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Chapter V: Sale Of The Empire To Didius Julianus.—Part I.
Public Sale Of The Empire To Didius Julianus By The
Praetorian Guards—Clodius Albinus In Britain, Pescennius
Niger In Syria, And Septimius Severus In Pannonia, Declare
Against The Murderers Of Pertinax—Civil Wars And Victory Of
Severus Over His Three Rivals—Relaxation Of Discipline—New
Maxims Of Government.
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Public Sale Of The Empire To Didius Julianus By The
Praetorian Guards—Clodius Albinus In Britain, Pescennius
Niger In Syria, And Septimius Severus In Pannonia, Declare
Against The Murderers Of Pertinax—Civil Wars And Victory Of
Severus Over His Three Rivals—Relaxation Of Discipline—New
Maxims Of Government.
The power of the sword is more sensibly felt in an extensive monarchy, than in a small community. It has been calculated by the ablest politicians, that no state, without being soon exhausted, can maintain above the hundredth part of its members in arms and idleness. But although this relative proportion may be uniform, the influence of the army over the rest of the society will vary according to the degree of its positive strength. The advantages of military science and discipline cannot be exerted, unless a proper number of soldiers are united into one body, and actuated by one soul. With a handful of men, such a union would be ineffectual; with an unwieldy host, it would be impracticable; and the powers of the machine would be alike destroyed by the extreme minuteness or the excessive weight of its springs. To illustrate this observation, we need only reflect, that there is no superiority of natural strength, artificial weapons, or acquired skill, which could enable one man to keep in constant subjection one hundred of his fellow-creatures: the tyrant of a single town, or a small district, would soon discover that a hundred armed followers were a weak defence against ten thousand peasants or citizens; but a hundred thousand well-disciplined soldiers will command, with despotic sway, ten millions of subjects; and a body of ten or fifteen thousand guards will strike terror into the most numerous populace that ever crowded the streets of an immense capital. The Praetorian bands, whose licentious fury was the first symptom and cause of the decline of the Roman empire, scarcely amounted to the last-mentioned number 1 They derived their institution from Augustus. That crafty tyrant, sensible that laws might color, but that arms alone could maintain, his usurped dominion, had gradually formed this powerful body of guards, in constant readiness to protect his person, to awe the senate, and either to prevent or to crush the first motions of rebellion. He distinguished these favored troops by a double pay and superior privileges; but, as their formidable aspect would at once have alarmed and irritated the Roman people, three cohorts only were stationed in the capital, whilst the remainder was dispersed in the adjacent towns of Italy. 2 But after fifty years of peace and servitude, Tiberius ventured on a decisive measure, which forever rivetted the fetters of his country. Under the fair pretences of relieving Italy from the heavy burden of military quarters, and of introducing a stricter discipline among the guards, he assembled them at Rome, in a permanent camp, 3 which was fortified with skilful care, 4 and placed on a commanding situation. 5
1 (return)
[ They were originally nine or ten thousand men, (for Tacitus
and son are not agreed upon the subject,) divided into as many cohorts.
Vitellius increased them to sixteen thousand, and as far as we can learn
from inscriptions, they never afterwards sunk much below that number.
See Lipsius de magnitudine Romana, i. 4.]
2 (return)
[ Sueton. in August. c. 49.]
3 (return)
[ Tacit. Annal. iv. 2. Sueton. in Tiber. c. 37. Dion Cassius,
l. lvii. p. 867.]
4 (return)
[ In the civil war between Vitellius and Vespasian, the
Praetorian camp was attacked and defended with all the machines used in
the siege of the best fortified cities. Tacit. Hist. iii. 84.]
5 (return)
[ Close to the walls of the city, on the broad summit of the
Quirinal and Viminal hills. See Nardini Roma Antica, p. 174. Donatus de
Roma Antiqua, p. 46. * Note: Not on both these hills: neither Donatus
nor Nardini justify this position. (Whitaker's Review. p. 13.) At the
northern extremity of this hill (the Viminal) are some considerable
remains of a walled enclosure which bears all the appearance of a Roman
camp, and therefore is generally thought to correspond with the Castra
Praetoria. Cramer's Italy 390.—M.]
Such formidable servants are always necessary, but often fatal to the throne of despotism. By thus introducing the Praetorian guards as it were into the palace and the senate, the emperors taught them to perceive their own strength, and the weakness of the civil government; to view the vices of their masters with familiar contempt, and to lay aside that reverential awe, which distance only, and mystery, can preserve towards an imaginary power. In the luxurious idleness of an opulent city, their pride was nourished by the sense of their irresistible weight; nor was it possible to conceal from them, that the person of the sovereign, the authority of the senate, the public treasure, and the seat of empire, were all in their hands. To divert the Praetorian bands from these dangerous reflections, the firmest and best established princes were obliged to mix blandishments with commands, rewards with punishments, to flatter their pride, indulge their pleasures, connive at their irregularities, and to purchase their precarious faith by a liberal donative; which, since the elevation of Claudius, was enacted as a legal claim, on the accession of every new emperor. 6
6 (return)
[ Claudius, raised by the soldiers to the empire, was the
first who gave a donative. He gave quina dena, 120l. (Sueton. in Claud.
c. 10: ) when Marcus, with his colleague Lucius Versus, took quiet
possession of the throne, he gave vicena, 160l. to each of the guards.
Hist. August. p. 25, (Dion, l. lxxiii. p. 1231.) We may form some idea
of the amount of these sums, by Hadrian's complaint that the promotion
of a Caesar had cost him ter millies, two millions and a half sterling.]
The advocate of the guards endeavored to justify by arguments the power which they asserted by arms; and to maintain that, according to the purest principles of the constitution, their consent was essentially necessary in the appointment of an emperor. The election of consuls, of generals, and of magistrates, however it had been recently usurped by the senate, was the ancient and undoubted right of the Roman people. 7 But where was the Roman people to be found? Not surely amongst the mixed multitude of slaves and strangers that filled the streets of Rome; a servile populace, as devoid of spirit as destitute of property. The defenders of the state, selected from the flower of the Italian youth, 8 and trained in the exercise of arms and virtue, were the genuine representatives of the people, and the best entitled to elect the military chief of the republic. These assertions, however defective in reason, became unanswerable when the fierce Praetorians increased their weight, by throwing, like the barbarian conqueror of Rome, their swords into the scale. 9
7 (return)
[ Cicero de Legibus, iii. 3. The first book of Livy, and the
second of Dionysius of Halicarnassus, show the authority of the people,
even in the election of the kings.]
8 (return)
[ They were originally recruited in Latium, Etruria, and the
old colonies, (Tacit. Annal. iv. 5.) The emperor Otho compliments
their vanity with the flattering titles of Italiae, Alumni, Romana were
juventus. Tacit. Hist. i. 84.]
9 (return)
[ In the siege of Rome by the Gauls. See Livy, v. 48.
Plutarch. in Camill. p. 143.]
