A Manual of Ancient History Part 34

Princ.i.p.al tribes: Boii. Cities: Jovavum (Salzburg), Boiodurum (Pa.s.sau).

4. Pannonia Superior. Boundaries: on the north and east the Danube, on the south the Arrabo (Raab), on the west the mountain Cetius. Cities: Vindobona (Vienna), Caruntum. 5. Pannonia Inferior. Boundaries: on the north the Arrabo, on the east the Danube, on the south the Savus.

Cities: Taurunum (Belgrade), Mursa (Esseg), and Sirmium. 6. Moesia Superior. Boundaries: on the north the Danube, on the south Mount Scardus, or Scodrus, on the west Pannonia, on the east the river Cebrus (Ischia). Cities: Singidunum (Semlin), and Naissus (Nissa). 7. Moesia Inferior. Boundaries: on the north the Danube, on the west the Cebrus, on the south mount Haemus (the Balkan), and on the east the Pontus Euxinus. Cities: Odessus (Varna), Tomi (Tomisvar).

VIII. Illyric.u.m, in its most extensive signification, comprised all the provinces south of the Danube, together with Rhaetia and Dalmatia: but Illyric.u.m Proper comprehends only the lands along the coast of the Adriatic, from Rhaetia in Italy to the river Drinus, and easterly to the Savus. Princ.i.p.al towns: Salona, Epidaurus (near the present Ragusa), Scodra (Scutari).

IX. Macedonia. Boundaries: on the north mount Scodrus, on the south the Cambunian mountains, on the west the Adriatic, and on the east the aegean sea. Rivers: the Nestus, Strymon, and Halyacmon, which fall into the aegean sea, and the Apsus and Aous, which fall into the Adriatic.

Princ.i.p.al tribes: Paeones in the north, Pieres and Mygdones in the south.

Princ.i.p.al towns: Pydna, Pella, Thessalonica, Philippi, with other Greek colonies (see above, p. 164). Dyrrachium and Apollonia on the western coast.

X. Thrace had for some time kings of her own, though dependent on Rome, and was first reduced to a Roman province under Claudius. Boundaries: on the north Mount Haemus, on the west the Nestus, on the south and east the sea. River: Hebrus. Princ.i.p.al tribes: Triballi, Bessi, and Odrysae.

Cities: Byzantium, Apollonia, Beroea.

XI. Achaia (Greece), see above, p. 131.

XII. To the north of the Danube the province of Dacia was brought under the Roman empire by Trajan. Boundaries: on the south the Danube, on the west the Tibiscus (Theiss), in the east the Hierasus (Pruth), in the north the Carpathian mountains. Princ.i.p.al tribe: Daci. Chief cities; Ulpia Trajana and Tibisc.u.m.

ASIATIC PROVINCES: I. Asia Minor contained the provinces: 1. Asia (see above, p. 293). 2. Bithynia, together with Paphlagonia and part of Pontus. 3. Cilicia, with Pisidia (see above, p. 18.) II. Syria and Phoenicia. III. The isle of Cyprus. Several other states, likewise dependent, still preserved their kings: as, Judaea (became a Roman province, A. D. 44.), Commagene (province A. D. 70, and, together with Judaea, added to Syria), Cappadocia (province A. D. 17), Pontus (completely a province under Nero). Free states at this time: Rhodes, Samos (provinces A. D. 70), and Lycia (province A. D. 43). Beyond the Euphrates, Armenia and Mesopotamia were reduced to provinces by Trajan, but, as early as the time of Adrian, were abandoned.

AFRICAN PROVINCES. I. Egypt. II. Cyrenaica, with the isle of Crete. III.

Africa, Numidia (see above, p. 47). Mauritania still had its separate king, but he was set aside, A. D. 41, and the country divided into two provinces: 1. Mauritania Caesariensis. Boundaries: on the east the river Ampsaga, on the west the Mulucha. Princ.i.p.al places: Igilgilis and Caesaria. 2. Mauritania Tingitana, from the river Mulucha to the Atlantic ocean. Capital: Tingis.

Princ.i.p.al states on the borders of the empire: I. Germania. Boundaries: on the south the Danube, on the north the sea, on the west the Rhine, on the east undetermined, though the Vistula is generally regarded as such.

