Ancient Rome : from the earliest times down to 476 A. D Part 17

After enjoying his triple triumph, Octavius should, according to the precedents of the Republic, have given up the t.i.tle of IMPERATOR; but he allowed the Senate, which was only too glad to flatter him, to give him that name for ten years,--a period which was repeatedly renewed. In this way he became permanent commander of the national forces. Next the Imperator (Emperor) caused himself to be invested with the authority of Censor. This enabled him to revise the list of Senators, and to restore to this body something of its ancient respectability. By judicious pruning he reduced the number to six hundred, and required a property qualification for membership. He placed himself at its head as PRINCEPS (prince), a t.i.tle which implied that the Emperor was the _first_ citizen, without claiming any rights of royalty, thus lulling any suspicions of the populace.

The Senate still decided the most important questions. It had jurisdiction in criminal matters, and the right of ratifying new laws.

It was convened three times each month; viz. on the 1st, 5th (or 7th), and 13th (or 15th). The Emperor voted with the other Senators.

The Senate next conferred upon Octavius the t.i.tle of AUGUSTUS; then it made him Proconsul (an officer with the right to govern provinces), and Consul, with the privilege of having twelve lictors, and of sitting in the curule chair between the two Consuls. The regular Consuls, of course, were only too ready to follow his wishes. Finally, he was made Pontifex Maximus, the head of the Roman religion.

Augustus was now supreme ruler in fact, if not in name. The Senate was practically subject to his will. The a.s.semblies gradually lost all voice in the government, and finally disappeared entirely. The Senate, however, continued nominally to act until the time of Diocletian (284 A.

D.).

As Augustus had exclusive command of the armies, he chose to govern as Proconsul those provinces which required military forces. He himself resided at the capital, and sent deputies (_legati_) to oversee them.

The other provinces, called Senatorial, were governed by Proconsuls appointed by the Senate. These were at this time Sicily, Africa, Achaia (Greece), Macedonia, Asia (Minor), Hispania Ulterior, and Gallia Narbonensis.

The city government now included all Italy. In this Augustus was a.s.sisted by three _Praefects_; one in charge of the corn supplies, a second in charge of the city proper, and a third in charge of his body guard of nine thousand men, called the PRAETORIAN GUARD. These Praefects soon overshadowed all the regular magistrates, and through them Augustus reigned supreme.

The Roman Empire at this time included all the countries bordering on the Mediterranean, extending east to the Parthian kingdom (the Upper Euphrates) and the Arabian Desert, south to the Desert of Sahara, and west to the Atlantic Ocean. On the north the boundary was unsettled, and subject to inroads of barbarians. In the early part of his reign Augustus joined to the Empire a new province, Moesia, comprising the territory along the Lower Danube, and making nineteen in all.

Augustus next devoted himself to the task of conquering the territory between the Lower Rhine and Moesia, which was occupied by hardy mountaineers whose resistance was likely to be stubborn. His two step-sons, Drusus and Tiberius, were in charge of this important work.

They were so successful as to acquire enough territory to form two new provinces, Rhaetia and Noric.u.m (15 B.C.).

Tiberius also conquered the valley of the Save, and made it the province of Pannonia (Western Hungary), 10 B.C.

Drusus, while his brother Tiberius was engaged in Pannonia, made a campaign against the Germans near the Rhine. He had nearly finished the conquest of Germany from the Rhine to the Elbe, when he died (9, B.C.), and was succeeded by his brother Tiberius, who completed his work.

Drusus received the cognomen of Germanicus for his conquests in Germany.

His wife was Antonia, daughter of Mark Antony, by whom he had two sons, Germanicus and Claudius, the latter of whom was afterwards Emperor.

In 7 A.D. Lucius Varus was appointed governor of the newly acquired territory in Germany. When he endeavored to subject these recently conquered peoples to the forms of the Roman provincial government, they rose in rebellion under the lead of Arminius (Herman), a powerful chief.