The Praetorians had violated the sanctity of the throne by the atrocious murder of Pertinax; they dishonored the majesty of it by their subsequent conduct. The camp was without a leader, for even the praefect Laetus, who had excited the tempest, prudently declined the public indignation. Amidst the wild disorder, Sulpicianus, the emperor's father-in-law, and governor of the city, who had been sent to the camp on the first alarm of mutiny, was endeavoring to calm the fury of the multitude, when he was silenced by the clamorous return of the murderers, bearing on a lance the head of Pertinax. Though history has accustomed us to observe every principle and every passion yielding to the imperious dictates of ambition, it is scarcely credible that, in these moments of horror, Sulpicianus should have aspired to ascend a throne polluted with the recent blood of so near a relation and so excellent a prince. He had already begun to use the only effectual argument, and to treat for the Imperial dignity; but the more prudent of the Praetorians, apprehensive that, in this private contract, they should not obtain a just price for so valuable a commodity, ran out upon the ramparts; and, with a loud voice, proclaimed that the Roman world was to be disposed of to the best bidder by public auction. 10
10 (return)
[ Dion, L. lxxiii. p. 1234. Herodian, l. ii. p. 63. Hist.
August p. 60. Though the three historians agree that it was in fact an
auction, Herodian alone affirms that it was proclaimed as such by the
soldiers.]
This infamous offer, the most insolent excess of military license, diffused a universal grief, shame, and indignation throughout the city. It reached at length the ears of Didius Julianus, a wealthy senator, who, regardless of the public calamities, was indulging himself in the luxury of the table. 11 His wife and his daughter, his freedmen and his parasites, easily convinced him that he deserved the throne, and earnestly conjured him to embrace so fortunate an opportunity. The vain old man hastened to the Praetorian camp, where Sulpicianus was still in treaty with the guards, and began to bid against him from the foot of the rampart. The unworthy negotiation was transacted by faithful emissaries, who passed alternately from one candidate to the other, and acquainted each of them with the offers of his rival. Sulpicianus had already promised a donative of five thousand drachms (above one hundred and sixty pounds) to each soldier; when Julian, eager for the prize, rose at once to the sum of six thousand two hundred and fifty drachms, or upwards of two hundred pounds sterling. The gates of the camp were instantly thrown open to the purchaser; he was declared emperor, and received an oath of allegiance from the soldiers, who retained humanity enough to stipulate that he should pardon and forget the competition of Sulpicianus. 111
11 (return)
[ Spartianus softens the most odious parts of the character
and elevation of Julian.]
111 (return)
[ One of the principal causes of the preference of Julianus
by the soldiers, was the dexterty dexterity with which he reminded them
that Sulpicianus would not fail to revenge on them the death of his
son-in-law. (See Dion, p. 1234, 1234. c. 11. Herod. ii. 6.)—W.]
It was now incumbent on the Praetorians to fulfil the conditions of the sale. They placed their new sovereign, whom they served and despised, in the centre of their ranks, surrounded him on every side with their shields, and conducted him in close order of battle through the deserted streets of the city. The senate was commanded to assemble; and those who had been the distinguished friends of Pertinax, or the personal enemies of Julian, found it necessary to affect a more than common share of satisfaction at this happy revolution. 12 After Julian had filled the senate house with armed soldiers, he expatiated on the freedom of his election, his own eminent virtues, and his full assurance of the affections of the senate. The obsequious assembly congratulated their own and the public felicity; engaged their allegiance, and conferred on him all the several branches of the Imperial power. 13 From the senate Julian was conducted, by the same military procession, to take possession of the palace. The first objects that struck his eyes, were the abandoned trunk of Pertinax, and the frugal entertainment prepared for his supper. The one he viewed with indifference, the other with contempt. A magnificent feast was prepared by his order, and he amused himself, till a very late hour, with dice, and the performances of Pylades, a celebrated dancer. Yet it was observed, that after the crowd of flatterers dispersed, and left him to darkness, solitude, and terrible reflection, he passed a sleepless night; revolving most probably in his mind his own rash folly, the fate of his virtuous predecessor, and the doubtful and dangerous tenure of an empire which had not been acquired by merit, but purchased by money. 14
12 (return)
[ Dion Cassius, at that time praetor, had been a personal
enemy to Julian, i. lxxiii. p. 1235.]
13 (return)
[ Hist. August. p. 61. We learn from thence one curious
circumstance, that the new emperor, whatever had been his birth, was
immediately aggregated to the number of patrician families. Note: A new
fragment of Dion shows some shrewdness in the character of Julian. When
the senate voted him a golden statue, he preferred one of brass, as more
lasting. He "had always observed," he said, "that the statues of former
emperors were soon destroyed. Those of brass alone remained." The
indignant historian adds that he was wrong. The virtue of sovereigns
alone preserves their images: the brazen statue of Julian was broken to
pieces at his death. Mai. Fragm. Vatican. p. 226.—M.]
14 (return)
[ Dion, l. lxxiii. p. 1235. Hist. August. p. 61. I have
endeavored to blend into one consistent story the seeming contradictions
of the two writers. * Note: The contradiction as M. Guizot observed, is
irreconcilable. He quotes both passages: in one Julianus is represented
as a miser, in the other as a voluptuary. In the one he refuses to eat
till the body of Pertinax has been buried; in the other he gluts himself
with every luxury almost in the sight of his headless remains.—M.]
He had reason to tremble. On the throne of the world he found himself without a friend, and even without an adherent. The guards themselves were ashamed of the prince whom their avarice had persuaded them to accept; nor was there a citizen who did not consider his elevation with horror, as the last insult on the Roman name. The nobility, whose conspicuous station, and ample possessions, exacted the strictest caution, dissembled their sentiments, and met the affected civility of the emperor with smiles of complacency and professions of duty. But the people, secure in their numbers and obscurity, gave a free vent to their passions. The streets and public places of Rome resounded with clamors and imprecations. The enraged multitude affronted the person of Julian, rejected his liberality, and, conscious of the impotence of their own resentment, they called aloud on the legions of the frontiers to assert the violated majesty of the Roman empire. The public discontent was soon diffused from the centre to the frontiers of the empire. The armies of Britain, of Syria, and of Illyricum, lamented the death of Pertinax, in whose company, or under whose command, they had so often fought and conquered. They received with surprise, with indignation, and perhaps with envy, the extraordinary intelligence, that the Praetorians had disposed of the empire by public auction; and they sternly refused to ratify the ignominious bargain. Their immediate and unanimous revolt was fatal to Julian, but it was fatal at the same time to the public peace, as the generals of the respective armies, Clodius Albinus, Pescennius Niger, and Septimius Severus, were still more anxious to succeed than to revenge the murdered Pertinax. Their forces were exactly balanced. Each of them was at the head of three legions, 15 with a numerous train of auxiliaries; and however different in their characters, they were all soldiers of experience and capacity.
15 (return)
[ Dion, l. lxxiii. p. 1235.]
