Ancient States and Empires Part 33

(M1057) Of such a man, twenty-nine years of age, Tiberius was naturally jealous, especially since, through his wife, Germanicus was allied with the Octavian family and through his mother, with the sister of the great Julius; and, therefore, had higher claims than he, on the principle of legitimacy. He was only the adopted son of Octavius, but Germanicus, through his mother Antonia, had the same ancestry as Octavius himself.

Moreover, the cries of the legionaries, "Caesar Germanicus will not endure to be a subject," added to the fears of the emperor, that he would be supplanted. So he determined to send his nephew on distant and dangerous expeditions, against those barbarians who had defeated Varus.

(M1058) Germanicus, no sooner than he had quelled the sedition in his camp, set out for Germany with eight legions and an equal number of auxiliaries. With this large force he crossed the Rhine, revisited the scene of the slaughter of Varus, and paid funeral honors to the remains of the fallen Romans. But the campaigns were barren of results, although attended with great expenses. No fortresses were erected to check the return of the barbarians from the places where they had been dislodged, and no roads were made to expedite future expeditions. Germanicus carried on war in savage and barbarous tracts, amid innumerable obstacles, which tasked his resources to the utmost. Tiberius was dissatisfied with these results, and vented his ill-humor in murmurs against his nephew. The Roman people were offended at this jealousy, and clamored for his recall.

Germanicus, however, embarked on a third campaign, A.D. 15, with renewed forces, and confronted the Germans on the Weser, and crossed the river in the face of the enemy. There the Romans obtained a great victory over Arminius, leader of the barbaric hosts, who retreated beyond the Elbe. The great German confederacy was, for a time, dispersed. Germanicus himself retired to the banks of the Rhine-which became the final boundary of the empire on the side of Germany. The hero who had persevered against innumerable obstacles, in overcoming which the discipline and force of the Roman legions were never more apparent, not even under Julius Caesar, was now recalled to Rome, and a triumph was given him, amid the wildest enthusiasm of the Roman people. The young hero was the great object of attraction, as he was borne along in his triumphal chariot, surrounded by the five male descendants of his union with Agrippina-his faithful and heroic wife. Tiberius, in the name of his adopted son, bestowed three hundred sesterces apiece upon all the citizens, and the Senate chose the popular favorite as consul for the ensuing year, in conjunction with the emperor himself.

(M1059) Troubles in the East induced Tiberius to send Germanicus to Asia Minor, while Drusus was sent to Illyric.u.m. This prince was the son of Tiberius by his first wife, Vipsania, and was the cousin of Germanicus. He was disgraced by the vices of debauchery and cruelty, and was finally poisoned by his wife, Livilla, at the instance of Seja.n.u.s. So long as Germanicus lived, the court was divided between the parties of Drusus and Germanicus, and Tiberius artfully held the balance of favor between them, taking care not to declare which should be his successor. But Drusus was, probably, the favorite of the emperor, although greatly inferior to the elder prince in every n.o.ble quality. Tiberius, in sending him to Illyric.u.m, wished to remove him from the dissipations of the capital, and also, to place a man in that important post who should be loyal to his authority.

(M1060) In appointing Germanicus to the chief command of the provinces beyond the aegean, Tiberius also gave the province of Syria to Cnaeus Piso, of the ill.u.s.trious Calpurnian house, one of the proudest and most powerful of the Roman n.o.bles. His wife, Plancina, was the favorite of Livia,-the empress-mother,-and he believed himself appointed to the government of Syria for the purpose of checking the ambitious designs which were imputed to Germanicus, while his wife was instructed to set up herself as a rival to Agrippina. The moment Piso quitted Italy, he began to thwart his superior, and to bring his authority into contempt. Yet he was treated by Germanicus with marked kindness. After visiting the famous cities of Greece, Germanicus marched to the frontiers of Armenia to settle its affairs with the empire-the direct object of his mission. He crowned a prince, called Zeno, as monarch of that country, reduced Cappadocia, and visited Egypt, apparently to examine the political affairs of the province, but really to study its antiquities, even as Scipio had visited Sicily in the heat of the Punic war. For thus going out of his way, he was rebuked by the emperor. He then retraced his steps, and shaped his course to Syria, where he found his regulations and appointments had been overruled by Piso, between whom and himself bitter altercations ensued.

While in Syria, he fell sick and died, and his illness was attributed to poison administered by Piso, although there was little evidence to support the charge.

