_(Of Rome, 725--Of Christ, 11.)_
After the death of Antony and Cleopatra, [1]Egypt was [2]reduced to the
[3]form of a [4]province. Cæsar, in the year 725, [5]triumphed three
times, for the [6]conquest of [7]Dalmatia, the victory at Actium, and
the [8]reducing of Egypt. After which he [9]advised with Agrippa and
Mecænas, either [10]seriously, or [11]pretendedly, about the [12]laying
down of his [13]authority; Agrippa was for it, Mecænas against it; this
last [14]advice he [15]resolved to follow, but [16]brought a [17]bill
[18]nevertheless into the senate [19]to divest himself of his power,
and by that [20]stratagem got it [21]secured to him both by the senate
and the people, in the year 726.
[22]Cornelius Gallus, a [23]Roman [24]knight, [25]governor of Egypt,
being [26]banished for his [27]insolence, slew himself. Augustus
[28]carried on a war against the Cantabri and Austus for some years, by
his [29]lieutenants: that is to say, from the year 729 to 735, in which
they were entirely [30]reduced by Agrippa; who, upon his [31]return
[32]refused a [33]triumph which was [34]offered him. [35]Phraates, king
of the Parthians, about this time [36]restored the Roman [37]standards
that had been [38]taken from Crassus.
For two of his [39]friends, Mecænas and M. Vipsanius Agrippa, he had
a [40]particular [41]esteem above all others; the [42]former was a
great [43]patron of [44]learning and [45]learned men. Augustus made
Agrippa his [46]son-in-law, by [47]marrying his daughter Julia to him,
whom he had by Scribonia. She had children, C. and L. Cæsars, Agrippa
Posthumus, Agrippina married to Germanicus, Drusus’s son, Livia’s
[48]grandson, and Julia, whom Æmilius married. He took Livia, when she
was [49]big with child, by her former [50]husband Tiberius Nero, by
whom he had no [51]issue, though she had by Nero, Tiberius, who was
emperor afterwards, and Drusus who [52]died in Germany.
Tiberius having gotten the [53]tribunitial [54]power for five years,
was [55]sent to [56]settle the [57]affairs of Armenia. Soon after
he [58]retired to Rhodes, where, for fear of [59]falling under the
[60]displeasure of his [61]step-sons, he [62]continued seven years. But
the [63]occasion of his [64]retirement was his [65]aversion for his
wife Julia, who [66]spent her time in all [67]manner of [68]debauchery.
Augustus, upon a [69]discovery of her [70]pranks, [71]banished her.
The [72]age of this emperor [73]produced several great [74]men:
amongst the [75]Greeks [76]Dionysius Halicarnassensis and [77]Nicholas
Damascenus were [78]famous for their [79]talents in writing
[80]history; and amongst the [81]Latins [82]Cornelius Nepos, Atticus’s
[83]son-in-law, and Sallust, who died four years before the [84]battle
of Actium. In this age lived likewise those [85]celebrated [86]poets,
[87]Virgil, [88]Horace, [89]Ovid, [90]Tibullus, and [91]Propertius.
Augustus died at Nola, in Campania, in the 14th year of [92]Christ,
and the 76th year of his age, having [93]held the empire by himself,
from the death of M. Antony, forty-three years; he was an [94]excellent
[95]prince, and [96]necessary for those times.
He was [97]succeeded by Tiberius, a prince of a [98]savage
[99]disposition, and [100]given up to all manner of debauchery; he
was the son of Livia by Nero. He [101]dissembled his [102]vices at
the [103]beginning of his reign with [104]wonderful [105]art, through
fear of Germanicus, his brother’s son, whom he had [106]adopted at
the [107]command of his [108]father-in-law. For, as he [109]gained a
great [110]reputation by his [111]virtues and [112]exploits in war,
he was [113]looked upon with a [114]jealous eye, as [115]fitter for
the empire than himself. He [116]removed him from Germany where he had
[117]wonderful [118]success against the enemy, into the [119]East,
to [120]fight against the Parthians, in the year 769, having sent
at the same time Cn. Piso into Syria, between whom and Germanicus
was a [121]mortal enmity. Wherefore Germanicus died, not without the
[122]suspicion of having been [123]poisoned by him, for which being
[124]prosecuted at Rome by Agrippina, the wife of Germanicus, he
[125]prevented his [126]sentence by a [127]voluntary death.