Clodius Albinus, governor of Britain, surpassed both his competitors in the nobility of his extraction, which he derived from some of the most illustrious names of the old republic. 16 But the branch from which he claimed his descent was sunk into mean circumstances, and transplanted into a remote province. It is difficult to form a just idea of his true character. Under the philosophic cloak of austerity, he stands accused of concealing most of the vices which degrade human nature. 17 But his accusers are those venal writers who adored the fortune of Severus, and trampled on the ashes of an unsuccessful rival. Virtue, or the appearances of virtue, recommended Albinus to the confidence and good opinion of Marcus; and his preserving with the son the same interest which he had acquired with the father, is a proof at least that he was possessed of a very flexible disposition. The favor of a tyrant does not always suppose a want of merit in the object of it; he may, without intending it, reward a man of worth and ability, or he may find such a man useful to his own service. It does not appear that Albinus served the son of Marcus, either as the minister of his cruelties, or even as the associate of his pleasures. He was employed in a distant honorable command, when he received a confidential letter from the emperor, acquainting him of the treasonable designs of some discontented generals, and authorizing him to declare himself the guardian and successor of the throne, by assuming the title and ensigns of Caesar. 18 The governor of Britain wisely declined the dangerous honor, which would have marked him for the jealousy, or involved him in the approaching ruin, of Commodus. He courted power by nobler, or, at least, by more specious arts. On a premature report of the death of the emperor, he assembled his troops; and, in an eloquent discourse, deplored the inevitable mischiefs of despotism, described the happiness and glory which their ancestors had enjoyed under the consular government, and declared his firm resolution to reinstate the senate and people in their legal authority. This popular harangue was answered by the loud acclamations of the British legions, and received at Rome with a secret murmur of applause. Safe in the possession of his little world, and in the command of an army less distinguished indeed for discipline than for numbers and valor, 19 Albinus braved the menaces of Commodus, maintained towards Pertinax a stately ambiguous reserve, and instantly declared against the usurpation of Julian. The convulsions of the capital added new weight to his sentiments, or rather to his professions of patriotism. A regard to decency induced him to decline the lofty titles of Augustus and Emperor; and he imitated perhaps the example of Galba, who, on a similar occasion, had styled himself the Lieutenant of the senate and people. 20
16 (return)
[ The Posthumian and the Ce'onian; the former of whom was
raised to the consulship in the fifth year after its institution.]
17 (return)
[ Spartianus, in his undigested collections, mixes up all
the virtues and all the vices that enter into the human composition, and
bestows them on the same object. Such, indeed are many of the characters
in the Augustan History.]
18 (return)
[ Hist. August. p. 80, 84.]
19 (return)
[ Pertinax, who governed Britain a few years before, had
been left for dead, in a mutiny of the soldiers. Hist. August. p 54.
Yet they loved and regretted him; admirantibus eam virtutem cui
irascebantur.]
20 (return)
[ Sueton. in Galb. c. 10.]
Personal merit alone had raised Pescennius Niger, from an obscure birth and station, to the government of Syria; a lucrative and important command, which in times of civil confusion gave him a near prospect of the throne. Yet his parts seem to have been better suited to the second than to the first rank; he was an unequal rival, though he might have approved himself an excellent lieutenant, to Severus, who afterwards displayed the greatness of his mind by adopting several useful institutions from a vanquished enemy. 21 In his government Niger acquired the esteem of the soldiers and the love of the provincials. His rigid discipline foritfied the valor and confirmed the obedience of the former, whilst the voluptuous Syrians were less delighted with the mild firmness of his administration, than with the affability of his manners, and the apparent pleasure with which he attended their frequent and pompous festivals. 22 As soon as the intelligence of the atrocious murder of Pertinax had reached Antioch, the wishes of Asia invited Niger to assume the Imperial purple and revenge his death. The legions of the eastern frontier embraced his cause; the opulent but unarmed provinces, from the frontiers of Aethiopia 23 to the Hadriatic, cheerfully submitted to his power; and the kings beyond the Tigris and the Euphrates congratulated his election, and offered him their homage and services. The mind of Niger was not capable of receiving this sudden tide of fortune: he flattered himself that his accession would be undisturbed by competition and unstained by civil blood; and whilst he enjoyed the vain pomp of triumph, he neglected to secure the means of victory. Instead of entering into an effectual negotiation with the powerful armies of the West, whose resolution might decide, or at least must balance, the mighty contest; instead of advancing without delay towards Rome and Italy, where his presence was impatiently expected, 24 Niger trifled away in the luxury of Antioch those irretrievable moments which were diligently improved by the decisive activity of Severus. 25
21 (return)
[ Hist. August. p. 76.]
22 (return)
[ Herod. l. ii. p. 68. The Chronicle of John Malala, of
Antioch, shows the zealous attachment of his countrymen to these
festivals, which at once gratified their superstition, and their love of
pleasure.]
23 (return)
[ A king of Thebes, in Egypt, is mentioned, in the Augustan
History, as an ally, and, indeed, as a personal friend of Niger. If
Spartianus is not, as I strongly suspect, mistaken, he has brought to
light a dynasty of tributary princes totally unknown to history.]
24 (return)
[ Dion, l. lxxiii. p. 1238. Herod. l. ii. p. 67. A verse in
every one's mouth at that time, seems to express the general opinion of
the three rivals; Optimus est Niger, [Fuscus, which preserves the
quantity.—M.] bonus After, pessimus Albus. Hist. August. p. 75.]
25 (return)
[ Herodian, l. ii. p. 71.]
The country of Pannonia and Dalmatia, which occupied the space between the Danube and the Hadriatic, was one of the last and most difficult conquests of the Romans. In the defence of national freedom, two hundred thousand of these barbarians had once appeared in the field, alarmed the declining age of Augustus, and exercised the vigilant prudence of Tiberius at the head of the collected force of the empire. 26 The Pannonians yielded at length to the arms and institutions of Rome. Their recent subjection, however, the neighborhood, and even the mixture, of the unconquered tribes, and perhaps the climate, adapted, as it has been observed, to the production of great bodies and slow minds, 27 all contributed to preserve some remains of their original ferocity, and under the tame and uniform countenance of Roman provincials, the hardy features of the natives were still to be discerned. Their warlike youth afforded an inexhaustible supply of recruits to the legions stationed on the banks of the Danube, and which, from a perpetual warfare against the Germans and Sarmazans, were deservedly esteemed the best troops in the service.
26 (return)
[ See an account of that memorable war in Velleius
Paterculus, is 110, &c., who served in the army of Tiberius.]
27 (return)
[ Such is the reflection of Herodian, l. ii. p. 74. Will the
modern Austrians allow the influence?]
The Pannonian army was at this time commanded by Septimius Severus, a native of Africa, who, in the gradual ascent of private honors, had concealed his daring ambition, which was never diverted from its steady course by the allurements of pleasure, the apprehension of danger, or the feelings of humanity. 28 On the first news of the murder of Pertinax, he assembled his troops, painted in the most lively colors the crime, the insolence, and the weakness of the Praetorian guards, and animated the legions to arms and to revenge. He concluded (and the peroration was thought extremely eloquent) with promising every soldier about four hundred pounds; an honorable donative, double in value to the infamous bribe with which Julian had purchased the empire. 29 The acclamations of the army immediately saluted Severus with the names of Augustus, Pertinax, and Emperor; and he thus attained the lofty station to which he was invited, by conscious merit and a long train of dreams and omens, the fruitful offsprings either of his superstition or policy. 30
28 (return)
[ In the letter to Albinus, already mentioned, Commodus
accuses Severus, as one of the ambitious generals who censured his
conduct, and wished to occupy his place. Hist. August. p. 80.]
29 (return)
[ Pannonia was too poor to supply such a sum. It was
probably promised in the camp, and paid at Rome, after the victory. In
fixing the sum, I have adopted the conjecture of Casaubon. See Hist.
