent Structures, and made Ponds of a prodigious greatness (by letting in the Sea, when he pleased) in honour of his o­ther relations. The Bridges of Trajan he re­paired almost in all places where they were; some he built New himself, but for those that he had repaired, he still continued upon them the Name of Trajan.

He was sometime thinking to appoint unto every degree of Men, from Slaves to the highest Magistrates and Officers of all sorts, a particular [Page 419] Habit, whereby they should be distinguish'd; which he said, would be a Bridle, especially upon all the Slaves, and would keep them also from mixing and confounding themselves with the Free-People; but Ulpian and Paulus did not approve of this, because, they said, it would be an occasion of a great deal of Mischief, should Men be easily disposed to quarrel. So then he judged it was enough, that the Order of the Gentry should be distinguished from that of the Senators or Nobility, by the quality of their Gowns; the latter having their Gowns purled with Knaps or Studs of purple of a larger size, and the others with less. He per­mitted the Senators to wear within the City, against the Cold and the Rain, the Paenula, that is, a Hanging Coat, which otherwise is a Vestment only proper for the Road; but how­ever, he forbad the Dames to use the like sort of Wear, that is, Mantles within the City; but upon the Road, they might do, as they pleased.

He had a greater Command of the Eloquence His At­tainments in Arts. of the Greek Tongue, than of the Latin; and he made no bad Verse. He loved Musick, and was skill'd in the knowledge of Astrology, which was taught and publickly professed at Rome by his Command. He was also very well versed in the Science of the Soothsayers, both as to the Entrails of the Sacrifices, and as to the Flights and Notes of Birds; insomuch, that he out­did in these, the Biscayners of Spain, and the Augurs of Pannonia. He was a Geometrician; he painted admirably, he sung very well; but yet never but in the hearing of his own Do­mesticks. [Page 420] He writ the Lives of the good Prin­ces his predecessors in Verse; he played well upon the Harp, Flute, and Organ; he soun­ded well upon the Trumpet, only he did not make this to appear after he was Emperor. He was the best at the Exercises of the Body of any of his time; those of Arms he per­formed perfectly well; and how great a Cap­tain he was, his Wars leave us no room to doubt, in which he acquitted himself so hap­pily, and reaped so much Glory. He was only Thrice pleased to accept the Consulate, and then he always substituted others to his place with the first opportunity. He was a most se­vere Judge against Thieves and Robbers; with, all the rigour imaginable, he condemned them, and said, That they were ordinarily the occasion of all the Crimes that were daily committed, and that they were the only Plagues and Enemies of the State. A certain Clerk once having given in a false breviate to the Council, he ordered him to be cut into the Sinews of his Fingers, so, as never to be able to write again, and then to be banished for ever. He set up Co­lossusses, and Statues, some on foot, and some on Horseback, to the honour of the deified Emperors in the Forum of Nerva, with Inscri­ptions upon Columns of Brass containing all their memorable Actions, after the Example of the Marble Statues of the great Men, and the Elogiums of their Lives, which Augu­stus set up in the Forum that bears his Name. He desired to appear to derive the Origine of his Blood from the Romans; for he was a­shamed [Page 421] to be called a Syrian; and was much affronted by that Name, by the People of An­tioch, Egypt, and Alexandria, when once they called him, not only a Syrian, but a High-Priest, and a Ruler of the Synagogue, as if he was a Jew too.

Before I give an account of his Arms and his Military Expeditions, I will here premise a few things touching his particular Life, and his dome­stick Affairs. He had in his private Oratory with­in the Court; that is, there were indeed two Oratories there which he used, but this was the His dome­stick De­portment. chief, and the holiest, the Images of the seve­ral deified Emperors of the best Note, and the greatest Virtue, together with which he had the Images of other pious Souls, whom he re­spected as Gods; and amongst the rest, Apol­lonius Thyanaeus; and as a Writer of those times also says, CHRIST, Abraham, Orpheus, and such others, as likewise the Images of his own Ancestors. Hither therefore in the morn­ing early, if he had the leisure, he came to perform his Devotions. But else, if he did not do this, he either took the Air in his Coach, or went a Fishing, or Hunting, or Walking, according to the quality of the place. After this, if he had time, he bestowed him­self for a good hour, to the care of the pub­lick Affairs, which indeed required so much the less of his attention, as both the Military and the Civil Affairs were treated amongst his Councellors, who were Men Holy and Faithful, and were never to be corrupted for Money; so that their Resolutions finally passed, [Page 422] unless he had offered something himself that was New. But yet if necessity so required, he was set down to Business in a morning be­fore it was day, and continued in it many hours, and never thought the time tedious, nor retired either more to appearance, pleased or displeased, than he came; his Countenance being always equal, and being of a Soul equal­ly contented with every thing that passed. He was certainly one of a great Prudence, which was not to be imposed upon in any thing; for though it were attempted with never so good a Grace, he discovered it, and obliged the Author to repent of his Labour.

After his application to the publick Business, whatever it was, Military or Civil, he imploy­ed the greatest part of his leisure to Reading. He read the Greek Books, and amongst the His addi­ction to Learning. rest, particularly those of the Commonwealth of Plato. When he read in Latin, he delighted in nothing more, than the Offices of Cicero, and his Books upon the same Subject of a Commonwealth. Sometimes he read the O­rators and the Poets, and amongst others par­ticularly, Serenus Sammonicus, who was one that he had personally known, and had much loved. He was much pleased with the Verse of Horace. He read very much also the Life of Alexander the Great, whom he endeavoured to imitate; but in whom, he condemned his Drinking, and his Cruelty towards his Friends; if yet those Imputations upon him are true, because there are good Authors that do de­fend him, as to the one and the other, to [Page 423] whom this Prince gave a great Credit. After Reading, he moderately employed himself in Exercises of the Body, as Wrestling, Tennis, His bodily Exercises. Running, or Fencing. Then he was anointed, and afterwards put himself into the Bath, which was seldom or never a Bath of warm Water, but of the natural Waters of cold Baths, where he continued about an hour, Fasting, he drank about a Pint and a half of cold Spring-Water. Then when he had done with the Bath, he took a Breakfast upon Bread and Milk, and Eggs and Wine. After this, when the hour of Dinner was come, he dined. Sometimes he deferred to eat till Supper, but for the most part he dined. And he was often served with the Oglio, which was the great Dish of Hadrian, and which Marius Maximus hath mentioned in his account of the Life of that Prince.

In the Afternoon, he bestowed himself con­stantly to the reading and signing of Letters and Orders to one part or other, in which he was attended by his Secretaries, and the Ma­sters of the Requests; whom, if they could not conveniently stand by reason of their indispo­sition, he permitted to sit down, whilst the Clerks read over to him the things that they had writ, to which he added with his own hand what he thought convenient, and changed some Terms for others, that he thought were more elegant and more just. After these were di­spatched, he admitted the Company of all his Friends together, and spoke to them all, but he saw none of them ever alone, but his Cap­tain of the Guards, and particularly Ulpian, [Page 424] whom he had always had near him, to give him Light in the knowledge that he professed of the things that concern Law and Justice. If he admitted any other privately to him, yet it was by the introduction of Ulpian. Virgil, he said, was the Plato of the Poets. He had the Images of him and Cicero, in his second or lesser Oratory, together with that of Achilles and others of other great Men. But for that of Alexander the Great, he had consecrated him amongst the Gods of his chief Oratory, and the best Persons, whom he more especially ho­noured there. He never did an Injury to any of his Friends, nor to any of the Officers of State, or Servants of his Houshold. He always deferred the Judgment of particular Affairs to the Captains of the Guards. And a Captain of the Guards, he said, who hath done any thing to deserve to lose his place, ought ra­ther to be secured and arraigned, than to be dismissed. If at any time he discharged an Of­ficer, he ordered it to be accompanied with a Complement, That the State thanked him for his Service. At the same time he failed not to gratify him in that manner, that he might live afterwards a private Life with Credit. He fur­nished him with Grounds, Oxen, Horses, Corn, Iron, Materials to build himself a House, and Marble to adorn it, and Labourers to assist him; Silver or Gold he seldom gave to any, unless it was to the Soldiers, saying, It would be a Crime in him, who was the publick Steward of the People, to employ that in superfluities, or upon the Pleasures of himself or others, which the [Page 425] Provinces had contributed to serve the Necessities of the State.