Princ.i.p.al rivers: the Danubius, Rhenus (Rhine), Albis (Elbe), Visurgis (Weser), Viadrus (Oder), and the Vistula; the Lupias (Lippe) and Amisia (Ems) are likewise frequently mentioned. Mountains and forests: the Hercynian forest, a general name for the forest mountains, particularly of eastern Germany. Melibocus (the Hartz), Sudetus (the Thuringian forest); the forest of Teutoburg, to the south of Westphalia, etc. It would be useless to seek for a general political division, or for the cities, of ancient Germany; we can only point out the situation of the princ.i.p.al tribes. It is necessary, however, to precede this by two observations: 1. The same territory, in the tide of forcible emigration and conquest, and particularly after the second century, often changed its inhabitants. 2. The names of some of the princ.i.p.al tribes often became that of a confederacy. The princ.i.p.al tribes in the period of Augustus were, in northern Germany; the Batavi in Holland; the Frisii in Friesland; the Bructeri in Westphalia; the lesser and larger Chauci in Oldenburg and Bremen; the Cherusci, likewise the name of a confederation, in Brunswick; the Catti in Hesse. In southern (central) Germany: the Hermunduri in Franconia; the Marcomanni in Bohemia. The Alemanni, not the name of a single tribe, but of a confederation, are first mentioned in the third century: in the period of Augustus these tribes, and the princ.i.p.al of those of eastern Germany, which gradually became known, were included under the general name of Suevi.

The northernmost countries of Europe were considered as isles of the German ocean, and therefore regarded as belonging to Germany. They were Scandinavia, or Scandia (southern Sweden), Nerigon (Norway), and Eningia, or probably Finningia (Finland). The northernmost island was called Thule.

The north of Europe, from the Vistula to the Tanais (Don), was comprised under the general name of Sarmatia; but beyond the territory about the Danube, and especially Dacia (see above, p. 407), they were only in a slight degree acquainted with the coast of the Baltic, by the amber trade.

In Asia the Roman empire was bounded by Great Armenia (see above, p. 19, and 299), the Parthian empire from the Euphrates to the Indus (see above, p. 19-22), and the peninsula of Arabia (see above, p. 19).

Eastern Asia, or India, became known to the Romans by a commercial intercourse carried on between them, and which began soon after the conquest of Egypt. It was divided into India on this side the Ganges, that is: 1. The territory between the Indus and Ganges; 2. The peninsula on this side, the western coast of which in particular (Malabar), was very well known; and, 3. The island of Taprobana (Ceylon), and India beyond the Ganges, to which also the distant Serica belonged: but of all these countries they had but a very imperfect knowledge.

The boundaries of Africa were aethiopia above Egypt, and Gaetulia and the great sandy desert of Libya, above the other provinces.

FIRST SECTION.

_From Augustus Caesar to the death of Commodus, B. C. 30. A. C. 193._

SOURCES. For the whole of this period DION Ca.s.sIUS, lib. li-lx.x.x, is our historian; though of his last twenty books we have only the abridgment of Xiphilinus. For the history of the emperors from Tiberius to the beginning of Vespasian's reign, the princ.i.p.al writer is TACITUS, in his _Annals_, A. C. 14-63; (of which, however, part of the history of Tiberius, 32-34, all of Caligula and the first six years of Claudius, 37-47, as well as the last year and a half of Nero, are unfortunately lost); and in his _History_, of which scarcely the first three years, 69-71, are come down to us. SUETONIUS'S _Lives of the Caesars_, down to Domitian, are so much the more valuable, because in a state like the Roman it becomes of importance to know the character and domestic life of the ruling men. For the reigns of Augustus and Tiberius the _History_ of VELLEIUS PATERCULUS is not of less consequence, although written in a court-like tone. The sources for the history of the separate Caesars will be given as we come to them.

