THEL1BRARYOF JOHN-W1CKUFF ICITCH LLL PAN A ILLINOIS *1835 ** 1914* BEQVEATHEDBY MRS. MARY F. ICITCHLLL 1N 1931 LIBRARYOFTHE VNIVERSITY OF ILLINOIS D9ShEc \S94- v7' HERTZBERG — NEW METHOD, INC. EAST VANDALIA ROAD, JACKSONVILLE, ILL. 62650 I 0 TITLE NO. ACCOUNT NO. LOT AND TICKET NO. t * 2 / - 5 HISTORY OF ROME AND * THE ROMAN PEOPLE. % Digitized by the Internet Archive in 2019 with funding from University of Illinois Urbana-Champaign Alternates https://archive.org/details/historyofromeofr71duru History of Rome AND OF THE ROMAN PEOPLE, FROM ITS ORIGIN TO THE INVASION OF THE BARBARIANS. By VICTOR DURUY, MEMBER OF THE INSTITUTE, EX-MINISTER OF PUBLIC INSTRUCTION, ETC. TRANSLATED BY M. M. RIPLEY , EDITED BY THE REV. J. P. MAHAFFY, PROFESSOR OF ANCIENT HISTORY, TRINITY COLLEGE, DUBLIN. (Containing obcr ©Ijrre ©fjousanU Engravings, ©nr f^unVreU fTlaps ani plans, AND NUMEROUS CHROMO-LITHOGRAPHS. VOLUME VII. Section One. BOSTON: ESTES AND LAURIAT. ILLUSTRATED LIBRARY EDITION. -4- This edition is strictly limited to one thousand numbered and registered copies, which are sold to subscribers for complete sets only. This is Copy No.. 315 Copyright, 1883 to 1886, By Estes and Lauriat. SKntoersttg IPrrss: John Wilson and Son, Cambridge, U. S. A. SfGUJIU }0 xjuqn a Hi ANCIENT NECKLACE FOUND AT NASIUM 931 3>93f> £c- ) 9 ' 1 + V,7‘ TABLE OF CONTENTS. VOLUME VII. ELEVENTH PERIOD {Continued). THE AFRICAN AND SYRIAN PRINCES (180-235 A. D.). J CHAPTER XC. [Continued .) THE CHURCH AT THE BEGINNING OF THE THIRD CENTURY. II. Transformation of the Messianic Idea. III. The Christian Dogmas. IV. The Hierarchy and Discipline. V. The Heresies. CHAPTER XCI. THE PERSECUTION UNDER SEVERUS. I. Idea of the State among the Ancients : Opposition of the Christians . II. Rescripts of Trajan, Marcus Aurelius, and Severus. CHAPTER XCII. CARACALLA, MACRINUS, AND ELAGABALUS (211-222). I. Caracalla (211-217); Right of Citizenship accorded to all the Inhabitants of the Empire.. II. Macrinus (217-218); Elagabalus (218-222). CHAPTER XCIII. ALEXANDER SEVERUS (222-235). I. Reaction against the Preceding Reign; Mamaea and Ulpian; the Council of the Emperor. II. The Gentleness, Piety, and Weakness of Alexander Severus. III. The Sassanidae. IV. Expeditions against the Persians and the Germans; Death of Alexander Severus PAGE 1 9 21 35 45 56 74 96 113 123 132 136 777399 VI TABLE OE CONTENTS. TWELFTH PERIOD. ^ MILITARY ANARCHY ( 235-268 A. D.). BEGINNING OF THE DECLINE. CHAPTER XCIV. SEVEN EMPERORS IN FOURTEEN YEARS (235-249). * PAGE I. Maximin (235-238) ; Gordian I. and Gordian II.; Pupienus and Balbinus (238) 145 II. Gordian III. (23S-244). 105 III. Philip (244). 173 CHAPTER XCV. J THE EMPIRE IN THE MIDDLE OF THE THIRD CENTURY. I. The Barbarians.179 II. The Roman Army. 187 III. The Administration ..199 IV. Decline in Industry, Commerce, and the Arts ; Depopulation of the Empire . . 206 CHAPTER XCVI. FROM THE ACCESSION OF DECIUS TO THE DEATH OF GALLIENUS (249-268) ; PARTIAL INVASIONS THROUGHOUT THE EMPIRE. ^ I. Decius (249-251) ; Goths and Christians.222 II. Ravages of the Barbarians in the Empire; Valerian; Persecution of the Christians (251-260). 231 III. The Provincial Emperors (249-268); Gallienus.255 THIRTEENTH PERIOD. THE ILLYRIAN EMPERORS; THE EMPIRE STRENGTHENED. CHAPTER XCVII. CLAUDIUS AND AURELIAN (268-275). I. Claudius II. (268-270) ; the First Invasion repulsed.273 II. Aurelian (270-275). 283 CHAPTER XCVIII. TACITUS, PROBUS, AND CARUS (275-284). I. An Attempt at a Senatorial Restoration; Tacitus and Florianus (275, 276) . . 324 II. Probus (276-282). 331 III. Carus (282, 283) ; Carinus and Numeriauus (283-2S5).341 TABLE OF CONTENTS. vii CHAPTER XCIX. DIOCLETIAN ; WARS AND ADMINISTRATION. PAGE I. Diocletian and Maximian; the Dyarchy (284-293) ... . . 34(‘> II. The Tetrarchy ... .363 TIL Administrative Reorganization and Legislation.382 CHAPTER C. IHE ERA OF TIIE MARTYRS (303-311). 1. The Edicts of Persecution (303) .. 408 II. Abdication and Death of Diocletian (305-313). 429 FOURTEENTH PERIOD. THE CHRISTIAN 'EMPIRE ; CONSTANTINE TO THEODOSIUS (3C6-395 A. D.). CHAPTER CL CONSTANTINE, MAXENTIUS, AND LICINIUS (306-324). 1. Six Emperors at one time.440 If. Defeat and Death of Maxentius and of Maximin Daza (311-313) .... 452 III. Death of Licinius (323) ; Constantine sole Emperor ....... 463 CHAPTER CII. THE RELIGIOUS POLICY OF CONSTANTINE. I. The Miraculous Vision; the Labarum ; the Worship of the Sun .... 472 II The Edict of Milan and its Results . 494 ILL Coins of Constantine; Summary of his Religious Policy ..... 512 CHAPTER CIH. THE DONATISTS, ARIANISM, AND THE NICENE COUNCIL. I The New Churches .......... II. The Donatists ..... ... III. The Council of Nicaea (325) ....... IV. Last Years of Constantine (326-337); Foundation of Constantinople 521 528 532 557 LIST OF FULL-PAGE ENGRAVINGS . 1 VOLUME VII. PAGE Ancyra, view of.292 Antioch, the Gates of . ..558 Apostles, the (bas-relief).14 “ “ (vase).32 Arcli of Constantine.494 “ “ the Money-changers.124 Ark, Noah’s (fresco).44 Basilica of Pergamus (ruins) ........... 88 Carpathians, View among ..182 Christ, Byzantine (mosaic).520 Constantine Augustus (statue).464 “ Caesar “ .. . 440 Crypt of Pope Saint Cornelius ...24 Decius, the Emperor (statue).228 Diocletian’s Baths .............. 398 Gladiatorial Combats (mosaic).504 Holy Sepulchre, Church of the.572 Pupienus (statue).161 Samsivul, Assyrian King (bas-relief) ..478 Santa Sabina, Fragment of Carved Door from ..540 Sarcophagus of Alexander Severus and Mamaea.312 Constantinian . 568 “ from the Lateran.. 70 Seleucia.^.. . 438 Sixteen Antique Columns (Milan) ..368 Spalato.422 Temple of Aphaca (ruins).498 “ “ Minerva at Theveste (present condition).41S “ “ the Sun at Rome (restoration).. . 302 Thermae at Bognor, England (ruins) . 358 “ of Caracalla (interior) ... 94 “ “ Diocletian.394 Valerian prostrate before Sapor (bas-relief) ..248 Genealogical Table of the Second Flavian House .. 6 Map for the Expeditions of Severus, Galerius, and Constantine in Italy .... 446 Plan of Constantinople, Map of the Bosphorus, and Plan of the Palace .... 570 1 Facing the pages indicated. * LIST OF COLORED PLATES AND MAPS. VOL. VII. Colored plates . 1 PAGE 1. Gold Collar found at Naix 2 .(Sec. I.) Frontispiece 2. Saint Helena and Saint Gregory Nazianzeu ..... (Sec. II.) “ 3. Gold Coins of the Reign of Alexander Severus (the treasure of Tarsis) ... 84 4. Portland Vase.142 5. Consular Diptych of Plavius Pelix.392 6. Mosaic Pavement of a Church (Tyre).554 Colored JHap . 1 The Tetrarchate.370 1 Facing the pages indicated. 2 This collar, one of the most precious jewels in the Cabinet de France, is composed of five cylinders, alternating with six pendants, tw T o of the latter being cameos, and four of them gold coins (of Hadrian, Septimius Severus, Caracalla, and Geta) of great rarity. One of the cameos representing Julia Domna is given in the text on p. 576 of Vol. VI.; the other is the bust of the helmeted Minerva. ALPHABETICAL INDEX TO TEXT ILLUSTRATIONS, INCLUDING MAPS AND PLANS. VOLUME VII. PAGE PAGE Achilleus, coin of. 374 Apostles, the (painting) 21 Aegea “ “ .... 497 Aqueduct of Aqua Virgo (restoration) • 491 Aemilianus (bust). 267 Archer, Ituraean (bas-relief) 197 “ coins of 234 Argenteus minutulus of Caracalla • 211 “ laurelled (coin) 267 Artaxerxes, coin of ... 134 Aesculapius (engraved stone) 506 “ (gem) .... • 133 “ (statue) .... 350 As libralis of Latium .... 208 Agape, the (bas-reliefs) . . . 13, 17 Asshurnasirpal (bas-relief), wearing a cross 478 “ “ (painting) .... 24 Aui'elian (bust) .... 287 Alexander, the usurper (coin) 452 “ coins of . . 291, 318, 319 “ Severus (bust) 129 “ wall of (ruins) . • 293 “ “ (statue) 141 Auxiliary horseman (bas-relief) . 2S1 Allectus (coin). 370 “ Roman (bas-relief) . • 240 Amphitheatre at Treves (ruins) . 453 Annia Faustina (bust) .... 114 Bahram I., coin of . . 304 Antioch, coin of. 502 “ II., coin of • 336 “ the city personified (engraved “ “ (intaglio) . 343 stone) ..... 61 Balbiuus (bust) .... • 156 Antoninianus (debased coin) 211 “ coin of. 164 Antoninus, medallion of . 382 Baptism (painting) .... • 15 Apollo (coin). 489 Basilica of Bethlehem (interior) . 573 “ holding sceptre surmounted by a “ S. Lorenzo fuori le Mura • 25 cross ..... 479 Bishop, a (painting) .... 23 “ the Didymaean (coin) 416 Bracelet, gold, set with coins . • 274 “ “ “ bas-relief from tem¬ “ “ (Syrian) 488 ple of . 417 Bridge, Roman, near Aphaca . • 498 “ “ “ (statuette) 514 Buckle, an ivory (6th century) . 572 “ “ “ statue from temple of 418 Calixtus, Pope (painting) • 43 “ “ “ fragments of en¬ Candelabrum from Hadrian’s Villa 215 tablature from “ “ House of Diomedes, temple of 419 Pompeii . • 216 “ sanctuary of, on an island in the Caracalla (busts) . 75, 79 Rhvndacus (present condition) 242 “ (cameo) .... • 83 . o God — sprang up in the human heart. This God had been revealed to the faith of the lowly when, in place of a promise of national triumph, they accepted a hope of spiritual life; and this faith was destined to win even the proudest natures, showing them the desired Mediator in the Divine Man, not ascending from earth to heaven like the Olympians, with all the stains of earth upon him, but coming down from heaven to earth with a celestial purity and an infinite strength of love. The heathen had long sought a mediator between the Creator and the creature, they had even seemed to have a glimpse of such a being; but never under JESUS BETWEEN TWO APOSTLES IN THE ATTITUDE OF ADORATION . 1 this aspect of Jesus, who is so divine because so human, — a God dying upon the Cross to redeem the world; the Mediator who is at the same time the Redeemer. From a doctrinal point of view the whole of the Christian religion is embodied in this conception; outside of this are only means of action to apply the principle and develop its consequences. The masters of the Roman world gained nothing by the trans¬ formation of Jewish ideas into Christian, resulting from this new conception of the expected Messiah. The prophets had announced to all the mighty that they should fall under the sword of Israel; 1 From a sarcophagus at Arles, which serves as altar-front in the church of St. Tro¬ phimus. Christ, seated upon a scabellum , his head surmounted by the cruciform monogram, is giving his law (in the form of an unrolled volume) to the two Apostles. Cf. E. Lc Riant, Etudes sur les sarcopJiages de la cille d’Arles, pi. xxvii. and p. 44. Till-: CHUECII AT BEGIXXIXG OF TRIED CENTURY. O O tho Sibvl and Saint John condemned them to perish, with their gods of wood and all their sensual delights, in the flames kindled by the divine wrath, while those who overcame the powers of darkness rvceived the promise of immortality . 1 Yet in a political point of view this promise disengaged Christianity, in the first phase of its existence, from all earthly ambition. It would seem that, spreading, with its principles of human equality and community of goods, among the destitute classes, it must have introduced a spirit of re¬ volt. But bv a fatal exaggeration of the teaching of indifference in which, for four centuries, till the philosophies had united , 2 the prim¬ itive Church added to its fundamental dogma of redemption a con¬ tempt for the present life,—which, however, had its share in the redemption of humanity. If this was not the sentiment of its first hour, we shall see that it was, at least to many, that of its second. Pre-occupied with heaven, and the rewards in reserve for his faith, the Christian did not envy the worldlings their riches and their enjoyments. He left the things of earth as he found them, because existence here below was to him only a life of trial, the earliest termination of which would be the best ; while the other, that beyond the tomb, was the true life, and ardently desired. “ Let him fear to die whom hell awaits," said Saint Cyprian ; i; but the Christian, inmate of a house whose walls are tottering and whose roof is trembling, passenger on board a vessel which the waves are about to engulf, why should he not bless the hand which, hastening his departure, restores him to heaven, his own country ?” 3 Christianity did not, then, change the conditions of life, but it changed the conditions of death ; and this new solution of the terrible problem was of itself the greatest of revolutions. Notwithstanding the temptation, which always exists, to demand of death its secret, the ancients had contented themselves with 1 Lactantius (Div. Inst. iii. 12) terminates his search for the sovereign good by these "ords: Id voro nihil altnd potest cssc nuimi invnorlalitfis. Indifference to civ ic duties, and disdain fur worldly good, were the lessons of the Xew Academy and Zeno, of Pyrrho and Epicurus. •• Christianity will adopt as its own all these sen¬ timents of aversion; it will show even more disdain for political action; it will preach indif- lv re nee with greater ardor, and it will crown all its contempt by despising the very philosophy 'Rich had already taught contempt for till else: and the more thoroughly to withdraw the -oul from earth, the Christian religion will offer to humanity only that good which is not of this world” (Martha, Lucrlcc, p. 20u). De Mortalitutc, 20. 4 THE AFRICAN AND SYRIAN PRINCES, ISO TO 235 a. u. admitting, without much argument on the subject, a vague existence beyond the grave . 1 In those old cltyps life was rude; to lose it was often to gain rest and peace, — requiem aeternam is the language of the Church to this day. It was the time when Greece represented death under the form of a beautiful sleeping boy, whose drooping hand held an inverted torch. But mind becomes developed; con¬ science is enlightened, and projects gleams of light into the darkness of the tomb. Thither men are followed bv the same justice which society, in becoming civilized, seeks to establish upon the earth. Rewards for the good are placed there, and chastisements for the wicked, as is the case in the forum before the praetor; and that judg¬ ment of the dead which Homer reserved for heroes is extended to all men. The city of shades becomes populous and civilized, like the city of men. The Elysian life is submitted to the moral laws of recompense, and its pleasures, depicted on funeral monuments, continue those of the life on earth. It is to this point of equality between the two existences that the Graeco-Roman philosophy had brought the • eschatology of the pagans. But the movement, once begun, does not stop. The development of religious thought pursues its course, and the equilibrium between the two existences is destroyed: heaven prevails over earth, the future life over the present; the latter condemned and cursed, the former glorified and awaited with impatience. After having blindly sought for the Divinity in the religions of Greece, Phrygia, Egypt, and Phoenicia, the Romans had seen corn- ins: to them a new God who went to the hearts of the refined and the afflicted. There were many souls whom the gross natural¬ ism of the state religion offended; and in spite of the miti¬ gation of servitude, slavery was still to this society a bleeding 1 To the present day, man has been aide to find but three solutions to the problem of death. The soul, the vital spark, returns and loses itself in the centre of universal life: this is the Xirvdna of India, and indifference to personal existence: or it goes to enjoy with delight the same pleasures which it has possessed upon earth: this is the love of physical life, the Graeco-Roman and Mohammedan solution; or else, in an eternal rapture, it will contemplate God face to face: this is divine love, but also a sort of annihilation in God. Science has a different dream : since nothing is lost, thought must subsist as force; separated from the body, — its imperfect organ, — it will endure, and intelligence will arrive at the knowledge of all things. This is for humanity that which takes place in the individual : the need of knowing succeeding the need of loving. But perfect science is the perfect knowledge of the true, the good, and the beautiful, — that is, of God himself: and unto that he will attain in the higher life who shall have made the greatest effort to approach to it in the present life. THE CHURCH AT BEGINNING OF THIRD CENTURY. 3 « the Sibyl and Saint John condemned them to perish, with their gods of wood and all their sensual delights, in the flames kindled by the divine wrath, while those who overcame the powers of darkness received the promise of immortality . 1 Yet in a political point of view this promise disengaged Christianity, in the first phase of its existence, from all earthly ambition. It would seem that, spreading, with its principles of human equality and community of goods, among the destitute classes, it must have introduced a spirit of re¬ volt. But by a fatal exaggeration of the teaching of indifference in which, for four centuries, all the philosophies had united , 2 the prim¬ itive Church added to its fundamental dogma of redemption a con¬ tempt for the present life, — which, however, had its share in the redemption of humanity. If this was not the sentiment of its first hour, we shall see that it was, at least to many, that of its second. Pre-occupied with heaven, and the rewards in reserve for his faith, the Christian did not envy the worldlings their riches and their enjoyments. He left the things of earth as he found them, because existence here below was to him only a life of trial, the earliest termination of which would be the best; while the other, that beyond the tomb, was the true life, and ardently desired. “ Let him fear to die whom hell awaits,” said Saint Cyprian ; “ but the Christian, inmate of a house whose walls are tottering and whose roof is trembling, passenger on board a vessel which the waves are about to engulf, why should he not bless the hand which, hastening his departure, restores him to heaven, his own country ?” 3 Christianity did not, then, change the conditions of life, but it changed the conditions of death; and this new solution of the terrible problem was of itself the greatest of revolutions. Notwithstanding the temptation, which always exists, to demand of death its secret, the ancients had contented themselves with 1 Lactantius (Div. Inst. iii. 12) terminates his search for the sovereign good by these words: Id vero nihil aliud, potest esse quam immortalitas. 2 Indifference to civic duties, and disdain for worldly good, were the lessons of the New Academy and Zeno, of Pyrrho and Epicurus. “ Christianity will adopt as its own all these sen¬ timents of aversion; it will show even more disdain for political action; it will preach indif¬ ference with greater ardor, and it will crown all its contempt by despising the very philosophy hcc? l pad already taught contempt for all else; and the more thoroughly to withdraw the the cat, ni ear th, the Christian religion will offer to humanity only that good which is not of dead who ha^v[ ar tha, Lucrece, p. 20o,. 2 Oxford, Hate, 25. 4 THE AFRICAN AND SYRIAN PRINCES, 180 TO 235 a. d. admitting, without much argument on the subject, a vague existence beyond the grave . 1 In those old days life was rude; to lose it was often to gain rest and peace ,—requiem aeternam is the language of the Church to this day. It was the time when Greece represented death under the form of a beautiful sleeping boy, whose drooping hand held an inverted torch. But mind becomes developed; con¬ science is enlightened, and projects gleams of light into the darkness of the tomb. Thither men are followed by the same justice which society, in becoming civilized, seeks to establish upon the earth. Rewards for the good are placed there, and chastisements for the wicked, as is the case in the forum before the praetor; and that judg¬ ment of the dead which Homer reserved for heroes is extended to all men. The city of shades becomes populous and civilized, like the city of men. The Elysian life is submitted to the moral laws of recompense, and its pleasures, depicted on funeral monuments, continue those of the life on earth. It is to this point of equality’ between the two existences that the Graeco-Roman philosophy had brought the eschatology of the pagans. But the movement, once begun, does not stop. The development of religious thought pursues its course, and the equilibrium between the two existences is destroyed: heaven prevails over earth, the future life over the present'; the latter condemned and cursed, the former glorified and awaited with impatience. After having blindly sought for the Divinity in the religions of Greece, Phrygia, Egypt, and Phoenicia, the Romans had seen com¬ ing to them a new God who went to the hearts of the refined and the afflicted. There were many souls whom the gross natural¬ ism of the state religion offended; and in spite of the miti¬ gation of servitude, slavery was still to this society a bleeding 1 To the present day, man has been able to find but three solutions to the problem of death. The soul, the vital spark, returns and loses itself in the centre of universal life : this is the Nirvana of India, and indifference to personal existence; or it goes to enjoy with delight the same pleasures which it has possessed upon earth: this is the love of physical life, the Graeco-Roman and Mohammedan solution; or else, in an eternal rapture, it will contemplate God face to face: this is divine love, but also a sort of annihilation in God. Science has a different dream: since nothing is lost, thought must subsist as force; separated from the body, — its imperfect organ, — it will endure, and intelligence will arrive at the knowledge of aljj things. This is for humanity that which takes place in the individual; the need of kno^ succeeding the need of loving. But perfect science is the pc-^ect knowledge of^^ the good, and the beautiful, — that is, of God himself; Wl unto that he will atiair life who shall have made the greatest effort to approach to it in the present lifcl THE CHURCH AT BEGINNING OF THIRD CENTURY. 5 wound in its side. And now, behold hope is brought to these “ des¬ perate classes,” as Pliny calls them ; 1 but not that of earth. The old abode which sunlight and life made once so beau¬ tiful, has become a vale of tears which the divine venge¬ ance is about to fill with lamentations; and the habita¬ tion of the dead, formerly so chill and sombre, is now the ce¬ lestial Jerusalem, radiant with youth, brightness, and love, where pious souls shall dwell eternally. “ The sun shall be darkened, and the moon shall not give her light, and the stars shall fall from heaven. . . . They shall see the Son of man coming on the clouds of heaven with power and great glory. And he shall send forth his angels . . . and they shall gather together his elect from the four winds, from one end of heaven to the other. . . . Verily I say unto you, This generation shall be accomplished.” not pass away, till all these things 1 . . . Coli rura ab ergastulis pessimum est et quidquid agitur a desperantibus. We liave seen what was the condition of the humiliores, and for the immense class of the freedmen, the ordinance of Commodus. (See Vol. VI. p. 559 , note 1.) Tn the middle of the third century Origen regarded as an honor to Christianity the reproach which Celsus and the pagan of the Octavius made against it, — of recruiting itself among men of low condition. “Yes,” said he, “ we go to all those disdained by philosophy, — to the woman, to the slave, even to the robber.” In doing so, the Christians were faithful to the pure doctrine of the Master, who was so ■great because he loved the little ones. In the fourth century Saint Jerome said again: Ecclesia Christi de vili plebecula conqregata est {Opera, iv. 289 , ed. of 1693 ). The paintings of the catacombs prove the very humble condition of the artists who executed them, and of the dead who had ordered them. 2 Oxford, Alarm. Oxon. pi. 15 . See Vol. V. p. 559 , the Genius of Death of the Louvre. 6 THE AFRICAN AND SYRIAN PRINCES, 180 TO 235 a. d. The generation passed, and the earth was not destroyed. But the Sibyl and the prophets of the Apocalypse constantly renewed the fearful menace, which was a promise of endless torments for the haughty masters of the earth, and of eternal bliss for their victims . 1 “ These unfortunate men,” says a writer of the time, speaking of the Christians, “ fancying to themselves that they are immortal, despise punishments, and voluntarily give themselves up to death .” 2 The love of heaven led them to hatred of earth; they henceforth had before their eyes only “ God and Eternity, with their tremendous majesty.” The true character of the revolution which took place in the obscure depths of Roman society is found in this new view of our destiny much more than in moral reformation, since humanity had already, as we have shown , 3 been put in possession of all the precepts which are needed to regulate this world’s existence. Life was purified, but became gloomy in the living tomb where those confined it who pushed this revolution to its logical consequences; and the Roman magistrates, not being able to see beyond its outward manifestations, found in them the two things which form the grand drama of persecutions, — contempt of human society and its laws, which raised up executioners; and love of death, which made victims. This hatred of the flesh, which the ancient Jews had not known, but which philosophy taught, — this aspiration after death, so contrary to the conception which paganism had formed of life, — could not have been produced except in a small number of stricken and suffering souls. But the heaven, resplendent with light, which Christianity opened to their gaze; its teachings, which addressed themselves to the noblest instincts of the conscience; the penetrating sweetness of the parables, and the grand poem of the Passion, — won all those in whom were found the two most potent faculties of our being: sentiment and imagination. And, along 1 St. Matthew xxiv. 29-34; Origen, Contra Celsum, vii. 9. 2 Lucian, Perecjrinus, 13. See in Vol. Y. p. 497, what Marcus Aurelius said of the Christians. Epictetus, Galen, and the advocate of paganism in the Octavius say the same. 3 In Vol. VI., chapter on “Ideas.” M. Reuss, in his Histoire de la theologie chretienne au sCede apostolique, says very justly (p. 650): “ The main point is that the originality of the Gospel consists not so much in the novelty of certain dogmas or of certain moral precepts as in the novelty of the basis which it gives to the religious life.” GENEALOGICAL TABLE OF THE SECOND FLAVIAN HOUSE. c$ Sh r2 c a; '■G G- o3 CO $3 o I 5 3 § o ►-N G G o3 •M CO a o o s? cs k 2 Q c3 a 0) G ■ o3 CO G s* jD O G o3 -4-J CO G O o ao 60 3 X c *2 o3 fe '<3 G o a> -2 Jz; Gh £3 CO G G Cd O hH 0 O' X> G O *h 0) to .2 G-^-* G G £ ^.S) S-cS ^ *x £~ « .§ |-T^ > .5 © "3 §-G^ !z " CO CO X G *£ G C .2 G 5 § o3 .2 H-> - G « G S-H 4_3 » D co <® -£ c I c o 5 3 - ce os ~35 10 a ^ £ ,3 a> 3 3 5 03 tn £ 3 5 3 go S a: «> 2 .2« U *H ' o3 Sh G ^ 2 G o3 ef^ 8 s "3 g 33 &« ^ S g'm q) ~ c3 g qq CO 93 Sh c3 co ^ 03 s 3° ^ x> >V+3 -M rO G — 03 g —' 4-> ^ D corK G 2 G W *G O G 4J CO G G W G G • pH > Sh - x G CO X o3 3 G X *h, o X C +H G - c3 -*-> CO G O CJ CO Ol CO x G _ Gh CO *2 O co^O G 10 G <*> to G — G ,rH O G3 O ^2 °02 *o - co # x *3 Sh .g 5s - ! GO co GO w G a? G o3 H ^ CO G CO H bC X G g co Gr :5 CO G g y G G ^ 2 o G .G cs G g 1^ b€° c d r -< o ;g c w ^ (M~ JZ , "3 •? ^ a> W .pp CO G A ~ c3 ,rH S 1 O Gh Op^ co S G G G g« S .2 *g (N S'd 2 G G _ +j co G ^ w O co 0 ) o 2 3 co ° ^ co .3 £ co j 2 g G S c 8 03 o . = 3_ *5 43 c e 2 t>T c5^ £1 80 Sow 3 * G ^ ® 03 G q; G —! hh C 3 rG G-c M co ^ G - »0 ^ .g co u: Pg co 22 co 0 ) . G •P- CO c 00 g a _ ■+-< .M CO G r G O 0 ) co G . G co 1 8 0:3 ^ G rH .2 G • rH G ^ co . The propagation of the faith was “by the living word.” J. Donaldson ( The Apostolical Fathers , vol. i. p. 60, 1874), commenting on the words of Irenaeus, well says: “ In fact, there was a spoken Christianity as well as a written Christianity ; the former existed before the latter.” And he attempts to demonstrate what were the faith and the free constitution of the Church at this time when free speech was not fettered by the written formula, and when each body of Christians was independent under its elders and inspectors. 10 THE AFRICAN AND SYRIAN PRINCES, 180 TO 235 a. d. what institution has lived eighteen centuries ? It is not generally recognized that of all the miracles this is the greatest, — human wisdom rearing a temple in which the noblest minds have lived so long, and which shelters so many still. In the first and second centuries evangelical liberty was very great, and it was only gradually lost . 1 Most of the apologists of the epoch of the Antonines did not even belong to the clergy, and Eusebius 2 shows that for a long time there were volunteers for the faith, who spread abroad the glad tidings according to their own inspiration. From this resulted diversities, which at an early date produced what the constituted Church called “ heresies.” The Apostles and the Apostolic Fathers had taught, with some discrepancies which we cannot now define, the fundamental doc¬ trine of the divinity of Christ, and, consequently, a revealed law. This law was recorded in numerous accounts of the life of Jesus, which had at first only a traditional value . 3 To the early Fathers, the Holy Scriptures were above all the Pentateuch and the Prophets; even in the middle of the second century, Papias, bishop of Hierapolis in Phrygia, said that it was far less important to consult the books than living tradition . 4 But before the end of this 1 Letter 72 of Saint Cyprian to Saint Stephen, bishop of Rome, closes with these words: Qua in re nec nos vim cuiquam facimus aut legem damus, quando habeat in Ecclesiae administration voluntatis suae arbitrium liberum unusquisque praepositus, rationem actus sui Domino redditurus. 2 Hist. eccl. iii. 37. What is termed the Council of Jerusalem (Acts xv.) had itself, on some important points, respected the liberty of the faithful. 3 Donaldson, The Apost., etc., pp. 68, 107, 155, 234, etc. Origen attests (In Matth.x ii. 6) that some Christians did not find the divinity of Christ clearly expressed in the Gospel of Saint Matthew; and Photius, in his Bibliotheca, Cod. 126, addresses the same reproach to Saint Clement of Rome for his Epistle to the Corinthians, in which Jesus is nowhere called God, but the beloved child of God, the high priest, the head of souls. The pseudo-ilermas speaks in the same manner. See also the words of Saint Peter (i. 1, 2, 25), which are not contradicted by the Acts (ii. 36). Cf. Clemens Romanus, Epist., ed. llilgenfeld, 1876, after the manuscript discovered the year before at Constantinople. Eusebius (Hist. eccl. iii. 34) gives the date of Clement’s death as a. d. 101. The idea of a Messiah was exceedingly Jewish : that of a God become man was not so; and it is quite natural that in the early times it should have entered with great difficulty into the minds of the Jews converted to the Gospel. This was the case, for instance, with Cerinthus, the famous heresiarch, whom certain accounts place in communication with Saint John. Saint Ignatius, dying under Trajan, had combated the Ebionites, who denied the divinity of Jesus (Ep. ad Magn. 7-8; ad Philad. 6-9), and the Docetae, who rejected his humanity (Ep. ad Smyrn. 1-5; ad Trail. 6-10). 4 ... ra napa CanTys (pcovrjs Kai pevovcnji (Eusebius, Hist. eccl. iii. 39). Trenaeus (iii. 2) also said: Non per litteras traditam veritatem, sed per vivam vocem. According to Eusebius (ibid.), Papias could only have known and employed the Gospels of Saint Mark and of Saint THE CHURCH AT BEGINNING OF THIRD CENTURY. ll century the choice between all these accounts was made, and apo¬ stolic authority recognized in the three Synoptics, into which older writings had been fused , 1 and in the Gospel of Saint John, although this had been composed later, and differed from the three others on an essential point, — the doctrine of the Logos. This doc¬ trine, which the Alexandrian Jew Philo had brilliantly enunciated, was related both to some ancient Egyptian beliefs, and at the same time to certain ideas of Plato. By giving rise in philosophic minds to the boldest speculations, it was destined to serve as a foundation for the Christian theology which made of the Messiah the Incarnate Word, while the Synoptics supplied to the ordinary preaching, to attract the multitude, their tender and charming parables, and the sombre and sublime narrative of the Passion. The Acts and the Epistles had likewise been admitted, so that the canon of the Scriptures was nearly determined, though no authority had as yet closed or promulgated it . 2 The Church, therefore, had Matthew, of which he speaks with great liberty, the Apocalypse, the first Epistle of Saint Peter, and the first of Saint John. A very important work for the knowledge of the canon of the Scriptures towards the end of the second century is the Fragment of Muratori (so c died), discovered in 1840 at Milan. [The best general guide is now G. Salmon’s Critical Introduction to the N. T. London : J. Murray, 1885. — Ed.] 1 Saint Luke, in proem., says, ttoWo'l 2 I do not need to investigate when and how the canonical books were prepared; a multitude of learned works furnish information on this subject. My duty is to show what were the spirit and the organization of the Church at the epoch when its power was sufficiently great to enable it to exert an influence on Roman society and the destinies of the Empire. Now, this epoch corresponds to the reign of Severus. Under Marcus Aurelius, Celsus (Origen, Contra Cels. ii. 27) represented the Christians as at that time continually occupied in correcting and altering their Gospels, . . . mutant pervertuntque ; and Eusebius (Hist. eccl. iv. 23, and v. 28) confirms this testimony. Origen, who died in 253, in fact says (Horn. 1, in Luc.) : Multi conati sunt scribere Evangelica; but he adds, seel non omnes recepti. There was, then, in the first and second centuries, a great work of editing, co-ordinating, and eliminating, which resulted in an evangelical canon. At the time of Tertullian (beginning of the third century) the canon was fixed; for he speaks (A d Marcionem, iv. 2) of the four Gospels “ of the apostles Matthew and John ” and the “ apostolic men” Luke and Mark, as forming the “ evangelical instrument ” accepted in his time. So also Saint Irenaeus, who was put to death under Severus (Adv. haer. iii. 11), and Clement of Alexandria, who died under Caracalla or Elagabalus (Strom, iii. 13); but both quote freely from the Apocrypha; Origen thinks “it may be used with discretion” (Horn. 26 in Matth. 23). The author of the Letters of Saint Ignatius regards the Gospel of the Hebrews as an authentic text (Ad Smyrn. 3) ; Saint Irenaeus mentions also the Acts, the Epistles, and the Apocalypse. Saint Justin, half a century earlier, never cites the Epistles, and very rarely the Fourth Gospel, the authenticity of which was still under discus¬ sion. Even in the middle of the third century, Dionysius, bishop of Alexandria, does not know who is the author of the Apocalypse, and is not without some distrust of the value of this book (Eusebius, Hist, eccles. vii. 25). “Peter,” says Origen (ap. Eusebius, ibid. vi. 25), “ has left but one epistle which is generally received. . . . John has also left one very short 12 THE AFRICAN AND SYRIAN PRINCES, 180 TO 235 a. d. its holy book, the New Testament, — less poetical than the Old, but far superior as a winner of souls. Finally, Theophilus of Antioch had just found a word which is not in the Gospels, the word Trinity, 1 — a brief and clear ex¬ pression of the dogma which the Council of Nicaea stated exactly, by determining the relations of the three divine persons; 2 and Saint Irenaeus wrote, between the years 177 and 192, the Catholic profession of faith in almost the same terms used in the doctrinal formulary of 325. 4 But all Christian believers did not attach the same importance to these obscure dogmas. In the fourth century, Lactantius, one of the most valiant defenders of the Church, understood them so imperfectly that Pope Gelasius placed his works among the apocrypha; later still, Gregory Nazianzen will show what uncertainty existed with regard to the Holy Spirit. 5 Thus, at the epoch where we take up the history of the Church, the close of the second century, Christian theology had Epistle. ... As to the Epistle of Paul to the Hebrews, ray belief is that God alone knows who is its author.” The authenticity of the Pauline Epistles to Titus and Timothy is also much contested. 1 Tpi'ar (Ad Autolyc. ii. 15), which Tertullian translated by the Latin word Trinitas ( De Pudicitia, 21). 2 In respect to this old trinitarian belief, which underlies the Gospels, particularly that of Saint John, see Yol. VI. p. 585, note. Theophilus was bishop of Antioch, and died in the reign of Commodus. 3 From a marble in the Museum of the Lateran (Roller, Les Catac. de Rome , pi. lxvii. No. 2). 4 Adv. haer. i. 10; likewise Tertullian in the De Praescr. 13, and, less at length, in the De Velandis Virg. 5 Gregory Nazianzen, Oral. xxxi. Spiritus sancti negat substantiam, says Saint Jerome (Epist . 49), with reference to Lactantius; and he adds that Lactantius displays more skill in combating error than in establishing truth (Epist. 13, ad Paulin.). THE CHURCH AT BEGINNING OF THIRD CENTURY. 13 made a brilliant beginning. It was Greek genius which had done this, by the mouth of Ignatius and Irenaeus, of Justin and Athenagoras, of Tatian and Theophilus, of Melito of Sardis and Apollinarius of Hierapolis; and other Greeks, Clement and Origen, will develop it in the third, in the great school of Alexandria. 1 The fraternal agape had at first been only a remembrance of the Last Supper and a transformation of the great feast of the Jews, the Passover, at which the paschal lamb was eaten in com¬ memoration of the miraculous exodus of the Hebrews when they THE AGAPE . 3 escaped from the bondage of Egypt. The increasing number of believers changed its character; it became the mystic repast, which derived its name, euyapto-rta, from the thanksgiving pronounced in the benediction of the cup and the breaking of the bread. 3 For the bloody sacrifice of the old cult, Christianity substituted one of a nature wholly spiritual, like itself, and also celebrating a deliverance, — that of souls. Sacrifice — that is to say, the gift offered to the gods with the view of gaining their favor — had been the basis of all the cults; and the costlier the offering, the more efficacious was believed to be the sacrifice. Hence the immolation of human victims. Time made this cruel piety unpopular, the philosophers condemned it, and the Emperors prohibited it; but the belief' in the merits of sacrifice * To kcit 'A\f^dv8peiav 8i8aaKa\eiov (Eusebius, ibid. v. 10). 2 From a bas-relief of the Kircher Museum (Roller, pi. liv. fig. 7). 3 On the eucharistia in the middle of the second century, see Saint Irenaeus {A dr. haer.. lv. 18) and Saint Justin (Apol. i. 65-67). 14 THE AFRICAN AND SYRIAN PRINCES, ISO TO 235 a. d. did not cease; it became transformed and purified. The pagan god received the offering and shared it with his worshippers; 1 the new God gave himself to his priests and his followers. No more shedding of blood, no more flame consuming the victim, no more smoke veiling the divine face. The gifts of the heavenly Father which sustain life upon the earth,—bread, water, and wine,— became symbols of men’s communion with him. His spirit was incarnate in Jesus; Jesus ascended to heaven, became incarnate in the bread and wine consecrated on earth: hoc est corpus meum , hie est sanguis mens. This was at first only a figure. 2 As men participated in idolatry by eating the flesh of pagan victims, they participated in the new cult by breaking the bread and drink¬ ing the cup. But the condition of men’s minds being what it was, the figure must very soon become to the faithful a reality. In the middle of the second century the eucharist was already “ the sacrament of the altar.” 3 While Christian believers were still far from believing in transubstantiation, they already admitted consub- stantiation; and the mystic sanctity which the Lord’s Supper had acquired, communicated to the priest who offered the sacrifice a more exalted dignity, with the character of a necessary mediator between heaven and earth. This character was also to come to him in another w T ay. Jesus had left to his Apostles only the two commands: “ Preach the Gospel to all the nations, and baptize them.” This baptism, which he himself had chosen to receive, was a symbol of purifica¬ tion and the condition of salvation. 4 In early times it presupposed on the part of the one who presented himself for it a personal adherence given after receiving instruction, and signified by a profession of the Christian faith. Hence it was administered to adults only: the catechumens of Alexandria waited three years for it. 5 But the sacramental idea attached especial virtues to it; by it, he who was baptized was born again in the spirit. “Plunged in the darkness of a dense night, and floating on the 1 In ancient Italy the repast was always preceded bv libations to the Penates. 2 The Acts of the Apostles (ii. 42, and xx. 7) explain the words of Paul, 1 Cor. x. 16. 3 Ignatius, Ad Rom. 7; Ad Smyrn. 7; Justin. Anal. i. 66; and Irenaeus, op. cit. iv. 18, and v. 2. 4 John, iii. 5. 5 KavoVey Trjs iv AlyvTrru) eK/cKr/a-las (ii. 45, up. Bunsen, iv. 451 et seqi). (BAS-RELIEF OF A SARCOPHAGUS OF ARLES. E. LE BLANT, ETUDES SUR LES SARCOPHAGES DE LA YILLE D J ARLES, PLATE XIY.) The Library e? the yiw»v«r*lty of llllno<» THE CHURCH AT BEGINNING OF THIRD CENTURY. 15 stormy sea of the time, I drifted hither and thither,” says Saint Cyprian, “ and knew not how to direct my life. Divine goodness caused me to be born again in the saving water of baptism. ... At once a serene and pure light was shed from on high upon my soul, aud I became a new man.” 1 This efficacy of baptism dispens¬ ing with personal adherence, children were admitted to regeneration. This was a noteworthy innovation. The Master had said, Smite venire ad me parvulos; the Church called them and took them. She now watched over the beginnings of life, as over the approach of death, and thus she was enabled to keep or to recover in the turbulent years of youth those whom from their birth she had “enrolled in the army of Christ (census Dei).” 3 Emerging from the baptismal font, the neophyte was clothed with a white robe, — symbol of innocence, — and he drank, from a vessel of milk and honey, the pure, sweet nourishment of the body, which was an image of the spiritual food distributed by the Church to all her children. 4 Jesus had said, “ Whosesoever sins ye forgive, they are for¬ given unto them.” This was a powerful means of action for the BAPTISM. 1 Saint Cyprian, Ep. ad Donat. Saint Justin ( Apol . i. 61) liad spoken of this new birth by baptism, and Origen called it “ the principle and the source of the gifts of grace ” (In Joann. 17). 2 From a painting in the crypt of Pope Calixtus (Roller, op. cit. pi. xxiv. fig. 4. Cf. ibid. i. 131). 3 Tertullian, De Baptismo, 17. Baptism was habitually administered by immersion for those in health, by sprinkling for the sick. This rite was also the foundation of the worship of Mitlira, then widely extended, and it “regenerated for eternity” him who received it; but it was a baptism of blood, giving rise to a hideous ceremony (Vol. VI. p 390), which must have repelled women, children, and all sensitive persons. Another baptism of blood, that of the Jews, continued for some time to be practised by the Christian Jews also. The fifteen bishops of Jerusalem, down to the destruction of the temple, were circumcised (Eusebius, Ilist. eccl. iv. 5). * . . . Mellis et lactis soviet at em (Tertullian, A do. Marcion. i. 14) 16 THE AFRICAN AND SYRIAN PRINCES, 180 TO 235 a. d. government of souls, promised to the new priesthood. At first, the penitent “made unto the Lord” 1 the avowal of his fault in the presence of the believers, and the priest determined the necessary expiation. But it was inevitable that auricular confession should take the place of public confession. The penitent and the priest were equally interested in this change, for the public confession being possible only in the case of grave offences, the minor ones escaped the action of the Church. With confession to the priest alone, the sinner, especially women, 2 avoided the shame of humiliation before all the people; and the priest penetrated into the private life of the penitent, and was thus better enabled to direct him for salvation. If the penitent, in a dying condition, desired to be reconciled to the Church, the priest, at his bedside, necessarily represented the whole assembly of the brethren; and the exception ended by becoming the rule. However, public con¬ fession was not interdicted until the middle of the fifth century; but at that time auricular confession, whose beginnings we see in the epoch now under consideration, 3 had long since acquired the power of a sacrament. By the counsels which follow confession, the priest assumed the direction of the life of the penitents: he taught them the laws of right conduct according to the Church, and by his power to bind and to loose, made saints destined to sit down at the right hand of God, or damned souls whom Satan and his tortures await. The pagan mysteries, too, granted sal¬ vation, but by an initiation which was not repeated. In the bosom of the Church the initiation is perpetually renewed by the eucharistic communion, which restores to a state of purity, by the religious teaching which prepares for it, by the sacra¬ ment of penitence which brings back the sinner or turns away forever the excommunicated, banished at the same time from the Church and from heaven. What a moral power in this 1 . . . Exomologesis est qua delictum domino nostro eonfitemur (Tertullian, De Poenit. 9). It is the public confession mentioned in the Gospel of Saint Matthew (iii. 6), of Saint Mark (i. 5), and in the Acts (xix. 18). 2 Saint Irenaeus ( Adv . haer. i. 3) speaks of women who publicly confessed their faults. 3 Origen, in the second homily upon Psalm xxxvii. 19, in the Homilia 2 in Levit. 4, and in his De Orat. 28, is already more explicit. At this moment, the middle of the third century, the two modes of confession co-exist, but the confession to the priest is already more customary than the confession to the assembly. Cf. the Octavius , 9, 10, 11, 12, 25, 2C, and 29, and the De Lapsis. As to the laying on of hands, that was a Jewish custom. THE CHURCH AT BEGINNING OF THIRD CENTURY. IT faith! What supremacy given to these outcasts of earth who were able to give heaven or refuse it! Never before had such authority been recognized by men, such discipline accepted by believers; and how clearly this explains why the nations so long bent their knees and subjected their souls to the priesthood of the Church! Another sacrament now came into existence, or rather an ancient usage continued under a new form, — extreme unction. 1 2 This again THE AGAPE, SYMBOL OF THE EUCHARISTIC COMMUNION . 2 is only the prayer of the priests over the sick, the Jewish usage of anointing with oil in the name of the Lord, and the confession of faith by dying persons. 3 The civil law does not favor celibacy, for celibacy renders a man free from the obligations of the family, and the family is the basis of society. But in the East, and even in Greece, certain churches and philosophic sects - recommended it. In the days of the old religion, some of the goddesses — Diana, Minerva, Vesta, and the Muses — had repudiated even chaste love; and at Athens and Rome, and among the Gauls, the holiest prayers were those 1 Origen, Homilia 2 in Levit. 2. 2 After a marble of the Lateran. The Genius which occupies the left is foreign to tlie eucharistic supper. He supports the frame of the epitaph (Roller, op. cii. pi. liv. fig. 6). 3 James v. 14-15. Among the Jews perfumed olive-oil served for various religious uses (Genesis xxviii. 18, and Exodus xxx. 24-29) and for the anointing of high-priests and lungs, for the treatment of diseases and wounds (Isaiah i. G), for the purification of lepers (Levit.. xiv. 17). VOL. vn. 2 18 THE AFRICAN AND SYRIAN PRINCES, 180 TO 285 a. d. of virgins. The Apostles and the early Fathers did not impose celibacy; there was, however, a tendency towards it; it was the natural consequence of a doctrine which prescribed the mortifica¬ tion of the flesh, and renunciation. 1 2 As early as the period of 1 From a fresco of the subterranean basilica of St. Clement at Rome. This Virgin, doubtless of the eighth century, is the oldest known after that of the catacombs of St. Priscilla. The basilica of St. Clement, between the Caelian and the Esquiline, was filled up in the twelfth century for the construction of the present church, and has been rendered accessible only since 1855. The Madonna buried there has consequently suffered no retouch¬ ing ; and with her nimbus of gold and her rich drapery overloaded with gems, offers us an authentic specimen of the Byzantine style (Roller, op. cit. vol. ii. pi. C, and p. 354). 2 We find in the early centuries numbers of bishops married, but living in celibacy. Caecilius, a presbyter of the church of Carthage, at his death commended his wife and chil¬ dren to Saint Cyprian’s care (Fleury. Hist, eccles. ii. 173), and during the persecution of Decius, the Bishop of Nicopolis in Egypt fled to the desert “ with his wife ” (Eusebius, Hist, eccles. vi. 42). Records of martyrs relating to the persecution of Diocletian speak of married bishops, and a law of 357 (Cod. Theod. xvi. 2, 14), confirming the benefits granted by Constan¬ tine to the clergy, extended them to their wives and children, wares et feminae. The Church recommended continence to the married clergy (Council of Elvira, 33d canon ; Council of Nicaea, 3d canon). See in Socrates (Hist, eccles. i. 11) the speech of Saint Paphnutius in opposition at the Council of Nicaea. The same writer mentions (v. 22) at the end of the fourth century married bishops who had had legitimate children after their ordination. THE CHURCH AT BEGINNING OF THIRD CENTURY. 19 which we speak, the Christian Church refused to admit to the episcopate those who had contracted a second marriage; and this regulation has been preserved in the Greek Church. In order to control man at every moment of his life, from the cradle to the grave, the Church later made a sacrament of marriage, although without being able to deprive it of its fundamental character of a civil contract. 1 The Virgin, who occupies so high a place in the Roman Cath¬ olic Church of modern times, was comparatively an insignificant figure in the early ages. Mention is made of her with respect, but no worship is rendered to her. With the lapse of time the historic person became a sacred type. This was not, however, until the second Oecumenical Council, that of 381, which placed her name in the creed, to which the Fathers of Nicaea had not admitted it. The dogma of the communion and intercession of saints will also not be formulated until the fourth century. “At the altar,” Saint Augustine says, “we do not speak of the martyrs as we do of the faithful who rest in peace. We do not pray for them; we entreat them to pray for us.” 2 As early as the third century, however, there is a trace of this, 3 and it was also a necessary consequence. Thus was formed the grand epic of the Christian religion, as the song of some old klepht became, by the labor of successive generations, the Iliad of Homer; and it was destined to be, for a long succession of centuries, the consolation and the delight of souls. But the new poet who developed the primitive germ was the Church, or rather those ardent communities, those nocturnal 1 Jesus had said (Matt. xxii. 30) : “In the resurrection they neither marry, nor are given in marriage,” and Saint Paul accepted mixed unions (1 Cor. vii. 12-26 ), — a doctrine which a council again sanctioned in 314. Saint Paul (Ephes. v. 32) calls marriage gvcrr^piov ,— a Avord which has been too freely translated “ sacrament.” Among the Romans marriage was a civil contract, indispensable for the constitution of the family and the reciprocal rights of the parties and of their children, and the Church could not herself change its conditions; but she joined to it her prayers and her benediction. The Council of Trent (sess. xxiv.) recognized that in marriage the sacrament had the effect of sanctifying the pre-existing, contract: gratiam quae naturalem ilium amorem perjiceret . . . conjugesque sanctificaret. 2 Commemoramus . . . ut etiam pro eis oremus, sed magis ut et ipsi pro nobis (Tract . 84 in Evang. S. Joann.). 3 Saint Cyprian, Ep. 57, ad Jinem. The doctrine of purgatory, unknown to the Evan¬ gelists (St. Luke xvi. 26), was also propounded by Saint Augustine. 20 THE AFRICAN AND SYRIAN PRINCES, 180 TO 235 a. d. assemblies, whose religious wants increased with the contagion of faith. The ignorant led on the learned; and they, drawing freely from the triple treasure of Biblical poetry, Grecian philosophy, and the Gospel, multiplied the dogmas, made the forms of worship more splendid, and changed all, thinking that they had changed nothing. The ceremonies varied, for the liturgy, or rule of public wor¬ ship, had not its present unity, each church being at liberty to prepare its own. 1 Saint Clement, in the century preceding, spoke of this in his Epistle to the Corinthians . This bishop of the mis¬ tress city of the world, this Bomanus, as he is called, had also previously invoked discipline by comparing the Church to the legions of Caesar, in which the chief commands. 2 His successors finally introduced into the Church the same rules of absolute obedience; and the fruitful liberty of the religious life of the early ages, without which nothing could be founded, was destined to disappear, giving place to that discipline without which nothing endures. At the end of the second century the dogmatic work of the Church was so far advanced that Clement of Alexandria, writing in the reign of Severus, sought to co-ordinate its parts into a scientific system constructed with the ordinary processes of human thought. “Faith,” he said, “is the science of divine things given bv revelation; but this science must furnish the demonstration of the things of faith.” And he composed the Stromata, which, though not written with the severe method of Saint Thomas, are never¬ theless a first essay of Christian philosophy. Now, it is a sign of power, and often of approaching victory for ideas, when philosophy takes them up and formulates them. 1 See in the third volume of the Analecta Ante-Nicaeana of Bunsen, the fragments of the most ancient liturgies. The first which he quotes (p. 21) was used at Alexandria in the time of Origen; and Bunsen does not think that it can be dated earlier than the middle of the second century. 2 KaTavorjacofjifv tovs arpaTevopevovs rois rjyovp.ei'ois rjpcov (vtuktoos ttu> etKovras (Saint Clement, Ad Corinth. 37). THE CHURCH AT BEGINNING OF THIRD CENTURY. 21 I. — The Hierarchy and Discipline. While the Church was thus regulating its internal life, it had been led, by the very nature of its efforts to propagate the faith, to adopt for its external life an organization which the strongest political conceptions have never equalled. The Christian communities of the earliest days had as few eccle¬ siastical laws as they had sacraments; each organizing itself after its own will. In the time of Saint Paul numbers of brethren were allowed to assume an office or a title, in order to retain them, by the gratification of a very human sentiment, — the wish to have a certain recognized superiority. We know how fond the fraternities, the cities, and the whole Roman world were of this hierarchal order. 1 “ God,” says Saint Paul, “ hath set some in the church, first apostles, .secondly prophets, thirdly teachers, then miracles, then gifts of healings, helps, governments, divers kinds of tongues.” 2 This ■strange confusion could not last. The Greek cities had e7rux/co7roi, or overseers, — a kind of aediles, whose duties the Digest 3 defines : u those who have charge of the provisions.” The first Christian communities seem to have borrowed this municipal function and its name. 5 At their head, to preside 1 See Vol. Y. chap. lxxx. “The City.” 2 1 Cor. xii. 28. 3 1. 4, 18, sec. 7. 4 From a gilded glass of the catacombs, fourth century (Roller, pi. lxxix. No. 5). 6 This is the opinion of several theologians, and it is probably correct. Cf. Waddington, Inscr. de Syrie, p. 474. We even find inia-KOTvoi in the Greek fraternities (see Wescher, Revue ■arclie'oL, April, 1866). The episcopal cross is similar to the lituus of the Roman augur. Has it been borrowed from it, or does it come from the shepherd’s crook? From both, doubtless, but rather from the latter. THE APOSTLES SAINT PETEK AND SAINT PAUL . 4 09 ]. It is doubtless to these synods that I’ertullian alludes (R< J(Jiniiis . 13). I do not, of course, mention what is called the Council of Jerusalem, between the years b<> and o'l. The Council of the Province of Ada. which included a great number of bishops. differed on this point from the opinion of Rome, and this division lasted for centuries (Klciiry, llist. reel. i. ols). * These eighty-seven bishops belonged to proconsular Africa, Xuinidia, and Mauretania. This council appears to be of the year itdii. 3 The term ••oecumenical council” signifies an assemblage of tlie bishops of tlie whole habitable earth; but for a long while the limits of the organized Church were the frontiers of the Empire. 4 This resistance to tlie absorption of the Church by the bishop was doubtless the real cause of the struggles of Eclieissimus again.-t Cyprian, and of Ilippolytus against Calixtus. 30 THE AFRICAN AND SYRIAN PRINCE iso to a. j*. to them, in the fourth century, a special dignity, which the Council of Xicaea confirmed. Although as yet there had not gone forth from the Roman Church either an illustrious theologian or any of those great words which provoke or terminate fiery disputes, 1 * men must naturally have been led to recognize a primacy of honor in the bishop of the capital of the world, in the see, the only one in all the West, which was regarded as of apostolic origin, which was said to have been consecrated bv the blood of Saint Peter and Saint Paul, and in which their tombs were to be seen. Saint Ignatius of Antioch, under Trajan, in his letter to Pie Christians of Rome, makes no allusion to the special power of their bishop. From their prisons the confessors of Lyons write to him, it is true, recommending the union of the churches; but the} 7 address the same recommendation to their brethren of Asia, — words of peace, which on the eve of suffering, the martyrs often sent to other Christian assemblies. Towards the end of the second century the inevitable evolution began. The transalpine churches were the first to gather around the apostolic see. Saint Ire- naeus recognized in it a certain moral superiority.' while at the same time combating the opinion of the Bishop of Rome in the dispute which the latter maintained with the Eastern churches. However, the ecclesiastical history of the first half of the third cen¬ tury— notably the letters of Firmilianus to Saint Cyprian against Pope Stephen, 3 of the Bishop of Carthage to the prelates of Xumidia, and those of the bishops who blamed Pope Victor strongly in the affair concerning Easter 4 * * — proves that no doctrinal pre-eminence had been as vet accorded to the see of Rome. Among the great sees 1 Saint Clement’s Epistle/to the Corinthian?, and tlie Parlor, ascribed to Hennas, contain nothing dogmatic. . / - . . . Propter pntinrem principalitnlati (A>lr. lour. iii. 3). Saint Cyprian ( Epist . ah') also calls the see of Rome Ecckria principal !>•. Despite the famous passage. i-\ tovti/ t?/ jrtVpu oiKoSofjLrjaa fiov ti)v t kk\tje them as a rule of faith the doctrines taught by the bishops of Rome and of Alexandria, whv are thus placed in the same rank. The constitution of 421 (ibid. xvi. 245) records that if "n Ulyricum any doubt shall arise concerning the ancient canons, the matter shall be referred to the bishop of the city of Constantinople, quae veteris Romae joraerogativa laetatur. 32 THE AFRICAN AND SYRIAN PRINCES, 180 TO 235 a. i>. its fruitfulness into several persons.” The Rome see, then, is in his eyes the sign, and not the rule, of the unity, which was to him the result of the common concurrence of all the members. The needs, and the ideas to which these needs gave rise, did not at that time require a greater concentration of spiritual authority. Of all these innovations, the most important in its historical consequences was the formation of a class of men not before in existence, — except, perhaps, in the interior of the peninsula of Hin- dostan. By the celibacy which will hereafter be imposed upon him, the Christian priest will become a new being in creation, as, by spiritual consecration, which neither civil authority nor popular election can give, he becomes a man apart in society. But the renunciation of the conditions of human nature will acquire for him a personal power in addition to the religious power that secured to him the right to remit sins and to bring down God upon the earth in the sacrifice of the altar. These priests will most frequently be good men, of an angelic purity, and with a devotion equal to any sacrifice; but sometimes also they will be • men of such pride that they will set their feet on the necks of kings. Hence they will become formidable to civil society, because, being placed outside of it, they constitute a great sacerdotal body, desiring, and by virtue of its doctrines required, to seek by every means to prevail over society. There was then about to be introduced into the Western world a condition the opposite of what Rome had known and practised for ten centuries; namely, the separation of the clergy and the laity, of the Church and the State. In the Graeco-Roman world the union of the believer with the divinity was directly realized r the father of the family was the priest of its gods. The Christian required an intermediary to enter into communion with the object of his worship. This produces a diminution of the individual dig¬ nity of the believer, while the authority of the body exclusively devoted to religious service is greatly increased by it. Attached to the priestly office for life by their faith and by their interests, since they live by the altar, 1 these men consecrated heir activity, 1 A Christian community of Rome, which, in the time of r j pe Zephyrimus and the Emperor Severus, wished to have its especial bishop, assured him 150 denarii per month. (Eusebius, Hist. eccl. v. 29). THE APOSTLES ; VASE OF THE FOURTH CENTURY, IN THE KIRCHER MUSEUM (ROLLER, PL. LXXIII. 3). The Library •f the IMwtlty ol Htt*>«4a THE CHURCH AT BEGINNING OF THIRD CENTURY. 33 their genius, their holiness, and sometimes their blood, to the a^o-randizement of the Church. And as it is in the nature of every corporate body to work unremittingly to extend its influ¬ ence and its privileges, the establishment of the clergy, such as it has been now described, secured to the Church a formidable army, which at the outset prevented it from perishing, and afterwards rendered it victorious. Never did the most loyal praetorian guard render to its Emperor so great service as the Church has received from the sacerdotal corps. The repository of religious doctrine and of moral truth, it has defended the one according to the time RESURRECTION OF THE DAUGHTER OF JAIRUS . 1 and the place, with the spirit of gentleness, of sacrifice, or of unpitying hardness ; but it has preserved the other in the darkest days of history, and still teaches it. Thus the Church developed harmoniously its twofold life, doctrinal and disciplinary. One thing alone diminished in it, — the virtue of the miracle. In proportion as it had been extended more widely, it had lost that power which, to be admitted, has need of remoteness in time and space. The faith of the simple had filled with marvellous deeds the history of the early days; Saint Irenaeus still believed u that the genuine disciples of Christ could deliver those possessed, foretell the future, heal the sick, 1 From a mutilated sarcophagus. Four different scenes follow in succession on this bas- relief. 1st, on the left, Moses striking the rock; 2d, adoration of Christ by four persons, among whom two are weeping and veiling their faces; 3d, the resurrection of the daughter of the chief of the synagogue of Capernaum ; 4tli, Christ standing with his right hand raised. This last part is incomplete (E. Le Blant, Etude sur les sarcophages chretiens antiques de la ville d’Arles, pi. xvii. and p. 28). VOL. VII. 3 34 THE AFRICAN AND SYRIAN PRINCES, 180 TO 235 a. d . and raise the dead.” 1 The doctors of the age of which we are speaking beheld these wonders no longer, while still believing that they might see them; and Origen shows us how enfeebled was the divine gift, daring to speak only of “ the vestiges of them which exist among the Christians.” After the passage of another half- century we hear the Bishop of Caesarea acknowledge sadly that even these vestiges have disappeared. 2 In contrast with the strong organization of the Church should be placed the weakness of the imperial clergy. Heads of Christian communities, the bishops, are judges for heaven, and judges also for earth; for the brethren acquire the habit of submitting to them the differences which arise among themselves. The pagan priests — mere masters of ceremonies in the religious solemnities—had neither vast domains and revenues of their own, as the Church will possess when its turn shall come to combat innovators, nor jurisdiction which gave them subjects, nor public teaching securing them disciples; and paternal authority, by closing to them the interior of the family, kept the women and children out of their in¬ fluence. The old clergy was therefore incapable of contending with the new. The attack was admirably conducted; the defence was very poor. Shouts of the populace and sentences to death, — that is to say, acts of violence, — were not sufficient to hinder the spread of a religion which, born of the spirit, could have been arrested or restrained only by the spirit. 1 Tertullian ( De Sped. 29) recognized also in Christians the power to drive out devils, to perform miraculous cures, and to receive divine revelations. But when the interlocutor of Saint Theophilus of Antioch demands for his conversion that the bishop should show him a dead person raised to life, Theophilus replies to him {Ad Autolycum, i. 8): “ Do as the laborer who sows before he harvests; as the voyager and the sick who believe, the one in the pilot before arriving in port, the other in the physician before recovering his health.” And he is indeed right: belief in miracles requires a special disposition of mind; a man believes in them, not because he sees them, but because he thinks he sees them. This is the very expression of the bishop: “ It is necessary to believe in order to see.” 2 Origen, Contra Celsum, i. 2 ; Eusebius, Hist. eccl. v. 7. THE CHURCH AT BEGINNING OF THIRD CENTURY. 