He remitted the City of Rome the Duties His Kind­ness to the City of Rome. which upon certain accounts they were to pay into the Exchequer, and particularly the Duty which they were to pay to him, according to Custom, upon the occasion of his elevation to the Empire. He constituted fourteen Cura­tors to the several Quarters of the City, out of the Persons of the Consular Order, whom, together with the Governour of the City, he ordered to take the Cognizance of the Civil Causes, in such sort, that all of them, or the greater part, should be present, when any thing was to be done. He distributed all the Vint­ners, Victuallers, Regraters, Hosiers, and gene­rally the Persons of all Crafts, into Companies and Corporations, to whom he appointed Go­vernours and Officers to judge in the Dispat­ches that might arise amongst them in the Matter of their several Crafts and Professions. He never gave to the Players those Gratuities which other Emperors have done. He made a difficulty to pay them their Salaries, and he took away from them the rich Cloaths which had been given them by Heliogabalus. His band of Archers or Pensioners, who were a Guard used for Pomp and Shew, more than for Service, he cloathed, not with rich, but yet proper and convenient Habits, without super­fluity; nor were his Standards or other Royal Habiliments rich; saying, It was not for a Prince to seek his esteem in fine Cloaths, but to recom­mend his Reign by Actions of Virtue and Bravery. [Page 426] As for himself, he wore the coarse shagged Coats of the Emperor Septimius Severus, and Wastcoats all plain, with no other embroidery of Gold at them, and only a single Border of purple.

In his publick Entertainments, he knew not Modera­tion of his public En­tertain­ments. what it was to be served in Vessels of Gold. His Cups were ordinary, but always very neat. All the Silver-service of his Table, never ex­ceeded the quantity of two hundred Pound in weight. The Dwarfs of either Sex, the Je­sters, the Singers, the Actors, the Mimicks, that had before retained to the Court, he gave away amongst the People. And for such of them as were of no use, he ordered them to be sent to places, where they were maintain­ed at the publick Expence, because they should not be troublesome in the way of Beggars. The Eunuchs whom Heliogabalus had made his great Companions in Lewdness, and had promoted them to high Offices, he distributed amongst his Ministers, with this Order, that if for the future they did not return to good Man­ners, it should be lawful for them to put them to death without attending the Authority of the Magistrate. Women of a Licentious Life, of whom he had heard that the number was prodi­gious, he ordered to be sold, and the Burda­shes banished, with whom that Pest Heliogaba­lus had taken his infamous, and abominable Pleasures. Not a Servant in his time at a pub­lick Banquet appeared in a Coat embroidered with Gold. To his private Table, he admitted either Ulpian, or some other Learned Men, [Page 427] whose Conversation, he said, was not only a Pleasure to him, but it was Food to his Mind. At other times, when he eat alone, he had a Book with him upon the Table, where he read, and generally it was some Greek Book, though he read also in the Latin Poets. His publick Banquets were performed with the same sim­plicity as his private Repasts; and no diffe­rence but in the greater Number of the Ta­bles, and the Company; which sometime be­ing excessive, it rather offended him; saying, It was like Dining in a Play-house, or in the Cirque.

He took no pleasure to hear the Orators recite Panegyricks, or the Poets Verses in his own Praise; saying as Pescennius Niger had done, That it was an idle thing. But Orations or Verses upon the Praise of the great Men amongst the Antients, he heard freely, and was very well pleased, when either they had Alexander the Great for their subject, or some His Re­spect for Alexander the Great. of the excellent Emperors his Predecessors, or of the virtuous Personages of Rome in the an­tient times. He often went to hear the Rhe­toricians, and the Greek and Latin Poets in the publick Schools upon such Subjects. He loved to hear also the eloquent Pleadings of the Ad­vocates at Law, whether before himself, or before the Governour of the City. It was very agreeable to him to preside at the publick Games; particularly those that are in the Ho­nour of Alexander the Great. He desired to be retired ordinarily after Dinner, and in the hour of his Levee. He never saw Persons alone, as I have said, and it was for this reason, because [Page 428] he had found, that they, to whom he had sometime granted that favour, had misre­presented their Conversation with him to the World. Particularly Vetronius Turinus, was one, who had very much abused the Familia­rity, Vetronius Turinus his Folly and Pu­nishment. which he had treated him with. He dishonour'd the Empire of Alexander, as of a Man, that was so stupid and so impertinent, that he governed him which way he pleased, and made him believe whatever he would; and this he pretended to make all the World believe, in order only to advance the Credit of his Interest, and so to Cheat them by the means out of their Money. But at last A­lexander surprised him with this Artifice. He sent a Person to address himself to him pub­lickly for some thing; but afterwards to take him aside, and to pray him to speak secretly in his favour: who promised him that he would; and afterwards assuring him, that he had done his Business to the Emperor, when really he had not spoken one word to him about it, and acting the same false part over again a second time, and all the while exacting and receiving great recompences for his Services. The Em­peror, who was made acquainted with all that had passed, caused him to be accused and pro­secuted; and proving to him before all the World, upon Evidence, what Sums he had re­ceived, and what empty Promises, and false Reports he had made to his Client to Cheat him out of the same, he Condemned him to dye, and the manner of his Execution to be thus; that he should be tied to a Stake, and [Page 429] there be quite smoaked to death with green Wood and Stubble; the Common Cryer in the mean time Proclaiming his Words were Smoak, and so he dies with Smoak. For this was not the only Fact of the kind that he had committed. The Emperor for fear of ap­pearing Cruel, had made a particular scrutiny into his Life before he Condemned him; and found that he often had received Money of both sides in Causes, whereof he undertook the Protection; and had sold the Events of things, in which he had had no part, and taken Money of all, who had been admitted to the Offices of Praetors, or other considerable Charges in the State.

With a great Retinue did this Emperor often go to the Publick Shews; but he was extremely His M [...] ­ration in his Li­ving and Diet. sparing of his Liberality to the Actors, and said, That those Publick Charioteers, and Huntsmen of the Cirque, and the Players of the Stage, ought to be so entertained, as we do the Servants, Hunts­men, Coachmen, and Jesters of our private Families. In his Repasts he was neither Sumptuous, nor too Frugal: his Table was neither splendid nor mean; but very proper without any superfluity. His Carpets, sometimes trimmed with Studs of Purple or Scarlet; but never of Cloth of Gold; as Heliogabalus had used; and as some say be­fore him, it had been used by the Emperor Hadrian. In a word, his Table was served al­ways with great moderation. He indulged himself the most in Fruit. He eat very hear­tily, and so did he also drink; but without ex­cess. He washed always in cold Water, and [Page 430] in the Summer he drank of the Wine of the infusion of Roses; which was the only thing that he had retained, of all the fine Wines and Methods of the invention of Heliogabalus.

