CH. 1.
20. =Nerva=: Marcus Cocceius Nerva was born at Narnia in Umbria in 32
A.D. He was consul with Vespasian in 71 A.D. and with Domitian in 90
A.D. After the assassination of Domitian he was declared emperor by
the Roman people and the soldiers, and his administration restored
tranquillity to the troubled state. He stopped proceedings against
those accused of treason and permitted many exiles to return. Though
he was virtuous and humane, he did not possess the necessary vigor
for checking the many abuses that existed. He adopted as his son and
successor Marcus Ulpius Traian, who was then at the head of the army in
Germany. He died suddenly on the 27th of January, 98 A.D. Creighton, p.
99; _The Age of the Antonines_, Ch. I.
22. =operam dante=: ‘giving him aid, assisting him.’
=Petrōniō Secundō, Partheniō=: Nerva could not prevent the Praetorian
soldiers from putting them to death.
PAGE 74.
3. =aetātis … annō=: Eutropius is mistaken. He was sixty-five years old
when he died.
4. =inter Dīvōs relātus est=: cf. _Dīvus appellātus_, Bk. VII, 10.
CH. 2.
5. =Trāiānus=: Marcus Ulpius Traian was born at Italica near Seville in
Spain, September 18, 52 A.D. He was trained to arms, and rose through
the various offices to the rank of praetor. He was adopted by Nerva in
97 A.D. After Nerva’s death he became emperor, being the first Roman
emperor who was born out of Italy. He was a great soldier and a good
administrator. Good sense, a knowledge of the world, and sound judgment
characterized him. Just and sincere in his desire for the happiness
of the people, he was one of the best emperors that governed Rome. He
crushed the Dacians, successfully waged war against the Parthians, and
brought peace and prosperity to the whole Roman world. Creighton, p.
99; _The Age of the Antonines_, Ch. II.
13. =Dāciam=: Trajan conducted two campaigns against the Dacians,
101-103 A.D. and 104-106 A.D. On his return from the second campaign
he celebrated a triumph and entertained the people with games lasting
123 days. “It is said that 11,000 animals were slaughtered during these
amusements, and that 10,000 gladiators fought in the arena.”
16. =tenuit= ＝ _habuit_.
CH. 3.
17. =Armeniam=: Trajan began this campaign in 114 A.D. The winter
of the same year he spent at Antioch. During the next two years he
conquered the greater part of the Parthian empire, taking the capital
city Ctesiphon.
PAGE 75.
CH. 4.
3. =amīcōs … frequentāns=: ‘going often to his friends to salute them.’
4. =fēstōs diēs habuissent=: ‘they were celebrating feast days.’
=indiscrēta=: ‘with no distinction of rank.’
6. =nihil … agēns=: his finances were prosperous, partly owing to good
management, and partly from the success of certain mining operations in
Dacia.
9. =per orbem … multa=: “He constructed several good roads in the
provinces and Italy; among them was the road across the Pomptine
Marshes. At Ostia he built a large new basin. At Rome he constructed
the aqueduct called by his name, built a theater in the Campus Martius,
and, above all, made the Forum Traianum, with its basilicas and
libraries, and his column in the center.”
10. =nihil nōn=: the figure of Litotes, affirming a thing by denying
its contrary; cf. _nōn compāruisset_, Bk. I, 2.
CH. 5.
19. =bellī domīque=: H. 484, 2 (426, 2); M. 242, 2; A. & G. 258, _d_;
G. 411, 2; B. 232, 2.
20. =Seleuciam=: it is generally stated that he lived to reach Selinus
in Cilicia, where he died in August, 117 A.D.
23. =sōlus … sepultus est=: he was the only one of the emperors who
was buried within the city. This privilege was enjoyed by the Vestal
Virgins.
24. =in forō=: the _Forum Trāiānum_ was probably the most magnificent
of all the Roman fora. It occupied a large space between the Capitoline
and the Quirinal Hills, the latter of which was cut away to make room
for it. Among the many buildings it contained were two libraries, one
for Latin and the other for Greek manuscripts. It contained also the
famous Column of Trajan. This column, composed of huge drums of white
marble, is pierced within. A bas-relief of the chief events of the
Dacian war winds round the shaft. It is still standing.
25. =CXLIV pedēs=: this was the height of the Quirinal Hill that was
cut away.