(M1061) The death of Germanicus was received with great grief by the Roman people, and the general sorrow of the Roman world, and his praises were p.r.o.nounced in every quarter. He was even fondly compared to Alexander the Great. His character was embellished by the greatest master of pathos among the Roman authors, and invested with a gleam of mournful splendor.

His remains were brought to Rome by his devoted wife, and the most splendid funeral honors were accorded to him. Drusus, with the younger brother and children of Germanicus, went forth to meet the remains, and the consuls, the Senate, and a large concourse of people, swelled the procession, as it neared the city. The precious ashes were deposited in the Caesarian mausoleum, and the memory of the departed prince was cherished in the hearts of the people. Whether he would have realized the expectations formed of him, had he lived to succeed Tiberius, can not be known. He, doubtless, had most amiable traits of character, while his talents were undoubted. But he might have succ.u.mbed to the temptations incident to the most august situation in the world, or have been borne down by its pressing cares, or have shown less talent for administration than men disgraced by private vices. Had Tiberius died before Augustus, his character would have appeared in the most favorable light, for he was a man of great abilities, and was devoted to the interests of the empire.

He became moody, suspicious, and cruel, and yielded to the pleasures so lavishly given to the master of the world. When we remember the atmosphere of lies in which he lived,-as is the case with all absolute monarchs, especially in venal and corrupt times,-the unbounded temptations, the servile and sycophantic attentions of his courtiers, the perpetual vexations and cares incident to such overgrown and unlimited powers, and the disgust, satiety, and contempt which his experiences engendered, we can not wonder that his character should change for the worse. And when we see a man rendered uninteresting and unamiable by cares, temptations, and bursts of pa.s.sion or folly, yet who still governs vigilantly and ably, our indignation should be modified, when the lower propensities are indulged.

It is not pleasant to palliate injustices, tyrannies, and l.u.s.ts. But human nature, at the best, is weak. Of all men, absolute princes claim a charitable judgment, and our eyes should be directed to their services, rather than to their defects. These remarks not only pertain to Tiberius, but to Augustus, and many other emperors who have been harshly estimated, but whose general ability and devotion to the interests of the empire are undoubted. How few monarchs have been free from the stains of occasional excesses, and that arbitrary and tyrannical character which unlimited powers develop! Even the crimes of monsters, whom we execrate, are to be traced to madness and intoxication, more than to natural fierceness and wickedness. But when monarchs _do_ reign in justice, and conquer the temptations incident to their station, like the Antonines, then our reverence becomes profound. "Heavy is the head that wears a crown." Kings are objects of our sympathy, as well as of our envy. Their burdens are as heavy as their temptations are great; and frivolous or wicked princes are almost certain to yield, like Nero or Caligula, to the evils with which they are peculiarly surrounded.

But to return to our narrative of the leading events connected with the reign of Tiberius, one of the ablest of all the emperors, so far as administrative talents are concerned. After the death of Germanicus, which was probably natural, the vengeance of the people and the court was directed to his supposed murderer, Piso. He was arraigned and tried by the Senate, not only for the crime of which he was accused by the family of Germanicus, who thought himself poisoned, but for exceeding his powers as governor of Syria, which province he continued unwisely to claim. Tiberius abstained from all interference with the great tribunal which sat in judgment. He even checked the flow of popular feeling. Cold and hard, he allowed the trial to take its course, without betraying sympathy or aversion, and acted with great impartiality. Piso found no favor from the Senate or the emperor, and killed himself when his condemnation was certain.

(M1062) Relieved by the death of Germanicus and Piso, Tiberius began to reign more despotically, and incurred the hatred of the people, to which he was apparently insensible. He was greatly influenced by his mother, Livia, an artful and ambitious princess, and by Seja.n.u.s, his favorite, a man of rare energy and ability, who was prefect of the praetorian guards.

This office, unknown to the republic, became the most important and influential under the emperors. The prefect was virtually the vizier, or prime minister, since it was his care to watch over the personal safety of a monarch whose power rested on the military. The instruments of his government, however, were the Senate, which he controlled especially by his power as censor, and the law of _majestas_, which was virtually a great system of espionage and public accusation, which the emperor encouraged. But his general administration was marked by prudence, equity, and mildness. Under him the Roman dominion was greatly consolidated, and it was his policy to guard rather than extend the limits of the empire.