It is observable, that he was every day served at his Table with a Hare. Now there is an usual saying with some, that Eating of Hare will make one Fair for seven days following; as it is signified in that Epigram of Martial which he writes to a Lady, whom he calls Gellia; who, always, (he says) when she sent him a Hare, told him, how Fair it would make him for so many days. To which he replies very severely again upon her; That if it was true, what she said, certainly she had never eaten of a Hare in her life. (Lib. 5. Ep. 30.) So from this vulgar conceit, a Poet in the time of Alexan­der Severus took occasion to say, in two or three Verses, That as he was a Syrian born, it would be a Miracle to see him so Fair and so Handsom as he was, if he did not eat Venison and Hare continually to make him so. The Emperor being told of this by some of his Friends, it is said, That he returned this answer; That so sorry a Poet was welcome to think him Handsome from any thing. But he only wish'd him to eat upon nothing but Hare, till it had done as much for him; and then he would envy no body.

After the last service, he drank once to the Health of his Friends, and the honour of the memory of Alexander the Great. Women he used moderately; and as for the dishonest A­mours of the other Sex, he was so free from them, that as I have already said, he was some­time [Page 431] thinking to intirely prohibit them by a Law. He established publick Magazines in all the Quarters of the City of Rome; whi­ther those, who had not Conveniencies of their own to lodge their Provisions, might car­ry them, and have them lodged there with safe­ty. He added Publick Baths to all the Quar­ters of the City, where before they were want­ing; many of which retain his name at this day. He built very good Houses to give them to his Friends; especially such as had lived al­ways without reproach. He moderated the pub­lick Impositions, so that he brought them down to the thirtieth part of what they were under Heliogabalus. To which purpose he founded a new Coin of the value of the third part of an Aureus, that is a Crown of Gold; and could he have moderated the Impositions still more, he would have founded another new Coin of a Quarter Crown: but when he found that the publick Necessities of the State could not admit a Fall so low, he let that matter alone. The large Gold Coins of the value of two, three, four, ten, fifty, and some a hundred Aurei a piece, which Heliogabalus had founded, he ordered to be suppressed, and melted as Coins which particularly had this inconveni­ence with them, they put the Emperor upon occasions of lavishing away more money than otherwise he would. Because when his money is in lesser pieces, he can moderate his Bounty better as he pleases.

He seldom wore Silks, and Velvets never; Not sum­ptuous in his Ap­parel. nor allowed them to any in their Salaries; nor gave them in Presents. He envied the Riches of none. He aided the Poor; especially Gen­tlemen that he saw were really decayed, and yet had not brought their misfortune upon themselves by their Luxury, he always be­friended as much as he could: giving them Grounds, Servants, Cattle, and Utensils for Tillage. He viewed all the Habits himself that he gave away to others, and often weighed his Gold and his Silver. He gave to the Sol­diers Shooes, Boots, Breeches, Coats and Cloaks. The Alexandrian Purple which is so exquisite, is so called at this day from him; be­cause it was his Dier that invented it. Not that Alexander used it neither at all himself; but it was a fine Wear for the Ladies, and he obliged them to pay well for it. He often used a Cloak of Scarlet; but yet in Rome, and in the Cities of Italy, he was always in a Gown. He never put on the Praetexta, nor the Toga Picta, that is, Robes of State so called, but when he was Consul; and then they were the common Robes which are preserved for the purpose in the Temple of Jupiter. Only, when he Sacrificed in the quality of the So­veraign Pontiff, then he put on also the Prae­texta. He loved plain Linen, without Em­broidery, with either Purple or Gold. For the Purple, he said, did but make it rough; whereas the excellency of Linen is it smooth­ness: and the Gold made it worse, that is stiff. His Stockins were always either Linen, or [Page 433] Woollen; and his Breeches White, not Scarlet; contrary to the Custom of the Emperors be­fore him, whose Mode had been Scarlet.

The Jewels and the Pretious Stones that he had, he sold; and put the money into the Trea­sury; saying, it was not for Men, to wear Jew­els. He obliged the Princesses Royal to con­tent themselves with one String of Pearl; some Pendants for the Ears, one Necklace of Pearl, one Coronet, when they assisted at the Sacri­fices, or Sacrificed themselves; one Gown, Em­broider'd with Gold, and one Petticoat with not above six Ounces of Gold. He did him­self the Office of a Censor, upon the Man­ners of the Age. The Great Men imitated him, and the Ladies of Quality followed the example of his Wife. He diminished the num­ber of the Officers of his Houshold: in which he made such a Reform, that he retained no more Servants in any of the Offices than ne­cessity required. And therefore because his Servants were few, and his whole Service of Silver that he had, was not above two hun­dred pound weight, when ever he made any publick Banquet, he borrowed both Plate and Servants of his Friends. He never admitted the Diversions of the Stage-Players at his Ban­quets. He diverted himself the most in the Aviaries, that he had built in the Court. Where he had Peacocks, Feasants, Pullets, Ducks, Partridges, and Pidgeons. Of the latter particularly, it is said, that he had to the number of twenty thousand. And because their Feeding should not be a burden upon [Page 434] the Publick Stores, he had Servants that main­tain'd them out of the Profit that arose from the Eggs, and the young that they produced.

He often Bathed, both in his own Baths, and in those of the Antients, in Company with the People, especially in the Summer, returning from thence to the Palace in his bathing Habit, with only a Scarlet Cloak thrown over him, to mark his Dignity. His Run­ning Footmen were always some of his Slaves: saying, a Freeman ought never to Run, but in the Sacred Games. His Cooks, Fishermen, Fullers, and Bagnio-men, were His Or­dering of his Ser­vants and great Of­ficers. always also Slaves; into whose places, as they fell, he bought others. There were in all seven Physicians to the Court under his Reign: the chief of whom received a more extraordi­ry allowance. When he appointed any Per­sons to the Presidentships of the Provinces, he furnished them according to the Antient Custom, as Cicero calls it in his time, with Money and Necessaries, that is, a President of a Province received in Silver twenty pound weight, eight Mules, a couple of Horses, two Gowns, one wearing Suit, one bathing Suit, a hundred pieces of Gold, one Cook, one Coachman; and if he had never a Wife, he was allowed one Concubine: but then at his return he was obliged to restore again all the Mules and the Horses; and the Coachman and the Cook, retaining the rest, if he had comported himself well. But if ill, he was obliged to restore fourfold; besides the Con­sequence of being Condemned for Embezel­ling [Page 435] the Publick Goods and Money, and for cheating the State; and in Actions also of Recovery, on the part of the particular Per­sons, by him unjustly used.