[128]Ælius Sejanus, a Roman [129]knight, was afterwards [130]raised by
Tiberius, who after a great many [131]wicked [132]actions, [133]aiming
now at no less than the empire itself, was, by a [134]letter of
Tiberius to the senate, [135]thrown from the [136]top of all his
[137]grandeur, and died by the [138]hand of an [139]executioner, with
all his [140]family, in the 18th year of Tiberius.
About the 18th year of his [141]reign, he [142]retired to Caprea, an
[143]island on the [144]coast of Campania, with a [145]design of never
returning to the town, where he [146]privately [147]wallowed in all
manner of [148]debauchery, and died in the 23rd year of his reign, to
the great [149]joy of every one, being then in the 78th year of his age.
[150]_Jesus Christ_, the son of God, was [151]born of the [152]Virgin
Mary, in the reign of Augustus, and [153]crucified in that of Tiberius,
being then thirty-three years of age.
Caius Cæsar Caligula, so [154]called from a [155]shoe [156]worn by
the [157]soldiery, which, when a boy, he [158]wore in the camp,
[159]succeeded Tiberius, being the son of Germanicus and Agrippina,
the daughter of M. Agrippa and Julia. He was [160]entered into the
five and twentieth year of his age. Great was the joy of the people
upon his first [161]accession to the [162]throne, and no less were
their [163]hopes that he would be [164]like Germanicus his father, who
is said to have been [165]possessed of all the good [166]qualities of
[167]body and [168]mind. And indeed as the worst of princes frequently
[169]begin well, he gave many [170]signs of his [171]moderation and
[172]regard to the good of the public. But soon after, as if he had
[173]put off all [174]humanity, he [175]outstripped the most savage
[176]creatures in [177]cruelty; and having made sad [178]havoc among
all [179]ranks and [180]degrees of men, he [181]killed likewise Macro,
[182]commander of the [183]prætorian [184]bands, by whose [185]means
he had been made emperor. He also [186]committed [187]crimes with
his sisters. Having in a year’s time [188]exhausted [189]immense
[190]treasures that had been [191]left by Tiberius, he [192]fell
to [193]proscribing and [194]plundering. Among other proofs of his
cruelty, he was [195]heard to say, I [196]wish the Roman people had
but one [197]neck. In all his [198]buildings, or public [199]works,
he [200]effected what was [201]looked upon to be impossible. He
[202]ordered himself to be [203]worshipped as a god throughout the
[204]world, and [205]temples to be [206]erected to him. At last, he
was slain by Chærea Cassius, [207]tribune of a [208]cohort of his
[209]guards, and some others, who had [210]entered into a [211]plot
against him, after he had [212]reigned three years, ten months, and
eight days, and [213]lived twenty-nine years.
Claudius Nero, Caligula’s uncle, and the son of Drusius [214]reigned
after him, [215]naturally no bad man, but [216]senseless and foolish.
He was not naturally [217]cruel, but only so when [218]instigated
by others, [219]especially by his [220]freedmen and his [221]wives,
into whose hands he [222]gave up himself and his [223]affairs. His
first lady was Messalina, whose [224]depravity and [225]dissoluteness
every body [226]knew but himself; till at last [227]venturing to
[228]marry one Silius, a knight, she was by her [229]husband’s order
slain, together with her [230]paramour, at the [231]instigation of
[232]Narcissus, who with [233]Pallas, another of his [234]freedmen,
[235]ruled him entirely.