Varus was allured from his fortified camp (9 A.D.) into a pa.s.s in the Teutoberger Forests, where he was suddenly attacked on all sides. After three days' fighting, he succeeded with great loss in making his way through the pa.s.s into the open plain, but was there met by the enemy in full force, and his troops were annihilated. In despair Varus killed himself. Germany was practically lost and the Rhine became again the Roman frontier. This defeat caused a great stir at Rome, and the Emperor is said to have exclaimed in his sorrow, "Varus, Varus, give me back my legions!"

Five years later (14 A.D.) Augustus died. In his last moments he asked his friends if he had not played well his part in the comedy of life.

Although married three times, the Emperor had but one child, JULIA (39 B.C.--14 A.D.), by his second wife, Scribonia. She was noted for her beauty and talents, but infamous for her intrigues. She was married three times; first, to Marcellus, her cousin; secondly, to Agrippa, by whom she had five children; and thirdly, to the Emperor Tiberius. She was banished on account of her conduct, and died in want.

OCTAVIA, the sister of Augustus, was noted for her beauty and accomplishments, as well as for the n.o.bility of her character. Her son MARCELLUS was adopted by his uncle, but died young (23 B. C.).

The famous lines of Virgil upon this promising young man (Aeneid VI.

869-887) were read before the Emperor and his sister, moving them to tears, and winning for the author a munificent reward.

After the death of her first husband, Octavia was married to Mark Antony, by whom she had two daughters, through whom she was the ancestress of three Emperors, CLAUDIUS, CALIGULA, and NERO.

AGRIPPA (63-12), an eminent general and statesman, was a warm friend and counsellor of Augustus. At the battle of Actium he commanded the fleet of Octavius. He married Julia, the only daughter of the Emperor, and had three sons, two of whom were adopted by Augustus, but died before him; the third was murdered by Tiberius.

Augustus died at the age of seventy-six. He was frugal and correct in his personal habits, quick and shrewd in his dealings with men, bold and ambitious in the affairs of state. His greatness consisted rather in the ability to abstain from abusing the advantages presented by fortune, than in the genius which moulds the current of affairs to the will.

His success depended on the temper of the people and the peculiar circ.u.mstances of the time. His clearest t.i.tle to greatness is found in the fact that he compelled eighty millions of people to live in peace for more than forty years, He made the world to centre on one will, and the horrors which mark the reigns of his successors were the legitimate result of the irresponsible sovereignty he established. He formed his empire for the present, to the utter ignoring of the future. Thus it would seem that the part he played was that of a shrewd politician, rather than that of a wise statesman.

CHAPTER x.x.xVII. THE AUGUSTAN AGE.

In speaking of Augustus, we must take into account the writers whose names have given to his its brightest l.u.s.tre, and have made the AUGUSTAN AGE a synonym for excellence in culture, art, and government. Virgil, Ovid, Horace, Livy, and a host of others, have given his reign a brilliancy unmatched in time, which is rather enhanced than diminished by the fame of Cicero, Caesar, and Sall.u.s.t, who preceded, and that of Tacitus, Seneca, and others, who followed; for they belong to an epoch in which Augustus stands the central figure in all which pertains to the arts of peace.

In literature the name of VIRGIL stands first in the Augustan age. Born at Andes, near Mantua, 15 October, 70, he was educated at Cremona and Mediolanum. After completing his education he retired to his paternal estate. In the division of land among the soldiers after the battle of Philippi (42), he was deprived of his property, which was subsequently restored to him by Augustus. He lived partly at Rome, partly in Campania. His health was never good, and he died in his fifty-second year (22 September, 19 B. C.).

Virgil had neither original nor creative genius. Though he mainly imitated Greek poetry, his style is graceful and eloquent, his tone inspiring and elevating.

In disposition he was childlike, innocent, and amiable,--a good son, a faithful friend, honest, and full of devotion to persons and ideal interests. He was not, however, fitted to grapple with the tasks and difficulties of practical life.