The Laws, that he made, are infinite. He permitted all the Senators to have their Chari­ots, and their Coaches at Rome, silvered over: believing it to be for the Honour of the Ro­man Name, that the Senators of so great a City should appear abroad in such Equipages. The Consuls, the whole year round, whether the two first appointed upon the Calends of January, whose names were entred upon the Records; or the others, the secondary ones, who were appointed every two Months after­wards, were all Nominated and Created by him, with the Advice of the Senate. He re­gulated their Expenses; and revived and Re­established the days for their Elections, every two Months, in due Order. He ordered that the Quaestors, at their entrance into their Offices, should make the accustomed Presents to the People, at their own Expence; and that after their Quaestorships, they should be raised to be Praetors, and in Consequence to go to Admini­nister the Government of the Provinces. He suffered the Officers who had the Guard of the Coffers of the Treasury, to be furnished with Mony to make their Publick Shews to the People out of the said Coffers: but this was to be done however with great management. He had it sometime in his thoughts, so to dispose those Publick Shews throughout the whole year, that the People should be entertained with them [Page 436] once in every thirty days. But why he did not do it, is a thing that remains under the ob­scurity of silence. Upon the seventh day of the Week, if he was in Town, he went al­ways for his Devotions to the Capitol. At other times he went often to the other Tem­ples. He was willing to have built a Temple His Re­gard to Christ. unto Christ; and had a design to receive him into the number of the Gods, as it was also sometime in the thoughts of Hadrian, it is said, to do; who had expresly order'd, in all Cities, Temples to be built without Images; which at this day being left unfinished and uncon­secrated are called the Temples of Hadrian: who had however disposed them for this pur­pose: but then he was hindred from procee­ding any further by those who having con­sulted the Affairs of Religion had found, that all the World would turn Christian, if this thing was once suffered, and the other Temples would be deserted.

He made very pleasant Railleries; and was of an agreeable Conversation: and he was kind and gracious in his Entertainments; in which it was permitted to ask him, whatever one would. He was intent upon the amassing of Money, Prudent in preserving it; and In­genious to find it where it was; but however without doing a prejudice to any. He would not be said to be a Syrian; but boasted himself to be Originally a Roman, by those from whom he had the Honour to Descend; and whose Genealogy he drew, in which he shews, that his Family was Descended from the Marcelli. [Page 437] To the Rhetoricians, Grammarians, Physici­ans, Soothsayers, Astrologers, Geometricians, and Architects, he appointed Salaries, and Pub­lick Schools to Teach in, and sent them Scho­lars, that is, Children of a free condition, but of little or no Fortunes; for whose Education he allowed them himself. He deferred a great deal also in the Provinces to the Advocates at Law, and where he hath found, that they have Pleaded Gratis, which a great many did, he encouraged them, and gratified them. He confirmed the Laws from year to year, and carefully kept them in his own Person. He went often to take the Divertisement of the Stage, and had designed to repair the Theatre of Marcellus. To several Cities, that had been defaced by Earthquakes, he allowed Money out of the Taxes towards the Rebuilding of their Publick and Private Edifices. He ne­ver employed but very little Silver upon the Temples, and not one Leaf of Gold; having always in his Mouth that Verse of Persius, ‘—In Sacris quid facit Aurum?’ That is, What should Gold do in sacred mat­ters?

I come now to speak of his Expeditions of War; which I shall do in their order: And in the first place I shall observe what his Custom was, as to these, for things, that were to be held in silence, and others that he discover'd. He never discovered the secret Design; but yet the day that he was to march up­on, was two Months before Proclaimed in a [Page 438] Publick Edict in these words; Upon such a Day, and such an hour I shall depart from this City; and by the help of the Gods I shall march the first day to such a place; and so he told his several Stations and Encampments in order; and marked the places, where he was to receive in Provisions, as far as till he arrived upon the Frontiers of the Country of the Barbarians: for from thence all things were hushed, and all marched without the Barbarians being able to know the design of the Roman Army. It is certain, that he never was deceived in any design that he proposed; because his Counsels were never sold by his Courtiers; as all things under Heliogabalus had been by the Eunuchs; who are a sort of Creatures that will be always Prying into all the Secrets of the Court, to the end to appear to be the only Persons from whom nothing is hid; that they may obtain by that means what they desire; whether it is to satisfie their Vanity, or their Avarice. In the mean time, in his Choice of Persons to His Choice of Publick Officers. be either Governors, or Procurators, or Con­trollers, or other great Officers in the Pro­vince, he first proposed their names to the People; and desired them, that if they knew any Crime of which they suspected and char­ged any of those Persons to be guilty, he should be put to justifie himself by certain Proofs; or otherwise answer for it, with his Head. For it was not a thing fit, he said, That the Chri­stians and the Jews should do this for the recom­mendation of their Priests, that are proposed to be Ordained; and that it should not be done as to [Page 439] the Governours of Provinces, unto whom are committed the Fortunes and the Lives of so many Men.

He appointed Salaries to those that are cal­led Assessours; attending upon the Governors of the Provinces: but yet he often said, That such Persons especially ought to be promoted to the Government of the Provinces, who know how to Govern by themselves, and not by Assessours: ad­ding, that the Men of the Sword have their Ad­ministrations proper to them; and the Men of Let­ters theirs; and so every one ought to act according to the knowledge that he hath. Treasure that had been hidden and was found, he gave a­way amongst such as had found it: only if it was very much, he added some of his Cour­tiers to them. He took their names down in Writing, and refreshed his memory there­with upon any occasion, to whom he ever His pru­dent Li­berality. gave any thing: and if he knew some, that had askt him nothing, or very little, whereby to augment their Fortunes, he spoke to them and said, What is the matter, that you ask me for nothing? Do you intend to make me your Debtour? Ask me, for fear I should be reduced to be a private Man again, and then you should complain of me. What he bestowed by way of Gifts, were Estates of Malefactors Condemned, excepting the Gold, Silver, and Jewels; for all that was remitted into the Coffers of the Ex­chequer. Then he disposed of the Offices in the Army, and the Governments of the Provin­ces, and other Civil Offices in the Provin­ces: where he changed his Receivers from [Page 440] time to time. Not one of them accomplish'd a full year; indeed he hated them, though they might be Men of Honesty too; because, he said, They were Necessary Evils. As for the Presidents, Proconsuls, and Generals, he ne­ver made those by Favour, or with the single design to enrich them: but he made them ei­ther by the Judgment of the Senate, or the best of his own.

He disposed his Armies in the time of an Ex­pedition, His Care of his Sol­diers. so that they received their Provisions in the places where they rendevouz'd; without carrying with them Subsistance for more than seventeen days; unless it was in the Country of the Enemy, and there he also assisted them with Mules and Camels; saying, That he de­sired to look more after his Men, than himself; be­cause the Publick Safety was in them. He vi­sited them (when Sick) in their Tents; even those of the lowest Ranks; and caused them to be carried upon Waggons, and to be sup­plyed with all sorts of Necessaries. But if they were too Sick to Travel, he recommended them to the care of the good Housekeepers, and the virtuous Women in the Cities and the Villages, where he passed; to whom he paid the Charges of their looking after, whether they recovered or died.