Another [236]instance of his [237]folly is, that after Messalina
was [238]put to death, by whom he had his son [239]Britannicus, and
Octavia, he married Agrippina Germanicus his brother’s daughter, the
mother of Nero by [240]Domitius, in the ninth year of his reign, by
the [241]advice of Pallas: at whose and Agrippina’s [242]request, he
[243]adopted Nero, and [244]passing by Britannicus, [245]designed him
for his [246]successor. He [247]banished the [248]Jews from Rome,
and the [249]mathematicians out of Italy: and [250]undertaking an
[251]expedition into [252]Britain, he [253]subdued it all in sixteen
days time, as Dio says, in the third year of his reign. He died in
the year of Christ 54, by [254]poison [255]put in a [256]mushroom by
Agrippina. He reigned thirteen years eight months and twenty days, and
lived sixty-four years.
Domitius Nero, [257]mounted the throne after the death of his
[258]step-father, being then seventeen years of age. He at first,
[259]behaved himself in such a manner, that he might be [260]reckoned
among the best of [261]princes; that is, as long as he [262]listened
to the [263]precepts of his [264]master Seneca. Afterwards, being
[265]corrupted with [266]luxury and [267]flattery, he [268]became more
like a [269]monster than a man. He [270]stopped the progress of the
Parthians, who had [271]over-run Armenia, by Corbulo, a [272]gallant
[273]commander, and a person of great [274]virtue and [275]authority,
who [276]recovered Armenia, in the ninth year of Nero, and [277]obliged
[278]Tiridates, Volegesis king of the Parthians brother, to [279]come
to Rome, and to [280]beg his [281]crown of Nero, in the thirteenth
year of Nero’s reign; in which year he [282]recalled Corbulo, and put
him to death. He [283]destroyed Britannicus by [284]poison in the
very [285]beginning of his reign. He likewise [286]ordered his mother
Agrippina to be put to death, after having first [287]disgraced and
[288]banished her from the [289]court, which [290]parricide, that
nothing might be [291]wanting to [292]complete the [293]unhappiness
of the times, the Senate [294]approved of. Afterwards having married
Poppæa, whom he [295]took from Otho, he [296]banished Octavia, and at
last put her to death. Upon the [297]discovery of a [298]plot, which
Piso, and some others had [299]laid against him; he put to death the
[300]poet Lucan, and Seneca the philosopher, with several others,
in the year of Christ 65, and the same year he [301]kicked his wife
Poppæa, when [302]pregnant, [303]to death. He had the [304]impudence
to [305]appear upon the [306]stage, and [307]act amongst the
[308]players and [309]harpers, and [310]ride [311]chariot-races at the
[312]Circensian games; and to [313]represent for his [314]diversion
the [315]appearance of [316]Troy in [317]flames, he [318]set fire to
the city, and [319]imputed it to the [320]Christians. He [321]became
so odious and [322]contemptible by his [323]villanies, that he was
[324]forsaken by all, and being [325]sought for in order to be
[326]punished, he [327]performed the [328]executioner’s [329]office
upon himself, in the 14th year of his [330]reign, and 68th of our Lord.
A little before Nero’s death, [331]C. Julius Vindex, who was
[332]proprætor of Gaul, [333]openly [334]rebelled, and [335]persuaded
Sergius Galba, [336]governor of Spain, to [337]set up for emperor,
which he accordingly did, and [338]put Vindex to death presently after.
He reigned about seven months, being very [339]old. He was slain
together with Piso, whom he had [340]adopted, after M. Silvius Otho was
[341]proclaimed emperor; he reigned only about three months.
In the mean time, Vitellius [342]trusting to the [343]legions of
Germany, which he [344]commanded in [345]quality of a [346]consular
[347]lieutenant-general, [348]took upon him the [349]name of emperor,
and [350]defeated Otho’s army in a [351]rencounter near [352]Bebriacum,
who being [353]weary of a civil war, killed himself.
Vitellius reigned eight months after Otho, and was [354]succeeded by
Vespasian, who had been [355]sent by Nero to [356]quell the [357]Jews.
He reigned ten years with the greatest [358]justice and [359]clemency.