35 V. — The Heresies. Armed with its canonical books and its ardent faith, sustained by its hierarchy, fortified by its discipline, the Church advanced slowly but surely to the conquest of the world. To the anarchy of doctrines it opposed the simplicity of its dogma; to philosophic freedom, the unity of its spirit; and it cast out of its fold those who, in the common Credo , sought “to make their selection.” 1 The narratives of the Gospels and the doctrinal exhortations of the Epistles had sufficed for the simple men whom the Church recruited in the first century. But when, in the second, the faith reached cultivated minds, these persons desired to co-ordinate their beliefs, and solve by the processes of the schools the questions which they involved. Then was produced, in the solutions of religious problems, the same diversity that we have elsewhere seen in philosophical solutions. Many said, like the Clement of the Christian romance of the Icecognitiones, “ I am sick in soul,” and sought by the most diverse ways a remedy for these sufferings of the spirit, more agonizing than any bodily pain. The Christian sects drew their inspiration, it is true, from the same book ; but this book admitted of a thousand different inter¬ pretations, and the prophecy of Simeon was fulfilled : “ Behold, this child is set . . . for a sign which is spoken against.” 2 Even after the Council of Nicaea, Saint John Chrysostom could say: “ The mysteries of Scripture are like the pearls which fishermen search for in the depths of the sea. It is difficult to penetrate its meaning, still more difficult for all to comprehend it in the same manner.” 3 Infinite was, accordingly, the number of solutions proposed, and each solution found ready to accept it some of those men whom Saint James describes as “carried about with every wind of doctrine.” There were few great Christian communities whose bishop was not obliged to refuse the kiss of peace to men who presumed to discuss their faith. The author of the Philosophumena enumerates thirty-two 1 Heretic signifies in Greek, “ the one who chooses.” 2 St. Luke ii. 34: Ecce positus eat ... in signum cui contradicetur. 8 Horn, xiv., on the second chapter of Genesis. 36 THE AFRICAN AND SYRIAN PRINCES, 180 TO 235 a. d. heresies. 1 “ Under the fire of persecution they swarmed,” says Tertullian, “ like scorpions on the banks of the Nile under the burning rays of the summer sun.” We must leave to writers of religious history the study of these subtle discussions and of the rash audacity which has made humanity expend so much time and thought in vainly sounding the unfathomable. It will be sufficient for us to say that two principal categories of these insubordinate believers have been made, passing by insensible shades from almost complete orthodoxy to the absolute denial of a fundamental dogma, — the heretics of interpretation, who- changed the meaning or the text of the Scriptures; and the heretics of inspiration, who preached another law. Even in the time of the Apostles, Cerinthus had regarded Jesus as a man; a little later, Ebion — or at least the Ebionites — believed him to have been born of Joseph and Mary, admitting that he had by his virtue merited the descending of the Holy Spirit upon him. These tenacious doctrines, found in the second century in the singular book of the Recognitiones and in the Pastor of Hennas, had been lately again advanced by Artemon and Theodotus of Byzantium. A bishop of Antioch, Paul of Samosata, shortly after took them up again, and they were destined to culminate in the great heresy of Arius. Now, to deny the divinity of Christ, or, like the Docetae* to reject his humanity, was to undermine the foundation of the new religious edifice; and again, it was shaken if, with Praxeas and Sabellius, the Son was confounded with the Father: but to assume, as Montanus did, the character of prophet, was to change its con¬ stitution and expose it to all the tempests raised by frenzied mysticism. If the former prevailed, religion was destroyed, since the great mystery of God made man disappeared; if the latter, there was an end to organization, that is, to the constant acting of force in the same direction, since “ the Spirit bloweth where it listeth,” — doctrinal unity was at an end, and the universal Church no longer existed. This latter variety of heresy was especially formidable because among the Christians it was constantly held that the gift of pro- 1 In the fourth century Saint Epiphanius reckons sixty, and Themistius says that the Greeks have three hundred, different theories as to the Divinity (Socrates, Historia eccles. iv. 32). THE CHURCH AT BEGINNING OF THIRD CENTURY. 37 phecy, while it had become enfeebled, had not ceased in the Church. It had been said to the Apostles: “ I will pray the Father, and he shall give you another Comforter. . . . But the Com¬ forter, even the Holy Spirit, . . . shall teach you all things.” The mystics drew authority from these words, and many be¬ lieved, with Tertullian, that Montanus received the inspiration promised by Jesus. But this belief in special revelations, which destroyed the Gospel revelation while pretending to continue it, has given, and still gives, rise to the most dangerous sects. Marcion, in opposing to each other the Old and the New Testament, had already laid the foundation for Manichaeism. In the midst of so many doctrines the Church made its choice with the wonderful spirit of order and government which it seems to have inherited from those who persecuted it. Although it had as yet determined only the main outlines of the temple which it was to rear, it had already, in the third century, its im¬ movable Capitoline rock ( Capitolii immobile saxum ), against which the unceasing waves of heresy beat in vain. Irenaeus had just been writing against the Gnostics; Tertullian was engaged with the Yalentinians and the Marcionites, with Hermogenes, who maintained the eternity of matter, with Praxeas, who was attacking the dogma of the Trinity; the Bishop of Antioch had condemned Montanus; the Bishop of Rome, Tlieodotus of Byzantium, and Minu- cius w r ere arguing against the pagans. 1 The Church then knew her own will; and her sons, in listening to her, felt that they “ rose from the profound night of error into the full light of wisdom and truth,” 2 while others, the philosophers, or “those who made a choice,” were wandering at random. Finally, the Christian body already possessed what paganism never had, — a mighty force of discipline. By all these things its victory is explained. 1 Minucius Felix was a Roman lawyer. In his Octavius he essays to imitate Cicero and Plato; but, with the exception of a pleasing preamble, his pretended dialogue is only two successive discourses. In the one he makes accusations against the Christians, in the other he refutes them; and nowhere does he set forth the dogma. It is a plea, sometimes violent, always superficial, but written with a certain elegance of style, and composed for men of letters. 2 . . . Discussa caligine, de tenebrarum profundo in lucem sapientiae et veritatis emerrjere (Minucius, Oct. 1). 38 THE AFRICAN AND SYRIAN PRINCES, 180 TO 235 a. d. Along with this strength the Church had also its weak points,— in some of its clergy a spirit of pride and insubordination which led to lamentable falls; 1 among the members, vices which are too strongly planted in our nature for faith to be always able to repress them, 2 or the hypocritical profession of sanctity in order to profit by the alms of the brethren; in the days of trial which are to come, numerous apostasies, 3 explained by the fact that the Church was chiefly recruited from among the lower classes, 4 in which were found so many men “ lions in peace, timid deer in time of conflict;” 5 and finally, in the clerical order itself, rivalries and quarrels which led to schism or heresy. 6 Born on the same day, 1 Those of Tertullian, Origen, Tatian, etc. Saint Justin and Saint Irenaeus had adopted the doctrine of the Millenarians, and Clement of Alexandria sometimes borders on heresy. 2 Origen goes so far as even to say, “ Certain churches are changed into dens of thieves ” (In Matth. xvi. 8, 22; xi. 9, 15). Saint Cyprian accused the priest Novatus of having suffered his father to die of hunger, caused his wife to miscarry by his brutalities, and committed, after his elevation to the priesthood, numerous acts of fraud and rapine (Ep. 49), — accusations which may have been false, but which show that the Church of Carthage was as much disturbed as that of Rome. Cf. Tertullian, Ad Nat. i. 5. In the De Jejun. 17, he also admits that there were many sources of danger in the agapae, the abuses of which Saint Paul had already noticed (1 Cor. xi. 21-22), and to which Saint John Chrysostom (Horn. 27 in 1 Cor. xi.) and Saint Augustine (Ep. 64) refer. See in the 35tli canon of the Council of Elvira (about A. d. 300) the measures taken against the disorders of the Christian meetings at night. 3 On the apostasies, see Le Blant, Memoire sur la preparation au martyre, in the Mem. de. VAcad, des inscr. xxviii. 54, 55, the De Lapsis of Saint Cyprian, and his letter No. 30. 4 ... De ultima faece collectis imperitioribus. It is the pagan of the Octavius who speaks thus (sec. 8), and Celsus (i. 27 and iii. 44) had already said : “ They know how to win only the silly, vile souls without intelligence, slaves, women, and children.” Further on, in sec. 12, Caeci- lius repeats: Ecce pars vestrum el major et melior, utdicitis, egetis, algetis, ope, re, fame laboratis; and in his reply (sec. 31) Octavius contents himself with saying: “We are not the dregs of the people because we refuse your honors and your purple.” Then he adds (sec. 36): Quod plerique pauperes decimur, non est infamia nostra, sed gloria. The Church indeed gloried, and very justly, in seeking out the little ones; among the martyrs whom it most honored were Blandina and two women, Felicitas and Potamienna, who suffered punishment under Severus, all three of whom were slaves. The first martyr of Africa, Namphonius, or more properly Namphamo (see L. Renier, Mel. d’e'pigr. pp. 277 etsey.) and Evelpistus, who suffered martyrdom with Saint Justin, were of the same condition. Pope Calixtus (218-222) had been the slave of a freedman (Philosoph. ix. 12); and thus it must have been for a long period, for in the higher classes the entirely pagan education was hostile to Christianity, and a profession of the Christian faith rendered it necessary to break with society and its honors. Finally, it was not enough to strip “the old man” of his beliefs, but his pleasures and his wealth must also be taken from him; and many, like the young ruler of the Gospel, went away sorrowful when they were reminded of the precept of Jesus on giving up their goods to the poor. But we have seen that from the middle of the second century the Church also attracted to itself some o-reat minds, — Aristeides, Justin, Irenaeus, Clement of Alexandria, Tertullian, Origen, etc.; and the comparative peace which it enjoyed during the first half of the third century gave opportunity for several conversions in great families (Cyprian, Epist. 80). 5 Tertullian, De Cor. i. 6 See the Epistle of Saint Clement to the Corinthians, on the “impious and detestable” THE CHURCH AT BEGINNING OF THIRD CENTURY. 39 Faith and Heresy are two sisters, hostile, and yet inseparable : the one accompanies the other, and will forever accompany her. There was a third and impure sister, Theurgy, who insinuated herself among Christians of all sects, as among pagans of every cult, and even among the philosophers. Miracles were every¬ where demanded, and there was no lack of persons who pretended to perform them. In the condition of minds at that time, nervous diseases must have been frequent, those “possessed” numerous, and healers easy to be found, — self-deceived charlatans, or mere im¬ postors, whose incantations always made dupes, and who bandied about from one sect to another the charge of working by the aid of devils. We have seen in the preceding volume the miracles of the pagans; the Philosophumenci show that they appeared to continue, but that those of the Gnostics rivalled them. In con¬ cluding his account of the practices of these thaumaturgists the author adds: “That is the way to deceive the simple-minded.” 1 If that were true, the whole world, pagans and Christians, merited' the harsh epithet; for faith in the supernatural existed in all places, and in the Church more than anywhere else. So, without seeking or wishing to do so, she nourished in her bosom “ doers of marvellous works;” 2 and of these inspired persons the larger number were women. Christianity has always had a special tenderness for women; and this is just, for they have been, and still are, its most potent auxiliaries. Their lively imaginations, their delicate natures — still so virginal even in the wife and mother — were captivated by that belief which enjoined charity and love; which even, by the sedition which had broken out among them; the letters of Saint Cyprian in respect to Novatus and Felicissima; what the angels in the vision of Satur say to Bishop Optatus {Acts of Saint Perpetual) ; and the circumstances which brought about most of the schisms and heresies. Thus Saint Jerome (De Vir. Illustr. 53) affirms that it was the jealousy and ill-conduct ( invidia et contumeliae) of the clergy of Rome which caused the fall of Tertullian. He shows “ Rome convoking its Senate against Origen because the furious dogs who were barking at him could not endure the brilliancy of his speech and his knowledge ” (Rufinus, Apol. adv. Iiieron. ii. 20; cf. Eusebius, Hist. eccl. vi. 8). By these “furious dogs” Saint Jerome meant the bishops of Egypt, who had cut off the great teacher from their communion. Origen himself applied to them the severe words of Jeremiah (ii. 8) concerning the guides of the people who were so apt in doing evil (Fragment of a letter quoted by Saint Jerome, adv. Ruf ). This evil dated far back. Saint Paul had to reprimand the Christians of Corinth and of Crete; Saint James, those who exaggerated the Pauline doctrine; Saint John, the Nicolaitans. 1 Pliilos. iv. 4, 15 : rrel6ei tovs ci(j)povas. 2 The signification of the word “ thaumaturgist” (davpara and epSetv, from the root epy). 40 THE AFRICAN AND SYRIAN PRINCES, 180 TO 235 a. d. legend of Mary Magdalene, the repentant sinner, granted favor and pardon to those who had loved much. It was to them that these men appealed who gained admis¬ sion into, houses, “ silent before the husband, inexhaustible in talk with the matron.” 1 Celsus and the pagan of the Octavius indicate what part the women afterwards bore in the propagation of Chris¬ tianity. The mother, having been won over, brought with her the son, and then the father and the entire household. The story of Saint Monica converting her husband and her son is very old and ever new. Hence the Church assured them an honored place. The Epistles speak of holy women filling an office in the religious com¬ munity,— a testimony which Pliny confirms; 3 and Lucian shows them carrying into prisons food for Christian captives. Though teaching and performing the rites of public worship were forbidden them, Jesus had given to them the good part. When Martha is indignant at being excluded from the priesthood, Mary replies to her with a smile: “ Did he not tell us that our weakness would be saved by his might ? ” 4 This divine power which raises them so high is love. 1 Origen, Contra Celsnm, iii. 55. ‘ 2 This sarcophagus represents the following miracles, — Daniel unharmed by the lions ; Jesus changing the water into wine; and raising Lazarus. In the centre, a Christian in the attitude of prayer (Marble of the Catacombs of Calixtus. Roller, op. cit. pi. xlvii. fig. 2). 3 In the Pastor of Hernias there is also mention of deaconesses charged with the relations of the Christian community to the widows and orphans. In respect to the testimony of Pliny, see Yol. V. p. 288. 4 on to aadeves Si a rov laxvpov acud^a-erai (Const, i. 21, ap. Bunsen, op. cit. vol. vi.). Cf. De Pressense, La Vie des chretiens, p. 77. THE CHURCH AT BEGINNING OF THIRD CENTURY. 41 But love is a matter of sentiment much more than of reason. In a well-ordered heart it instigates a rational devotion to good works; otherwise, it causes disorder. By their nervous constitu¬ tion, women are predisposed to excitement: some gave way to it; and these had visions, or prophesied. In the ecstasy into which they lapsed after long fastings and macerations, they saw heaven opened, and conversed with angels. Tertullian has preserved to us one of these cases of psychological pathology: “ One of our sisters,” says he, “ in the ecstasy which the Spirit bestows upon her in the very midst of our assemblies, has the grace of revelations; she sees and hears holy things, reads what is in the heart, and points out remedies for the sick. Let the Scriptures, a psalm, a homily be read, and immediately she has a vision. One day when I had discoursed upon the soul, she said to us, among other things: ‘I have seen a corporeal soul, having a certain form and a consistency such that it might have been grasped; it was shining, of an aerial color, with a human countenance.’ ” 1 Tertullian must have been extremely delighted with a vision which confirmed his doctrine of the material nature of the soul. He had just been stating it, and the echo of the priest’s words, instead of being another word, became a visible object: the visionary saw what she had just heard; and there is not a day in which this miracle does not occur in certain of our hospitals. 2 The more intense the religious life became, the more sects multiplied. From time to time the confusion penetrated into the bosom even of the greatest churches, because the effort to bring everything under discipline, thus enhancing the episcopal authority, clashed with souls at the same time religious and independent. We know by the letters of Saint Cyprian what disorders existed among the Christians of Carthage. All those in revolt are naturally represented as wretches; it is the lot of the vanquished. But if we knew something more than the accusations “ against the con¬ spiring priests;” if those to whom the bishop imputes so many shameful deeds had told us the motives of their conduct, — perhaps 1 De A nima, 9. 2 Not only philosophers at the present day should study the sciences concerned with life; historians really have more need to understand them, for physiology played an important part in the world before there were physiologists, and it explains many facts inexplicable without it. It is sad to say this; but a hospital for the insane is also itself a book of history. 42 THE AFRICAN AND SYRIAN PRINCES, 180 TO 235 a. d. we should see in the excommunicated, instead of erring and guilty persons, men defending the liberty of their church. This struggle between two principles, one of which was soon to stifle the other, existed at Rome, unknown even to those who maintained it. A book recently discovered, the Pliilosoiiluimena, 1 written by a bishop, shows irritating discussions in this church. The slave Calixtus had been ordered by his master to found a bank. He was unfortunate, — the author says, dishonest, — and was sent to the mill; that is, to the hardest labor. The brethren interfered; he recovered his liberty and, one day, outraged the Jews in open synagogue, which caused him to be condemned by the prefect of Rome to be beaten with rods and sent to the mines of Sardinia as a disturber of public order. When Marcia, the concubine of Commodus, obtained from the Bishop of Rome the names of the Christians banished to the island, in order to release them, Bishop Victor did not place Calixtus on the list; but the latter won over the messenger of the Empress, who took it upon himself to bring Calixtus away with the others. On his return to Rome he succeeded in getting into the good graces of Pope Zephyrinus, — “ a simple-minded man,” says the author, “ very avari¬ cious, and somewhat venal,” who placed him in charge of the common cemetery of the Christians, 2 and later of the distribution of alms and of the administration of the church. In these duties, which brought him into daily contact with all the faithful, he won their confidence. The Christian community was at this time very much divided; he persuaded each faction that he was at heart with them, and on the death of Zephyrinus he was elected pope, notwithstanding his unfavorable antecedents (a. d. 218 or 219). Immediately disorder and the confusion in belief increased. Calixtus accused several orthodox bishops of heresy, while he himself taught that the Father and the Son were one and the same person. To multiply the number of his adherents, he admitted married men to the priesthood »$ to the church, sinners unreconciled; to the 1 This manuscript, discovered in 1840 and published for the first time in 1851 by M. Miller, has been attributed to Origen, to Caius, a Roman priest, to Tertullian, and to Ilip- polytus, bishop of Portus Romanus, at the mouth of the Tiber. Whoever he is, the author was an adversary of Pope Calixtus, — a fact which renders it necessary, without rejecting his narrative, to make allowance for the passion which he displays in it. 2 Coemeterium Cnllhti , discovered by the Chevalier de Rossi, and so well studied by him. THE CHURCH AT BEGINNING OF THIRD CENTURY. 43 communion, men of easy morals, women living in concubinage, mothers who had exposed their infants. “ Let the tares grow with the wheat,” said he; “ the Church has for its symbol the ark of Noah, which contained clean and unclean animals.” 1 What truth is there in these accusations ? We do not know. The author of the Philosophumena evidently leans towards the Montanists, and an indulgent bishop is displeasing to his austere mind. But if the picture be overdrawn, — even if, as has been maintained, in POPE CALIXTUS (FROM A GILT GLASS). 2 order to get rid of a humiliating revelation, the Calixtus of the Philosophumena is not he of the Church, — it no less remains true that Rome had at this epoch its revolts against the ecclesiastical chief; soon there was made an anti-pope, Novatian. Pope Stephen and the great Bishop of Carthage exchanged angry letters , 3 and the Bishop of Caesarea says of his Roman brother: “ His soul is deceitful, fickle, and not to be depended on .” 4 At Alexandria, Demetrius, jealous of Origen, will force him to leave that city, and later, excommunicate him from the Church. Later still, Paul 1 Philosoph. ix. 12. The reproaches of the author are evidently exaggerated; but on tlie question of the troubles at Rome his testimony is confirmed by the Pastor of Hennas — Vos infirmati a secularibus negotiis tradidistis vos in socordiam (Visio , iii. 2) —and by what Saint Jerome says of the conduct of the Roman clergy with regard to Tertullian. Amm. Mareellinus relates (xxvii. 3), at an epoch when discipline was far better established, that when two bishops were disputing for the see of Rome, a terrible riot broke out, after which a hundred and thirty-seven dead bodies were found in the Sicinian basilica. 2 Roller, op. cit. pi. lxxviii. No. 2. 3 Cyprian, Epist. 75, 25, and 26: . . . Non pudet Stephanum, Cyprianum pseudochristum et pseudoapostolum dicere. The Novatians, a rigid sect which did not admit of reconciliation with the lapsi, were still numerous in the fifth century (Socrates, Hist. eccl. iv. 28). 4 Id., ibid. 78, 25 : . . . Anima lubrica, mobilis et incerta. The bishops of Tarsus and of Alexandria also sided with Cyprian against Stephen in this controversy. 44 THE AFRICAN AND SYRIAN PRINCES, 180 TO 235 a. d. of Samosata will be forced to leave the episcopal throne at Antioch, under accusation of avarice, bad morals, and heresy. The Christian communities, then, were not always the seraphic Church of tradi¬ tion ; they were composed of men, some of whom had great vir¬ tues, while others were subject to the same passions and vices with ourselves, and to all those transports of feeling which in certain natures often accompany the religious spirit. As early as the time of Marcus Aurelius, Celsus had been able to assert that the divisions were already such among Christians that they no longer had any¬ thing in common except the name; and Ammianus Marcelli- nus, a pagan void of religious passion, who renders homage to the purity of the Christian faith, says in the following century: “Wild beasts are not more fu¬ riously enraged against man than are most Christians against one another .” 1 Pious souls, on the contrary, have drawn from these persistent disorders proof that the new religion was of divine institution, since a human work could not have survived such lacerations. We can only say that they were inevitable. Man, with all his passions, exists in the theologian as well as in the philosopher ; 3 for the violent or the peaceful are not made so by their beliefs or their ideas, but by the character and the habits which education has moulded, and the institutions to which the life has been conformed. 1 Origen, Contra Celsum, iii. 10 and 12, and Amm. Marcellinus, xxii. 5. 2 Roller, pi. xc. fig. 12. This lamp (of about the end of the fourth century) bears the cruciform monogram. 3 This is akin to what Saint Paul says to the Corinthians (2 Cor. iii. 1-3), when he places in opposition in the Christian the spiritual man and the carnal man. L NOAH’S ARK. CENTRE OF A FRESCO ; THE CEILING OF A CUBICULUM OF THE CATACOMBS OF DOMITILLA : MIDDLE OF THE THIRD CENTURY (ROLLER, PLATE XXXV. AND BOSIO, PAGE 243). 1 M Lioiary «< the CHAPTER XCI. THE PERSECUTION UNDER SEVERUS. I. — Idea of the State among the Ancients ; Opposition of the Christians. rpHE imperial government was well aware of the powerful organization of the Church, 1 —these communities correspond¬ ing with one another from one end of the Empire to the other; these men who without money traversed land and sea, who every¬ where saw, at their approach, doors and hearts thrown open; who, even with persons of another language, were able to make • themselves understood by a sign, without need of words . 2 The imperial government, so afraid of secret societies, found an im¬ mense one extended everywhere, — an evident peril to itself, for it was within the state another state, possessed of all the means of action; but tolerance was a necessary consequence of the religious organization of the Romans, who never had a theocracy, because in their pontiffs the civil character took the precedence of the sacer¬ dotal. The priests of Jupiter and of Mars were judges, soldiers, administrators; and they had learned, in the government of men, that the law touches only acts, and has no hold on the thoughts. Accordingly, they never attempted to impose their beliefs upon others, and tolerated every religion so long as it did not find ex¬ pression in acts considered offensive to the Emperor or dangerous to the Empire. In the midst of the profound peace which Severus 1 Ulpian, one of the councillors of Severus, has collected in the seventh chapter of his treatise De Off. proc. all the edicts relating to the Christians (Lactantius, Inst. div. V. ii. 10), 2 All ecclesiastical history testifies to the constant communication among the churches. They consult one another, make known the decisions which they have reached, their sufferings, and their triumphs. Even written documents circidated rapidly. Saint Irenaeus, at Lyons, borrows several passages from Tlieophilus of Antioch ; the author of the Philosophumena at Rome, and Tertullian at Carthage, copy the Lyonnese bishop. 46 THE AFRICAN AND SYRIAN PRINCES, 180 TO 235 a. d. secured to the Roman world, when no apprehension of public danger excited men’s minds, the wise statesmen who ruled public affairs made no effort to proscribe the new religion, while yet leaving it under the menace of Trajan’s rescript. This rescript it was impossible to repeal so long as the Caesars retained the re¬ ligion of their fathers; for the title of Pontifex Maximus was equivalent at Rome to the oath taken by the kings of France on their coronation day, to preserve the orthodox religion and to tolerate no heretics within their domains. 1 This partial toleration assured to the Church only an uncertain peace, for the best of the pagans resembled the historian Dion Cassius, a timorous spirit, the foe of all violence, who at the same time wished to have the Christians punished, because in his judg¬ ment innovators in religion were of necessity innovators in politics and instigators of disorder. 2 From time to time a popular outbreak made a few victims, or an over-zealous governor applied the old laws of the Empire. Severus at first manifested toward the Christians only great indifference; for he saw among them merely “ carders, fullers, and shoemakers,” 3 and it did not seem to him that an Emperor had anything to fear from this God of the lower classes. It is not certain that he sent any one, before the j^ear 202, into exile, or to the quarries whence Marcia, under Commodus, had released them; 4 and the Christians were without doubt included in the favor which he accorded “ to the sectaries of the Jewish superstition,” — that of being eligible to municipal honors, with release from obligations contrary to their beliefs. 5 There were 1 Oath of Louis XIII. at his coronation: . . . Outre je tascheroy a mon pouvoir, en bonne foy, de chasser de met juridiction et terres de ma sujetion tons lieretiques denonces par VEglise (Le Ceremonial frctnqois, by Theod. Godefroy, 1649). 2 Dion, lii. 36. 3 Origen, Contra Celsum , iii. 55. 4 After having enumerated those whom the Christian communities assisted, — the poor, orphans, old servants, and the shipwrecked, — Tertullian (who, however, has a habit of extreme exaggeration) adds: Et si qui in metcdlis, et si qui in insulis vel in custodiis, ex causa Dei sectae (Ap. 39). We have seen above (Vol. VI. p. 460, note 4) that Marcia had obtained the release of those who were in the mines of Sardinia ; and there is no reason to think that the measure may not have been general. 5 Digest , 1. 2, 3, sec. 3. This interpretation is supported by the treatise De Idololatria, in which Tertullian recites what “the Christian magistrate” must refuse to do. We see also by the Acta martyrum that judges sought to substitute a political accusation for a religious one, demanding of the Christians brought before them not, “Are you Christians?” but “Have you attended unlawful assemblies?” The teaching of the Jews was public. . . . 47 THE PERSECUTION UNDEE SEVEliUS. even some of them among his attendants. Before he became emperor a Christian had healed him of some disease; and after his accession to the throne he caused search to be everywhere made for this individual, and gave him a position in the imperial household. 1 There were other Christians in the palace, if the cele- GKAFFITO OF A CRUCIFIED FIGURE WITH AN ASS’S HEAD . 2 brated graffito of a crucified man with the head of an ass, found lately on the Palatine, is, as seems probable, of this time. We know, moreover, that Caracalla had a Christian nurse, 3 and that Judaei palam lectitant. recti galls libertas rulgo aditur sabbatis omnibus (Tertullian, ApoJ. IS), and the government saw ic- it that no one should disturb their religious service ( Pliilosopli . ix. 12). They received this right from Augustus (Josephus, Ant. Jwl. xvi. (.!, 2). 1 Tertullian, Ad Heap. 4 . 2 The figure on the cross is looking at a person below him whose arm is raised in the atti¬ tude of adoration. The Greek legend below, badly engraved, signifies: ,l Alexamenos adores (his) God,” — evidently a sarcasm against some comrade in service in the palace of the Caesars. Xear this graffito — which is now in the Kircher Museum— these words have been found engraved: Alexamenos fidclis. Father Garucci, who published this caricature in 18o7, believes its date to be early in the third century, because at this epoch the pagans accused their opponents of adoring an ass’s head. Tn 1>82 a fresco was discovered at Pompeii, representing a parodv of the Judgment of Solomon, — doubtless executed for the house of some inhabitant of that pleasure-loving city who wished to make sport of the Jews, his neighbors. 3 Lacte Christiano educatus (Tertullian, ibid .). 48 THE AFRICAN AND SYRIAN PRINCES, ISO TO 235 a. d . when a boy he was so enraged because one of his playmates was scourged for being of the Jewish or Christian religion, that he for a lono; time refused to see those who had beaten the child. 1 When we read in the Digest that Severus ordered persons accused of holding unlawful assemblies to be brought before the city prefect, we may conclude from this, since the guarantees of justice are increased in proportion to the higher rank of the judge, that the rescript must have been favorable to the Christians: the old, harsh law against associations was about to be tempered by political prudence. The same Emperor authorized poor people throughout the Empire to form colleges with monthly assessments. 2 As a matter of fact, this rescript was favorable to the Christians, and we have no right to say that Severus did not think of them in writing it. 3 But the Emperor disliked tumult of any sort, and the religious disputes occasioned a great deal, especially when Tertullian joined in them, as he constantly did. This son of a centurion was a man of strife. He made attacks in his own defence, and struck at all about him, hurling invectives equally at the pagans, their magistrates, their gods, “ admitted to heaven b\ r a decree of the Senate,” and at those of his brethren whom he treated as heretics, 4 — never dreaming that the orthodox were reserving the same lot for himself. In a recently discovered fragment of Clement of Rome is found this prayer to God: “ It is thou, Almighty King, who hast given the kingdom to our sovereigns that we might be in subjection to them. Grant them, 0 Lord, health and peace, that they may without hindrance exercise the power which thou hast confided unto them over all existence. Direct, 0 Lord, their will 1 Spart., Caracalla, 1 . 2 . . . Permittitur tenuioribus stipem menstruam . . . non tantum in Urbe , scd et in Italia et in provinciis . . . dirus Severus rescripsit I Digest, xlvii. 22, 1). lie prohibited them in the armies (ibid.), where they were nevertheless formed. Cf. L. llenier, Inscr. d'Ahj. 70. 3 Tertullian attests (Apol. 30) that this custom of furnishing the menstruam stipem existed among the Christians; they had, then, taken advantage of the law of Severus. Yet he savs that the pretext for the persecution was the unlawful assembling (De Jejun. 13). Severus, who merely proposed to check the propagation of the new religion, may only have struck a blow at the meetings which had not assumed the legal character of the burial societies. 4 He refuses to them the right of discussion, and treats them as condemned without appeal. In the De Praescr. adv. baeret. he opposes to them only the judicial form of the ordinance. “ You have on your side,” he says to them, “ neither time nor prescriptive rightand this argument suffices for him. THE PERSECUTION UNDER SEYERUS. 49 according to right and in conformity with what is agreeable unto thee, so that, using authority with mildness, they may find thee favorable . . . 5,1 This is the attitude of the primitive Christians, of the Apostles Paul and Peter, after them of a Bishop of Rome at the end of the first century, and of Theophilus of Antioch in the middle of the Second. How different these holy men are from the fiery Carthaginian writing, in his treatise De Idololatria , a veritable declaration of war against pagan society! In another 2 we hear this repeated cry of revolt: “ It is our business to contend against the institutions of the ancients, the laws of our masters; ” 3 and this moral revolt was legitimate, since the imperial government, not comprehending the sacred rights of conscience, had treated the Christian belief as a crime. The life of Christians Tertullian would have sad and sombre, ever in sackcloth and ashes, in prayers and tears. “ The woman who does not live like a repentant and mourning Eve, is condemned and already dead. Her ornaments are the trappings of her burial.” 4 And this severity accorded so well with the spirit of the Church that the authority of the priest of Carthage, notwithstanding his fall, was very great, and has remained so to this day. “Give me the master” {Da magistrum ), 6 Saint Cyprian was accustomed to say, when he asked for a book of the celebrated doctor; and Bossuet, who often copied Tertullian, speaks in very nearly the same words. Minucius Felix has not the genius, nor has he the harsh manner of the Carthaginian; but he is even more bitter. It is not enough for him to make a laughing-stock of the gods of Rome; he tramples under foot the last homage that remains to her, — the pride in her memories. Saint Clement recognized Rome as his country; speak¬ ing of her, he says: “Our legions, our generals.” 6 Minucius is no longer a Roman ; for him, the fortune of this people arose out of wickedness, its history is filled with crimes, and Rome has never been other than a den of bandits. 7 With less wrath, though as much 1 I. Clem, ad Cor. chap, xxxvii. 2 A dversus haec nobis negotium est, adversus institutiones majorum, auctoritates receptorum, leges dominantium , argumentationes prudentium (Ad Nation. 20). 3 See also the violent outbursts of the De Corona , 11. This old spirit of the Church should be noted, for it reappeared as soon as the laity began to withdraw from her administration. 4 De Cultu fern. i. 1. 5 Saint Jerome, De Vir. illustr. 6 This is the famous fjuw", which was for so many years a subject of dispute, but can be so no longer. 7 Octavius, 25. VOL. VII. 4 50 THE AFRICAN AND SYRIAN PRINCES, 180 TO 235 a. d. disdain, Saint Augustine says of the glory of the Romans: Accepe- runt mercedem suam, vani vanam. The sentiments of Minucius are those of the greater number of Christians. Sanctus, one of the martyrs of Lyons, while under¬ going the torture, is asked his name, his city and country, and whether he is free or a slave. But he has no name, he has no country. To every question he gives but one answer: “ I am a SCENE OE PERSECUTION: THE ACCUSATION . 1 Christian! ” It is a noble reply; but it is also very menacing. Civis Romanus sum! cried the Roman of the old davs, attest- ing his nobility and his right; even the Stoic was still a citizen of the world : but the Christians, disowning their earthly fatherland, acknowedge no city but heaven. Greece and her glories, which are those of the human mind, find no iAvor with them. To them, Socrates is a buffoon, 2 Aristotle 3 1 Fresco of the catacombs of Calixtus, over the crypt of Pope Eusebius. Unique example of a judgment-scene in primitive Christian iconography (Roller, vol. i. pi. xxvii. No. 1, and pp. 161, 162). 2 Octavius, 38: Scurra Atticus. 3 Miserum Aristotelem (Tertullian, De Praescr. 7). Clement of Alexandria, on the con¬ trary, rendered at the same period a solemn act of homage to Aristotle, copying him in his Hypotyposes. THE PERSECUTION UNDER SEVERUS. 51 a wretch, and they pronounce anathema against all the great philosophers. What a difference between the apologists of the first age and those of the second! And in the space of half a century, from Justin to Minucius Felix, from Athenagoras to Tertullian, how hatred has become envenomed! The Church, when she was mistress of the world, became a great school of respect and sub¬ mission to law; but she was not so in the early centuries. To these maledictions against history and philosophy, — that is to say, against civilization, — were added menaces against the Empire and its sacrilegious Babylon. The sect of Montanists, which in¬ creased in numbers daily, and even, if we may believe the pagan orator of the Octavius, all Christians, 1 announced at Rome its impending destruction, and their gloomy prophecies gave rise to the belief that they would willingly hasten that ill-fated hour. “ If all others thought as you do,” said Celsus to them, “ the world would become a prey to the Barbarians.” 2 And, in truth, it did become so when all the world believed as they did. There were at this time, indeed, in Alexandria, men such as Pantaenus, Clement, and Origen, who, sincere admirers of the ancient philos¬ ophy, would gladly have “ disengaged the pearls hidden in a pernicious alloy,” 3 or, as Origen said, “ carried off the gold of the Egyptians to make it into sacred vessels for the altar.” 4 But when they spoke of their contemporaries, it was with the bitterness of Tertullian. Cyprian, one of the most moderate of them, wrote in the midst of a pestilence and famine to the proconsul Demetrianus: “If I have not replied to your barking against God, it is that I may not expose our sacred truth to the outrages of dogs and swine. . . . These scourges are the divine vengeance which strikes the hardened sinner. What! you blaspheme against the true God, you persecute his servants; and you wonder that the rain does not descend upon your arid plains, that the springs are dried up, that the hail destroys your crops, and the poisoned air 1 Oct. 10. The Octavius must have been written about the year 180, and the treatise of Celsus is probably of the same time. 2 Contra Celsum, viii. 68. In speaking thus I merely state a fact; namely, that the Christians, after having been an element of dissolution to the pagan empire, were not able to save the Christian empire when they had become masters of it. As to the causes of the Empire’s downfall, they were many, as will later be shown; and all that is said in the present chapter proves that Christianity was one of these causes. 3 Strom. I. i. sect. 17. 4 Epist. ad Gregor. 1, 30. 52 THE AFRICAN AND SYRIAN PRINCES, 180 TO 235 a. d. your population ? These visitations are the consequence of your iniquities! ” 1 The pagans retorted in the same language, and moreover cried out: “The Christians to the lions! ” On both sides passion conceived gods in its own image, angry and violent, while impassive Nature, pursuing the course of her immutable laws, bore fruitful clouds to one locality, and deadly miasmata to another. The Romans, who had so keen a relish for tragic declamations, and the Emperor, who had himself composed them, would not perhaps have paid much attention to the sombre pictures which so many Christians unrolled before their gaze, if the new doctrine had not in other ways appeared dangerous to them. Saint Paul had said: “ Let every soul be in subjection to the higher powers : for there is no power but of God.” 2 And some years later Clement of Rome had drawn up for the churches a prayer in which he besought God to give to the Emperors health, strength, and security. 3 But the spirit of submission was no longer that of even a part of the believers. Severus was a soldier. What was he to think of men who replied to Celsus, when the latter reproached them for abandoning the Empire, assailed by the Bar¬ barians : “ It is true that we do not bear arms, and that we would not, though the Emperor should try to compel us; we have another camp, where we combat for him by our prayers.” 4 As a jurist, how could he regard a sect in which it was taught that when the law of the Church is in opposition to the law of the state, it is the former which must be obeyed, 5 “because faith does not admit the allegation of necessity.” 6 Lastly, as a ruler and the necessary conservator of an order of things which had always exacted devo¬ tion to social obligations, it was inevitable that he should seek to stay the progress of a religion whose sectaries lost their interest in public duties. According to the ideas of the ancients, whether the state were 1 Ad Demetrianum, 8. In this very spirited letter against pagan society, Cyprian also announced the approaching destruction of the world. 2 Romans xiii. 1. 3 II. Clem, ad Cor. 59-72. Ed. Hilgenfeld. 4 Origen, Contra Celsum, viii. 73, 74. And conduct accorded with the language used. The recruiting officer presents to the proconsul of Africa a young man selected to be a soldier; but the young man replies that, being a Christian, he is not permitted to bear arms. For this refusal to take the military oath he was executed (Ruinart, Acta sincera, p. 299, ad ann. 295 or 296). 5 Origen, Contra Celsum , v. 37. 6 Non admittit status Jidei allerjationem necessitatis (Tertullian, Be Cor. ii.). THE PERSECUTION UNDER SEVERUS. 53 represented by a man, a senate, or a popular assembly, and whether / it were a famous city like Athens or Rome, or the most obscure municipality, the citizen owed to it all his faculties, — his valor in battle, his fortune in public necessities, his life in great perils. This absolute dependence upon the state, so much opposed to our ideas of individual liberty, had given to patriotism an energy which ours has lost; and this is why we do not comprehend, or compre¬ hend imperfectly, so many things in ancient society. Thus in the case of the persecutions, to do justice to both sides, we must take into account the horror which men inspired who set up in oppo¬ sition to the common country, bequeathed to them by their ances¬ tors, another which they had made for themselves. “ Why,” they were asked, “why do you shun municipal offices which maintain the law?” “Because in each of your cities we have another country which God has made for us, — the Church; and it is to the government of this that those of us who have authority by eloquence or moral character should be devoted.” 1 Many systems of phi¬ losophy, even the one at that time in vogue, also recommended separation from the world; but in the schools, this spirit was inoffensive, because it remained simply a psychological curiosity. In the Church, it must have appeared to the authorities as a social peril: first, because it was the vital principle of a society hostile to the established order; and next, because the refusal to occupy municipal offices disorganized the city, making public duties weigh heavier on those who accepted them. Many other things still further scandalized the pagans. Then, as to-day, large families were honored, and the Roman law pun¬ ished celibacy. Now, the Gnostic Christians — almost as numerous as the Orthodox — cursed the flesh as the principle of all evil, and practised celibate asceticism. Others, regardless even of the con¬ ditions of human life, placed among their pious books treatises “ on the disadvantages of marriage.” 2 Some dared to think that it 1 Scimus, in singulis civitatibus, aliam esse patriam a verbo Dei constitutam, eos ut Ecclesiam regant hortamur qui potentes sermone et quorum mores scini sunt (Origen, Contra Celsum, viii. 75). “ To-day even, in every country, we should prosecute any association pro¬ pagating certain ideas promulgated by Tertullian in chapter lxxxi. of the De Corona, 22 ” (De la Berge, Trajan, p. 213). 2 This was one of the first works of Tertullian; and Saint Jerome recommended the read¬ ing of it to Eustochia (A d Jovinian. i. and Epist. 18, ad Eustoch.). Tertullian, however, did not himself profit by it, for he married, and in the second of his letters to his wife (Ad Uxorem, 54 THE AFRICAN AND SYRIAN PRINCES, 180 TO 235 a. d. would have been far better if Adam had remained in a state of virgin purity, and God had found other means of placing upon the earth human beings to worship him. 1 One of them went so far as to write: “If we have children, we desire that they may go before us into the presence of the Lord.” Tertullian, it is true, who spoke thus, says of himself: “ I do not dispute, I do not go to war, A WOMAN AT PRAYER, AND THE GOOD SHEPHERD . 2 and my sole care is to exempt myself from all care; I have with¬ drawn from the people (secessi de jpo])ulo)” 3 Or this: “We have no other interest in this world than to escape from it at the earliest moment.” We might, on the other hand, accept this thought of Montanus, “Man is a lyre which the Spirit of God strikes,” 4 if it did not bv the annihilation of our will and absolute abandonment to Providence expose us to another peril; that is to say, to the ii. 9) he draws a very beautiful picture of Christian marriage. But in the first he represents marriage to be unsuitable for believers, and makes a vow of continence. The Marcionites forbade conjugal union; Tatian condemned it; the Valentinians, Basilians, Encratites, or Continents, did the same; Origen rendered himself incapable of it, and his imitators continued to be numerous enough as late as the fourth century to require that the first canon of the Council of Nicaea should prohibit mutilation. Other Gnostic sects destroyed marriage by community of wives. Clement of Alexandria, a contemporary of Tertullian, but of a milder character, combats, in book iii. of the Stromata , all these excesses, and exalts anew the sanctity of the married state. Ilis doctrine has remained that of the Church; but the Montanist spirit, which is not dead, has covered the world with convents. 1 We find traces of these singular opinions in Justin, Gregory of Nyssa, and Saint Augus¬ tine ; Macarius Magnes maintained that Adam made no use of marriage until after his sin. 2 Painting from the Catacombs of SS. Nereus and Achilleus (Roller, pi. xlix. fig. 1). 3 Tertullian, De Pallio, 5. 4 Saint Epiplianius, Adv. liaer. 48. THE rElUsECUTIOX UXDEll SEVEKL'S. 00 hazard of taking individual inspirations for revelations from on liitrh. The eloquent and eloomv declamations of Tertullian were not the rule of faith of all believers. There were certainly Christians in the army, in municipal offices, in civil functions; • and all did not renounce their property through apprehension of the fate of Ananias, or give up commerce and industrial pursuits for fear of infringing upon the prescribed rules of the Church with regard to lending money at interest . 2 There were those who, penetrated T 1 IE GOOD SHEriTEr.D AXD THE TWELVE ATO'TLE -. 3 with the sweetness of the Gospels, forgot the God of inexorable vengeance, and saw only tlie Good Shepherd bringing back upon his shoulders the sheep which had gone astray. Those were the neophytes who remembered being fed by the Church with milk and honey "at their entrance into the land of promise: - ' they took delhlit in life, in the sunliirht and the flowers, in friendship and love, as in irifts of their Heavenly Father: and tliev were the most numerous, because they obeyed the true laws of our nature, against which no general revolt is possible. But they were not the most zealous. Those upon whom had been poured out 1 They were there, hut in wry 'mall numl>er. The famous word* f Tertullian. "We fill s, the cam] *, the Senate'’ (.-I/***/. o7). are contradicted by all the fa- ts an ll - ionic?. (See Yol. VI. ji.42S. Elio : - • 11 • in ri-^nl to the nuiuljcr of the faithful. •• Wherever three ( hristian? are t uitt I." 1 says Ter- in .. ". tstit. •), “there is a eh li; and the ■ . - 1 f.1 drhi, i. 13 p»yi. Bunsen. /•. ■ ■ . rojuire that when llic hers re fen they should seek the assistance of tlu tv judicious . - t by the neighboring cbnrclie?. 2 Lending at interest was considered usury, and condemned under 3 Bas-relief found near the f b ren ?l . ISosio. p. 111. an-l Roller. ■ 1. xliii. (i;. -j). The fi-ol Shepherd is represented, in the cel . extremities of the has-n-lief. _ i ling "hi> 56 THE AFRICAN AND SYRIAN PRINCES, ISO TO 235 a. d. the wine of wrath and the intoxication of death, cried out, with Minucius Felix: It is no longer a time to adore crosses, but to bear them; ” 1 and they were the martyrs of the persecution which we are about to narrate. II. — Rescripts of Trajan, Marcus Aurelius, and Severus. Sophocles, in his Antir/one, had already shown in magnificent terms the opposition which may be found between civil law and nat¬ ural law, between the decrees of men and those ever-living laws which no hand has written- but which the nods have emrraved on the hearts of all.” The pious young girl who braves the proud threats of a tyrant, that she may not incur the wrath of the immortals.” already speaks as the martyrs will speak at a later day ; and we sym¬ pathize with the poet when he nobly defends the rights of conscience. Rut while inspired singers are sometimes prophets of the future, the ruler is always the man of the present, and it is his duty to compel obedience to the law which his predecessors have bequeathed to him, and whose execution society demands of him. Tertullian claims from Severus religious liberty: *-It is human right (jus humanum ),” he says, ‘-'that each one may worship whom he pleases; and it is contrary to religion to constrain to religion.” 2 These were beautiful words spoken by the suffering Church ; later the victorious Church repudiated them, and certain sects of modern times reject them still, saying to their opponents: il In the name of your principle we claim liberty; by virtue of ours, we refuse it to you.” Ori gen also is indignant that the Church should lie included within the State; and he is right, for the spiritual tribunal ought to be shielded from all constraint. But at a future day the Papacy, with as little wisdom as the Empire, will seek, by an opposite error, to place the State within the Church. Minucius Felix in his Octfuuus. the priest of Carthage in his Apol¬ ogy * and with them all the defenders of the new faith, plead the inno¬ cence of the Christians ; and they are thoroughly right. But none of ' t O v O them understood that historic fatality which, in religion as well as in 1 Octurius, 12: Jam nun wluruinhn, .»•»■ p t*: s r h p: p P p H EH -<; p p P M o p K* w h-3 M l-i o p3 1 1 c 1 E- 1 i_^ 1 < £ 1 »— m h- ) o < 1 p 1 p * c o p$ < a; I The Library ®» the * Unfveretty of WWnolt. THE PERSECUTION UNDER SEVERUS. 71 grows out of the idea which the martyrs followed, the Church would not have become a persecutor in its turn ■ at least it would not have been so with the same perseverance. To the survivors of exile, of prison, of tortures, a sanctity was accorded which impelled some of them to usurp episcopal functions, by giving letters of communion to lap si; that is, to brethren who had denied their faith. There were at Carthage and Rome great debates on this subject, to which the Letters of Saint Cyprian bear testimony. It was the beginning of a poetical and dangerous doctrine, that of indulgences founded on the merits of saints. In the case of the confessors whom the magistrates had not spared, their death being for the faithful a cause of edification and of just pride, the hagiographers of later ages strangely multiplied their number. The murder, for instance, of the nine thousand Lyonnese, slaughtered with their bishop, Saint Irenaeus, by the legions of Severus, and the rivers of blood which flow through the city , 1 form a legend which even those who would be most disposed to swell the number of the martyrs do not venture to accept. The wise Tillemont does not mention them, nor does he seem any more certain that Pope Victor suffered martyrdom at Rome , 2 or that Severus put to death Saint Andaeolus by ordering his head to be cleft into four parts with a wooden sword; and the manner in which he quotes the Acts of Saint Felicitas and of her seven sons — a legend copied from that of the seven Maccabaean brothers — indicates, under his prudent reserve, doubts which are justified by the strange details given by the martyrologist . 3 The friendship which unites the interlocutors in the dialogue of Minucius shows that Christians and pagans could live on very good terms with each other; and many governors, seeing, like Seneca’s brother and like Festus, with the utmost indifference practices which did not endanger the public order, favored the 1 . . . Et per plateas Jlumina currerent de sanguine (Greg, of Tours, i. 27). 2 Fleury (Hist. eccl. i. 522) makes him die a natural death; and this is the conclusion to be drawn from chap. xxiv. of Saint Jerome, in his De Vir. illustr., devoted to Saint Victor. 3 Like Tillemont, the Chevalier de Rossi places the martyrdom of Saint Felicitas and of her seven sons under Marcus Aurelius. M. Aube (Hist, des persec. pp. 438 et seq .) combats this opinion; at most, he would consent to date back the punishment of Felicitas to the reign of Severus. But the reasons which he gives do not allow him to accept the authenticity of these Acts. i therefore dismiss this leg-end from the reign of Severus, as M. Aube has dismissed it from the reign of Marcus Aurelius. 72 THE AFRICAN AND SYRIAN PRINCES, ISO TO 235 a. d. trade in letters of ransom. Tertullian mentions some who, gentle by nature and sceptics in religion, repudiated the obligation to put innocent beings to death, and determined to go back to Rome “ without a spot of blood on their fasces.” 1 Asper declared openly that be was disinclined to prosecutions of that kind. When be bad to judge a Christian, be only feigned to put him to the tor¬ ture, was satisfied with the slightest word, and set him free without compelling him to offer sacrifice. Severus furnished them the reply which permitted him to discharge them. A Christian is brought before Pudens with a letter of accusation : he tears up the letter, sets the captive at liberty, and declares that he will not receive an accusation except when the accuser appears person¬ ally at the tribunal, in conformity with the law. Candidus treated them as contentious persons, and sent them back to their towns with these words: “ Go, and be at peace with your fellow-citizens.” “Unhappy men,” said another to them, “if you are resolved to perish, are there not ropes or precipices enough for you?” and he drives them from his tribunal. The governor of Syria opens to Peregrinus the doors of the prison, “ knowing him to be foolish enough to be willing to die through vainglory.” 2 On one occa¬ sion, in Africa, where Severus was proconsular legate, the populace clamored for the death of several Christians, members of the senate of Carthage; but he resisted the outcries of the infuriated mob . 3 Later, when Emperor, he recalled Antipater, a governor of 1 Ad Scap. 4. A Christian magistrate, Studius, possessing the jus gladii, asked Saint Ambrose if it was contrary to the faith to put to death guilty persons; the saint answered: Scio plerosque gentilium gloriari solitos, quod incruentam de administratione provinciali securim revexerint (Epist . xxv. sec. 3). 2 Tertullian, Ad Scap. 5; Lucian, Peregr. 14. This is the person who burned himself at Olympia. He had been a Christian, and was at that time regarded as a martyr. The account of Lucian at once proves the fellowship of the Christians and the tolerance of the magistrates, who allowed the faithful to attend their imprisoned brethren day and night. 3 Tertullian, ibid. 4, and Fleury, Hist, eccl.x i. 32. Tertullian relates (De Cor. Mil. i.) that on one occasion, when by order of the Emperor largesses were distributed in camp to the sol¬ diers, who according to custom came to receive them wearing a laurel-wreath on their heads, one presented himself holding his wreath in his hand. At first his comrades pointed at him, then ridiculed him, and finally grew indignant. The clamor reaches the tribune. “ Why do you not do as the others ? ” said he to the soldier. “ I cannot,” he answered ; “ I am a Christian.” It was a breach of discipline and a refusal of obedience. The soldier was sent to prison. “He there awaits,” says Tertullian, “Christ’s largess” (donativum Christi). Had the persecution been violent, this heroic bravado would have been immediately punished by a military execution. Notice that the Christians of Carthage blamed the soldier, but that Tertullian commends him, and proposes him as a model. THE PERSECUTION UNDER SEVERUS. 73 Bithynia who appeared to him too ready to employ the sword , 1 very probably against the Christians. The recall of a governor was an extreme and unusual measure : in this case the act was the more significant, as Antipater had been one of the Emperor’s ministers. Unfortunately, Severus could not see or hear every¬ thing ; and the law, defied by Christians eager for martyrdom, or too scrupulously obeyed by heartless magistrates, sent to execution men whose only crime was that they worshipped God in a differ¬ ent way from their persecutors. It is a Jewish reply to the maledictions of Christians: “ You hate us for having condemned Jesus ? What would become of you if we had not condemned him?” We might also repeat the words of Tertullian, and say: “ Would the Christian soil have been so fruitful if the blood of the martvrs had not watered it?” V/ Two verities which by no means efface the stain imprinted by the death of the just, or rather, which show the sad necessities imposed on man by evil institutions. In Judaea, public authority and religious power were in the same hands 2 Pagan Rome also suffered from their union, the Middle Ages from their rivalry: in one case, there were cruel persecutions; in the other, sanguinary wars, — everywhere and always death sown broadcast in the name of Him who made life. At no one of these epochs did men know liberty of conscience, which separates Church and State without arming the one against the other. Blessed be they who have given it unto us! 1 . . . 8o£as 8e iroipoTepov xprjcrdcu tco £icfrei rpv dp^pv Tvapikvdrj (Philost., Vit. Soph. ii. 24). 2 According to Leviticus (xxiv. 16), the blasphemer is stoned, and all the people take part in his execution. This is harsher than the crimen majestatis of the Romans. 3 Roller, pi. xliii. No. 3. CHAPTER XCII. CARACALLA, MACRINUS, AND ELAGABALUS (211-222 A.D.). I. — Caracalla (Feb. 2, 211 — April 8, 217); Right of Citizen¬ ship ACCORDED TO ALL THE INHABITANTS OF THE EMPIRE. S EVERUS has long occupied our attention, and it is with good reason that we have thus minutely studied the history of his reign. We shall pass rapidly over his successors until we again find rulers and events worthy to de¬ tain us. The father of Caracalla had done everything to maintain fraternal affection between his sons. He recommended it to them by wise counsels and by his own good example; and furthermore, he urged the Senate and the people to remind the young princes repeatedly of the necessity PHILADELPHIA . 1 PHILADELPHIA.* ,i r . i the young princes repeatedly oi tl of it. Each year there was celebrated through¬ out the Empire “ the festival of brotherly love,” Philadelphia; 2 the Senate by solemn sacrifices ((@ r besought the gods to maintain it , 3 and Severus caused medals to be struck, representing his two Wlp sons about to clasp hands, with these words as legend : Perpetua concordia . 4 It is said that dur- concordia ing his last illness he sent to them the discourse augustorum . 6 which Sallust places in the mouth of the dying Micipsa, exhort- 1 Coin of Perinthus struck under Septimius Severus, with the legend, IAAAEA$EIA nEPINGIQN NE0K0PQN, around the urn of Games placed upon a table and bearing the word : 1IV0IA, the Pythian games. Large bronze. 2 Especially in the Hellenic East. Eckhel, vii. 231 ; Mionnet, vol. iv. p. 128, No. 179. M. Dumont ( Ephebie attique , i. 299) thinks that the iXa§eA<£eta were constituted for Marcus Aurelius and Verus, perhaps even earlier. 3 Dion, lxxvii. 1. 4 Eckhel, vii. 231. A bronze of Severus has also for a legend: C. 81 which assuredly lacks gravity, but at which the Emperor, this time, at least, did not lack good sense. 1 This profligate wished, like Doinitian, to assume the character of an austere reformer. He punished adultery with death, although the law did not exact this severity; and he caused four vestal virgins to be buried alive, asserting that they had violated their vow. One of them, whom he himself had attempted to seduce, cried out on her way to punishment: “ Caesar well knows that I am still a virgin.” 2 * This time tyranny was not of profit to the provinces; they had to suffer exactions of every kind, — in the form of “ volun¬ tary gifts,” new taxes, old ones augmented, perhaps the coinage of base money to pay the Emperor’s debts." Caracalla doubled the fees for manumissions, legacies, and donations, abolished in¬ heritances ctb intestato and the immunities granted in these cases to near relatives of the deceased; and finally, he declared all the inhabitants of the Empire citizens. 4 Some have seen in this rescript a great measure of equity, or at any rate the completion of the revolution begun by Caesar; but in reality it was a fiscal expedient. The peregrini continued to pay their former contribu¬ tions, and they were henceforth subject to the tributes which the cives had been accustomed to pay in the place of the land-tax and 1 Vitae Soph. ii. 30. The Sophist Philiscus claimed, by virtue of being a professor in the University of Athens, vacationem a publicis muneribus. Caracalla terminated the discussion by saying, as was just: Nolim ob breves atque wiseras oratiunculas civitates privare munera praestituris, tcov XeiTovpyqaovrav. But another day he did the contrary, granting the vacatio munerum to Philostratus of Lemnos for a declamation. (Ibid.) 2 Dion, who reports these words, yet supposes her guilty (Ixxvii. 16). 8 There certainly were great monetary changes under Caracalla. We know that he reduced the aureus from -fe to of the pound of gold, making it only equal in intrinsic value to 22.56 silver denarii, instead of to 25.08, as hitherto, and that he first issued in enormous quantities the argenteus Antoninianus , — debased coin; that is, copper with a mixture of silver. The Antoninianus, which with its normal weight of silver should have been worth more than the denarius, — about 21J cts., — soon came to be only silvered copper. This adulteration doubt¬ less began under Caracalla, for Dion (ibid. 14) formally accuses this Emperor of having issued coins of silvered lead and gilded copper; several medals, which give to Alexander Severus the title of restitutor monetae , indicate a reform which justifies the statement of Dion. There is, besides, in the collection of Vienna, a jdated aureus of Caracalla (Eckhel, i. 115). The obli¬ gation to pay the taxes in gold also dates probably from this time; at least, it appears established under Elagabalus (Hist. Aug., Alex. 38). The ^ upon enfranchisement had moreover always been paid in this manner, aurum vicesimarium (Livy, xxvii. 10). 4 In orbe Romano qui sunt, ex const, imp. Antonin, cives romani effecti sunt (Ulpian, in the Digest, i. 5, 17; Novell. Justin, lxxviii. 5). VOL. VII. 6 82 THE AFRICAN AND SYRIAN PRINCES, 180 TO 235 a. d. the capitation. 1 This reform, which extended to all the provinces the benefit of the Roman laws, and consequently the right of appeal to the Emperor, did not affect the former distinctions, — as free and federated cities, Latin colonies, and those with the jus Italicum, etc., which subsisted long after. Caracalla himself made new ones, granting the jus Italicum to the inhabitants of Antioch and Emesa. 