_(Of Rome, 836--Of Christ, 96.)_
[1]Cocceius Nerva succeeded Domitian in the empire. He reigned but
one year, four months, and eleven days; an [2]excellent prince, but
[3]despised for his age. He [4]annulled all the [5]acts of Domitian,
and [6]restored what had been [7]taken from the people by [8]violence
and [9]injustice: but he [10]wanted [11]authority to [12]keep the
soldiers within [13]due bounds; wherefore those who were [14]concerned
in the death of Domitian, from whom he had [15]received the empire,
were [16]killed by the [17]guards, [18]in spite of all he could do
to [19]prevent it. He made Trajan, [20]lieutenant of Germany, his
[21]adopted son, with whom he lived three months.
Trajan [22]took upon him the [23]government of the empire at
[24]Cologn, being then in the 42nd year of his age; and a man
[25]excellently [26]skilled in the [27]military art. He was likewise
a person of great prudence, [28]moderation, and [29]meekness of
[30]temper; so that he was thought by all to [31]deserve the
[32]surname of [33]Optimus. He [34]added Dacia to the empire, and,
[35]marching into the [36]East, [37]subdued the [38]Armenians,
the [39]Iberians, the [40]Colchians, the [41]Sarmatians, the
[42]Osrhoenians, the [43]Arabians, and the [44]Bosphoranians. He
likewise [45]fell upon the Parthians, and [46]took the cities Seleucia,
[47]Ctesiphon, and [48]Babylon, with several others. But upon his
[49]taking a voyage in the [50]Red Sea, almost all those nations
[51]rose in rebellion. He, however, [52]quickly [53]reduced them
either in person or by his [54]lieutenants. There was in his time
a great [55]earthquake, which [56]ruined the city of [57]Antioch:
it [58]happened in the year of Christ 115, in the [59]consulship of
Messala and Pedo, the latter of whom was [60]buried in the [61]ruins
of the [62]place, and Trajan was [63]drawn through a [64]window, and
had [65]much ado to [66]escape. The Jews of [67]Syrene [68]took up
arms, and [69]exercised all manner of [70]cruelty upon the Romans and
Greeks throughout [71]Egypt and [72]Cyprus. Trajan [73]suppressed this
rebellion with infinite [74]slaughter, by his lieutenant Martius Turbo.
[75]Whilst he was [76]preparing to march against the Parthians, who
were up in arms, having [77]forced from amongst them the king that
had been [78]given them by the Roman emperor; this excellent prince
[79]fell ill, and [80]died at [81]Selinus in Cilicia. He reigned
nineteen years, six months, and fifteen days.
[82]Ælius Hadrianus, Trajan’s [83]cousin and [84]countryman,
[85]obtained the empire after him, by the [86]favour of Plotina,
Trajan’s wife; a man very [87]fickle in his [88]temper and [89]genius,
[90]equally [91]formed for virtue and [92]vice. He [93]went through all
the [94]provinces of the empire, so that nobody had ever [95]travelled
over so much of the [96]world as he. After the death of Trajan, he
[97]abandoned Armenia, Syria, and Mesopotamia, to the Parthians,
and [98]intended likewise to [99]leave Dacia, had he not been
[100]apprehensive of [101]ruining the many thousands of Romans that
were there.
He [102]rebuilt Jerusalem, which he [103]called Ælia Capitolina,
and [104]settled a colony there; and in the same place where the
[105]temple had [106]stood, [107]built another in [108]honour of
[109]Jupiter; which so [110]provoked the Jews, that, [111]taking up
arms, they [112]carried on the war with more [113]fury than ever,
under the [114]conduct of Barchochebas; against whom, amongst other
[115]skilful generals that he [116]employed, Hadrian [117]sent
for Julius Severus out of [118]Britain, by whom the Jews were by
[119]degrees [120]suppressed and utterly [121]destroyed; there being
no less than 50,000 slain in that war, besides an [122]innumerable
[123]multitude that were [124]consumed by [125]famine, [126]pestilence,
and [127]fire; so that [128]Palestine became almost a [129]wilderness.
After that time, the Jews were [130]forbidden, [131]under pain of
death, to come to Jerusalem, unless one day in a year to [132]lament
their [133]misery.