26. =habet= ＝ _est_.
=hūius … dēlātum est=: ‘so much respect has been paid to his memory.’
PAGE 76.
CH. 6.
3. =Aelius Hadriānus=: Publius Aelius Hadrian was with Trajan when
the latter died. With the consent of the Syrian army he assumed the
reins of government and his act was ratified by the senate. Although
he lost some of the territory that Trajan had added to the Empire, he
strengthened and united the remainder. He was, in general, a just and
able ruler; yet at times he showed himself revengeful, suspicious, and
cruel. He died of dropsy at Baiae, 138 A.D., in the sixty-third year of
his life. Creighton, p. 100; _The Age of the Antonines_, Ch. III.
7. =glōriae invidēns=: more probably he saw that the Empire had become
too large to be governed successfully.
CH. 7.
17. =orbem Rōmānum circumiit=: he visited every province in the Empire,
correcting abuses, and examining the administration of government.
18. =multa aedificāvit=: among other famous buildings the Mausoleum of
Hadrian, now called the Castle of St. Angelo.
CH. 8.
27. =T. Antōnīnus=: his full name was Titus Aurelius Fulvius Boionius
Antoninus, called Pius because he persuaded the senate to grant to
his adopted father Hadrian the apotheosis and other honors usually
paid to deceased emperors. “His reign is almost a blank in history--a
blank caused by a suspension for a time of war, violence, and crime.”
Although he waged no war for conquest, he defended the provinces
with vigor, warring against the Moors and Britons, and the untamed
races of the Rhine and the Danube. Creighton, p. 101; _The Age of the
Antonines_, Ch. IV.
PAGE 77.
6. =bonīs honōrem habēns=: ‘paying respect to the good.’
14. =Lorium=: in Etruria on the _Via Aurelia_.
CH. 9.
18. =M. Antōnīnus Vērus=: he is generally known as Marcus Aurelius.
He was the adopted son of Antoninus Pius. When only twelve years old
he assumed the philosophic mantle and gave himself up to the study of
philosophy, attaching himself to the Stoic school. After he became
emperor he associated Lucius Antoninus Verus, his brother, with him in
the government. Although they were entirely different in character,
they reigned conjointly with no disagreement. His ‘Meditations’ have
survived. Creighton, p. 101; _The Age of the Antonines_, Ch. V.
23. =singulōs … Augustōs=: ‘one Augustus (emperor) at a time.’
CH. 10.
28. =contrā Parthōs=: Lucius Verus nominally had the guidance of the
war, but it was carried on by his lieutenants while he lingered in
Antioch.
PAGE 78.
CH. 12.
21. =Apollōnium Chalcēdōnium=: called Apollonius Dyscolus. “He is
the father of scientific Grammar, being the first to reduce it to a
systematic form.”
24. =Frontō=: Marcus Cornelius Fronto. He acquired great reputation as
a rhetorician and grammarian at Rome in the reign of Hadrian. Some of
his letters to his pupils, Marcus Aurelius and Lucius Verus, were found
in the present century.
=hīc … ēgit=: ‘he treated all at Rome with equality.’
26. =prōvinciās … trāctāvit=: he did not visit the provinces, but kept
himself thoroughly informed of the details of their administration.
PAGE 79.
1. =eō prīncipe=: ‘during his reign’; cf. =hīs rēgnantibus=, Bk. I, 2.
=bellum … Marcomannicum=: the Marcomanni, ‘men of the marshes,’ were
a German tribe that threatened destruction to the Roman Empire. For
thirteen years Marcus Aurelius with difficulty held them in check. He
built many fortresses and a great wall to restrain them.
2. =quantum … fuit=: ‘it was greater than any in the memory of man’;
_i.e._ there had been no war with the Germans equally formidable.
5. =pestilentiae=: the plague broke out in 167 A.D. and lasted for
several years, despite all efforts to check its ravages. It was
probably brought to Rome by the soldiers returning from the expedition
against the Parthians.
CH. 13.
10. =Quādī=: a powerful people who dwelt in the southeastern part of
Germany. They had been taken under the protection of Rome by Tiberius.
In 174 A.D. Marcus Aurelius defeated them in a fierce battle. They
appear again during the reign of Gallienus (Bk. IX, 8). Towards the
end of the fourth century they disappear from history. _The Age of the
Antonines_, pp. 106-108.