2 One of these long-existing distinctions was however effaced: he admitted Alexandrians into the Roman Senate, which had up to that time been closed against them. Neither was the status of the individual modified by this measure. The condition of the slave, the colonist, the freedman, the foreigner established in the Empire or enrolled in its auxiliary troops, remained the same; 3 there were merely additional imposts and a new class of peregrini. But a long list of citizens gained an advantage by the decree of Caracalla. The custom of gratuitous distributions was extended to all the cities possessing the right of Roman citizenship. They made it a point of honor to imitate the charitable institution of the metropolis, and we find, even in Palmyra, which became an Italic colony, tesserae for the distribu¬ tion of grain. 4 When all the inhabitants of the Empire were citizens, the poor of the provincial cities participated also in the benefit of the public aid. Saint Augustine sees only this result of the edict, and it seems to him a very happy one. “This was,” says he, “an excellent and very humane measure, for it enabled the common people, destitute of land, to obtain supplies furnished by the com¬ mon fund.” 5 When Maximin took possession of the municipal 1 That is to say, one twentieth of the manumissions, legacies, and donations (Dion, lxxix. 9, and this work, Yol. IV. pp. 101 and 159). Nor had the provincials been subjected to the provisions of the laws concerning inheritances; he took away the cuduca from the public treasury, aerarium, to assign them to the fiscus, or treasury of the Emperor: O'^nia caduca Jisco vindicantur, servato jure antiquo liberis et parentibus (Ulpian, Reg. xvii. 2). 2 Digest , 1. 15. 3 Diocletian gave later, in 298, the right of citizenship to sons of veterans born of foreign mothers, peregrini juris feminas (C. I. L. iii. 900). The dedititii, the Junian Latins, those whom a legal sentence deprived of the right of citizenship, foreigners established, willingly or by compulsion, in the Empire or serving in its troops, perhaps the inhabitants of countries united to the Empire after Caracalla, — these formed a new class of peregrini, placed between the cives and the barbari. Cf. Accarias, Precis de droit romain, i. 94. 4 See Vol. VI. pp. 114 and 519 the proof of the extension of this custom. 5 . . . Gratissime atque liumanissime factum est, ut . . . plebs ilia , quae suos agros non haberet, de publico viverct (De Civil. Dei, v. 17). CARACALLA, MACKINUS, AND ELAGABALUS, 211 TO 222 a. d. 83 funds, it is noticed that he seized even the money that served to pay for the distributions of grain. 1 Some of the jurisconsults who wrote, “ Food must be given to the poor,” doubtless foresaw that the decree would have this merit; but not so Caracalla, — though, like his father, he was very libera] in the distribution of provisions. The determining motive for him was the fiscal reason; for his need of money was extreme. The immense treasure left by Severus had been quickly dissipated. a There is nothing more left,” the prudent Julia said to him as she vainly attempted to control these prodigalities; u fairly or unfairly, all our revenues are exhausted.” “ Courage, mother ; while we have this, money shall not be lacking : ” as he spoke, he laid his hand upon his sword. His own was not to be greatly feared, but he had the swords of his soldiers. Severus had held the troops in restraint; his son gave them loose rein, acting upon the maxim at¬ tributed to his father : “ Make the soldiers content, and laugh at the rest.” His innumerable victims had left behind them relatives and friends who might avenge them. All, therefore, were enemies, except those to whom he said : “ It is for you that I reign; my treasures are yours.” And they might well believe it, seeing themselves daily gorged with gold. Their yearly pay was increased seventy millions of drachmas, 3 which the ordinary revenues of the state were no longer sufficient to pay. He adopted another measure, disastrous CAMEO OF CARACALLA .' 2 1 Herod., vii. 3. 2 Caracalla crowned with laurel and wearing the aegis. Cameo No. 251 of the Cabinet O O de France. Sardonyx of three layers, 48 mill, by 38. Portrait bearing very slight resemblance. 3 Dion, lxxviii. 36 ; cf. lxxvii. 24, where the figures for the augmentation of the a6\a Trjs (TTpzTflas are probably inverted. 84 THE AFRICAN AND SYRIAN PRINCES, 180 TO 235 a. d. i to discipline. The legions had been accustomed to live in camp the whole year under tents; he allowed them to take up their winter quarters in the neighboring cities , 1 which they treated as conquered territory, ruining their hosts, and themselves losing, in a life of debauchery, what military virtues remained to them. There is one thing which the mere mercenary, the soldier without a country, such as the Roman soldier had now become, loves as well as he loves gold ; namely, war, — that intoxicating game of life and death in which he always hopes to win: the license of an army on a campaign delights him, and the glutting of brutal passions, disguised by a gold imldal. gi 10w 0 f gl 0 ry. Caracalla had promised to lead his sol¬ diers to this chase of men and booty. “ I wish to die in war,” he said; “ it is a noble death; ” 3 and he had continually on his lips a name which the Greeks had long placed above the most famous names of Rome, — that of Alexander. In the time of Polybius, his compatriots were wont to avenge themselves for their recent defeat by saying to the Romans: “ It is to Fortune that you owe your successes; Alexander silver , . „ . MEDAL . 4 owed his to his genius. Later, they again repeated: “ The Parthians, whom you have been unable to vanquish, were but the least of the peoples subjugated by him.” Accordingly the remembrance of the hero of the Hellenic race had haunted the minds of Caesar and of Trajan. These great captains desired to follow in the track of Alexander, to establish their legionaries in the cities built by his veterans on the banks of the Oxus, feeling that they should make the Roman Empire complete only when they gave it for its Eastern limit the same MEDAL OF ALEXANDER . 5 . . . . „ . , , . , . , which the empire ot Alexander had had. Hut as the old spirit of Rome gave way before the advancing encroach¬ ments of Hellenism, the great Macedonian ceased to be a rival and became a fellow-citizen, whose fame now formed part of the 1 Ixxviii. 3. 2 Alexander the Great; talismanic gold medal. 3 Dion, lxxvii. 3. 4 Talismanic silver medal with the name of Alexander, AAE3ANAP0Y. 6 Medal of Alexander on a sword-belt, and serving for a talisman (Die. des Antiq. fig. 314). FN TREASURE FROM TARSIS (■old Coins of Alexander, Phillipp II., and Hercules, engraved during the reign of Alexander Severus 1 I I / ( r \ rt»* Ubr«ry af tha Uflfvsrtlty of lllltwft CARACALLA, MACRINUS, AND ELAGABALUS, 211 TO 222 a. d. 85 national fame. He was raised to a place of honor, he came to be a god; and the formidable soldier was transformed into a be¬ neficent genius who warded off disastrous influences, aAe^t/ca/cos. Medals of gold and silver, stamped with his effigy, served as talis¬ mans. “They protect,” says a writer of the Augustan History, l “ in every act of their lives, the men who wear them.” Severus assumed the name of Alexander. Caracalla did more, — he declared that the soul of the hero had passed into his own; 2 and to prove this, he trained war-elephants and organized a Macedonian phalanx. 3 The latter creation, however, was less a passion for imitation than the completion of a reform begun long before. Instead of regular armies to be encountered with scientific tactics, the Romans now had to repulse the impetuous attacks of unorganized Barbarians and the fleet horsemen of Parthia. Before the elephants and the phalanx of Pyrrhus 4 the Romans had abandoned their old order of battle in close ranks and dense columns. Their adversaries chang¬ ing, they resumed it, so that individual impetuosity might dash against an impenetrable mass. This reform had begun during the wars in Britain; 5 later, Arrian 6 clearly lays down the principle of' the formation in phalanx of eight men deep without interval, with a ninth line of archers, the cavalry and military engines being in the rear and on the wings, which was hereafter the order of battle of the legions. Near the close of the year 212, Caracalla went to Gaul. He caused the governor of Gallia Narbonensis to be put to death, and disturbed these provinces by violating some municipal rights, — per¬ haps in case of those cities which refused the onerous gift of the jus civitatis. A serious malady, and doubtless also a desire to inspect the defences of the Rhine, detained him north of the Alps. In February, 213, he was again in his capital, 7 which he now saw for the last time. He had promised his soldiers expeditions, and the Empire had 1 Tyr. trig. 14. 2 Dion, lxxvii. 7-8. He was called (piKaXe^ardporaros . 3 [Neither of which ever won a victory for Alexander. — Ed.] 4 This change was before the time of Pyrrhus; but the new organization was consolidated and improved in this war. See, in our first volume (pp. 369 et seq .), the reforms of Camillus and the creation of the legion. 5 Under Paulinus and Agricola (Tac., Agric. 35; Dion. Ixii. 8). 6 Tn 136, Aden, 15. 7 We have in the Code (vii. 16, 2) a rescript dated Rome, February 5, 213 ; but there may be an error in this date. Cf. Eckhel, vii. 210, 211. 86 THE AFRICAN AND SYRIAN PRINCES, 180 TO 235 a. d. need to strike some blow in the direction of the Danube and the Rhine, where powerful confederations were forming, which we shall mention later. One of these, that of the Alemanni, — who now appear for the first time in history, — surprised an entrance through the fortified line which covered the agri Decumates, and a large body of cavalry carried fire and sword into this outpost of Italy and Gaul. Before the end of 213 1 Caracalla led his troops against the invaders and vanquished them on the banks of the Mein, where their women repeated the acts of heroic ferocity which Plutarch attributes to the women of the Cimbri, — unless the story of Xiphilinus be a classical reminiscence. Other successes in the direction of Rhaetia are also mentioned. The Osrhoenian archers, who formed part of the Roman army, had the honor of the cam¬ paign,— which leads us to suppose that the enemy were neither very numerous nor very formidable. 2 However, the report of these victories resounded afar; peoples established at the mouths of the Elbe and on the North Sea sent deputa¬ tions to the Emperor to request his friend¬ ship and also subsidies, which he granted them. 3 The Alemanni, rendered prudent by their defeat, remained quiet for twenty years. Dion accuses the Emperor of having thus purchased peace from the Germans. We have repeatedly explained that it was good policy to win over the Barbarian chiefs by presents, in order to avoid sudden irruptions and the useless wars which they entailed. There is then no occasion to blame Caracalla for having pursued this course, — at least if he did not purchase peace too dearly. 5 It enabled him to levy among the CARACALLA GERMANICUS . 4 1 At least we possess coins of this year on which he bears the name of Germanicus (see above, and Eckhel, vii. 210, 222; cf. Or.-IIenzen, No. 5,507). 2 These archers, unknown to the ancient legions, assumed daily more importance in the army, where a certain number of soldiers of this kind were necessary ; for General dc Reffye has demonstrated that an arrow still has good effect at 130 and 140 yards. It was not a weapon with which a battle might be won, but it was a missile very useful at certain moments of the engagement. 3 Dion, lxxvii. 14. 4 ANTONINVS PIVS AVG. GERM., around the head of Caracalla wreathed with laurel. On the reverse, Serapis standing, and the legend: P. M. TR. P. XXI COS. IIII PP. Coin of silver; Cohen, No. 143. For the name of Antoninus assumed by Caracalla, see above, p. 75, note 3. 5 Macrinus — his murderer, it is true — accuses him of having dispensed as much in pen¬ sions to the Barbarians as for the pay of the army; but this is absurd (Dion, Ixxviii. 17). CABACALLA, MAC BIN US, AND ELAGABALUS, 211 TO 222 a. d. 87 Alemanni auxiliary corps, one of which formed his body-guard. We should even be reduced to praising his conduct towards the army, if we did not see in it an unworthy effort to gain popularity. He shared all the fatigues of his soldiers. If there were a ditch to be dug, a bridge to be built, any specially laborious work to be done, he was the first to set the example. He had the commonest food served up for him, and ate and drank from wooden bowls ; he shared the coarse bread of the troops; frequently he ground his own wheat, made the loaf of bread, and placed it in the oven. He dressed like the poorest soldiers : hence they called him their comrade; and he was extremely proud of this. He rarely was carried in a litter, or rode on horseback; he marched fully armed, and sometimes carrying the ensigns laden with ornaments of gold, which were a heavy burden even to the most robust centu¬ rions . 1 Hadrian, march¬ ing with bare head in front of his legions, is still the commanding offi¬ cer ; Caracalla, preparing his own food, is merely grotesque, and destroys discipline by losing the respect of his soldiers. Historians of the time further speak of Barba¬ rians treacherously mas¬ sacred, of a king of the Quadi whom the Emperor caused to be put to death, of a war which, following the wish of Tacitus, he kindled between the Vandals and the Marcomanni, of successes against the Sarmatians in Dacia, and against the Goths, whose name now appears for the first time . 3 There is much obscurity 1 Herod., iv. 7. Dion agrees with him. 2 From the Vergil of the Vatican. 3 These were the advance-guard of the Gothic nation, which was at this time approaching from the Euxine, but had not yet arrived, — unless we ought to understand these Goths of Caracalla to be Getae who inhabited both shores of the Danube. Dion (Ixvii. 6) gives this name to the unsubjected Dacians. 88 THE AFRICAN AND SYRIAN PRINCES, 180 TO 235 a. d. about all this, but it reveals an intention to protect the northern frontier of the Empire. “ After having reorganized the army of the Danube,’' says Herodian, “ he passed into Thrace, and there made numerous regulations for the cities,” as be had already done in Gaul, and as he did later in Asia. What the regulations were, we have no knowledge; but the fact is to be noted, for, being doubtless conceived in a spirit contrary to local liberties, they must have hastened the hour when these liberties disappeared. He crossed the Hellespont, — narrowly escaping shipwreck in a tempest, — and repaired to Pergamus, to obtain from Aesculapius the cure of the unknown malady from which he suffered. He sub¬ mitted to all the prescriptions then in use for wonderful cures. A miracle in this case would have been of importance and of excellent profit; but it could not be effected by ordinary proce¬ dures : the Emperor was too conspicuous a patient. The god turned a deaf ear, and Caracalla was not healed. 1 At Troy he crowned the tomb of Achilles with flowers, and desired himself to have a Patroclus. His freedman Festus was chosen to play the dangerous part of friend to the hero. The new Patroclus died a few days later, — which gave the Emperor an opportunity to repeat the funeral scenes described by Homer; and it is credibly asserted that Festus had been poisoned for the purpose. Caracalla passed the winter of 214-215 . at Nicomedeia, where Dion, our principal guide at this point, was with him. The Parthians were at this time wasting in internal feuds the last rem¬ nant of their national life, and the occasion was propitious for attack¬ ing them. He arrogantly claimed from them two refugees, whom they immediately gave up; and this docility deprived him for the moment of all pretext for war. However, victories were necessary to him. The king of Osrlioene governed his country for the 1 At this visit, Pergamus at least gained great privileges, which Macrinus revoked. Texier finds in all Asia Minor the ruins of only two amphitheatres,—at Cyzicus and Per¬ gamus (vol. ii. p. 227). The amphitheatre at Pergamus is very small, — 184 by 121 feet- The waters of the stream which flows across it could be stopped for nautical games, crocodile combats, or nymphs playing on marine shells, as Martial indicates (De Spectac. 26). 2 Coin of Pergamus, with the effigies of Aesculapius, Hygieia, and Telesphorus. RUINS OF THE BASILICA OF PERGAMUS (TEXIER, ASIE MINEURE, VOL. II. PL. 117). Thfc library the University of IIMiwf*. CAKACALLA, MACRINUS, AND ELAGABALUS, 211 TO 222 a. d. 89 benefit of Rome. Edessa, its principal city, situated on the caravan- road, at the foot of a cliff which bore the acropolis, and from which issued an abundant supply of water, was and still is.an important strategic point, the centre of defence for Upper Mesopo¬ tamia. It is possible, but not certain, that this king had entered into compromising relations with the Persians. Along that remote frontier friendships were fluctuating. Caracalla resolved to destroy this tributary state: he persuaded the king to come to him, cast him into prison, and made a Roman colony of his capital. The affair was insignificant, but the deposition of an Oriental king always occasioned more clamor than a like event in the West; moreover, Abgarus probably had a well-filled treasury. 1 Caracalla employed the same method of procedure with respect to the king of Armenia, then at variance with his son. He invited them to choose him as arbiter; and when they had come, he treated them as he had the king of Osrhoene. But the Armenians were not so easily captured as their monarch had been; they made a determined resistance, and destroyed a Roman army sent against them. The senators, whom Caracalla reproached for their idleness, while he was exposing himself in their behalf to fatigues and dangers, naturally applauded these lofty exploits. The surname “Parthicus” was decreed to him, and the acclamations in his honor always ended by the wish that his reign might endure a hundred years. For all that, he still felt himself to be hated, and wrote to them from Antioch: U 1 know that my exploits are dis¬ pleasing to you; but I have arms and soldiers, so I am not disturbed by what you think.” He had come to Antioch in search of pleasures; 2 in Alexan¬ dria, where he arrived at the end of the autumn of 215, 3 he sought for vengeance. The Alexandrians—a frivolous and jeering race — 1 This kingdom must have been re-established, for we afterwards find kings at Edessa. The deposed dynasties sometimes re-appeared in the high offices of Rome. A descendant of Herod was proconsul of Asia about 135, and a Julius Antiochus, of the royal race of Com- tnagene, was consul and one of the Arval Brothers (Bull, de corr. Hellen., 1882, p. 291). At the other extremity of the Empire, the country of the Gallaeci and the Asturians was separated, in 215, from Hispania Citerior. This was merely a dismemberment of a province (C. I. L. vol. ii. No. 2,661). 2 Antiochenses colonos fecit salvis tributis (Digest. 1. 15, 8, sec. 5). He granted to them, as also to the Byzantines, jura vetusta (Spart., Car. 1). 3 Eckhel, iii. 215. 90 THE AFRICAN AND SYRIAN PRINCES, 180 TO 235 a. d. CARACALLA AS AN APPLE-SELLER . 1 CARACALLA AS A WARRIOR . 1 city the most prominent citizens went forth to meet him, bearing in their hands the sacred objects, as if their gods wished to do honor to the new god who was coming. Caracalla received them well: he made them sit at his table; then, in contempt of the old and sacred laws of hospitality, at the termination of the feast ordered them to be put to death. During the execution his troops seized their arms and rushed into the city. The squares, the principal streets, the chief edifices, were quickly occupied by them; the Emperor himself took his station in the temple of Serapis, and thence directed the massacre. The slaughter continued 1 Grotesque statuettes of the Museum of Avignon (Ch. Lenormant, Nouveaux Memoires). gave to Julia the surname of Jocasta, her son’s incestuous spouse, the mother of two hostile brothers; they called Caracalla “ the very great Getic ” (■maximus Geticus ), — a cutting allusion to an exploit which had not been accomplished in the country of the Getae; and they laughed at this ugly man, undersized and bald, old before his time, who assumed to copy the great heroes, Achilles and Alexander. All this was reported to the Emperor. When he approached the CABACALLA, MACKINUS, AND ELAGABALUS, 211 TO 222 a. d. 91 through many clays, without distinction of age, condition, or sex. The number of the victims must have been immense, for Alex¬ andria was an ant-hill of men, and also an opulent city, where the soldier struck at random and found pillage everywhere. The temples even, those sacred banks in which private persons often deposited their riches, were not spared. The carnage ceased only when, sated with blood and booty, the murderers dropped their swords. In announcing this exploit to the Senate, “ the Ausonian monster” said: “As to the quantity and quality of those who have perished, it matters little, for they all merited the same fate.” 1 The public conscience was perhaps secretly indignant; but officially the senators commemorated this new species of victory by a coin representing the Emperor trampling Egypt under his feet. Caracalla then resumed his schemes of con¬ quest (216). He sent to ask from the Parthian king the hand of his daughter; and on his refusal, crossed the Tigris, captured Arbela, where he flung to the winds the ashes of the kings, and ravaged a part of Media. The enemy, taken by surprise, offered no resistance. After this easy success the Emperor returned to Mesopotamia and went into winter quarters in Edessa, there to consult the oracle of the god Lunus; but while seeking the future, he lost the present: on his way to Carrhae he was slain by one of those very men whose appetites he had pampered, — a soldier discontented because he had not been appointed* centurion. The murder occurred April 8, 217, when Caracalla was barely twenty-nine years old. 4 The Romans had divinities whom they called Dirae , “ the LARGE BRONZE OF CARACALLA . 2 COIN OF CARACALLA . 3 1 Dion, lxxvii. 22, whom I follow always in preference to Herodian. 2 PM. TR. P. XVIII IMP. Ill COS. IIII PP. SC. Caracalla trampling under foot a crocodile, symbol of Egypt, and receiving two ears of corn from the hands of Africa (Cohen, No. 474). 3 Coin commemorative of the victory of Caracalla over the Partliians ( Victoria Parthica Maxima). Aureus struck in the year 217. 4 Zosimus does not believe that Caracalla was killed by Macrinus; “ the author of his death,” he says, “was never known.” Herodian (iv. 12) gives us to understand that there was a conspiracy among the chiefs of the army, and Spartianus affirms it (Carac. 6). 92 THE AFRICAN AND SYRIAN PRINCES, 180 TO 235 a. d. Terrible Ones,” — avenging powers which always exist for monarchs. since expiation surely follows great crimes, and finally overtakes either those who have committed them, or their posterity. Julia Domna was then at Antioch. Up to Caracalla’s last hour she had exercised supreme authority; but she had also endured supreme anguish. For a quarter of a century the Roman world had been at her feet; then, her husband being dead, one of her sons had been murdered by the other; and now the murderer had also fall¬ en under the blows of an assassin, involving in his downfall the ruin of his house. Too proud to endure the condition of a subject under an adventurer whom her family had raised from nothing, and to become, after so much grandeur, the object of public pity, she resolved to escape from her distress like a Stoic of ancient days. Moreover, she suffered from a malady perhaps incurable; death was approaching her: she went to meet it, and allowed herself to die of starvation. 1 2 3 * * Caracalla had constructed at Rome a portico on which were engraved the exploits of his father, and Baths which are, after the Colosseum, the grandest ruin in Rome, and one of the largest in the world. 8 A colonnade, 4,750 feet in length, formed an inclos¬ ure, within which were gardens with trees, lawns, and flowers, and a stadium for gymnastic exercises, which Roman hygiene prescribed after the bath. The thermae themselves — an edifice 750 feet long by 500 in width — contained a theatre, halls for declamation or study, courts with porticos, museums, and libraries; finally, an immense reservoir, surrounded with sixteen hundred seats of sculp- 1 Gem of the Cabinet de France, No. 2,033. 2 According to Ilerodian (iv. 13) she killed herself through despair, or in obedience to a secret order. 3 lie had not time to complete these thermae; the external colonnade was constructed by Elagabalus, and completed by Alexander Severus (Lampridius, Heliog. 17, and Alex. 25). On the thermae of the Romans, see Yol. IV. p. 354 THE GOD LUNUS . 1 CARACALLA, MACRINUS, AND ELAGABALUS, 211 TO 222 a. d. 93 CARACALLA OFFERING TO MARS A VICTORY . 1 tured marble, where three thousand persons could bathe at once. In the centre of this colossal construction rose the cella Soliaris , covered with a low dome. 2 Everywhere were the choicest THERMAE OF CARACALLA . 3 marbles, the most beautiful mosaics, and the masterpieces of art. From it have been taken the Hercules of Glycon, the Flora, and the 1 Gem of the Cabinet rle France , No. 2,103 (agate, 20 mill, by 27). Caracalla seated, half nude, like Jupiter, holds in one hand a horn of plenty, and with the other presents a Victory to a statue of Mars. On the exergue: MAR(ti) VTC(tori). (Chabouillet, op. cit. p. 274.) 2 [It has been shown by Mr. Middleton, in his Ancient Rome in 1885, that this roof was no arch, but a solid mass of concrete, cast in this shape, and laid on like a metal lid. — Ed.] 3 Restoration by Blouet (Rlcole des Beaux-Arts). 94 THE AFRICAN AND SYRIAN PRINCES, 180 TO 235 a. d. magnificent group of Dirce, known under the name of the Farnese Bull. A single column from these thermae made a sufficient decoration for the square della Santa Trinita at Florence, and the Museum of Naples is filled with sculptures brought from these FRAGMENT OF MOSAIC FROM THE THERMAE OF CARACALLA (CASING OF THE UPPER STORY). ruins, — the last and supreme effort of Roman art. Spartianus- remarks that the street leading to the Baths of Caracalla, which was also constructed by this Emperor, was the finest in Rome. In Syria, he had continued the works begun by his father; at INTERIOR OF A HALL OF THE THERMAE OF CARACALLA t PRESENT CONDITION. / t fhe Llbeafy *)f the Uutverslty CARACALLA, MACRINUS, AND ELAGABALUS, 211 TO 222 a. d. 95 Baalbec, the great vestib.ule and the temenos of the temple of Jupiter were built by him. These works of art will not, however, save his memory. He had scarcely reigned six years, and this short time had been suffi¬ cient to do irreparable damage. Under Commodus, Pertinax, and FLORA, CALLED THE FLORA FARNESE . 1 Julianus, the soldiery had been insolent; under Caracalla the army actually took possession of the Empire. Accustomed to see this Emperor defer in everything to their caprices, they desired that this regime, which was so profitable to them, should endure; and to this end made choice of Emperors who would not be able to change it. 1 Colossal statue found in the Thermae of Caracalla. 96 THE AFRICAN AND SYRIAN PRINCES, 180 TO 235 a. d. II. — Macrinus (April 12, 217 — June 8,218); Elagabalijs (June 8, 218 — March 11, 222). Macrinus (Marcus Opellius Macrinus) was an African, like Severus, and a native of Caesarea, the Cherchel of the French colony in Algiers. He was of humble origin. It was said that he had been a slave and a gladiator; we know that he was procu¬ rator' of the property of Plautianus, and that he barely escaped perishing with him. Severus was favorably disposed towards this confidential agent of his old friend, making him superintendent of the post-service of the Flaminian Way. Caracalla, forgetting who had been his first protector, appointed him advocate of the treas¬ ury, and later, praetorian prefect. Macrinus was a mild and just man, without talent or ambition, who would never have dreamed of empire, had not a letter denouncing himself fallen into his hands. 1 To escape certain death, he caused the Emperor to be slain; and his accomplice having been instantly cut down by the guards, the part which Macrinus had played in the murder was not at first discov¬ ered. He affected great sor¬ row, which won the soldiers ; on the fourth day he was proclaimed emperor, being as yet a mere knight. 2 Thus we see how everything is becoming debased, even the imperial dignity. His son Diadu- menianus, then in his ninth year, was made Caesar and Prince of the Youth (April 12, 217). 4 DIADUMENIANUS ANTONINUS, CAESAR AND PRINCE OF THE YOUTH . 3 1 Capitolinus is very mucli opposed to him; but Dion, his contemporary, says too much in his favor out of hatred to Caracalla (lxxviii. 40). Ilerodian speaks also of his severity (v. 2). 2 Ilerodian (v. 1) and Dion (lxxviii. 14). He had, however, received the consular ornaments (Dion, ibid. 13, (which had assured him the title of clarissimus (Or.-Henzen, No. 5,512). Cf. Lampridius, Alex. 21. 3 M. OPEL. ANTONINYS DIADVMENIANVS CAES., around the head of the young prince. On the reverse, PRINC. JWENTVTIS S.C., Diadumenianus, standing, holding an ensign and a sceptre. At his left, two ensigns. 4 Lampridius ( Diad . 2) has preserved these words of Macrinus, shoeing that to the ordinary donativum were added promotions, which redoubled the interest that the soldiers CARACALLA, MACRINUS, AND ELAGABALUS, 211 TO 222 a. d. 97 Macrinus did not dare to have Caracalla declared a public enemy. The ashes of the late Emperor were borne secretly to the tomb of the Antonines; and that his images might disappear quietly, a decree sent to the mint all the statues of silver and gold. But he received divine honors. A temple and pontiffs were consecrated to him. The soldiers would not have suffered their favorite Emperor to be deprived of an apotheosis. As the conqueror of Niger had assumed to continue the house of the Antonines, so Macrinus wished to attach himself to the African dynasty, — without, however, claiming all the inheritance. He took the name of Severus, and gave to Diadumenianus that of Antoninus, which Caracalla had borne. This was by way of flattery to the multitude, — always so easily captivated by words and ap¬ pearances, to use an expression of Horace. 1 Macrinus now applied himself to gaining the general favor: that of the Senate by manifestations of respect; of the soldiers by money; of the people by the suppression of recent imposts. He also endeavored to satisfy the public conscience by the recall of the proscribed and the punishment of informers. But all this was done in a petty way, and nowhere was felt the firm hand of a man capable of imposing his will. The king of the Parthians had invaded Meso¬ potamia with a large army. Macrinus, obliged to lead against him troops lacking in discipline, and without ardor for this war, met with re¬ pulses, which the enemy were not able, however, to turn into defeats. The Romans, masters of reverse of a coin the cities and of numerous strongholds, in which OF MACRINUS. 3 , . . they had had time to collect all the provisions, left the plain to the enemy’s cavalry, who could not subsist there. The two monarchs soon wearied of a struggle in which neither of APOTHEOSIS OF CARACALLA. 2 had in multiplying the vacancies of the throne and the imperial adoptions: Ilahete, corn - militones, pro imperio ternos, pro Antonini nomine aureos quinos et solitas promotiones, sed geminatas. 1 . . . Qui stupet in titulis et imaginibus (Sat . I. vi. 17). 2 CONSECRATIO. S. C. Caracalla in a four-horse chariot, on a funeral pile of three stories. (Large bronze struck after the death of Caracalla; Cohen, No. 396.) 3 PONTIF. MAX. TR. P. II COS. PP. S. C. Felicitas standing, holding a caduceus and a horn of plenty. (Large bronze; Cohen, No. 92.) , VOL. VII. 7 DIADUMENIANUS. 2 to their king Tiridates his mother, whom Caracalla had retained in captivity, the lands which the late king had possessed in Cappadocia, and probably gave him a pension, in consideration of which the Armenian agreed to receive a gold crown from Macrinus as a sign of the Emperor’s suzerainty. In Dacia their hostages were 1 Dion, lxxviii. 27. 2 The cuirass and the cloak of this marble, bust are of alabaster (Capitol, Hall of the Emperors, No. 57). 98 THE AFRICAN AND SYRIAN PRINCES, 180 TO 235 a. d. them was heartily engaged. Macrinus, besides, was in haste to return to Rome ; he made humble proposals, leleased the prisoners, and gave fifteen million drachmas, with which Artabanus was sat¬ isfied. 1 He again humiliated himself before the Armenians, restored CARACALLA, MACRINUS, AND ELAGABALUS, 211 TO 222 a. d. 99 also returned to the Barbarians. Under Caracalla, the Empire had maintained, at least in the face of the enemy, the proud attitude which Severus had given it. The success of the Roman arms was not, however, the less celebrated on account of these events. The coins were like an official journal of the time, and quite as unreliable as certain bulletins of victories. One of them, which the Senate ordered to be struck, bore the words: Victoria Partliica - 1 Macrinus undertook, how¬ ever, to draw closer the bonds of discipline, so lax under Cara¬ calla ; and while leaving to the veterans the increase of pay, the rewards and exemptions from service which had been lavished upon them, he attempted to subject the recruits to the regu¬ lations of Severus, 2 3 * and treated them all with extreme severity. A victor might have done this with success; an Emperor who had been half-conquered, and macrtnus. 8 had just been obliged to pur¬ chase a peace, was incapable of imposing this reform. The war had called many troops into Syria: he made the mistake of keeping 1 Eckhel, vii. 258. 2 Dion, lxxviii. 28. According to Capitolinus (Macr. 12), he condemned adulterers to be burned (junctis corporibus ), and fugitive slaves to fight as gladiators. Informers, if they failed to prove the accusation, forfeited their heads; if they proved it, they were branded with infamy, after having received the sum which the law allowed them. lie condemned soldiers to the cross, or had other servile punishments inflicted upon them ; and he often “ decimated ” them. T doubt whether he was capable of so much energy. Yet Ilerodian (v. 2) confirms the words of Capitolinus. 3 Heroic statue (in the Vatican) of Greek marble which has preserved its antique head (Museo Pio Clem. vol. iii. pi. 12). was and what had been, that comparison which malecontents always turn to the disadvantage of the present. Macrinus had written to the Conscript Fathers that he intended to do nothing without them; 2 that is to say, that he proposed to give back to the Senate 1 Bust of the Capitol, Hall of the Emperors, No. 55. 2 In the letter which Macrinus wrote to the Senate to announce the revolt of Elagabalus,. he complained of the insatiable greed of the soldiers, and of the impossibility of provid¬ ing, with the ordinary revenues of the state, for their pay at the rate to which Caracalla had raised it. 100 THE AFRICAN AND SYRIAN PRINCES, 180 TO 235 a. d. them there. These inactive soldiers, their minds still full of the memories of the great expeditions of Severus, began to reckon up the profits that had accrued to them from the victories of the father and the largesses of the son, and to make, between what MACRINUS. 1 CAR AC ALL A, MACRINUS, AND ELAGABALUS, 211 TO 222 a. d. 101 that central position in the Empire which the late Emperor had given to the army. It would have been wise for Macrinus to do this silently; especially important was it for him to send back to their respective garrisons the legions which were useless in the pacified East, and, above all things, not to pass his own time in Antioch gazing at dancers and listening to buffoons. Soon complaints were openly made in the camps of the parsimony of the new Emperor, — of this civilian who kept the soldier in his tent, while but lately cities had been his quarters. Men spoke of the millions given up to the Parthians as of property taken from the legions; and they finally came to believe that the real mur¬ derer of the Emperor who had been so dear to the army was no other than Macrinus. After the death of Julia Domna, Macrinus had relegated to Emesa the sister of that Empress, Maesa, with her two daughters, Soaemias, mother of Avitus Bassianus (afterwards notorious under the name of Elagabalus), and Mamaea, whose son, born in an old Canaanite city, where the Venus of Libanus was adored, 1 had taken, from a temple of that city consecrated to Alexander, the name of the Macedonian hero. It seems that these Syrian women, who were very intelligent, had made advantageous marriages, by taking husbands who were both old and wealthy; at least, the two were already widows, and rich. They had also made ( GOLD com), skilful use of their imperial connections; and, in 217, what remained of the family of the priest Bassianus, three women and two children, 2 were now united near the Temple of the Sun. This sanctuary, in great veneration throughout all Syria, possessed the right of asylum; 3 it afforded shelter for their wealth and their persons. Macrinus, a timorous usurper, lacking the audacity which some¬ times renders usurpation successful, left in the hands of his enemies all this gold, — a sure means, in such a time, to bring about a revo¬ lution. Another imprudence was that of sending a legion into camp in the vicinity of this treasure, to which Maesa and her daughters had the key, and near a city which, owing to Caracalla 1 Area'Caesarea or Cesarea Libanis. Cf. Belley, Mem. de l’A cad. des inscr. xxxii. 685 et seq. 2 Soaemias had had a second son (Orelli, No. 946, and Boeckh, C. I. G. No. 6,627). A Lamprid., Heliog. 2. 102 THE AFRICAN AND SYRIAN PRINCES, 180 TO 235 a. d . the title and privileges of an Italic colony, venerated his memory and his race. 1 The three women, without counsellors, without support, under¬ took, in their remote Syrian city, to overthrow an Emperor; and they did overthrow him. They had consecrated the elder of the boys to the priesthood of the god of Emesa, — an office hereditary in the family of' Bassianus; they had caused him to be circumcised, for the pur¬ pose of conforming with the custom of the country, and had forbidden him to eat pork. They themselves also produced an effect on the minds of the people by devotion either feigned or sincere. An inscription gives to Maesa the title of “ very holy; ” 2 coins of Soaemias represent her in the character of the Venus Celestia; 3 and Mamaea, through religious curiosity and political sagacity, had entered into correspondence with Origen. 4 There were many Christians and Jews in this region whom these ad¬ vances might win, without alarming the pagans. Then, as to-day, these sensuous and impressionable populations suffered themselves to be deceived by the outward appearance of sanctity. In the East there have always been marabouts, who make use of religion for political ends. The three women assigned this part to the boy in whom were cen¬ tred their affections and their hopes. Varius Avitus Bassianus, better known under the name of his god Elagabalus, 5 was then in his fourteenth year. 6 He had that statuesque beauty which the Greeks regarded as a gift from the gods; and when, clad in a purple robe em¬ broidered with gold, his head encircled with a crown of precious stones whose iridescence sparkled like a luminous aureole about his ELAGABAirs. ON A COIN OF TRALLES. 7 1 Digest , 1. 15, 1, sect. 4. 2 ISanctissima (Ilenzen, No. 5,515). 3 Eckhel, vii. 265. See Yol. VI. p. 552, a statue of Soaemias, Venus Celestia. 4 Eusebius, Hist. eccl. vi. 21. We must not in this fact see a leaning towards Christianity, for all the coins of Mamaea are pagan. J I he name Elagabalus is never found on coins, any more than that of Caligula or Cara- calla. These surnames have passed into history from the mouth of the people. II is official name was Marcus Aurelius Antoninus. 6 Herod., v. 3. Lampridius assigns him three years more (and the same to Alexander Severus) ; but Dion represents him as being yet a child, -rrathlov (lxxviii. 36 and 38), and makes him die at the age of eighteen (lxxix. 20). 7 Large bronze, the reverse of which we have given in Yol. IY. p. 211. CARACALLA, MACRINUS, AND EL AG ARAL US, 211 TO 222 a. d. 103 brow, he went up to the temple to perform the sacred rites, the crowd believed they beheld a child of destiny. The soldiers en¬ camped in the suburbs of the city, often came to this renowned sanctuary, and even more than others admired and loved the young priest, whom Severus had cradled upon his knees. Gradually the report spread that Elagabalus was more nearly connected with him who had been the real Emperor of the soldiers. Servants of the pal¬ ace of Emesa asserted that he was the son of Caracalla; 1 and money distributed, promises made, and hopes held out, easily persuaded men who had an interest in being persuaded. For the success of this intrigue, Maesa sacrificed her gold, Soaemias her honor; but neither of them cared for what they lost. The gold of Maesa was placed at high interest, and Soaemias thought that the mantle of an empress would cover all. 2 As for the soldiers, they asked nothing better than to give to an effeminate Syrian the Empire of Augustus and Trajan. One night Elagabalus repaired to the camp of Emesa, followed by wagons which bore the price of the Empire; and when day dawned he was proclaimed. They gave to him the names of Marcus Aurelius Antoninus (May 16, 218), — a last tribute to those famous Antonines whose renown was beginning to be magnified by remoteness, and whom the poets of the time ranked above the gods. 3 A praetorian prefect, Ulpius Julianus, hap¬ pened to be in the vicinity, with a troop of Moorish horsemen whom he believed to be de¬ voted to Macrinus, their compatriot. He has- . THE GOD OF EMESA. tened to the camp to torce its gates ; the attack, feebly conducted, was not successful, and a second attempt met the same fate. So much was not needed to make the fidelity of his soldiers waver. When they heard a cubicularius of the late Emperor proclaim, in the name of the new, that the property and the rank of the dead man should belong to him who brought to the camp of Emesa the head of a centurion or a tribune; when they saw 1 He assumed this title, which is found in the inscriptions: divi Severi nepos, divi Antomni filius. 2 Lamp'ridius ( Heliog . 2) accuses Soaemias of having led the life of a courtesan ( meretricis more vixit). 3 . . . Antoninos pluris fuisse quam deos (Lamprid., Diad. 7). gold, — they slew their officers, and the ensigns of the two armies were united. On a first report of the prefect, Macrinus had seen in this revolt only an outbreak of women, which he could easily subdue. 1 Bust of the Capitol, Hall of the Emperors, No. 57. 104 THE AFRICAN AND SYRIAN PRINCES, 180 TO 235 a. d. theii comrades display from the top of the wall the boy whom they called the son of Caracalla, together with the bags of Maesa’s ELAGABALTJS. 1 CARACALLA, MACRINUS, AND ELAGABALUS, 211 TO 222 a. d. 105 Soon a messenger from the camp of Emesa arrived. “ I bring you the head of Elagabalus,” he said; and flung down that of Julianus. The sight of this bloody trophy which the rebels had sent him, the audacity of this soldier, who profited by the confusion to make his escape, caused anxiety in the Emperor’s heart; and he had recourse to what seemed the great agent of safety with soldiers,— gold. To have an occasion for promising to each legionary five thousand drachmas, of which a thousand were paid on the spot, he conferred the title of Augustus on his son. The letter which announced to the Senate this elevation, promised the Romans a largess of 150 drachmas per head, — from which we see that a soldier was then esteemed to be worth thirty-three times as much as one of the sovereign people. He also re-established all the military regulations of Caracalla. These largesses, inspired by fear, came too late; every day deserters made their way from all points of Syria, singly or in bands, to the camp of Emesa. The legion of Albano, which was encamped at Apameia, deserted in a body; so that the army of Elagabalus became strong enough to go in pursuit of that of Macrinus. The battle took place on the confines of Syria and Phoenicia; Gannys, the eunuch or servant of Mamaea, who led the soldiers of the young Caesar, was a skilful general. He took up a good position, and Maesa, Soaemias, and even Ela¬ gabalus, cast themselves into the fray to inspire their troops. Macrinus, on the contrary, frightened by the tumult and by new defections, fled, leaving his praetorians to maintain valiantly the reputation of the corps; but when they became aware of the cowardice of their chief, and received the promise of Elagabalus that they should preserve their rank and honors, they laid down their arms, and the higli-priest of the Sun found himself master of the Roman world. This occurred June 8, 218. 1 Macrinus had sent in advance to Antioch an announcement of victory. When he arrived near that city, he took a certificate of the imperial post, cut off his hair and beard, and in dis¬ guise attempted in great haste to escape into Europe by way of 1 Is it- in remembrance of this victory that he founded in Palestine, on the site <>! Emmaiis, a city of victory, NIcopolis? (Eusebius, Chron., ad ann. 224.) He made Emesa a colony possessing the jus Italicum {Digest, 1. 15, 8, sec. 6). 106 THE AFRICAN AND SYRIAN PRINCES, 180 TO 235 a. d. Byzantium. All went well at first, and lie had crossed Asia Minor without opposition ; when great fatigue and need of money obliged him to stop in a poor dwelling in the outskirts of Chalcedon. A note written by him to an agent of the imperial finances to obtain funds, led to his recognition; he was arrested, and delivered up to the soldiers of Elagabalus, who had followed him all the way from Antioch. Macrinus had charged trusty messengers to conduct his son to the Parthians, his recent allies. KUINS OF ZANA, THE ANCIENT DIANA. 1 Horsemen overtook the child before he had crossed the Euphrates, and slew him. The news of his death reached his father while he himself was being brought to the conqueror. He threw him¬ self down from his chariot and fractured his shoulder, and the soldiers at once murdered him. He was fifty-four years old, and had not reigned fourteen months. No monument built by him is known ; but an arch of triumph still standing in French Algeria, at Zana, the ancient Diana, was erected in his honor by his compatriots of Mauretania. 2 1 Revue arche'ol., ninth volume. The inscription of the Arch of Zana (Diana Veteranorum), constructed directly after his accession, terms him consul designatus. Dion, in fact, informs us that Macrinus was not CARACALLA, MACRI.NUS, AND ELAGABALUS, 211 TO 222 a. d. 107 He had in view, it is said, a revision of the imperial rescripts (which were most frequently only decisions in special cases), with the design of preserving those which were of a general cha¬ racter. It was a laudable intention, but required time for its execution; and this was not granted him. 1 The god of Emesa was represented by a black stone, which no doubt had the same origin as the black stone of Mecca. The terrestrial influence of these two aerolites 3 was very different; for we may say that the one brought down from sidereal space a grand idea of religious purity, and the other, the principle of all disorder. The Arabs relate that when creation was complete, God summoned the angels to contemplate the work emanating from his hands. At sight of it the choir of celestial spirits uttered a cry of adoration : “ Allah! ” This holy word, proclaiming the unity and omnipotence of the Creator, God wrote in the heart of the black stone which Abraham deposited in the Kaaba. At the day of judgment it will open, to disclose to view the divine formula in flaming characters, and to give testimony in behalf of those who have approached it with pure lips and a repentant heart. This legend is beautiful and grand; elagabalus. 4 it transforms an act of vulgar super¬ stition into a profession of moral and religious faith. The stone of Emesa had more of worldly grandeur, but infinitely less of willing, as Plautianus had done (see Vol. VI. p. 82), to reckon the consular ornaments which he had obtained from Caracalla as a first consulship (L. Renier, Mel. d’e'pigr. pp. 185 et seq.). 1 He had also undertaken to continue the alimentary institutions established by Trajan and the Antonines (Lamprid., Diad. 2). 2 Aureus of Uranius Antonius, bearing the black stone richly ornamented and sur¬ mounted by a crown with points. 3 “ In the temple ... is to be seen a great stone, rounded at the base and pointed at the top, of conical form and black in color, which they say fell from heaven” (Herod., v. 5). 4 Elagabalus in a chariot drawn by two women (cameo of the Cabinet de France , No. 253, white jasper, 27 mill, by 21). This monument answers to the text of Lampridius: Junxit et quaternas mulieres pulcherrimas , et binas ad papillam, vel ternas et amplius, et sic vectatus' est: sed plerumque nudus quum ilium nudae traherent. The Greek inscription, Long live Epixenus (from enl^evos. intruder), leads us to think that this cameo is a monu¬ ment of a satirical nature. 108 THE AFRICAN AND SYRIAN PRINCES, 180 TO 235 a. d. virtue. It was the image of the Sun, from which it appeared to have come; and as in all religions the sign is easily con¬ founded with the thing signified, it was venerated like the Sun itself, the author of life, the principle of fecundity and gener¬ ation, which its worshippers adored by acts analogous to those which it accomplishes in the bosom of Nature . 1 Elagabalus was the most complete representation of the unclean side of this naturalism. Hitherto the tyrants of Rome had at least had something of the Roman character. In the son of Severus there was still a soldier ; but the son of Soaemias was purely a Syrian, in whom was united all that the East could prcd.nc;e of lust and shame. His inclinations turned to the most abominable vices, his mind to the wildest aberrations. Hence he has ever remained in the memory of men as the symbol of enthroned infamy. Three things had produced this moral monstrosity, — an impure religion, absolute power, and his own youth. After his victory, Elagabalus assumed all the imperial titles, without awaiting the usual decree of the Senate, and marched rapidly upon Antioch, which purchased exemption from pillage by the payment of five hundred drachmas to each soldier. Thence were at once despatched letters to the Conscript Fathers, — in which he promised to govern like Marcus Aurelius, — and sentences of death against the governors who had been slow to divine his fortune, against senators who had shown too much zeal in favor of Macrinus, and even against the skilful man who had won for him the battle of Antioch . 2 1 Asia was full of these conical stones. Venus at Paphos, Gacion at Seleucia (see Vol. IV. p. 313) and at Bosra, were thus represented. These cones, of sidereal origin, symbolized the generative power; the two mountains named Casius, near Antioch and on the frontier of Egypt, owed this name to their pyramidal form (cf. Mionnet, Seleucide et Pierie, Nos. 891 et seq., which give bronzes of Trajan representing a cone in a tetrastyle temple, with the legend, Zeus Kasios, and De Vogue, Tnscr. semitiques, pp. 103, 104). Dion, Ixxix. 3, 4. One of the victims of Elagabalus, Valerianus Paetus, was con¬ demned “ because he had had images of himself made of gold, for the adornment of his mis¬ tresses. I mention this fact to indicate a Roman usage : the first act of an Emperor was to coin gold pieces bearing his effigy. To encroach on this right was treason. Paetus was well aware of this, and doubtless was not as innocent as Dion says. “ He was a Galatian,” adds the historian, “ and was accused of seeking to incite a rebellion in the neighboring province, Cap¬ padocia, and of having with this intent had the coins struck which were the cause of his death.” All usurpers began in this way. A mm. Marcellinus (xxvi. 7) relates that the partisans of the usurper 1 roeopius brought about the defection of Illyria by putting in circulation in that province coins with his effigy, as proof that he was indeed the legitimate emperor. CAEACALLA, MACRINUS, AND ELAGABALUS, 211 TO 222 a. d. 109 Each one of the shocks which dethroned an Emperor had been succeeded by a period of disorder, shaking the Empire to its foun¬ dation, until a firm hand restored its equilibrium. The legions of Macrinus, sent to their camps, pillaged the villages along their route, and many men had visions of the imperial purple. They had just seen a mere knight come to imperial power, and now a boy had attained it. There were therefore no longer laws or ordinances, Senate or Roman people; no longer a powerful aristoc¬ racy giving to Rome its Caesars. “ At the death of Nero,” says Tacitus, “ a terrible secret had been revealed ; namely, that emperors might be made outside Rome.” At the accession of Elagabalus, another secret was made known; namely, that it was not necessary to be the choice of a powerful army, but that a few cohorts and a little popular enthusiasm were sufficient to cause a revolution. Hence many men believed that with sufficient audacity it would be easy to force the gates of the palace. Two legates of legions, even a ' centurion’s son, a worker in wool, and still others 1 attempted in various places to gain the support of the soldiers. A man whose name is unknown went so far as to instigate a mutiny among the crews of the fleet of Cyzicus, while Elagabalus was wintering near there in Nicomedeia. “ So many worthless men,” says the historian Cassius, “had victoriously trodden the path to power that it had become smoothed for all the adventurers who dared enter upon it.” The era of the thirty tyrants was approaching. In Mount Taurus, Elagabalus had consecrated to his god the temple which Marcus Aurelius had erected in honor of Faustina, and Caracalla later had dedicated to his own divinity. At Nicomedeia the new Emperor had himself painted in his sacerdotal costume. The picture was placed in the Senate at Rome, above the statue of Victory; and each senator was obliged, before taking his seat in the curia, to burn incense before it . 2 Elagabalus entered Rome wearing a purple robe embroidered with gold, a necklace of pearls, his cheeks painted with vermilion, and the brilliancy of his eyes height¬ ened, like those of an Arab woman, by the use of henna. Maesa and her two daughters had accompanied him thither. United in devising the plot, these three women did not agree as to the advantages to be obtained from its success. Maesa, whose political 1 Ka'i uWoi St 7toAAoi uAAcdi (Dion, Ixxix. 7). 2 Herod., v. 1. 110 THE AFRICAN AND SYRIAN PRINCES, 180 TO 235 a. d. ideas had been formed in the school of Severns, desired decency in conduct and order in expenditure, — unwelcome prudence, to which the boy, intoxicated with power, gave no heed. In the opinion of Soaemias, on the contrary, Elagabalus, being master of all things, human and divine, had no need to restrain him¬ self in anything. Be¬ tween these tw r o women a division of power was effected in accordance with the taste of each. Public affairs were irk¬ some to the young Em¬ peror, and he abandoned them to his prudent grandmother, on condi¬ tion that she should not in¬ terfere with his pleasures, also giving her a seat in the Senate near the con¬ suls. To his mother he gave the presidency of a senate of women , 1 in¬ trusted with the duty of determining for the mat¬ rons their costumes and statue of victory . 2 order of precedence, the quantity of gold and precious stones that each might wear according to her condition, ornaments of litters and carriages, etc.,—a singular concern for et.quette in this court of parvenus, where the monarch made a display of all vices, broke down the barriers between all ranks, and set a charioteer of the circus above a consul! As to the mother 1 Lamprid., Heliog. 4. Museum of the Louvre, Xo. 435. Statue of Greek marble, apparently celebrating two triumphs by the two crowns which she has, one upon her head, the other in her right hand. A trophy is under her feet. CARACALLA, MACRINUS, AND EL AGAR ALUS, 211 TO 222 a. d. Ill of Alexander, she kept herself in retirement, and took especial care to withdraw her son from public notice. The Emperor went on covering himself with infamy; but it should be noticed that although public morality was shamefully outraged, the state did not suffer greatly during this miserable reign . 1 The executions of the first few days, and the fidelity of the legions definitively obtained for the new government, rendered the ambitious prudent. Public agitation subsided; and since the Germans remained quiet, and the Parthians had enough to do to avert impending ruin, the cities of the frontier were at peace like those of the interior. But at Rome what shame, what exhibitions! Gluttonv which would have driven Vitellius to despair, lewdness such as to make Nero blush, scenes of infamy which can onty be told in Latin ! Elagabalus entered the city attired like a Phoenician priest or Median sa¬ trap, bringing with him his shapeless god, the black stone of Emesa, which he honored with barbaric songs, lascivious dances, and immolations of children . 2 He made it the supreme divinity of the Empire. All Olympus was obliged to humiliate itself before this intruder, whom he solemnly united in marriage with the Astarte of Carthage, giving for a bridal escort to these deities the conquered gods, — those to whom for centuries the Romans had attributed their fortune, and who consequently had aided them in acquiring it! Jupiter Capitolinus was reduced to the position of courtier to the Syrian idol , 4 and the pontifex maximus COIN OF EMESA . 5 of Rome became the priest of the Sun-god . 6 Every year, says Herodian, Elagabalus conducted his god into a new and magnificent temple which he had built for him in one of the suburbs of Rome. The stone was placed on a chariot sparkling 1 . . . kci'i pr/ftev peya kcikov tj/ilv (pipovra (Dion, lxxix. 8). 2 Lamprid., Heliog. 11. 3 Elagabalus, priest of the Sun-god (SACERD. DEI SOLIS ELAGAB. SC.). 4 O inn ex deox sui dei ministros esse ciiebat (Lamprid., Heliog. 7). 5 The conical stone of Elagabalus on a chariot drawn by four horses (SANCT. DEO SOLI ELAGABAL.). Imperial coin of Emesa ; Mionnet. 6 Sncerdos dei solis (Eekhel, vii. 250) ; in the inscriptions, lie joined to his title of Emperor that of priest of Elagabalus (Henzen, Nos. 5,514-15). 112 THE AFRICAN AND SYRIAN PRINCES, 180 TO 235 a. d. with gold and precious stones, drawn by six white horses; and that the idol might appear to drive the chariot himself, no person was seated in it. In front, the Emperor, supported by two guards, ran backwards, in order to keep his eyes ever fixed on the holy image. Behind were borne the statues of all the gods, the imperial ornaments, and the precious furnishings of the palace ; the garrison of Rome and the entire populace formed the escort, bearing torches and strewing the way with flowers and wreaths .. 1 Dion relates an adventure which took place about the same time near the province of which he was governor: “ On the banks of the Ister appeared, I know not how, a genius who resembled in countenance Alexander of Macedon. He traversed Maesia and Thrace after the manner of Bacchus, accompanied by four hundred men armed with thyrsi and clad in goat-skins. They did no harm, and everything was supplied to them, lodging and provisions, at the expense of the cities ; for no one dared oppose him in word or action, neither chief, nor soldier, nor procurator, nor governor of provinces: and in open daylight, as he had an¬ nounced, he advanced in procession as far as Byzantium. Thence, crossing over into Chalcedon, he performed at night certain sacri¬ fices, buried in the ground a wooden horse, and disappeared.” 2 That these populations, stupefied by gross superstitions, should take for a god the fanatic or the adroit swindler who lived at their expense, makes it easier to understand that other grotesque madman effecting * a religious revolution at Rome in favor of his black stone. In the preceding chapter we have seen the noblest men of this age piercing in thought the depths of the sky, there to seek that God who ever keeps from view. The two facts which we have related above show the imagination of the weak-minded, whether princes or people, haunted by kindred visions. Genii, daemons, are everywhere; every religion furnishes them: and the multitude, not knowing which they should honor, pays a common and timorous adoration to them all. It is the popular syncretism, manifesting itself after its own fashion on a lower plane than the syncretism of the philosophers. In the temple of his god, where we have already seen all the occupants of the Graeco-Roman Pantheon, he placed also,” says 1 Herod., v. 5. 2 Dion, lxxix. 18. CARACALLA, MACRINUS, AND ELAGABALUS, 211 TO 222 a. d. 113 his biographer, u IVLIA AQVILIA SEVE- 1!A AVG[VSTA]. 2 the image of the Great Goddess, the Vestal fire, the Palladium, and the sacred bucklers. He desired to have the rites of the Jews and the Samaritans observed there, and even the ceremonies of Chris¬ tianity ; so that the priests of Elagabalus might possess the secret of all religions.” 1 This secret the Christians believed that they possessed ; and seeing them oppose to this religious anarchy the unity of their belief and the discipline we feel of their churches that the hour of their tri¬ umph is coming. The just loathing inspired by the high- priest of Emesa must not, however, prevent us from recognizing that in the midst of these unclean festivals an important fact lay concealed. The worship of the black stone did not accord with the Roman genius, which the Greeks had rendered exact¬ ing in respect to the plastic representation of the gods ; but the monotheistic idea which this stone represented became a very Roman one. The worship of the Sun assumes more and more im¬ portance ; for it was of all the pagan cults the most rational. We shall see that the Sun was the great god of Aurelian and of the Constantinian family. The most contemptible of Emperors ac¬ cordingly plays, without suspecting it, a part in the religious 1 Lam'prid., Heliog. 4. 2 Large bronze of the Cabinet de France. 3 Bust of Parian marble, Museum of the Louvre. 8 JULIA CORNELIA PAULA. 3 VOL. VII. 114 THE AFRICAN AND SYRIAN PRINCES, 180 TO 235 a. d ANNIA FAUSTINA. 1 found in the mind of his successor, but combined with moral purity; while through it all Elagabalus seeks and takes only that which may excite his passions. For his absurd extravagances and his infamous debauchery we may turn to the pages of Lampridius. History notes these turpitudes or these follies; it does not delay over them. We need only say that, after the example of Asiatic monarchs, who seek their ministers 1 Bust of pavoncizetto; Capitol, Hall of the Emperors, No. 58. disintegration of Roman society. This profligate madman had also in his way the intoxication of the divine. He is the represen¬ tative of that confused medley of beliefs whence faith in the one God was even then beginning to emerge. This confusion will be CARACALLA, MACRINUS, AND ELAGABALUS, 211 TO 222 a. d. 115 in the lowest ranks, when he did not sell the great offices of state, he assigned them to dancers and barbers; that he treated the Senate as a troop of slaves in togas, — which unfortunately they were; that his palace was sanded with gold dust, and that his silken garments, covered with jewels, were never worn twice; that he filled his fish-ponds with rose-water , 1 and that he had naval engagements represented on lakes of wine ; 2 that he finally dressed as a woman, painted his face, wrought at work in wool, and had himself styled clom- ina or imperatrix, the Em¬ peror then being represented by the son of a cook or ■some young athlete. In less than four years he espoused four or five wives, whom he repudiated and took back again. The first of these, Julia Cornelia Paula, of eminent family, retained only for one year her title and honors; he carried off the second, Julia Aquilia Severa, from the altar of Vesta, — an JULIA MAESA. act of sacrilege which made even the Romans of that time tremble; the third, Annia Faus¬ tina, was descended from Marcus Aurelius: the memory of the great Emperor protected her but for a few weeks against the caprices of the imperial profligate. Meanwhile, Maesa saw how such a manner of reigning must end. By adroit flattery she induced Elagabalus to give the title of Caesar to his cousin Alexander, and to adopt the latter as his 1 Lamprid., Heliog. 19. During the banquets, the ceiling opened, to let fall upon the guests such a. quantity of flowers that many were smothered by them. 2 Ibid., 16, 22. 3 Bust of the Capitol, Ilall of the Emperors, No. 59. 116 THE AFRICAN AND SYRIAN PRINCES, 180 TO 235 a. d. son. He ought to devote himself, she told him, to the enjoy¬ ment of his feasts, to his sacred orgies, and to his divine duties, while another had the care of public affairs. This other was a boy twelve years old, and the adoptive father was but sixteen ; the new Caesar had however already manifested his gentle and admirable character, so that his grandmother and his mother centred in him the hope of their house. His graceful¬ ness, his discretion, the strict mas¬ ters whom he had about him, the perils which it was known that he incurred, and the secret largesses, of Mamaea to the praetorians, ob¬ tained for him a popularity at which Elagabalus became incensed. The Emperor sought various means to put his rival out of the way quietly. But Mamaea allowed her son to taste no beverage or dish sent by the Emperor; she surrounded him with trusty servants ; and the levity of Elagabalus, which permitted his designs to be easily perceived, made it possible also to prevent the exe¬ cution of them. He at last deter¬ mined on an overt attack. He sent an order to the senators and to the soldiers to take from his cousin the title of Caesar, while at the same time murderers sought the boy in order to kill him. But the order caused a tumult, in which the Emperor narrowly escaped death. He was obliged to go with Alexander to the camp of the praetorians, who required of him the death or dismissal of his unworthy favorites, commanded the Emperor to change his mode of life, and ordered their prefects to see to this, and espe¬ cially to prevent Alexander from imitating his cousin. They were like the French Cabochiens of 1413, enjoining morality upon the ELAGABALUS. 