The legions were stationed in those provinces which were most likely to be a.s.sailed by external dangers, especially on the banks of the Rhine, in Illyric.u.m, and Dalmatia. But they were scattered in all the provinces. The city of Rome was kept in order by the praetorian guards. Their discipline was strenuously maintained. Governors of provinces were kept several years in office, which policy was justified by the apologue he was accustomed to use, founded on the same principle as that which is recognized in all corrupt times by great administrators, whether of States, or factories, or railroads. "A number of flies had settled on a soldier's wound, and a compa.s.sionate pa.s.ser-by was about to scare them away. The sufferer begged him to refrain. 'These flies,' he said, 'have nearly sucked their full, and are beginning to be tolerable; if you drive them away, they will be immediately succeeded by fresh-comers with keener appet.i.tes.' " The emperor saw the abuses which existed, but despaired to remedy them, since he distrusted human nature. But there is no doubt that the government of the provinces was improved under this prince, and the governors were made responsible. The emperor also was a.s.siduous to free Italy from robbers and banditti, and in stimulating the diligence of the police, so that riots seldom occurred, and were severely punished. There was greater security of life and property throughout the empire, and the laws were wise and effective. Tiberius limited the number of the gladiators, expelled the soothsayers from Italy, and suppressed the Egyptian rites. The habits of the people, even among the higher cla.s.ses, were so generally disgraceful and immoral,-the dissipation was so widely spread, that Tiberius despaired to check it by sumptuary laws, but he restrained it all in his power. He was indefatigable in his vigilance. For several years he did not quit the din and dust of the city for a single day, and he lived with great simplicity, apparently anxious to exhibit the ancient ideal of a Roman statesman. He took no pleasure in the sports of the circus or theatre, and was absorbed in the cares of office, as Augustus had been before him.

Augustus, however, was a man of genius, while he was only a man of ability, and his great defect was jealousy of the family of Germanicus, and the favor he lavished on Seja.n.u.s, who even demanded the hand of Livilla, the widow of Drusus,-a suit which Tiberius rejected.

(M1063) Weariness of the cares of State, and the desire of repose, at last induced Tiberius to retire from the city. He had neither happiness nor rest. He quarreled with Agrippina, the widow of Germanicus, and his temper was exasperated by the imputations and slanders from which no monarch can escape. His enemies, however, declared that he had no higher wish than to exercise in secret the cruelty and libidinousness to which he was abandoned. For eleven years he ruled in the retirement of his guarded fortress, and never again re-entered the city he had left in disgust. But in this retirement, he did not relax his vigilance in the administration of affairs, although his government was exceedingly unpopular, and was doubtless stained by many acts of cruelty. At Capreae, a small island near Naples, barren and desolate, but beautiful in climate and scenery, the master of the world spent his latter years, surrounded with literary men and soothsayers. I do not believe the calumnies which have been heaped on this imperial misanthrope. And yet, the eleven years he spent in his retreat were marked by great complaints against him, and by many revolting crimes and needless cruelties. He persecuted the family of Germanicus, banished Agrippina, and imprisoned her son, Drusus. Seja.n.u.s, however, instigated these proceedings, and worked upon the jealousy of the emperor.

This favorite was affianced to Livilla, the widow of Drusus, and was made consul conjointly with Tiberius.

(M1064) Tiberius penetrated, at last, the character of this ambitious officer, and circ.u.mvented his ruin with that profound dissimulation which was one of his most marked traits. Seja.n.u.s conspired against his life, but the emperor shrank from openly denouncing him to the Senate. He used consummate craft in securing his arrest and execution, the instrument of which was Macro, an officer of his bodyguard, and his death was followed by the ruin of his accomplices and friends.

(M1065) Shortly after the execution of Seja.n.u.s, Drusus, the son of Agrippina, was starved to death in prison, and many cruelties were inflicted on the friends of Seja.n.u.s. Tiberius now began to show signs of insanity, and his life henceforth was that of a miserable tyrant. His career began to draw to a close, and he found himself, in his fits of despair and wretchedness, supported by only three surviving members of the lineage of Caesar: Tiberius Claudius Drusus, the last of the sons of Drusus, and nephew of the emperor, infirm in health and weak in mind, and had been excluded from public affairs; Caius, the younger son of Germanicus, and Tiberius, the son of the second Drusus,-the one, grand-nephew, and the other, grandson, of the emperor. Both were young; one twenty-five, the other eighteen. The failing old man failed to designate either as his successor, but the voice of the public pointed out the son of Germanicus, nicknamed Caligula. At the age of seventy-eight, the tyrant died, unable in his last sickness to restrain his appet.i.te. He died at Misenum, on his way to Capreae, which he had quitted for a time, to the joy of the whole empire; for his reign, in his latter years, was one of terror, which caused a deep gloom to settle upon the face of the higher society at Rome, A.D. 37. The body was carried to Rome with great pomp, and its ashes were deposited in the mausoleum of the Caesars. Caius was recognized as his successor without opposition, and he commenced his reign by issuing a general pardon to all State prisoners, and scattering, with promiscuous munificence, the vast treasures which Tiberius had acc.u.mulated. He a.s.sumed the collective honors of the empire with modesty, and great expectations were formed of a peaceful and honorable reign.