At last Hadrian [134]growing old and [135]infirm, having no
[136]children of his own, [137]adopted [138]Arrius Antoninus, who was
afterwards [139]surnamed [140]Pius, [141]upon condition that he should
adopt Annius Verus, son of Ælius Verus, and [142]M. Aurelius Antoninus.
After which he died at Baiæ, in the year of Christ 138, having lived
sixty-two years, and reigned twenty-one and eleven months.
Antoninus Pius, adopted by Hadrian, [143]governed the Roman empire
with so much virtue and [144]goodness, that he [145]surpassed all
[146]example; for he [147]managed the [148]commonwealth rather with the
[149]affection of a father, than with the authority of a prince, and
[150]kept the world in [151]peace during his whole reign, for which
[152]reason he was [153]compared to Numa. [154]Foreign and [155]remote
princes and [156]nations [157]feared him to that degree, that they
[158]referred the [159]decision of their [160]controversies to him.
He [161]forbade any [162]scrutiny to be made after those, who had
[163]entered into a [164]plot against his [165]life. He died in the
seventieth year of his age, and twenty-fourth of his reign.
After him reigned M. Antonius Verus, [166]son-in-law of Pius; for he
had married his daughter Valeria Faustina. He had from [167]his youth
been [168]educated as well in the [169]knowledge of other [170]arts as
the [171]studies of [172]wisdom, which he [173]made appear no less in
his life and [174]conduct, than his [175]words and [176]professions.
In the [177]beginning of his reign, he made L. Ælius Verus his
[178]partner of the empire, to whom he married his daughter Lucilla.
They reigned together eleven years, being of very [179]different
[180]inclinations; for Verus was of a [181]listless, [182]luxurious,
and [183]morose temper, but was [184]kept within [185]bounds through
the [186]respect he had for his father-in-law; by whom he was [187]sent
against the Parthians, and [188]carried on the war [189]successfully
for four years, by his lieutenants; wherefore they both [190]triumphed
over the Parthians. Afterwards they [191]undertook an [192]expedition
against the Marcomanni, but upon their [193]march, Verus was
[194]seized with an [195]apoplexy, between Concordia and [196]Altinum,
and died. M. Aurelius carried on the war for three years against
the Marcomanni, to whom the Quadi, [197]Vandals, [198]Sarmatians,
and Suevi, [199]joined themselves. His army in [200]want [201]of
water, was [202]relieved by a [203]legion of [204]Christians that
was in it, who, by their [205]prayers [206]procured [207]rain from
[208]heaven, according to [209]Eusebius. The [210]exchequer being
quite [211]exhausted by the great [212]expense of the war, that he
might not [213]burthen the people with [214]taxes, he [215]produced
all the imperial [216]furniture and [217]sold it; and after the
victory [218]restored the [219]price to those [220]purchasers who
[221]were willing to [222]part with what they had [223]bought. Avidius
Cassius, upon [224]false advice that he was [225]dead, [226]seized the
[227]government, and was slain three months after. M. Aurelius died at
Vienna, after a reign of nineteen years, and eleven months.
He was [228]succeeded by his [229]wicked son Aurelius Commodus
Antoninus, who [230]resembled Nero for [231]cruelty, [232]lust,
[233]avarice, and such practices as are [234]scandalous in an emperor.
Having [235]settled his affairs with the [236]Germans, he triumphed
at Rome. He put to death his sister Lucilla, who, with [237]several
others, had [238]conspired against his life. He [239]used to [240]fight
among the [241]gladiators in the [242]public games. He was at last,
after an [243]infamous life, [244]slain by the [245]contrivance of a
[246]mistress, and the captain-general of his [247]life-guards, whom he
had [248]determined to [249]put to death. He reigned twelve years, nine
months, and fourteen days.
After Commodus was [250]killed in the year of Christ 193, P.
[251]Helvius Pertinax, was [252]declared emperor, by those who had
[253]dispatched Commodus, who [254]endeavouring to [255]reduce the
[256]commonwealth into better [257]order, and to [258]curb the
[259]licentiousness of the [260]soldiery, was, within eighty days after
his coming to the empire, [261]murdered by his own guards. The empire
after this, was by the soldiers [262]exposed to [263]sale, and Didius
Julianus [264]coming up to their [265]terms, was [266]accepted of,
and [267]proclaimed emperor accordingly. But [268]not being able to
[269]make up the [270]promised donative, he was [271]forsaken by them,
and slain by [272]order of Septimius Severus, after he had reigned two
months and five days.