1 1 Statue, heroic size; Collection Mattei; Clarac, Musie, etc. pi. 7G8, No. 2,487 A. CABACALLA, MACRINUS, AND ELAGABALUS, 211 TO 222 a. d. 117 Dauphin, driving from the Hotel Saint-Pol the musicians and dancers when they lingered too late into the night, and even the councillors who displeased them, conducting the latter to Parliament to be judged, or murdering them on the way thither. There is, however, this difference, — in 1413 Paris was in a state of revolu¬ tion ; while at Rome, in 221, that the soldiery should give orders to the Emperor had become an habitual thing. On the first of January, 222, the two lads were to go before the Senate to assume the consular dignities. It required all the urging of Maesa and the threat of a new outbreak of the praeto¬ rians to induce Elagabalus to allow himself to be accompanied by his adopted son. But he absolutely refused to perform with him at the Capitol the customary ceremonies. At another time he caused a report of the death of Alexander to be put in circulation, in order to judge, from the conduct of the soldiers, whether he might assassinate his young cousin without incurring too great risk. But the soldiery, being secretly informed that the young prince was alive, demanded his presence among them with loud shouts, recalled the guard which they sent each morning to the palace, and shut themselves up in their camp. At this result of his experiment, Elagabalus hastened to appease them by showing to them the Caesar. His mother and Mamaea followed him, each exciting the praetorians against the other. Mamaea at last carried the day. A tumult broke out, blows were interchanged, the friends and ministers of Elagabalus, and Soaemias herself, were slaughtered. That effeminate voluptuary, whom a crumpled rose-leaf disturbed, hid himself in the sinks of the camp. There he was slain; and his corpse, dragged through the streets, was flung into the Tiber, and the god of Emesa narrowly escaped sharing the fate of his pontiff. The Senate consigned to infamy the memory of Elagabalus, and history does the same (March 11, 222). His cousin, now thirteen years of age, 1 was proclaimed Augustus, and took the name of Marcus Aurelius Alexander, to which the soldiers added — in memory of him who was believed by some to be the new Emperor’s grandfather — that of Severus. 2 1 Herodian (v. 7) says that he was entering on his twelfth year when Elagabalus adopted him; he is generally assigned three years more. 2 Marcus Aurelius Severus Alexander (Eckhel, vii. 281). I have already described 118 THE AFEICAN AND S YE IAN PKINCES, 180 TO 235 a. d. To mark distinctly that the Oriental orgy was ended, and that, the ancient deities dispossessed by the Syrian idol had resumed their sway, Alexander engraved on his coins the title of priest of Rome (sacerdos Urbis)} (Vol. VI. p. 201) that session of the Senate at which Alexander declined the other names which the Conscript Fathers desired to confer upon him. 1 Eckhel, vii. 270. IVLIA SOAEMIAS AVOVSTA. CHAPTER XCIII. ALEXANDER SEYERUS (MARCH 11, 222-MARCH 19, 235 A.D.). I. — Reaction against the Preceding Reign ; Mamaea and Ulpian ; the Council of the Emperor. W E now see the heritage of Augustus, by the grace of the soldiers, in the hands of two women and a child! What vitality in this Empire, which, though under female sway, yet remained erect and imposing! But these two women were of distinguished ability. We have already remarked the skilful prudence of Maesa and the lofty character of Alexander’s mother. The latter by a well-ordered education developed the favor¬ able tendencies of this gentle and virtuous youth. She placed about her son the ablest masters, taking care that they should also be men of the greatest integrity, and she caused him to be taught enough of literature and art to have a taste and respect for them, but not enough to be tempted to bestow upon them the time demanded by public bus¬ iness. It is noteworthy that Alexander expressed himself more easily in Greek than in Latin. This invasion of Greek into the higher Roman society is a sign of the progress accomplished by another invasion, — that of Oriental hellenism and Alexandrian syncretism, of which this Emperor was also a representative. “ From the day of his accession, ” says Herodian, 2 te he was surrounded with all the pomp of sovereign power ; but the care of the Empire was left to the two princesses, who made an effort to bring back good morals and the ancient dignified demeanor. They chose sixteen senators, the most eminent for experience and 1 IVLIA MAMAEA AVG[usta], mother of Alexander Severus. 2 vi. i. "A coin of 222 bears the words, Liberalitas Aug. This was the resuming of the congiarium granted ut vioris erat, suscepto imperio, says Eckhel. 120 THE AFRICAN AND SYRIAN PRINCES 180 TO 235 a. d. integrity of life, to form the imperial council. 1 Without their approval no measures were carried into execution. The people, the army, the Senate, were delighted with this new form of gov¬ ernment, which replaced the most insolent of tyrannies by a sort of aristocracy.” It may be doubted whether the Senate was as satisfied as Herodian says with the new importance given to the comilium principis. We shall refer elsewhere to this institution, which took from the ancient masters of Rome their last prerogatives. The Conscript Fathers gave themselves at least the pleasure of devoting to the infernal gods the Emperor or the consul who, in future, should give a woman a seat in their august assembly. Doubtless this decree of the Senate appeared to them as memorable as the one ordering the victorious Pyrrhus to depart from Italy. 2 “ The statues of the gods which Elagabalus had taken away,” continues the historian, “ were at once restored to their places. Those functionaries wdio had unworthily obtained office were dismissed, and their places filled by the most capable citizens. ... In order to preserve the Emperor from the mistakes which might be caused by absolute authority, the ardor of youth, or by some of the vices natural to his family, Mamaea strictly guarded the entrance to the palace, and allowed no man to gain admission whose morals were of bad repute.” This reaction against the last reign, these precautions to save the new from the same excesses, were legitimate; and since it had been deemed expedient to make a boy an Emperor, it was fitting to guide him gently from his childish sports to the management of the Empire. This could not better be done than by means of the government of aged men and women, by this paternal and gentle authority, the calm and somnolence of which were calculated to protect Alexander’s minority, and to enable him to reach full age, if the soldiers consented to grant him time to do so. 1 Lampridius {Alex. 15) makes the number twenty. The council was complemented, in certain circumstances, by adding other senators, so that the number of fifty Conscript lathers, required for the validity of a decree, might be attained. This council also made appointments to the Senate {Ibid. 18). The last great jurisconsults of Rome, Florenti- nus IMarcianus, Ilermogenes, Saturninus, and Modestinus, numerous fragments of whose wiitings the Pandects have preserved to us, were members of this council, together with Paulus and Ulpian. Lamprid., Ihdiog. 18. Dating from the time of Alexander Severus, we find no more senatus-consulta. ALEXANDER SEVERUS, 222 TO 235 a.d. 121 Into the imperial council Mamaea had called her compatriot, Ulpian, whom she appointed praetorian prefect, 1 thus making him the second personage in the state. In re¬ ality, considering the age of the Emperor, Ulpian was the first; 2 for he was present at all the imperial audi¬ ences, reported mat¬ ters to Alexander, with the decisions to be given, and had the conduct of the whole government. Under this great juriscon¬ sult, 3 justice was im¬ partial and the police service vigilant. Those who speculated on the destitution of the people, the venality of a judge, or the compliance of a func¬ tionary, had to render strict account; but no One lost his life or JULIA mamaea, mother of ALEXANDER severus. 4 property without a judgment given after arguments on both sides. 5 Many honorable rescripts were promulgated. They did not introduce any modifi¬ cations into the law, but we see in them the provident kindliness 1 He appears to have held this position under Elagabalus (Lamprid., Alex. 26, and Aur. ATctor, De Cues. 26). 2 See, in respect to this officer’s duties, Vol. VI. p. 533. 3 Of the numerous works of Ulpian, the most important were eighty-three books Ad Edictum, and fifty-one Ad Sabinum. Numerous fragments remain to us of his Liber regulcirum, singularis. The extracts from these various treatises form a third of the Digest. 4 Bust of Pentelican marble, Museum of the Louvre. 6 This is the assertion of Lampridius ; yet the death of the father-in-law of Alexander, and of Turinus, whom the Emperor caused to be suffocated (Vol. A r I. p. 228), the murder of severaL of his councillors (Lamprid., Alex. 67), and some others, were not the result of judicial orders. 122 THE AFRICAN AND SYRIAN PRINCES, 180 TO 235 a. d. which marks this reign, 1 — a characteristic also of the legislation of the Antonines and of Severus. Mention is even made in them of the liberty of the subjects, — conditioned, it is true, upon their o;ood will and obedience. 2 The ability of these wise councillors is further marked by administrative details, some of which were of real importance. The praetorian prefecture gave senatorial rank, — the extension of the judicial cognizance of the prefect, who sometimes had to sit in judgment on senators, rendering this change necessary; and his decisions had the force of law when they were not contrary to ordinances already existing. 3 With Ulpian this office attained the zenith of its power. Fourteen curators, all of consular rank, were intrusted with the duty of deciding, together with the urban prefect, upon all affairs concerning the fourteen districts of the city. 4 This edict furnished a municipal council to the capital of the Empire, which, in respect to the maintenance of public order, had hitherto been subject to the sole authority of the prefect; it prescribed, moreover, that resolutions, in order to be valid, should be adopted in presence of all the members, or at least of a majority of them. This council, appointed, not elected, was none the less for Rome a guarantee of better administration. The assessores of the presidents were entitled to salaries, which gave them the character of public functionaries, but increased the expenditures of the treasury; 5 and it was forbidden to the pro¬ vincial governors, as well as to the persons employed about them, to engage in business or money-lending in the countries under their rule. We have seen 6 what wise recommendations Ulpian made to them for the protection of the common people. It had long been the custom to make grants of lands to the veterans. The rule was now established that officers and soldiers put in possession of domains on the frontiers might transmit 1 I or instance : . . . Cavetur ut si patronus libertum suum non aluerit, jus patroni perdcit (Digest , xxxvii. 14, 5, sec. 1). * Digest, xlix. 1, ‘25 : . . . Tantum tnihi curae est eorum, qui reguntur, libertatis, quantum ti bonne voluntatis eorum et obedientiae. 3 Code, i. 26, 2, ann. 235. 4 Lamprid., Alex. 32. Ibid. 45. Pescennius Niger bad already attempted to introduce this reform, ne consiliarit eos gravarent quibus assidebant (Spart., Nig. 7). 6 Yol. VI. p. 166. ALEXANDER SEVER US, 222 TO 235 a. d 123 them to their children when the latter followed the profession of arms; otherwise the land reverted to the imperial treasury. 1 These were military benefices, and the beginning of a new order of property. The post of dux , — that is, of chief of the army, without terri¬ torial command, — which we have seen originatinsc o o under Severus, appears now to have become a reg¬ ular office. 2 Finally, the government constituted what may be called “banks of deposit,” 3 4 and organized into corpo¬ rations the trades which had not as yet taken that form; assigning to each one a defensor , as will later be given to the cities, 5 and establishing for them a special juris¬ diction. Some were very rich, — the corporation of the money¬ changers, for example, who erected an arch to Septimius Severus. It was a new kind of industry, beginning or becoming developed. II. — The Gentleness, Piety, and Weakness of Alexander Severus. What part had Alexander himself in these measures? With an Emperor of thirteen, the councillors must have retained power for a long period. But it may be said that all which they did in the interests of the subjects corresponded, if not with the ideas, at least with the feelings of the young ruler. Alexander’s biographer has sought to make of this reign what Xenophon makes of the reign of Cyrus, — a beautiful “ morality; ” and although this scribe of Constantine had not yet embraced his master’s religion, to flatter Constantine he has represented the 1 Lamprid., Alex. 57. 2 Lamprid., ibid. 51. Capitolinas, in the life of Gordian III., also speaks of duces honorati, that is, honorary dukes. 3 Lamprid., ibid. 38. Medals, Moneta restituta, etc., attest also a monetary reform (Eckhel, vii. 279) ; but the explanations of Lampridius on this subject (39) throw no light on the question. 4 MON. RESTITVTA. Moneta standing, holding a balance and a horn of plenty (Medium bronze of Alexander Severus). 5 Lamprid., ibid. 22 and 33. This defensor was no doubt a different person from the patronus. 124 THE AFRICAN AND SYRIAN PRINCES, 180 TO 235 a. d. pagan Emperor who was least pagan, as already half-Christian. From this it has resulted that Alexander has been the favorite of history; as if, on emerging from the corrupt atmosphere of the preceding period, and before entering the sanguinary gloom of the following age, historians had taken pleasure in the description of this graceful lad, whom youth, virtue, and misfortune have conse¬ crated. In certain respects this good fame of Alexander is legiti¬ mate. After the saturnalia of the late reign we have an Emperor pure in morals, simple in tastes, and making his life a public example more efficacious than all legal enactments. We feel an affection for this amiable youth who would have the public crier proclaim, while criminals were being chastised, these words, which were also graven on the front of his palace : “ Do not to another what you would not have done to yourself; ” who wrote in verse the lives of the good Emperors, 1 and each day in his lararium spent a little time silent before the images of those whom he called the benefactors of humanity, — monarchs or philosophers, founders of empires or religions; 2 who, finally, constantly read the Republic of Plato, Cicero’s treatise De Officiis, and the Epistles of Horace, to draw from these noble books his rules of conduct. Every seventh day he went up to the Capitol and visited the temples of the city, — without, however, always making rich offerings in them, thinking, with Persius, that the worship loved by the gods is the practice of virtue, and that they have no need of gold, — ... In sanctis quid facit aurum? But he was liberal to the poor, to his friends, and to those of his officers who had well fulfilled their duties. Che great alimentary institution of Trajan will be remembered; this Alexander continued and extended, 3 and founded another; he 1 . . . Vitasprincipum bonorum versibus scripsit (Lamprid., Alex. 27). 2 Lampridius, who supplies this information (Alex. 28), adds this detail: “He never en¬ tered into his oratory unless si facultas esset, id est, si non cum uxore cubuisset .” This was a general rule, of which Ovid had already spoken (Fasti, ii. 329, and iv. G57). The Church inherited this custom. “ This kind of abstinence,” says Abbe Greppo, “was practised in the pi unitive Church prior to participation in the holy mysteries, as is still the case in the churches - f tlie East, whose ministers are not constrained to celibacy” (Trois mem. didst, eccles. p. I he Kussian peasant observes the same rule the day preceding the Sabbath. 3 Puellas et pueros Mammaeanas et Mammaeanos instituit (Lamprid., Alex. 56). A coin of 11.uit ilia, which represents a woman carrying a child, shows that Severus also took care of ibis institution (Eckhel, vii. 226). THE ARCH OF THE MONEY-CHANGERS AT ROME I The Library »f the Uwbrertitv of ALEXANDER SEVERUS, 222 TO 235 a. d. 125 lent money to poor families that they might buy land, and required of them only an interest of three per cent, payable from the product of the property. 1 2 Frequently he even made a gift of land, slaves, cattle, and implements of agriculture. While he augmented the tax on the trades supplying articles of luxury, on the goldsmiths, gilders, furriers, etc., he diminished the other imposts, and lamented that fiscal agents were a necessary evil. He granted remissions to a number of cities, on condition that the money which he thus left to them should be employed in rebuilding their dilapidated edifices; he restored at his own expense many old bridges and constructed new ones. And finally, he founded # »o° schools, paid pro- j * fessors, pensioned pupils, and recom¬ pensed advocates who took nothing: from their clients: these are our schol arships and our judiciary aid. For himself, great frugality and much economy, to the extent of being obliged to borrow silver ware and slaves when he gave a state banquet; towards all, plebeians or senators, even towards his own domestics, an affability which, in the Emperor, did not allow the master to be seen. At twenty he was a sage. This wisdom, — which was not the fruit of experience, but a gift of nature, — this kindness, which showed itself in everything, does honor to the man; of the ruler other things are demanded. His filial tenderness was weakness when he dared not resist his mother, who, alarmed by the many catastrophes she had witnessed, » 2 SALLUSTIA ORBIANA. 8 1 Lamprid., Alex. 21. As to imposts, it is impossible to admit, with Lampridius, that he reduced them to the twentieth of what Elagabalus exacted. On the payment of the tax in gold, see above, p. 81, note 3. 2 Rhetoribus, grammaticis, medicis, aruspicibus, mathematicis, mechanicis, architectis salaria instituit , et auditoria decrevit, et discipulos cum annonis pauperum Jilios modo ingenuos dari jussit. Etiam in provinciis oratoribus forensibus multum detulit, plerisque etiam cinnonas dedit, quos constitisset gratis agere (Lamprid., Alex. 44). 8 The Empress Sallustia Orbiana, second wife of Alexander Severus, wearing a diadem; on the reverse, FECVNDITAS TEMPORVM. Orbiana seated; before her, Fecundity kneeling, holding a horn of plenty and carrying two children. (Bronze medallion.) 126 THE AFRICAN AND SYRIAN PRINCES, ISO TO 235 a. d. sought in heaping up treasure 1 a safeguard against evil days, — as if, for her and for her son, in case of defeat, there could be any other refuge than death. This weakness even becomes odious if it be true, as Herodian relates, that he allowed Mamaea to drive from the palace his young wife, who claimed the honors of an augusta, and who deserved them; 2 if he suffered his father-in-law to be put to death for having complained to the authorities of the time — the soldiers of the praetorium — of insults which he had received from the Empress. 3 Alexander’s regret that he could not abolish all taxes is the language of a woman or of a courtier of the rabble, and his love for Plato’s Republic betrays a mind which the good sense of Horace, his other favorite, did not suffice to preserve from fair illusions. His prohibition to senators of making investments, to capitalists of lending at more than three per cent, to those whose consciences were disquieted, of presenting themselves at the imperial receptions, — these moral orders, proclaimed by the herald or affixed to edicts, show a good disposition; but how was it possible to secure their execution ? The regulations about costumes for the purpose of distinguishing the different orders of citizens, about garments for summer and winter, for fair weather and rain, were other pueril¬ ities, of which Ulpian and Paulus surely prescribed very little. Before appointing a functionary, the Emperor published the can¬ didate’s name, and invited the citizens, in case the person had committed any crime, to denounce him; adding, however, that the informer would be punished with death if he did not furnish proof of his accusation. This is a twofold absurdity: a wise government is bound to make its own investigations; and no one was tempted to respond to an appeal when so terrible a penalty might be incurred. But Alexander Severus seems to have sought to trans¬ form the Empire into an ideal republic. 1 See on this subject the sarcasms of Julian in the Caesars. 2 The name of this young woman is not known; but after having repudiated her, Alex¬ ander re-married, and though no author has spoken of his second wife, we have coins of hers and an inscription in which she is named with the title of augusta: Gnaea Seia Ilerennia Sallustia Barbia Orbiana Augusta. See Eckhel, vii. 284, and Corp. Inscr. Lat. ii. 3,734. 3 Others accuse the father-in-law of a conspiracy against his son-in-law, — which is hardly probable. The catastrophe was doubtless brought about by a women’s quarrel. The young Empress is believed to have had the fate of Plautilla, but without deserving it, for she loved her husband tenderly (Herod., vi. 5 ; Lamprid., Alex. 49). ALEXANDER SEVERUS, 222 TO 235 a. d. 12 T Still further it is usual to praise the pious thought which led him to place, in his lararium, Apollonius of Tyana by the side of Jesus, Orpheus beside Abraham, — a vague religion of humanity, whose confused aspirations are, however, sufficient for some choice souls. Saint Augustine tells us of a matron who had constructed a miniature chapel, in which she burned incense before the images of Jesus and Paul, of Homer and Pythagoras. 1 These acts of homage to sanctity and genius honor the individual; but it was- not by means of so simple a form of faith that populations eager for the marvellous could be controlled. Like him whose name and virtues the young Emperor possessed, Alexander would have been in private life the noblest of men in a position of sovereign power he was, far more than Marcus Aurelius, inadequate. The government of human affairs is truly a masculine task. Those who succeed in it are the men by nature fitted to rule, men of vigorous mind and of strong will. These qualities were especially necessary in a state like the Roman Empire; and — it must be acknowledged — Alexander Severus did not possess them. His bust in the Louvre, with its weak and un¬ decided features, suggests a mild-mannered person, incapable of acting, with eyes that look but do not see. Julian, in the Caesars, represents him sitting sadly on the steps leading to the hall where the Emperors and gods are going to banquet; Silenus mocks at him and at his mother, the hoarder of treasure ; Justice does indeed consent to chastise his murderers, but she turns away “ from the poor fool, the great simpleton, who in a corner bewails his misfortune! ” For several years the soldiery, satiated, had left the Empire at peace. But to preserve discipline among these coarse, greedy, and violent men, who knew their own strength and knew nothing else, — neither the Empire, nor magistrates, nor the law, — there was needed a ruler who would impose upon them a respectful fear as well as obedience, who would keep them in harness, glut them with booty and with glory, and make them proud of being soldiers. With its mighty army of mercenaries, the Empire was condemned to have for successful rulers none but great generals. Severus had been such; Alexander was not. Accordingly, civil 1 Liber cle Haeresibus, iii. 7. 128 THE AFRICAN AND SYRIAN PRINCES, ISO TO 235 a. d. order, which had been protected by the former against his soldiers, could not be protected by the latter. It is said that, before renouncing philosophy and the arts, he had consulted the Sortes Vergilianae, and that the poet-prophet had responded by the famous lines: — Excudent alii spirantia mollius aera. Tu regere imperio populos, Romane memento. Lampridius ascribes to his hero the virtues which these verses demand in him who is to wield the sovereign power, representing Alexander as a stern defender of the ancient discipline. “ The soldiers,” he says, “ called him Severus on account of his excessive severity; ” 1 and as a proof he shows the populations flocking together on the passage of the army, and “ taking the soldiers for senators,” 2 such was the gravity of their mien and the propriety of their conduct, and elsewhere he quotes certain classic reminiscences which the Emperor turned to present use. A senator known for his peculations comes and salutes him at the curia; Alexander repeats against him Cicero’s apostrophe to Catiline: 0 temgjora, 0 mores! vivit; immo in senatum venit! A legion mutinies; he reproves it in the words of Caesar: “ Retire, Quirites.” Some of the officers who had not been able to control their men were, it is true, put to death; but at the end of a month the muti¬ nous legion was reinstated. Mention is also made of cohorts decimated. Facts like the following do not, however, permit us to give to this reign such a character for strict discipline. A quarrel arose in Rome between the civilians and the praetorians. Both sides were much in earnest; 3 but before the populace would have dared to affront the troops, they must have been driven to extrem¬ ities by many deeds of insolence, of which we know that the soldiers were not sparing. There was fighting for three days, with much bloodshed. At last the praetorians, driven from the streets, set fire to the houses; and not until the conflagration 1 Lamprid., A lex. 25. 2 . . . Ut non milites sed senatores transire diceres (ibid. 49). 8 See what is said of the Roman plebs in the appendix to book lxxix. of Dion by the anonymous author who wrote this passage. ALEXANDER SEVERUS, 222 TO 235 a. d. 129 threatened to involve the whole city, did the two parties consent to desist. We do not know what part the government took in this affair; but we are justified in saying that such disorders occur only under a feeble authority, and we may ask ourselves what the ALEXANDER SEVERUS. 1 legionaries in the provinces did, if the praetorians, so devoted to the young Emperor, conducted themselves thus in his very presence. Mamaea had at first placed at the head of the praetorians two experienced generals, Flavianus and Chrestus; later, she also 1 Bust of the Vatican. VOL. VII. 9 130 THE AFRICAN AND SYRIAN PRINCES, 180 TO 235 a. d. gave them Ulpian for a colleague. These men of war did not relish finding civilians in the praetorium, who, bringing thither the regular habits of magistrates, saw to it that ordinances were exe¬ cuted. The new prefect was displeasing to the cohorts and to their chiefs, who formed a scheme for getting rid of him. 1 Ulpian anticipated them by having the two prefects and their accomplices put to death. This tragedy provoked another. The whole corps took up the cause of the victims, and Ulpian’s life was several times in danger. In a final and formidable riot he took refuge in the palace; the soldiers forced the gates and slew him at the feet of Alexander, who vainly threw over him the imperial purple. 2 This was in 228. We seem to be ion the shores of the Bosphorus, hearing janissaries demand the head of a vizier. A certain Epagathus, formerly a confidential agent of Caracalla and Macrinus, had played a part in this catastrophe by inciting the soldiers against Ulpian. He was only a freedman; but the government did not dare to punish him, for fear of exciting a new revolt. He was sent on a mission into Egypt, then recalled, under a pretext, into Crete, where the executioner awaited him. 3 This seraglio-justice would of itself prove the incurable weakness of the government. The following account of Dion is another indication to the same effect. Our historian was not “ a thunderbolt of war,” and in the army it does not seem probable that he ever took any very decided measures. Yet when he returned from his govern¬ ment of Pannonia the praetorians were of opinion that he had shown himself too severe in discipline. “ They demanded my punish¬ ment,” he says, “ fearing lest they should be submitted to a similar rule. Instead of paying attention to their complaints, the Emperor gave me the consulship. But the displeasure of the praetorians made him fear that, when they saw me with the insignia of this, dignity, they might kill me, and he ordered me to spend the remainder of my term of office at some place in Italy, outside Rome.” 4 The prudent consul did better; finding that public life was becoming too difficult, he abandoned Rome, Italy, even his 1 Zosimus, i. 11. 2 . . . Quem saepe a militum ira objectu purpurae suae defendit (Alexander ). (Lainprid., Alex. 51.) 3 Dion, lxxx. 2, 4. 4 Id., lxxx. 4 and 5. ALEXANDER SEVERUS, 222 TO 235 a. d. 131 great book of history, which he closed with this last narrative, and Homer’s lines : — “ But Jove, beyond the encountering arms, the dust, The carnage, and the bloodshed and the din, Bore Hector.” 1 Dion had nothing in common with Hector; but it was from a bloody fray that he likewise retired. We here take leave of a feeble writer, — a man, however, who, having studied the Republic in its grandeur and its decadence, the Empire under Augustus and Nero, Hadrian and Commodus, was able to follow the logical connection of this history developing through the centuries under the double action of political wisdom and of necessities produced by circumstances. If we inquire what were his sentiments in the matter of government , 2 we shall see that, notwithstanding the acts of cruelty which he relates, notwithstand¬ ing those of which he himself had been the witness and wellnigh the victim, Dion was a strong partisan of the imperial monarchy. When the Emperor was a bad one, men longed for a change of ruler, but without desiring a change in the form of govern¬ ment. No one at that time imagined any other, and, it must also be admitted, no other was possible. Dion only asks of the Emperor that he should be on good terms with the Senate, his council. This was the wish of Tacitus, and it had been the practice of the iVntonines. Unfortunately, since Caracalla, and now more and more every day, the Emperors and the consuls, the praetorian prefects and the senators, were all of them at the mercy of the soldiery; and the characteristic of such rule is frequency of riotous disturbances. Revolts, indeed, broke out everywhere, — some, says a contem¬ porary, very formidable ; 3 and it was necessary to disband entire legions . 4 Those of Mesopotamia killed their chief, Flavius Heracleo, and made an emperor, who, to escape from them, threw himself into the Euphrates and was drowned. Another assumed the purple in Osrhoene. A third attempted to assume it at Rome even. 1 Iliad , xi. 163 [Bryant’s trans.]. 2 Dion, lii. 13 et seq. 3 Id., lxxx. 3. Cf. Zosimus, i. 12. 4 Cf. Lamprid., Alex. 53, 54, 59 ; Herod., vi. 4, 7 ; Aur. Victor, Be Caes. xxiv. 3 ; Dion, lxxx. 4. 132 THE AFRICAN AND SYRIAN PRINCES, ISO TO 235. In the case of this last person, the Emperor, informed of the design, invites him to the palace, takes him to the Senate, to the army, overwhelms him with matters of business, and breaks him down with fatigue. After a few days, the would-be emperor asks leave to return to his house and his obscurity. These seditions and attempts miscarry; but the Empire is shaken by them, and they afford encouragement to the enemy. In Mauretania Tingitana, on the Illyrian and the Armenian fron¬ tiers, there are invaders to be repelled; the Germans ravage a part of Gaul, and the Persians reclaim the ancient territory of Cyrus, — that is to say, Asia as far as the Cyclades. III. — The Sassanidae. Since the day when Arsaces the Brave had revolted against the Seleucidae, four hundred and seventy years 1 had elapsed, — a very long duration for an Oriental dynasty. The Parthian monarchy had extended itself from the Euphrates to the Indus; but the Arsacidae — men of shrewdness or violence, according to the occa¬ sion— had nothing of the organizing genius of Rome. They neither established a permanent — and therefore a well-organized — army, nor an administration binding together the different ele¬ ments of the state so as to form a homogeneous whole. They suffered to exist about them a mighty feudalism , 2 the cause of constant disturbances, and in their provinces populations which, having in common with the rest of the Empire nothing except the tribute paid to the Great King, retained their customs, their national memories and chiefs, — that is to say, the hope and the means of some day regaining their independence. The indigni¬ ties which Trajan, Avidius Cassius, and Septimius Severus, and even Caracalla, had inflicted upon the Parthian monarchy, had destroyed its prestige, which the treaty with Macrinus did not restore. 1 Or 476 according to other reckonings. Cf. De Sainte-Croix, Mem. sur le rjouvernement des Parthes, p. 30. 2 Dion, xli. 15; Tac., Ann. xi 10; and Ilerod., vi. 12. ALEXANDER SEVERUS, 222 TO 235 a. d. 133 In the mountains of Persis lived a man of royal blood, Ardi- sliir, or Artaxerxes, regarded as a descendant of Darius, and said to be son or grandson of Sassan, whence the name of his race, the Sassanidae. 1 2 Admitted into the household of the governor of Persis, he attracted notice by his courage and address, gained the favor of the people as well as of his master, and, the latter having been displaced, he slew the succeeding king, raised a revolt among the Persians, as Cyrus had formerly done, drew in the neighboring nations, with whom he had long before established a good under¬ standing, and vanquished the Parthians in three battles. In the last, Artabanus was killed, and Ardishir assumed the tiara (226-227). On the cliff of Naksclii-Roustan, in the environs of Persepolis, may be seen two warriors engaged in single combat. It is Ardishir wresting the diadem from his rival. By placing this memorial of his victory near the ancient capital of the Achaeme- nidae, he sought to testify to all eyes that his victory was the restoration of the empire of Cyrus. Oriental monarchies are established with the same rapidity that charac¬ terizes their decline. In a few years the mountaineers of Persis had come back into the capitals of the first had put on the sash of submission, suspended from their ears the ring of servitude, and taken upon their shoulders the harness of obedience.” 3 In the place of an old and enfeebled state, Rome now beheld, along her eastern frontier, an empire abounding in warlike zeal, as is always the case with new powers. The revolution just accomplished was religious as well as polit- 1 According to Sainte-Croix (ibid. p. 22) the Persians had retained their national chiefs; and Ardishir, at the time of the revolt, was in authority over the country. 2 Artaxerxes wears the round tiara, adorned with the symbol, in the form of a caduceus, called mahrou. The Pehlvi legend gives the name of the prince. (Cornelian, cut in cabochon, 35 millim. by 25. Gem of the Cabinet de France, No. 1,339.) 3 Mirkhond, Hist, des Sassanides, tr. Sylvestre de Sacy, p. 278. Achaemenidae, “ and all the kings ARTAXERXES I . 2 134 THE AFRICAN AND SYRIAN PRINCES, ISO TO 235 a. d. ical. The Arsacidae, feeling the influence of the civilization which Alexander had carried into Eastern Asia, had become Hellenized. They delighted in Greek customs, spoke the language of Greece, adored some of its gods, were accustomed to have the dramas of the great Athenian poets represented at their court, and in the legends on their coins, which were in Greek, they adopted, among other titles, that of Philhellenes. 1 2 3 This mental culture disposed them to tolerance, and Christianity had profited by it to make an entrance into their provinces. But the trib¬ utary nations had preserved the old Persian worship, Mazdaeism; consecrated fire was always burning on : SILVER COIN OF ARTAXERXES . 2 the their sacred pyres, and the magi were numerous. They served the cause of him who was an¬ nounced as the avenger of Ormuzd and the restorer of the laws of Zoroaster. This monotheistic religion — one of those which do most honor to humanity — placed below the infinite being, Aboura-Mazda, izeds, or good genii, celestial spirits and ministers of the will of the Most High. Hence it did not require much flattery to induce the magi to transform a power¬ ful and religious king into a visible izecl; and Sapor could say, without giving offence: “ Do you not know that I am of the race of the gods ? ” 4 In return for the assistance which these priests gave him, Ardishir accorded them great influence. “ He restored,” says a ORMUZD . 3 1 De Sacy, Mem. sur diverses antiquite's de la Perse, p. 44. 2 Coin of Artaxerxes, bearing on the reverse a lighted pyre. At the right, the head of Artaxerxes, with the tiara bearing the star, symbol of the sun, and the legend : “ The Adorer of Ormuzd. . . .” On the reverse, a pyre, from which dart flames. Legend : “ The Divine Artaxerxes.” Silver coin. 3 The bust of Ormuzd, surrounded by flames and placed on a pyre. Pelilvi inscription; annulary seal. (Intaglio on veined agate, 36 millim. diameter; Cabinet de France , No. 1,336.) 4 De Sacy, Me'moire, etc., pp. 36-41. On the monotheistic character of Mazdaeism, see the articles of M. Bartlielemy Saint-IIilaire, Journal des Savants, June and July, 1878. ALEXANDER SEVERUS, 222 TO 235 a. d. 135 Greek historian, “ the magi to honor.” 1 This body of clergy, again restored to power, will make intolerance the political law of the Sassanidae and will let persecution loose against the Christians; the religious and national zeal of these monarchs was able, however, to give to the new dynasty a vitality and renown which the pre¬ ceding had not known. 2 The danger to the Roman Empire thus increasing in this quarter, Rome was presently compelled to with¬ draw her forces from the line of the Rhine and the Danube in order to fortify that of the Euphrates and the Tigris; and that she might watch this new enemy from a nearer point, she ended by displacing the centre of her power, and removing her capital from the West to the East. The war of four centuries which is about to begin between the two empires is therefore one of those many wars which religious zeal has kindled. It is characterized at first, in the case of both nations, by revived recollections of the expedition of Alexander, — characterized on one side by admiration and reverence, on the other by the bitterest hatred. We have seen Caracalla honoring the memory of the Macedonian hero, the second Severus taking his name, and the legions organizing in phalanx. Men felt the shade of the Greek conqueror would march before the Roman army as its guide on the road to Ctesiphon. On the other side of the Tigris, this Alexander, whose generous soul we are wont to extol, had become to the magi, in their patriotic and religious lament, “ the accursed one ” who slaughtered the nobles and priests, who “ burned the books of revelation,” and who “ is burn¬ ing, in his turn, in eternal flames.” Even to this day the Parsees never speak of “ Iskender Roumi ” except as an accursed tyrant. “ After him,” said they, “ religion was brought low, and the faithful into oppression, until King Ardishir re-established the true faith.” 3 These conflicting sentiments announce the importance of the struggle. 1 ’Ef ov kcu rracn. Uepaacs oi Mayot eViSo^oi (Nicepli., Hist. eccl. i. 55, ed. of 1630); Agatliias (vol. ii. pp. 64, 65) thinks the same. M. de Ilarlez ( Avesta , p. xxxv) says that Ardishir was of the race of the magi, and himself a magus. 2 On their coins the Sassanidae assume the title of “ servant of Ormuzd,” and on the reverse they have placed “ the altar of fire,” — a representation and title which are found on the medals of the Arsacidae. See De Sacy, Mem. sur diverses antiq. de la Perse, pp. 171 et seq. 3 See the article of M. James Darmesteter, La Legende d'Alexandre chez les Perses, in vol. xxxv. of the Bibliotheque des Hautes-Etudes. 136 THE AFRICAN AND SYRIAN PRINCES, 180 TO 235 a. d. IV. — Expeditions against the Persians and the Germans ; Death of Alexander Severus Before engaging in close contest with the great Empire of the West, the son of Sassan turned his weapons against the neigh¬ boring populations of Roman Mesopotamia. He attacked the city of Atra, the stronghold of the Scenite Arabs, but with no better fortune than Trajan and Severus had had in similar attempts; and he endeavored to overthrow the Arsacidae of Armenia, who from their hill-tops and inaccessible fortresses defied invasion. These expeditions doubtless had for him but a secondary interest; at least these reverses do not appear to have lessened his hopes, and in 231 he invaded the Roman province. At this news Alexander and his pacific councillors wrote to the Persian a beautiful letter, full of the most edifying advice. The ravages continued; Nisibis was besieged, and the enemy’s scouts penetrated as far as Cappadocia. “ All these lands belong to me,” said Ardishir; and it seemed as if he were going to take them. There was no alternative at Rome but to be resigned to war ; great preparations were made, and from each province, from each army, went forth detachments on their way towards Syria. Alexander quitted his capital in tears, but firmly resolved to do his duty, if not as a soldier, at least as an Emperor. 1 He took the road through Illyria and Thrace, collecting soldiers on his march, and entered Syria with a large army. He there found the troops given up to disorder and mutiny ; perhaps there had even been a revolt, if the proclamation of an emperor by the army of Mesopotamia may be referred to this time. On the arrival of Alexander and reinforcements sent by the legions of Pannonia, all became quiet. A phalanx of thirty thousand men was organized, in remembrance of the phalanx of the Macedonian hero; Alexander even would have his guard armed with cirgy- rcispides, or shields of silver. Four hundred Persians, with splen¬ did dress and weapons, came to summon the Emperor to evacuate Asia; he considered the demand insolent, and, refusing to recog¬ nize them as ambassadors, shut them up in Phrygia, where villages 1 Herodian says (vii. 2) that he was accused of indolence and timidity in war. ALEXANDER SEVERUS, 222 TO 235 a. d 137 and lands were assigned them, and then entered on the campaign in 232. From this point accounts differ. According to a contemporary, the Emperor divided his army in¬ to three corps. The first advanced through Armenia, — a country in alliance with the Romans, — intend¬ ing thence to enter the territory of the Medes; the second went, by way of the desert, towards the confluence of the Tigris and the Euphrates, from which point they could di¬ rectly threaten Persia; the third marched through Upper Mesopo¬ tamia, but very slowly, — for which Mamaea is held responsible, who feared to expose her son. The armv of the North amassed much booty, — suffering, however, consid¬ erable losses, and without obtaining any serious result, because this route could not conduct them in¬ to the heart of the new empire. The Persians opposed slight forces to this somewhat remote attack; they massed themselves against the army of the South, which they crushed, and then against that of . ... . . JULIA MAMAEA AS VENUS PUDICA . 1 the centre, which, composed m great part of soldiers accustomed, on the banks of the Danube and the Rhine, to cold and dampness, was prostrated by the dry and burning heat of the desert. Under this climate, which requires sobriety, “ the Illyrians ” drank and ate as in Germany. This error in diet was extremely fatal to them; the mortality brought on the plague, and it became necessary to fall back, after 1 Museum of the Louvre. Statue of Pentelican marble, formerly thought to represent Julia Soaemias. The antique head is reproduced; the attributes of Ceres have been added by a modern artist. The Empresses were often represented in the character of Venus. The statues in the “hall of the Venuses ” in the Museum of Naples are portraits rather than ideal figures. 138 THE AFRICAN AND SYRIAN PRINCES, 180 TO 235 a. d. a few successes of doubtful value. Alexander himself fell ill from fatigue and anxiety. As in the time of Antony, the retreat of the army of the North across the mountains of Armenia was disastrous, and Roman corpses again strewed the roads of this country in the year 233. But the number who perished was never counted. These soldiers, recruited among the Barbarians 1 and from the dregs of the Roman populace, left behind them neither relatives nor friends to lament their death; and it was DEAD PERSIAN WARRIOR .' 2 easy, by means of largesses, to persuade the survivors that the late campaign had been skilfully planned and victorious. In truth, neither side was defeated. The Persians might congratulate themselves on a great success; but Mesopotamia, guarded by the fortresses of Severus, was not encroached upon, and not a foot of Roman territory had been conquered. Moreover, if they had exterminated one imperial army, and had stopped the advance of another, it was not without having themselves lost heavily. Accordingly, as soon as the danger of a Roman invasion had disappeared, their irregular troops dispersed, each carrying home his booty. However, the Persians had not attained their purpose, and the Romans had accomplished theirs. Far from 1 The army which Alexander subsequently led into Gaul was composed of Barbarians: Omnis apparatus . . . potentissimus quidem per Armenios et Osrhoenos et Parthos et omnis generis hominum (Lamprid., Alex. 61). Herodian (vi. 17) adds that many Moors were also found in it. 2 Marble of the Museum of Naples. ALEXANDER SEVERUS, 222 TO 235 a. d. 139 being conquered, Roman Asia had been delivered. The victory unquestionably remained with those who had obtained the result which they desired. But the two empires had come into collision once more without either of them crushing the other; and it was destined thus to continue until a new element, — the religious and aggressive fanaticism of the Arabs, — should change the conditions of the struggle. The second account is a hymn of triumph for the Romans. Extract from the acts of the Senate, the seventh day before the kalends of October (Sept. 25, 233); speech of the Emperor: “ Conscript Fathers, we have vanquished the Persians. A long discourse is unnecessary; it is only of importance that you should know what were their forces and their pre¬ parations. They had seven hundred elephants bearing towers filled with archers. Of these we captured three hundred; two hundred were killed on the spot; we have brought eighteen to Rome. They had a thousand chariots armed with scythes: we might have brought home two hundred of them, the horses of which have perished; but we did not think it necessary, because it would be easy to present others to you. We have defeated a hundred and twenty thousand horsemen, and killed during the war ten thousand of their cataphracti. 2 We have captured a great number of Persians, whom we have sold. We have reconquered .all the territory which is between the two rivers; namely, Meso¬ potamia, which the licentious Elagabalus had allowed to be lost. We have put to rout this king Artaxerxes, whom his renown and his forces rendered so formidable; and the land of the Persians has witnessed his flight, abandoning his ensigns in the same localities where we once lost ours. This, Conscript Fathers, is what we have done. The soldiers come back rich; victory makes them forget their fatigue. It is for you now to decree thanksgiv¬ ings in testimony of our gratitude to the gods.” 1 Coin commemorative of the congiarium given by Alexander Severus. LIBERALITAS AVGVSTI V SC. Alexander seated upon a stage ; behind, the praetorian prefect and a soldier; before, Liberality; at the bottom, a citizen mounting the steps. (Large bronze, Cohen, No. 288.) 2 Horsemen covered with defensive armor from head to foot; see Amm. Marcellin xvi. 10. U5 CONGIARIUM . 1 140 THE AFRICAN AND SYRIAN PRINCES, 180 TO 235 a. d. On the morrow, in honor of this grand success, a congiarium was given to the people, and the Persian games were celebrated. The eighteen elephants which were displayed there, led men to believe in the three hundred said to have been captured. 1 There was therefore no room to doubt that Rome had now renewed the glory of Severus and Trajan. 2 Certainly Rome had need that this bulletin of victory should be credited. Germany was in agitation. Seeing the dismantling of the. camps which barred the road into Gaul and Illyria, the Barbarians had found the occasion propitious for renewing their predatory incursions. For a long while the frontier of the Rhine had ceased to be threatened, and in place of the eight legions which the first Emperor had kept here, there were now only four. It had therefore been easy for the Germans to pass between the remote garrisons and ravage Gaul. Hence, while waiting until the Illyrians came back from the East, it w r as well to have their return preceded by the report of a great victory. It was quite certain that the words pronounced in the Senate would re-echo on the banks of the Rhine. Several months were employed in reorganizing the forces of the West, and in 234 3 * * * * 8 Alexander set out for Gaul. After reaching the environs of Mayence with his mother, he made another effort 1 Perhaps there were none at all. Lampridius (57) speaks of a triumphal car drawn by four elephants; the medals show only a chariot and four horses (Eckhel, vii. 276). On his side, Ardishir attested his victory to his subjects by causing gold coins to be struck. The Emperors permitting neither the provinces nor the allies to utter gold coin, the aurei with the Emperor’s effigy were alone in circulation; the Roman merchants could accept no others, and all trade was conducted with these coins. Procopius relates that Justinian declared war against the Arabs because they had paid the tribute in pieces of gold not bearing the imperial effigy (De Bello Goth. iii. 33 ; Zonaras, xiv. 22). In the interest of the commercial rela¬ tions of their subjects, the Arsacidae had been obliged to submit to this necessity, and had not coined gold money. The Sassanidae coined it, but in small quantity (Mommsen, Hist, de la monnaie romaine, tr. Blacas, p. 16). 2 An inscription recently deciphered at Kef (Sicca Veneria), in Tunis (Bull, e'pigr. de la Garde , 1883, p. 3), mentions an offering of the splendidlissimus ordo of the decurions, Fortunae lleduci Aug., for the triumphal return of Alexander Severus. This inscription, together with another of Pesth, leads us to think that Mamaea had accompanied her son into the East, as she followed him in the expedition against the Germans; this persistence of the “ avaricious mother ” in remaining always with the young Emperor was no doubt one of the causes of the catastrophe which cost both of them their lives. 8 Profectio Aug. (Eckhel, vii. 277). Lampridius (Alex. 60) asserts that a Druidess told him, Gallico sermone, not to expect victory, and not to rely on his soldiers. The Druids had fallen to the condition of mere fortune-tellers. It is known that Aurelian and Diocletian, consulted them to learn the future. ALEXANDER SEVERUS, 222 TO 235 a. d. 141 to avoid war. He proposed peace to the Germans, with gold and presents of all kinds, — greatly to the displeasure of his soldiers, who preferred to keep this gold for themselves. In the army there was at that time a chief named Maximin, a native of the most barbarous part of Thrace. At first a shepherd, he had become a sol¬ dier ; and his lofty stature and strength attracting attention, he had risen from grade to grade up to the command of the new levies, whose drilling Alexander had con¬ fided to him. These recruits were for the most part rough and coarse Pannonians like himself, but wholly devoted to a man who possessed the same merits and the same faults with themselves, and on the con¬ trary filled with contempt for the tranquil virtues of the Emperor. Furthermore, they were of opinion that the reign of Alexander had lasted long enough ; that the recent war had impoverished his treasury, the remainder of which the avarice of Mamaea kept under lock and key; that, in short, there would be every advantage in a change of . 1/0 ° ALEXANDER SEVERUS . 1 rulers, since the new one would pay richly for his dignity, especially if they should choose Maximin, who, without noble birth or illustrious record, would owe eveiy- thing to them. Accordingly, they threw a purple mantle over his shoulders and marched in arms towards the Emperor’s abode. At their approach, Alexander orders his guards to apprehend the rebel. They hesitate, then refuse, and allow the assassins to enter, who put to death the son and the mother; 2 or, as Hero- 1 Statue of heroic size, of Greek marble (Museum of Naples). 2 In the seventeenth century there was discovered at Rome, near the Porta Maggiore, a sarcophagus which has been supposed to be that of .Alexander Severus and Mamaea. The bas-reliefs below the figures of the Emperor and his mother represent : the quarrel of 142 THE AFRICAN AND SYRIAN PRINCES, ISO TO 235 a. d. dian says, “ the parsimonious woman and the pusillanimous boy.” 1 Some accounts make him die a cowardly death (March 19, 235). Alexander had reigned thirteen years, though his age was only twenty-six. 2 He is the last of the Syrian princes. If among them we reckon Severus, on account of the influence exercised over him by Julia Domna, this dynasty had ruled the Empire more than forty years, — a brief space of time, which was marked by great events and bloody tragedies, and during which completely disap¬ peared what was left of the Roman blood and spirit. But for the jurisconsults, who preserved the especially Roman science of the law, the customs and beliefs of the time would closely resemble those of an Asiatic monarchy. The Empire is inclining to the Orient, and will soon be lost in it. Alexander’s respect for Abraham and for Jesus, and the for¬ mer relations of his mother with Origen, had rendered him favor¬ able both to the Jews and the Christians. 3 The latter enjoyed during his reign a profound peace and a sort of legal existence. In a dispute which the Church at Rome had with certain inn¬ keepers in the matter of some public land, he pronounced in favor of the Christians. “Better,” said he, “that this spot should be¬ come a place of prayer than a place of debauchery.” 4 He had been impressed with the manner in which the Church proceeded at its sacerdotal elections, and at one time thought of imitating it for the functions of state. 5 Of this design there remained, as we have seen, only the invitation given to the people to denounce the Achilles and Agamemnon; the imprisonment of Chryseis; Achilles preparing to avenge the death of Patroclus; and Priam begging the body of his son. This sarcophagus, represented on the opposite page, contained what is known as the Portland Vase, of blue glass with white ornaments, now in the British Museum. 1 Julian, in the Caesars, repeats this censure. 2 Or twenty-nine years and some months, according to Lampridius. There are doubts as to the precise date of his death. Eckhel (Mi. 282) inclines to the beginning of July. To the reign of Alexander is referred an inscription of the Fratres Arvales describing a curious expi¬ atory sacrifice because the lightning had struck down some trees of the sacred grove of the goddess Dia. Among other victims immolated ante Caesareum genio d. n. Severi Alexandri A ug. was found a taurus auratus; item divis num. XX ververices XX. These divi are, from another inscription of the year 183 : Augustus, Julia (Livia), Claudius, Poppaea, Vespasian, Titus, Nerva, Trajan, Hadrian, Sabina, Antoninus, the elder Faustina, L. Verus, Marcus Aurelius, the younger Faustina, and later, Commodus himself, Pertinax, Severus, and Caracalla (Orelli, No. 961, after Marini, Atti de’ fratelli Arvali, pi. 43, p. 167). 3 Lamprid., Alex. 22. 4 Ibid. 49. This was the very expression of the Gospel: Domus mea domus orationis. 5 Lamprid., Alex. 45. THE PORTLAND VASE F 0 0 X II iN THE SARCOPHAGUS OF ALEXANDER SEVER US IFfoe Ufctfaw- ef the U«Jver*lty oi IIHiwfa. ALEXANDER SEVERUS, 222 TO 235 a. d. 143 crimes of candidates proposed for office. Lampridius asserts that Alexander desired to build a temple to the Christ and enroll him in the ranks of the gods, and that the priests dissuaded him from it, declaring, on the faith of the sacred books, that if he executed this project, the other temples would be abandoned. 1 This might be said to Constantine, but not to the son of Mamaea, since the Christians at that time were not sufficiently numerous to inspire such an apprehension. However, they profited by the tolerance of Alexander to build their first churches, which are shortly afterwards mentioned by Origen. 2 Mamaea has also been represented as a Chris¬ tian. A singular Christian was this Empress, — called on her coins the beneficent Juno, to whom the Senate decreed an apotheosis, and for whom a fes- C0IN OF MA_ 1 . MAEA . 3 tival was instituted which the pagans celebrated as late as the fourth centurv! 4 Like her son, she desired to hear about the new faith, 5 and many others had the same curiosity. Eusebius relates that a governor of the province of Arabia re¬ quested the Bishop of Alexandria and the prefect of Egypt to send Origen to him to give him information concerning the new doctrines. 6 The reign of this young and unfortunate Emperor, to whom, in spite of his weakness, we must accord a peculiar regard, was there¬ fore the moment when the past and the future, the two great social forces, could come together without mingling, and live in peace until a transformation should be effected. 7 A practical compromise was at this time not impossible between the Empire, now become disdainful of its old divinities, and a Christianity 1 Id., ibid. 42. 2 In Matth. horn, xxviii. Origen says that they were burned, — probably during the reign of Maximin. 8 Coin of Mamaea in the likeness of Juno. IVNO CONSERVATRIX. Juno standing, holding a patera and a sceptre ; a peacock is at her feet. Reverse of a silver coin. 4 Lamprid., Alex. 26. All her medals are pagan. 5 Eusebius, Hist. eccl. vi. 21. 6 Id., ibid. vi. 19. 7 Zonaras (xii. 16) claims that there were many Christians at the court of Alexander: . . . 7roXXot Kara tov ’AX. olkov rjaav tov Xpicrrbv eireyvaKores 8e6v. Mangold, De Ecclesia primaeva pro Caesaribus ac magistratibus rom. preces fundente , 1881, thinks that in the first two centuries liturgical prayers for the Emperors and magistrates were said in the Christian communities. 144 THE AFRICAN AND SYRIAN PRINCES, 180 TO 235 a. d. which would have been respectful towards the established or(Jer, — the one accepting religious tolerance as its rule of government, the other, satisfied with the liberty allowed it, continuing peacea¬ bly to win souls, but not gaining power by violence; making con¬ quest of the world by virtue of moral truth, and not as a victo¬ rious party establishing itself by force in the positions whence it has dislodged its adversaries. Unhappily, the revolutions of this world are not thus wisely effected. The spirit of Tertullian has replaced in the Church that of Clement, and in the State the violent will also succeed the peaceful. On both sides, force will be employed, — by Diocletian, in the name of the gods; by the successors of Constantine, in the name of Christ; and the Empire will be shaken to its foundations. 1 This Medusa is carved on the outside of the famous cup of Oriental sardonyx known as the Tassa Farnese. It was found near the Castle of Saint Angelo (Hadrian’s Tomb) or at the Tiburtine Villa, and is now in the Museum of Naples. MEDUSA, OR AEGIS . 1 TWELFTH PERIOD. MILITARY ANARCHY (235-268 a. d.). BEGINNING OF THE DECLINE. CHAPTER XCIV. SEVEN EMPEROKS IN FOURTEEN YEARS (235-249 A.D.). I. —Maximin (235-238); Gordian I. axd Gopdian II.; Pupienus and Balbinus (238). S the Roman aristocracy and the provincial nobles abandoned military service, the Barbarian youth entered it, and, reaching the higher grades, were masters of the troops and, consequently, of the Empire. Thus came to power a Thracian, in whose veins flowed the blood of many Barbaric race£ Cains Julius Verus Maximinus by his father’s side belonged to the Getae; by his mother’s, to the Alani. When Severus, on his return from Asia in the year 202, traversed Thrace, he celebrated, on occasion of a festival, the usual military games. Maximin, whose herculean strength had made him famous among his comrades, was matched against some of the Emperor’s attendants, and overthrew sixteen of them in succession. This prowess gained him the honor of being at once enlisted in the army. Three days later, seeing the Emperor pass on horseback at full gallop, he kept pace with him on foot. Severus continued the race for some time, then proposed to him, fatigued as he was, to take part in a wrestling match. Without any hesitation, Maximin threw seven of the most active soldiers one after another; and upon this received the gold collar and was admitted to the guards. The new Ajax, who was as brave as he was strong, rose rapidly through the grades; but 10 VOL. VII. 146 MILITARY ANARCHY, 235 TO 268 a. d. would serve neither under Macrinus, who had killed the son of his benefactor, nor under Elagabalus, whom he despised, — two praiseworthy sentiments which should be set down to his credit. He re-entered the army in the reign of Alexander, who made him tribune, with the rank of senator. The rest of the story is well known. Discontented with an Emperor whom his mother held in leading-strings, the troops were eager to have a true soldier at their head, and they made choice of the man who possessed all the physical qualities of one, — strength, agility, and dexterity. 3 His 1 Heroic statue, the antique head preserved. (Luni marble; from the Museum of Naples.) 2 Statue of Greek marble, the antique head restored. 3 I make no mention of the extravagant stories of his strength and voracity. They are credible only on the supposition that Maximin was a morbid case of polyphagy, of which. L^tourneau gives such curious instances in his Physiologie des passions. SEVEN EMPERORS IN FOURTEEN YEARS, 235 TO 249 a. d. 147 MAXIMUS, CAESAR AND PRINCE OF THE YOUTH .' 2 son Maximus, not yet twenty years of age, 1 was saluted Caesar and Prince of the Roman youth. The extraordinary fortune to which Maximin had attained did not remove from his mind the con¬ sciousness of his own unworthiness, and placed him in an attitude of hos¬ tility towards all who possessed what he had never had, — ancestors, a name, education, and wealth. He dared not appear in Rome. This city full of glorious memories, this Senate of which he was not yet a member, 3 an assembly remaining still the shadow of a great reality, intimidated the Barbarian. The friends and councillors of Alexander, all his household, and among this number many Christians, were at once put to death ; soon after, a conspiracy, real or feigned, cost the life of Magnus, a man of consular rank, and of several other persons. 4 In the army were many troops of African and Asiatic origin, — Osrhoenian and Armenian archers, Moors armed with javelins, Par- thians who had fled from the Persian dominion; and all were devoted to the dynasty which had arisen out of Leptis and Emesa. The favorite of the Pannonians and the murderer of Alexander was doubly odious to them; it was their desire to overthrow him and proclaim as Emperor, against his will, an ex-consul, whom one of his friends assassinated through spite at not having had the preference himself. This murder broke up the rebellion ; new victims fell, and Maximin made haste to seek sanction for his power by gaining a victory over the Germans. GERMANS CONCEALING THEM¬ SELVES AMONG RUSHES . 5 1 Maximus was killed in his eighteenth or in his twenty-first year (Capit., Max. 1). 2 MAXIMVS CAES. GERM., around the bare head of the prince. On the reverse, PRINC. IVVENTVTIS. Maximus standing, holding a wand and a javelin ; behind, two standards. (Silver coin. Cohen, No. 4.) 3 Neque ipse senator esset (Eutrop., ix. 1). 4 Capitolinus says four thousand (Max. 10). 5 From the Column of Antoninus. 148 MILITARY ANARCHY, 235 TO 268 a. d. These Barbarians made no resistance to a serious attack. Abandoning to the Romans their harvests and their wooden houses, which were at once set on fire, they took refuge in the depths of forests, whither they believed the legions would not dare to follow them, and in marshes through which they alone knew the way. Maximin, however, pursued them into these retreats, killed a con¬ siderable number of them, and sent to the Senate, with his letters' announcing the victory, a picture representing himself as fighting surrounded by enemies, while the horse upon which he sits is half- buried in the mud. He asserted that he had ravaged the country over a space of four hundred miles. Other wars, of which we have no particulars, gave him the titles of Dacicus and Sar- maticus. From Sirmium, which he had made the centre of his MAXIMINUS GERMANICUS . 1 operations, he commanded the line of the Carpathians, and proposed to penetrate as far as the Northern seas: this son of the Goths was desirous of crushing that Barbaric world whence he had himself emerged. 2 A design like this, and a life passed in the camps of the Danube in rigorous climates, give the man a certain savage gran¬ deur. But the senators left idle in the curia, the languid dwellers in Rome, Alexandria, and Antioch, who from the recesses of their luxurious villas could not discern the perils that the North con¬ cealed in its mysterious depths, and the populace, deprived of their wonted pleasures, were indignant at the affront offered to the imperial purple. Maximin was called the Cyclops, the Busiris, the wild beast; men openly desired his death, and in the theatre verses were declaimed like these: “ The elephant is huge, but men kill him; the lion is strong, but men kill him; the tiger is terrible, but men kill him. Beware of all, thou who fearest none; for what one alone cannot do, many together can.” The rude soldier gave back contempt for contempt to the effeminate revilers whose 1 Laurelled head of Maximin. On the reverse, Maximin and his son, standing, holding a Victory. Between them, two kneeling captives. (Large bronze of the Cabinet de France .) 