August. p. 66. Comment. p. 115.]
30 (return)
[ Herodian, l. ii. p. 78. Severus was declared emperor on
the banks of the Danube, either at Carnuntum, according to Spartianus,
(Hist. August. p. 65,) or else at Sabaria, according to Victor. Mr.
Hume, in supposing that the birth and dignity of Severus were too
much inferior to the Imperial crown, and that he marched into Italy
as general only, has not considered this transaction with his usual
accuracy, (Essay on the original contract.) * Note: Carnuntum, opposite
to the mouth of the Morava: its position is doubtful, either Petronel or
Haimburg. A little intermediate village seems to indicate by its name
(Altenburg) the site of an old town. D'Anville Geogr. Anc. Sabaria, now
Sarvar.—G. Compare note 37.—M.]
The new candidate for empire saw and improved the peculiar advantage of his situation. His province extended to the Julian Alps, which gave an easy access into Italy; and he remembered the saying of Augustus, That a Pannonian army might in ten days appear in sight of Rome. 31 By a celerity proportioned to the greatness of the occasion, he might reasonably hope to revenge Pertinax, punish Julian, and receive the homage of the senate and people, as their lawful emperor, before his competitors, separated from Italy by an immense tract of sea and land, were apprised of his success, or even of his election. During the whole expedition, he scarcely allowed himself any moments for sleep or food; marching on foot, and in complete armor, at the head of his columns, he insinuated himself into the confidence and affection of his troops, pressed their diligence, revived their spirits, animated their hopes, and was well satisfied to share the hardships of the meanest soldier, whilst he kept in view the infinite superiority of his reward.
31 (return)
[ Velleius Paterculus, l. ii. c. 3. We must reckon the march
from the nearest verge of Pannonia, and extend the sight of the city as
far as two hundred miles.]
The wretched Julian had expected, and thought himself prepared, to dispute the empire with the governor of Syria; but in the invincible and rapid approach of the Pannonian legions, he saw his inevitable ruin. The hasty arrival of every messenger increased his just apprehensions. He was successively informed, that Severus had passed the Alps; that the Italian cities, unwilling or unable to oppose his progress, had received him with the warmest professions of joy and duty; that the important place of Ravenna had surrendered without resistance, and that the Hadriatic fleet was in the hands of the conqueror. The enemy was now within two hundred and fifty miles of Rome; and every moment diminished the narrow span of life and empire allotted to Julian.
He attempted, however, to prevent, or at least to protract, his ruin. He implored the venal faith of the Praetorians, filled the city with unavailing preparations for war, drew lines round the suburbs, and even strengthened the fortifications of the palace; as if those last intrenchments could be defended, without hope of relief, against a victorious invader. Fear and shame prevented the guards from deserting his standard; but they trembled at the name of the Pannonian legions, commanded by an experienced general, and accustomed to vanquish the barbarians on the frozen Danube. 32 They quitted, with a sigh, the pleasures of the baths and theatres, to put on arms, whose use they had almost forgotten, and beneath the weight of which they were oppressed. The unpractised elephants, whose uncouth appearance, it was hoped, would strike terror into the army of the north, threw their unskilful riders; and the awkward evolutions of the marines, drawn from the fleet of Misenum, were an object of ridicule to the populace; whilst the senate enjoyed, with secret pleasure, the distress and weakness of the usurper. 33
32 (return)
[ This is not a puerile figure of rhetoric, but an allusion
to a real fact recorded by Dion, l. lxxi. p. 1181. It probably happened
more than once.]
33 (return)
[ Dion, l. lxxiii. p. 1233. Herodian, l. ii. p. 81. There
is no surer proof of the military skill of the Romans, than their first
surmounting the idle terror, and afterwards disdaining the dangerous
use, of elephants in war. Note: These elephants were kept for
processions, perhaps for the games. Se Herod. in loc.—M.]
Every motion of Julian betrayed his trembling perplexity. He insisted that Severus should be declared a public enemy by the senate. He entreated that the Pannonian general might be associated to the empire. He sent public ambassadors of consular rank to negotiate with his rival; he despatched private assassins to take away his life. He designed that the Vestal virgins, and all the colleges of priests, in their sacerdotal habits, and bearing before them the sacred pledges of the Roman religion, should advance in solemn procession to meet the Pannonian legions; and, at the same time, he vainly tried to interrogate, or to appease, the fates, by magic ceremonies and unlawful sacrifices. 34
34 (return)
[ Hist. August. p. 62, 63. * Note: Quae ad speculum dicunt
fieri in quo pueri praeligatis oculis, incantate..., respicere dicuntur.
* * * Tuncque puer vidisse dicitur et adventun Severi et Juliani
decessionem. This seems to have been a practice somewhat similar to that
of which our recent Egyptian travellers relate such extraordinary
circumstances. See also Apulius, Orat. de Magia.—M.]
Severus, who dreaded neither his arms nor his enchantments, guarded himself from the only danger of secret conspiracy, by the faithful attendance of six hundred chosen men, who never quitted his person or their cuirasses, either by night or by day, during the whole march. Advancing with a steady and rapid course, he passed, without difficulty, the defiles of the Apennine, received into his party the troops and ambassadors sent to retard his progress, and made a short halt at Interamnia, about seventy miles from Rome. His victory was already secure, but the despair of the Praetorians might have rendered it bloody; and Severus had the laudable ambition of ascending the throne without drawing the sword. 35 His emissaries, dispersed in the capital, assured the guards, that provided they would abandon their worthless prince, and the perpetrators of the murder of Pertinax, to the justice of the conqueror, he would no longer consider that melancholy event as the act of the whole body. The faithless Praetorians, whose resistance was supported only by sullen obstinacy, gladly complied with the easy conditions, seized the greatest part of the assassins, and signified to the senate, that they no longer defended the cause of Julian. That assembly, convoked by the consul, unanimously acknowledged Severus as lawful emperor, decreed divine honors to Pertinax, and pronounced a sentence of deposition and death against his unfortunate successor. Julian was conducted into a private apartment of the baths of the palace, and beheaded as a common criminal, after having purchased, with an immense treasure, an anxious and precarious reign of only sixty-six days. 36 The almost incredible expedition of Severus, who, in so short a space of time, conducted a numerous army from the banks of the Danube to those of the Tyber, proves at once the plenty of provisions produced by agriculture and commerce, the goodness of the roads, the discipline of the legions, and the indolent, subdued temper of the provinces. 37
35 (return)
[ Victor and Eutropius, viii. 17, mention a combat near the
Milvian bridge, the Ponte Molle, unknown to the better and more ancient
writers.]
36 (return)
[ Dion, l. lxxiii. p. 1240. Herodian, l. ii. p. 83. Hist.
August. p. 63.]
37 (return)
[ From these sixty-six days, we must first deduct sixteen,
as Pertinax was murdered on the 28th of March, and Severus most probably
elected on the 13th of April, (see Hist. August. p. 65, and Tillemont,
Hist. des Empereurs, tom. iii. p. 393, note 7.) We cannot allow less
than ten days after his election, to put a numerous army in motion.
Forty days remain for this rapid march; and as we may compute about
eight hundred miles from Rome to the neighborhood of Vienna, the army of
Severus marched twenty miles every day, without halt or intermission.]