This Severus, a [273]native of Africa, was at that time lieutenant
of Pannonia, and [274]took upon him the government, under the
[275]pretence of [276]revenging Pertinax’s death. He first of all
[277]disbanded the guards for that [278]abominable [279]murder. Then
he [280]fell upon Pescennius Niger, lieutenant of Syria, and Clodius
Albinus of [281]Britain, his [282]competitor for the empire. Niger was
[283]conquered, and Antioch, into which he [284]threw himself, was
taken; after which, [285]flying towards the [286]river Euphrates, he
was [287]taken and slain. After the [288]taking off of Niger, Severus
[289]took [290]Byzantium, which had [291]declared for him, after a
[292]siege of three years.
[293]Matters being [294]brought to a [295]peaceable [296]settlement in
the [297]East, he [298]turned his arms [299]westward against Clodius
Albinus, and [300]engaged him at [301]Lyons in [302]France; where
many being slain on both [303]sides, and amongst others, Albinus,
he was [304]left sole [305]possessor of the empire. The city was
[306]plundered and [307]burnt, Albinus’s [308]head [309]sent to Rome,
and a [310]dreadful [311]havoc made among those who had been his
[312]favourers and [313]friends.
After this, he [314]marched [315]eastward again, and [316]conquered the
Parthians, the [317]Adiabenians, and Arabians, whilst Plotianus, in the
mean time, [318]governed all at Rome. Plotilla, this man’s daughter,
was [319]contracted to Antoninus, Severus’s son, and the [320]nuptials
were [321]celebrated in the tenth year of Severus’s reign. But not long
after, Plotianus being [322]engaged in a [323]plot against the emperor,
was slain by his [324]son-in-law, and a great many that had been in his
[325]interest, killed after him.
Severus [326]undertook an [327]expedition into Britain, with his two
sons, in the 15th year of his reign, where he [328]continued three
years; being very [329]successful, he [330]drew a [331]wall [332]across
the [333]island for its [334]security. He died at York, after he had
reigned seventeen years eight months and three days.
[335]Antoninus Caracalla and Geta, the two sons of Severus, were
after him [336]advanced to the empire, in the year of Christ 211.
But the [337]difference of their [338]humour and [339]manners was
such, that they were [340]perpetually at [341]variance. Geta was
of a [342]mild and civil [343]temper, the other [344]cruel and
[345]boisterous, who, in the second year of his reign, [346]slew his
brother in his [347]mother’s [348]bosom. After him, a great many
of his friends and [349]favourers were [350]put to death, amongst
whom the [351]famous [352]lawyer [353]Papinian, because he would not
[354]justify his [355]parricide. After this, he [356]marched into the
[357]East. At Alexandria he made a [358]shocking [359]massacre of the
[360]inhabitants, for having some time before made some [361]jests
upon him. He then [362]invaded [363]Artabanus, king of the Parthians,
and [364]laid waste his [365]dominions. He was [366]killed by the
[367]contrivance of Opilius Macrinus after he had reigned six years and
two months.
Macrinus [368]enjoyed the empire but a short time; for he and his sons
were slain by the [369]soldiers within a year and two months after he
obtained it: and was [370]succeeded by [371]Antoninus Heliogabalus,
[372]supposed, but [373]falsely, to be the son of Caracalla. He was the
[374]vilest [375]wretch that ever lived, [376]given up to all manner of
[377]vice. Wherefore, after a reign of three years, and nine months, he
was slain by the [378]soldiery, with his mother Julia, or Semiamira.
After this, [379]M. Aurelius Alexander [380]mounted the throne,
having been [381]created Cæsar the year before; an [382]extraordinary
prince, and well [383]instructed in all the [384]arts of [385]peace
and war. He [386]carried a strict hand over the [387]judges, and was
very [388]severe upon all those that by [389]favour or [390]bribery
[391]transgressed the [392]bounds of [393]justice. He [394]banished
from his [395]person all [396]flatterers, [397]buffoons, and such as
are a [398]scandal to the [399]court. He [400]forbade the [401]sale
of [402]offices, saying, that what was [403]bought would be [404]sold
again. He [405]allowed the [406]deputies of the [407]provinces all
their [408]furniture out of the [409]exchequer, that they might not
be [410]burdensome to the people. He was [411]successful against the
Persians, but at last slain in a [412]sedition of his army.