2 In 256 he assumed the title of Germanicus (Eekhel, vii. 291). His victories over the Germans belong therefore to that year. SEVEN EMPERORS IN FOURTEEN YEARS, 235 TO 249 a. d. 149 hands could not grasp the sword, to these crowds living on charity and public games, who had never seen other blood flow than that of gladiators, while the Emperor replied by sentences of death to those who insulted him. Notwithstanding the efforts of the Empress, who strove vainly to soften his savage disposition, 1 murders and confiscations multiplied, and hatred increased against the Thracian who dared to say openly that an Empire like that of Rome could be governed only by the most relentless severity. This hatred Maximin discerned everywhere, even amidst flat¬ teries ; and his cruelty only increased in consequence. The very persons who had aided his fortunes became guilty of having known his humble beginnings, and he caused these embarrassing witnesses of his obscurity to disappear. As there was safety for him nowhere except with the army, he gorged it with gold ; and the public treasury not furnishing enough, he pillaged cities and temples, coined the statues of the gods into money, and confiscated the funds set apart for games and distributions. Citizens were cut down while endeavoring to defend the statues of their gods. A catastrophe was becoming inevitable, and an eclipse of the sun which occurred at this time was believed to announce it. About the middle of February, 238, 2 an insurrection of peasants broke out in Africa. One of the most obnoxious of the agents of this fiscal tyranny, the procurator of the province of Carthage, had condemned many landowners of Thysdrus to fines which were ruinous to them. They applied for a delay of three days, and employed that time in calling in from the adjacent country their husbandmen, who entered the city by night, armed with clubs and hatchets concealed under their clothing. At break of day the con¬ spirators with this band attacked the dwelling of the procurator. 1 Amm. Marcellinus, xiv. 1. 2 This period presents chronological difficulties, which have however been removed by Eckliel (vii. 293-95) and Borghesi (Sull’ imp. Pupiafio, in his Works, v. 488 et seq.), and espe¬ cially by L. Renier. In the latter’s memoir upon the inscriptions of the Gordians he establishes, moreover, that Capellianus was in command in Numidia, and not, as has been always believed, in Mauretania ; that the Third Augustan legion was disbanded after its defeat; that the true name of Balbinus was Decimus Caelius Galvinus Balbinus (no inscription had given it until that of Bouhira, recently discovered) ; that, finally, a rescript inserted in the Code (ii. 10, 2) proves that Pupienus and Balbinus were dead by the tenth before the kalends of July (June 22). In the reorganization of Africa by Gordian III. the Numidian lieutenancy was suppressed, and Caesarian Mauretania became, and remained until the time of Valerian, a praetorian pro¬ vince, governed by a legate who commanded the entire army in the African provinces. 150 MILITARY ANARCHY, 235 TO 268 a. d. killed him, and then hastening to the dwelling of the procunsul, who was at this time in Thysdrus, they invested him with a purple robe, ' and, in spite of his reluctance, proclaimed him Augustus. Gordian was the person of highest rank in the Empire. He was said to be a descendant of the Gracchi; his mother, Ulpia Gordiana, belonged to the family of Trajan, and his wife was the THYSDRUS (EL-DJEM ). 1 great-granddaughter of Antoninus Pius. He was, moreover, a scholar, a poet, and a man of integrity ; he had immense wealth, but he was eighty years of age, and — content with having passed through so many revolutions without loss of life or fortune — this assiduous reader of Plato and Aristotle, of Cicero and Vergil, 2 1 View of a circular gallery in the amphitheatre or colosseum. 2 Gordian had composed a poetical Antoniniad Capitolinus thus describes one of his palaces: “ In their villa, which yet stands upon the Praenestine road, may be seen a tetrastyle SEVEN EMPERORS IN FOURTEEN YEARS, 235 T(D 249 a. d. 151 would have been glad to end his days peacefully. But the choice was not allowed him. Moreover, to touch the imperial purple, though but for a moment, was to be like him of old who laid hand upon the Ark, — his life must be the penalty. THE ELDER GORDIAN . 1 Gordian accepted; and Carthage, which had not seen an Empe¬ ror since Hadrian, received with transport the new Augustus. He associated with himself his son, who had been one of his lieutenants, and immediately despatched messengers to Rome with letters for temple of two hundred columns, of which fifty are of Carystian marble, fifty of Claudian, and fifty of Numidian; there are also three basilicas a hundred feet in length, and thermae, which are surpassed in beauty only by those of Rome” ( Gord ., 32). “While aedile, Gordian gave at his own expense twelve spectacles, one each month, where gladiators in number from three hundred to a thousand were engaged. On one occasion he let loose in the amphitheatre a hundred wild beasts of Libya; another time, a thousand bears. At the August games he fur¬ nished to the populace two hundred stags, thirty wild horses, ten elands, a hundred Cyprus bulls, three hundred ostriches, thirty wild assess a hundred and fifty wild boars, two hundred chamois, and two hundred deer” (Ibid. 3). 1 Bust of the Capitol, Hall of the Emperors, No. (14. city that Maximin had been murdered in the camp in Pannonia. The prefect, being attacked unawares, was stabbed in his own tribunal. In his letter to the Senate, Gordian declared that he would submit to the decision of that august assembly. Since the 152 MILITARY ANARCHY, 235 TO 268 a. d. the consuls, the Senate, the people, and the praetorians, together with assassins to murder the praetorian prefect, the pitiless agent of Maximin’s cruelties. The false report was to be spread in the THE YOUNGER GORDIAN . 1 1 Bust of the Capitol, Hall of the Emperors, No. 65 SEVEN EMPERORS IN FOURTEEN YEARS, 235 TO 249 a. d. 153 time of the true Antonines the Conscript Fathers had not heard language like this. It gave them courage; and without waiting to see whether the imperial offices were really vacant, they decreed them to the two Gordians, father and son, in secret session 1 (March, 238). The people were for once of the same mind with the Senate : a ruler who scorned to come to Rome appeared to them false to all his duties. They rejoiced, therefore, at the report of Maxim in’s death, and welcomed with acclamations the Emperor whom the Fathers had given them. The revolution would have failed of its chief interest if it had been on paper only; a sanguinary reaction struck down the officers and partisans of the Thracian, together with the informers who had served his cruelty. Men of all ranks availed themselves of this pretext to rid themselves of their personal enemies, and debtors to murder their cred¬ itors. The prefect of the city perished in one of these tumults. Meanwhile messengers had been sent out to communicate to the provinces the movement which had begun at Rome and Carthage. Despatches, written in the name of the Senate and the Roman people, called upon the nations to succor the common country, and acknowledge the two rulers who had just freed the world of a wild beast. 3 Maximin at first ridiculed these new “Carthaginians,” and promised his soldiers that this revolt of the Senate should give them rich booty. There was, in truth, nothing of Hannibal in the Carthage of the time; and when the Numidian legate, Capellianus, arrived from Lambesa and Thevestes with his legion, 1 For a senatus-consultum taciturn, the secretaries and attendants — all, in fact, who were not senators — went out of the curia, and the members of the Senate themselves prepared the reports and decrees. 2 From the restoration by M. Ch. Robert, in vol. iv. of Me'moires de la Societe archeolog. of Bordeaux. (Museum of Bordeaux.) 3 The letter is addressed : Proconsulibus, praesidibus, legatis, ducibus, tribunis, magistrati- bus, ac singulis civitatibus, et municipals et oppidis et vicis et castellis (Capit., Max. 15). The two Maximins-were at the same time declared public enemies, and a reward was offered to any person who should kill them (Ibid. 16). 154 MILITARY ANARCHY, 235 TO 268 a. d. the Third Augustan, the citizens who had come out to oppose him gave way at sight of the Numidian horse, and in their precipitate flight crushed one another in the gates of the city . 1 2 The younger Gordian was killed, and his aged father in despair took his own life; the two had reigned a few days over a month. This news struck consternation at Rome. Embarked in so terrible an enter- RUINS OF THE TOMB OF THE GORDIANS . 2 prise, the Senate could not draw back; it was compelled to be either the victim or the executioner. Ideas which later were more fully developed had begun at this time to germinate. In the time of Caracalla, Herodian had believed that a division of the Empire was possible. In the deliberation which took place after the arrival of the news from Africa, a senator proposed the appointment of two Emperors, — one 1 Capitolinus (Max. 19) speaks, however, of an acerrima pugna, 2 From a photograph by Parker. SEVEN EMPERORS IN FOURTEEN YEARS, 235 TO 249 a. d. 155 to remain at Rome and have charge of civil affairs, the other to be with the army for the direction of military operations: we have here the rough sketch of Diocletian’s system. The proposal was well received, and the Senate proclaimed two Augusti, — Pupienus , 1 2 a military man, and Balbinus, who had won honor in the civil career. To render their powers absolutely equal, the office and title of pontifex maximus, which had never before been shared, was given to both ; also the two Gordians were pronounced dim. A great crowd had gathered outside the Capitol, where the Senate was in session. At the news of the decision a violent clamor was raised, especially against Pupienus, who, as governor of the city, had severely repressed those infractions of the pub¬ lic order that the lower classes so readily commit or excuse. Accordingly, when the new Emperors, with their suite, attempted to take possession of the imperial palace, they were driven back into the Capitol. As the Gordians were extremely rich, they had many adherents, who had ex¬ pected to derive advantage for themselves from the reign of the new dynasty. Of this family there remained a boy, — grand¬ son, through his mother, of the proconsul of Africa , 3 — who was now in Rome. Upon the elevation of his grandfather and uncle, the Senate had given him the praetorship and the 1 Their names were: M. Clodius Pupienus Maximus, and Decimus Caelius Balbinus. The latter claimed descent from Balbus, the Spaniard, the friend of Pompey and Caesar. 2 Medallion of bronze of the two Gordians, proclaimed divi, struck at Aegae, in Cilicia, confirming the apotheosis decreed by the Senate : Quos avibo senatus augustos appellavit, et posted inter divos retulit. On the obverse, the laurelled heads of the two Gordians facing each ^ other ; the legend (in Greek) : The Divine Gordiani, the venerable Roman, African, Au- gusti. On the reverse, an eagle upon an altar, and : The inhabitants of Aegae, Severiani, Hadriani, the neocoros city (having a temple of the Augusti), the navarchia (having a marine arsenal), in the year of Aegae 284 (238 a. d.). 8 An Algerian inscription (L. Renier, No. 1,431) calls him divi Gordiani nepos et divi Gordiani sororis films. To the same effect, Herodian, vii. 27. 4 Silver coin, bearing on the reverse the legend : PIETAS AVGG. (Cohen, No. 73.) SILVER COIN OF GORDIAN III., CAESAR . 4 156 MILITARY ANARCHY, 235 TO 2C8 a. d. title of Caesar, although he was but twelve years of age. After the African disaster, men were needed, and this boy was for¬ gotten. But those whose interests were concerned did not forget BALB1XUS. 1 him; they instigated the mob, who by their clamor forced the Senate to renew the decree naming the young Gordian Caesar. Rome had therefore three Emperors; but she had also civil war. Maximin had left in the city only a few praetorian vete- 1 Bust of the Capitol. SEVEN EMPERORS IN FOURTEEN YEARS, 235 TO 249 a. d. 157 may be that to this offence they added some insolence of demeanor, or possibly even some threatening language in their Emperor’s name : the exact offence is not known; but an exasperated senator stabbed them both, then rushing out into the open square, held up his bloody dagger, exclaiming that these enemies of the Senate and of the Roman people must perish. The crowd fell upon the praetorians who chanced to be in the city; many were killed, and the remainder 1 Bust in the Museum of the Louvre. rans; and this soldiery, whose insolence we have often mentioned, was always regarded with ill-will by the nobles and the populace. One day two of these soldiers, unarmed and as spectators, entering the temple where the Conscript Fathers were deliberating, passed beyond the altar of Victory, — a serious breach of etiquette. It MAXIMIN. 1 slaughter among their assailants. To restore peace, Balbinus spared neither edicts nor entreaties; but he was driven out of the fray with sticks and stones, — without, however, receiving any intentional injury. The affair was a private quarrel between town and camp, PUPIENUS. 1 158 MILITARY ANARCHY, 235 TO 268 a. d. shut themselves up in their camp, which the gladiators belonging to the nobles vainly sought to carry by assault. The veterans made a strong resistance, and at times sallied out, making great 1 Bust in the Museum of the Louvre SEVEN EMPERORS IN FOURTEEN YEARS, 235 TO 249 a. d. 159 of a kind frequently seen before and since, in military governments. The citizens finally cut off the water-supply of the camp, hoping thereby to force the praetorians to open their gates. The latter did indeed open them; but it was to fall upon the mob with levelled pikes, and pursue them into the city, where the fight went on. Assailed in the narrow streets by stones hurled from the roofs, the praetorians set fire to the houses; and while the conflagration raged, soldiers and populace became reconciled, uniting to plunder whatever the flames had spared. A great part of the city was thus destroyed. Maximin now found himself in the position in which Severus had been forty-five years before ; but he did not show the prudence of the African Emperor, and his army, having no supplies awaiting them along the road, advanced slowly. It is true that the dispo¬ sition of the provincials was no longer the same: the inhabitants fled at the approach of Maximin and his Barbarians, and there were neither men nor provisions left in the cities which he entered . 1 The Senate had time, therefore, to raise troops in Italy, to fortify positions, and to cut the roads. The fleet of Ravenna had carried off or destroyed all the coasting vessels, and allowed no sup¬ plies to arrive by way of the Adriatic for the army of Pannonia . 2 Twenty men of consular rank divided Italy among themselves, making it, so to speak, a fortress; and from Ravenna, where he had collected his army, Pupienus directed the movements of all. This city, the Venice of the Romans, afforded him an excellent strategic position. Thence he kept guard over Upper Italy and the lower course of its two great rivers, the Po and the Adige ; his fleet gave him communication with Aquileia, and he covered the road to Rome. The Italians cordially aided his preparations; they felt that they were about to fight for the old renown of Italy against a fresh invasion of the Cimbri. The gods were made to speak: in Aquileia the auspices declared that Belenus promised success . 3 Moreover, good news came in from the provinces. Most of them had declared for the Senate, and the legions which remained faithful, especially those of the Rhine, where Pupienus had been in command, sent detachments which enabled him to^ 1 Sublatis omnibus quae victum praeberepossent (Capit., Max. 21). 2 Capit., Max. 23. 3 Id., ibid. 22; Herod., viii. 7. 160 MILITARY ANARCHY, 235 TO 268 a. d. officer a considerable number of recruits. In Africa, Capellianus, after his victory at Carthage, had pillaged the province to enrich his soldiers, to prepare his own way to the imperial power if Maximin should be overthrown . 1 2 But the governor of Mauretania SARCOPHAGUS OF A CENTURION OF THE THIRD AUGUSTAN LEGION. 2 defeated and killed him; the Third Augustan legion was disbanded, its name effaced from the monuments it had erected, and the other troops were sent into Rhaetia . 3 Maximin therefore remained isolated . 4 1 Capit., Max. 19. Cf. L. Renier, lnscr. dd'Alg. No. 3,177. 2 White marble, found among the tombs along the Appian Way. (From the Museum of the Louvre.) It represents eleven Loves forging arms, in allusion to the employment of the centurion: BLAERA VITALIS > [centurio] LEG. III. AYG. B. M. M. D. [Rene A/erenti Afater Dedit?]. (C. 7. L. vol. vi. No. 3,645.) “ The artists of the Roman epoch were accus¬ tomed to treat religious traditions lightly, and attribute to Loves or to children certain occupa¬ tions which in reality belong only to grown men. Tn this class of ideas the sarcophagus under consideration is one of the most instructive ” (Frohner, Notice , etc., No. 341, and p. 321; also Henry d’Escamps, Descr. des marbres du Musee Camp. pi. 108). 3 This legion was reconstituted, about the year 253, in the reign of Valerian, whom it, with the whole Rhaetian army, had aided in obtaining the imperial power. 4 • . . Orbem terrarum consensisse in odium Maximini (Capit., Max. 23). SEVEN EMPERORS IN FOURTEEN YEARS, 235 TO 249 a. d. 161 When he reached the banks of the Isonzo, the torrent, swelled by the melting of the snows, rolled broad and rapid, and the fine stone bridge which spanned it had been broken down. Here the army was detained for several days while rafts were constructed from casks and planks found in the deserted houses. On the opposite side, some miles distant from the stream, was Aquileia, the real gateway into Italy on the northeast. Whether Maximin took it, or whether its inhabitants allowed him to traverse it with his famished hordes, in either case the great and wealthy city would be ruined. Accordingly, these descend¬ ants of Roman colonists resolved to make a desperate resistance. They closed the gaps in their walls, amassed immense quantities of provisions, and forged weapons and engines of war. The women, copying famous examples, gave their hair to make rope, — an act consecrated by a temple built in Rome to the Venus of the shaven head. Two ex-consuls — one formerly a dux in Moesia and a very able soldier — conducted the defence. There were but few troops in the city; but all the inhabitants enrolled themselves as a garri¬ son, and the bravest men from the adjacent country had thrown themselves into the place. All the attacks made upon the city were unsuccessful; all attempts to take it by storm failed; a rain of burning pitch ar¬ rested the advance of the hostile columns, and blazing darts shot from the balistae on the walls set on fire the siege-machines. Maximin avenged himself for these repeated defeats by putting to death the officers who had so unsuccessfully conducted the operations. Great indignation was aroused at these unjust punish¬ ments ; provisions, moreover, were lacking, the army saw neither supplies nor succor come to it, the whole Empire appeared to be hostile, and the Emperor was not one of those leaders who give their soldiers courage to fight against a world. The legionaries of the Second Parthica were the most uneasy. Their wives and children and all that they possessed, being left at Albanum, were at the mercy of the enemy. To save their own families, the soldiers murdered Maximin and his son. This Em¬ peror’s reign had lasted three years and a few days (238). 1 1 Maximin was sixty-five years of age ( Chron. d’AIex., ad ann. 238, and Zonaras, Ann. xii. 16). The ecclesiastical writers (Euseb., Hist. eccl. vi. 28) place in his reign a persecu¬ tion, which they call the sixth. Sulpicius Severus makes no mention of this; he speaks only VOL. VII. 11 162 MILITARY ANARCHY, 235 TO 268 a. d. The army then demanded entrance into the city ; but the peo¬ ple of Aquileia would not agree to this proposal. They let down provisions from their walls, requiring pay for them, and also opened markets at their gates; and the strange sight was seen of the besieged supplying their besiegers with food. Pupienus, coming EQUESTRIAN STATUE OF AN EMPEROR CROWNED WITH LAUREL. 1 in all haste from Ravenna to this army destitute of a chief, re¬ ceived their oaths of fidelity to the three Emperors of Rome, and sent the troops away to their encampments, after having, as was usual, paid liberally the price of blood. While these events were taking place the Senate had lived from day to day in the anxiety of a man who sees the knife at his throat. (Hist. sacr. ii. 16) of a few priests who were persecuted . . . Nonnullarum ecclesiarum cleri- cos vexavit. The persecution was probably limited to some local oppression ; in Cappadocia, for instance, of which Firmilianus was bishop. Cf. Cyprian, Ep. 75 : Erat transeundi facultas en quod persecutio ilia non per toturn mundum , sed localis fuisset . . . ut per Cappadociam et Pontum ; and the Church has no authentic martyrs in this reign. Eusebius mentions not one. 1 Guattani, 1786, and Clarac, pi. 967, No. 2,497. SEVEN EMPERORS IN FOURTEEN YEARS, 235 TO 249 a. d. 163 Therefore their joy was as extreme as had been their terror, and they testified it by a great display of gratitude towards the gods and the Emperors, — to the former, solemn thanksgivings and heca¬ tombs of victims; to the latter, — victors without a battle, — trophies, triumphal chariots, gilded equestrian statues, and, by way of novelty, statues carried by elephants. When the noise of the acclamations had ceased, and the flames of the sacrifices died away, Pupienus calmly examined the situa¬ tion, and found it still full of danger. “What do you expect will be our recompense for having delivered Rome from a monster ? ” he asked his colleague. “The love of the people, of the Senate, and of the whole human race,” Balbinus replied with simplic¬ ity. “ Our recompense will be,” the old general said, “the hatred of the soldiers.” And this anticipation was well founded. TUPIENUS AND THE PUBLIC PEACE. 1 lhe two Emperors at first lived on terms of cordial friendliness. To attest their harmony, they caused coins to be struck representing two hands clasped, with the legend : Patres senatus , amor mutuus; also this : Fides mutuad But Balbinus regarded Pupienus with con¬ tempt on account of his obscure birth, the latter de¬ spised his colleague’s weakness, and after a few days distrust sprang up between them. It was hardly possible that the combination devised by the Senate could have had any other result, or that this result should not bring about a catastrophe. The praetorians with silent displeasure endured “the Senate’s Emperors;” and their hatred in¬ creased with the homage paid by the Conscript Fathers to the men of their own choice. The soldiers feared lest there might be employed against them the same measures which Severus had adopted in the case of the praetorians of Julianus. In a senatus- consultum these imprudent words had been used: “ Thus act those 1 IMP. CAES. PVPIEN[us] MAXIMVS AVG., around the laurelled head of the Emperor. On the reverse, PAX PVBLICA SC. and Peace, seated. (Large bronze.) 2 Eckhel, vii. 305. 3 Two hands clasped, with the legend : PATRAS SENATVS. SILVER COIN OF PUPIENUS. 3 164 MILITARY ANARCHY, 235 TO 268 a. d. rulers appointed by wise men; thus perish the rulers chosen by the inexperienced.” 1 This was an insult, and the soldiers took it up. On an occasion when some public games had drawn away from the palace a large number of its usual guards, the praetorians has¬ tened thither. Pupienus was anxious at once to sum¬ mon the German guard. Balbinus, suspecting treachery on the part of his colleague, refused to allow it to be sent for. While the two Emperors were disput¬ ing, the praetorians forced the gates, seized them both, and dragged them through the city with every insult, crying: “ Behold the Emperors of the Senate and the Roman people! ” 3 It was their intention to carry their prisoners to the camp and put them to death with slow tortures. But the German guard coming up, the praetorians murdered the two Emperors at once, and left their dead bodies in the open street (June, 238). Less than five months had sufficed for the triple tragedy of which Rome, Carthage, and the camp of Aquileia had been the theatre. The senatorial restoration had lasted just long enough to give the soldiery time to recover from the surprise this audacious attempt had caused them, and could last no longer, for the Senate had neither material nor moral force; the power was elsewhere. * From Commodus to Diocletian, the true masters of the Empire were the soldiers; and the evils of this domination were only for the moment averted when the army had at its head chiefs at once 1 Herod., viii. 21. 2 IMP. CAES. D[ecimus] CAEL[ius] BALBINVS AVG., and the laurelled head of Balbinus. On the reverse, LIBERALITAS AVGVSTORVM SC. Balbinus, Pupienus, and Gordian III. seated on a platform. Liberalitas standing ; a citizen ascending the steps. 3 With the reign of Pupienus and Balbinus ends the work of Ilerodian, which, notwith¬ standing all its faults, is very useful for this epoch, so poor in historians. In the year 238 we find the publication of the book by Censorinus, De Die natali. About this time also Commo- dianus, the oldest of the Christian poets, wrote his Instructions, — eighty pieces of barbarous verse. His Carmen apologeticum belongs to the year 249. Gennadius {De Script, eccles. 15) says of this author: . . . Scripsit, mediocri sermone quasi versu, librum adversuspaganos. Et quia parum nostrarum attigerat litterarum, magis illorum destruere potuit dogmata quam nostra Jirmare. The initial letters of the twenty-six last verses form these words: Commodianus mendicus Christi. Another of these acrostics, in barbarous prosody and metre, is found in an Algerian inscription (L. Renier, No. 2,074). HEROIC STATUE OF PUPIENUS (museum of the louvre;. i Fbe library «< the Ssft&nsr»ity oi IIWwoU SEVEN EMPERORS IN FOURTEEN YEARS, 235 TO 249 a. d. 165 able and strong, like Severus, Aurelian, and Probus. The organi¬ zation of the Empire was such that it required for prosperity a strong hand always at the helm; but Nature is not so lavish of great men, and human wisdom had not by good institutions sup¬ plied what Nature did not give. II. — Gordian III. (238-244). Within a few months six Emperors had perished, and only a boy was left, Gordian III. 1 The murderers carried him away with them to the camp. Not long before, they had made him Caesar through hatred of Pupienus and Balbinus; now that he was left alone, they pro¬ claimed him Augustus: a ruler twelve or thirteen years old was the chief who suited them best. The Empire, wearied out with so many tumults, remained tranquil for a few years. There is men¬ tioned only an insurrec¬ tion in Africa, which was quickly suppressed by the governor of Caesarian Mauretania (240). 2 But affairs at court went badly. Gordian II. had had as many as twenty- ^ J GORDIAN III . 3 two concubines ; to guard this harem he had adopted the Oriental method of employing 1 “He is said by most authorities to have been eleven years of age, but some consider him thirteen, and Junius Cordus believes that he was sixteen ” (Capit., Gord. 22). 2 L. Renier, Itiscr. d’Alg. 99, and G. I. L. vol. vi. No. 1,090. 3 Luni marble ; bust in the Museum of the Louvre. 166 MILITARY ANARCHY, 235 TO 268 a. d. eunuchs, and his nephew came into possession of this dangerous household. Ill-defended by his mother against them and against the freedmen, Gordian allowed them to be masters of the palace and the treasury, which they plundered at will. Their sway lasted till 241 or 242; at this period the young Emperor married Tranquillina, the daughter of Timesitheus, and appointed his father-in-law praetorian prefect. 1 This Timesitheus, who had filled with integrity important finan¬ cial positions, and many times served as governor of a province (vice praesiclis ), proved to be a man of much ability; and he thrust back into obscurity those who ought never to have emerged thence. One of his letters to Gordian shows the extent of the evil and the vigor of the remedy: “ To Augustus, my master and my son, Timesitheus his father-in- law and prefect. We rejoice to see that you have escaped from the disgrace of the period when eunuchs and men whom you regarded as friends trafficked in¬ famously in all things. Our re¬ joicing is the greater in that you yourself applaud this fortunate change, which proves also, my respected son, that you were not to blame for these abuses. It could not indeed be endured longer that eunuchs should dispose of military commands ; that honorable THE EMPRESS TRANQUILLINA AS CERES. 2 • i in services should be left unrewarded; that the caprice or interest of a few men should cause the innocent to perish, and leave the guilty at liberty; that the treasury should be emptied by those who were constantly scheming to prejudice 1 C. Furius Sabinius Aquila Timesitheus (Spon, Antiq. de Lyon, edition of 1857, p. 1631- See his cursus hononim in De Boissieu’s Inscr. de Lyon, p. 245. 2 Statue in the Museum of the Louvre ; Parian marble. SEVEN EMPERORS IN FOURTEEN YEARS, 235 TO 249 a. d. 167 » you against the best citizens, who were bringing the wicked for¬ ward and driving good men away, and trafficked in the very words that they themselves ascribed to you. Let us therefore thank the gods who have given you the will to heal the woes of the state. It is pleasing to be the father-in-law of a ruler who seeks to understand all things, and drives from his presence the men by whom he himself seemed formerly to be offered for public sale.” To this letter Gordian replied: “ The Emperor Gordianus Augustus to Timesitheus, his father and prefect. If the mighty gods did not protect the Roman Empire, we should still be, as it were, exposed for sale by the eunuchs, themselves bought in the public markets. . I at last understand that it is not a Felix whom I ought to have placed at the head of the praetorian co¬ horts, nor a Serapammon in command of the Fourth legion, and— not to enumerate in detail — that I ought not to have done many things that I have done. But I render thanks to the gods that you, whose fidelity is well known, have taught me what the captivity in which I was held had prevented me from under¬ standing. What could I do when Maurus sold the government, and when, acting in concert with Gaudianus, Reverendus, and Montanus, he praised some men and blamed others? What could I do but approve what he had told me, it being also confirmed by the testimony of his accomplices ? In truth, my dear father, an Emperor is very unfortunate when the truth is concealed from him. He cannot go out and learn it for himself, and he is obliged to hear what he is told, and to decide according to the information men bring him.” COIN OF TRANQUILLINA. 2 Timesitheus was not only renowned for his eloquence and integrity, but also, when the occasion required, he could show himself a good general. He caused the fortifications of cities and frontiers to be repaired, and collected vast quantities of provisions 1 SABINIA TRANQVILLTNA AVG., surrounding the bust of the Empress. On the reverse, FELICITAS TEMPORVM SC. Felicitas standing. 168 MILITARY ANARCHY, 235 TO 268 a. d. in these strongholds, so that the armies could be supplied from them in case of need. The posts of the first importance were supplied with a year’s stores of corn, salted pork, vinegar, barley, and straw; and the rest with supplies for one or two months. He examined the arsenals, and made sure that the weapons in the soldiers’ hands were in good order. He sent away from the camps all useless persons, old men and children, who hin¬ dered the movements of the troops and consumed the rations. Discipline was the more easily maintained because he watched with the utmost vigilance over the needs of the soldier, and even in the most remote'marches secured the seasonable arrival of provisions. He also revived the old usage of surrounding the „ most temporary camps with a COIN OF SHAPUR OR SAPOR I. 2 # 1 1 ditch; and visiting the outposts often, even during the night, he kept watch upon the conduct of all. In a short time a man like this, able and devoted to the public welfare, restored their military virtues to the troops, and the army again became the formidable weapon that it had so long been. 1 From a bas-relief of the Antonine Column. 2 Bust of Sapor, with legend: The worshipper of Orrnuzd. On the reverse, a pyre between two standing figures; legend: Chapouri. (Gold coin.) SEVEN EMPERORS IN FOURTEEN YEARS, 235 TO 249 a. d. 169 COm OF GOR¬ DIAN III . 1 The Persians quickly perceived what had taken place. Satisfied or exhausted by the first collision in the reign of Alexander Severus, they had remained tranquil until about the close of Maximin’s reign; but new Asiatic dynasties do not at once abandon the tent for the harem. To consolidate their power, they need from time to time to give scope to the warlike ardor which brought them into existence. Ardishir again threat¬ ened Armenia and the Roman provinces. Upon his death in 240 he was succeeded by his son Shapur, or Sapor, who for a third of a century (240-273) remained the indefatigable enemy of the Romans. This monarch led in person a formidable invasion, which penetrated into the heart of Syria. He took the strong cities of Atra, Nisibis, and Carrhae, crossed the Euphrates, and menaced Antioch. 2 At news of this, Gordian opened the temple of Janus (241), 3 — a ceremony which seems then to have occurred for the last time, — and with a large army set out for the valley of the Danube, which the Sar- matians and Goths had been ravaging for four years; 4 the Alani had even advanced as far as the neighborhood of Pliilip- popolis in Thrace, where they defeated a Roman force. The Barbarians could not make any stand against the large army led by Gordian, which drove away these pillagers as it advanced. 5 In 242 the Emperor crossed the Hellespont and moved forward rapidly towards the Euphrates. The Persian cavalry offered no better resistance than the Goths had done; but the history of these engagements is lost. We have only a few lines in a despatch from the Emperor to the Senate : “ After the many advantages gained upon our march, each one of which merits the honor of a triumph, we have broken the yoke already placed upon the neck of Antioch, and have deliv- 1 Coin commemorating the crossing of the Hellespont by the Emperor. Reverse of a medium bronze of Gordian III., with the legend TIIAIECTVS AVG. Gordian is seated in the prow of a praetorian galley, around which three dolphins are swimming. At the present day shoals of porpoises follow vessels in the Hellespont. 2 Mirkhond, Hist, des Sassanides, French translation by Sylvestre de Sacy, p. 288. 3 Aur. Victor, Caes. 27. 4 The initium belli Scythici dates from the reigns of Maximin and Balbinus, in 238 (Capit., 16). In the first invasion the Goths desti’oyed Istria, upon the Euxine. 6 Delevit, fugavit, expulit atque submovit (Capit., Gord. 26). On the tomb of Gordian are •engraved the words, Victor Gothorum (Ibid. 34). 170 MILITARY ANARCHY, 235 TO 268 a. d. ered Syria from this king and his dominion. We have restored Carrhae and the other cities to the Empire. We are now at Nisibis, and, the gods favoring, shall soon be at Ctesiphon, if they pre¬ serve to us Timesitheus, our prefect and father, who plans and conducts everything. To him we owe this success, and shall owe others yet. Therefore vote supplications to the gods, and thanks to Timesitheus.” The Senate decreed to the Emperor a quadriga of elephants, and to the prefect a triumphal chariot drawn by four horses, with this inscription : “ To the tutor of the state.” 3 Unfortunately, not long after, the wise tutor died, — carried off by disease, or, as was believed at the time, poisoned by Philip (243). This Philip was an Arab of Trachonitis, 4 son of a robber chief famous in that country, and for a time following his father’s mode of life. Enrolled in the Roman army, he rose from one grade 1 Engraved stone-(sardonyx) of three layers, 23 millim. by 20. Pehlvi legend, of which four letters only can be clearly made out. Cf. Mordtmann, Zeitschrift der deutsch. Morgen- landischen Gesellschgft, vol. xviii. pi. vi. 4. ( Cabinet de France , No. 1,344.) 2 Intaglio of the Sassanid style. Perforated cone, 10 millim. in diameter. ( Cabinet de France , No. 1,377.) 3 Capit., Gord. 27. An inscription recently discovered in Algeria gives Gordian seven imperatorial salutations (Bull, de corre'sp. afric. 1882, p. 119). 4 His name was M. Julius Philippus, and that of his wife Marcia Otacilia Severa. (See L. Renier, Inscr. d’Alg. No. 2,540.) According to Aurelius Victor (Caes. 28), he was born at Bostra, and gave that city its later name, Philippopolis. Ecclesiastical councils, however, mention both Bostra and Philippopolis. — the latter a town in the neighborhood of the former (Labbe, Cone. viii. 644, 675). M. Waddington has discovered the ruins of Philippopolis, where are yet to be seen a theatre, an aqueduct, baths, temples, and numerous public edi¬ fices. But the wall was never completed ; Philip had not time to finish his work. SEVEN EMPERORS IN FOURTEEN YEARS, 235 TO 249 a. d. 171 to another, until after the death of Timesitheus he was made its highest officer. Gordian appointed him to succeed in office the man whom he had perhaps murdered, and the operations against the Persians were continued. A great battle gained near Resaina, on the Chabaras, opened the road to the Persian capital; but sud¬ denly a mutiny broke out in the Roman army. The new prefect had fomented it by intentionally disorganizing the service which his predecessor had so well established. Se¬ cret orders led the supply-trains astray and hindered the boats laden with provisions from reaching the camps. When Philip saw discontent spring¬ ing up and growing, he employed emissa¬ ries to go about among the tents and the groups of soldiers and complain of Gordian: an Emperor so young was incapable of rul¬ ing the state and com¬ manding the army; a colleague ought to be given him who would take the place of Timesitheus. The PHILIP THE ELDER. 1 army, impelled by famine, placed the Empire in the power of Philip, and directed that he, as tutor, should rule jointly with Gordian. 2 The friends of the young Emperor could not deceive themselves in regard to this division of authority imposed by the soldiers, — it was a master who was set over him ; and the insolent behavior of 1 Bust in the Louvre, not designated with certainty (Luni marble). 2 Zosimus, i. 18. 172 MILITARY ANARCHY, 235 TO 268 a. d. Philip made the situation perfectly evident. They prepared a counter-revolution; and when they believed themselves sufficiently strong, called together the army, as if it were a deliberative assembly. Gordian, ascending his tribunal, complained before them of the ingratitude of Philip, whom he had, he said, loaded with favors, and appealed to the soldiers for justice; that is to say, the deposition of the Emperor whom they liad appointed. But the opposing party were victorious, and it was Gordian who was deposed. Here Capitolinus places a scene of unworthy supplications, in which Gordian ignobly descends all the steps of power, begging first a share in the Empire, then the rank of Caesar, or the title of praetorian prefect, lastly, the grade of dux and his life. We have no more reason to believe in this young man’s cowardice than in his great courage; but at twenty a man does not die thus. Gordian was killed near Zaitha, the city of olive- trees, where his assassin erected to his memory a splendid tomb, which a century later was yet standing. 1 2 Three other Emperors, Valerian, Carus, and Julian, were destined to die in these deserts. Philip wrote to the Senate that the soldiers had chosen him Emperor in the stead of Gordian, deceased by natural causes; and the Senate decreed to the latter apotheosis, and to the former the imperial titles. The Conscript Fathers consoled themselves for their secret grief by granting to all the surviving members of the ill- fated family, once so prosperous, exemption from guardianship, legations, and municipal burdens ( munerci ). This was all that they now had it in their power to give (February or March, 244). 1 PAX F VXD AT A CYM PERSIS : reverse of a silver coin of Philip the Elder ; medal commemorative of peace with the Persians. 2 Amm. Marcellin., xxiii. 5. The government of Gordian III. was remarkable for great legislative activity; the Code of Justinian mentions two hundred and forty ordinances of this reign. One of them is important; it granted to soldiers who had accepted, unawares, a bur¬ densome inheritance, the advantage of being held to the payment of the debts only to the extent of the assets (Code, vi. 22). Hence the institution of the inventory. SEVEN EMPERORS IN FOURTEEN YEARS, 235 TO 249 a. d. 173 III.— Philip (244). Instead of prosecuting the war against the Persians, discouraged as they were by their defeat at Resaina, Philip made haste to conclude peace, on terms advantageous to them, 1 and returned to Antioch. Eusebius, who is disposed to represent this murderer as a Christian, says that it was related in his time 2 that Philip, with the Empress, wishing to celebrate Easter in Antioch, the bishop, Saint Babylas, forbade them admission to the Church; upon which both humiliated themselves, made public confession of their sins, and took their places among the penitents. This popular belief in the end became historic certainty ; 3 although it is not easy to see what in¬ terest the Church had in claiming such a proselyte. It may be that this Arab had in his youth a knowledge of the Christian religion ; tions with Origen; 5 and it is certain that during his reign, as during that of Alexander, the Christians enjoyed undisturbed PHILIP, THE EMPRESS OTACILIA, AND THE YOUNGER PHILIP. 4 that, like Mamaea, he had established rela- 1 Eutropius, ix. 2; Zonaras, xii. 18, 19. 2 'O \6yos Kare^ei (Eusebius, Hist. eccl. vi. 34). 3 SS. Chrysostom, Orosius, and Zonaras admitted them, and Saint Jerome says of Philip (De Vir. ill.), qui primus de regibus rom. christ. fuit. But these authors all lived or wrote after the penitence of Theodosius; and it was well to increase the authority of that famous example by confirming the rumors that had naturally grown up among the believers in respect to the public penitence of a whole imperial family whose toleration had caused them to be suspected of sharing in the Christian faith. At the end of the fourth century, a bishop, when that bishop was Saint Ambrose, might forbid an emperor entrance to his church; a cen¬ tury and half earlier no man would have dared to do it. 4 CONCORDIA AVGVSTORVM. Busts of Philip and Otacilia, and of their son. On the reverse : EX ORACVLO APOLLINIS; a round temple with four columns, and within it a statue of Apollo. (Bronze medallion.) 5 Eusebius {Hist. eccl. vi. 33) possessed two letters written by Origen, — the one to Philip, the other to the Empress. But he does not say that he finds there the proof that these impe¬ rial persons were Christians. 174 MILITARY ANARCHY, 235 TO 268 a. d. tranquillity: 1 but all his public conduct was that of a pagan em¬ peror. According to the legend of one of his coins, he believed that his accession had been predicted by Apollo; 2 and the medals of Otacilia Severa bear profane devices, — sacrilegious honors that a Christian believer would have refused. On the other hand, at that time of religious confusion many persons were uncertain what they believed. The rational syncretism of the Alexan¬ drian philosophers became an unreasoning syncretism in many minds. Thus a singular monument (though of much later DENARIUS. 3 SAINT GEORGE WITH THE HEAD OF A SPARROW- HAWK. (IDENTIFIED WITH HORUS.) ROMAN WITH THE HEAD OF A SPARROW-HAWK. date) represents a Saint George with the head of a sparrow-hawk, — that is to say, a hero of Christian legend is confused with the Egyp- 1 Except at Alexandria, if we may believe Eusebius (vi. 41). But this so-called persecu¬ tion was probably only one of the riots so common in that city, in which Christians as well as pagans perished. Ex oraculo Apollinis (Cohen, vol. iv. p. 201, No. 4; see p. 173). He caused Gordian III. to be proclaimed clivus, and performed all the pagan rites of the Secular Games. There occurred during his reign an outbreak at Alexandria against the Christians, “ which ceased only when civil war turned away men’s minus ” (Eusebius, Hist. eccl. vi. 41). 3 I\ NO CONSERVAi 'AX. Juno veiled, holding a patera and a sceptre. Reverse of a coin of Otacilia. SEVEN EMPERORS IN FOURTEEN YEARS, 235 TO 249 a.d. 175 tian god Horus. 1 The so-called Christianity of Mamaea and Otacilia was of the same nature, and even more vague than this. The events of Philip’s reign are almost unknown to us. The Augustan History, from Gordian III. to Valerian, — that is to say, from 244 to 253,—is lost; and to fill this gap we have only the meagre or untrustworthy summaries of Zosimus and Zonaras, who wrote, the former in the fifth century, the latter in the twelfth. They speak of a ceremony which stirred all Italy, — the celebration of the Secular Games on the thousandth anniversary of the founding of Rome (248). 2 To do honor to this great occasion, all the magni¬ ficence of imperial festivals was displayed, and the enthusiasm of the nations responded to the pomp of the ceremonial. The god Terminus having steadily advanced for a thousand years, the multitude might well believe that he was not now about to recede. AUREUS. 3 COIN OF PHILIP. 4 And in considering; this constant good fortune through so large a space in the duration of humanity, the degenerate sons of ancient Rome allowed their poets to pre¬ dict for the Empire a new millen¬ nium. But shouts of victory were about to cease; a successor of Augustus and Trajan was soon to perish in battle with the Goths; another was to be a captive in the hands of Sapor; and already he was born who was to reduce the ancient queen of the world to the condition of a mere Italian town. Although his son (M. Julius Philippus) was but seven years of age, Philip made him Caesar and (in 247) Augustus, — forgetting the fate of those imperial boys for whom the purple had been but a shroud. The new Emperor also placed all his kindred in posi¬ tions of importance. His brother Priscus commanded the army of Syria ; his father-in-law (?), Severianus, that of Moesia. Philip treated the senators with respect, and seems to have ruled mod¬ erately, without cruelties or confiscations. However, he confiscated 1 Cf. Horus et S. Georges, memoir by M. Clermont-Ganneau in the Revue arche'ol. 1877. 2 The thousandth year of Rome began, accepting Varro’s calculation, the 21st of April, 247. The year was allowed to be completed before the games were celebrated (Eckhel, vii. 324). 3 Aureus of the younger Philip, Caesar and Prince of the Youth (Cohen, No. 28). 4 Coin commemorating the thousandth anniversary of Rome. (Reverse of a large bronze of Philip.) 176 MILITARY ANARCHY, 235 TO 268 a. d to the state the palace of Pornpey, which was the property of the Gordians, and had been much embellished by them. The Carpae, a people of Getic origin, probably resident on the banks of the THE YOUNGER PHILIP. 1 Pruth, had come down into the lands of the lower Danube. It ap¬ pears probable that Philip went in person to expel them, and made two campaigns in that war (245-24G). 1 2 Upon his return to Rome the news arrived that the Syrians, exasperated by the severities 1 Bust found at Civita Lavinia. (Capitol, Hall of the Emperors, No. 69.) 2 Victoria Carpica, Carpicus Maximus , legends on two of his coins; another, giving him the title Germanicus Maximus, announces some victory over the Germans (Cohen, vol. iv. p. 202, No. 5). SEVEN EMPERORS IN FOURTEEN YEARS, 235 TO 249 a. d. 177 of Priscus, had proclaimed an emperor, Iotapianus, who called himself a descendant of Alexander, and that certain rebels in Moesia had proclaimed another, Marinus . 2 Philip, in much anxiety, 1 Photograph by Parker. 2 We have imperial coins of two other usurpers who cannot be placed, — Pacatianus and Sponsianus. The workmanship of the coins indicates the time of Philip or Decius (Cohen, vol. iv. pp. 229, 231, and pi. xi.). von. vii. 12 178 MILITARY ANARCHY, 235 TO 268 a. d. consulted the Senate. Decius, one of the members of that assembly, who understood the value of the new Augusti, announced that these mock emperors would not be able to maintain their author¬ ity ; and in fact they fell of themselves. Philip, however, believed it needful to send to the army of the Danube the wise adviser who had so well foreseen the turn affairs would take. Decius long resisted, apprehending that these legions, who had now for four¬ teen years remained obedient, would seize the first pretext to give themselves the pleasure and profit of a revolt. His anxiety was not unfounded; he had scarcely entered the camp when the soldiers saluted him emperor, in spite of himself. The very men whom he had been commissioned to punish, had devised this scheme, which at once saved 'them from chastise- coin of the elder uient and secured to them a donativum. rminp. Decius wrote to his master that as soon as he returned to Rome he would lay aside the purple. The Emperor did not credit this promise, and marched against the army of Pan- nonia; an engagement took place near Verona, 2 and he was defeated and killed. The praetorians left at Rome murdered his son (249), a boy now twelve years of age, who, it is said, had never been seen to smile. 3 1 Coin of the elder Philip, with the legend : VICTORIA CARPICA. 2 The Chronicle of Alexandria represents him as forty-live years of age at the time of his death. For results of the Gothic invasion, see chap. xcvi. 3 Aur. Victor, Cues. 28. This tragedy took place early in the autumn. 4 Reverse of a bronze medal of the two Philips and Otacilia, with the legend : GERM [anici] MAX[imi] CARPICI MAX[imi], Victory, standing in a quadriga, assists Philip, Otacilia, and their son to enter it (Cohen, No. 5). BRONZE MEDAL OF THE TWO PHILIPS AND OTACILIA . 4 CHAPTER XCY. THE EMPIRE IN THE MIDDLE OP THE THIRD CENTURY. I. — The Barbarians. HE Roman Empire, extended around the Mediterranean Sea, included the most favored regions of the temperate zone, — fertile lands with their abundant harvests, and beautiful cities, the •earliest home of civilization. Notwithstanding the catastrophes which occurred periodically at Rome or in the camps, this region was a vast oasis amid the triple barbarism of the North, the South, and the East. Hitherto that of the South had not been formidable. The desert horsemen had not yet dreamed of abandoning the date- trees which fed them, and the wells of which they had drunk since Abraham’s time, to scour the world for the sake of dissemi¬ nating a new religion. Only the Blemyes, from time to time, disturbed Upper Egypt, and on the Arabian coast the Saracens began to attract notice, — witness the foolish story, related by the Chronicle of Alexandria , of lions and serpents placed along their frontier by Decius to deter them from crossing it. 1 The East swarmed with its countless myriads of men, formi¬ dable in frontier wars, but organized into great states, and by that very circumstance rendered incapable of those vast migrations which tread cities and empires under foot. In the North, on the contrary, the great movement from East to West still continued which had begun in the remotest ages with the first migration of the Aryans. Not being able to encroach upon the settled inhabitants of Iran, the nomad hordes bore north¬ ward, passed through the Volkerthor , “the gate of the nations,” 2 1 Amm. Marcellinus says (xxii. 15): . . . Scenitas Arabas quos Saracenos nunc adpellamus. 2 This is the name German authors give to the plain which extends from the last slopes of the Ural to the Caspian Sea. 180 MILITARY ANARCHY, 235 TO 268 a. d. and crowded the great Sarmatian and Germanic plains in a vagrant mass, but slightly attached to the soil, a pastoral rather than an agricultural people, and accused by an old author of holding the doctrine that might makes right, 1 — a view which they have always held, and still hold at the present day. They were most dangerous neighbors. Notwithstanding the ungrateful soil and severe climate, these prolific races increased rapidly, 2 and in the midst of their poverty forever turned their eyes towards the lands of sunshine and of wealth. Thrice already, within historic times, had they attempted to enter them. In the time of Marius, while three hundred thousand Cimbri and Teutones ravaged Gaul, Spain, and Northern Italy, others had fallen upon the Hellenic peninsula, devastating it from the Adriatic to the Black Sea. When, after the victory of Vercellae, Marius had set upon his buckler the head of a Barbarian with protruding tongue, it was to signify that Rome had strangled the Barbaric world in the grasp of her mighty hands. But forty years had scarcely passed when this formidable enemy reappeared with threatening aspect; a hundred and twenty thousand warriors, the vanguard of the great nation of the Suevi, and four hundred and thirty thousand Usipetes or Tencteri under¬ took the concpiest of Gaul. They were already in possession of its eastern portions, when Caesar drove the former back into the German forests, and exterminated the latter between the Rhine and the Meuse. During the reign of Marcus Aurelius an immense coalition again caused anxiety even in Rome itself; the Marco- manni came as far as Aquileia, and the Emperor was obliged to remain for several years on the banks of the Danube with the principal forces of the Empire. Thus, in three centuries, there had been three formidable at¬ tacks, by the Cimbri, by Ariovistus, and by the Marcomanni, and in the interval between the great invasions, a multitude of com¬ bats and endless alarms along the Rhine and the Danube. This northern Barbaric world was like a human sea, whose waves, now violent, now feeble, were forever beating against the Roman in- trenchments. 1 Jus in viribus hcibet (Pomp. Mela). 2 Scnnzia insula officina gentium aut certe velut vagina nationum (Jordanes, 4). ttistoire des Homains ~ T.Vl Hachette et C le -Pans. Mora, (Met ^ & ) Juth, ' vP.\v» •n JZncten J CX\er uMur&€^L ***'*'£* KSS’^ p V&i&r 'ths ifi'est&rn ■ /0 -' '^1 Kaiitu'ul 7 )K .i d . ^ r ?$p£)< . Yicopoh-f ■‘•G; e(i $ e aj‘*n E* n te*»* s fy Ton# ^UuuipolM a Odf (tfznTUiJ ,^,u-A^, 7 r 'Y/n.ri "fiesjrt/oniitfe- ^fithosW ■■A o ■ Ca-Krandreti -t PolidaMi- - r/YW* fyai^o £ 4 ^ tr , , SP s°. I i^^V. ?j,uirn invade Gaul or Italy. They were prevented from doing so because at that time the Roman world had as leader, together with an army still worthy of itself, a great man, whose reign lasted twenty years. After him another, for an equal length of time, watched over the Empire and the frontiers. Under the mighty hand of 1 Note by M. de Witte to the Hist, de la monn. rom. iii. 116. He ought, however, .also to say that the base coin of copper and silver at this time issued by the imperial mints could be forcibly circulated only in the Empire. Nations outside would naturally refuse this token-money, which had no intrinsic value. (See sect. iv. of this chapter.) THE EMPIRE IN THE MIDDLE OF THE THIRD CENTURY. 189 ffiWWCCIVS -si ^FPQLLfA:,::^;. WMAVStvS'PStt ®TIA'Wfi^Ed^ mnc hHMmm miwviPmM Trajan and that of Hadrian the Barbaric world bent the knee. Severus still held it motionless and timid. But now there were boys where there had been men; fools were in the place of the wise ; reigns of a few days’ length had followed those lasting for years ; a policy of chance had taken the place of a policy of foresight; civil and military institutions were all relaxed ; the government governed no longer; ■and the state tottered upon its yield¬ ing and crumbling base. Montesquieu represents the Ro¬ man Empire at this time as a kind of irregular republic, somewhat like the former Regency of Algiers, in which the soldiery at will appointed and deposed the Dey. The remark is just; the Roman people never employing their electoral right, and the Senate, having suffered its right to be wrested from it by the prae¬ torians, — the armies of the frontiers had now deprived the praetorians of this lucrative opportunity. The thing appears to us shameful, and so it is; but it was inevitable that the military power, which alone survived amid the ruin of the other institutions of Augustus, should dom¬ inate all. Contemporaries were not surprised at this. During centuries the army had been the Roman people under arms, and the recollection of this fact was not yet completely effaced; even made up as it now was, the army which defended the Empire was the only body which appeared LEGIONARY FOOT-SOLDIER, STANDARD- BEARER . 1 1 Found at Mayence, and preserved in the museum of that city. On the left shoulder Luccius bears a helmet with lowered visor; a long and a short sword hang at his belt; he holds in the left hand his buckler, and in the other the standard adorned with the civic ■crown. Cf. Lindenschmit, Tracht und Bewaffnung des romischen Heeres waihrend der Kaiser- zeit, etc., pi. iii. fig. 1, and p. 19. 190 MILITARY ANARCHY, 235 TO 268 a. d. worthy to act for it. Saint Jerome thought thus, for he compares the election of the bishop by the priests to the election of the Emperor by the soldiers. Unfortunately the new army is very different from the old. It was the infantry of the legions that had conquered the world; but that infantry is now despised, and — a certain sign of weakness in military matters — the cavalry becomes every day more and more important. It almost equals the infantry in number, while in the time of Polybius, by a contrary excess, the legion had but CARTS FOR TRANSPORTATION OP BAGGAGE (POMPEII). one horseman to ten foot-soldiers. 1 Commanders-in-chief of cavalry are appointed, — Balista under Macrianus, Aureolus under Gallienus, Aurelian under Claudius II., Saturninus under Probus; and this title gave them great authority. The Barbarians served chiefly in the cavalry; and its increase shows how the foreign element was also increasing in the Roman army. At the same time the camp began to be hampered by an enor¬ mous baggage-train. A letter of the Emperor Valerian shows what the commander of a legion required annually for his military household, — 715 bushels of corn, 1,430 of barley, 13 cwt. of pork, 400 gallons of old wine, 300 skins for tents, etc., 2 without counting 1 Marquardt, Handb. ii. 584, and Mem. de l’Acad, des inscr. et belles-lettres, xxv. 473. According to General Rogniat, the proportion ought to be one in six; according to Na¬ poleon, one in four. This varies according to the character of the country where the war is carried on. At the present time it is one in four in the French army (Budget of 1877). 2 “We have intrusted to Claudius the tribuneship of the Fifth Martian legion.” (It will be noticed that at this epoch the commanders of the legions were only tribunes.) “ You will eive to him out of our private treasure for his annual salary, 3,000 modii of corn ” (the modius being very nearly a peck), “ 6,000 of barley, 2,000 pounds of pork; 3,500 sextarii of old wine ” (the sexlarius being about a pint and a half), “ 150 sextarii of good oil, 600 of oil of second THE EMPIRE IN THE MIDDLE OF THE THIRD CENTURY. 191 the pay, which was 25,000 sesterces in good gold pieces, 1 at a time when commerce had only debased coin at its command. 2 We see further what onerous and sometimes singular dues they received from the state, and can estimate also what crushing burdens were imposed on the treasury by all these favors, often, moreover, doubled and trebled. In giving to Probus the office of Governor of the East, the Emperor Tacitus gave him five times more than the usual salary of this office. The impedimenta of the officers corresponded, of course, with that of the commander; and it is easy to see how, retarded by such enormous baggage, the Roman army, notwithstanding its numerous cavalry, could scarcely ever come quality; 200 modii of salt, 150 pounds of wax; a sufficient quantity of hay, straw, vinegar, fruits, and vegetables; 300 skins to make tents, six she-mules, three horses, ten camels, and nine mules annually; 50 pounds of silver ware and 150 gold philips ” ( aurei ) “ of our coinage annually, and at the new year 160 trientes ” (a third of the aureus). “ You will give him eleven pounds weight of pots and jars for wine, eleven more of kitchen utensils ; two red military tunics annually, two silk-trimmed cloaks, two clasps of gilded silver, one of gold with copper point, a shoulder-belt of gilded silver, a ring with two stones weighing an ounce, a bracelet seven ounces in weight, a collar weighing a pound, a gilded helmet, two bucklers embossed with gold, a cuirass (which he will return), two Herculean lances, two short javelins, two reaping-hooks, four others for hay; a cook (whom he will return), two of the most beautiful female captives, a white garment of half silk, and another of Girba purple, an under-tunic of Mauretanian purple, a secretary (whom he will return), an architect (whom he will return), two pairs of Cyprus cushions for the table,*two under-tunics without borders, two sheets, a toga (which he will return), a laticlave (which he will return), two footmen who will be always at his orders, a carpenter, a praetorian steward, a water-carrier, a fisherman, a pastry¬ cook; 1,000 pounds of wood daily, if there is enough, otherwise, as much as the locality can furnish ; four shovelfuls of charcoal daily, a bath-man, and the wood necessary for hot baths, failing which, he will be obliged to employ the public thermae. You will furnish at your discretion other things of minor importance ; but you will not fix their value, so that if any article be lacking, he could not require its equivalent in money” (Treb. Pollio, Claud. 14). See also what Valerian ordered the urban prefect to furnish daily to Aurelian during his stay in Rome, without counting what was supplied him by the prefects of the treasury (Vopis- cus, Aur. 9). The French regulations furnish a general of division for campaign rations: 2,465 kilos of pork, 175 of rice, 48.75 of salt, 61.25 of sugar, 46.75 of coffee, 730 litres of wine. This allowance is for a year, and is furnished daily during the campaign, and in time of peace is suspended. But the Romans made no distinction between the peace and war foot¬ ing, so that the enormous allowances enumerated above were permanent, while the French treasury supports this expense only in time of war. Under Louis XV. the French army had enormous baggage. The ordinance of March 9, 1756, gave each lieutenant-general thirty horses, and each colonel fourteen; and they actually had twice that number, with an immense train of carriages and wagons. Consequently these armies could not move. (See the Comte de Gisors, by Camille Rousset, pp. 182 et seq.) 1 . . . Cujus militiae solarium , in auro suscipe. 2 Hist, de la monn. rom. vol. iii. p. 143, No. 1. Probus received for his pay as tribune only 100 aurei, and the remainder in denarii and sesterces ; but the total amounted to 28,000 sesterces, instead of 25,000, the 3,000 sesterces additional representing the difference in exchange, or what the tribune lost in receiving part of his pay in denarii and sesterces, instead of receiving the whole in gold. 192 MILITARY ANARCHY, 235 TO 268 a. d. up with an active enemy, who appeared suddenly, and disappeared as rapidly as he came. In this army there were also a crowd of useless persons who on days of battle were not present in the ranks. It was regarded as an important reform when Alexander Severus reduced the number ROMAN HORSEMAN . 1 of orderlies to ten for a legate, six for a dux, and four for a tribune, — a proof that this number had been hitherto greatly ex¬ ceeded ; and it doubtless again was so in latef reigns, these restric¬ tive ordinances being unpopular. Two things still further prevented a general from requiring of his troops those rapid marches which had so many times enabled the Roman army to surprise an enemy and strike decisive blows. The soldiers had been accustomed to carry with them provisions 1 Roman horseman, found at Bonn and preserved in the museum of that city (Linden- schmit, np. cit. pi. vii. No. 1). THE EMPIRE IN THE MIDDLE OE THE THIRD CENTURY. 193 for seventeen days, unless they were in an enemy’s country. Alexander relieved his legionaries of this burden, and established their camps in such a way that they could receive their provisions without fatigue. On a march, mules and camels carried the sup¬ plies ; but this required another train to supply the beasts of burden and their drivers : thus the line of impedimenta lengthened, and the army became very unwieldy. Moreover the order of battle was changed, and the soldiers’ arms were modified. As from day to day the number of Barbarians in the army increased, it had become necessary to abandon the earlier organization of the legion, which required a mathematical precision in manoeuvres and much skill in camp labors. The quality of the soldier deteriorating, less was asked from individual experience, more from collective power. Caracalla had organized a Macedonian phalanx, and Alexander Severus increased it to thirty thousand men, — a dense mass, difficult to break into, but difficult also to move, and in which much strength was wasted. , these soldiers, so busy with mak¬ ing themselves comfortable, and to whom so much was necessary, found the weapons of the republican legionaries far too heavy ; they required a smaller buckler, less fa¬ tiguing to their enfeebled arms, and the iron cuirass and helmet became an insup¬ portable burden, from which they begged A # 00 DROMEDARY CARRYING BAGGAGE . 1 the Emperor Gratian to relieve them. 2 It had been now many years since the semestrial tribunes had actively fulfilled the law requiring of them a period of ser¬ vice in the legions, and the senators were extremely disinclined to camp life. We read that one of them obtained from Commodus exemption in the matter of military service; 3 Caracalla excused them all from it; Gallienus forbade it to them; 4 and an old author is surprised at finding a young man of good family in the service. 5 1 Bas-relief from the Column of the Emperor Theodosius at Constantinople. 2 Vegetius, i. 20. The phalanx did not last. 3 Borghesi, GZuvres compl. v. 311; L. Renier, Mel. d’epigr. p. 18. Alexander Severus had thought of making a similar rule (Lamprid., Alex. 45). 4 Aur. Victor, De Caes. 33 : . . . Ne imperium ad optimos nobilium transferetur, senatum militia vetuit, etiam adire exercitum. 5 Id., Valer. 32 : . . . Quanquam genere satis claro. VOL. VII. 13 194 MILITARY ANARCHY, 235 TO 268 a. d. The decurions of the provincial cities demanded the same privilege as the Roman senators, and the law, sanctioning this inside deser¬ tion, closed the army against them forever. 