Ovinius Camillus, a Senatour of an Antient Story of Camillus. Family, had once the Vanity, being conceited on that account, to think of Revolting, and setting up himself to be Emperor. Which being Discovered, and certainly Proved to A­lexander Severus, he sent for him to the Court. [Page 441] Telling him, That he gave him Thanks, that he was so willing to take upon him the Care of the Empire; how contrary soever it was to the Sen­timents of others, that yet were good Men. So he took him with him to the Senate, and cal­led him his Colleague. In the mean time Ca­millus was in the greatest Confusion and Re­morse of Conscience. He received him af­terwards into the Court; and admitted him to his Table, and Habited him with the same Imperial Ornaments, or better than his own. Then the War against the Persians being de­clared, he asked him if he would go to it and bear him Company. They began their march together on Foot; Severus, earnestly inviting him to bear the Fatigue with Patience. But after five Miles walking, Camillus tired; and then Severus ordered him a Horse. After two days more march, he was tired again with his Horse; and then Severus put him upon a Car­riage; but yet neither did this make him ea­sie: but whether it was with Fear, or that he truly desired no more of the Glory that attended those Travels; he Abdicated the Em­pire with all his Heart, and would rather have died than continued in it. Then Severus dis­missed him, and sent him under a Guard, whom he desired to take a care of him, Home, to his own House in the Country in safety; where he afterwards lived a long time; but was at last killed by the Soldiers, but yet with­out the Command of the Emperor, who had altogether gained his Heart, and had treated him with so much Humanity. I know very [Page 442] well, that this hath been thought amongst the Vulgar to have been the Action of the Em­peror Trajan. But since neither Marius Maxi­mus hath taken any notice of it, nor Fabius Marcellinus, nor Aurelius Verus, nor Statius Valens, who have all of them written the Life of that Prince: And on the contrary, since Septimius, Acholius, and Encolpius, who have written the Life of Alexander Severus, and all others that speak of him, have remarked this Action to be his; I hope that the Authority upon which I also do so, will appear to be of more Weight and Credit; than vulgar Fame, and any common Rumour of the People.

He never suffered Offices, to which belong'd Power of Life and Death, to be sold: saying, He that Buyes, must necessarily Sell again in his turn. But I will have no Merchandise made of the Powers of that Nature; should I suffer them, it would not be in my power to Condemn them. For I should be ashamed to punish a Man that Sells as he Buyes, to make up his Accounts. He made Ordinances touching the College of the Chief Priests, the Commission of the Quindecimviri, or fifteen Priests for Religious Affairs, and the College of the Augurs; which merited to be He fa­vours the Christi­ans. received in the Senate. The Christians having gotten into the Possession of a certain Publick Place for the Exercise of their Religion, and on the contrary the Company of the Cooks and Victuallers claiming the same, and pre­tending that it of right belonged to them; he decided the matter betwixt them by his Re­script in these words; It is better rather than to [Page 443] leave a place to the Cooks, to give it to Men that will Honour God in it, let it be in any manner whatsoever. The Man­ner of his Persian Expediti­on.

With these great Qualities therefore both for Peace and War, this Emperor entred upon an Expedition against Persia; in which he Com­ported himself with that Discipline, and that consideration for the Dignity of the Empire, that it was said, they were more like so many Senators, than Soldiers that he brought with him. Where-ever the Legions marched, the Tribunes, the Centurions, the Soldiers were so quiet, so modest, and so belov'd for their Discretion; and then the Presence of their Prince was accompanied with so many excel­lent Qualities; that the People of the Pro­vinces considered him as a God. And cer­tainly the Soldiers loved him, as if he was their Brother or their Son; and infinitely respected him as their Parent. They were handsomely Cloathed, and nobly Armed: their Cavalry well mounted, and compleatly Furnished and Caparisoned: so that to see the Army of A­lexander Severus, it was enough to give one an Ieda of the Grandeur of the Roman Empire. He particularly, with all his Power, endea­voured to appear worthy of the name that he carried, and which is more, to surpass the Macedonian of the same: and said, That there ought to be a great difference betwixt Alexander of Rome, and Alexander of Macedon. He had Companies in his Army, as that Macedonian had, that were a [...]med with Shields of Silver, and Shields of Gold. He made a Phalanx, con­sisting [Page 444] of thirty thousand Men, whom he called by the name of his Phalangieres; by whose means he did a great many Noble Ex­ploits in Persia. This Phalanx was composed of Six Legions, who were all equally well armed, and for their great Services judged worthy to be all at double Pay after the end of the War of Persia.

The Royal Presents, which were made him, he bestowed upon the Temples; but Jewels he sold: because he thought it was an Effemi­nate thing to keep Jewels; which are neither fit to be given amongst the Soldiers, nor to be worn by a Man of Bravery. An Embassa­dour having presented his Wife, the Empress, by him, with two Unions of a great Weight, and an extraordinary Size, he ordered them to be sold; but there was no body to be found to come up to the Price. And for fear that they should draw from the Empress herself, an ill Example, if she used a thing that was not to be Purchased, he Dedicated them to serve for Pendants to the Ears of a Statue of Venus. His Protectour in his Minority was Ulpian; to whom his Mother Mammaea was at first averse; but afterwards she thanked him, when she saw that her Son had attained to be so great an Emperor, by following especially his Coun­sels, in the Government of himself and the State. And yet Ulpian laboured under the ill will of the Soldiers; and but that the Em­peror defended him, certainly they would of­ten have murdered him in his Presence. In all his Marches, and all his Expeditions, he [Page 445] dined and supped in Publick, with his Tents open for all the Soldiers to see him, which pleased them well. He eat the common His strict Discipli [...]e Ammunition Bread, and made the Round in every Quarter, and suffered no one whatso­ever to be absent from his Colours. If in Marching any one had but stepped aside to take the least thing from the Inhabitants of the Country, where-ever it was, he was ei­ther beaten with Rods in his presence, or con­demned in a Mulct; or if his Quality had set him above this, he reprimanded him himself publickly, to make him ashamed, and said, Would you be willing that this should have been done upon your own Estate, which you do to ano­ther's? It was a great Expression with him at all times, Do not that to another, which you would not that another should do to you; whether he had heard it from the Jews or from the Chri­stians, he retained it well, and it was altoge­ther conformable to his Sentiments. There­fore he ordered it to be proclaimed by the common Cryer, when he corrected any Per­son. He loved it so, that he made Inscrip­tions of it upon his own Palace, and upon the publick Works.

Having been told once that a poor old Wo­man had been outragiously injured by a Soldier, who was by Trade a Carpenter, he not only cashiered him the Army, but gave him to be the Woman's Slave, to maintain her ever after, by his Labour. And though the Soldiers complained of this, he persuaded them all to support with patience such an Example of Mi­litary [Page 446] Discipline, and at the same time he made them to fear him. His Reign was without Blood in this Sense, that he spilt not the Blood of any one of the Senators, as the Grecian Hi­storian Herodian hath observed; but yet he shewed a great deal of sharpness, and of seve­rity in his Reign; and especially, he was so rigorous upon the Soldiers, that he often dis­carded entire Legions of them at a time; ne­ver fearing the Mutineers of his Army, be­cause he knew that they could say nothing a­gainst his Life, nor could reproach him, that the Tribunes or the Captains under his Au­thority, had ever retained any thing of their Pay from them. And when a Soldier is well cloathed and armed, his Belly full, and some­thing in his Purse, then, he said, it is that he the most fears you; for it is Necessity that reduces Soldiers to all sorts of Despair. In fine, he or­dered the Officers of the Army to be waited upon by none but Soldiers, whose Number was limited; that is, he ordered, that there should be four Soldiers to march always before a Tri­bune, six before a Commander, and ten be­fore a General.