The following are the labours of modern writers:

_Histoire des Empereurs et des autres Princes qui ont regne dans les six premiers siecles de l'Eglise_, _par_ M. LENAIN DE TILLEMONT. a Bruxelle, 1707, 5 vols. 8vo. (An earlier edition in 4to. 1700, 4 vols.) The work of Tillemont has some worth as a laborious compilation, but is superseded in its execution by the following:

_Histoire des Empereurs Romains, depuis Auguste jusqu' a Constantin_, _par_ M. CREVIER. Paris, 1749, 12 vols. 8vo. [Translated into English.] A continuation of Rollin's Roman History (see above, p.

318), quite in the spirit of that writer, and by one of his school.

DR. GOLDSMITH'S _Roman History, from the foundation of the city of Rome to the destruction of the western empire_. London, 1774, 2 vols.

8vo. Rather a sketch than a detailed history (see above, p. 321, sqq.).

# _History of Rome under the Emperors, and of the contemporary nations_, _by_ M. D. G. H. HUBLER. Fryburg, 1803, 3 parts.

Continuation of the work cited p. 2: it reaches down to Constantine.

1. Octavia.n.u.s Caesar, on whom the senate conferred the honourable t.i.tle of Augustus, which they periodically renewed, and which descended to his successors, possessed the sole dominion of the empire during forty-four years. The government, notwithstanding the great revolutions by which the republic had been converted into a monarchy, was not yet, either in fact or in form, altogether a despotic one. The private interest of the ruler required that the republican form should be preserved to the utmost, as without that he could not make an entire change; and the rest of his history sufficiently shows, that the cruelty with which he may be reproached in the early part of his career, was rather owing to circ.u.mstances than to his natural disposition. But during a reign so long, so tranquil, and so fortunate, could it be otherwise than that the republican spirit which at the beginning existed only in a few individuals, should evaporate of itself!

The forms under which Augustus held the different branches of supreme power (dictatorship excepted) were;--the consulate, which, till B. C.

21, was annually renewed; and the _potestas consularis_, which, in B.

C. 19, was settled on him for ever;--the _tribunicia potestas_, which was, 30, granted him for ever, rendered his person sacred (_sacrosancta_), and prepared the way to the _judicia majestatis_ (accusations of high treason). As _imperator_, 31, he continued commander of all the forces, and obtained the _imperium proconsulare_ (proconsular power) in all the provinces. He a.s.sumed the _magistratura morum_ (censorship), 19; and became _pontifex maximus_ (high priest), 13. To avoid all appearances of usurpation, Augustus at first accepted the sovereign power only for ten years, and afterwards had it renewed from time to time, for ten or five years, which, at a later period, gave rise to the _sacra decennalia_.

2. The senate, indeed, remained a permanent council of state, and Augustus himself endeavoured to increase its authority by more than one purification (_lectio_); but the connection between him and that a.s.sembly seemed of a very fragile nature, as it was undetermined, and could not at this time be settled, whether Augustus was over the senate, or the senate over Augustus. All matters of state could not be brought before the senate, as even the most important often required secrecy. It naturally followed, that a prince, as yet without a court, and who had no proper minister, but only his friends and freedmen, should consult with those whom he thought most worthy his confidence, a Maecenas, or an Agrippa, etc. Hence afterwards was formed the secret council of state (_consilium secretum principis_). Among the republican magistrates the highest lost most; and as so much now depended upon the preservation of peace in the capital, the offices of praefect of the city (_praefectus urbis_) and praefect of provisions (_praefectus annonae_) were not only made permanent, but became, especially the former, the princ.i.p.al offices in the state.

The spirit of monarchy shows itself in nothing more than in its strict distinction of ranks; hence, therefore, the magistrates, especially the consuls, lost nothing. Hence also the long-continued custom of nominating under-consuls (_consules suffecti_,) which in time became merely a formal a.s.sumption of the _ornamenta consularia et triumphalia_ (consular and triumphal ornaments). Other offices were created for the purpose of rewarding friends and dependents.

3. The introduction of standing armies, already long prepared, naturally followed a dominion acquired by war; and became, indeed, necessary to guard the frontiers and preserve the newly-made conquests; the establishment of the guards and militia of the city (_cohortes praetorianae_ and _cohortes urbanae_) were measures equally necessary for the security of the capital and the throne. The creation of _two_ praetorian praefects, however, instead of _one_, diminished for the present the great importance of that office.