1 It was the whole aristocracy, great and small, which, in an empire found¬ ed by arms, and incapable of maintaining itself with¬ out their aid, now refused to bear them. The effects of this change began to appear about the middle of the third century. The sons of Roman and provincial senators, who had hitherto filled the great mil¬ itary and civil offices, were replaced in the army by men of low degree. Some of these soldiers of fortune became able generals; but for the most part they were men of ignoble ambition, who, destitute of the pat¬ riotic pride of the early consuls, presently tore the Empire into thirty pieces, that they might each for an instant be adorned witli a rag of the purple. The separation of the civil and military orders, whose union had made the fortune of the Republic and formed the great administrations of the early Empire, 3 is still 1 Constitution of Diocletian, in the Codex Just. xii. 34, 2, and maintained by his succes¬ sors. Cf. Codex Theod. viii. 4, 28, anno 423, and Codex Just. x. 31, 55: Si quis decurio ausus fuerit ullam affectare militiam ... ad conditionem propriam retrahatur , anno 436. 2 Found at Wiesbaden and preserved in the museum of that city (Lindenschmit, op. cit.). a See Yol. VI. p. 197. THE EMPIRE IN THE MIDDLE OF THE THIRD CENTURY. 105 further marked by the creation of a new grade, that of dux, or general-in-chief having no territorial authority, and consequently having no civil interests to protect. This measure, which is seen dawning under Septimius Severus, and became established in a gen¬ eral manner in 237 a. d., 1 was useful, for it has endured to this day ; but with the condition that the high military posts should be assigned only to men worthy of holding them, and the further condition that military honors should never open the way to high civil office. But Macrinus gave to two freedmen the government of Dacia and Pannonia, and to a former spy, who knew not how to read, 2 the consulship and the office of urban prefect. A few years later a man of mixed race, Getan and Alanian, a mere soldier, who had spent his life in the camps, was invested with the purple of the Caesars; and lie by whom this Emperor was overthrown was himself the son of a blacksmith. 3 This army, now forbidden to the nobility of the Empire, and from ‘which citizens even were shortly to be debarred, was recruited from the dregs of the provincial population. Since the time of Septimius Severus a jurisconsult could say: “ Formerly the military service was obligatory, and he was punished with death who did not respond to the call. Now we have abandoned this severity, because our cohorts are recruited from volunteers.” 4 But these volunteers were worthless wretches who had neither household gods nor homes, like those vagabonds with whom in the last century the recruiting officers of the French army filled their regiments, where they became the soldiers of Rossbach. There was indeed a method of recruiting, or, more properly, of conscription, — every city was required to furnish a definite number of men and horses; and this was a tax upon property. Both were obtained as cheaply as pos¬ sible, and delivered over to the recruiting officer {productio tironum et equorum). The following words are in the text of the law, un¬ der the head of municipal obligations: “ The furnishing of recruits, horses, and other animals or necessary things ... is a personal obligation.” 5 1 See the senatus-consultum sent at this date to the proconsuls and military chiefs (Capit., Mciximin, 15). 2 Dion, lxxviii. 14. 3 Pupienus was, it is said, the son of a blacksmith or a wheelwright. 4 Arrius Menander, Digest , xlix. 16, 4, sec. 10. ® Arcadius Charisius, in the Digest, 1. 4, 18, sec 13. 196 MILITARY ANARCHY, 235 TO 268 a. d. Besides these soldiers furnished by contract, there were others who were an actual danger to the statd, — those obtained from among the nations whom the army had to fight. Aurelius Victor, speaking of the legions of that time, writes: “The soldiers — the Barbarians, I had almost said.” 1 When Aurelian was intrusted with the defence of Thrace, the Emperor gave him a legion; but also, three hundred Ituraean archers, six hundred Armenians, one hundred and fifty Arabs, two hundred Saracens, four hundred men of Mesopotamia, and eight hundred cataphracti (men clad in mail), who were to come from the same region; and to show him that he could count on capable subordinates, Valerian wrote to him: “ You will have with you Hartomund, Haldegast, Hildemund, and Cariovix,” 2 — all Germans. At the battle of Emesa, in 272, one of the best generals in the army, Pompeianus, 3 was a Frank. The Barbaric origin of many others is concealed under Roman names. These Lembazii, Riparenses, Castriani, and Dacisci, who at that time formed the entire garrison of Rome, were certainly not all men of the old provinces. 4 The Roman army was composed, therefore, in the different ages of its history,’in the following manner, — first, of citizens; then, of Italians; then, of provincials; and now the Barbarians are entering: it is a descending scale. Following the able policy of the Republican Senate, the Emperors, in concluding a treaty with the Goths or Vandals, stipulated that the children of the Barbarians should be given up as hostages, and received them, both boys and girls, into the noblest houses in Rome. The boys were educated like the Roman youth, and the girls were married to Roman officers, in the intention that these wives should keep their husbands informed of what was going on over the frontier. Hunila was of royal blood among the Goths: Aurelian gave her a handsome dowry and married her to Bonosus, one of his generals, — a valiant boon companion, who in a battle of cups defeated all the Barbarians and plucked from them their most secret thoughts. 5 1 Aur. Victor, De Caes. 37: Militibus ac paene barbaris. After defeating an army of Goths, Claudius II. selected a number to fill the gaps in his cohorts. Ten years later Probus incorporated sixteen thousand Germans into his legions; all the Emperors did the same. Under Theodosius Barbarians were more numerous than Romans in the Roman army. 2 Vopiscus, Aur. 11. 3 Saint Jerome, Chron. ad ann. 272. 4 Vopiscus, Aur. 38. 6 Id., Bon. 14. THE EMPIRE IN THE MIDDLE OF THE THIRD CENTURY. 197 Certainly there is no heroism in military virtues like these; but there was not a hero left under the standards. In the time of Alexander Severus the Syrian legions declined to fight against the Persians, 1 and at Trebizond and Chalcedon, Romans more numerous than the Goths lied before them. 2 Finally, from among these men who resembled the soldiers of Caesar in noth¬ ing except their costume, went out deserters wdio car¬ ried over to the enemy the secret of Roman tactics, drilled his troops, forged his weapons, built his ships, even constructed for him engines of war wherewith to attack fortresses. At the siege of Philippopo- lis the Goths made use of all the engineering contriv¬ ances known to the Romans of the time. 3 Implacable, as traitors are to those whom they have betrayed, ... ITURAEAN ARCHER . 4 these men incited inva¬ sions, showed the way, and took the lead in pillage, while their 1 Dion, lxxx. 4. He adds that they were disposed to go over to the enemy. 2 See, in Zosimus, the invasion of Asia Minor by the Goths and Scythians in the time of Valerian. Jordanes says (16) of deserting legionaries in the time of Decius and of Philip: . . . Milites ad regis GotTiorum auxilium confugerunt. A multitude of the soldiers of Niger had gone over to the Parthians ; and to leave the door open for their return, Severus had modified the terrible penalties denounced by law against deserters. 3 See Dexippos, No. 2, in vol. iii. p. 678, of the Fragmenta Jiistoricum Graecorum (Didot). 4 The inscription is as follows: MONIBVS JEROMBALI F[ilius] MIL[es] COII[ortis] I ITVRAEOR[um] ANN[orum] L. STIP[endiorum] XVI H[ic] S[itus] E[st]. Monument 198 MILITARY ANARCHY, 235 TO 268 a. d. comrades remaining under the standards made and unmade empe¬ rors. It was a deserter who, in 259, guided the Goths in the conquest of Bithynia, and it was perhaps a military revolt which gave up to the Persians the Emperor Valerian. 1 Thus we see the standard is lowered among the soldiers, as it is among the officers, and consequently in the government. And whose is the fault? It is the fault of the citizens of every rank, who will no longer endure the military service, and of the rulers, who know not how to compel them to it. We have already remarked that the appearance of an excellent military organization always marks the advent of a new dominion, for the reason that the army in many respects sums up in itself the civilization of a people. The empires of Persia and of Athens, of Thebes and of Macedon, of Carthage and of Rome, succeed each other in the order of the improvements made in military institutions. At the period with which we are now occupied these improvements had reached a limit which could be passed only by the aid of sciences unknown to antiquity, and centuries were yet to pass before these new sciences should be discovered. The Greek genius, which was above all speculative, had been able to create mathematics and astronomy, and to begin mechanics and natural history; but mathematics alone have not — as chemistry and physics have — the virtue of leading man to the control of the material world; and these poets, these philosophers, these artists, who had made the civilization of the old world, were not able to arm it with forces conquered from Nature. To protect itself against the Barbarians the Roman world had, therefore, means scarcely, if at all, superior to those which the Barbarians employed. When, by the pensions which the imperial government paid and by the commerce which the Roman traders carried on in time of peace, by the booty snatched from the pro¬ vinces and by the lessons which deserters taught them, the Goths, the Alemanni, and the Franks had obtained what was necessary for the development of their metallurgic industries, they were able to give themselves an armament almost as formidable as that which the Romans possessed. In courage they had the superi¬ ority; and their religion — like that which Mahomet gave to the found at Mavence; now in the museum of that city. Cf. Lindenschmit, Tracht, etc., pi. v. No. 3, and p. 22. 1 Zonaras, xii. 23. THE EMPIRE IN THE MIDDLE OF THE THIRD CENTURY. 199 Barbarians of the South—inspired them with a martial ardor which the Romans no longer possessed. On the field of battle the legions had the advantage of discipline, of a better order, and of some remaining traditions of military art; and this superi¬ ority would have secured to the Empire constant victories if these legions, which for two centuries had been the strength of the state and the support of the Emperor, had not now become the scourge of the one and the terror of the other. Accordingly, the chief care of the succeeding rulers will be to put an end to barrack-revolts by a violent reaction against the military order. To obtain protection from the continual attacks of the soldiery they will effect an administrative revolution which will appear to give themselves more security, but will not increase the safety of the Empire; they will divide the army, in order to have less reason to fear it, and they will compose it of Barbarians, in the hope that these foreigners will be more docile. III. — The Administration. In the age preceding, the nobles were the governing class; a regular and slow ascending movement constantly replaced the Roman aristocracy, which was becoming exhausted, by a provincial aristo¬ cracy full of life and experience. The latter obtained seats in the ■Senate as rapidly as its members, by their services in the cities and the legions, gained the notice of the Emperor; and the sons of these senators, before succeeding their fathers in the curiae, were pre¬ pared for their high office by an excellent administrative education. Revolutions had now changed this favorable condition of affairs. Enfeebled by the institution of Hadrian’s consilium principis , and despoiled of its last powers by the imperial council of Alexander Severus, the Senate had nothing to do in the state; accordingly, it mattered little that Caracalla called Egyptians and Palmy¬ renes to sit with the Conscript Fathers; 1 Elagabalus, Alexander Severus and Philip, Syrians and Arabs; 2 and Maximin, Thracians. 1 De Vogue, Inscr. arameennes de Palmyre, Nos. 20-22. 2 Zosimus (i. 19) says that Philip placed all his relatives in the higher offices; and we may note that Philip was the son of a Bedouin, a robber-cliief. 200 MILITARY ANARCHY, 235 TO 268 a. d. The higher grades in the army, the really important offices in the state, even the imperial dignity, being the prey of soldiers, of fortune, the Senate and the public offices were filled with the friends of the Emperor, who selected them from the society in which he himself had lived. From this it resulted that the adminis¬ tration, as well as the army, was recruited from the lower strata of the population; that the worth of the men who influenced public affairs diminished • and that life everywhere fell to a lower level. The movement of concentration which had taken place in Rome in the last centuries of the Republic went on in the pro¬ vincial cities. The number of the humiliores increased, that of the honestiores diminished; and in the provincial cities are seen only two classes, — the decurions and the common people. The latter lost their last rights, even the comitia falling into desuetude; almost everywhere the curia, instead of the popular assembly, was the electoral body, 1 and the office of decurion had become hereditary. 2 But the elections had become very onerous to the persons elected. In Pliny’s time to enter a municipal senate did not involve great expense; at the period of which we are now speaking a perpetual flamen paid 82,000 sesterces for his office. 3 Of this he expended 30,000 for a statue to adorn the city; 20,000 for the required gift to the decurions; and he promised the people scenic games, with a distribution of money. Prodigalities like these were possible to the rich only; consequently it was inevitable that many should seek in their office the means of indemnifying themselves, as the republican proconsuls had been wont to repair, in a year of provincial government, their fortunes ruined by an election in the Forum. The Empire had put an end to this colossal plundering; and it was obliged also to arrest the extortions of the municipal magistrates. 4 But to do this, the home government found it 1 Africa still held electoral comitia in the time of Constantine ( Code Theod. xii. 15, 1); and Julian, in the Misopogon, speaks in the case of Antioch of senators elected by the people, and later of municipal judges who had no regard for justice. 2 See in the Digest, 1. 2, the section De Filiis decurionum. 3 This amount was paid into the municipal treasury ob honorem flaminii (L. Renier, Bull, de l*Acad, des inscr., June, 1878; inscription of the time of Elagabalus, recently found at Philippeville). This, it is true, is an individual instance. 4 These were of very early date. Cicero (Ad Att. vi. 2) avers that he had made those of Cilicia restore their ill-gotten gains; and he adds that these restitutions enabled the province- to pay the arrears of its taxes. THE EMPIRE IN THE MIDDLE OF THE THIRD CENTURY. 201 necessary to administer the provinces which formerly it had been contented with ruling. The time of the family of the Severi is that of the most renowned jurisconsults of Rome. Now these incomparable logicians sought, on their part, to establish everywhere and in all cases the idea of the rights of the state, — which rights had been so exten¬ sive in the ancient republics. Yielding to the influence of these emi¬ nent men, as well as to the social necessity of which we have just spoken, the Emperors encroached upon the municipal liberties; and this ever-increasing interference of the imperial agents, which the cit¬ izens themselves solicited or made needful, impaired and destroyed the vitality of the municipal rule. The finances of the cities are now in the hands of the Emperor’s curators; the irenarchs, appointed to maintain public order, must have the approbation of the Emperor’s representative before entering upon their office; 1 new taxes are levied, public works are executed, only with the authorization of the governor, who annuls the decisions of the local senate when they are displeasing to him ( ambitiosa deer eta ), and the elections are made, subject to his approval, when he does not himself directly appoint the candidates. 2 The duumvirs act as judges only in cases where a small sum is involved, and the practice of appeal to the Roman magistrate will have soon reduced the duumviral jurisdiction to nothing more than the equivalent of a French justice de paix . 3 Thus, municipal honors losing their dignity, the obliga¬ tions they impose seem more onerous, and, through different reasons, pagans and Christians alike avoid them. But the government, already seeking to render the decurions responsible for the pay¬ ment of the land-tax, 4 watches carefully to see that the provincial 1 . . . Cum a praeside ex inquisitione eligatur (Digest , 1. 8, 9, sect. 7). See (ibid. xxii. 1, 33) the rights which Ulpian attributes to the praeses in respect to the financial administration of the city: . . . Qui disciplinae publicae et corrigendis moribus praejicitur (ibid. 1. 4, 18, sect. 7) ... A decurionibus, judiciu praesidum . . . nominentur (Code, x. 75). An ordinance of Alexander Severus gives the governor of a province the right to annul the election of a decu- rion elected by persons unfriendly to the latter for the purpose of imposing ruinous expenses upon him. 2 Digest, xlix. 4, sects. 3, 4. “ When he writes to the Senate,” says Ulpian, “ ut Gaium Seium creent magistratum, it is advice rather than command.” But the advice was as potent as an order. 3 [The justice de paix decides debts not above a hundred francs. — Ed.] 4 Many sentences in the Digest show this tendency from the beginning of the third cen¬ tury ; but it is not until the time of Constantine that we find this system completely established. v For the municipal organization of the .first century, see in Vol. VI. of this work the whole of 202 MILITARY ANARCHY, 235 TO 268 a. d. senates are kept full; a man seeking to escape this duty by taking refuge in another city, is brought back, 1 or, if he cannot be found, his property is confiscated for the use of the curia. A criminal sentence does not free a man from the duty of service as decurion; on the expiration of his term of punishment he returns into the senate. 2 When it was a question of receipts, the treasury had no scruples. The government, which with one hand chained the refractory to municipal honors, with the other threw back privileged persons into the taxable class, in order to make sure that its share in the net revenue of the cities should not be lessened. 3 In the time of their prosperity these cities had multiplied exemptions from the munera, of which the burden in the general impoverishment now fell heavily upon the tax-payers. The number of physicians, rhet¬ oricians, and grammarians enjoying immunity was reduced, 4 and the citizen who had been exempted from the munera because of his poverty was made taxable, notwithstanding his age, if fortune came to him late in life. 5 We see that the government tried its best to find functionaries for the cities, and resources to fill their treasuries, — a care beneath which was concealed the very legitimate desire to secure public order and the payment of the state-tax. But this self-interested solicitude obliged the government to inter¬ vene daily more and more in municipal affairs. The two centuries of the early Empire show a just balance between the power of the sect. 2, chap, lxxxiii., and for the first attempt upon the liberties of cities, p. 561 of that volume. 1 Ulpian, in the Digest, 1. 2. 1. From this time the great anxiety of the government is to retain the rich in the cities. At an earlier period the number of decurions in the Italian cities was a hundred in each; we have seen (Vol. VI. pp. 56 et seq .) that this number was often exceeded. The register of Thamagas contained seventy-two names, and these are all either priests or magistrates. Julian ( Misopogon ) compelled all the rich men of Antioch to enter the curia in that city ; and many of his predecessors had probably done the same. The mini¬ mum of property required for a seat in the curia had been placed very low : it was twenty-five jugera (Code Theod. xii. 1, 35, anno 342), or 300 solidi (aurei) = $ 850 (Nov. Valent. III. iii. sect. 4). This Novella, which is of the year 439, gives this as a very early figure, secundum vetera statuta. 2 Digest, 1. 2, 2, 1 and 3; Code, x. 37, 1 : Curiales jubemus ne civitates fugiant . . .fundum . . . scientes Jisco esse sociandum. 8 Code, iv. 61, 15. In this constitution Theodosius and Valentinian II. assert that they confirm an ancient custom (prisca institutio). It is proper to say that the levy for the state being made only after all the public services of the city had been provided for, the two thirds reserved for the state from the net revenue must have been a very small sum. 4 See Vol. VI. p. 107. 5 Digest, 1. 5, 5, prooem. THE EMPIRE IN THE MIDDLE OF THE THIRD CENTURY. 203 state and the liberty of the cities. While this equilibrium lasted,, public prosperity was maintained; when the one was overthrown, the other perished, and the moment of that disaster was near at hand. The government was not alone responsible for this administra¬ tive invasion, which would have been salutary had it been kept within limits. To understand the slow evolution which led the central power to exercise so strict a control over the cities in which narrow and jealous oligarchies had been formed, we must remember how in the Middle Ages most of the communes came to an end. Their inhabitants also allowed to grow up in their midst a middle-class aristocracy, like that of the Roman decurions, keeping possession of all the public offices and employing the financial resources of the city to promote its private ends. Abuses necessitated the intervention of the suzerain, and, as a consequence, the suppression of the municipal charters. At each epoch the same result was produced by the same causes. It is not that history repeats itself, but there are analogies which make ancient facts intelligible in the light reflected from more recent events. In seeing how our ancestors lost their communal franchises we understand better how those of the Romans were lost. 1 In all times communities have cared little for their rights when their interests were in danger: . . . neque populus ademptum jus questus est. To put a stop to certain dis¬ orders arising from liberty, an administrative guardianship became necessary, which, exaggerating its legitimate work, soon deprived of life these once vigorous cities. 1 This is seen in the Middle Ages in countless instances; M. Giry gives yet another instance in the history of the commune of St. Omer. “ The provosts had alienated a part of the city’s territory; they were accused of maladministration, they were suspected of falsehood and cheating in their accounts; and men grew angry at seeing the municipal offices perpetuated in an aristocracy composed of a few families, whose members, succeeding each other as provosts, passed the city’s accounts from hand to hand, and treated the municipal finances as their pri¬ vate inheritance. In 1305 the commune accused the town magistrates, ‘after the accustomed way, before the high and noble Madame d’Artoys de Bourgogne as their droit juge.’ ” Some¬ thing like this has been done in our time. “ In Ireland, before 1848, there were seventy-one municipal corporations completely independent. The officers of these corporations went so far as to appoint one another. The corporations of Trim and Kells alienated their territory to allow two or three of the members of the corporation to buy it at a nominal price. That of Naas adjudged to one of its members, for a price of twelve pounds sterling, lands which were worth a hundred; that of Drogheda decided that the poor fund should be exclusively expended for the profit of the members of the corporation and their families.” (Arth. Desjardins, De VAlienation des biehs de I’Etat et des communes , p. 34). 204 MILITARY ANARCHY, 235 TO 268 a. d. Another evil arose: in undertaking to think and act for all, the imperial government singularly retarded the transaction of public business. A government may be remote, an administration must be close at hand ; and when a government administers an immense empire, it necessarily administers it ill. Everything moves slowly, decisions are founded upon documents, far from the parties interested, and out of sight of things themselves, which sometimes speak so eloquently. A document of the year 114 shows that just outside the gates of Rome, under Trajan, it took ten months for the officer in charge of the Caerites to give a signature. 1 When this power, which has suppressed all others by stifling the local life, falls into incapable hands, it must be in its turn suppressed, so to speak, by revolutions. The Emperor having become the uni¬ versal administrative officer, what, under the Thirty Tyrants, will become of the administration ? To put this question is to show what mortal weakness must in those unhappy times have invaded the social body. Emperors worthy of the name had taken pride in executing great public works, — roads, bridges, monuments of all kinds; when they did not do it themselves, they incited the people of the provinces to these undertakings, and gave them the assistance of cohorts and legions in the work. But the armies now fight with each other, and the rulers who assume this purple — dipped in blood every six months — can think of nothing else but how to protect their own lives. The Empire, abandoned to itself, suspends all work of repair or construction; bridges are broken down, and military roads become impassable. At the same time, the soldiers doing police duty in the interior are called away to increase the num¬ ber of the troops who are occupied with public affairs rather than with the defence of the country ; and so highway robbers re-appear, the roads are no longer safe, traffic is interrupted, and destitution extends. Although Caracalla’s edict had subjected the provinces to new taxes, they now, ravaged by Barbarians or held by usurpers, sent to Rome but insufficient supplies of money; and yet the need increased daily. The wasting of the public revenues by ephemeral 1 See the letter of the decurions of Caere, ap. Egger, Iiistoriens d' Auguste, p. 390, and Orelli, No. 3,787. THE EMPIRE IN THE MIDDLE OF THE THIRD CENTURY. 205 Emperors; the lavish gifts made to those adventurers without personal means whom it was necessary to maintain in luxury for the sake of preserving their doubtful fidelity ; lastly, a scarcity of money, produced by the continual exportation of the precious metals into countries where the Empire bought much, while sell¬ ing nothing, — all these causes of poverty compelled recourse to the most disastrous measures of bankrupt governments. Formerly the high offices of the state were held by rich senators, who drew upon their private fortunes in order to defray the expenses of their public position; but now the Emperor is obliged to fur¬ nish money for everything. When Aurelian, the son of a poor GAMES OF THE CIRCUS . 1 freedman, is made consul, Valerian writes to the prefect of the treasury: “ On account of his poverty, you will give him, for the games of the circus which he must offer the people, three hun¬ dred pieces of gold, three thousand of silver, ten tunics of silk, fifty of Egyptian linen, four Cyprus table-cloths, ten African car¬ pets, ten Mauretanian coverlets, a hundred swine, a hundred sheep; you will cause a public banquet to be served to the knights and senators, and you will furnish for the sacrifice two large animals and two small ones.” Later we shall read of gifts made by Gallienus to Claudius; others obtained from the Emperor lands which did not belong to him. All who assumed the purple in these days perished by a violent death; after the defeat, their partisans were despoiled; and as each province had its usurper, each was exposed to numberless confiscations. The conqueror, not being able to pay his 1 From a mosaic of Barcelona. 206 MILITARY ANARCHY, 235 TO 268 a. d. friends with gold, paid them with confiscated property. Claudius Gothicus had received some. After his accession a woman came to claim the possessions of which she had been deprived by Gallienus for the benefit of his lieu¬ tenant. “You have taken what belonged to me,” she said; but the Emperor answered: “ No ; as a subject I had then no concern with the execution of , the laws. Now, however, as the ruler, it is my duty GOLD COIN . 1 7 7 7 J J to attend to it, and I give you back your lands.” To put a stop to this shameful method of obtaining wealth, Clau¬ dius forbade any one to solicit another’s property; that is to say, to denounce as guilty the innocent for the sake of obtaining their possessions. This edict was still another added to the many laws which, like it, were well meant, and, like it also, without lasting effect. IV. — Decline in Industry, Commerce, and the Arts; Depopulation of the Empire. The recruiting of the laboring classes went on, like that of the administration and of the army, under conditions growing ever more and more unfavorable. We may represent the Roman Empire as formed of a series of concentric zones extended around the Mediterranean Sea. Those nearest to this sea, having been for the longest time centres of civilization, were the most enlightened and wealthy; in proportion as we advance inland in every direc¬ tion we approach the barbaric world. Rome began by obtain¬ ing her slaves from the first zone which conquest gave her. She took them from southern Italy, Sicily, Greece, Greek Asia, and Carthaginian Africa : a hundred and fifty thousand Epirotes were sold at one time by Paulus Aemilius. These slaves, frequently corrupt, but often intelligent and active, furnished the numerous freedmen who became at Rome architects or physicians, teachers or artists, and also the friends and boon companions of the nobles. This zone being subjugated and reduced to peace, war no longer obtained captives in it, and Rome was obliged to seek her working 1 Claudius Gothicus, laurelled. THE EMPIRE IN THE MIDDLE OF THE THIRD CENTURY. 207 class in the second zone, and afterwards in the third. The great slave-markets thus fell back towards the frontiers. The concession of citizenship to the entire Empire fixed them there, and the Bar¬ barians, who furnished the supply, sold the ruder prisoners whom they themselves had captured in the remote depths of the bar¬ baric world. Claudius, Aurelian, and Probus brought home a countless multitude of prisoners, filling the great estates with inca¬ pable or dangerous laborers, under whose hands the earth soon ceased to give other than the most meagre harvests. 1 The pro¬ gressive steps of the Roman decline are marked by the continuous lowering of what may be called the recruiting material of the state; thus the Athenian republic perished, and the great Roman Empire was to be ruined by the same causes. Agriculture suffered from an evil of long standing. To the political centralization going on in the city and in the state had corresponded a concentration of fortunes and estates; 2 or rather the second fact had been the cause of the first, and free labor was disappearing from the country. During thirty years of invasion and civil war, agriculture had to support, beside the usual burdens, innumerable requisitions and incessant devastations. Under so many disasters, which only the great landowners could resist, the petty proprietors succumbed. They abandoned their hereditary acres to become colonists, to take, as soldiers, their share in the immense pillage, or to seek in the cities higher wages and a life which they believed would be less severe. In Diocletian’s edict, the laborer, the shepherd, the muleteer are paid but a third as much as the joiner, the mason, and mechanics in general; so that there came about an unfortunate situation, which other ages have also seen, — the urban population increased at the expense of the rural population. One class only had gained in numbers, — the prole¬ tariat of the cities and of the country, where serfdom was now beoannins; to be established. 3 o o 1 Papinian, fifty years before the period with which we are now concerned, fixed the legal price of slaves at 20 aurei, or 500 denarii ( Digest , iv. 4, 31). We may conclude from this that slaves were becoming scarce, and consequently dear, for this price is high (see Yol. II. p. 358, note 3) ; whereas the inferior quality of the slaves of that time ought to have lowered the price. 2 We have seen, under Nero, that six landowners divided among themselves the whole province of Africa (Pliny, Hist. nat. xviii. 6). In the time of Nerva, Frontinus says further: “ In Africa private estates are as large as the whole territory of cities ” (Gromcitici veter. p. 53). Under Theodosius is found the same condition of things. 3 In respect to the coloni, see Vol. VI. pp. 13 et seq. 208 MILITARY ANARCHY, 235 TO 268 a. d. Agriculture loves free laborers, and slie now bad them no longer ; to be richly productive, she has need of the expenditure of capital, and, if we except a few great proprietors, this community had no capital to expend: hence the ground returned but small harvests, and famine was always threatening. Mechanical industry was no better off. The workshops, recruited from the ignorant and despised proletariat, pro¬ duced poor work, and the system of corporations de¬ stroyed competition. Certain trades, whose existence the government made it a point to protect, had been early constituted as monopolies, and it is said that Alexander Se- verus endeavored to give all the trades the corporative organization, 1 which moreover private individuals took of their own choice. Everywhere traders and mechanics formed associations, — the bakers of Rome and Ostia, the boatmen of the Saone and the Rhone, the mariners of the Seine, ship-carpenters, ship-brokers, measurers of corn, and the like; all those who labored with their hands sought security in union, and fortune in the privileges which they obtained from the autho¬ rity or gave to themselves by closing the common market against their rivals. 2 AS LIBRALIS OF LATIUM. 1 Vol. VI. pp. 96 et seq. 2 See Vol. VI. p. 107, note 2, the privileges accorded to the traders and laborers con¬ nected with the mine of Aljustrel. THE EMPIRE IN THE MIDDLE OF THE THIRD CENTURY. 209 Manufacturing industry was still further slackened by the lessened demands of trade now hampered by revolutions;, by the cessation of public works, by increasing taxation, and also by piracy and robbery on the highways springing up again, against which the Emperors no longer made war, so occupied were they with their own private quarrels. It fur¬ ther suffered, and perhaps most of all, from an extremely bad monetary system. The amount of silver and gold in cir¬ culation in the Empire was diminishing, — less on account of the mines being ex¬ hausted than by reason of the difficulty of obtaining their products. The working of mines, so well conducted under the Early Empire, required, in order to be kept up actively with the processes at that time employed, a resolute discipline; and for the existence of this discipline it was essential that the Empire should still have the strong and stable government which it had no longer. 2 When, in the reign of Yalens, the Goths invaded Thrace, all the miners escaped to the Barbarians. The scarcity of the precious metals produced disastrous consequences. The Republic had at first known but one coin, — the bronze as ; after the Punic Wars silver became the monetary standard (the sesterce and the denarius). The Early Empire had the gold piece (aureus), and for two hundred years gold was the chief circulating medium. Silver came afterwards, and copper does not seem to have been in use, for we find none in the treasures buried at that time. We 1 Denarius of Domitius Calvinus of the year 40 b. c. 2 Hirschfeld, Die Bergwerke, pp. 72-91, and Flach, Table d’Aljustrel. Under the Republic and in the first century of the Empire the mines of precious metals and the quarries of marble which belonged to the state were farmed out like the other revenues. In the second century they were placed under the supreme direction of a procurator Caesar is, assisted by numerous subordinates for superintendence or direct management ( probatores ). When anarchy invaded the government it also took possession of the mines, whence slaves and criminals constantly made their escape. Observe that the procurator was often one of the Emperor’s freedmen, and that centurions, serving, like our discharged soldiers, in many civil occupa¬ tions, sometimes had the superintendence of the works; thus for the marbles of Synnada, in Phrygia, a centurion had charge of the caesura , or cutting (Melanges de I’Ecole frang. de Rome, August, 1882, p. 291). 8 Copper coin of the third century A. D. : C. Postumus. (J. de Witte, Reclierclies sur les empereurs qui ont regne dans les Gaules au troisieme siecle. No. 256, pi. xvi.) 14 COPPER COIN . 3 VOL. VII. 210 MILITARY ANARCHY, 235 TO 268 a. d. have elsewhere explained 1 how it came about that the great repub¬ lican fortunes, the fruits of conquest, took more than a century to disappear. Public and private wealth still lasted under the Anto- nines. But in the third century both were seriously impaired. Of this there is twofold proof, — the coins were debased, and in the buried money of that time pieces of gold become more and more rare, and there is a great quantity of base coin and of copper. The aurei found, differ in weight, and we are obliged to gold coin . 2 conclude that, losing its character of a representative sign of value, the aureus came to be only bullion accepted in trade for its weight, so that traffic went back to the time when buyer and seller needed to be furnished with scales . 3 This would have been merely an annoyance and a waste of time ; the debasement of coin was to persons engaged in business a cause of perpetual deceptions, and even of ruin. Under the Empire the mone¬ tary unit was the sesterce, — a coin equal in value to a quarter of the denarius, or one hundredth of the aureus. Now, the silver denarius in the first years of Nero’s reign, of which there were ninety-six to the pound, and almost of pure metal, contained in the time of Alexander Severus fifty or sixty per cent of alloy, and from a value of about seven¬ teen cents had fallen to that of about seven . 4 To this depreciation of silver naturally corresponded an augmentation in the value of gold. The state believed it wise to take advantage of this by requiring all taxes to be paid in aurei . 5 This was as fraudulent 1 Yol. VI. pp. 263 et seq. 2 Gold coin of tlie third century A. D. : C. Postumus (J. de Witte, ibid. pi. xvi. No. 251) ; Providence on the reverse. Quinarius of gold, or semis, the half of an aureus. The quinarius of silver (or half denarius) was so called because it had the value of five ases. Denarii, says Yarro, quod denos aeris valebant , quinarii, quod quinos. 3 In the fourth century the treasury required, to prevent frauds, that the tax-gatherers should pay their receipts in ingots. 4 Two silver pieces of Decius, identical in appearance, are worth, the one about 10^ cents, the other about 6 cents (Mommsen, Hist, de la monnaie romaine, vol. iii. p. 85, note 1). Accordingly, treasury orders did not, as we have seen (p. 190, note 2), bear the definite figures, so much money, like the 25,000 sesterces which were originally the pay of the legionary trib¬ une, but a mention of so many gold philips and trientes which, put together, would amount to about that sum. 5 See on that point p. 81, note 3. THE EMPIRE IN THE MIDDLE OF THE THIRD CENTURY. 211 as it would be now to refuse to receive into the public treasuries bank-notes issued by the state at their face value. Or, if a word less harsh be preferred, it was an increase of taxation such as has recently occurred in great states where paper money is below par, when it was decided that custom-dues be paid in gold. The taxpayer, for example, who owed a hundred sesterces, could not pay it, as before, with twenty-five denarii, worth to him in his daily transactions about $1.75; he must give the tax-gatherer an aureus, of which the value was much greater. After the year 256, silver coin contained not over twenty, and sometimes J ANTONINIANUS OF only five per cent of pure metal. Under Claudius claudius gothi- CQg.l Gothicus, the Antoninianus, the silver coin most common in circulation, was a mixture of copper, tin, and lead, with a whitish coating which gave the pieces when new an appear¬ ance of silver. But instead of a precious metal, the possessor of this piece of money had only an alloy of copper; it was nothing more than a token . 2 The same government which condemned the counterfeiter to the wild beasts , 3 gave a forced currency to the base coin which it put in circulation, and punished with banishment or death argenteus MiNUTULus of those who refused to receive it , 4 on the CARACALLA. 7 ground that the Emperor’s image upon the piece was competent to give it whatever value he chose to assign to it. The intrinsic value of the aureus was reduced, like that of the silver denarius: Caesar made forty to the pound, Caracalla, fifty, Constantine, seventy-two; and at the same time the amount of pure metal employed decreased, and the quantity of alloy increased, — in the first century, .009 ; in the second, .062 ; in the third, still more . 5 1 From the Cabinet de France. 2 From Claudius II. to Diocletian there are only very few coins which contain any silver at all (Eckliel, vii. 475). This author remarks that from the time of Claudius all the cities except Alexandria and three cities of Pisidia — Antioch. Seleucia, and Sagalassos — had lost the right of coining money. 3 Ulpian, in the Digest, xlviii. 10, 8. 4 Paul, Sent. Recept. v. 25, 1. 6 Lenormant, La monnaie dans Vantiquite, i. 202. In respect to the distinction between coins or pieces circulating in trade, — commemorative medals, like the immense gold piece 212 MILITARY ANARCHY, 235 TO 2G8 a. d. The Empire, therefore, was in a condition like that of France in her most evil days, — about the middle of the fourteenth cen¬ tury ; and it can with justice be said that from the reign of Gallie- nus to the middle of that of Diocletian, the monetary system of the Romans was a permanent bankruptcy. 1 Under the infliction of these constant disturbances of the currency, — discouraging both to the producer and the trader, — labor diminished ; and we have seen that from other causes the article produced lost in quality as well as quantity. In the region of intellectual and artistic labor the decline was even more manifest. The religion of the beautiful disappeared with the gods who had inspired it, and in its ruin dragged with it art, which always corresponds to the condition of men’s minds, because in order to produce its work it requires to be solicited by the public taste. It had besides a formidable ene¬ my. In its first age Christianity was iconoclastic; it anathematized pagan art, forbidding the devout to cultivate it, and wherever it could do so, destroyed the statues of the gods. The Bishop of Caesarea, FAUN OF ROSSO ANTICO . 2 of Eucratidas, imperial medallions employed as presents to great personages at the epoch of military gifts, and often worn around the neck on a collar, as a decoration; the pieces made for religious offerings or for prizes at certain sacred games; those worn as talismans; theatrical tesserae, tokens, and the like, — see the Introduction to the first volume of Lenormant’s work just cited. The custom of women wearing coins about the neck, or set as ornaments, is very ancient. 1 Mommsen, Hist, de la monnaie rom. vol. iii. p. 144, and Lenormant, ibid. vol. i. pp. 172 and 184. 2 Statue found at Hadrian’s Villa (Vatican, Museo Pio-Clementino, Cabinet, No. 433). THE EMPIRE IN THE MIDDLE OF THE THIRD CENTURY. 213 in the fourth century, would not allow the figure of Christ to be represented; and the rude frescos of the catacombs show what painting became in Christian hands. Art, which was so useless to the new faith, was no more serviceable to what remained of the old. CONICAL STONES REPRESENTING MELKARTH-BAAL, THE PHOENICIAN HERCULES . 1 What could it do with the black stone of Elagabalus, the conical deities of the Syrians, even with the Ephesian Diana of the fifty breasts, 2 or with the Olympians made objects of caricature, like the beautiful Ganymede represented as an ape at the feasts of Isis ? 3 1 Stones found at Malta, of which one is in the Museum of the Louvre. The Phoenician Hercules was represented in his sanctuary in Tyre by two columns of gold and emerald. The two cones of Malta bear the same inscription in Phoenician and Greek ; it is a dedication made by two brothers to Melkarth-Baal, “the king of the city ” (Communication of M. Ph. Berger). In respect to conical stones, see above, p. 108, note 1. 2 See Yol. IV. p. 168; and yet the Greeks had succeeded in giving to this deformed object all the beauty that it was capable of receiving. 3 Apuleius, Metamorphoses, xi. 214 MILITARY ANARCHY, 235 TO 268 a. d. How could men have presented in marble or in bronze the hypostases of the neo-Platonists and the confused abstractions of the Gnostics ? From the temple and the forum, art had fallen to the boudoir. It at first maintained itself by imitating ancient methods. Bnt this imitation growing more feeble as the models were more remote, it became im¬ possible to produce anything that was not dull and af¬ fected. The inspiration being lost, nothing remained except a handicraft; and the unwor¬ thy successors of the masters worked by contract for an impoverished and coarse com¬ munity which had lost all taste for the elegance of earlier days. Compare the busts of this period with the statues of the Early Empire, 1 or the sculptures of the Arch of Con¬ stantine with those of the Antonine age, — even the pretty trifles, the exquisite vases, the graceful furniture of Pompeii, with the ceramics and the heavy ornamentation of the end of the third century, — and it will be evident that barbarism is approaching. 2 Stern preachers of philosophy and religion had driven laughter away, while public calamities had put an end to happiness, and GANYMEDE AS AN APE, ON A LAMP IN THE MUSEUM OF THE LOUVRE. 1 Eckhel (vii. 458) says of the bronze coins of Postumus, Victorinus, and Tetricus: Ultimam plerique barbariem redolent, sic ut non in provincia . . . sed Sarmatas inter Gothosque . . . percussi videri possint. Many others of these Emperors are coins of the Early Empire re-minted (De Witte, Revue numism. vi. 1861). At the same time, M. de Witte has published many fine bronze coins of Postumus, and the difference is explained by the diversity of mints. That of Lyons especially, which belonged to the Gallic Emperor, had traditions and artists enabling it still to issue fine coins, and we shall see them until the close of the century. 2 See, in the Congres arclieologique de France, vol. xlvii. 1881, pp. 220-239, the remarks of Dr. Plicque upon the Gallo-Roman pottery made at Lezoux (Puy-de-Dome). THE EMPIRE IN THE MIDDLE OF THE THIRD CENTURY. 215 art, which is the joy of life, no sadness of the Middle Ages was We must also bear in mind the danger from the Barbari¬ ans. The fear of invasion obliged the cities, which had remained open during “ the Roman Peace,” to shut them¬ selves up within walls; and to build these walls they had in many places already de¬ stroyed the edifices that more fortunate generations had con¬ structed. At Tours, at Orleans, at Angers, at Bordeaux, at Saintes, at Narbonne, at Reims, at Poitiers and in many other cities of Gaul, we find in the old walls fragments of columns or entablatures, monumental stones and inscriptions. Themi- stocles had pursued a similar course in Athens, but Pericles and Pheidias came after him; while after the great archi¬ tects of the Antonines there were only masons. 1 The Greek language was still written with elegance. longer was able to adorn it: the beginning. Oppianus of Cilicia and Ba- candelabrum of^ttadrian s villa brills (if Babrius belongs to the third century) are two good versifiers, almost two poets; the name of Longinus is always mentioned with respect; and Photius, in a transport of generosity, places the historian Dexippos beside 1 De Caumont, Cours d'ant. man. 8th part, passim; Batissier, Histoire de Vart monu¬ mental; Revue archeol. November, 1877, p. 351 ; and Memoires de la Societe archeol. de Bor¬ deaux, 1880, pp. 63 et seq. ■ 2 On the base, Jupiter; the other sides represent Juno and Minerva (Vatican, Gallery of Statues, No. 412). 216 MILITARY ANARCHY, 235 TO 268 a. d. Thucydides. We certainly shall not give this honor either to Dion Cassius or Herodian, both of whom, however, have frequently been useful to us. Aelian and Philostratus resemble one another in their simple-minded credulity; we are indebted alike to Diogenes Laertius CANDELABRUM FROM THE HOUSE OF DIOMEDES AT POMPEII. and Athenaeus for much precious information; and the vigorous in¬ tellect of Origen gives promise of the splendor which the Greek Fathers of the subsequent century will cast over the Church. The Roman world was turning more and more towards the East; there is life nowhere else at this time. THE EMPIRE IN THE MIDDLE OF THE THIRD CENTURY. 217 As for Latin literature, it was absolute nullity. There were still men of letters, for there always must be in a civilized society. But the writers of the time saw only the lesser sides of things; they take anecdote for history, rhetoric for eloquence, versification for poetry. 1 The union, once so fruitful, between the genius of Rome and that of Athens no longer exists; and this divorce of the two literatures is a sign which foretells the approaching separation between the two empires. 2 The Latin mind grows visibly weaker, except in the Church, where Cyprian at Carthage is the precursor of Augustine at Hippo. Moreover the Christians have also their share in the decline of the Empire. A half-century of tranquillity had singularly increased their number; but although life, which was enfeebled in the pagan world, was ardent in their communities, they were for the state a cause of weakness rather than strength. The Roman law punished celibacy; they honored it. The great devel¬ opment of the monastic system comes in the following century; but many believers already shunned marriage, which their clergy, as a rule, avoided. 3 They lived by themselves, avoiding all inter¬ course with the pagans, except in cases of absolute necessity, and abhorred the sacrilegious festivals of the latter. Foreigners in the cities, whose honors they rejected, they were the same also in the Empire, which they refused to defend by arms, 4 and without dis¬ pleasure they saw the approach of the Barbarians. On the way to execution Saint Marianus exclaimed: “ God will avenge the blood of the righteous; I hear, I see the white horsemen coming! ” and Commodianus depicts in barbaric verse the Goths marching 1 w e must, however, regret the Memoirs of Septimius Severus, and also perhaps the History of Marius Maximus, often quoted by the compilers of the Augustan History , — although Yopiscus ( Firmus , 1) says of this writer: Homo omnium verbosissimus, qui et mythistoricis se voluminibus implicauit, — and some other chroniclers of whom we know scarcely more than the names. There remain three verses written by the Emperor Gallienus, a fragment of an epithalamium which he composed for the marriage of one of his nephews. Censorinus wrote his treatise De Die natali in 239. Two other grammarians, Nonius Marcellus and Festus, are sometimes said to belong to the third century. The two versifiers Nemesianus and* Calpurnius come at the close of the century, and cannot be placed in the list of true poets; Calpurnius is a very skilful maker of verses. 2 In the fourth century the Eastern bishops and most illustrious doctors of the Church were ignorant of Latin. 3 See on this subject, pp. 54 et seq. 4 See p. 48 of this volume, and also what is said bv Aelius Aristeides (ii. 402, ed. Dindorf) of Christians who are unwilling to participate in the affairs of the city. 218 MILITARY ANARCHY, 235 TO 268 a. d. upon Rome with u the destroyer king,” 1 to bring to nought the enemies of the saints and to put the Senate under the yoke. Marianus and “ Christ’s beggar ” were right in announcing to the persecutors an approaching expiation; but others were wrong in making themselves the instruments of it. In Pontus, the Christians united with the Goths to pillage the pagans, overthrow the idols, and burn the temples. 2 At last the Emperors, taking alarm, sought to extripate by fire and sword that refractory element which the menaces of the law and judicial executions had not been able to hold in check. Thenceforth terror was to brood over the nations, the purest blood was to flow, and something like a civil war was to be added to the foreign war. The latter had the character of wars among savages. The Western provinces have already witnessed scenes as terrible as those of the American frontier when the savages swoop down upon it, scalping the men, carrying off the women, and leaving the buildings a mass of smoking ruins. Everywhere the invaders found, as guides to the richest dwellings and the best-concealed treas¬ ures, slaves of barbaric origin, who regarded them as liberators. Thrace and Greece and Asia Minor also beheld bloodshed and devastation and long trains of captives, whom the Barbarians, wearied with expeditions and satiated with plunder, carried away with them to their encampments in the North. At each new invasion the ravages extended farther, — first by land, then by sea. 1 Commod. episc. Afric. Carmen apologeticum, in the Spicilegium Solesmense of Dom Pitra, i. 43. Commodianus calls the Gothic king Apoleon, from aTroXkvgi, to ruin, to destroy. “ He marches upon Rome,” says this old author, “ with thousands of Gentiles, and . . . makes captive the vanquished. Many senators shall with them weep in chains. . .. Meanwhile these Gentiles will everywhere cherish the Christians, and, rejoicing, seek them out as brethren ...” (verses 800-815). From verse 801 on, the Carmen is believed to have been written at the exact time with which we are now occupied, before the persecution of Decius in 238. Tertullian, in his Apol. 37, addressed to the Roman magistrates, calls upon them to regard it as a merit in the Christians that they did not favor the attacks of the Mauretanians upon Hadrian, of the Marcomanni upon Marcus xxurelius, of the Parthians upon Severus, — which proves that in his heart the idea of aiding the enemies of the Empire was not repugnant to him. Two centuries later, Salvianus, in his De Gubernatione Dei , still extolled, in the midst of the calamities of an invasion, “ the virtues of the Barbarians, who scorn all those infamous practices which the Romans permit. Vice, which is with them the exception, is the rule among us.” This is the same spirit which, in the first century, led Saint John to condemn “the great whore.” See p. 49 of this volume. 2 See the fifth canon of Saint Gregory Thaumaturgus in Routh, Reliquiae sacrae, iii. 2G2, who adds: Ista Barbarorum incursio gravissimis inter christianos perpetrandis delictis occa- sionem praebuit. THE EMPIRE IN THE MIDDLE OF THE THIRD CERT UR Y. 21 $ The Goths were soon to construct vessels and carry devastation along all coasts. “ Hordes of Scythians,” says Ammianus Marcel- linus, “ crossing with two thousand vessels the Bosphorus and the Propontis, devastated the shores of the Aegean. . . . All the cities of Pamphylia suffered the horrors of a siege; Anchialos w T as. taken; many islands were ravaged; and a multitude of enemies, long surrounded Cyzicus and Thessalonica. Fire was carried through all Macedon; Epirus, Thessaly, and Greece suffered invasion.” 1 The rich cities bordering the Sea of the Cyclades were obliged to rebuild their walls, which in two centuries of peace had been suffered to fall into decay, the Athenians to resume their weapons, grown rusty since the time of Sylla, and the Peloponnesians to bar their isthmus with a wall. 2 Everywhere was fighting and blood¬ shed. At Philippopolis a hundred thousand dead bodies, it was, said, lay beneath the ruins. The provinces unvisited by the.: Franks and Goths had other plunderers; in Sicily freebooters, became so numerous that this once favored island seemed ravaged by a new Servile war. Man, directing his strength against himself, suspended his; struggle against the powers of Nature, which resumed their sway and emphasized it with cruel energy. From the accumulated ruins,, the untilled ground, and the undrained waters, emerged contagion. The Empire seemed a great body in dissolution, exhaling deadly miasma. For twelve years (250-262) there was constantly a pes¬ tilence in the provinces. At one time, in Rome and Achaia, five thousand persons died daily; at Alexandria there was not a house without its dead; and the army of Valerian was reduced by sick¬ ness before encountering the archers of Sapor. To these scourges was added another. The volcanic belt which extends in two directions,—from the Alps of Friuli across Italy and Sicily to Africa, and from the Adriatic to the Aegean Sea and the coasts of Syria, — resumed its activity. The earth was shaken, and gave forth dull rumbling sounds; the sky was black for many days; chasms yawned in the ground; and the sea, rushing in tremendous waves upon the shore, destroyed many cities. 1 xxxi. 5. The picture which Zosimus (i. 23) traces of these devastations is even more gloomy. 2 Zosimus, i. 29 ; the Syncellus, i. 715 (Bonn ed.) ; Zonaras, xii. 22. 220 MILITARY ANARCHY, 235 TO 268 a. d. It seemed as if the threats uttered by the Christians concerning the end of the world were about to be fulfilled. The Sibylline books, being consulted, ordered a sacrifice to Jupiter Salutaris. 1 A document preserved by Eusebius sums up in brief and terrible words this situation of the Empire. In the capital of Egypt the number of persons between the ages of fourteen and eighty, inscribed, during the reign of Gallienus, on the registers of the alimentary institution, did not exceed the number of the men from forty to seventy years old who formerly had shared in these distributions. 2 Alexandria therefore had at this time lost more than one half of her population. But if such were the case in a city which had never seen a Barbarian, 3 what must have been the condition of the provinces where they had made so many victims ! It would not be going too far to say that in the space of twenty years the portion of the human race contained within the limits of the Empire, and formerly so prosperous, had diminished by one half. Such was one of the effects of governmental anarchy and of the first entrance of the Germanic race into the Graeco-Roman world. We have admired the Early Empire promoting order, security, and industry, — the chief function of government in all ages, and its justification in periods of absolute power, — and we have repeated * the words of gratitude that its subjects at that time so often uttered. It is now our duty to show these same subjects disaffected towards rulers who were not able to defend them, and who ruined them by excessive taxation. Rome is no longer the sovereign goddess in whom all confide. Each province desires to have its own emperor; even dynasties of Gallic and Syrian origin appear. This is what a half century of revolutions has made of the flour¬ ishing empire of the Antonines and Severus. In states where the ruler is everything, and institutions are nothing, decline may rap¬ idly succeed greatness ; for while there are never providential men, 1 Treb. Pollio, Gall. 4 and 5. 2 Hist. eccl. vii. 21, from a letter of Dionysios, the bishop of Alexandria. In France, out of every million of inhabitants there are 789,559 between the ages of 18 and 80, and 267,652 between the ages of 40 and 70. The proportion between these two numbers is 2.95 to 1. 8 Egypt had suffered no invasion, but had been for twelve years agitated with sanguinary tumults, which the carelessness of the general government had allowed to break out in many other places (Euseb., ibid., and Amm. Marcellinus, xxii. 16). THE EMPIRE IN THE MIDDLE OF THE THIRD CENTURY. 221 there are necessary men. Let Trajan, Hadrian, or Severus be at the head of the government, and a hundred million Romans live in quiet and prosperity; let incapable men be there, and .disorder is in the armies, and the Barbarians are in the provinces. (Civiliza¬ tion advances, not by means of the masses, but by means of grea t men; VNature at that time producing no such men, civilization fell away. ) PILUM. CHAPTER XCVI. PROM THE ACCESSION OP DECIUS TO THE DEATH OF GALLIENUS (249-268). PARTIAL INVASIONS THROUGHOUT THE EMPIRE. I. — Decius (249-251 a.d.); Goths and Christians. MESSIUS QUINTUS TRAJANUS DECIUS was born of a vV • Roman family, living in the town of Budalia near Sirmium: in the year 201, according to Aurelius Victor; in 191, according to the Chronicle of Alex¬ andria. He heads the long list of Illyrian Emperors, many of whom were destined to do the state great service. They were not possessed of brilliant < l' ualities ’ but they were men of accurate minds and energetic character, as might be expected from natives of those poor and warlike provinces. Decius was of humble origin, and rose to distinction through his military career. 1 The old authors 2 praise him very highly; but his reign does not justify their eulogiums: it was extremely short, and the history of it is singularly confused and contains many contradictions. Three facts, however, are distinct, and they suffice, — a war against the Goths; the re-establishment of the TRAJAN DECIUS (bronze medallion). 1 Militiae gradu ad imperium (Aur. Victor, Caes. 29). i Especially Zosimus (i. 21-23) and Aur. Victor (29). FROM ACCESSION OF DECIUS TO DEATH OF GALLIENUS. 223 censorship (which indicates a return towards ancient customs) ; and, as a result of this, a persecution against the great innovation of the times, Christianity. After his victory near Verona (September, 249), 1 Decius went to Rome with his son, Quintus Herennius Etruscus, whom he had named Caesar; 2 but he was almost immediately forced to leave the city to repel an invasion of the Goths. Confiding in the successes he had obtained in Thrace over these Barbarians, Gordian III. had refused the annual subsidy promised to this nation. At least Jordanes 3 relates that the Gothic king complained of this, and that he crossed the Danube with thirty thousand of his people to ravage Moesia. Other Barbarians joined him; Roman soldiers even came to get a share in the plun¬ der, and the mountaineers of the Haemus, upon whom Greek and Roman civilization had had but little effect, doubtless furnished the invaders with guides and auxiliaries. The great city of Marcianopolis only escaped by the payment of a ransom. 5 When the Goths returned with rich spoils, the Gepidae at¬ tempted to plunder the plunderers; a hot engagement followed, in which the former were victorious. These events took place 1 We have a rescript of his, dated October 16, 249, in the Code, x. 16, 3, and, according to Eckhel, Philip was still living on the 29th of August of that year. 2 Eckhel, vii. 342. Aurelius Victor (29) says that the Caesar was immediately sent in Illyrios. Decius had a second son, C. Valens Hostilianus Messius Quintus, who was also made Caesar and Prince of the Youth. 3 Tn respect to the pensions paid the Goths since the time of Alexander Severus, see Tillemont, iii. 216. Jordanes, in his History of the Goths, gives an abstract of a great work, now lost, by Cassiodorus, the favorite minister of Theodoric. In respect to the Gothic war, see Wietersheim, op. cit. vol. ii., where he discusses the contradictory narratives of Jordanes, Zoismus, Zonaras, and Aur. Victor. These details, however, lose all their interest in presence of the too certain fact of the defeat of the Roman army and the death of Decius. 4 The god standing at the left, holding a cornucopia and a patera. — The Greek colonies of the coast of Thrace, far from changing the condition of the country, had felt the influence of their Barbarian neighbors, who had modified the manners, the forms of worship, and even the language of these Greeks. An inscription of the year 238 shows at Odessus the Thracian god Derziparos; and upon early coins of that city the great god of the Odessians was Kurza {Revue arche'ol., March, 1878, p. 114 ; cf. Dumont, Inscr. de Thrace'). 5 Post longcim obsidionem, accepto praemio ditatus Geta recessit (Jordanes, 17). COIN OP ODESSUS . 4 QUINTUS HERENNIUS ETRUSCUS. 224 MILITARY ANARCHY, 235 TO 268 a. d. during the reign of Philip. The invasion had been so disastrous for Moesia that the monetary series of the Pontic cities stops with this Emperor; there was no more gold left to coin. In the reign of Decius, Kniva, another Gothic king, made a still more formidable invasion; he divided his forces into two bodies, sent one to ravage the part of Moesia which the Roman troops had abandoned in order to concentrate themselves in the strongholds, and with the other, which amounted to seventy thousand men, he attacked Ad Novas, an important city on the Danube. Repulsed by the future Emperor Gallus, at that time dux in Moesia, he attempted to surprise Nicopolis, which Trajan had built in memorv t j of his Dacian victo¬ ries. But here the Gothic leader encoun¬ tered an army which Decius had collected at that point. Un¬ able to force the lines, the Barbarian, with the audacity of an Indian marauder, left the Emperor in his camp, and going over the Haemus, of which the passes were entirely unguarded, came down upon the great city of Philippopolis, without keep¬ ing open a line of retreat. Decius followed him by mountain paths, where the Roman army, both men and horses, suffered se¬ verely. The Emperor had reached Beroea, sixty miles eastward from Philippopolis, and believed himself to be still far distant from the Goths, when the Barbarian leader fell upon him un¬ awares, and made great slaughter among the imperial troops. Decius had only time to escape across the Haemus. While the Emperor was reforming an army from the garrisons of fortresses, the Goth seized upon Philippopolis by the connivance of Priscus, the governor of Macedon, who seems to have assumed the purple. 1 The Barbarian king then returned into Moesia, to deposit in a safe place across the Danube the fruits of this fortunate campaign. QUINARIUS OF BRONZE OF TRAJAN DECIUS, EQUAL IN VALUE TO TWO SESTERCES. 1 Aur. Victor (29) represents the Goths as entering Macedonia, where, according to this author, they instigated the usurpation of Priscus. FROM ACCESSION OF DECIUS TO DEATH OF GALLIENUS. 