The first cares of Severus were bestowed on two measures the one dictated by policy, the other by decency; the revenge, and the honors, due to the memory of Pertinax. Before the new emperor entered Rome, he issued his commands to the Praetorian guards, directing them to wait his arrival on a large plain near the city, without arms, but in the habits of ceremony, in which they were accustomed to attend their sovereign. He was obeyed by those haughty troops, whose contrition was the effect of their just terrors. A chosen part of the Illyrian army encompassed them with levelled spears. Incapable of flight or resistance, they expected their fate in silent consternation. Severus mounted the tribunal, sternly reproached them with perfidy and cowardice, dismissed them with ignominy from the trust which they had betrayed, despoiled them of their splendid ornaments, and banished them, on pain of death, to the distance of a hundred miles from the capital. During the transaction, another detachment had been sent to seize their arms, occupy their camp, and prevent the hasty consequences of their despair. 38
38 (return)
[ Dion, l. lxxiv. p. 1241. Herodian, l. ii. p. 84.] The
funeral and consecration of Pertinax was next solemnized with every
circumstance of sad magnificence. 39 The senate, with a melancholy
pleasure, performed the last rites to that excellent prince, whom they
had loved, and still regretted. The concern of his successor was
probably less sincere; he esteemed the virtues of Pertinax, but those
virtues would forever have confined his ambition to a private station.
Severus pronounced his funeral oration with studied eloquence, inward
satisfaction, and well-acted sorrow; and by this pious regard to his
memory, convinced the credulous multitude, that he alone was worthy to
supply his place. Sensible, however, that arms, not ceremonies, must
assert his claim to the empire, he left Rome at the end of thirty days,
and without suffering himself to be elated by this easy victory,
prepared to encounter his more formidable rivals.
39 (return)
[ Dion, (l. lxxiv. p. 1244,) who assisted at the ceremony as
a senator, gives a most pompous description of it.]
The uncommon abilities and fortune of Severus have induced an elegant historian to compare him with the first and greatest of the Caesars. 40 The parallel is, at least, imperfect. Where shall we find, in the character of Severus, the commanding superiority of soul, the generous clemency, and the various genius, which could reconcile and unite the love of pleasure, the thirst of knowledge, and the fire of ambition? 41 In one instance only, they may be compared, with some degree of propriety, in the celerity of their motions, and their civil victories. In less than four years, 42 Severus subdued the riches of the East, and the valor of the West. He vanquished two competitors of reputation and ability, and defeated numerous armies, provided with weapons and discipline equal to his own. In that age, the art of fortification, and the principles of tactics, were well understood by all the Roman generals; and the constant superiority of Severus was that of an artist, who uses the same instruments with more skill and industry than his rivals. I shall not, however, enter into a minute narrative of these military operations; but as the two civil wars against Niger and against Albinus were almost the same in their conduct, event, and consequences, I shall collect into one point of view the most striking circumstances, tending to develop the character of the conqueror and the state of the empire.
40 (return)
[ Herodian, l. iii. p. 112]
41 (return)
[ Though it is not, most assuredly, the intention of Lucan
to exalt the character of Caesar, yet the idea he gives of that hero,
in the tenth book of the Pharsalia, where he describes him, at the same
time, making love to Cleopatra, sustaining a siege against the power of
Egypt, and conversing with the sages of the country, is, in reality, the
noblest panegyric. * Note: Lord Byron wrote, no doubt, from a
reminiscence of that passage—"It is possible to be a very great man,
and to be still very inferior to Julius Caesar, the most complete
character, so Lord Bacon thought, of all antiquity. Nature seems
incapable of such extraordinary combinations as composed his versatile
capacity, which was the wonder even of the Romans themselves. The first
general; the only triumphant politician; inferior to none in point of
eloquence; comparable to any in the attainments of wisdom, in an age
made up of the greatest commanders, statesmen, orators, and
philosophers, that ever appeared in the world; an author who composed a
perfect specimen of military annals in his travelling carriage; at one
time in a controversy with Cato, at another writing a treatise on
punuing, and collecting a set of good sayings; fighting and making love
at the same moment, and willing to abandon both his empire and his
mistress for a sight of the fountains of the Nile. Such did Julius
Caesar appear to his contemporaries, and to those of the subsequent ages
who were the most inclined to deplore and execrate his fatal genius."
Note 47 to Canto iv. of Childe Harold.—M.]
42 (return)
[ Reckoning from his election, April 13, 193, to the death
of Albinus, February 19, 197. See Tillemont's Chronology.]
Falsehood and insincerity, unsuitable as they seem to the dignity of public transactions, offend us with a less degrading idea of meanness, than when they are found in the intercourse of private life. In the latter, they discover a want of courage; in the other, only a defect of power: and, as it is impossible for the most able statesmen to subdue millions of followers and enemies by their own personal strength, the world, under the name of policy, seems to have granted them a very liberal indulgence of craft and dissimulation. Yet the arts of Severus cannot be justified by the most ample privileges of state reason. He promised only to betray, he flattered only to ruin; and however he might occasionally bind himself by oaths and treaties, his conscience, obsequious to his interest, always released him from the inconvenient obligation. 43
43 (return)
[ Herodian, l. ii. p. 85.]
If his two competitors, reconciled by their common danger, had advanced upon him without delay, perhaps Severus would have sunk under their united effort. Had they even attacked him, at the same time, with separate views and separate armies, the contest might have been long and doubtful. But they fell, singly and successively, an easy prey to the arts as well as arms of their subtle enemy, lulled into security by the moderation of his professions, and overwhelmed by the rapidity of his action. He first marched against Niger, whose reputation and power he the most dreaded: but he declined any hostile declarations, suppressed the name of his antagonist, and only signified to the senate and people his intention of regulating the eastern provinces. In private, he spoke of Niger, his old friend and intended successor, 44 with the most affectionate regard, and highly applauded his generous design of revenging the murder of Pertinax. To punish the vile usurper of the throne, was the duty of every Roman general. To persevere in arms, and to resist a lawful emperor, acknowledged by the senate, would alone render him criminal. 45 The sons of Niger had fallen into his hands among the children of the provincial governors, detained at Rome as pledges for the loyalty of their parents. 46 As long as the power of Niger inspired terror, or even respect, they were educated with the most tender care, with the children of Severus himself; but they were soon involved in their father's ruin, and removed first by exile, and afterwards by death, from the eye of public compassion. 47
44 (return)
[ Whilst Severus was very dangerously ill, it was
industriously given out, that he intended to appoint Niger and Albinus
his successors. As he could not be sincere with respect to both, he
might not be so with regard to either. Yet Severus carried his hypocrisy
so far, as to profess that intention in the memoirs of his own life.]
45 (return)
[ Hist. August. p. 65.]
46 (return)
[ This practice, invented by Commodus, proved very useful
to Severus. He found at Rome the children of many of the principal
adherents of his rivals; and he employed them more than once to
intimidate, or seduce, the parents.]
47 (return)
[ Herodian, l. iii. p. 95. Hist. August. p. 67, 68.]