Now to the end to shew you his Severity, An in­stance of his steady Severity. and how he carried himself in his Affairs with his Soldiers, it will be convenient to give you one of of his Harangues that he made to them. When he was come to the City of Antioch, and had been told one day, that some of the Soldiers had put themselves into the Baths there with the Women of Pleasure, he ordered them all to be taken, and laid in Irons. This be­ing [Page 447] known to the Legion unto which those Soldiers belonged, they were all immediately in a Mutiny. He called a Council of War, and the Prisoners being all brought before him, and all the other Soldiers standing round about him in their Arms, he spoke thus;

My Fellow Soldiers,

I Hope, you will be easily persuaded to disallow with me, the things that have been commit­ted by some of your Comrades. For the Discipline of our Ancestors is what must necessarily take place here, if we would preserve the State. For when once that Discipline is lost, then adieu to the Glory of the Roman Name, and the Roman Empire. Nor is it to be suffered, that Men should take the same Liberties in my Reign, which late­ly they did under the Debaucheries which were committed in the time of the impure Helioga­balus. Shall the Roman Soldiers, your Comrades, and my Fellow-Companions in Arms and War, Drink, Bath, Whore, and live in all the soft and luxurious ways of the Greeks, and shall I endure this long, and those there, shall I not punish them?

With this the Tumult increased, and they set up a Clamour against him. But he went on and said;

Nay, keep your Clamours to terrifie your Enemy in the Field, and bestow them not in vain upon your Emperor. Certainly your Masters who first taught you Arms, have told you, that you are to cry out so against the Sarmatians, the Germans, [Page 448] the Persians your Enemies, and not against him who out of the Contributions of the Provinces feeds you, and gives you Cloaths, and gives you your Pay. Forbear then that savage Noise, which is only fit for Battel, lest in a word, and in a breath, this day I break you all, and send you home to your Houses, scarcely with the Name of Romans. For how deserve ye, to be of the num­ber of the least of the Common People of Rome, unless you acknowledge the Right of the Laws of the Roman Empire.

Here they began to grow worse, and to me­nace him with their Swords. He went on;

Threaten your Enemy, and turn your Arms a­gainst those, if you are so Valiant; me you do not affright with it: and should you kill here a single Man, the Empire, the Senate will not be wanting to me, the People of Rome will revenge me.

They still murmuring not the less for this, he cried with a loud voice, I disband you, be gone, and lay down your Arms.

After these words, they all laying down their Arms, and discharging themselves of their Military Accountrements, by a wonder­ful Example, retired every one, not to the Camp, but up and down to the Inns, which was the first time that he made it appear what his Severity could do. In fine, his Guards that had attended upon his Person, took up the Standards that the others had laid [Page 449] down, and carried them to the Camp, and their Arms were gathered up by the People, and brought to the Palace. But however, this Legion which he had thus cashier'd, in thirty days afterwards, upon Intercession made for them, before he set forward to engage the Persians, he restored again to the same Rank which they had held before in the Army; and the Bravery which they in particular shew­ed upon that occasion, in which they did Won­ders, was the great thing that gained him the Victory. Some of the Officers, in the mean time, he had not spared to punish with death, because it had been by their negligence, that the Soldiers had been so debauched with the Pleasures of Daphne, and because they had not taken the Care that was sufficient to have hindred this Sedition of the Army.

He marched from the City of Antioch to give Battle to the Persians, well provided, and with great magnificence. Artaxerxes, the most Po­tent He de­feats the Persians. King of Persia, came against him with seven hundred Elephants, one thousand and eight hundred armed Chariots, and a Body of Horse of many thousands. But the Victory was on the side of the Roman Emperor, who in the Fight visited the one and the other Wing, and encouraged the Soldiers, and was often within Perils himself, and signalized his Valour with his own hand. After which, he returned again to Antioch, and made his Army rich with the Booty that they took, and the Depredations that he permitted the Tribunes, the Captains, and the Soldiers to make upon [Page 450] the Provinces of the Enemy. The Persians then first began to submit to the Dominion of the Romans. But because the Kings of Persia think it an Indignity for those that belong to them to be made Slaves, he sent their Ran­soms, and the Prisoners were restored, and the Money given either to such as had taken them Prisoners, or else put into the Trea­sury

After this noble Expedition he came to Rome, where he received the honour of a Triumph, He tri­umphs. performed with great Magnificence, and then he made this Speech to the Senate upon the occasion; which I have taken out of the Jour­nal of the Senate, upon the seventh day of the Kalends of October.

Fathers of the Senate,

WE have vanquished the Persians, and we have no need of any great Eloquence to recount the particulars to you. You may please only to know, what their Arms were, and how well provided they came. They came with seven Hun­dred Elephants, and this is the first time that we have ever seen in the Field so great a Num­ber; and these carried Towers upon their backs full of Archers, and Loads of Arrows. Three Hundred of these we took, Two Hundred more were killed upon the place and Eighteen we have brought hither with us. Then they had Eighteen Hundred Chariots, armed with cutting Scythes. We could have brought with us of those Chariots Two Hundred, whereof the Beasts were killed. But however, we thought fit to forbear that, be­cause [Page 451] it is an easie thing to make them ourselves. We have cut in pieces an Army of a hundred and twenty thousand Horse; and ten thousand Compleat Cuirassiers, with whose Spoils we have armed our Men. We took a great number of the Persians Prisoners, whom we have sold. The Country of Mesopotamia, betwixt the two Ri­vers of Tigris and Euphrates, which had been so neglected by my Impure Prodecessour, Helio­gabalus, we have Re-conquered and received in­to our Obedience. We have put the most Potent King Artaxerxes, as he is entituled; but who is so in effect, as well as by Name, to flight. The Country of Persia beheld him flying; and in the same place, where the Romans heretofore in the defeat of Crassus lost their Banners, the Persians now have left us theirs. You see, Fathers of the Senate, what we have Atchieved; the Subject needs no Eloquence to adorn it. The Army is come home Rich. None think their Pains too great, that Conquer. It is for you to appoint Publick Thanksgivings to be made upon this occasion; to the end that we may not seem ungrateful to the Gods for the success of our Arms.

The Acclamations of the Senate followed.

The Gods preserve our Emperor, Alexander, Conquerour of the Persians. We Congratulate your Majesty, your most great Victory; your Ma­jesty hath merited most truly the Name of Con­queror of the Persians and Parthians. The Gods save you. We behold your Trophies. We see your Victory. All thanks to our young Emperor; the [Page 452] Father of his Country; our Soveraign Pontiff. By you we will hope for Victory over the Ger­mans. By you we will hope for Victory from all Parts. Your Majesty takes the way to Con­quer. You Command the Soldiers. The Senate is enriched. The Army is enriched. The People of Rome are enriched by your Majesty.

Then the Senate Adjourning, he went from thence to the Capitol: where having per­formed the Sacred Ceremonies, and Dedicated to the Temple of Jupiter some Armour of the Persians to be hung up there, he spoke to thi [...] purpose to the People.

Citizens and Commons of Rome,

I Have overcome the Persians, and my Ar [...] is returned Rich home with the Booty that [...] have made. We promise to give you a Larg [...] and to Morrow we will give you the Gam [...] the Cirque, on the occasion of our Conquests.

This is the account of this Expedition, [...] I have found upon the Annals, and [...] Works of many Historians. And as for [...] some say, on the contrary, That He [...] trayed by a Slave, and instead of Conquer­ing Artaxerxes, fled, for fear of being Con­quered himself; or particularly what Hero­dian says, That Artaxerxes lost his Army by Famine, Cold, and Sickness; in which Opini­on he is very singular, I leave them to be contradicted by the Judgments of all such as [Page 453] have Read, and are best acquainted with this History.