Distribution of the legions over the provinces in _castra stativa_ (fixed camps), which soon grew into cities, especially along the Rhine, the Danube, and the Euphrates (_legiones Germanicae, Illyricae, et Syriacae_). Fleets also were stationed at Misenum and Ravenna.

4. The government, as well as the administration and revenue of the provinces, Augustus willingly divided with the senate; keeping to himself those on the frontiers (_provinciae principis_,) in which the legions were quartered, and leaving to that a.s.sembly the others (_provinciae senatus_). Hence his deputies (_legati_, lieutenants) exercised both civil and military authority in his name; while those of the senate, on the contrary (_proconsules_), only administered in civil affairs. Both were, in general, attended by commissioners (_procuratores et quaestores_). The provinces were unquestionably gainers by this new arrangement, not only because their governors were more carefully looked after, but because they were paid by the state.

The fate of the provinces naturally depended, in a great degree, upon the disposition of the emperor and governor; but there was also an essential difference between the provinces of the emperor and those of the senate (_provinciae principis et senatus_): in the latter there was no military oppression as there was in the former; and to that may be ascribed the flourishing state of Gaul, Spain, Africa, etc.

5. There is little doubt but that the finances of the treasury remained, upon the whole, much the same as before; but in its internal administration Augustus made many alterations, of which we have but a very imperfect knowledge. Of course there would be at first an obvious difference between the privy and military chest of the emperor (_fiscus_), which was at his immediate disposal, and the state chest (_aerarium_) which he disposed of indirectly through the senate, though it must afterwards follow as a natural consequence of increasing despotism, that the latter should progressively become merged in the former.

The great disorder into which the treasury had been thrown during the civil wars, and especially by giving away the state lands in Italy to the soldiers, together with the heavy sums required for the maintenance of the standing army now established, must have rendered it much more difficult for Augustus to accomplish the reform he so happily executed; and in which it seems to have been his chief aim to place everything, as far as possible, upon a solid and lasting foundation. The princ.i.p.al changes which he made in the old system of taxation seem to have been: 1. That the t.i.thes. .h.i.therto collected in the provinces should be changed into a fixed quota, to be paid by each individual. 2. The customs, partly by reestablishing former ones, and partly by imposing new ones as well as an excise (_centesima rerum venalium_), were rendered more productive. The possession of Egypt, which was the depot of nearly all the commerce of the east, rendered the customs at this time of great importance to Rome. 3. All the state lands in the provinces were, by degrees, changed into crown lands. Of the new taxes the most considerable were the _vigesima hereditatum_ (the twentieth of inheritances), though with important restrictions; and the fines upon celibacy by the _lex Julia Poppaea_.--The greater part of these state revenues most likely flowed, from the very first, into the _fiscus_: that is, the whole revenues of the _provinciae principis_, as well as of those parts of the _provinciae senatus_ which were appropriated to the maintenance of the troops; the revenues arising from the crown domains; the _vigesima_, etc. To the _aerarium_ (now under three _praefecti aerarii_) remained a part of the revenues of the _provinciae senatus_, the customs and the fines. Thus it appears that Augustus was master of the finances, of the legions, and thereby of the empire.

See above, p. 362, the writings of HEGEWISCH and BOSSE.

6. The extension of the Roman empire under Augustus was very considerable; being generally of such a nature as conduced to the security of the interior, and to the safeguard of the frontiers. The complete subjugation of northern Spain, and western Gaul, secured the frontiers on that side; as did the threatened but never-executed expedition against the Parthians, and the one actually undertaken against Armenia, A. C. 2. But the most important conquest in this quarter was that of the countries south of the Danube, viz. Rhaetia, Vindelicia, and Noric.u.m, as well as Pannonia, and afterwards Moesia. To counterbalance these, the expedition against Arabia Felix completely failed; and that against aethiopia was of no further consequence than to strengthen the frontiers.

7. All these conquests together, however, did not cost the Romans so much as their fruitless attempt to subjugate Germany, first, by the sons-in-law of Augustus, Drusus and Tiberius Nero, and afterwards by the son of the former, Drusus Germanicus. Whether or not this undertaking was a political fault, must always remain a problem, as it is now impossible to say how far the security of the frontiers could be preserved without it.