Caligula was the heir of the Drusi, grandson of Julia and Agrippa, great-grandson of Octavius, of Livia, and of Antony. In him the lines of Julia and Livia were united. His defects and vices were unknown to the people, and he made grand promises to the Senate. He commenced his reign by a.s.siduous labors, and equitable measures, and professed to restore the golden age of Augustus. His popularity with the people was unbounded, from his lavish expenditure for shows and festivals, by the consecration of temples, and the distribution of corn and wine.

(M1066) But it was not long before he abandoned himself to the most extravagant debauchery. His brain reeled on the giddy eminence to which he had been elevated without previous training and experience. Augustus fought his own way to power, and Tiberius had spent the best years of his life in the public service before his elevation. Yet even he, with all his experience and ability, could not resist the blandishments of power. How, then, could a giddy and weak young man, without redeeming qualities? He fell into the vortex of pleasures, and reeling in the madness which excesses caused, was soon guilty of the wildest caprices, and the most cruel atrocities. He was corrupted by flattery as well as pleasure. He even descended into the arena of the circus as a charioteer, and the races became a State inst.i.tution. In a few months he squandered the savings of the previous reign, swept away the wholesome restraints which Augustus and Tiberius had imposed upon gladiators, and carried on the sports of the amphitheatre with utter disregard of human life. His extravagance and his necessities led to the most wanton murders of senators and n.o.bles whose crime was their wealth. The most redeeming features of the first year of his reign were his grief at the death of his sister, his friendship with Herod Agrippa, to whom he gave a sovereignty in Palestine, and the activity he displayed in the management of his vast inheritance. He had a great pa.s.sion for building, and completed the temple of Augustus, projected the grandest of the Roman aqueducts, enlarged the imperial palace, and carried a viaduct from the Palatine to the Capitoline over the lofty houses of the Velabrum. But his prodigalities led to a most oppressive taxation, which soon alienated the people, while his senseless debaucheries, especially his costly banquets, disgusted the more contemplative of the n.o.bles. He was also disgraced by needless cruelties, and it was his exclamation: "Would that the people of Rome had but one neck!" His vanity was preposterous. He fancied himself divine, and insisted on divine honors being rendered to him. He systematically persecuted the n.o.bles, and exacted contributions. He fancied himself, at one time an orator, and at another a general; and absolutely led an army to the Rhine, when there was no enemy to attack. He married several wives, but divorced them with the most fickle inconstancy.

(M1067) It is needless to repeat the wanton follies of this young man who so outrageously disgraced the imperial station. The most charitable construction to be placed upon acts which made his name infamous among the ancients is that his brain was turned by his elevation to a dignity for which he was not trained or disciplined-that unbounded power, united with the most extravagant abandonment to sensual pleasures, undermined his intellect. His caprices and extravagance can only be explained by partial madness. He had reigned but four years, and all expectations of good government were dispelled. The majesty of the empire was insulted, and a.s.sa.s.sination, the only way by which he could be removed, freed the world from a madman, if not a monster.

There was great confusion after the a.s.sa.s.sination of Caius Caesar, and ill-concerted efforts to recover a freedom which had fled forever, ending, as was to be expected, by military power. The consuls convened the Senate for deliberation (for the forms of the republic were still kept up), but no settled principles prevailed. Various forms of government were proposed and rejected. While the Senate deliberated, the praetorian guards acted.

(M1068) Among the inmates of the palace, in that hour of fear, among slaves and freed men, half hidden behind a curtain in an obscure corner, was a timid old man, who was dragged forth with brutal violence. He was no less a personage than Claudius, the neglected uncle of the emperor, the son of Drusus and Antonia, and nephew of Tiberius, and brother of Germanicus. Instead of slaying the old man, the soldiers, respecting the family of Caesar, hailed him, partly in jest, as imperator, and carried him to their camp. Claudius, heretofore thought to be imbecile, and therefore despised, was not unwilling to accept the dignity, and promised the praetorians, if they would swear allegiance to him, a donation of fifteen thousand sesterces apiece. The Senate, at the dictation of the praetorians, accepted Claudius as emperor.