In his fortunes and friends he was a happy man. Munificent patronage gave him ample means of enjoyment and leisure; and he had the friendship of all the most accomplished men of his day, among whom was Horace, who entertained a strong affection for him. His fame, which was established in his lifetime, was cherished after his death as an inheritance in which every Roman had a share; and his works became school-books even before the death of Augustus, and have continued such ever since.

HORACE (65-8 B. C.) was born at Venusia, but received his education at Rome and Athens. He was present at the battle of Philippi (42), where he fought as Tribune under Brutus. His first writings were his _Satires_.

These he read to his friends, and their merit was at once recognized.

His great patron was MAECeNAS, who introduced him to the Emperor, and gave him a fine country seat near Tivoli, among the Sabine Mountains.

He died the same year as his patron, and was buried beside him at the Esquiline Gate.

The poems of Horace give us a picture of refined and educated life in the Rome of his time. They are unsurpa.s.sed in gracefulness and felicity of thought. Filled with truisms, they were for centuries read and quoted more than those of any other ancient writer.

OVID (43 B. C.-18 A. D.), a native of Sulmo, is far inferior to Virgil and Horace as a poet, but ranks high on account of his great gift for narration.

"Of the Latin poets he stands perhaps nearest to modern civilization, partly on account of his fresh and vivid sense of the beauties of nature, and partly because his subject is love. His representations of this pa.s.sion are graceful, and strikingly true. He also excelled other poets in the perfect elegance of his form, especially in the character and rhythm of his verses." He spent his last days in exile, banished by Augustus for some reason now unknown. Some of his most pleasing verses were written during this period.

One of the most noted men of the Augustan age was MAECeNAS, the warm friend and adviser of Augustus. He was a constant patron of the literature and art of his generation. He was very wealthy, and his magnificent house was the centre of literary society in Rome, He helped both Virgil and Horace in a substantial manner, and the latter is constantly referring to him in his poetry. He died (8 B. C.) childless, and left his fortune to Augustus.

The prose writers who lived at this period were Livy, Sall.u.s.t, and Nepos.

LIVY is the best of these. He was a native of Patavium (Padua), a man of rhetorical training, who spent most of his time in Rome. The historical value of his work cannot be overestimated, on account of the scarcity, and in many cases the utter lack, of other historical doc.u.ments on the times of which he wrote. His style is spirited, and always interesting.

His accuracy, however, is not to be compared with that of Caesar. Only thirty-five out of the one hundred and forty-two books that he wrote are preserved.

NEPOS was a prolific writer, but only a portion of one of his works, _De Viris Ill.u.s.tribus_, has come down to us; it is neither accurate nor interesting, and of little value.

SALl.u.s.t left two historical productions, one on the conspiracy of Catiline, the other on the war with Jugurtha. His style is rhetorical.

He excels in delineating character, but he is often so concise as to be obscure.

GAIUS ASINIUS POLLIO was a statesman and orator of marked attainments of this time. He was strongly attached to the old republican inst.i.tutions, a man of great independence of character, and a poet of no mean merit, as his contemporaries testify. Unfortunately, none of his writings are preserved.

The age of Augustus is also noted for the architectural improvements in Rome. Augustus is said to have found a city of stone, and left one of marble. He himself built twelve temples, and repaired eighty-two that had fallen into decay. The FORUM was beautified by five halls of justice (_Basilicae_), which were erected around its borders. The most famous of these was the BASILICA JULIA, begun by Julius Caesar and finished by Augustus. Public squares were planned and begun north of the great Forum, the finest of which was the FORUM OF TRAJAN, finished by the Emperor of that name.

The finest building outside of the city, in the Campus Martius, was the PANTHEON, built by Agrippa, and now used as a Christian church. Here are buried many distinguished men. Near by, Augustus erected a mausoleum for himself. Here too was a theatre, built by Pompey,--the first stone theatre of Rome.

CHAPTER x.x.xVIII. THE JULIAN AND CLAUDIAN EMPERORS.

TIBERIUS (14-37 A.D.)