After all these things, full of Glory, ac­companied by the Senate, the Order of the Gentry, and all the People, through Crowds of Women and Children on all sides, and a­bove all the Soldiers Wives; contemplating his Presence and his Meen, and observing him as he passed with admiration. He marched from the Capitol to the Palace, on Foot; fol­lowed by a Triumphal Chariot, drawn by four Elephants. He was so born up in the Hands of all People; that he scarce finished this Space in four Hours, and from all sides they cried, how happy is Rome in such a Prince. The following day, was spent in the Games of the Cirque, and the Diversions of the Stage. And then he gave the Poor a Largess; and Esta­blished Pensions for the maintenance of the Children of the Poor, according to an Ex­ample of Antoninus Pius; and in the Honour of his Mother Mammaea, those Children were called the Children of Mammaea.

The Affairs of the Province of Mauritania His Suc­cesses by his Generals. Tingitana in Barbary had been in the mean time very successful under Furius Celsus; as were those of the Province of Illyricum un­der Varius Macrinus, his Kinsman; and those of Armenia under Junius Palmetus: so that from all places they sent him Letters, Crown­ed with Lawrels; which being publickly Read to the Senate and the People, he found him­self adorned and saluted by all the Titles that could appertain to him. Therefore as for [Page 454] Men that had behaved themselves so well in the Provinces, committed unto their Govern­ment, and yet had never been Consuls, he appointed them the Honour of wearing the same Marks and Ornaments, as those that had. He put them into Estates, if they were Poor and advanced in years; and gave them Places in the College of the Priests. He gave the Captives that he had made of divers Na­tions, amongst his Friends; unless they were of Royal Blood, or of more than Ordinary Quality; and then he Deputed them to the Services of War, but in no great Posts. The Lands of the Enemy, which were Conquered upon the Frontiers, were given by his consent amongst the Officers and Soldiers; under a Condition that their Heirs after them should be obliged to take to Arms; and that those Lands should never come to Persons of ano­ther Condition; because he said, that the thoughts that they were to defend their own Estates, would make them fight more freely. He furnished them with Cattle and Servants, necessary for Tillage; lest either through the want of Hands, or the Old Age of the Pos­sessors, the said Places should come to be a­bandoned again; which he thought would be a thing very shameful.

After these things, forasmuch as he lived in a great love and esteem of the Senate and the People, they were unwilling to let him go to the War against the Germans, although they all hoped for Victory from his Arms. Gallia was at this time incessantly ravaged by [Page 455] the Incursiosn of that People: which was a matter of great trouble to the State, and to himself; and that which yet encreased their resentments, was, that after the reduction of the Country of Mesopotamia, and the defeat of the Forces of so great a People as the Persians, the Nation of the Germans should now menace the Heads of the State, which yet had been always subject to Emperors, that had not Reigned with so much Glory. So he enterprised this Voyage by great Marches, and all the Soldiery were very much pleased with it. But yet meeting again in Gallia with some Mutinous Legions, which he rejected; and the Gauls being of a Temper to be hot and fierce, and often troublesome to their Em­perors, they could not find themselves disposed to support a Treatment which was so severe, especially after so soft a Reign as that of He­liogabalus; And whether that it was they, or Maximin that had set Assassines upon him, he was killed at a Village called Cecil, in the Pro­vince of Bretagn; not by a consent of all, but by a party of Soldiers, who took their oppor­tunity to do it, when he had few Persons a­bout him. At the same time they inveigh'd outragiously against him and against his Mo­ther; as a Covetous Woman, earnest to a­mass Riches; and by whose Counsel he had acted in all things. He Reigned thirteen years and nine days; and had lived twenty nine years, three months and seven days, And his Mother Mammaea was killed with him.

The Signs that fore ran his death, were Omens of his Death. these. Upon the Anniversary of his Birth­day, as he assisted at the Sacrifice, the Beast, which was the Victim, betook itself to its feet, and would have escaped in its blood: and rushing into the Company, where the Em­peror was, it left some of its blood upon his Robes. A large and old Laurel, at a certain place where he passed to the War, dyed on a sudden. Three Figtrees, to which his Tent had been fastened, and which were of those sort, that they call the Alexandrian Figs, dyed also on a sudden. A Woman, that was a Druid cried after him in her Language, You may go; but never hope for Victory, nor trust to your Army. He began an Harangue, that he made to his Soldiers, before he went to seek the E­nemy, with these fatal words; The Emperor Heliogabalus having been killed. But all these things however he mightily despised; and put­ting himself upon his March to meet the Ene­my, he was killed at the Place above men­tioned.

He had Dined that day, as it was his Cu­stom to do, Publickly, and had eaten of the common Bread, and Provisions of the Army; nor, when his Tent was searched and ran­sackt, was there any thing extraordinary found in it. After Dinner, as he had reposed him­self to Sleep a little, which was about the hour of One, a Spy of the Conspirators, that be­longed to the Guards, had entred into his Tent, and had found him awake; but every body else asleep: and the Emperor seeing him, [Page 457] said; What is the matter, my Friend: any News of the Enemy? The Man withdrew to his Con­federates, and spurred them on to the Enter­prise, by the excellency of the Opportunity, which offered itself. So a great number of them immediately broke in, and cutting off every one they found, they came to the Em­peror, and struck him several times through the Body; of which he died instantly. Some say, that there was not a word spoken; but only the Soldiers cryed to him, Away with you! Be gone.

Maximin, who succeeded him, and who carried on the War against the Enemy served himself, for that purpose, of all the Military Preparations of this Prince. Amongst the rest, especially of all the Auxiliaries of the Armenians, Mesopotamians, Parthians, and others out of the East; because being excellent Ar­chers, none were of greater use against the Germans, than they.

His contempt of Death had shown itself not only in that fierceness, with which he had always humbled the Soldiers; but also in this. That when Thrasybulus an Astrologer, who was his particular Favourite, had told him; that his Fate was to dye by the Sword of the Barbarians, he was glad of it, in the Opinion which he had, that he was like to dye in the Field of Battel; which he thought a death wor­thy of an Emperor. Then he argued upon it, and observed, what excellent Men in all times, have died Violent Deaths, in which number he recounted the Great Alexander of his own [Page 458] name; Pompey, Julius Caesar, Demosthenes, Ci­cero, and other famous Personages; so that he desired no greater Honour than to die in the Field of Battel. He believed that it would make him comparable to the Gods. But he mistook the Prediction, for he died not in the Field of Battel; although it was in the time of a War; and yet died by the Sword of a Bar­barian. For that Spy, who had first broken into his Tent, was a German, and one that killed him.

The rest of the Army were sensibly touch­ed at his death, and revenged it upon the Authors of it: and the People of Rome, all the Senate, and all the Provinces never re­sented any thing worse. Nor were they less astonished, when they heard that he was suc­ceeded in the Empire by Maximin, and his Son. Wherein all the World judged very well the hard necessity of his Destiny; because they saw a Man raised to his place, who was of no Birth nor Breeding, and whose gross Rusticity gave them an occasion to apprehend all things. The Senate Consecrated him a God; and a Monument was Erected to his Memory in Gal­lia, whilst his Body was interred in a most Noble Sepulchre at Rome. His Priests were appointed, as likewise his Festival; which is at this day Celebrated with great Devotion. But some pretend to say, that the occasion of his Murther was; because by his Mother's advice he was for quitting the War against the Ger­mans, and for returning, out of Vanity, with her again into the East. But to say the truth, [Page 459] I take this to be nothing but a Fiction of the Creatures of Maximin; to the end, that it should not be thought that so very good an Emperor had been killed by their Friend, con­trary to the Laws of God and Man.