(M1069) He commenced his reign, A.D. 41, by proclaiming a general amnesty.

He restored confiscated estates, recalled the wretched sisters of Caius, sent back to Greece and Asia the plundered statues of temples which Caius had transported to Rome, and inaugurated a _regime_ of moderation and justice. His life had been one of sickness, neglect, and obscurity, but he was suffered to live because he was harmless. His mother was ashamed of him, and his grandmother, Livia, despised him, and his sister, Livilla, ridiculed him. He was withheld from public life, and he devoted himself to literary pursuits, and even wrote a history of Roman affairs from the battle of Actium, but it gained him no consideration. Tiberius treated him with contumely, and his friends deserted him. All this neglect and contempt were the effects of a weak const.i.tution, a paralytic gait, and an imperfect utterance.

(M1070) Claudius took Augustus as his model, and at once a great change in the administration was observable. There was a renewed activity of the armies on the frontiers, and great generals arose who were destined to be future emperors. The colonies were strengthened and protected, and foreign affairs were conducted with ability. Herod Agrippa, the favorite of Caius, was confirmed in his government of Galilee, and received in addition the dominions of Samaria and Judaea. Antiochus was restored to the throne of Commagene, and Mithridates received a district of Cilicia. The members of the Senate were made responsible for the discharge of their magistracies, and vacancies to this still august body were filled up from the wealthy and powerful families. He opened an honorable career to the Gauls, revised the lists of the knights, and took an accurate census of Roman citizens.

He conserved the national religion, and regulated holidays and festivals.

His industry and patience were unwearied, and the administration of justice extorted universal admiration. His person was accessible to all pet.i.tioners, and he relieved distress wherever he found it. He relinquished the most grievous exactions of his predecessors, and tenderly guarded neglected slaves. He also constructed great architectural works, especially those of utility, completed the vast aqueduct which Caius commenced, and provided the city with provisions. He built the port of Ostia, to facilitate commerce, and drained marshes and lakes. The draining of the Lake Fucinus occupied thirty thousand men for eleven years. While he executed vast engineering works to supply the city with water, he also amused the people with gladiatorial shows. In all things he showed the force of the old Roman character, in spite of bodily feebleness.

(M1071) The most memorable act of his administration was the conquest of South Britain. By birth a Gaul, being born at Lugdunum, he cast his eyes across the British channel and resolved to secure the island beyond as the extreme frontier of his dominions, then under the dominion of the Druids-a body of Celtic priests whom the Romans ever detested, and whose rites all preceding emperors had proscribed. Julius Caesar had pretended to impose a tribute on the chiefs of Southern Britain, but it was never exacted. Both Augustus and Tiberius felt but little interest in the political affairs of that distant island, but the rapid progress of civilization in Gaul, and the growing cities on the banks of the Rhine, elicited a spirit of friendly intercourse. Londinium, a city which escaped the notice of Caesar, was a great emporium of trade in the time of Claudius. But the southern chieftains were hostile, and jealous of their independence. So Claudius sent four legions to Britain, under Plautius, and his lieutenant, Vespasia.n.u.s, to oppose the forces under Caractacus. He even entered Britain in person, and subdued the Trin.o.bantes. But for nine years Caractacus maintained an independent position. He was finally overthrown in battle, and betrayed to the Romans, and exhibited at Rome. The insurrection was suppressed, or rather, a foothold was secured in the island, which continued henceforth under the Roman rule.

(M1072) The feeble old man, always nursed by women, had the misfortune to marry, for his third wife, the most infamous woman in Roman annals (Valeria Messalina), under whose influence the reign, at first beneficent, became disgraceful. Claudius was entirely ruled by her. She ama.s.sed fortunes, sold offices, confiscated estates, and indulged in guilty loves.

She ruled like a Madame de Pompadour, and degraded the throne which she ought to have exalted. The influence of women generally was bad in those corrupt times, but her influence was scandalous and degrading.