Rome commenced her hostile attack upon Germany under the command of Drusus, B. C. 12; Lower Germany (Westphalia, Lower Saxony, and Hesse) being in general the theatre of the war: while the Lower Rhine was attacked both by sea and land at the mouths of the Ems, the Weser, and the Elbe, on account of the great a.s.sistance afforded the Romans by their alliance with the nations on the coasts, the Batavi, Frisii, and Chauci. The intrepid Drusus, in his second expedition, 10, penetrated as far as the Weser, and, 9, even as far as the Elbe, but died on his return. His successors in the command (Tiberius, 9-7, Domitius, aen.o.barbus, 7-2, M. Vinicius, 2-A. C. 2, then again Tiberius, A. C.

2-4, who was followed by Quintilius Varus, A. C. 5-9,) endeavoured to build on the foundation laid by Drusus, and, by erecting forts and introducing the Roman language and laws, gradually to reduce into a province the part of Germany they had already subdued; but the craftily organized revolt of the young Arminius (Hermann,) a prince of the Cherusci, son of Siegmar, and son-in-law of Segestes, a friend of the Romans, together with the defeat of Varus and his army in the Teutoburg wald, or forest, near Paderborn, A. C. 9, rescued Germany from slavery, and its language from annihilation. It moreover taught the conquerors (what they never forgot) that the legions were not invincible. Augustus immediately despatched Tiberius, who had just quelled a furious insurrection in Pannonia, together with Germanicus, to the Rhine; but these confined themselves to simple incursions, till Germanicus, A. C. 14-16, again carried his arms further into the country, and certainly penetrated as far as the Weser. Yet, notwithstanding his victory near Idistavisus (Minden), the loss of his fleet and part of his army by a tempest on his return, and the jealousy of Tiberius at his victory, obliged him to give up his command. From this time the Germans were left at rest in this quarter.

# MANNERT, _Geography of the Greeks and Romans_, part iii.

8. The long, and for Italy itself, peaceable reign of Augustus, has generally been considered a fortunate and brilliant period of Roman history; and, when compared with the times which preceded and followed, it certainly was so. Security of person and property were reestablished; the arts of peace flourished under the benign patronage of Augustus and his favourite Maecenas; and we may add, that, as the formal restoration of the republic would only have been the signal for new commotions, the government of Augustus, if not the very best, was, at least, the best that Rome could then bear. Should it be said his private life was not blameless, it may be replied, that he inflexibly maintained an outward decency, to which, indeed, he sacrificed his only daughter; and if laws could have bettered the public morals, there was no lack of decrees for that purpose.

Among his most important laws to this end are, the _lex Julia de adulteriis_ and the _lex Papia Poppaea_ against celibacy. The latter excited many murmurs.

9. Nearly all that remains of the history of Augustus, is an account of his domestic troubles; the most unhappy family being that of the emperor. The influence of Livia, his second wife, was very great, but does not seem to have been perverted to any worse purpose than raising her sons, Tiberius and Drusus, to the throne. The naturally unsettled state of the succession, in a government such as that of Rome now was, became much increased by circ.u.mstances. After the untimely death of his nephew and son-in-law Marcellus, whom he had adopted, his widow Julia, the only child of Augustus by his wife Scribonia, was married to Agrippa. The two eldest sons of this marriage, C. and L. Caesar, were adopted, upon the death of their father, by the emperor, who showed so much fondness towards them as they grew up, that Tiberius, who in the mean time had married their mother, Julia,--afterwards banished by Augustus for her licentious conduct--left the court in disgust. The death of the two young princes, however, again revived the hopes of Tiberius, who was adopted by Augustus upon the condition that he should also adopt Drusus Germanicus, the son of his deceased brother Drusus; after which Augustus, with the consent of the senate, formally a.s.sociated him with himself in the government, making him an equal partner in the imperial privileges: called by his successors, _lex regia_.

_Marmor Ancyranum_; or, inscriptions in the temple of Augustus at Ancyra. A copy of the account given of his government, which Augustus latterly caused to be set up at Rome as a public memorial: unfortunately much mutilated. It is to be found in CHISHULL, _Antiq.

Asiatic_.