Hitherto the Empire of the People of Rome, hath had for the most part Princes, whose Reigns have been in their duration some­thing considerable. But after Alexander Seve­rus arose many, who as they had hastily rusht in, so they were as hastily, one after another, driven away from the Throne again. For some Reigned half a year: some a year: o­thers perhaps reached to two years: but three is the most, till we come to those Princes who far extended the bounds of the Empire; I would say Aurelian, and those that follow; of whose Lives, as much as we can find to be said hereafter; we shall not fail to write and publish it.

That which is Condemned in Alexander Se­verus, Faults of Severus. is; that he denyed his Native Country, and would not at all pass for a Syrian; that he loved Money; was extremely Suspicious; invented many new Taxes; desired to appear as another Alexander the Great; was too se­vere upon the Soldiers; and was too inquisitive into the Affairs of particular Persons. But as for those who deny, that he had not been Created a Caesar by the Senate, but by the Soldiers; or that he was the Cousin German of Heliogaba­lus; they are greatly mistaken; and to see their error, let them peruse, as we have done, [Page 460] the Historians of his time; especially Acholius, who is very particular upon him.

Your Majesty, O most Sacred Constantine, is pleased many times to ask; from whence it comes, that a Stranger and a Syrian did make such an excellent Prince; when such a great number of others of Roman Blood, and out of the Provinces of the Empire, that have Reign­ed, have been Wicked, Impure, Cruel, Ab­ject, Unjust and Dissolute. I humbly desire therefore your Majesty to observe, as to this; that according to the Sentiments of good Men, Nature which is the Common Mother of us all, is sufficient to Act in this sort, and so he might be Born a good Prince. But be­sides, he had an Example immediately before his Eyes, of a very ill Prince that was killed, and after his Death dishonoured; and the fear which is suggested by such a Fate, could not but have an influence upon him, to make him better. But because these Reasons are a little remote, and too general, and I am sen­sible, that I ought to suggest the Truth to Your Majesty, I shall refer my self to your Royal Goodness, and your Clemency, in declaring what at least I have read upon this Subject. Your Majesty remembers very well, what no doubt you have seen in Marius Maximus; that a State in which the Prince is himself bad, but his Counsellours good, is in a better Conditi­on, and in much greater Safety, than when the Prince is good, but his Counsellours are bad. For certainly one ill Genius may very well be Amended and Corrected by many, that are [Page 461] good. But a great many, that are all bad, will never be Corrected by one, let him be never so good. And this is what was once said by Homullus, unto the Emperor Trajan; where he compared the Examples of Claudius and Domitian, with one another. Domitian, he said, was a very ill Prince, but yet he had Counsellours that were good. Claudius was not so ill a Prince as Domitian; but his Coun­sellours were bad. But yet Claudius was of the two the most hated in his time. And certainly it is always better to suffer under the weight of one that is bad, than under many.

But to return to my purpose. It is true, that Alexander Severus was a very excellent Person himself; and was also directed by the good Coun­sels always of his Mother, who was a very ex­cellent Woman; which last thing alone is cer­tainly a great Argument of his goodness. But be­sides all this; he was served by Counsellors who Character of his Counsel­lors. were Holy and Venerable Personages: without Malice, without Faction, without Knavery, without inclination to Evil, without Animosi­ty against the Virtuous; without Dissoluteness, without Cruelty, without design of Surprising, or Mocking, or making a Property of their Prince. But full of Integrity, Venerable, Continent, Religious, lovers of their Prince; they exposed nothing that he did; nor suf­fered it in others: they made a secret Gain to themselves in nothing; they falsified nothing; they Dissembled nothing; they never betray­ed him; and they loved, and advanced his Reputation. Add to this another thing, that [Page 462] he Banished the Eunuchs from his Counsels, and his Service; as being the only Creatures who ruin Princes. For it is they, that have put them upon the living after the Examples of Foreign Nations; and the Mode especially of the Kings of Persia; that sow Divisions be­twixt the best Prince and his People; that are Spyes from side to side; and report an answer contrariwise often, than it is given, and keep their Prince lock'd up, and carry all things so secretly, that he knows nothing. For being but Slaves bought with a Price, how should we expect better from them? No, said Alexander Severus, My Captains, Consuls, and Senators, shall never lye at the mercy of Slaves, that are bought and sold.

I am sensible, Great Sir, of the danger which there is in speaking these things before an Emperor, who should repose himself in such hands as these, and should be the Slave of these Slaves. But our Felicity is, that as soon as Your Majesty had well understood, what Mischiefs these Pests do bring along with them, and how they Circumvent the Princes whom they serve; You, out of your Royal Care to the Interests of the State, have re­duced them to that pass, that you suffer them not to continue within your Houshold; not so much as to be your Menial Servants.

Another eminent thing [...] which Contributed to the Felicity of Alexander Severus, is this; that he saw no one at the Court alone, un­less it was his Captain of the Guards, and par­ticularly Ulpian. For otherwise he had al­ways [Page 463] Company present; to the end, to give to no Person whatsoever an opportunity of re­presenting their Conversation with him falsly to others, nor of speaking ill of others to him. Especially he did this after the Cor­rection, that he took of Turinus; who had often vaunted of speaking things to him, which he never did; and of receiving answers from him, which he never gave him; and this, only to squeeze Money, and enrich himself by that means out of the Pockets of his Clients; though at the same time he made a Cully and a Fool of his Master.

To all which we must add, that if Alexan­der Severus had found, that either his Coun­sellors or his very Relations had done ill, he punished them; or if the Obligations of his former Friendship with, or his nearer Alliance to them, did not suffer him to punish them; yet he sent them from him; and said, The whole State is dearer to me than these.

Now if your Majesty pleaseth to know by Name, what Men they were, whom he called to his Counsels, this is a List of some of them.

Fabius Sabinus, the Son of another famous A List of his Coun­sellors. Sabinus; a Person of sublime Virtue; and the Cato of his time.

Domitius Ulpian, a most Eminent Professor of the Law.

Antoninus Gordianus, the Son of the Emperor Gordianus, and afterwards Emperor himself, a Person of great merit.

Julius Paulus, a most excellent Professor of the Law.

Claudius Venatus, an Oratour of a profound and diffused Eloquence.

Pomponius, an Eminent Professor of the Law.

All Professors of the Law, and sometime the Scholars of the most Renowned Papinian. They all were the Familiar Friends of this Prince; as both Acholius and Marius Maximus assure us.

Catilius Severus, his Kinsman, a very learn­ed Person.

Aelius Sereni [...]nus, the most Holy Person of his time.

Quintilius Marcellus, than whom all History does not afford a better Person.

All these therefore, and others, to them suitable, being his Counsellors, and unani­mously Conspiring to the good of the State, what could there be done or imagined to hurt it? It is true, that in the beginning of his Reign, for some days a multitude of ill Per­sons, of whom the Court was full at the death of Heliogabalus, had neglected no means to engage his Affections in their own favour. But his early Prudence discovered them: He [Page 465] nipt them in the Bud, and drove them all from him; and then formed himself a Council of such Holy and Upright Members, that They very much guided him, who was otherwise a Stranger, and a Syrian, to be that good Prince that he was. Whereas, on the con­trary, those ill Princes, whom your Majesty hath observed to have been Romans, labouring under the misfortune of ill Councils also, that made them yet worse; we Have them deliver­ed down to us, heavy laden with a Burden of Vices, of those of their Counsellours, and those of their own.