Claudius also was governed by his favorites, generally men of low birth-freedmen who usurped the place of statesmen. Narcissus and Pallus were the most confidential of the emperor's advisers, who, in consequence, became enormously rich, for favors flowed through them, and received the great offices of State. The court became a scene of cabals and crimes, disgraced by the wanton shamelessness of the empress and the venality of courtiers. Appius Sila.n.u.s, one of the best and greatest of the n.o.bles, was murdered through the intrigues of Messalina, to whose progress in wickedness history furnishes no parallel, and Valerius Asiaticus, another great n.o.ble, also suffered the penalty of offending her, and was destroyed; and his magnificent gardens, which she coveted, were bestowed upon her.

(M1073) But Messalina was rivaled in iniquity by another princess, between whom and herself there existed the deadliest animosity. Thus was Agrippina, the daughter of Germanicus, who had been married to Cn.

Domitius Ahen.o.bardus, grandson of Octavia, and whose issue was the future emperor Nero. The niece of Claudius occupied the second place in the imperial household, and it became her aim to poison the mind of her uncle against the woman she detested, and who returned her hatred. She now leagued with the freedmen of the palace to destroy her rival. An opportunity to gratify her vengeance soon occurred. Messalina, according to Tacitus, was guilty of the inconceivable madness of marrying Sila.n.u.s, one of her paramours, while her husband lived, and that husband an emperor, which story can not be believed without also supposing that Claudius was a perfect idiot. Such a defiance of law, of religion, and of the feelings of mankind, to say nothing of its folly, is not to be supposed. Yet such was the scandal, and it filled the imperial household with consternation. Callistus, Pallas, and Narcissus-the favorites who ruled Claudius-united with Agrippina to secure her ruin. The emperor, then absent in Ostia, was informed of the shamelessness of his wife. It was difficult for him to believe such a fact, but it was attested by the trusted members of his household. His fears were excited, as well as his indignation, and he hastened to Rome for vengeance and punishment.

Messalina had retired to her magnificent gardens on the Pineian, which had once belonged to Lucullus, the price of the blood of the murdered Asiaticus; but, on the approach of the emperor, of which she was informed, she advanced boldly to confront him, with every appearance of misery and distress, with her children Britannicus and Octavia. Claudius vacillated, and Messalina retired to her gardens, hoping to convince her husband of her innocence on the interview which he promised the following day. But Narcissus, knowing her influence, caused her to be a.s.sa.s.sinated, and the emperor drowned his grief, or affection, or anger, in wine and music, and seemingly forgot her. That Messalina was a wicked and abandoned woman is most probable; that she was as bad as history represents her, may be doubted, especially when we remember she was calumniated by a rival, who succeeded in taking her place as wife. It is easier to believe she was the victim of Agrippina and the freedmen, who feared as well as hated her, than to accept the authority of Tacitus and Juvenal. On the death of Messalina, Agrippina married her uncle, and the Senate sanctioned the union, which was incest by the Roman laws.

(M1074) The fourth wife of the emperor transcended the third in intrigue and ambition, and her marriage, at the age of thirty-three, was soon followed by the betrothal of her son, L. Domitius, a boy of twelve, with Octavia, the daughter of Claudius and Messalina. He was adopted by the emperor, and a.s.sumed the name of Nero. Henceforth she labored for the advancement of her son only. She courted the army and the favor of the people, and founded the city on the Rhine which we call Cologne. But she outraged the notions and sentiments of the people more by her unfeminine usurpation of public honors, than by her cruelty or her dissoluteness. She seated herself by the side of the emperor in military festivals. She sat by him at a sea-fight on the Lucrine Lake, clothed in a soldier's cloak.

She took her station in front of the Roman standard, when Caractacus, the conquered British chief, was brought in chains to the emperor's tribunal.

She caused the dismissal of the imperial officers who incurred her displeasure. She exercised a paramount sway over her husband, and virtually ruled the empire. She distracted the palace with discords, cabals, and jealousies.

How the bad influence of these women over the mind of Claudius can be reconciled with the vigilance, and the labors, and the beneficent measures of the emperor, as generally admitted, history does not narrate. But it was during the ascendency of both Messalina and Agrippina, that Claudius presided at the tribunals of justice with zeal and intelligence, that he interested himself in works of great public utility, and that he carried on successful war in Britain.