Whilst Severus was engaged in his eastern war, he had reason to apprehend that the governor of Britain might pass the sea and the Alps, occupy the vacant seat of empire, and oppose his return with the authority of the senate and the forces of the West. The ambiguous conduct of Albinus, in not assuming the Imperial title, left room for negotiation. Forgetting, at once, his professions of patriotism, and the jealousy of sovereign power, he accepted the precarious rank of Caesar, as a reward for his fatal neutrality. Till the first contest was decided, Severus treated the man, whom he had doomed to destruction, with every mark of esteem and regard. Even in the letter, in which he announced his victory over Niger, he styles Albinus the brother of his soul and empire, sends him the affectionate salutations of his wife Julia, and his young family, and entreats him to preserve the armies and the republic faithful to their common interest. The messengers charged with this letter were instructed to accost the Caesar with respect, to desire a private audience, and to plunge their daggers into his heart. 48 The conspiracy was discovered, and the too credulous Albinus, at length, passed over to the continent, and prepared for an unequal contest with his rival, who rushed upon him at the head of a veteran and victorious army.
48 (return)
[ Hist. August. p. 84. Spartianus has inserted this curious
letter at full length.]
The military labors of Severus seem inadequate to the importance of his conquests. Two engagements, 481 the one near the Hellespont, the other in the narrow defiles of Cilicia, decided the fate of his Syrian competitor; and the troops of Europe asserted their usual ascendant over the effeminate natives of Asia. 49 The battle of Lyons, where one hundred and fifty thousand Romans 50 were engaged, was equally fatal to Albinus. The valor of the British army maintained, indeed, a sharp and doubtful contest, with the hardy discipline of the Illyrian legions. The fame and person of Severus appeared, during a few moments, irrecoverably lost, till that warlike prince rallied his fainting troops, and led them on to a decisive victory. 51 The war was finished by that memorable day. 511
481 (return)
[ There were three actions; one near Cyzicus, on the
Hellespont, one near Nice, in Bithynia, the third near the Issus, in
Cilicia, where Alexander conquered Darius. (Dion, lxiv. c. 6.
Herodian, iii. 2, 4.)—W Herodian represents the second battle as of
less importance than Dion—M.]
49 (return)
[ Consult the third book of Herodian, and the seventy-fourth
book of Dion Cassius.]
50 (return)
[ Dion, l. lxxv. p. 1260.]
51 (return)
[ Dion, l. lxxv. p. 1261. Herodian, l. iii. p. 110. Hist.
August. p. 68. The battle was fought in the plain of Trevoux, three
or four leagues from Lyons. See Tillemont, tom. iii. p. 406, note 18.]
511 (return)
[ According to Herodian, it was his lieutenant Laetus who
led back the troops to the battle, and gained the day, which Severus
had almost lost. Dion also attributes to Laetus a great share in the
victory. Severus afterwards put him to death, either from fear or
jealousy.—W. and G. Wenck and M. Guizot have not given the real
statement of Herodian or of Dion. According to the former, Laetus
appeared with his own army entire, which he was suspected of having
designedly kept disengaged when the battle was still doudtful, or rather
after the rout of severus. Dion says that he did not move till Severus
had won the victory.—M.]
The civil wars of modern Europe have been distinguished, not only by the fierce animosity, but likewise by the obstinate perseverance, of the contending factions. They have generally been justified by some principle, or, at least, colored by some pretext, of religion, freedom, or loyalty. The leaders were nobles of independent property and hereditary influence. The troops fought like men interested in the decision of the quarrel; and as military spirit and party zeal were strongly diffused throughout the whole community, a vanquished chief was immediately supplied with new adherents, eager to shed their blood in the same cause. But the Romans, after the fall of the republic, combated only for the choice of masters. Under the standard of a popular candidate for empire, a few enlisted from affection, some from fear, many from interest, none from principle. The legions, uninflamed by party zeal, were allured into civil war by liberal donatives, and still more liberal promises. A defeat, by disabling the chief from the performance of his engagements, dissolved the mercenary allegiance of his followers, and left them to consult their own safety by a timely desertion of an unsuccessful cause. It was of little moment to the provinces, under whose name they were oppressed or governed; they were driven by the impulsion of the present power, and as soon as that power yielded to a superior force, they hastened to implore the clemency of the conqueror, who, as he had an immense debt to discharge, was obliged to sacrifice the most guilty countries to the avarice of his soldiers. In the vast extent of the Roman empire, there were few fortified cities capable of protecting a routed army; nor was there any person, or family, or order of men, whose natural interest, unsupported by the powers of government, was capable of restoring the cause of a sinking party. 52
52 (return)
[ Montesquieu, Considerations sur la Grandeur et la
Decadence des Romains, c. xiii.]
Yet, in the contest between Niger and Severus, a single city deserves an honorable exception. As Byzantium was one of the greatest passages from Europe into Asia, it had been provided with a strong garrison, and a fleet of five hundred vessels was anchored in the harbor. 53 The impetuosity of Severus disappointed this prudent scheme of defence; he left to his generals the siege of Byzantium, forced the less guarded passage of the Hellespont, and, impatient of a meaner enemy, pressed forward to encounter his rival. Byzantium, attacked by a numerous and increasing army, and afterwards by the whole naval power of the empire, sustained a siege of three years, and remained faithful to the name and memory of Niger. The citizens and soldiers (we know not from what cause) were animated with equal fury; several of the principal officers of Niger, who despaired of, or who disdained, a pardon, had thrown themselves into this last refuge: the fortifications were esteemed impregnable, and, in the defence of the place, a celebrated engineer displayed all the mechanic powers known to the ancients. 54 Byzantium, at length, surrendered to famine. The magistrates and soldiers were put to the sword, the walls demolished, the privileges suppressed, and the destined capital of the East subsisted only as an open village, subject to the insulting jurisdiction of Perinthus. The historian Dion, who had admired the flourishing, and lamented the desolate, state of Byzantium, accused the revenge of Severus, for depriving the Roman people of the strongest bulwark against the barbarians of Pontus and Asia 55 The truth of this observation was but too well justified in the succeeding age, when the Gothic fleets covered the Euxine, and passed through the undefined Bosphorus into the centre of the Mediterranean.
53 (return)
[ Most of these, as may be supposed, were small open
vessels; some, however, were galleys of two, and a few of three ranks
of oars.]
54 (return)
[The engineer's name was Priscus. His skill saved
his life, and he was taken into the service of the conqueror. For the
particular facts of the siege, consult Dion Cassius (l. lxxv. p. 1251)
and Herodian, (l. iii. p. 95;) for the theory of it, the fanciful
chevalier de Folard may be looked into. See Polybe, tom. i. p. 76.]
55 (return)
[ Notwithstanding the authority of Spartianus, and
some modern Greeks, we may be assured, from Dion and Herodian, that
Byzantium, many years after the death of Severus, lay in ruins. There is
no contradiction between the relation of Dion and that of Spartianus and
the modern Greeks. Dion does not say that Severus destroyed Byzantium,
but that he deprived it of its franchises and privileges, stripped the
inhabitants of their property, razed the fortifications, and subjected
the city to the jurisdiction of Perinthus. Therefore, when Spartian,
Suidas, Cedrenus, say that Severus and his son Antoninus restored to
Byzantium its rights and franchises, ordered temples to be built, &c.,
this is easily reconciled with the relation of Dion. Perhaps the latter
mentioned it in some of the fragments of his history which have been
lost. As to Herodian, his expressions are evidently exaggerated, and he
has been guilty of so many inaccuracies in the history of Severus, that
we have a right to suppose one in this passage.—G. from W Wenck and M.