225 On his way he encountered the Emperor, who hoped to avenge the Empire by recapturing from the Goths their booty and their captives, among whom were several persons of rank. The treason of Gallus caused Decius to lose a second battle, in which he per¬ ished with his son, and even his dead body was not recovered (November, 251)d/ /X This was the first Emperor who fell under the enemy’s sword within Roman territory. Accordingly, this disaster carried terror through the piovinces, and joy and hope into the barbaric world ; it was the terrible prologue to the great drama which was not to end until the day when the German race, after covering with blood and ruins all Roman Europe and a part of the East, installed a Barbarian in the palace of Augustus and Trajan. Two great faults and one mistake had been committed by Decius during his very short reign. Notwithstanding his experi¬ ence, he neither knew how to prepare for a Gothic war, nor to carry it on sagaciously; and the result was the devastation of two provinces and his own death. As he would have had the credit of a victory, so he must bear the blame of a defeat. His second fault was the persecution of the Christians. The mistake which he made exhibits a political simplicity astonishing in a man of his time; he re-established the censorship, fallen into disuse since the days of Claudius and Domitian, and the Senate invested Valerian with the office. “Undertake the censorship of the world,” the Emperor said to him; “ determine who shall remain in the Senate, and restore to the equestrian order its renown; take charge of the census and the levying of taxes; make the laws, and appoint to the high military offices. Your supervision will extend as far as the imperial palace and over all magistrates, with the exception of the urban prefect, the consuls, the rex sacrorum, and the chief vestal.” If Trebellius Pollio 2 really read these words in the public acts of the reign, it was a temporary colleague that Decius gave him¬ self, — a sort of interrex, whom he left behind him in the capital at a moment when he and his son were about to depart for a 1 Before this invasion it would appear that Decius gained some victories in Dacia, for an inscription calls him restitutor Daciarum (Orelli, 991), and others against the Germans, victoria Germanica (Eckhel, vii. 344, 345) ; but there is no trace of this in the histories. 2 Valerianus, 1. VOL. VII. 15 226 MILITARY ANARCHY, 235 TO 268 a. d. dangerous war. 1 We may even discern in this measure a new manifestation of the idea that it was wise to divide the imperial power among several persons, — to have, as in the time of Pupienus and Balbinus, one emperor in the city, and another in the army. The censorship had wisely been suffered to fall into disuse; for it was an institution which, though useful in a little city, must necessarily be impracticable in a great state. But while it was impossible to restore the past, it appeared practicable to proscribe certain things in the present; and Valerian, who by no means brought back the manners of early Rome, made in the name of Decius, and later in his own name, a bitter war against the new creeds. The Christian ideal was a higher one than that of Marcus Aurelius, but it was less disinterested. The sage who chanced to be an emperor, asked for nothing in return for his obedience to duty; and hence but few have followed him. The Christian, on the contrary, made his bargain with God, as the pagan world had bargained with Jupiter. In return for their piety, the latter desired earthly good; in return for his, the former felt himself secure of eternal blessedness. His religion, therefore, possessed a powerful attraction for those spirits who were not resigned to sub¬ mit to the universal law of creation, — after life, death ; and the secret of the tomb left to God. To the divine hopes which she held out, the Church added words and deeds of gentleness. In the- midst of an aristocratic community, extremely harsh towards the lowly, she taught the equality of all men, great and small, Roman and Barbarian, in the presence of the divine law, and promised to “ the servants of God,” whether slaves or senators, the same rewards. Her spirit of universal love, her care for the sick and poor, the new virtues that she required in the place of those that the Romans had lost in losing the dignity of citizenship,' 2 had gained her many hearts. But while the number of believers was increasing, the virtue of the early days seemed to grow less. If we may accept the words of Saint Cyprian, we must believe that the peace which the Church had now enjoyed for forty years, had been fatal to discipline 1 Zonaras (xii. 22) even makes Valerian the colleague of Decius. 2 Vol. I. p. 148, and Vol. V. pp. 413 et seq. FROM ACCESSION OF DECIUS TO DEATH OF GALLIENUS. 227 and morals; that piety was dead in the priests, integrity in those who had charge of the finances of the Church, charity in the believers; and that all the vices of the pagan world had invaded the members of Jesus Christ. Instead of assisting the poor, they fraudulently possessed themselves of lands and heritages, and increased their revenues by usury. 1 “ We devour one another,” SAINT CYPRIAN AND SAINT LAWRENCE . 2 says a second contemporary ; " and our sins have raised a wall between God and us. Haman insults us; Esther, with all the righteous, is in confusion, for all the virgins have suffered their lamps to go out: they are asleep, and the door is shut. When the Son of Man cometh, shall he find faith on the earth ? The Word has his fan in his hand, that he may cleanse his floor.” 3 Like all pulpit orators, Saint Cyprian exaggerates. His picture of the “ fall ” is too dark, as his apologies are too brilliant in 1 De Lapsis, passim. 2 On a gilded glass of the catacombs (Roller, op. cit. pi. lxxviii. No. 7). 8 Saint Pionius, priest in Smyrna, and martyr in 250. (^p. Bollandists, February 1, p. 45). Reference to the parable of the wise and the foolish virgins: an otnnino dormitaverunt omnes virgines et dormierunt . . . (Id. ibid.). 228 MILITARY ANARCHY, 235 TO 268 a. d. color. Saint Cyprian wrote in the midst of a persecution; since God had permitted it, its justice must be proved, and the irregu¬ larities of the Christians became necessary to explain the divine chastisement. Events really had a more natural cause. Since the time of the short persecution under Severus, 1 heroism had not been called out; enthusiasm had diminished, and consequently men’s lives become less rigorous. But the hatred between Christians and pagans remained unabated, and the latter, seeing so many woes fall upon the Empire, — invasions of Barbarians, a destructive pestilence, and endless revolutions, — believed the gods offended by the impunity allowed to those who blasphemed them. The gov¬ ernment also became uneasy at the presence of this enemy, which, under penalty of its own destruction, the pagan state must either assimilate or destrov. Decius — a harsh and narrow-minded ruler, who in his love of the past believed himself able to re¬ suscitate the dead, restore to the Senate its power and to Jupiter his thunderbolts — undertook to avenge his gods. He promulgated an edict, which was posted in all the cities, ordering search to be made for Christians, and punishment to be inflicted upon them. A war of extermination began. It appeared at first to succeed, because even more skill than cruelty was employed in it. All the efforts of the proconsuls were directed towards obtaining acts of apostasy. “Tortures,” says Saint Cyprian, “were continuous; they were not planned to give the crown, but to exhaust the power of endurance.” 2 Accordingly, apostasies were numerous. “To save his life, the son gave up the father, the father denounced the son.” “At Carthage the greater number of the brethren deserted at the first threats of the enemy. They did not wait to be questioned, but to preserve the wealth which held their souls captive, they hastened voluntarily to sacrifice to idols; they implored the magistrates to receive them on the instant to burn the impure incense, and not to put off until the morrow that which was to make their eternal ruin sure.” At Alexandria the same scenes took place, and at Smyrna, Rome, and throughout the Empire. Even bishops were seen leading 1 Origen ( Contra Celsum, iii.) says that until the time of the great persecution under Decius, there was but “ a very small number, easy to count,” of Christians put to death. 2 Saint Cyprian, Ep. 8, 52, 63, and his De Lapsis; Euseb., Hist. eccl. vi. 39, 41; Gregory of Nyssa, in his Life of Gregory Thaumaturgus; Tillemont, iii. 326-345. THE EMPEROR DECIUS (STATUE OF THE CAPITOL) (he Library •f the iMtaretty of HUM* FROM ACCESSION OF DECIUS TO DEATH OF GALLIENUS. 229 their entire congregations into apostasy. Trophimus of Arles him¬ self accompanied the Christians to pagan altars. Others, with money, bought toleration: the libellatici were very numerous. These weaknesses are in human nature, and we have no cause to wonder that Christianity, as it extended, lost something of its early virtue. However, the persecution of Decius seems not to have been as severe as it has been represented. 1 A sentence of death was not always inevitable. Some were despoiled of their goods; others condemned to exile, or thrown into prison. Babylas of Antioch and Alexander of Jerusalem, of very advanced age, could not sup¬ port the rigors of imprisonment, and died in consequence. The most formidable, because at that time the most famous, of the Christians, Origen, was loaded with chains and threatened with the stake; but “the man of steel” betrayed no weakness. The torturers were wearied sooner than their victim; he was set at liberty, and lived four years longer. 2 As the persecution had been publicly announced, many had time to escape. The most conspicuous leaders, Cyprian of Carthage, Dionysius of Alexandria, and Gregory Thaumaturgus, avoided the peril, quitting their episcopal cities, and taking refuge in some adjacent retreat, whence they could communicate with the faithful. It must have been easy for many others to place themselves in shelter. Of these fugitives some went among the Barbarians, others fled into the desert; and thus, amid persecutions, originated that monastic order which was itself to be the instrument of many future persecutions. The martyrologies enumerate in this period a considerable number of martyrs; but serious authors dare not guarantee the authenticity of these Acts, filled with anachronisms and marvellous legends, like that of the Seven Sleepers of Ephesus, who, being 1 Except in Egypt, where there was doubtless a governor particularly bitter against the •Christians. In Alexandria, a popular riot had cost the lives of several of them before the arrival of the edict of Decius (Euseb., Hist. eccl. vi. 41). After the publication of the edict there were many apostasies and a certain number of martyrs. However, Dionysius, bishop of Alexandria at this time, mentions as martyred after the edict but nine men and four women ( Ibid.). There must have been more. 2 Origen, who was called ’ASn/xamos (Euseb., Hist. eccl. vi. 14), was at that time sixty-five years of age. He had recently written (between 245 and 249) his great work against Celsus, the Aoyos d\i)6r]s. Saint Cyprian says of the African confessors : Nec cessistis suppliciis, sed vobis potius supplicia cesserunt ( Ep. 10).' 230 MILITARY ANARCHY, 235 TO 2G8 a. d. shut up in a cave and walled in, emerged, living, two centuries after. We should not, however, fall into the opposite extreme, concluding from these pious frauds that there were very few con¬ demnations to death. The edict of Decius reveals an intention on the part of the imperial government to strike a heavy blow; 1 a few leaders of the Church, bishops or teachers, and, as was always the case, many of the common people and slaves, perished. The most illustrious victims were Saint Saturninus, first bishop of Toll¬ house, Pionius, priest in Smyrna, who by his sacrifice made up for the apostasy of his bishop, 2 and Fabian, bishop of Rome, whose see remained vacant a year and a half. Pionius was crucified, and with him a Marcionite, — the heretics having their martyrs also. If the latter had told us their story, they would have added glori¬ ous chapters to the great and terrible epic of persecution, which across the centuries has kept burning in men’s minds the flanrn of self-devotion, and even to this day incites to noble sacrifices. The storm let loose upon the Church by him whom Lactantius calls “ the accursed beast,” lasted in reality but a few months. At the end of the year 250 peace had been almost entirely restored to the Christians, and before the death of Decius all the imprisoned confessors were set free. 3 The Emperor had quite other work to do than torturing these inoffensive men on account of their belief. The invading Goths compelled him to occupy himself less with his gods than with the Empire, and he left his undertaking incomplete. The persecution had been no more suc¬ cessful than the censorship of morals; but the latter had been only a harmless whim, while the former had caused tears and blood to be shed, and their trace still rests upon the persecutor’s name. 1 Saint Cyprian (Ep. 52) speaks of the hatred of Decius towards the bishops. See, in the Life of Gregory Thaumaturgus, the severity of the orders sent to the governors to bring back the Christians, ry tu>v 8aifxova>u Xarpeig . . . (f)6/3(p re Kcii 777 ra>v ahacrpaTu>v avciyKrj. 2 A fugitive slave perished with him. 3 If the Acts of Saint Acacius are authentic (Bollandists, March 10), Decius himself ordered the release of that bishop. FROM ACCESSION OF DECIUS TO DEATH OF GALLIENUS. 231 II. — Ravages of the Barbarians in the Empire ; Valerian ; Persecution of the Christians (251-260). In the critical position where the army stood after the defeat and death of Decius, it had neither time nor disposition to await C. VIBIUS TREBONIANUS GALLUS . 1 a decision of the Senate. Gallus easily obtained the purple from his legions. 2 In order to free himself from the suspicion of having 1 Bust of the Capitol, Hall of the Emperors, No. 73. 2 C. Vibius Trebonianus Gallus, born in 206 according to Aur. Victor, and in 194 accord¬ ing to the Alexandrian Chronicle. He was perhaps an African, a native of the Island of Meninx. 232 MILITARY ANARCHY, 235 TO 268 a. d. betrayed his Emperor, he took for colleague Hostilianus, the second son of Decius, and he caused his own son Volusianus, whom he made Caesar, 1 to marry a daughter of the late Emperor. Not long after, however, Hostilianus died, or was killed. A disgraceful VOLUSIANUS, SON OF TREBONIANUS GALLUS . 2 treaty had permitted the Goths to recross the Danube unmolested, taking with them their booty and their captives, and the promise of an annual subsidy in gold. But they had found the Empire so rich, and at the same time so feeble, that it was to be expected that they would soon return. There was, in fact, talk of new 1 Eckhel, vii. 365. After the death of Hostilianus, his brother-in-law was made Augustus (ibid. 566), and reigned from November, 251, to February, 254. 2 Bust of the Capitol, Hall of the Emperors. FKOM ACCESSION OF DECIUS TO DEATH OF GALLIENUS. 233 encounters in Pannonia, which the governor, Aemilianus, a Maure¬ tanian, was able to turn to his own advantage. These slight successes encouraged his troops, whose military pride had been wounded by the treaty of Gallus with the Goths. The distribution among the soldiers of the money sent to pay the Gothic tribute won them completely, and the troops proclaimed their general. 1 Pestilence and famine desolated the provinces, without interrupting the effeminate life Gallus was leading at Rome, and the people HOSTILIANUS, VOLUSIANUS, TREBONIANUS GALLUS . 4 SECOND SON OF DECIUS . 2 SON OF GALLUS . 3 held him responsible for these disasters. Aemilianus penetrated unopposed into Italy, 5 as far as the city of Terni, where he met his opponent. A promise of money to the tfoops of Gallus decided the defection. The Emperor was killed with his son (February, 254), and the victor had a few days of royalty. This vain person 6 promised the Senate to renew the glory of the great reigns, to leave to the Conscript Fathers the administra¬ tion of the state, while he himself, undertaking the hardships of war, would go and drive out the Barbarians from the northern and eastern portions of the Empire; and he allowed himself at once to be represented on medals with the attributes of Hercules the Vic¬ torious, and Mars the Avenger. Even before the death of Gallus, Valerian, whom this Emperor had employed to bring to his succor the legions of Gaul and 1 About the close of August, 253 (Eckhel, vii. 371). 2 C[aius] VALENS HOTIL[ianus] (sic) MES[ius] QVINTVS N[obilis] C[aesar]. (Large bronze.) 3 Volusianus, son of Gallus, wearing a radiate crown (aureus). IMP[erator] CAE[sar] C[aius] VIB[ius] VOLVSIANO[s] (sic) AVG[ustus]. (Gold coin). 4 Trebonianus Gallus, laurel crowned. (Bronze medallion.) 5 About the end of 253. In this case of difficult chronology we follow Eckhel, who has learnedly discussed the grounds for it. 6 M. Aemilius Aemilianus (Or.-IIenzen, No. 5,542). 234 MILITARY ANARCHY, 235 TO 268 a. d. Germany, had been by them (253) decorated with the purple in Rhaetia. Rome bad, therefore, three Emperors at once. The disaster of Terni removed one of these. Valerian had no need to fight against the other. The soldiers of his opponent, feeling them¬ selves the weaker party, and possibly offended at the advances made by their Emperor to the Senate, sent to the new Augustus the head of Aemilianus. The unfor¬ tunate man had been murdered near Spoletum, after a reign of not quite three months. 1 AVe find in this year a prefect of Rome who had the title of comes domesticorum ,— a new designa¬ tion, and destined to be very conspicuous. Already we have seen duces and praesidentes; at the great council of war held in Byzan¬ tium in 258 the Emperor will be surrounded by them. Also the amicus principis (the Emperor’s counsellor) becomes a functionary,— one, Clarus, was made prefect of Illyria and the Gallic provinces; and during the reign now beginning, there were, so to speak, two empires, — that of the East, where Valerian was waging war, and that of the West, over which his son Gallie- nus ruled as Augustus. The elements of the approaching reform were in preparation. We are about to enter upon the period known in history as that of the Thirty Tyrants; that is to say, a time of the most horrible confusion. We shall pass quickly over it, as in some dangerous or malarial locality the traveller hastens his steps. The disorder existing in the state appears in the narratives which describe it. Even the chronology is uncertain, for the reason that the Emperors succeed one another too quickly for each to have time to issue the coins which fix our dates. The one thing plainly visible is that the whole Barbarian world fell upon the Empire : the Franks overran Gaul; the Alemanni crossed the Rhine; the Goths or the Scythians the Danube and the Euxine ; the Persians the Tigris and the Euphrates. Valerian was an upright man, who had with good reason been 1 Eutropius says that he was killed tertio mense. 2 Aemilianus as Mars. MARTI PROPVG[na]T[ori]. 8 Laurelled head of Valerian. IMP. C. P. LIC. VALERIANVS AVG. FROM ACCESSION OF DECIUS TO DEATH OF GALLIENUS. 235 made the censor of others, because he had always been his own censor, — a man very well worthy of the second rank, but not of the first. 1 He endeavored to relieve the public distress; he listened wil¬ lingly to advice, and advanced men of worth. Claudius, Aureolus, Pos- tumus, Ingenuus, Aurelian, were all distinguished by him, and Probus . . QUATERNIO OF COPPER ALLOY . 2 owed to this Emperor his first honors. 3 But the conduct of affairs required at a period of such extreme disorder something more than good intentions; there was needed good judgment, mental activity, clear and active mind, firmness, and perseverance,—none of which qualities Valerian pos¬ sessed. Moreover, he came to power too late; old age is the time for repose, and not for duties which require energy both of mind and body. 4 To oppose Gallus, Aemilianus had brought into Italy the best troops from Pannonia, while to assist him Valerian had led thither the flower of the SILVER MEDALLION . 5 . . . Rhenish legions. The Barbarians, who had not failed to observe this weakening of the garrisons of the frontier, attempted a new assault. Valerian had the wisdom to see that alone he could not possibly repel so many attacks. Instead, however, of taking as his colleague one of the many valiant and experienced generals at this time in the Roman army, he chose his son Gallienus, who was too young to possess authority and too effeminate to employ it well if he had had it. 6 Father and son divided the ■defence. Valerian undertook the East, Gallienus the West (255); we shall see that both were incapable at their imperial trade. Gallienus was still entirely devoted to pleasure, and passed 1 P. Licinius Valerianus was of an old family, and at this time sixty-three years of ■age. He had held office as tribune for the first time while Gallus was yet living, in the year 253. 2 Valerian and his son Gallienus, each wearing a radiate crown. 3 Treb. Pollio, Tyr. trig. 20; Vopiscus, Aur. 8, 9, 11-15; Prob. 3-5. 4 Zosimus is very severe upon Valerian (i. 36). 6 Reverse of a silver medallion, with the legend : VIRTVS GALLIE[ni]. Gallienus on horseback, treading down an enemy. 6 All the coins of Publius Licinius Egnatius Gallienus give him the title of Augustus, not ■one that of Caesar. 236 MILITARY ANARCHY, 235 TO 268 a. d. his time in amusements of all kinds. 1 His father had but little confidence in this boy, 2 and yet dared not give him as counsellor and guide Aurelian, whose severity seemed too great for the time, and especially too great to be endured by Gallienus. Valerian therefore placed the young man in charge of Postumus, a skilful soldier, — appointing the latter dux of the Rhenish frontier and governor of Gaul. Although the Ro¬ mans still possessed their strongholds along the Rhine, the Frankish marauders always found along the extensive frontier some ill- guarded point through which their bands could slip into the province. When they had once crossed the line of the castra 3 there were before them only disarmed populations filled with terror at the sight of these yellow-haired warriors whose weapons never missed their mark; and the invaders went on across rivers and over mountains, for the pleasure of seeing, of slaying, and of setting villas and cities on fire. The Pyrenees did not arrest them, nor the Straits of Hercules; and the affrighted Moors beheld these sons of another world, whose destructive instincts the Vandals would later reveal to them. Among the Spanish towns pillaged or destroyed by the Franks, Eusebius names the great city of Tarragona, 4 in which a century and a half did not suffice to efface the traces of this devastation. Ilerda, in the time of Ausonius, was only a heap of ruins ; 5 and in the fifth century Orosius speaks of 1 Never had entertainments been more numerous than in the reign of Valerian and Galli¬ enus (Eckhel, iv. 422). 2 Puer. The word is in a letter quoted by Vopiscus ( Aur . 9), of which the authenticity has been called in question, though upon insufficient grounds. It is true that Aurelius Victor makes Gallienus thirty-five years of age at the time of his accession to the Empire. 3 They seem to have come into Gaul by the valley of the Moselle, where have been found many coins of this period, which doubtless were buried at their approach. 4 Eusebius places the taking of Tarragona by the Franks in the year 263. According to Orosius (vii. 22) they remained a dozen years in Spain (256-268). 5 At the end of the fourth century {Ep. xxv. 5, 3). FROM ACCESSION OF DECIUS TO DEATH OF GALLIENUS. 237 many Spanish cities laid waste. If, as we have already said in relating the reign of Augustus, the Empire had been able to give the provincial assemblies a permanent existence, and the municipal militia of the first century 1 had endured until the third, Spain could easily have repelled this handful of invaders. It was the isolation of the cities which prevented them from organizing for the common defence. Gallienus cared little for these disasters; the sun of Spain and of Africa, and civilization, whose contact is deadly to Barbarians when they are not strong enough to destroy it, were sure, he thought, soon to get the better of these bold marauders. He contented him¬ self with detaining the bulk of the nation on the Rhine by many small encounters and finally by the means so coin of copper often employed, — that of buying over a Barbarian chief to guard the frontiers for him ; after which he assumed the name of Germanicus and caused himself to be represented on coins as the conqueror of two rivers, the Mein and the Rhine, of which the one protected Gaul against the Germans, and the other opened Germany to a Roman invasion. 3 Aurelian distinguished himself in these severe campaigns. He destroyed a Frankish corps near Mayence, and three lines of a song of his soldiers have been preserved, — Mille, inille, mille, mille, mille clecollavimus. Mille Sarmatas, mille Francos occiclimus, Mille, mille, mille, mille, mille Persas quaerimus . 4 In 258 an insurrection of the legions of Pannonia called Gal- lienus into that province; it had hardly been repressed when the Alemanni, not finding it possible to get through into Gaul, where the frontier was well guarded by Postumus, threw themselves upon Italy, and advanced as far as Ravenna. In the time of Aurelian they made it their boast that forty thousand Alemannic cavalry had 1 Vol. IV. chap, lxvii. 2 Gallienus conquering the Mein and the Rhine. 3 Eckhel, vii. 385, 390-91. Postumus issued similar coins (Ibid. 447). 4 Vopiscus, Aur. 6 . The date of this event is uncertain. Tillemont places it too early, — in 242; for Valerian’s letter to the urban prefect (Ibid. 9), in which the Emperor calls him liberator Jllyrici, Galliarum restitutor, and makes allusion to the important services which had lately brought Aurelian into notice, was written in 257. 238 MILITARY ANARCHY, 235 TO 268 a. d. GOLD MEDALLION . 2 watered their horses at the river Po, and had ravaged a large part of the peninsula. 1 It was the first time since the Cimbric invasion that the Germans touched, otherwise than as captives, the sacred soil of old Italy. The Alps, then, were no longer an insurmountable barrier, and the fear of the Gallic “ tumults,” which four victo¬ rious centuries had dispelled, broke out afresh. Rome was in alarm. In the absence of the Em¬ perors, the Senate levied troops and armed the citizens: it was the first worthy act done by them for many years. The Allemanni, doubtless less numerous 3 than they afterwards rep¬ resented themselves to be, and already laden with booty, made a disorderly retreat towards the Alps. Gallienus had time to arrive from Pannonia, and he defeated some detachments near Milan (258 or 259). In the hope of preventing the return of similar in- cursions, he employed upon the Danube the policy alloy . 4 which had seemed to succeed upon the Rhine, — that of alliances bought by gifts or honors; he married the daughter of a king of the Marcomanni, Pipa by name, and seated her beside the Empress Cornelia Salonina. The fair-haired German became the Emperor’s favorite, and supreme in the palace, where Salonina con¬ soled herself with empty honors and the study of philosophy under the leader of the new Alexandrian school. 5 1 Dexippos, Exccrpta de Legal., in the Scriptores Historiae Byzantinae ; Orosius, vii. 22. 2 P. M. TR. P. VIII. COS. IIII. P. P. The Emperor, wearing the praetexta, holding a wand in the left hand and a patera in the right, sacrifices at a lighted altar. Cf. Mowat, Tre'sor de Monaco , p. 9. This medallion is regarded with great doubt by M. Muret on ac¬ count of the contradiction between COS. III. on the reverse and COS. V. on the face. Reverse of a gold medallion of Gallienus found at Monaco in 1879. 3 Zonaras says three hundred thousand; but he adds that Gallienus defeated them with ten thousand men. 4 The Empress Salonina, seated, holding a sceptre and an olive-branch. Reverse of a coin of Salonina, with the legend: AYG. IN PACE. 5 Pipa, notwithstanding the affection of Gallienus, remained only a concubine. There is neither medal nor inscription bearing her name, while Salonina is always called Augusta. On the coins of Gallienus are seen the heads of the husband and wife. There exists a coin of Salonina with the Christian legend, in pace. I do not, however, believe that Salonina reso¬ lutely entered the Church, where she would not have been received without a conspicuous repudiation of heathen rites; and the Empress who built a temple to Segetia, the goddess of Harvests, certainly never made that abjuration. But inquisitive in respect to the ideas current in her time, and troubled by the disasters of the Empire and her own domestic unhappiness, doubtless the friend of Plotinus aspired to the peace which Christianity and FROM ACCESSION OF DECIUS TO DEATH OF GALLIENUS. 239 Without doubt an important law of Gallienus is due to the invasion of the Alemanni. The warlike zeal lately shown by the Senate disturbed him. A rescript prohibited to the Conscript Fathers military service, and they were forbidden to appear in an army or in a camp. 1 In the pre¬ ceding chapter we have seen the results of this decision. The Marcomanni and the Goths, with their al¬ lies the Carpae, the Bo- ranae, and the Burgundii, caused Illyria, Macedonia, Thrace, and Greece to suffer the woes that the Franks had inflicted upon Gaul, and the Alemanni, upon Italy. All these provinces were desolated by devastations, murders, and a multitude of small engagements, of which we know neither the place ,, -i . i , • , • , THE EMPRESS SALONINA.” nor the date, but m which the generals gained reputation and the selfish affection of a few soldiers, and later the dangerous honor of being by them elected to the Empire, — a formidable favor, which was equivalent to a death-sentence with short reprieve. One of these generals, Aurelian, was to keep the purple for five years, and to be a great ruler. 3 In a letter of 257 to the urban prefect, Valerian calls him the neo-Platonists promised after death. Her husband, who promulgated the first edict of tol¬ eration in favor of the Christians, is believed to have done this from consideration for the Em¬ press, who, it is thought, inclined him to benevolence towards the adherents of the new faith. See M. de Witte’s Memoire sur Vimperatrice Scilonine, 1852. 1 Aur. Victor, 33; cf. id. 27. From that time forward the praefectus lecjionis took the place of legionary legate. 2 Museum of the Capitol. 3 Another, Valens, who was to be Emperor for a very brief time, appears to have com- 240 MILITARY ANARCHY, 235 TO 268 a. d. the liberator of Illyria, and says that he had cleared this province of Barbarians. For their food these hordes drove along an immense number of cattle ; Aurelian took so many from them that he was able to distribute among several Thracian towns a great number of oxen and horses. He even sent to Rome, for one of Valerian’s ROMAN AUXILIARY ON HORSEBACK, KILLING AN ENEMY . 1 villas, five hundred choice slaves, two thousand cows, two thousand mares, ten thousand sheep, and fifteen thousand goats. 2 The circle of barbarism which enveloped the Empire was now closing in on every side, and Asia, as well as Europe, had its invasions. The garrisons of the Roman posts, established, as we have seen, along the southern shores of the Euxine as far as Sebastopolis, 3 at the foot of the Caucasus, had been reduced, in order to furnish soldiers for the continual revolutions of the Empire ; and seditions which the Antonines would have prevented placed the kingdom pelled the Gauls to raise the siege of Thessalonica. At least, in Amm. Marcellinus (xxi. 16), he has the surname of Thessalonicus. 1 Monument found near Mayence (Lindenschmit, op. cit. pi. vii. No. 3). 2 Yopiscus, Aur. 10. 8 See Vol. V. pp. 25 et seq. FROM ACCESSION OF DECIUS TO DEATH OF GALLIENUS. 241 of the Bosphorus at the mercy of its new neighbors. 1 The Cimmerians gave up their vessels to the Goths, the Alans, and the Heruli; and these extemporized pirates were carried by the sailors of the Bosphorus “ across the inhospitable sea ” as far as the Asiatic coasts. They seized upon Pityus, and then upon the great city of Trebizond, where three centuries of prosperity had heaped up immense wealth, which a numerous garrison was not able to protect. 3 1 The kings of the Bosphorus put on their coins the effigy of the reigning emperor. Decius, Gallus, Volusianus, Ilostilianus, Aemilianus, Gallienus, Odenathus, Probus, and so on. Cf. Eckhel, iii. 306, and Cary, Hist, des rois du BospJi. pp. 76-78. But these kings were now at the mercy of their Barbarian neighbors. Accordingly, a gap of several years in the coins of Rhascuporis IV. announces the troubles by which a Barbarian usurper, Inintln- mevus, profited. Phareanses, who seems to have reigned but a short time about the year 253, has also a name of doubtful aspect. A Rhascuporis VIT. reigned from 254 to 266, and prob¬ ably longer ( Tres nr de nuinism. p. 63). 2 See Vol. III. p. 120, a pendant found in the same tomb. 3 There were two expeditions : the first, which failed, probably in 255 ; the second and successful attempt, in 257 (Zosimus, i. 32, 33). VOL. VII. 16 242 MILITARY ANARCHY, 235 TO 208 a. d. The rumor of this important capture fired the ardor of the Goths of the Danube. They obliged their Roman prisoners to con¬ struct vessels, in which they sailed along the coast, while the main body of the invading army, crossing the river, traversed all Thrace undisturbed, and arriving in the neighborhood of Byzantium, found ISLAND AND SANCTUARY OF APOLLO, IN THE RHYNDACUS . 1 (PRESENT CONDITION.) on the shore a great multitude of fishermen, who consented to lend their little boats, — without doubt for the sake of sharing in the plunder. “ From Chalcedon to the temple at the entrance of the Thracian Bosphorus,” there were forces more considerable than ISLAND AND SANCTUARY OF APOLLO, IN THE RHYNDACUS . 1 (RESTORATION BY GUILLAUME.) those of the Barbarians; but the Romans, seized with terror, fled, and the Goths entered Chalcedon, Nicomedeia, the future capital of Diocletian, Nicaea, Cius, Apameia, Prusa, and Apollonia, which its temple of Apollo did not protect, built upon an island in a beautiful lake formed and traversed by the Rhyndacus. Cyzicus escaped because the invaders could not cross the swollen river. 1 Lebas and Waddington, Voy. archeol. en Grece et en Asie Min.: Architecture , pi. 1, 2. FROM ACCESSION OF DECIUS TO DEATH OF GALLIENUS. 243 All Bithynia was sacked, and the Roman legions nowhere dared to make a stand against the enemy. The people fled in inexpres¬ sible alarm, and many of these wretched creatures, among whom we are forced to enumerate some of the Christians, took advantage of this immense disorganization to pillage in their turn (early in the year 258). The poor Jacquerie of France in the Middle Ages, yielding in the presence of similar disasters to a savage despair, said: “ The devil is unchained; let us do our worst.” Three cen¬ turies later, by the ruins they left behind them, the road the Goths traversed could be made out. “ They carried back into their country immense booty,” says Zosimus, “ and they gave great honors to Chrysogonos, who had advised this expedition.” 1 The preceding year Valerian had held at Byzantium a great council of war, in presence of the officers of the palace and of the army. We have the order of precedence in this assembly, and give it to show the new dignities that were coming into existence. At the right of the Emperor were seated one of the consuls, the praetorian prefect, and the governor of the East; on his left, the dux of the Scythian frontier, the Egyptian prefect, the dux of the Oriental frontier, the prefect of the Eastern annona, the duces of Illyricum and Thrace, and lastly the dux of the Rhaetian border. The foolish chronicler, who had the opportunity to read the report of this session, does not make known to us the serious deliberations which filled it; he contents himself with saying that Valerian decreed on this occasion extraordinary commendation to Aurelian for recent victories in Illyria over Gothic and Sarmatian bands. 2 Where was the conqueror of the Franks and Goths at the time of the disasters which have just been described? Doubtless at Antioch with Valerian. This Emperor did nothing to prevent or arrest the misfortunes from which Bithynia suffered. He merely sent a general to Byzantium to guard that important point. 1 Jordanes (De Gothorum gestis, 20 ) says that the Goths burned Ilium and the temple of Diana at Ephesus ; he adds that in his time (the sixth century) there were still to be seen at Chalcedon the ruins that they had caused. Zosimus (i. 35) does not say who this Chrysogonos was; but it is apparent that these Barbarians were not too barbarous to take advantage of traitors, and collect the information necessary to the success of their expeditions. 2 Vopiscus, Aur. 15. Valerian gave him at this time not the consulship, as Vopiscus says, but the consular ornaments. Inscriptions and coins prove that Aurelian was consul for the first time in 271. (See Eckhel, vii. 479.) . 244 MILITARY ANARCHY, 235 TO 268 a. d. * But the Goths had not as yet formed the design of establishing themselves permanently in the Empire, and their retreat was doubt¬ less caused less by the approach of the Emperor, who advanced into Cappadocia, than by the desire to place in safety before the stormy season 1 the booty with which their vessels were loaded, — a booty whose magnitude and value surpassed all their expectations. 2 3 The Gothic inroads were probably con¬ nected with another invasion, which seemed likely to drive the Romans out of Asia; namely, that of Sapor. At least w r e see that the Bar¬ barians made their attack first upon the cities where the roads from Armenia came in, of which country the Persians were taking possession; and in occupy¬ ing Cappadocia, Valerian seems to have had the design of placing himself between the two allies. If it be said that this is ascribing to these savage tribes too extensive combinations, we must remember the embassies sent by the Dacians to the Arsacidae in the time of Trajan. The Amales required no great efforts of political intelligence to understand and follow the traditions of the Decebalus. 4 Sapor had assassinated Chosroes, 5 6 the king of Armenia, and had placed one of his own partisans upon the throne. For more than a quarter of a century this country was like a Persian prov¬ ince, — to the great grief of its inhabitants; for the Persians perse- 1 The ancients were reluctant to venture upon the Euxine earlier than May, or later than September. 2 Sozomenes (Hist. eccl. ii. 6) and Philostorges (Hist. eccl. ii. 5) say that among the captives were priests, who converted multitudes of Barbarians on the banks of the Rhine and the Danube. The work of conversion was possibly beginning among the Goths at this period ; in 325 a bishop from this nation sat in the Council of Nicaea: but in Western Germany there were no Christians, before Clovis, among the Franks whom Sozomenus seems to designate, and the conversion of the Alemanni took place later. 3 Reverse of a coin of Valerian, struck at Antioch, in Caria. ANTIOXEQN. Bridge over the Meander; underneath, a couchant river and an equestrian statue. (Bronze.) 4 Vol. V. p. 238. Pliny arrested in Bithynia an emissary from the Decebalus to Chos¬ roes. In the reign of Marcus Aurelius the powerful league of the Marcomanni was formed, in 165, shortly after the great successes of Vologeses in Armenia and over the Syrian legions. O 6 Tiridates, the son of Chosroes, was saved by the satraps and sent to Rome, and in 287 Diocletian placed him upon the throne of his fathers (Moses Chorenes, Hist. Armeniaca. ii. 69-75). FROM ACCESSION OF DECIUS TO DEATH OF GALLIENUS. 245 cuted all those who followed the national customs, destroying all buildings of a sacred character, temples of the Sun and Moon: and the sacred fire of Ormuzd constantly burning upon altars, was a reminder of the triumph of a hostile race and a foreign religion. Thus another bulwark of the Empire, and one of its best defences, was destroyed. The possession of Armenia by the Persians in fact rendered easy their conquest of Meso¬ potamia, where Sapor took the fortified towns Nisibis and Carrhae. The situation, therefore, was very threatening, and it was due to those who, in less than forty years, had caused, either directly or indirectly, ten military revolutions. The Romans, remaining masters of Edessa, barred to the Persian army one of the roads into Asia Minor; and the Cilician Gates, without doubt well guarded at that time, closed the other. Sapor, with his inefficient infantry, 1 2 was not able to force a passage through the mountains, and he could not hinder a Roman army from coming down into Syria; Valerian, indeed, entered Antioch without fighting. The appearance of the Goths in Bithynia obliged him to return into Asia Minor, u where,” says Zosimus, “he did nothing save vex the people as he passed through.” The retreat of the Barbarians permitted him at last to leave Cap¬ padocia and march upon Edessa, which, for many years blockaded, still held out. But his troops had suffered greatly from pestilence; and a defeat which he experienced, together with the clamors of the army, decided him to negotiate. Sapor refusing to receive envoys from the Emperor, the latter requested a personal interview, repeating the error of Crassus. When the astute Barbarian saw the Emperor come to him attended by only a small guard, he caused Valerian to be surrounded by the Persian cavalry and made prisoner (260). 3 He lived six years in captivity, enduring 1 Bust of the king, wearing the diadem and placed on a lion’s head surmounted by two wings. Intaglio on sardonyx (20 millim. by 18). (Cabinet de France , No. 1,347.) 2 In respect to the Persian infantry, see Amm. Marcellinus, xxiii. 6. ' 3 This is the account given by Zosimus (i. 3). Zonaras speaks of a battle and a defeat. He adds that there was a tradition of a mutiny in the Roman army which had caused Valerian to seek refuge with Sapor, npos top Sairmprjv KciTecpvyev- 246 MILITARY ANARCHY, 235 TO 268 a. d. shameful ill-treatment ; and after his death , 1 his skin, tanned, stuffed, and colored red, was hung from the roof of the most important temple in Persia, where it remained for several centuries . 2 The rocks of Nakeh-Roustem and of Schahpur retained the story of this great Roman humiliation; and the horsemen there seen treading legionaries under their horses’ feet, perhaps gave rise to the legend that Sapor used the Roman Emperor as a horse-block to mount by . 3 The Persian king took advantage of the consternation which this event caused in the Roman army to endeavor to seize the Empire as well as the Emperor. Guided by the traitor Cyriades, he penetrated into Syria. One day, as the inhabitants of Antioch were witnessing a performance in the theatre, one of them cried out suddenly: “ I am dreaming, or else the Persians are upon us ! ” A few moments later, arrows began to fall amongst the crowd, and the city was pitilessly sacked . 4 Terror again seized upon all these provinces. It was asserted that Emesa had been saved by its divinity . 5 Probably the great mass of the Persian forces was in the northern part of the province, and only a detachment, easily to be resisted, was sent to the holy city; or else Sapor, through policy, respected a temple venerated by all the nations in this- region. All the attention of the Persians was now turned towards Asia Minor; that being conquered, the rest would fall. They traversed unopposed the passes of Cilicia, took the great city of Tarsus, and besieged Caesarea, the capital of Cappadocia, which is believed to have had at this time a population of four hundred 1 Agathias even says that he was flayed alive. 2 What is legend, and what is truth in this story ? It is not easy to say. A letter from Constantine to Sapor II., quoted by Eusebius (Life of Const, iv. 11), and the words of Galerius to Narses, related by Peter Patricius (Excerpta de Legat. in the Collectanea of Const. VII), attest that Valerian certainly suffered the most humiliating of captivities; it lasted, according to the Chronicle of Alexandria, until 269. But Treb. Pollio (Tyr. trig. 14) places the death of Valerian before that of Odenathus, consequently in 266 : . . . Iratum fuisse reipublicae Deum credo, qui, interfecto Valenano, noluit Odenatum reservari. 3 The bas-relief of Darabgerd shows Sapor treading under his horse’s feet a prostrate man, on whose head seems to be a fragment of a laurel-wreath (Flandin, Perse ancienne, pi. xxxiii.). But this was a symbol of victory much in use among the Persians, and we are not to conclude that this sculpture represents a real action. 4 Amm. Marcellinus (xxiii. 5) places this in the reign of Gallienus; that is, after the cap¬ tivity of Valerian. 5 John Malalas. FROM ACCESSION OF DECIUS TO DEATH OF GALLIENUS. 247 thousand inhabitants. The city held out for a long time, until a prisoner, being put to the torture, revealed a weak point in the defences, through which the besiegers by night entered the place. They had been ordered to seize the brave Demosthenes, who had directed the defence; but he ctlt his way through on horseback, killing many of the enemy, and made his escape . 1 Two years earlier than this the Persians would have been able from Cappa¬ docia to reach the Goths, masters of Bithynia. But the Barbarians of the South did not need aid from the Barbarians of the North to reach the Propontis and the Sea of the Cyclades. Terror went before them. “ They might easily,” says Zosimus, “have made themselves masters of the whole of Asia, if they had not been in haste to enjoy their victory at home and to carry off their booty .” 2 After their departure the Syrians took revenge upon the traitor Cyriades , 3 who had assumed the title of Augustus, and burned him alive. It is said that when Sapor announced his victory to all the neighboring or allied nations, the latter, terrified at this great triumph, concealed their fears under the counsels of philosophic moderation which they sent back in reply . 4 The son of Valerian, however, had no need of the consolations of wisdom to appease a grief which he did not feel. “I knew,” he said, “that my father was mortal; besides, he has fallen like a brave man;” and considering him as already dead, Gallienus apotheosized him. Possibly these words might have been pardoned to a son who had followed them by energetic acts to avenge his father and the Empire; but this affectation of stoicism was only unfilial cowardice. The reign of Valerian is marked by the most cruel persecution that the Church had yet endured. When the pagan inhabitants of the Empire beheld Barbarians threatening the very heart of Italy and ravaging two thirds of the provinces, their anger was turned — as often before in cases of public calamity — against this foreign people living among them, indifferent to their griefs, and refusing to take arms against the common enemy. As if entering reluctantly 1 Zonaras, xii. 23. 2 Amm. Marcellinus (xxiii. 5) also speaks of this precipitate departure. 8 Or Mariades. Cf. Fragm. hist. Graec. v. 192 (Didot). 4 These letters must be fabrications, however, for the Persian archives certainly were not open to the writers of the A ugustan History. 248 MILITARY ANARCHY, 235 TO 268 a. d. upon the career of persecution, the Emperors in their first letters simply forbade assemblages of Christians, and denied them access to their cemeteries; no one was required to renounce the worship of Christ, but all were ordered to conform to the Roman cult, — which was, however, equivalent to apostasy; and, finally, the contumacious were as yet punished with exile only. The acts of Cyprian exhibit this first phase of persecution, which does not seem to have struck outside of the clergy. “In the fourth consulship of the Emperor Valerianus and the third of Gallienus, the third day before the kalends of September ” (30th August, 257), “in the audience-hall at Carthage, the proconsul Paternus said to the Bishop Cyprian: e The most sacred Emperors Valerianus and Gallienus have deigned to address letters to me, in which they order all persons not professing the Roman religion to observe without delay all its ceremonies. I have therefore summoned you to ascertain your intentions. What answer have you to make ? ’ The Bishop Cyprian replied: 4 1 am a Christian and a bishop. I know no other god than the one true God who made heaven and earth, the sea, and all that in them is. This God we Christians serve, to Him we pray night and day, for ourselves and for all men, and especially for the safety of the Emperors.’ The proconsul said: 4 Do you persist in this resolu¬ tion ? ’ The Bishop Cyprian replied : ‘ The goodwill that has once known God never changes.’ The proconsul Paternus said: ‘ You may prepare, then, to go into exile in the city of Curubis: so Valerianus and Gallienus command.’ The Bishop Cyprian replied : ( I am ready to go.’ The proconsul Paternus said: ‘ The orders which I have received concern not only bishops, but also priests. I wish, therefore, to know the names of the priests dwelling in this city.’ The Bishop Cyprian replied: ‘Well and wisely have your laws prohibited giving information; I, therefore, cannot make known to you or give up to you those of whom you speak; you will find them in the cities where they dwell.’ The proconsul Paternus said: 4 It is my will that they appear before me to-day in this place.’ Cyprian answered: ‘ The rules of our order forbid them to surrender themselves, and in this you cannot blame their conduct; but seek for them, and you will find them.’ The pro- consul Paternus said: 1 Fear not; I will find them.’ And he Ilf** ill 7 $$££2 ' >mm Wi3f mm §&p ' P V : .'^| Mp f§p» VALERIAN PROSTRATE BEFORE SAPOR, WHO IS ON HORSEBACK. BAS-RELIEF OF NAlvEII-ROUSTEM, UNDER THE TOMBS OF TIIR KINGS (ENVIRONS OF PERSEPOLIs). FROM A PHOTOGRAPH BY M. DIEULAFOY- file Library of the Untoeraity of llffp** 4 * FROM ACCESSION OF DECIUS TO DEATH OF GALLIENUS. 249 this wise prohibition will be punished with death.’ The Bishop Cyprian: ‘Do whatever is commanded you.’’’ 1 2 1 Bust of the Capitol, Hall of the Emperors, No. 76. 2 Freppel, Saint Cyprien, pp. 477, 478, from the proconsular reports of the martyrdom of Saint Cyprian. Dionysius, bishop of Alexandria, suffered no other penalty than exile into the Libyan desert, three days’journey from Paraetonium (Euseb., Hist. eccl. vii. 11). Interrogated by the prefect of Egypt, he had made Saint Paul’s famous reply (Acts v. 29), which Polycrates of Ephesus had also repeated (Hist. eccl. v. 24). —a reply by which the social bond may at any time be broken : “ We must obey God rather than men ; ” that is to say, a man’s own ideas, which added: ‘ The Emperors also forbid meetings in any place what¬ soever, and the entering of cemeteries. Whoever shall violate GALLIENUS . 1 250 MILITARY ANARCHY, 235 TO 268 a. d. The successor of Patemus removed the sentence of exile decreed against Cyprian, and suffered him to reside outside the gates of Carthage in a house which belonged to the bishop. But the calamities of the Empire increased. Emperors who could not defend themselves, believed that they might obtain the assistance of Heaven by avenging their gods. In the middle of the year 258 Valerian sent to the Senate the following rescript: — “ Bishops, priests, and deacons shall be punished with death; senators, officers, and knights degraded and deprived of their goods. If they persist, death. Women of honorable birth shall be banished. Freedmen of the palace shall be sent as slaves to the Emperor’s domains.” 1 We will further give the last examination of Saint Cyprian, showing the general method of procedure against the martyrs. “ The proconsul Galerius Maximus said to Cyprian: ‘ You are Thascius Cyprianus ? ’ The bishop answered: ‘ I am.’ The proconsul said: 4 You are the bishop of these sacrilegious per¬ sons ? ’ e I am.’ 4 The most sacred Emperors have ordered you to sacrifice to the gods.’ ‘ I shall not do so.’ 4 Reflect upon your conduct.’ ‘ Do what you are ordered; in a thing so right, I have no occasion to deliberate.’ Galerius Maximus, after taking the advice of his council, expressed himself as follows: 4 You have long held sacrilegious opinions; you have brought many men into this impious conspiracy, thus placing yourselves in hostility towards the gods of Rome and the laws of religion; and the pious and most sacred Emperors Valerianus and Gallienus, Augusti, and the very illustrious Valerianus Caesar, have not been able to bring you back to the observance of their religious ceremonies. For this reason you, being the author of the most infamous crimes, and the standard-bearer of the sect, shall serve as an example to those whom you have led astray by your criminal machinations; your blood shall pay the penalty of the law.’ Having said this, he took his tablets and wrote the sentence which he had uttered aloud: e We condemn Thascius Cyprianus to be beheaded.’ The lie believes to come from divine revelation or inspiration, rather than the law of the land. In the case of the Christians, the state was in the wrong, and their resistance was legitimate; but the formula is dangerous, for it will not always be employed in protecting the rights which ought to be protected, — namely, those of conscience. 1 Saint Cyprian, Ep. 82, ad Successum. The edict of Valerian is given there. FROM ACCESSION OF DECIUS TO DEATH OF GALLIENUS. 251 bishop said: ‘ God be praised! ’ 1,1 The guards then led him away. Arriving at the place of execution, Cyprian took off his outer garment, knelt, and prayed some time. Then he gave his dalmatic to the deacons, himself bandaged his eyes, and directed his followers after his death to give to the executioner twenty-five gold pieces. The brethren held strips of cloth around him to collect the martvr’s blood. The executioner trembled when he struck the i/ mortal blow. All the pagans must have trembled also when they witnessed these triumphant deaths (14th September, 258). Cyprian was among the favored ones: his was the easiest death; others were burned alive, like the Bishop of Tarragona, or thrown to the wild beasts. Rome paid largely the debt of blood. Pope Sixtus II. was one of the first to perish. Being surprised in the catacombs while celebrating the holy mysteries, he was beheaded ; and his deacon, Saint Lawrence, was burned at a slow fire. Wherever Christian communities had been established, many priests, 1 Freppel, Saint Cyprien, pp. 490-491, from the proconsular reports. 2 Roller, op. cit. pi. lxxvii. No. 2. Upon the legend, PIE ZESES, see Yol. VI. p. 588, n. 2 252 MILITARY ANARCHY, 235 TO 268 a. d. deacons, believers, and even women, perislied. Novatian, who brought into the Church all the severitv of his earlier master, the Stoic Zeno, was one of the victims, and possibly also Saint Dionysius, who evangelized the North of Gaul, and Polyeuctes, whom Corneille has made famous. 1 The Empire was rending itself with its own hands — as if famine, pestilence, and the Barbarians, who seemed to the Christians “ to be let loose by God for this day of wrath,” 2 were not enough for its destruction! Gallienus had one merit, — he understood that this persecution was unjust as well as useless; and as soon as he was sole master he ordered that their cemeteries, their possessions, and the freedom of their worship should be restored to the Christians (260). 3 Thus there was one war the less in the Empire. Unhappily, many others still remained. At the time when the imprudence of Valerian had given Syria .over to the Persians there were in the East two men famous for their military talent, — Macrianus, the principal lieutenant of the captive Emperor, and Balista, who had formerly held the office of praetorian prefect. They collected the remnant of the army of Edessa, and sought at Samosata, in the narrow angle formed by Mount Amanus and the Euphrates, a place of refuge which it would be easy to defend. 4 By slow degrees courage returned to the Romans. Balista reached the coasts of the Sea of Cyprus, collected a flotilla on which he embarked a few soldiers, and made successful descents here and there in Cilicia. As the Persians, in the pride of their victory, disdained all prudence, he frequently surprised their detach¬ ments, and killed many men. But the best assistance came from a side whence the Empire expected nothing. We have frequently spoken in this History of Palmyra, its riches, its numerous population, and of a family of 1 For details of this persecution, see Tillemont, iii. 415-440. The Acts of the mar¬ tyrdom of Saint Dionysius, compiled in the seventh or eighth century, are not authentic. 2 Orosius, vii. 22. 3 Euseb., Hist. eccl. vii. 13. Gallienus seems to have been a man of gentle temper. A dealer having sold imitated gems to the Empress Salonina, he condemned him to be eaten by a lion, and then let loose against him a capon. Everybody laughed, and the Emperor cried: “We have deceived the deceiver! ” (Hist. Aug. Gall. 12.) 4 Fragm. hist. Graec. iv. 193 (Didot). FROM ACCESSION OF DECIUS TO DEATH OF G ALLIEN US. 253 high rank there, the Odainath, or Odenathi. 1 The Palmyrenes, for their commerce, had need of the friendship of Sapor. They sent him ambassadors with rich presents to solicit his goodwill. The king threw the gifts into the river, tore up the letter that the envoys had given him, and demanded an absolute submission. 2 Palmyra had at this time as chief or prince of its senate an able and determined man, very rich and very influential, Septimius Odenathus. In critical periods men of distinguished ability naturally take their place. Odenathus persuaded his countrymen that there was no answer but war to insults which were a distinct threat against their independence, and he set on foot preparations for it in a suitable manner. The caravans had made Palmyra’s fortune. To guide them, the city had been obliged to em¬ ploy the Arabs of the Syrian desert, who all, from the Orontes to the Pasitigris, were in her interests. Odenathus reminded their sheiks of the destruction of Atra, the Arab city, by Sapor; he convinced them that their liberty and their wealth would be lost if the haughty king should drive the Romans out of Asia. The Arabs of the present day have two passions,— religion and traffic. Mahomet had not yet given his fellow-country¬ men the former, but the latter passion had been extraordinarily fostered by the profits which the interchange of commodities between the two empires left in the hands of the carriers. They gathered in crowds around the u prince of Palmyra,” and we shall see them establish an Arab empire for the first time. Palmyra had a permanent Roman garrison, and this detachment served as a nucleus for the new army. The Roman fugitives scattered throughout Syria rallied about it, and Odenathus added his Arabs. The successes of Balista had endangered the situation of the Persians in Syria: their line of retreat was threatened on the south by the warlike preparations of Palmyra, and on the north 1 Vol. V. p. 373, and Vol. VI. pp. 518 et seq. In April, 258, Odenathus had already received the consular ornaments (Waddington, Inscr. de Syrie, No. 2,602). 2 Peter Patricius, Excerpta de Legaf. 2. 8 Odenathus, husband of Zenobia (uncertain). Engraved stone in the Cabinet de France (15 millim. by 13), No. 1,399. 254 MILITARY ANARCHY, 235 TO 268 a. d. by the garrison of Edessa, which the troops from Samosata had prob¬ ably joined at this time; and upon this too Roman soil they began to be uneasy. Sapor led his troops back towards the Euphrates, leaving many of them behind him, surprised by a sudden attack of Odenathus. Arriv¬ ing on the right bank of the river, the Persians congratulated one an¬ other, believing they were safe; but they were still obliged, says Zonaras, to buy their passage by giving up to the army of Edessa all that was left to them of Syrian gold. 1 In these deserts whirlwinds of men ap¬ peared. Drawn by the lure of car¬ nage and booty, the nomads rushed thither from all quarters of the hori¬ zon, and powerful armies emerged from the waste. Odenathus, just now joined by Balista, found himself strong enough to undertake the con¬ quest of Mesopotamia and to ven¬ ture on following, as far as Ctesiphon itself, the track of Trajan and Sep- timius Severus." In a battle he captured part of the treasures and some of the wives of Sapor. This was the sharp reply of the Palmyrenes to the Great King. Odenathus had not been able to set Valerian at liberty, but he sent captive satraps to Rome; and Gallienus, forgetting his father, celebrated with a triumph the victory which the legions had left the Bedouins to gain. From this expedition Odenathus returned too great to remain SILVER VASE . 3 1 Peter Patricius, Excerpta de Legat. 10. 2 Eutropius, ix. 10, 11; Malalas, xii. 227; Zonaras, xii. 23. 8 Cabinet de France , No. 2,880. This monument of Persian art under the Sassanidae is ornamented with two groups of lions, separated by the sacred tree Horn. The figures are in repousse on a gold ground. This vase had a handle, which is now missing. Cf. Chabouillet, op. cit. p. 467, and Lenormant, in vol. iii. of the Musee d’archeol. of lathers Martin and Cahier. FROM ACCESSION OF DECIUS TO DEATH OF G ALLIEN US. 255 longer a private individual. The Arabs proclaimed him king; and Gallienus, to attach to himself so useful a servant, appointed him chief of the imperial forces in that part of the East, — avroKparcov. or imperator (beginning of 262). Later, after further services, he gave Odenathus the title of Augustus; and the son of the clients of Severus took rank among the Emperors of Rome. 1 III. — The Provincial Emperors (249-268); Gallienus. Those who have been called, in imitation of Athens, the Thirty Tyrants, were neither thirty in number, nor were they tyrants. From the captivity of Valerian to the death of his son, we count eighteen generals who were pro¬ claimed emperor 2 3 by their troops, as had been all since the Antonines; and they lacked only success to take their place legally among the masters of the Roman world. One only, Calpurnius Piso, was of the highest rank; 4 another, Tetricus, of senatorial dignity; the rest were of obscure origin. Moreover, these so-called usurpers were neither worse nor better than the Emperors whose names are in the official list: many manifested ability and did service; all of them were as legitimate as was Septimius Severus. The Empire — that is to say, a union for common defence — seemed no longer to exist, since one of the Emperors was captive in Ctesiphon, and the other COIN OF TETRICUS . 8 1 M. de Vogue ( Tnscr ; sem. pp. 29 et seq.) does not believe that Odenathus ever had the title of Augustus. But, as M. Waddington remarks (lnscr. de Syrie, p. 601), “at Palmyra it was not of particular importance to translate exactly the names of Roman dignities,” and as Zenobia is called in an inscription 2e/3 aarr], or Augusta , it would appear that this title was given her as widow of a 2e/3no-rdy. 2 We shall have twenty-nine Caesars or Augusti murdered in less than twelve years if we include sons of Emperors to whom their fathers gave the purple. 3 IMP. C. TETRICVS PIVS AVG. and the laurelled head of the Emperor. On the reverse: VIRTVS AVG.; Tetricus, in a military costume, standing; at his feet a captive. (Gold coin in the British Museum. Cf. De Witte, Revue Numism., the elder Tetricus, pi. xl. No. 162.) 4 At least he was so considered; but it cannot be proved that he was of that illustrious family-of Pisos whom Horace calls Pompilius sanguis (Ars poet. 292) because they claimed descent from Numa. Nor is it even certain that Piso assumed the purple. 256 MILITARY ANARCHY, 235 TO 268 a. d. COIN OF PAC ATI ANUS. 1 wholly lost in pleasure, while the Barbarians were overrunning the provinces at their will. Under stress of necessity, patriotism re¬ awakened ; and since nothing could be expected from Rome, men looked to themselves for their preservation. The legions formed a permanent garrison of the provinces, and remained very long in the same places; for example, the Third Augustan occupied Numidia for three centuries. From this resulted intimate relations between the army and the country. The soldier mar¬ ried there, the legion was recruited thence, and the troops borrowed the manners and beliefs of the country in which they lived. We have had occasion more than once to show that the differences between the armies of Gaul and of Syria corresponded to the differences between the two countries. By de¬ grees these multiplied bonds had made the legionaries, as it were, the representa¬ tives of those whom it w r as their duty to protect, and during the eclipse of the universal Empire the provin¬ cial interest personified itself in provincial emperors. Almost simultaneously, Gaul, Illyria, Moesia, Pannonia, Greece, and Thessaly proclaimed their respective gov¬ ernors ; and the provinces were so much in sympathy with the YOUNG ROMAN . 2 1 Coin of Pacatianus,-emperor in Pannonia or in Ithaetia. IMP. TI. CL. MAR. PACA- TIANVS AVG. and the radiate head of the provincial Emperor. On the reverse: ROMAE AETERN. AN[no] MILL[esimo] ET PRIMO (the year 1001 of Rome, 248 a. d.); in the centre Rome seated. (Silver coin.) 2 Young Roman, supposed to be Saloninus. Marble of the Museum of the Louvre. FROM ACCESSION OE DEGIUS TO DEATH OE GALLIENUS. 257 TRIUMPHAL ARCH OF GALLIENUS AT ROME. soldiers that they shared their fortunes. In a province where Gallienus was able to overthrow one of his rivals, the civilians suffered as much as the soldiers; the legions were decimated, but the cities also were filled with carnage like the camps. 1 1 Treb. Pollio, Tyr. trig. 8. This awakening of provincial patriotism is manifested by two things, — many cities (in Gaul, for example) abandon in the third century their Roman name to VOL. VII. 17 258 MILITARY ANARCHY, 235 TO 2G8 a. d. SALONINUS CAESAR. (BRONZE MEDALLION.) The most remarkable of these Emperors is Postumus. 1 He was a man of low condition, 2 but of great courage, and extremely popular in the Gallic provinces where he was born, and of which he had been the governor. When Gallienus quitted the country, in 258, he left his son Saloninus at Cologne, with the title of Caesar, under the care, not of Postumus, as would have seemed most natural, but under that of the tribune Silvanus; and Postumus was offended at this mark of distrust. On one occasion, when the latter had divided among the troops a rich booty recaptured from the Franks, Sylvanus claimed the spoils as belonging to the Caesar. When Postumus made known this order, the soldiers, rather than give back what they had received, tore from their standards the effi¬ gies of Gallienus and Saloninus, and pro¬ claimed their general (258). He led them to Cologne, obtained the surrender, after a long siege, of the Caesar and his adviser, and put them both to death. 