(M1075) In the year A.D. 54, and in the fourteenth of his reign, Claudius, exhausted by the affairs of State, and also, it is said, by intemperance, fell sick at Rome, and sought the medicinal waters of Sinuessa. It was there that Agrippina contrived to poison him, by the aid of Locusta, a professed poisoner, and Xenophon, a physician, while she affected an excess of grief. She held his son Britannicus in her arms, and detained him and his sisters in the palace, while every preparation was made to secure the accession of her own son, Nero. She was probably prompted to this act from fear that she would be supplanted and punished, for Claudius had said, when wine had unloosed his secret thoughts, "that it was his fate to suffer the crimes of his wives, but at last to punish them." She also was eager to elevate her own son to the throne, which, of right, belonged to Britannicus, and whose rights might have been subsequently acknowledged by the emperor, for his eyes could not be much longer blinded to the character of his wife.

(M1076) Claudius must not be cla.s.sed with either wicked or imbecile princes, in spite of his bodily infirmities, or the slanders with which his name is a.s.sociated. It is probable he indulged to excess in the pleasures of the table, like the generality of Roman n.o.bles, but we are to remember that he ever sought to imitate Augustus in his wisest measures; that he ever respected letters when literature was falling into contempt; that his administration was vigorous and successful, fertile in victories and generals; that he exceeded all his ministers in a.s.siduous labors, and that he partially restored the dignity and authority of the Senate. His great weakness was in being ruled by favorites and women; but his favorites were men of ability, and his women were his wives.

(M1077) Nero, the son of Agrippina and Cn. Domitius Ahen.o.bardus, by the a.s.sistance of the praetorian guards, was now proclaimed imperator, A.D. 54, directly descended, both on his paternal and maternal side, from Antonia Major, the granddaughter of Antony and Domitius Ahen.o.bardus. Through Octavia, his grandmother, he traced his descent from the family of Caesar.

The Domitii-the paternal ancestors of Nero-had been ill.u.s.trious for several hundred years, and no one was more distinguished than Lucius Domitius, called Ahen.o.bardus, or Red-Beard, in the early days of the republic. The father of Nero, who married Agrippina, was as infamous for crimes as he was exalted for rank. But he died when his son Nero was three years of age. He was left to the care of his father's sister, Domitia Lepida, the mother of Messalina, and was by her neglected. His first tutors were a dancer and a barber. On the return of his mother from exile his education was more in accordance with his rank, as a prince of the blood, though not in the line of succession. He was docile and affectionate as a child, and was intrusted to the care of Seneca, by whom he was taught rhetoric and moral philosophy, and who connived at his taste for singing, piping, and dancing, the only accomplishments of which, as emperor, he was afterward proud. He was surrounded with perils, in so wicked an age, as were other n.o.bles, and, by his adoption, was admitted a member of the imperial family-the sacred stock of the Claudii and Julii.

He was under the influence of his mother-the woman who subverted Messalina, and murdered Claudius,-who used every art and intrigue to secure his accession.

(M1078) When he mounted the throne of the Caesars, he gave promise of a benignant reign. His first speech to the Senate made a good impression, and his first acts were beneficent. But he ruled only through his mother, who aspired to play the empress, a woman who gave answers to amba.s.sadors, and sent dispatches to foreign courts. Burrhus, the prefect of the imperial guard, and Seneca, tutor and minister, through whose aid the claims of Nero had been preferred over those of Britannicus, the son of the late emperor, opposed her usurpations, and attempted to counteract her influence.

(M1079) The early promises of Nero were not fulfilled. He soon gave vent to every vice, which was disguised by his ministers. One of the first acts was to disgrace the freedman, Pallas,-the prime minister of Claudius,-and to destroy Britannicus by poison, which crimes were palliated, if not suggested, by Seneca.

(M1080) The influence which Seneca and Burrhus had over the young emperor, who screened his vices from the eyes of the people and Senate, necessarily led to a division between Nero and Agrippina. He withdrew her guard of honor, and paid her only formal visits, which conduct led to the desertion of her friends, and the open hostility of her enemies. The wretched woman defended herself against the charges they brought, with spirit, and for a time she escaped. The influence of Seneca, at this period, was paramount, and was exerted for the good of the empire, so that the Senate acquiesced in the public measures of Nero, and no notice was taken of his private irregularities. The empress mother apparently yielded to the ascendency of the ministers, and provoked no further trial of strength.