Guizot have omitted to cite Zosimus, who mentions a particular portico
built by Severus, and called, apparently, by his name. Zosim. Hist. ii.
c. xxx. p. 151, 153, edit Heyne.—M.]
Both Niger and Albinus were discovered and put to death in their flight from the field of battle. Their fate excited neither surprise nor compassion. They had staked their lives against the chance of empire, and suffered what they would have inflicted; nor did Severus claim the arrogant superiority of suffering his rivals to live in a private station. But his unforgiving temper, stimulated by avarice, indulged a spirit of revenge, where there was no room for apprehension. The most considerable of the provincials, who, without any dislike to the fortunate candidate, had obeyed the governor under whose authority they were accidentally placed, were punished by death, exile, and especially by the confiscation of their estates. Many cities of the East were stripped of their ancient honors, and obliged to pay, into the treasury of Severus, four times the amount of the sums contributed by them for the service of Niger. 56
56 (return)
[ Dion, l. lxxiv. p. 1250.]
Till the final decision of the war, the cruelty of Severus was, in some measure, restrained by the uncertainty of the event, and his pretended reverence for the senate. The head of Albinus, accompanied with a menacing letter, announced to the Romans that he was resolved to spare none of the adherents of his unfortunate competitors. He was irritated by the just auspicion that he had never possessed the affections of the senate, and he concealed his old malevolence under the recent discovery of some treasonable correspondences. Thirty-five senators, however, accused of having favored the party of Albinus, he freely pardoned, and, by his subsequent behavior, endeavored to convince them, that he had forgotten, as well as forgiven, their supposed offences. But, at the same time, he condemned forty-one 57 other senators, whose names history has recorded; their wives, children, and clients attended them in death, 571 and the noblest provincials of Spain and Gaul were involved in the same ruin. 572 Such rigid justice—for so he termed it—was, in the opinion of Severus, the only conduct capable of insuring peace to the people or stability to the prince; and he condescended slightly to lament, that to be mild, it was necessary that he should first be cruel. 58
57 (return)
[ Dion, (l. lxxv. p. 1264;) only twenty-nine senators
are mentioned by him, but forty-one are named in the Augustan History,
p. 69, among whom were six of the name of Pescennius. Herodian (l. iii.
p. 115) speaks in general of the cruelties of Severus.]
571 (return)
[ Wenck denies that there is any authority for this massacre
of the wives of the senators. He adds, that only the children and
relatives of Niger and Albinus were put to death. This is true of the
family of Albinus, whose bodies were thrown into the Rhone; those of
Niger, according to Lampridius, were sent into exile, but afterwards put
to death. Among the partisans of Albinus who were put to death were many
women of rank, multae foeminae illustres. Lamprid. in Sever.—M.]
572 (return)
[ A new fragment of Dion describes the state of Rome during
this contest. All pretended to be on the side of Severus; but their
secret sentiments were often betrayed by a change of countenance on the
arrival of some sudden report. Some were detected by overacting their
loyalty, Mai. Fragm. Vatican. p. 227 Severus told the senate he would
rather have their hearts than their votes.—Ibid.—M.]
58 (return)
[ Aurelius Victor.]
The true interest of an absolute monarch generally coincides with that of his people. Their numbers, their wealth, their order, and their security, are the best and only foundations of his real greatness; and were he totally devoid of virtue, prudence might supply its place, and would dictate the same rule of conduct. Severus considered the Roman empire as his property, and had no sooner secured the possession, than he bestowed his care on the cultivation and improvement of so valuable an acquisition. Salutary laws, executed with inflexible firmness, soon corrected most of the abuses with which, since the death of Marcus, every part of the government had been infected. In the administration of justice, the judgments of the emperor were characterized by attention, discernment, and impartiality; and whenever he deviated from the strict line of equity, it was generally in favor of the poor and oppressed; not so much indeed from any sense of humanity, as from the natural propensity of a despot to humble the pride of greatness, and to sink all his subjects to the same common level of absolute dependence. His expensive taste for building, magnificent shows, and above all a constant and liberal distribution of corn and provisions, were the surest means of captivating the affection of the Roman people. 59 The misfortunes of civil discord were obliterated. The clam of peace and prosperity was once more experienced in the provinces; and many cities, restored by the munificence of Severus, assumed the title of his colonies, and attested by public monuments their gratitude and felicity. 60 The fame of the Roman arms was revived by that warlike and successful emperor, 61 and he boasted, with a just pride, that, having received the empire oppressed with foreign and domestic wars, he left it established in profound, universal, and honorable peace. 62
59 (return)
[ Dion, l. lxxvi. p. 1272. Hist. August. p. 67. Severus
celebrated the secular games with extraordinary magnificence, and he
left in the public granaries a provision of corn for seven years, at the
rate of 75,000 modii, or about 2500 quarters per day. I am persuaded
that the granaries of Severus were supplied for a long term, but I am
not less persuaded, that policy on one hand, and admiration on the
other, magnified the hoard far beyond its true contents.]
60 (return)
[ See Spanheim's treatise of ancient medals, the
inscriptions, and our learned travellers Spon and Wheeler, Shaw, Pocock,
&c, who, in Africa, Greece, and Asia, have found more monuments of
Severus than of any other Roman emperor whatsoever.]
61 (return)
[ He carried his victorious arms to Seleucia and Ctesiphon,
the capitals of the Parthian monarchy. I shall have occasion to mention
this war in its proper place.]
62 (return)
[ Etiam in Britannis, was his own just and emphatic
expression Hist. August. 73.]
Although the wounds of civil war appeared completely healed, its mortal poison still lurked in the vitals of the constitution.
Severus possessed a considerable share of vigor and ability; but the daring soul of the first Caesar, or the deep policy of Augustus, were scarcely equal to the task of curbing the insolence of the victorious legions. By gratitude, by misguided policy, by seeming necessity, Severus was reduced to relax the nerves of discipline. 63 The vanity of his soldiers was flattered with the honor of wearing gold rings their ease was indulged in the permission of living with their wives in the idleness of quarters. He increased their pay beyond the example of former times, and taught them to expect, and soon to claim, extraordinary donatives on every public occasion of danger or festivity. Elated by success, enervated by luxury, and raised above the level of subjects by their dangerous privileges, 64 they soon became incapable of military fatigue, oppressive to the country, and impatient of a just subordination. Their officers asserted the superiority of rank by a more profuse and elegant luxury. There is still extant a letter of Severus, lamenting the licentious stage of the army, 641 and exhorting one of his generals to begin the necessary reformation from the tribunes themselves; since, as he justly observes, the officer who has forfeited the esteem, will never command the obedience, of his soldiers. 65 Had the emperor pursued the train of reflection, he would have discovered, that the primary cause of this general corruption might be ascribed, not indeed to the example, but to the pernicious indulgence, however, of the commander-in-chief.
63 (return)
[ Herodian, l. iii. p. 115. Hist. August. p. 68.]
64 (return)
[ Upon the insolence and privileges of the soldier, the 16th
satire, falsely ascribed to Juvenal, may be consulted; the style and
circumstances of it would induce me to believe, that it was composed
under the reign of Severus, or that of his son.]