4 The nations and armies of the Gallic provinces, Britain, and Spain took oath to the new Augustus. 5 This was not the establishment GOLD COIN OF POSTUMUS . 3 take their own ; and when the Emperors dismember a government to form new provinces, they usually give the latter the limits that these territories had in the time of their independence. 1 M. Cassianius Latinius Postumus (C. I. L. vol. ii. No. 4,943). 2 Obscurissime ncitus (Eutrop. ix. 9). 3 Coin of Postumus, bearing on the reverse Eternal Rome. Gold coin in an open setting and loop. Cf. De Witte, op. cit. pi. xvii. No. 2G5. 4 Eckliel (vii. 391, 438) places the surrender of Cologne in 259. The Augustan History (Tyr. trig. 3) represents Postumus as having a son whom Valerian had appointed tribune of the Yocontii, and whom his father had taken as colleague; but although we possess a great quantity of medals of Postumus, no one of them gives us ground to believe that this son, who seems to have been a person of only literary tastes, was made Caesar and afterwards Augustus, and the adoption of Victorinus confirms these doubts (Eckliel, vii. 447, and De W itte, llevue ECION. The statue of Diana within the temple. Reverse of large bronze of Hadrian. 5 The temple was 425 feet long, and 220 wide (Pliny, Hist. nat. xxxvi. 21). The Roman foot was 11.655 inches. [Cf. now the remarkable explorations and restoration of this temple in Mr. Wood’s Ephesus. —Ed.] FROM ACCESSION OF DECIUS TO DEATH OF GALLIENUS. 2G3 there. 1 Jordanes speaks of the childish delight of the Goths when on their return they found themselves at the foot of the Balkans, near the hot springs of Anchialos (2G2-263). 2 Byzantium, the bulwark of the Empire in these regions, had a nu¬ merous garrison, which, probably on account of some delay in receiv¬ ing pay, revolted, and pillaged the city. Gallienus hastened thither, and, as his custom was, showed him¬ self very severe in the punishment which he inflicted. He remained there some months to intimidate the Barbarians, who had reappeared in Cappadocia, and to restore these provinces to order, rebuilding the reverse of a coin r ,. n .. P P ... tt t OF GALLIENUS . 3 lortincations ot many of the cities. He also car¬ ried on negotiations with Odenatlius, which resulted in his accept¬ ing the Arab chief as his colleague in the Empire (264). On his return to Rome he celebrated, with all the magnifi¬ cence that the precarious state of the finances permit¬ ted, the tenth year of his unfortunate reign. In the spring of 264 Gallienus at last prepared to- avenge his son and recover the Gallic provinces. 4 It coin of copper is said 6 that he proposed to Postumus to decide their ALLOY.® **" A quarrel by single combat; to which the Gallic Em¬ peror replied that he was not a gladiator. Aureolus commanded the troops of Gallienus; he either would not or could not take advantage of an important victory to overwhelm Postumus, and the war was protracted. Notwithstanding the defection of a gen¬ eral of Victorinus, 7 the Italian Caesar — who with several legions went over to the side of the Gallic Caesar, and was by the latter associated with himself in the imperial power (265) 8 — Postumus 1 Treb. Pollio, Gall. 5. 2 The aquae calidae were fifteen miles to the north of this city, which stood on the shore of the Black Sea, and they had a great reputation, inter reliqua totius mundi thermorum innumerabilium loca omnino praecipue ad sanitatem infirmorum efficacissimae (Jordanes, 20). 3 LEG. XXX. VLP[ia] VI P [sextum pia] VI F [sextum fidelis]. Neptune standing (copper alloy). 4 Eckliel (vii. 238) asserts that there had been hostilities between Gallienus and Pos¬ tumus since the year 260. 8 Fragm. hist. Graec. iv. 194. 6 Victorinus wearing the radiate crown. 7 At least the coins of Victorinus bear the names of legions that are known to have been in the army of Gallienus. (Cf. Eekhel, vii. 402, 451.) - 8 This is the well-authorizea opinion of M. de Witte, Revue de num., new series, vol. vi. 1861. 2G4 MILITARY ANARCHY, 235 TO 2G8 a. d. was obliged to take refuge in a fortified town, where the impe¬ rial troops besieged him. Gallienus was wounded with an arrow during the siege ; and his wound, together with the unpromis¬ ing aspect of the war, decided him to abandon the task lie had undertaken. He returned into Italy, leaving A u r e o 1 u s to guard the Alpine VICTORINUS CROWNED WITII REVERSE OF A GOLD MEDAL- paSSeS, - a preCaU" • LAUREL . 1 LION OF VICTORINUS .' 2 . tion which proves that. the expedition into Gaul had not ended well. Postumus, however, half victorious, half vanquished, lost in this war the prestige he had obtained by his suc¬ cessful encounters with the Barbarians. A compet¬ itor, Laelianus, 3 4 appeared against him. He defeated this general; but having refused his troops the pil¬ lage of Mayence, the principal seat of the rebellion, a tumult broke out, in which he and his son were killed (267). The Germans took advantage of these disturbances to recommence their predatory expeditions, and burned several Gallic cities. Laelianus, respited by the death of Postumus, obtained some advantages over them, — attested by his coins, 5 — and rebuilt the forts which they had destroyed on the right bank of the Rhine; but the soldiers, offended by the labors which he required of them, murdered him. Victorinus had doubtless instigated this tragedy, which relieved him from a competitor; but another immediately came forward, — Marius, formerly a blacksmith. The Augustan History assigns to LAELIANUS . 4 1 Gold medallion in an open setting. (Collection of the Hague ; J. de Witte, Recherches, etc., pi. xxvi. No. 24.) 2 INDVLGENTIA AVG[usta]. The Emperor, standing, assisting a kneeling figure to rise. 8 Revue de num. vol. iv. 1859. 4 Laelianus crowned with laurel. (Gold Coin.) 6 Cohen, v. 60. One coin of Laelianus represents Spain, where he certainly never was in command, but he included it in his government (Eckhel, vii. 449). FROM ACCESSION OF DECIUS TO DEATH OF GALLIENUS. 265 COIN OF MARIUS . 1 this person only three days’ reign, in order to say that on the first day he was made emperor, on the second he reigned, and on the third he was dethroned. It is probable, however, that the time was somewhat longer; an old comrade, whose hand he had refused to touch, struck him with a sword which, as the story went, they had forged together. 2 The former colleague of Postumus, Victorinus, 3 had remained during these catastrophes the emperor of the Gallic prov¬ inces. He was born of a rich family, and one of his kindred, Tetricus, governed Aquitaine.' These ties of relationship consolidated his power, making him a national ruler in the eyes of the Gauls; and lie appeared so formidable to Gallienus that the latter, far from attack¬ ing him in Gaul, feared lest he should come to seek the empire of Italy as well. But habits of the grossest debauchery tarnished the merits of Victorinus, and he was assassinated at Cologne by one of his own officers whose wife he had outraged (268). 5 The true ruler during this reign had been Victorina, the Emperor’s mother, a woman of masculine courage, the Zenobia of THE EMPEROR MARIUS . 4 1 IMP. C. MARI VS AVG., around the radiate head of the Gallic Emperor. On the reverse, SAEC [uli] FELICITAS, and Felicity standing (coin of copper alloy). 2 We have coins and inscriptions of his which compel us to believe that his reign was not so short. De Boze ( Mem. de Vacad. xxvi. 512) gives him a reign of four or five months,— from September or October, 267, to January or February, 268. 3 Marcus Piavonius Victorinus (Or.-Henzen, No. 5,548; Eckhel, vii. 450). 4 Engraved stone of the Cabinet de France (20 millim. by 17), No. 2,105 of the Catalogue. 5 In the beginning of this year, and again in March, the Senate begs Claudius to overthrow Tetricus. Coins of Victorinus have lately been found in England. 266 MILITARY ANARCHY, 235 TO 268 a. d. the West, who by her largesses exercised great influence over the army. The soldiers called her the “ mother of the camps,” and a medal — the authenticity ’* of which, however, is doubtful — gives her the imperial title. If she did not take this title, she at least disposed of it, causing the army to acknowledge as emperor Tetricus, her kinsman, * 1 2 a prudent man averse to power, and only anxious to keep away from the camps, where rulers were made and unmade quickly. He estab- pi :■ L’D 'EX'BIpp OBDiexk-ivuiyi^i' feTCWSHNOCOS’i £ j£ > -rf? -TT - Or * iZi-xr so lished himself at Bor¬ deaux under the protection of the goddess Tutela; and we leave him there philo¬ sophically awaiting Aure- lian and the termination of an imperial power which he had not desired. A Dacian, Regalianus, believed to be a descend¬ ant of the famous Decebalus, had the government of Pannonia and Moesia. He had shown himself an able general, and could boast of several victories over the Sarmatians. This was enough to determine both soldiers and provincials to make emperor a man who gave to the former booty, and to the latter security, especially while the memory of the cruelties of Gallienus in that province were still fresh in the minds of all. Regalianus was therefore invested with the purple. ALTAR OF TUTELA FOUND AT BORDEAUX. 2 1 C. Pius Esuvius Tetricus (Borghesi, vol. vii. p. 430, note 4). He was proclaimed at Bordeaux before March, 268. De Witte, Revue de numism., vol. vi. 1861, and Recherclies sur les empereurs qui ont regne dans Jes Guides au troisieme siecle. 2 This pedestal dout tless bore a statue of Tutela, — the personified protecting power of the gods, a divinity much honored at Bordeaux. The inscription is of the year 224. Cf. Ch. Robert, Culte de Tutela , in the Memo ires de la Soc. arch, de Bordeaux. FROM ACCESSION OF DECIUS TO DEATH OF GALLIENUS. 267 This was the establishment of a Pannonian empire, after the man¬ ner in which the empires of Gaul and of the East had been estab¬ lished, and for the same reasons; namely, the defence of the terri¬ tory committed to the worthiest, because the official Emperor failed to make it secure. Regalianus came to a violent end, — according to some, in a revolt among his own people; 1 2 according to others, by an attack from Gallienus. Seeing the Empire thus parcelled out, there was no man too insignificant to desire to have his share. Of Antoninus, Memor. and Cecrops, we know only the names; of Satuminus we have only this saying to his soldiers: “ Comrades, you lose a good general, and you make a worthless emperor; ” of Celsus, this anecdote, that his partisans not finding the purple mantle which was indispensable for the consecration of an emperor, threw over him the robe of the dea caelestis of Carthage. The great goddess w r as scandalized, no doubt, at this impiety, for Celsus was killed almost imme¬ diately. His body was thrown to the dogs, which devoured it, and his effigy nailed to the cross on which criminals suffered, that the in¬ famy of this unfortunate man, who had reigned seven days, might be made eternal. Aemilianus, on the banks of the Nile, enjoyed his ephemeral dignity a little while longer, until Gallienus, being in need of the Egyptian wheat, sent against him Tlieodotus, whose services and fidelity had already been proved in Gaul. Aemilianus was defeated and taken prisoner, and soon after was strangled in his dungeon. In the number of usurpers is also placed one Trebellianus, a chief of those Isaurian mountaineers whom Rome had never civilized or disciplined. A bandit by trade, a pirate, he took advantage of the universal disorganization to extend his predatory expeditions. A brother of Tlieodotus defeated and killed him. Such is the perpet- AEMILIANTTS LAURELLED. (LARGE BRONZE.) 1 Treb. Pollio, Tyr. trig. 10. 2 IMP. C. P. C. REGALIANVS AYG.; radiate head of Regalianus. On the reverse: LTBER[a]L[it]AS AYG.; Liberty standing, holding a freedman’s cap and a sceptre. (Silver Goin.) 268 MILITARY ANARCHY, 235 TO 268 a. d. ually recurring termination of all these narratives. Local patriotism was keen enough for the desire to prevail of having a national chief; it was not persevering enough long to maintain these provincial Emperors, who, owing their elevation to disorder and public calam¬ ity, became in their turn its victims. Revolts con¬ tinued because they had begun, and men killed be¬ cause they had killed. One only of these usurpers so quickly over¬ thrown interests us, — the king of Palmyra, founder of a half Arab state, who, if he had been able to es- * tablish his authority, would have changed the face of the East. For this it was needful that Odenatlius should live; but, like all the others, he was assassi¬ nated. We shall again refer to this murder and AEMILIANUS BEFORE HIS ACCESSION (PROBABLE ). 1 tO tlllS kingdom in the history of Aurelian. What was Gallienus doing in the midst of these catastrophes ? One of the old authors loads him with maledictions; 2 another represents him laboring diligently to avert the public misfortunes. 3 When news came of the defection of the Gauls and of Egypt, Pollio represents him as saying: u Can we not live, then, without Egyptian linen and tapestry?” At the same time, he was not 1 Bust of tlie Museum of Lyons (Comarmond, Descr. des Antiques, etc., pi. 9, No. 152). 2 Treb. Pollio, in the Augustan Histopy. This author wrote in the time of the Caesar Constantius, a descendant of Claudius II. (Gall. 14), and Claudius caused the murder of Gallienus ; Pollio therefore regarded Gallienus as a criminal. * Zosimus, i. 30-45. FROM ACCESSION OF DECIUS TO DEATH OF GALLIENUS. 269 destitute of courage; he loved poetry, eloquence, the arts, and he was on the point of giving Plotinus, at the request of the Empress Salonina, a district in Campania (to be called Platonopolis), that the philosopher might try the experiment of Plato’s Republic. But of what value are these mental endowments, — the splendid and beautiful adornment of more prosperous reigns ? At such a time as this the Empire needed, not a maker of Greek and Latin verses, but a soldier. Gallienus might have reigned like Au- relian, Probus, and Diocletian. If he did not do this, it was because of his incapacity, and we may leave him with his poor reputation. In 267 Aureolus, once a Dacian shepherd, 1 but a brave soldier, the conqueror of Macrianus in Thrace, and the adversary of Postumus in Gaul, was left to guard with an army the passes of the Western Alps against Victorinus, while Gallienus went to drive out of Illyria the Barbarians who had unexpectedly appeared there. These invaders came from afar; from the Sea of Azof five hundred vessels had set out, in which no strength was wasted, for they carried a multitude of warriors, 2 who at sea were rowers, and on land were fighting-men. They crossed the Bosphorus, the Propontis, and the Hellespont, killing and pillaging. When Mithri- dates besieged Cyzicus, four centuries earlier, that city had three arsenals filled with weapons, grain, machines of war, and in its harbor were two hundred galleys. Notwithstanding the many formi¬ dable warnings given these populations during the last thirty years, the Goths found no preparations for defence. They pillaged the city, and Lemnos and Scyros shared the same fate. The Pelopon¬ nesus and Epirus were ravaged, and one of their bands surprised Athens, whence the population fled. A monk of the twelfth century relates that the Goths, having collected in a heap all the books found in the city, were about to give to the flames these products of a civilization which they despised, when one of their chiefs de¬ terred them. “ Let us leave to the Greeks,” he said, “ these books, which render them so effeminate and unwarlike.” Montaigne 3 1 Zonaras, xii. 24. 2 Gibbon says fifteen thousand, taking for authority a text of Strabo, which allows from twenty-five to thirty men as a crew for the vessels of the Euxine. But we have no proof that, three centuries later than Strabo, these vessels were no larger. 3 Essais, i. 24. It is a reminiscence of the words quoted by Cicero in the Dr Senertute. 13. in speaking of the doctrines of Epicurus. 270 MILITARY ANARCHY, 235 TO 268 a. d. repeats this story, and Rousseau quotes it after him. An Athe¬ nian proved to them, however, that a man could be both a scholar and a soldier. Cleodemos, says Zonaras, rallied the fu¬ gitives, armed a few vessels, and killed a great number of marauders; the rest fled. 1 Zonaras is wrong as to the author of this bold stroke: the last of the Athenian heroes was the historian Dexippos. The city having been taken by surprise, two thousand Athenians escaped to a wooded hill, and there resisted all attacks. Other Greeks gathered in this “ camp of refuge;” successful sorties were made, and some imperial galleys, coming up, destroyed the vessels of the Barbarians. The latter were not dismayed by this disaster, but made their way overland to their companions who were pillaging the Peloponnesus and Boeotia; they entered Acarnania by way of Epirus, and formed the bold design of returning home through Illyricum. This was the invasion which Gallienus set out to repel. He destroyed some of their bands, bought over others, and made one of their chiefs consul. We are tempted to believe that he put the consular toga upon the shoulders of this Herulan with the same feelings that we experience in giving a plumed hat to some negro king on the African coast. But this son-in-law of the Marcomanni, so much under the influence of Pipa, his young barbaric wife, 2 chose to give the ceremony all possible official grandeur; and the fact is more important than it at first appears. We have seen already how the Barbarians, admitted into the auxiliary troops, and then made citizens, filled the legions. We now see them pass, with¬ out change, from Barbarism to the consulship. The invasion was going on in the lower ranks, it will be seen also in the upper; 3 and in consequence of this slow but continuous infiltration it was really completed on the day when it appears to begin, — with the furious attack of 405. Thus for two centuries all things continued to grow worse in this Empire, still Roman on the surface, but in reality more and more permeated every day with Germanic elements. 4 1 Zonaras, xii. 26. 2 . . . Quam is perdite dilexerit. To please her he covered his black locks with gold powder, and would have his friends do the same. Gallienus cum suis semper Jlavo crinem condit (Treb. Pollio, Salon. Gall. 3). 3 See, p. 196, what lieutenants Valerian gave to Aurelian. 4 A medal of this year commemorates a naval victory over the Goths, who, returning from FROM ACCESSION OF DECIUS TO DEATH OF GALLIENUS. 271 While Gallienus was fighting in Illyria, Aureolus found the occasion propitious to stir up revolt in Italy and seize upon Rome. The Emperor defeated him at Pontirolo (Pons Aureoli), upon the Adda, and held him besieged in Milan. But in the imperial camp, Aurelian, Heraclius, and Claudius, the most important generals in the army, conspired against the violent and feeble ruler under whom the Empire had fallen so low. One day, when at the news of a sortie attempted by Aureolus, Gallienus had flung himself unarmed upon a horse, a conspirator pierced him with an arrow (March 22, 268). His brother Yalerianus was also killed; this young man was of amiable character and brilliant talents, and dying at an age when many hopes centred in him, left a much¬ loved memory. Claudius had ordered his death for reasons of state; but he erected to him a monument, on which these words were engraved, wherein we seem to read a half-stifled regret: Valerianus, imperator . 1 We have had occasion to remark that the entire defence in this reign stops at the Danube and the Rhine: this signifies that the Decumatian lands and Dacia, where the early Empire kept Barbarism in check, were lost. 2 Nor were the Roman troops any longer able to guard the line of the two rivers, which armed bands incessantly crossed in the intervals of the great invasions, so that disquietude prevailed everywhere. It was a condition similar to that of France at the time of the Norman incursions. Conse¬ quently (as later was done in the beginning of feudal times, and for the same reasons) the provinces were covered with fortified castles, and the walls of cities were made strong again. Gallienus rebuilt those of Verona, the gate of Italy, 3 and employed two Asia laden with spoils, were scattered by a tempest upon the Euxine, and later by a Roman flotilla (Eckliel, vii. 394, and Treb. Pollio, Gall. 12). 1 Treb. Pollio, Valeriani duo , 8. He was the son of Valerian’s second wife. Eckhel (vii. 427-435) believes that he was neither Caesar nor Augustus, notwithstanding the positive assertion of Trebellius Pollio. The word imperator would be then merely the military title; but this title had for many years been given only to sovereigns. Zonaras says that a second son of Gallienus was put to death by order of the Senate. 2 Aur. Victor, Eutropius, and Orosius (vii. 22) place the loss of Dacia in this reign. The series of coins of Odessus (near Varna), which begin with Trajan and end with Salonina, the wife of Gallienus, prove that this part of Moesia (where the Goths had destroyed Istria) was in process of being detached from the Empire. 8 Accordingly Verona took his name : Colonia Augusta Verona Nova Gallieniana ; inscrip¬ tion over the gate of Verona, now called de' Borsari (C. I. L. v. 3,329). 272 MILITARY ANARCHY, 235 TO 268 a. d. Byzantine engineers to fortify the towns of Moesia; 1 Claudius II. later reconstructed the walls of Nicaea; 2 Aurelian and Probus undoubtedly continued these defensive works; and as the Bar¬ barians penetrated far into the provinces, the cities of the interior, as well as those of the frontiers, surrounded themselves with ramparts. 3 The Emperors of the first two centuries of the Christian era had not required so much precaution, for the reason that they had made the Empire one great city, peaceful and industrious, needing to be protected by outposts only, which good discipline rendered perfectly inaccessible. The two periods are characterized by their monuments: in one, the works of peace, strength, and security; in the other, the works of war, of weak¬ ness and alarm. 1 Treb. Pollio, Gall. 13 : . . . Instaurandis urbibus muniendisque praefecit. One of these engineers was named Athenaeus, and we have from an author of this name, in the Mathematici veteres, 1693, a treatise on machines of war. 2 Letronne, Journal des Savants, 1827. 3 See above, p. 219. THIRTEENTH PERIOD. THE ILLYRIAN EMPERORS: THE EMPIRE STRENGTHENED. CHAPTER XCVII. CLAUDIUS AND AURELIAN (268-275 A.D.). I. — Claudius II. (268-270); The Fiest Invasion eepulsed. T HE conspirators of the camp of Milan were very different men from the praetorians who had formerly put the Empire up to auction. They were brave soldiers, determined to make an end to the disgrace of Rome by the re-establishment of discipline and a vigor¬ ous prosecution of the war against the Barbarians. They selected for emperor that one of their comrades who seemed to be the most expe¬ rienced and who was the most conspicuous, Claudius the Dalmatian. 1 The flatterers of Constantius Chlorus, his grand-nephew, gave Clau¬ dius for ancestor the Trojan Dardanus ; but he had made his own rank. Decius had declared him indispensable to the state ; Valerian held him in high esteem, and Gallienus dreaded his judgment. Under Valerian, Claudius had held the government of Illyricum and the command of the troops posted from the Alps to the Euxine, with the salary of a prefect of Egypt, the honors of the 1 Marcus Aurelius Claudius. Trebellius Pollio (In Claudio, ?) gives him the nomen gen. tilicium of Flavius, which passed to all his posterity. Zosimus and Zonaras say that he was a member of the conspiracy, — and this is doubtless the fact, although Julian, his kinsman, denies it. He had two brothers, Quintillus, of whom we shall speak later, and Crispus, whose daugh¬ ter Claudia, married to Eutropius, was the mother of Constantius Chlorus. 18 VOL. VII. 274 ILLYRIAN EMPERORS: THE EMPIRE STRENGTHENED. proconsul of Africa, and a suite as numerous as that of the Emperor, 1 — in which we see that the luxury of Oriental courts had invaded the court of Rome, transforming, even in these times of disaster, the simple comitatus of the early proconsuls into a royal suite ruinous to the public finances. The weakness of Gallienus exasperated Claudius ; something of this came to the Emperor’s ears, who made haste to write to one of his officers a deprecatory letter, wherein is revealed the miserable con¬ dition of these Augusti, who knew neither how to command nor how to make themselves obeyed : — “ I learn with the deepest regret by your report that Claudius, our kins¬ man and friend, is greatly offended with me on account of rumors — mostly untrue — which have been brought him. I beg you, my dear Venustus, if you will do me a service, to employ Gratus GOLD BRACELET . 2 , TT . . , . x and Herennianus to appease him. Hut let it all be done secretly, lest the Dacian soldiers, already dis¬ contented, should proceed to some dangerous extremity. I send him presents. Persuade him to receive them courteously ; but let him not suspect that I know his sentiments towards me, for if he believed me to have cause of resentment against him, he might take violent action.” 3 1 Salarii quantum habet Aegypti praefectura, tantum vestium quantum proconsulate Africano detulimus, tantum argenti quantum accipit curator lllyrici (Treb. Pollio, Claud. 15). 2 Gold bracelet adorned with a coin of Claudius Gotliicus. (Cabinet of Vienna.) Cf. Ar- neth, Gold und Silb. pi. vi. 11. This bracelet (about twice the size of the figure) bears four coins enchased, — Marcus Aurelius, Caracalla, Gordian III., and Claudius II., — and proves, like the necklace found at Naix (see frontispiece of Sect. I. of this volume) and many aurei which we have already given, the taste of the Romans for jewels of this kind. 3 These gifts, which the Emperor enumerates in his letter, were as follows: “ Two cups of three pounds weight, adorned with precious stones; two gold cups of three pounds, enriched with gems; a basin of chased silver of twenty pounds; a silver dish with chasing of vine-leaves of thirty pounds ; another great silver dish, with ivy-leaves, of twenty-three pounds; a silver basin of twenty pounds weight, whereon is engraved a fish; two silver pitchers inlaid with gold of six pounds weight, and some small silver vases, weighing collectively twenty-five pounds; ten Egyptian cups of divers workmanship; two cloaks of brilliant color with purple borders; sixteen garments of various kinds ; a white tunic, half silk ; a linen garment, with silk bands embroidered with gold, of the weight of three ounces; three pairs of our boots of Persian leather ; ten Dalmatian belts ; a Dardanian chlamys in the form of a mantle ; an Illyrian cloak CLAUDIUS AND AURELIAN, 268 TO 275 a. d. 275 Gallienus hoped to pay his ransom in this way; but pro¬ bably Claudius only despised him the more for it. When the conspirators proclaimed the new Emperor, the soldiers showed some discontent, in order to make their price higher. Twenty pieces of gold distributed to each man removed all scruples. They declared Gallienus a tyrant; and the Senate, with more genuine eagerness, did the same. They despatched to the Gemoniae the servants of the man who had been displeased at any trace of patriotism in the senators ; 1 and it is related that in the curia itself one of the officers of the treasury had his eyes put out, 2 — a shameful act of cruelty, a presage of the degenerate days of the Later Empire. Claudius put a stop to these executions, and the Conscript Fathers, repenting, placed Gallienus among the divi, — which was equivalent to the maintenance of his acts. When they heard of the election of Claudius, they confirmed it by those repeated acclamations which seem to us so contrary to senatorial gravity, but were at that time a surprise to no one: “ Augustus Claudius, the gods grant you to our prayers” (repeated sixty times); “ Claudius Augustus, it is you, or a ruler resembling you, whom we have ever desired” (forty times); “Claudius Augus¬ tus, the wishes of the state call you to the throne ” (forty times); 4t Claudius Augustus, you are the model of brothers, fathers, friends, senators, and rulers” (eighty times); “ Claudius Augustus, deliver us from Aureolus ” (five times); “ Claudius Augustus, deliver us from the Palmyrenes ” (five times); “ Claudius Augustus, deliver us from Zenobia and Victorina ” (seven times); “ Claudius Augustus, may Tetricus be nought” (seven times). 3 Claudius in fact found himself in the presence of three adversaries. With better judgment than the Senate possessed, he neglected two of them, who were far away, at the extremities of the Empire; rapidly disposed of the third, whom a judgment of the soldiers condemned to death; and occupied himself with preparing for a great war against the Barbarians. “ The matter of Tetricus,” for bad weather; an over-garment with a hood; two furred hoods ; four pieces of Phoenician stuffs ; 150 "old Valerians and 300 trientes sciloninienses.” 1 See p. 239. 2 . . . Patronoque Jisci in curiam perducto effossos oculos pependisse satis constat (Aur. Victor, Caes. 33). 3 Treb. Pollio, Claud. 4. 276 ILLYRIAN EMPERORS: THE EMPIRE STRENGTHENED. he said to the Senate, “ concerns myself only; that of the Goths is of importance to the state.” 1 For the last thirty years these Barbarians had been ravaging the Roman frontiers; as booty became scarce, they formed the idea of establishing themselves as a nation in the interior of the Empire, whose climate they knew to be milder than that of the Scythian plains, where extremes of cold and heat made life hard. Messengers were sent from the banks of the Dniester to those of the Morava (March); councils were held among the Tervingae, or Eastern Goths, among the Gepidae, the Heruli, the Peucinii; and a vast coalition was formed to second the invasion of the Eastern Goths by a series of attacks upon the middle Danube. The Scordisci, of Celtic origin, entered the league; the Alemanni and their neighbors, the Juthungi, 2 doubtless informed as to these projects, promised themselves to take advantage of them to raid the rich valley of the Po. They even were the first to be ready. Without waiting for their allies, they rushed through the defiles of the Alps, which they had often before traversed, and came down in the year 268 upon the shores of the Lago di Garda (Benacus). Claudius met them there with an army which he had already been able to subject thoroughly to his authority, and half of the Barbarians fell under the sword of the legionaries. It was a good omen for the more serious strife to come. During the winter of 268 the hatchet rang incessantly through the Sarmatian forests; the felled trees were rolled to the river banks, and in the spring these streams were covered with two thousand vessels, 3 whereon tried warriors were embarked. The horde itself, consisting of three hundred and twenty thousand fighting- men, 4 — not to mention the women and children and slaves,— 1 lie took, however, some precautions to close Italy against the Gallic Emperor, and to threaten the provinces of the latter. An inscription recently discovered at Grenoble gives Clau¬ dius the title of Germanicus Maximus, which he took after his victories over the Alemanni, and reveals a fact which no historian has mentioned ; namely, his making ready for a campaign against Tetricus. This inscription is engraved at the base of a statue raised to Claudius by an army corps posted in Narbonensis, in which were some of the imperial guard ( protectores ), and whose commander was the perfectissimus Julius Placidianus, prefect of the watch (L. Renier, in the Comptes rendus de I'Acad. des inscr. et belles-lettres, July 18, 1879). 2 Amm. Marcellinus (xvii. G) says of the Juthungi: Alamannorumpars. 3 Zosimus (I. 42) says six thousand. 4 This is the statement of Claudius in his letter to the Senate. CLAUDIUS AND AURELIAN, 268 TO 275 a. d. 277 set out on its march westward, with innumerable flocks, 1 and great wagons which were made to serve as protection to their ROMAN TROOPER TREADING A GERMAN UNDER HIS HORSE’S FEET . 2 camps. 3 The army and the fleet followed the coast, keeping 1 The Barbarians habitually drove their flocks along with them, in order to secure their subsistence. We read in the Augustan History that under Valerian, — that is to say, before the great invasion, — Aurelian took from some bands in Thrace oxen and horses enough to supply the province, and that he was able also to send to one of the Emperor’s villas 2,000 cows, 1,000 mares, 10,000 sheep, and 15,000 goats. This was the booty most frequently obtained from the Barbarians. Accordingly, Treb. Pollio (Claud. 9) exclaims, after the Emperor’s great victory : Quid bourn barbarorum nostri videre majores, quid ovium, quid equarum ? 2 Monument found near Zalilbach (Museum of Mayence). The Barbarian is recogniza¬ ble by his long hair and his curved sword (L. Stracke, op. cit. p. 59). 3 This use was so well known to the Homans that they invented a new word to express 278 ILLYRIAN EMPERORS: THE EMPIRE STRENGTHENED. at some distance from it, — the former to avoid the marshes which the sluggish rivers of this region create at their mouths, the latter on account of the shoals which the alluvial deposits form to a considerable distance. 1 The Danube was crossed by aid of the vessels, and a few days’ march brought the Goths in sight of Tomi. Preceding invasions had made clear to all the cities in this region the necessity of reconstructing their walls and putting themselves in a state of defence. Tomi closed its gates; the inhabitants manned their walls, and the Goths were'not in a condition to effect a breach. Being unable to delay in these plains of the Dobroudja, where it is so difficult to live, they set out towards the Balkans in the di¬ rection of Marcianopolis (eighteen miles eastward of Varna). This city, built by Trajan, was worthy of its founder, and stood firm against all attacks. Upon this the Barbarians conceived a skilful design: they sepa¬ rated ; the fleet sailed towards the Propontis, threatened Byzantium and Cyzicus, and then, notwithstanding a tempest which cost it a great loss of men and vessels, reached the peninsula of Atlios, where they again separated. Part of them besieged Cassandreia (the ancient Potidaea) and the great city of Thessalonica, to open a way into Macedon. The others ravaged Greece, the Cyclades, Crete, Rhodes, Cyprus; and the storm, losing its strength as it went on, at last died away on the shores of Pamphylia. While the rumor of these raids detained in the southern part of the Empire those Roman forces which were in the neighborhood of the Aegean Sea, the main attack of the Barbarians was made on the North. The Goths traversed Moesia, and arrived in the valley of the Margus (the Morava), being well aware that they COIN OF TOMTJS . 2 it . . . facta carragine (Treb. Pollio, Gall. 13, and Amm. Marcellinus, xxxi. 7). The Goths before the battle of Adrianople, Attila after the battle of Chalons, shut themselves within a wall made of their wagons; and the emigrants upon the plains of the Territories of the United States do the same at this day. 1 "Whatever may have been the number of vessels, the fleet could not have carried the entire army, and the history of this invasion is incomprehensible unless we admit that there was both a land and a sea force. 2 Bust of Tomus. On the reverse, TOMI TIMO, and an eagle within an oak-wreath. (Bronze coin.) CLAUDIUS AND AUKELIAN, 268 TO 275 a. d. 279 could not establish themselves peacefully on the right bank of the Danube until after they had destroyed the imperial army. Never, since the Gauls and Hannibal, had Rome been in so great danger. Claudius wrote to the Senate: “ I must tell you the truth, Con¬ script Fathers. Three hundred thousand Barbarians have invaded Roman territory. If I am successful, you will acknowledge that we have deserved well of our country. If I am not victorious, remember whom I follow. The state is exhausted, and we fight after Valerian, after Ingenuus, after Regalianus, after Laelianus, after Postumus, after Celsus, after many others, who have been detached from the state on account of the contempt inspired by Gallienus. We are deficient in bucklers and swords and javelins. Tetricus is master of the Gallic , 0 . . . . , SMALL BRONZE . 1 and Spanish provinces, which are the strength ot the Empire ; and — I am ashamed to say it — our archers are all serving under Zenobia. Whatever little we may do, our successes will be as great as you have a right to expect.” 2 Claudius acted with discretion. He did not advance directly upon this enormous mass. Leaving his brother Quintillus at the head of a considerable army in the neighborhood of Aquileia, to keep secure this gate into Italy, he himself traversed Illyria, entered Macedon by the pass of Scupi, and halted in the upper valley of the Axius. He thus placed himself between the fleet of the Goths and their land army. Protected against the latter by Mount Orbelos, he could by the Axius, which falls into the extremity of the Thermaic Gulf, keep watch over the coast. If the siege-machines which the Barbarians had caused to be con¬ structed by Roman fugitives should overcome the resistance of the inhabitants of Thessalonica, the Emperor would be able to hinder the victors from passing over into Macedon and effecting a junction with their comrades. This position permitted him, therefore, to wait his time for striking a decisive blow. But the Goths were not able to storm a well-defended city, and they had not the patience to reduce it by famine. 3 At the 1 Quintillus, brother of Claudius II. 2 Treb. Pollio, Claud. 7. 8 To preserve the memory of the brave resistance made by Thessalonica, a bronze medal was struck in honor of the god Cabirus (Deo Cabiro), the protecting divinity of the city, who doubtless came thither from Samothrace, the sanctuary of the Cabiri. (Cf. Eckhel, vii. 472.) 280 ILLYRIAN EMPERORS: THE EMPIRE STRENGTHENED. news of the approach of Claudius they marched boldly to meet him; Aurelian, whom the Emperor had appointed chief of the cavalry, arrested them by an engagement, in which the Dalmatian horse dis¬ tinguished themselves. Three thousand Goths were killed, many more were taken prisoners, and Claudius, now set free to move GOTHS —MEN, WOMEN, AND CHILDREN — LED INTO SLAVERY . 1 northward by the discomfiture of the southern enemy, went across the mountains in search of the great army in the valley of the Margus. The battle took place near Nai'ssus (Nissa); it was long and sanguinary. A corps, which found the opportunity to advance through an unguarded road, turned the enemy’s flank and fell upon their rear. This movement was fatal to the Barbarians : fifty thou¬ sand remained upon the field (269), 1 2 and the others, cut off from the valley of the Danube, fell in scattered bands upon Macedon and 1 Bas-relief from a sarcophagus of the third century (Vatican). 2 We have medals of Claudius of this year which represent him with the radiate crown. (Cf. Eckhel, vii. 471.) CLAUDIUS AND AURELIAN, 26S TO 275 a. d. 281 Thrace. The legions separated to pursue them; the war was broken into fragments, and it became impossible to repeat the blow struck at Naissus. From time to time the Barbarians halted behind the wall of their wagons, — a movable fortification, whence they made successful sorties against those of the Romans who ventured in too small force into their neighborhood. Nevertheless, wasted by ROMAN AUXILIARY HORSEMAN (MUSEUM OF MAYENCE). continual attacks, by hunger, and by disease, they perished in multi¬ tudes. A somewhat numerous troop succeeded in taking refuge in the Balkans. The Romans followed them thither, and barred all egress from the mountain, where during the severe winter provisions were lacking ; and to complete their destruction, Claudius entered the defiles and put them to the sword (270). The Emperor prepared his bulletin of victory with a rhetoric 282 ILLYRIAN EMPERORS: THE EMPIRE STRENGTHENED. not unpardonable: “We have destroyed a hundred and twenty thousand Goths, and sunk two thousand vessels. The water of the river is concealed under the bucklers that it bears along with COIN OP CLAUDIUS II . 8 it, the banks under broken swords and lances, the fields under the bones of the dead. The roads are all choked with the enor¬ mous baggage the enemy have left behind them.” 1 The imperial fleet had also been successful in destroying what remained of the vessels that had come from the Dniester • 2 so that of this vast multitude, very few returned to the regions they had left a year before so full of hope and courage. Those who had not perished were sent to cultivate as slaves or colonists the lands of the conquerors, and their wives were distributed among the Roman soldiers. A certain number of their young men were enrolled in the cohorts, and others sent to Rome to fight in the amphitheatres. The capital doubt¬ less was not the only city honored with “ a present of gladiators.” Claudius would naturally grant the same favor to many cities, that all Italy might see serving its pleasures those Goths who, during an entire generation, had inspired it with so much alarm. 4 This immense drain upon the Gothic nation was to secure a century of repose to Moesia. 6 But the Emperor who had repulsed this first and formidable invasion fell amid his triumph. A pesti¬ lence had aided him in setting free the provinces, but it carried him off at Sirmium (April, 270). He was but fifty-four, and his strong maturit} 7 promised the Empire a reparatory reign; for he loved justice, he desired discipline, and he was of those who knew how to maintain it. In the midst of the ambitious surnames, which so many Emperors have received, — some for real, but more for problematic victories, — history should give the most honorable 1 Epistola ad Jun. Brocclium Illyricum tuentem (Treb. Pollio, Claud. 8). 2 Zonaras, xii. 26. 3 Reverse of a coin of Claudius IT., bearing : IVVENTVS AVG. (Small bronze.) This coin, with the effigy of Hercules, makes allusion to the green old age of the Emperor, as Vergil says ( Aeneid , vi. 304), — Jam senior sed cruda dea viridisque senectus. 4 Treb. Pollio (Claud. 8-9) : . . . Impletae larbaris servis Romanaeprovinciae ; factus colonus ex Gotho, nec ulla fuit regio quae Gothum servum non haberet. He speaks also of immenser droves of oxen and sheep and equarum quas fama nobilitat Celtiearum. (Cf. Zosimus, i. 46.) 5 . . . Pulsi per longa saecula siluerunt irnmobiles (Amm. Marcellinus, xxxi. 5). CLAUDIUS AND AURELIAN, 268 TO 275 a. d 283 mention to that of Claudius Gothicus. The nations long remem¬ bered him. As late as the time of Constantine, Eumenes says: “Why did he not longer remain the protector of men, and later become the companion of the gods?” 1 At news of the death of Claudius the legions of Aquileia pro¬ claimed his brother, M. Aurelius Quintillus, whom the Senate hastened to recognize. The soldiers of Panno- nia had made, however, a better choice in naming Aurelian, 2 3 whom, according to some accounts, Claudius himself had designated as his successor. Such was the fame of this general that his rival did not even attempt to contend against him. After a reign of three weeks according to some, of several months according to others, 4 Quintillus killed himself, or was put to death by soldiers whom his severity had incensed. II.-— Aurelian (270-275). 5 “After the ceremonies of the festival of Cybele,” says Vopiscus, “ the prefect of the city, Junius Tiberianus, took me in his chariot from the Palatine to the gardens of Varus, and we talked, among other things, of the history of the Emperors. When we came to the temple of the Sun dedicated by Aurelian, Tiberianus, who belonged to the family of this Emperor, asked me if any one had written his life. ‘Certain Greeks have done it,’ I said, ‘but no Latins.’ ‘ What! ’ exclaimed this upright man, 6 ‘ a Thersites, a Sinon, and all the monsters of antiquity are known to us, posterity will also know them, and Aurelian, this valiant Emperor who has restored the world to Rome, will be to our descendants a stranger! 1 Panegyr. Constantini, 2. 2 This is the statement of Zonaras ; Zosimus does not give Aurelian the imperial dignity until after the death of Quintillus. 3 IMP. C. M. AYR. CL. QVINTILLVS AYG. around the radiate head of the Augustus. (Bronze coin.) 4 This is the statement of Zosimus. The number of coins of Quintillus that we possess (Eckhel, vii. 478; Cohen, v. 112-120) compel us to adopt the second opinion, which, more¬ over, agrees better with the early facts of Aurelian’s reign. 5 L. Domitius Aurelianus. 6 Vopiscus says (Aur. 1) sanctus, using the word in its ancient sense. 284 ILLYRIAN EMPERORS: THE EMPIRE STRENGTHENED. Meanwhile we have his Ephemerides, in which he ordered to be registered his acts day by day. 1 I will cause these books, which are in the Ulpian library, to be given you, that you may represent Aurelian as he really was.’” These were rich materials which the highest magistrate of Rome offered to the historian. Yopiscus, a man of small mind and a poor writer, knew not how to avail himself of them. But the official documents which he drew from the archives are in many ways interesting; we have used some of them already, and shall use others hereafter. Claudius had destroyed the great Gothic army, with the exception of some few bands which had found shelter here and there among the mountains, and later reappeared for a mo¬ ment in the neighborhood of Anchialos and Nicopolis, where the country people proved strong enough to disperse them. 2 But, bust of cybele . 3 following the concerted plan, there was to be a second invasion by way of Pannonia; the Van¬ dals, the Juthungi, and the Alemanni were in motion. To arrest these new assailants, Claudius had turned northward and encamped 1 Ephemeridas . . . libris linteis (ibid.). The scene related in this passage has been placed about 291, or sixteen years after the death of Aurelian. Junius Tiberianus in this year held his second consulship, but not the urban prefecture. Many passages in chaps, xlii. and xliii. prove that Yopiscus wrote his book after the accession of Constantius Chlorus (305). The father of Yopiscus had been among the intimate friends of Diocletian, and we have seen that the son was the companion of the urban prefect. These relations with the highest society in Rome placed him in a position to take advantage of the reminiscences of Aurelian’s early com¬ panions in arms; but his feeble literary merit proves that this society was not very exacting in respect to mental gifts. 2 This fact explains certain medals of Quintillus. 3 Roman work of the first century, found near Abbeville. (Marble in the Cabinet de France, No. 2,918.) CLAUDIUS AND AURELIAN, 268 TO 275 a. d. 285 his troops at Sirmium, a strong place not far from the point where the Save falls into the Danube, and the defensive centre of the entire region. Aurelian was at this spot when the death of Claudius gave him the Empire. He was born, in 214, 1 in the neighborhood of this city, the son of a colonist of the senator Aurelius, whose name, according to usage, had been assumed by his freedman, and the latter had charge of a little farm belonging to his patron. 2 The mother of Aurelian had been a priestess of the Sun in the village where they lived, and he always preserved a special veneration for that divinity. We know his courage, his exploits, and the high offices which he had filled. Loaded with honors by Valerian, he had been, at the suggestion of that Emperor, received as adopted son or son-in-law into the family of Ulpius Crinitus, one of the great per¬ sonages of the Empire, who claimed to be a descendant of Trajan; and thus the son of a Pannonian peasant became the heir to the household gods, the name, and the wealth of the most illustrious house in Rome. 3 Very severe as to discipline, very exacting for the service, Aurelian exercised, however, a great influence over the troops, for the reason that they had often seen their general fighting like a common soldier, — a circumstance which, in the ancient wars, added prestige to a chief. There was talk of many enemies whom he had slain, and he was known in the camps as “ the iron-handed Aurelian.” 4 Being the bravest, it was permitted him to be the most severe. A soldier had offered insult to the wife of the man 1 Malalas (xii. 301) makes him sixty-one years of age at the time of his death, which fixes the date of his birth in 214; Tillemont and Wietersheim place it in 212. The Alexandrian Chronicle makes him seventy-five at his death; but the facts of his reign, medals, and other considerations, do not permit us to attribute to him this advanced age. 2 Colonus, says the author of the Epitome, 35. 3 Vopiseus speaks, following documents which he gives as official, of a formal adoption ; but as Aurelian did not take the name of Ulpius Crinitus, which he would have done, according to usage, had he been adopted, we feel obliged to doubt the authenticity of the act. On the other hand, both inscriptions (Orelli, Nos. 1,032 and 5,552) and coins (Eckhel, vii. 487) give him as a wife Ulpia Severina. If this Ulpia was the daughter of Crinitus, the marriage would have secured to Aurelian the same advantages as an adoption, while had he been the adopted son of Ulpius Crinitus he could not have married her who had thus become legally his sister. Many ancient rules had, however, fallen into desuetude, and it is possible that both the adoption and the marriage did take place. 4 This is rather a mediteval equivalent than an exact translation of the Latin mnnu ad ferrum (Aur. 6), “ Aurelian, sword in hand/’ 286 ILLYRIAN EMPERORS: THE EMPIRE STRENGTHENED. with whom he was quartered: Aurelian ordered him to be bound between two trees bent together, which tore him asunder as they sprang back into their place. On one occasion he wrote to an officer: “ If you desire to be a tribune, if you wish even to live, restrain the soldier. Let no man steal a fowl or a sheep or so much as a bunch of grapes, or demand oil, salt, or wood. Each must be content with his rations : what the state provides is enough ; booty must be taken from the enemy, and must not cost tears to the provinces. See to it that weapons, clothing, and shoes are always in good condition, the pack-horses well groomed, the company’s mule 1 cared for by each soldier in his turn, and all the forage used, so that none be sold. See that the soldiers be attended gratuitously by the surgeons, and prevent them from wasting their money in taverns or upon soothsayers; require them to conduct themselves decently in quarters, and let brawlers be beaten.” Septimius Severus had been wont to speak thus, and this firmness had given him an illustrious reign ; it had the same results in the case of Aurelian. Like the great African, Aurelian was a man of strict morality, and disdainful of pleasure; like him, also, Aurelian did not hasten to receive the foolish acclamations of the Senate. He defeated the Juthungi, who threatened Rhaetia, and regulated the affairs of this frontier, which occupied several months. When he at last made the journey to Rome, he spoke haughtily in the curia. “ I have gold for my friends,” he said, “ and I have steel for my foes.” 2 It will soon be seen that these foes were not always on the frontiers. To have no cause to fear in Italy the old troops of Quintillus, he had brought home with him from Pannonia a large force. The Juthungi and Vandals deemed the occasion propitious to invade that province. Aurelian returned thither in all haste, sending before him the order to collect the grain and cattle within the fortresses. The shock was severe, and the victory indecisive. When night came, however, the enemy fell back, and Aurelian was able to cut off their route to the Danube. Menaced by famine in a desolated country, the Barbarians were ready to negotiate. Their envoys con¬ cealed fear under a show of arrogance, and the Emperor postponed 1 Mulurn centuriatum , the ordinance mule. 2 Some uncertainty exists in regard to the order of events in the first months of Aurelian’s reign. I have followed the account which seems to harmonize best with the known facts. CLAUDIUS AND AUKELIAN, 2G8 TO 275 a. d 287 their audience until the following day. He then received them seated upon his tribunal, surrounded by a threatening military display. On each side, his principal officers on horseback; behind him, the AUKELIAN . 1 golden eagles of the legions, the effigies of the Emperors, the silver pikes which bore in gilt letters the names of the different corps; in the distance the army, as if ready to engage, ranged in a semicircle upon an eminence which brought it into full view. 2 Less 1 Bust of the Vatican, Braccio Nuovo, No. 122. 2 'A 8tj crv/jiTravTa avaTfrapiva Trpov(fialveTo . . . (Dexippos, Fra gin. hist. Graec. iii. 682; Peter Patricius, Excerpta de legationibus, p. 126). 288 ILLYRIAN EMPERORS: THE EMPIRE STRENGTHENED. skilful in concealing their feelings than were the Indians of North America, the Juthungi stood for a while abashed in the presence of this imposing spectacle; but their audacity soon returned to them. “We do not ask peace as those who have been con¬ quered,” said their interpreter, “ but as former friends of the Romans, and as men who know that a battle lost by a surprise may be followed by a victory. Our nation alone numbers forty thousand cavalry, and twice as many foot; and Italy, which we have almost completely overrun, knows well our valor. In alliance with us you will have no enemy to fear; give us, therefore, the usual presents, the subsidies that we were receiving before the war, and let peace be made.” Dexippos, who relates the scene, is a con¬ temporary, but he puts in the mouth of Aurelian an improbably long reply, of which we give only the concluding words: “ Since you have violated the treaties and pillaged our territory, you have no right to ask any favors, and it is your place to accept the conqueror s law. You know what became of the three hundred thousand Goths who invaded the Empire: the same fate awaits you. It is my intention to cross the Danube and punish you in your own homes for your broken faith.” The Juthungi, completely intimidated, promised to return into their country. A few months later came another invasion of the Vandals and the Jazyges, and another victory on the part of Aurelian, who, to facilitate their retreat, sup¬ plied them with provisions. They gave up as hostages the sons of their chiefs and two thousand horsemen, who were included among the auxiliaries of the legions. 1 Aurelian, making a sacrifice on his part which must have cost his pride a pang, although it cost the Empire nothing, ceded Dacia to them, offering lands on the south of the Danube to those Roman colonists who were unwilling to remain in the province. This relinquishment was necessary, for Dacia, overrun from both sides, and invaded to its very centre, was no longer tenable. If there yet remained Romans in the pro¬ vince, and there were enough certainly to form a brave and noble population, there was no Roman administration except in Transylvania, where a few cohorts probably defended the gold¬ mines of that country, which had been worked by the Romans for 1 Five hundred who had spread themselves abroad in order to plunder, were murdered by the commandant of the auxiliaries, and the Vandal king had their chief shot by his bowmen ( Ibid. p. 6863. 289 CLAUDIUS AND AUEELIAN, 268 TO 275 a. d a century and a half. To produce the impression that nothing had been lost, a new Dacia was constructed out of a part of Moesia, and the name of Trajan’s conquest still remained on the official list of the provinces. But instead of the Dacia of the mountains, a fortress which would have been impregnable if it had been possible to close its gate on the lower Danube, it was the Dacia of the shore, Dacia Ripensis , 1 2 which no longer protected anything. At last the god Terminus fell back. For a victor, the condition was hard; Aurelian seems to have felt the need of protecting himself 1 From the Museum of Naples. 2 Between Upper and Lower Moesia. It was at first called Dacia Aureliani (Vopiscus, Aur. 39); it was afterwards divided into Dacia Ripensis, with the capital Ratiaria (Arzar Palanka), and Dacia Mediterranea, with the capital Sardica (Triaditza). Dexippos does not mention (at least in the fragments which remain to us) the abandonment of Dacia, and the narrative of Eutropius (ix. 15) gives us no means of fixing the date of this event, which comes naturally after the double treaty with the Juthungi and the Vandals. VOL. VII 19 290 ILLYRIAN EMPERORS: THE EMPIRE STRENGTHENED. by the consent of his troops, as representatives of the Roman people. At least lie consulted the army on the question of peace with the Vandals, 1 and the withdrawal of the Dacian garrisons must have been the tacitly accepted consequence of the terms of a treaty which the army approved. In the state of the Empire and of the Barbaric world the Danube appeared to be the best frontier; and the great successes of Claudius, and those even of Aurelian, prove that, while the river did not forbid invaders a passage, it at least made their return difficult. We shall not, as easily as the Emperor, say adieu to this valiant Roman population of Dacia Trajana. Worthy of its origin, and of him who gave it its first cities, it played in the Carpathians the part of Pelagius and his companions in the Asturias, — braving all invasions from the height of this impregnable fortress, regaining foot by foot, as the waves retreated towards the West and South, the lost ground, and reconstituting, after sixteen centuries of fighting, a new Italy, Tzarea Roumanesca , whose advent into the rank of free nations is saluted by all the peoples of the Latin race. 2 Aurelian had been obliged to resign himself to this blot upon his name on account of a fresh invasion of Italy by the Alemanni and Juthungi. In the hope of exterminating this horde, or capturing it wholly, he undertook to imitate the plan of Claudius at Naissus; namely, to have an attack made from the front upon the invaders by the larger part of the Roman army in the plain of the Po, while he himself, the praetorians and auxiliaries, should cut off their retreat. This division of the forces occasioned a disaster. The Barbarians, emerging in the evening from dense woods in which they had concealed themselves, surprised near Placentia the Romans, who were not keeping careful watch. Many of the legionaries perished, and a part of Cisalpine Gaul fell a prey to the most frightful devastation. From the Alps to the Straits of Messina there was a moment of terror, as lately there 1 Dexippos (Fragm. hist. Graec. iii. 685): . . . ipoptvov fiaaihem, o ti iTtp'uri vepi tS>v TTClpOVTU)" A6)01/ flval 8 ok (!• 2 I cannot accept the opinion of Rosier (Dacier und Romanen, Vienna, 1866), which makes the Wallachians return into Dacia in the beginning of the thirteenth century, any more than that which maintains that among these millions of men who speak a language of Latin deriva¬ tion there are not numerous descendants of Trajan’s colonists. CLAUDIUS AND AURELIAN, 268 TO 275 a. d. 201 AURELIAN . 1 had been in the peninsula of the Balkans at the approach of the great Gothic army. To calm these terrors, recourse was had to religious expiations. Aurelian, who knew what good use could he made, in leading the crowd, of the intervention of the gods and all the paraphernalia of old superstitions, wrote to the Senate the following letter, which the urban praetor read aloud in the curia: “ I am surprised, revered Fathers, that you have so long delayed to open the Sibylline books; you conduct yourselves like men met in a church of Chris¬ tians rather than in a temple of the gods. Act now at least, and by the sacredness of pontiffs and the solemnities of religion aid the ruler who is in a position of such difficulty. It is never a disgrace to have the assistance of the gods in con¬ quering an enemy. It is thus that our ancestors undertook and terminated so many wars.” Before the arrival of this letter a similar pro¬ position had been made in the Senate; but the sceptical and the Emperor’s courtiers had turned it into ridicule, averring that Aurelian stood in no need of super¬ natural assistance. The imperial message, however, changed these sentiments; and the first senator who was called upon by the consul in charge reproached the Conscript Fathers with being so inconsiderate in regard to the safety of the state, and so slow in having recourse to the books of destiny and taking advantage of the favors of Apollo. 1 2 “Go, then,” he said, “holy pontiffs, you who are pure, irreproachable, and sacred; go in sacred attire and with a pious mind; go up to the temple and prepare there seats wreathed with laurel; open with your respected hands the books of religion; seek therein the eternal destinies of the state ; teach to children whose parents are living, the hymn which they are to sing. We will decide upon the expense neccessary for this ceremony, we will order the preparations for the sacrifices, and fix the day for the lustration of the fields.” 3 (Session of January 10, 271.) The city was solemnly purified, sacred hymns were sung, a 1 Aurelian crowned with laurel. (Gold coin.) 2 The Sibylline oracles were believed to be inspired by Apollo. 8 Yopiscus, Aur. 19. 292 ILLYRIAN EMPERORS: THE EMPIRE STRENGTHENED. procession went through the streets ; lastly, sacrifices were offered, in places indicated by the sacred books, to prevent the Barbarians from passing over them . 1 Vopiscus does not say that these expi¬ ations were human sacrifices; but Aurelian offered captives of every nation : 2 and this could have been no other than the ancient custom of burying alive men whose offended shades would arrest the march of their com¬ patriots. At the same time that Aurelian took mea¬ sures to propitiate the gods, he also prepared his campaign against the Barbarians. The latter, who entered upon war rather for the sake of plunder than of gaining territory, had divided, in order to extend their depre¬ dations. They seem to have advanced as far as the Metaurus, which would indicate an intention of march¬ ing upon Rome, — the Hercules killing diomedes . 3 supreme ambition of all these marauders. At least, there exists an inscription 4 in which the cities of Pesaro and Fano return thanks to “ Hercules Augustus, colleague of the invincible Aurelian,” — doubtless for some exploit of war achieved in their neighborhood. Aurelian pursued these bands, destroying them one after another; near Pavia he encountered the main body of the Barbarian army, and inflicted upon it a great defeat. And, once more, of these invaders but few 1 In certis locis sacrificia fierent quae larbari transire non possent (Vopiscus, Aur. 18). 2 . . . Cujuslibet gentis captos (ibid. 20). 3 Engraved stone of the Cabinet de France (cornelian of 19 miliim. by 15), No. 1,771 of the Catalogue. 4 Orelli, Nos. 1,031 and 1,535. EXPLOR. ARCHEOL. DE LA GALATIE, ETC, •f thfe CLAUDIUS AND AUDELIAN, 2G8 TO 275 a. d. 293 ever again beheld the paternal hut concealed in the vast forests of the Neckar and the Mein. What went on at Rome during this campaign? No doubt, there was much ridicule of the Pannonian who suffered the sove¬ reign people to experience so great anxiety. It is possible that his statues may have been overthrown, and some of his people or his soldiers slain. Certain it is there were great riots, for Vopiscus speaks of violent seditions . 2 The valiant soldier who had passed his life fighting for the Empire, regarded this tumult as treasonable,, and severely punished those who were guilty, and even senators were put to death . 3 Long ago, Rome, in the security which her fortune and her sway gave her, had gone beyond her boundaries, and the wall of Servius was disappearing under the houses and gardens which covered the vast embankment and the base of the agger * The 1 From a photograph by Parker. 2 Romam petit vindictae cupidus, quarn seditionum asperitas suggerebat (Vopiscus, A ur. 18 and 21 ; cf. Amm. Marcellinus, xxx. 8). 8 Zosimus speaks of conspiracies, and of conspirators justly punished, among whom he- mentions three senators. 4 Accordingly, Zosimus says (i. 19) of the Rome of that day that it was dreixio-To?. REMAINS OF AURELIA'S WALL . 1 294 ILLYRIAN EMPERORS: THE EMPIRE STRENGTHENED. enemy approaching, Aurelian resolved to return to the precautions of earlier days. It was a humiliating but necessary avowal. He gave Rome a second wall, outside of the first, which was completed by Probus; this was about eleven miles in circumference (271). 1 This new line of fortifications is further marked by the wall of Honorius, so called because of the repairs made by that Emperor. The Barbarians being repulsed, and Rome placed in safety from a sudden attack, Aurelian turned his attention to the two competitors who kept the eastern and western parts of the Empire outside of his control, Zenobia and Tetricus. The latter was the nearer; but he appeared the less dangerous of the two, and Aurelian had private reasons for feeling no dread of him. 2 The Emperor therefore made his first attack upon the queen of Palmyra. Odenathus, victorious over Sapor, whose capital he had twice insulted by planting his arrows in the gates of Ctesiphon, had been invested by Gallienus with the command of all the Roman forces in the East, and had even been associated in the Empire. He was making ready to deliver Asia Minor from the Goths, when, in 266-267, he fell a victim to one of those tragedies so fre- •quent in the royal houses of the East. 3 One day, in a royal hunt, his nephew Maeonios shot the first arrow and killed the game. It was contrary to etiquette, which reserved this to the king; and Odenathus angrily reproved the young man. Maeonios paid no attention to the reproof. Ambition to be considered the most skilful hunter in the desert deprived him of all prudence; twice again his arrows anticipated those of the king. The insult was pub¬ lic. Odenathus took from him his horse, — which was equivalent to depriving him of his rank; and when the violent youth broke forth in threats, he caused him to be thrown into prison. Being set free at the entreaty of Herodes, the king’s eldest son, the Arab cherished in his heart a bitter animosity, and, with the aid 1 I follow Piale’s correction ( Delle Mura Aureliane ), which, in the text of Vopiscus (A ur. 39), quinquaginta prope millia, understands pedum, and not passuum ; 50,000 Roman feet making about eleven miles. 2 Eckhel (vii. 456) thinks even that the negotiation of which we shall shortly speak had been begun under Claudius. Coins exist in which are represented Claudius and Tetricus, one on either side (De Boze, Mem. de VAcad, des inscr. xxvi. 515). 3 The date of the death of Odenathus is determined by the Alexandrian coins; it occurred between the 29th of August, 266, and the 28th of August, 267. ‘ 1