In the fifth year of his reign, [413]Artaxerxes, [414]the Persian,
having [415]defeated the Parthians in three [416]battles, and
slain their king Artabanus, [417]raised again the empire of the
Persians in the East. He also made an [418]excursion into the Roman
[419]territories, but was defeated by Alexander. After this, he
[420]undertook an [421]expedition against the Germans, in which he was
slain by Maximinus, together with his mother, after a reign of thirteen
years.
Maximinus was made emperor after the [422]murder of Alexander, and
[423]put a happy end to the German war. In the mean time he made a
[424]dreadful [425]havoc at Rome, by his governor there, and killed a
great many of the [426]nobility. During this, the two [427]Gordians,
father and son, while at [428]Carthage, [429]laid claim to the empire.
The Romans, being [430]headed by the senate, [431]declared against
Maximinus; and [432]persons were [433]dispatched away to [434]secure
the provinces for the senate. At home, twenty [435]commissioners were
[436]nominated for the [437]management of public [438]affairs. The
Gordians being [439]killed in Africa, after a year and a few days, by
[440]Capelian, Maximinus’s general, [441]Balbinus and [442]Maximus
Pupienus, two of the [443]twenty [444]commissioners, were [445]advanced
to the empire by the senate in the year of Christ 237; in which
Maximinus, as he was [446]besieging Aquileia, was slain by the
[447]soldiers with his son, who was but a [448]boy, after a reign of
two years and ten months.
Balbinus and Pupienus, with Gordian ([449]a boy, who, as will be seen
[450]hereafter, [451]perished in Africa), reigned together for a year.
But afterwards being [452]desirous to [453]get rid of Gordian, who was
more in [454]favour than themselves, they were slain by the soldiers
in the year of Christ 238; from which time Gordian [455]enjoyed the
empire by himself, a [456]youth of an [457]extraordinary [458]genius,
and [459]prone to all manner of virtue; which was [460]improved by
the [461]prudence of Misitheus, a very [462]learned and [463]eloquent
man, whose daughter he [464]married; with whom he [465]marched at the
[466]head of the great army against the Persians, and [467]recovered
from them [468]Carræ, [469]Nisibis, and other towns, and [470]forced
them back into their own [471]country. The year [472]following,
Misitheus being [473]murdered by the [474]contrivance of [475]Philip
the Arabian, Gordian himself was soon after slain in a [476]tumult,
which the same Philip [477]raised by the [478]help of some soldiers he
had [479]corrupted, after he had reigned six years, in whose [480]place
the [481]parricide [482]succeeded.
In the fourth year of Philip’s reign, the [483]Secular games were
[484]celebrated at Rome, in the [485]thousandth year of the city. He
was [486]at last [487]slain at Verona, by the soldiers, in the sixth
year of his [488]reign.
Decius, [489]born in [490]Lower Pannonia, a man of great [491]courage
and [492]experience in war, [493]succeeded him. He [494]perished in a
[495]morass in a battle against the [496]Barbarians. This [497]defeat
was [498]occasioned by the [499]treachery of Gallus, who [500]secretly
[501]caballed with the enemy after he had reigned thirty months. This
Gallus being made emperor by the [502]choice of the [503]soldiery, and
having [504]taken his son as a [505]partner in the [506]government,
was slain together with him by the soldiers, two years and four months
after at Interamna, as he was [507]marching against Æmilian, who was
[508]raising a [509]rebellion in Mœtia.
Æmilian did not reign long, being slain three months after his
[510]advancement, and was [511]succeeded by Valerian, with his son
Gallienus, who reigned six years together; during which time the
Roman empire was [512]miserably [513]rent by the Barbarians. Thirty
[514]tyrants [515]started up in several [516]places, according to
[517]Trebellius Pollio. Wherefore Valerian [518]marching against the
[519]Scythians, who had [520]taken [521]Chalcedon, [522]burnt Nice,
and the [523]temple of the [524]Ephesian Diana, and from thence
[525]advancing against Sapores, who [526]was very troublesome to
the [527]Eastern [528]borders, he [529]took him [530]prisoner, and
[531]treated him like a vile [532]slave; for when he [533]mounted
his [534]horse, he [535]set his [536]foot upon his [537]neck, who
[538]bowed down [539]for that purpose. At last he [540]ordered him
to be [541]flayed and [542]salted. This [543]victory over the Romans
[544]happened in the year of Christ 260. After which Odenatus, a
senator of the [545]Palmyrenians, whom Zenobia had [546]married,
[547]bravely [548]repulsed the Persians that still [549]harassed the
[550]borders.