641 (return)
[ Not of the army, but of the troops in Gaul. The contents
of this letter seem to prove that Severus was really anxious to restore
discipline Herodian is the only historian who accuses him of being the
first cause of its relaxation.—G. from W Spartian mentions his increase
of the pays.—M.]
65 (return)
[ Hist. August. p. 73.]
The Praetorians, who murdered their emperor and sold the empire, had received the just punishment of their treason; but the necessary, though dangerous, institution of guards was soon restored on a new model by Severus, and increased to four times the ancient number. 66 Formerly these troops had been recruited in Italy; and as the adjacent provinces gradually imbibed the softer manners of Rome, the levies were extended to Macedonia, Noricum, and Spain. In the room of these elegant troops, better adapted to the pomp of courts than to the uses of war, it was established by Severus, that from all the legions of the frontiers, the soldiers most distinguished for strength, valor, and fidelity, should be occasionally draughted; and promoted, as an honor and reward, into the more eligible service of the guards. 67 By this new institution, the Italian youth were diverted from the exercise of arms, and the capital was terrified by the strange aspect and manners of a multitude of barbarians. But Severus flattered himself, that the legions would consider these chosen Praetorians as the representatives of the whole military order; and that the present aid of fifty thousand men, superior in arms and appointments to any force that could be brought into the field against them, would forever crush the hopes of rebellion, and secure the empire to himself and his posterity.
66 (return)
[ Herodian, l. iii. p. 131.]
67 (return)
[ Dion, l. lxxiv. p. 1243.]
The command of these favored and formidable troops soon became the first office of the empire. As the government degenerated into military despotism, the Praetorian Praefect, who in his origin had been a simple captain of the guards, 671 was placed not only at the head of the army, but of the finances, and even of the law. In every department of administration, he represented the person, and exercised the authority, of the emperor. The first praefect who enjoyed and abused this immense power was Plautianus, the favorite minister of Severus. His reign lasted above then years, till the marriage of his daughter with the eldest son of the emperor, which seemed to assure his fortune, proved the occasion of his ruin. 68 The animosities of the palace, by irritating the ambition and alarming the fears of Plautianus, 681 threatened to produce a revolution, and obliged the emperor, who still loved him, to consent with reluctance to his death. 69 After the fall of Plautianus, an eminent lawyer, the celebrated Papinian, was appointed to execute the motley office of Praetorian Praefect.
671 (return)
[ The Praetorian Praefect had never been a simple captain of
the guards; from the first creation of this office, under Augustus,
it possessed great power. That emperor, therefore, decreed that there
should be always two Praetorian Praefects, who could only be taken from
the equestrian order Tiberius first departed from the former clause of
this edict; Alexander Severus violated the second by naming senators
praefects. It appears that it was under Commodus that the Praetorian
Praefects obtained the province of civil jurisdiction. It extended only
to Italy, with the exception of Rome and its district, which was
governed by the Praefectus urbi. As to the control of the finances, and
the levying of taxes, it was not intrusted to them till after the great
change that Constantine I. made in the organization of the empire at
least, I know no passage which assigns it to them before that time; and
Drakenborch, who has treated this question in his Dissertation de
official praefectorum praetorio, vi., does not quote one.—W.]
68 (return)
[ One of his most daring and wanton acts of power, was the
castration of a hundred free Romans, some of them married men, and even
fathers of families; merely that his daughter, on her marriage with the
young emperor, might be attended by a train of eunuchs worthy of an
eastern queen. Dion, l. lxxvi. p. 1271.]
681 (return)
[ Plautianus was compatriot, relative, and the old friend,
of Severus; he had so completely shut up all access to the emperor, that
the latter was ignorant how far he abused his powers: at length,
being informed of it, he began to limit his authority. The marriage of
Plautilla with Caracalla was unfortunate; and the prince who had been
forced to consent to it, menaced the father and the daughter with death
when he should come to the throne. It was feared, after that, that
Plautianus would avail himself of the power which he still possessed,
against the Imperial family; and Severus caused him to be assassinated
in his presence, upon the pretext of a conspiracy, which Dion considers
fictitious.—W. This note is not, perhaps, very necessary and does not
contain the whole facts. Dion considers the conspiracy the invention of
Caracalla, by whose command, almost by whose hand, Plautianus was slain
in the presence of Severus.—M.]
69 (return)
[ Dion, l. lxxvi. p. 1274.
Herodian, l. iii. p. 122, 129. The grammarian of Alexander seems, as is
not unusual, much better acquainted with this mysterious transaction,
and more assured of the guilt of Plautianus than the Roman senator
ventures to be.]
Till the reign of Severus, the virtue and even the good sense of the emperors had been distinguished by their zeal or affected reverence for the senate, and by a tender regard to the nice frame of civil policy instituted by Augustus. But the youth of Severus had been trained in the implicit obedience of camps, and his riper years spent in the despotism of military command. His haughty and inflexible spirit could not discover, or would not acknowledge, the advantage of preserving an intermediate power, however imaginary, between the emperor and the army. He disdained to profess himself the servant of an assembly that detested his person and trembled at his frown; he issued his commands, where his requests would have proved as effectual; assumed the conduct and style of a sovereign and a conqueror, and exercised, without disguise, the whole legislative, as well as the executive power.
The victory over the senate was easy and inglorious. Every eye and every passion were directed to the supreme magistrate, who possessed the arms and treasure of the state; whilst the senate, neither elected by the people, nor guarded by military force, nor animated by public spirit, rested its declining authority on the frail and crumbling basis of ancient opinion. The fine theory of a republic insensibly vanished, and made way for the more natural and substantial feelings of monarchy. As the freedom and honors of Rome were successively communicated to the provinces, in which the old government had been either unknown, or was remembered with abhorrence, the tradition of republican maxims was gradually obliterated. The Greek historians of the age of the Antonines 70 observe, with a malicious pleasure, that although the sovereign of Rome, in compliance with an obsolete prejudice, abstained from the name of king, he possessed the full measure of regal power. In the reign of Severus, the senate was filled with polished and eloquent slaves from the eastern provinces, who justified personal flattery by speculative principles of servitude. These new advocates of prerogative were heard with pleasure by the court, and with patience by the people, when they inculcated the duty of passive obedience, and descanted on the inevitable mischiefs of freedom. The lawyers and historians concurred in teaching, that the Imperial authority was held, not by the delegated commission, but by the irrevocable resignation of the senate; that the emperor was freed from the restraint of civil laws, could command by his arbitrary will the lives and fortunes of his subjects, and might dispose of the empire as of his private patrimony. 71 The most eminent of the civil lawyers, and particularly Papinian, Paulus, and Ulpian, flourished under the house of Severus; and the Roman jurisprudence, having closely united itself with the system of monarchy, was supposed to have attained its full majority and perfection.
70 (return)
[ Appian in Prooem.]
71 (return)
[ Dion Cassius seems to have written with no other view than
to form these opinions into an historical system. The Pandea's will
how how assiduously the lawyers, on their side, laboree in the cause of
prerogative.]
The contemporaries of Severus in the enjoyment of the peace and glory of his reign, forgave the cruelties by which it had been introduced. Posterity, who experienced the fatal effects of his maxims and example, justly considered him as the principal author of the decline of the Roman empire.