(M1081) Thus five years pa.s.sed, until Nero was twenty-two, when Poppaea Sabina, the fairest woman of her time, appeared upon the stage. Among the dissolute women of imperial Rome, she was pre-eminent. Introduced to the intimacy of Nero, she aspired to still higher elevation, and this was favored by the detestation with which Agrippina was generally viewed, and the continued decline of her influence, since she had ruled by fear rather than love. Poppaea was now found intriguing against her, and induced Nero to murder his own mother, to whose arts and wickedness he owed his own elevation. The murder was effected in her villa, on the Lucrine Lake, under circ.u.mstances of utter brutality. Nero came to examine her mangled body, and coolly praised the beauty of her form. Nor were her ashes even placed in the mausoleum of Augustus. This wicked Jezebel, who had poisoned her husband, and was accused of every crime revolting to our nature, paid the penalty of her varied infamies, and her name has descended to all subsequent ages as the worst woman of antiquity.

(M1082) With the murder of Agrippina, the madness and atrocities of Nero gained new force. He now appears as a monster, and was only tolerated for the amus.e.m.e.nts with which he appeased the Roman people. He disgraced the imperial dignity by descending upon the stage, which was always infamous; he inst.i.tuted demoralizing games; he was utterly insensible to national sentiments and feelings; he exceeded all his predecessors in extravagance and follies; he was suspected of poisoning Burrhus, by whom he was advanced to power; he executed men of the highest rank, whose crime was their riches; he destroyed the members of the imperial family; he murdered Doryphorus and Pallas, because they were averse to his marriage with Poppaea; he drove his chariot in the Circus Maximus, pleased with the acclamations of two hundred thousand spectators; he gave banquets in which the utmost excesses of baccha.n.a.lian debauchery were openly displayed; he is said to have kindled the conflagration of his own capital; he levied oppressive taxes to build his golden palace, and support his varied extravagance; he even destroyed his tutor and minister, Seneca, that he might be free from his expostulations, and take possession of the vast fortune which this philosopher had acc.u.mulated in his service; and he finally kicked his wife so savagely that she died from the violence he inflicted. If it were possible to add to his enormities, his persecution of the Christians swelled the measure of his infamies-the first to which they had been subjected in Rome, and in which Paul himself was a victim.

But his government was supported by the cruelty and voluptuousness of the age, and which has never been painted in more vivid colors than by St.

Paul himself. The corrupt morality of the age tolerated all these crimes, and excesses, and follies-an age which saw no great writers except Seneca, Lucan, Perseus, and Martial, two of whom were murdered by the emperor.

(M1083) But the hour of retribution was at hand. The provinces were discontented, and the city filled with cabals and conspiracies. Though one of them, instigated by Piso, was unsuccessful, and its authors punished, a revolt in Gaul, headed by Galba-an old veteran of seventy-two, and a.s.sisted by Vindex and Virginius, was fatal to Nero. The Senate and the praetorian guards favored the revolution. The emperor was no longer safe in his capital. Terrified by dreams, and stung by desertion, the wretched tyrant fled to the Servilian Gardens, and from thence to the villa of one of his freedmen, near which he committed suicide, at the age of thirty-six, and in the fourteenth year of his inglorious reign, during which there are scarcely other events to chronicle than his own personal infamies. "In him perished the last scion of the stock of the Julii, refreshed in vain by grafts from the Octavii, the Claudii, and the Domitii." Though the first of the emperors had married four wives, the second three, the third two, the fourth three, the fifth six, and the sixth three, yet Nero was the last of the Caesars. None of the five successors of Julius were truly his natural heirs. They trace their lineage to his sister Julia, but the three last had in their veins the blood of Antony as well as Octavia, and thus the descendants of the triumvir reigned at Rome as well as those of his rival Octavius. We have only to remark that it is strange that the Julian line should have been extinguished in the sixth generation, with so many marriages.

CHAPTER XLIV.

THE CLIMAX OF THE ROMAN EMPIRE.

On the extinction of the Julian line, a new cla.s.s of emperors succeeded, by whom the prosperity of the empire was greatly advanced. We have now to fall back on Niebuhr, Gibbon, and the Roman historians, and also make more use of Smith's digest of these authors. But so much ground still remains to go over, that we can only allude to salient points, and our notice of succeeding emperors must be brief.

(M1084) The empire was now to be the prize of successful soldiers, and Galba, at the age of seventy-three, was saluted imperator by the legions before the death of Nero, A.D. 68, and acknowledged by the Senate soon after. There is nothing memorable in his short reign of a few months, and he was succeeded by Otho, who only reigned three months, and he was succeeded by Vitellius, who was removed by violent death, like Galba and Otho. These three emperors left no mark, and were gluttons and sensualists, who excited nothing but contempt; soldiers of fortune-only respectable in inferior rank.