[551]In the mean time Gallienus, wholly [552]given up to [553]luxury
and [554]debauchery, [555]suffered the empire to be [556]torn to pieces
by the Barbarians, and [557]tyrants. Odenatus, after the [558]taking
of Nisibis and Carræ, and the [559]recovery of Mesopotamia, [560]upon
routing of the king of the Persians, having [561]sent the great
[562]lords of the Persians to him in [563]chains, he was [564]not
ashamed to [565]triumph, as if he had [566]conquered them himself.
Odenatus was [567]murdered by his [568]cousin, together with his son
Herod, whose [569]wife Zenobia, being a [570]woman of a [571]masculine
spirit, [572]undertook the government. Gallienus was slain with his
brother Valerian at [573]Milan, as he was marching against Aureolus the
tyrant. He reigned almost seven years with his father, and eight alone.
Claudius [574]succeeded him; a [575]frugal and [576]moderate prince,
and very [577]serviceable to the public, who having [578]taken off
the tyrant Aureolus, was very [579]successful against the [580]Goths,
of whom he [581]slew 320,000, and [582]sunk 200 of their [583]ships.
The rest of the Barbarians were [584]consumed at [585]Hæmimontium by
[586]famine and [587]pestilence; and soon after Claudius [588]died of
the same [589]plague, after a reign of one year and nine months.
His brother Quintilius [590]usurping the empire, was slain by the
soldiers ten days after, who had now [591]made choice of Aurelian,
a person of [592]mean birth, but [593]reckoned amongst the most
[594]glorious princes, only rather too [595]cruel. He [596]subdued
the Alemanni and Marcomanni, from whom the Romans had before
[597]received a [598]signal [599]overthrow. After that victory he
[600]came to Rome, [601]put several of the [602]senators to death, and
[603]enlarged the [604]walls of the city. Then marching [605]eastward,
he conquered Zenobia, whom with the tyrant [606]Tetrichus, he [607]led
in [608]triumph. [609]Aurelius Victor tells us, he was the first of
the Roman emperors who [610]wore a [611]diadem on his [612]head, or
[613]used [614]jewels and [615]cloth of [616]gold. He was [617]taken
off by [618]Mnestheus, a [619]notary to the [620]secretaries at
[621]Cænophrurium, [622]betwixt [623]Byzantium and Heraclea. After
his [624]death, there was an [625]interregnum of about seven months,
[626]occasioned by a [627]dispute between the senate and the army,
about the [628]choice of an emperor; at length Tacitus was [629]chosen
by the senate, a person of [630]excellent [631]morals, and very
[632]fit for the [633]government, he was [634]descended from Tacitus
the [635]historian; and he [636]died of a [637]fever six months after
at Tarsus. His brother Florianus [638]succeeded him: but Probus being
[639]set up by a [640]majority of the army, Florianus [641]bled himself
to death, two months after his brother died, in the year of Christ 276.
This Probus was [642]born in Pannonia Sirmiensis, a very fine man,
and an excellent [643]soldier, of [644]unspotted morals. [645]As
soon as he was [646]made emperor, he [647]punished all those who
[648]had a hand in the death of Aurelian. After that, he [649]marched
to [650]Gaul, [651]recovered several towns out of the [652]hands
of the [653]Barbarians, and [654]slew nearly 70,000 of them. After
[655]reducing [656]Gaul, he recovered [657]Illyricum, and [658]subdued
the people [659]called the [660]Getæ; then going into the [661]East,
he [662]fell upon the [663]Persians; when having [664]defeated them,
and [665]taken several towns, he was [666]slain on his [667]return to
Italy, by the soldiers, at [668]Sirmium, who [669]hated him for his
great [670]severity. This [671]happened in the seventh year of his
[672]reign, and the 282nd of Christ.