=Vandalī=: a confederacy of German peoples, who dwelt originally on the
northern coast of Germany. Later they settled north of the Marcomanni,
whom they joined. They invaded Spain, and later Africa. Under their
king Genseric they invaded Italy, and took and plundered Rome, 455 A.D.
=Suēvī=: an important confederacy of German tribes. Their name survives
in the modern Suabia.
13. =Caesarem fēcerat=: the title of Caesar was now given to the person
next in rank to the emperor, and who was intended to succeed him.
15. =indīcere … aliquid=: ‘to make any demands on the provinces or the
senate.’
16. =īnstrumentum rēgiī cultūs=: ‘royal furniture.’
22. =comparāta=: ‘their purchases.’
CH. 14.
28. =obiit=: he died at Vindobona, now Vienna.
29. =vītae LXI=: it is generally said that he died in the fifty-ninth
year of his life.
PAGE 80.
CH. 15.
1. =L. Antōnīnus Commodus=: he was the son of Marcus Aurelius, but
like him in no respect. After concluding a disgraceful treaty with the
Germans, he hastened to Rome, where he gave himself up to the grossest
vices. Creighton, p. 102.
6. =in amphitheātrō=: he was the conqueror in 735 combats. Nothing
delighted him more than to be called the ‘Hercules of Rome.’
7. =strangulātus vel venēnō=: he was poisoned and afterwards strangled
by his favorite Marcia.
CH. 16.
11. =Pertināx=: Creighton, p. 103.
CH. 17.
18. =perpetuum composuit ēdictum=: this was a digest of the mass
of edicts that had been issued by the praetors and the provincial
governors. It was the basis of the _Corpus Iūris Cīvīlis_ of Justinian.
19. =Mulvium pontem=: about two miles north of Rome, on the _Via
Flaminia_. Here the ambassadors of the Allobroges, that had been
tampered with by the fellow-conspirators of Catiline, were arrested, 63
B.C. The foundations of this bridge still remain and are built into the
Ponte Mollo at the same place.
CH. 18.
21. =Septimius Sevērus=: Lucius Septimius Severus was commander in
chief of the army in Pannonia and Illyria at the death of Pertinax,
193 A.D. He was proclaimed emperor by the army. For nearly a hundred
years the emperors were made and unmade at the will of the soldiers.
Creighton, p. 104.
23. =omnī memoriā=: ‘in all time.’
24. =fiscī advocātus=: a Roman officer appointed to look after the
interests of the imperial treasury.
PAGE 81.
CH. 19.
16. =vāllum … dēdūxit=: the celebrated wall of Severus, extending from
the Solway Firth to the mouth of the Tyne. It was erected to prevent
incursions of the Caledonians.
17. =Eborācī=: the modern York.
22. =Geta … periit=: he was murdered by order of Caracalla.
CH. 20.
23. =Caracalla=: the name of Caracalla was derived from a species of
Gallic cassock he introduced at Rome.
24. =mōrum … fuit=: his whole life was only one series of cruelties
and acts of extravagant folly. Creighton, p. 105.
25. =thermae Antōnīniānae=: these accommodated about 1600 persons at
once. The ruins are still to be seen.
PAGE 82.
CH. 22.
9. =M. Aurēlius Antōnīnus=: known in history as Heliogabalus. He was
the grandson of Maesa, sister-in-law of Septimius Severus, and the son
of Symiasera. He was priest in the temple of the Sun at Emesa in Syria
when Caracalla died. Through the instrumentality of his grandmother he
was proclaimed emperor by the soldiers and acknowledged by the senate.
He was the most profligate of the Roman emperors.
CH. 23.
16. =Aurēlius Alexander=: Marcus Aurelius Alexander, generally known
as Alexander Severus. He had been adopted by Heliogabalus and had been
created Caesar. “He was distinguished by justice, wisdom, and clemency
in all public transactions, and by the simplicity and purity of his
private life.” Creighton, p. 106.
20. =adsessōrem=: ‘legal adviser.’
21. =Ulpiānum=: Domitius Ulpianus was one of the most celebrated Roman
lawyers. His works are often quoted in the _Corpus Iūris Cīvīlis_ of
Justinian. He was assassinated in a mutiny of the soldiers caused by
his strict discipline.