He was a great [360]encourager of [361]learning and [362]learned men.
The only thing that was [363]blamed in him, was his [364]covetousness,
which he used to [365]excuse, by [366]alleging the [367]emptiness of
the [368]Exchequer.
The war in [369]Judea was [370]finished in his time, to which he was
sent by Nero, as we have [371]already [372]said. It was [373]begun by
some [374]seditious [375]people that were [376]headed by Eleazar, the
son of Ananias, the [377]high-priest, who [378]took up arms against
the Romans, under the [379]pretence of [380]religion. Cestius Gallus,
[381]lieutenant of Syria, [382]laid siege to [383]Jerusalem, but was
[384]beaten off with great [385]slaughter in the 12th year of Nero. The
[386]victorious Jews upon their [387]return to Jerusalem, amongst other
generals, [388]made choice of [389]Josephus, the son of [390]Matthias
for one. In the year of Christ 67, Vespasian, [391]carrying his arms
through Galilee and Judea, [392]took, besides most of their towns,
Josephus their [393]commander, who [394]foretold his [395]rise.
At last, he [396]fell upon Jerusalem, the [397]metropolis of the
[398]nation, which was taken by his son Titus, in the second year of
his reign.
This [399]proved the [400]ruin of the nation, and of the very name
of the Jews. The [401]calamity was indeed so [402]violent, and
the [403]miseries they [404]suffered so [405]various, that it was
[406]visible they were [407]punished for the [408]horrid [409]murder
of the [410]only begotten son of God; for a [411]dreadful [412]famine
[413]forced the [414]besieged to [415]live on human [416]flesh;
mothers to [417]eat their own children; and eleven hundred thousand
[418]persons (a thing hardly ever [419]heard of before), [420]perished
in that [421]siege. The city was [422]finally [423]razed to the ground.
Vespasian, in the third year of his reign [424]triumphed, with his
son Titus, over the Jews; upon which he [425]shut up the [426]temple
of [427]Janus. He [428]died in his ninth [429]consulship whilst he
was [430]giving [431]audience to some [432]ambassadors, having lived
sixty-nine years, one month and seven days, and reigned eight years.
Titus, who [433]succeeded his father, is [434]deservedly [435]ranked
among the best [436]emperors, although before he [437]came to the
[438]empire, he was [439]thought a man of a cruel [440]temper,
[441]covetous, and [442]depraved. But upon his [443]advancement, he
was so much [444]altered for the better, that he [445]deserved the
[446]title of the [447]delight of [448]mankind. He was [449]remarkable
for great [450]mildness, and [451]easy temper, and never [452]sent any
one away [453]dissatisfied; and [454]remembering once at [455]supper
that he had [456]done nobody any [457]kindness that day, he told all
those who were about him that he had [458]lost a day. In his reign,
in the year of Christ 80, there was a [459]dreadful [460]eruption of
[461]flames and [462]ashes out of [463]mount Vesuvius, which [464]flew
as far as Africa, Syria, and Egypt; and the two towns of Pompeii and
[465]Herculaneum[A] were [466]utterly [467]ruined by it. This good
emperor died in the year of Christ 81, two years and three months
after he had [468]succeeded his father, and in the one and fortieth
year of his [469]age, not without the [470]suspicion of having been
[471]poisoned by his [472]brother Domitian.
[A] The Manuscripts, Vases, &c. &c. which within the last few
years have been found among the ruins of these places, are in
the present day objects of great curiosity and interest.
Titus was very much [473]lamented both by the senate and people: and
their [474]concern for his death was very much [475]increased by his
brother and [476]successor Domitian, the worst prince of all that
[477]came before, or [478]followed after him. At first he made some
[479]show of [480]clemency and [481]justice, but soon [482]discovered
his [483]temper, and [484]imitated Nero in [485]cruelty, [486]rapine,
and [487]debauchery. He [488]ordered himself to be [489]called God,
and was at last [490]destroyed by means of a [491]plot, in the year of
Christ 96, after he had reigned fifteen years.