Probus was [673]succeeded by M. Aurelius Carus, [674]born at
[675]Narbon in France, who [676]immediately [677]made his sons
Carinus, and Numerianus, [678]Cæsars; and having [679]sent Carinus
to [680]take the care of Gaul, he [681]marched into the [682]East
against the Persians with Numerianus; where, after he had [683]reduced
Mesopotamia, and marched as far as [684]Ctesiphon, he was [685]struck
dead by [686]lightning, having [687]reigned about a year. Numerianus
being much [688]concerned for his father’s death, [689]contracted a
[690]weakness in his [691]eyes with [692]weeping, and was [693]slain by
the [694]contrivance of Aper his [695]father-in-law.
Carinus was nothing [696]like his father and brother, being [697]guilty
of all [698]manner of [699]wickedness; [700]wherefore he was
[701]odious to all [702]ranks of [703]people. He was [704]betrayed
by his own army at [705]Margum in Mœsia, and [706]killed by the
soldiers of Dioclesian, who, as soon as Numerianus was [707]dead,
[708]accepted of the [709]purple [710]offered him by the army, being
born of [711]mean parents in [712]Dalmatia (for [713]he is said
to have been the [714]slave of [715]Anulinus the senator), but a
[716]gallant soldier. He [717]took his [718]oath in an [719]assembly
of the soldiers, that he [720]had no hand in the death of Numerianus,
and upon that [721]slew Aper with his own [722]hand; and so
[723]fulfilled the [724]prophecy of him, that he should be emperor,
when he had killed a [725]boar with his own hand; for which reason
[726]as often as he [727]met with a boar, he [728]used to kill him.
After he had killed Aper, he said he had [729]found the fatal boar.
He [730]suppressed the [731]boors who made an [732]insurrection in
Gaul, and [733]called themselves Bacaudæ, by means of [734]Maximianus
Herculius, whom he [735]sent thither [736]for that purpose in the
year 285, in which this Herculius was first made Cæsar, and the year
[737]following he was made Augustus. About the same time Carausius
having [738]seized upon [739]Britain, and Achilleus in [740]Egypt,
[741]pretended to the empire; and in the [742]East, Narses king of
Persia, being [743]ready to [744]fall upon the Romans, and Africa being
[745]wasted by the [746]Quinquegentians, the better to [747]conduct
all these wars at once, he [748]created Constantius Chlorus, and
Galerius Maximianus, Cæsars. The latter was [749]born in Dacia, not
far from Sardica, and was [750]surnamed [751]Armentarius, because
he had been a [752]herdsman. Dioclesian [753]gave his daughter
Valeria to Armentarius, and Maximianus Herculius [754]disposed of
his step-daughter Theodora to Constantius. After this, Dioclesian
[755]went to Egypt, Herculius into Africa, Armentarius into the East,
and Constantius into Britain. Alexandria was [756]taken by Dioclesian,
after a [757]siege of eight months, in the twelfth year of his reign.
Ceransius was [758]killed by his friend [759]Alectus, eight years after
his [760]revolt. At the same time the Quinquegentians were [761]reduced
by Maximianus Herculius: and Galerius Armentarius [762]defeated by
Narsus, being [763]haughtily [764]received by Dioclesian, he the year
following 297, [765]revenged this [766]disgrace, by [767]routing
the Persian army, and [768]taking the [769]wives, [770]sisters, and
[771]children of Narsus prisoners; upon which Dioclesian received him
[772]honourably in Mesopotamia.
At length, after a [773]splendid [774]triumph, Dioclesian and Herculius
[775]laid down their [776]authority; the former did it [777]by
choice, and [778]retired to Salonæ; the other was [779]prevailed
upon more by the [780]authority of his [781]colleague, than from any
[782]inclination for it. This [783]happened in the 20th of Dioclesian,
and 304th year of Christ; upon which [784]Constantius Chlorus, and
[785]Galerius Maximianus Armentarius, were [786]proclaimed emperors;
Severus, and Galerius Maximianus, the [787]nephew of Armentarius by a
sister, were [788]declared Cæsars. Constantius [789]divided the Roman
empire with Maximian, [790]keeping to himself Gaul, Italy, and Africa;
but the two [791]last he afterwards [792]left to his colleague, who
had besides [793]Illyricum, Asia, and the [794]East. Of this he made
Maximianus [795]governor, and [796]placed Severus in Italy.