self up to ease and inactivity, utterly regardless of the duties of his station. He was mild and gentle indeed; but that avarice, by which he became opulent, still followed him in his exaltation; so that the very soldiers who elected him began to detest him. The people also, against whose consent he was chosen, were no less inimical. Whenever he issued from his palace they poured forth their imprecations against him; crying out that he was a thief and had stolen the empire. Didius, however, patiently bore it all. While Julian was thus contemptuously treated at home, two valiant generals in different parts of the empire disclaimed his authority, and resolved to seize the throne. These were, Pescennius Niger, governor of Syria; and Septimius Severus, commander of the German legion. Niger was beloved by the people for his clemency and valor; and his proposing Pertinax for his model, and resolving to revenge his death, gained him universal esteem. He easily induced his army in Syria to proclaim him emperor; and his title was soon after acknowledged by all the kings and potentates in Asia, who sent their ambassadors to him. The pleasure of being thus treated as a monarch, retarded his endeavours to secure his title. Satisfied with the homage of those about him, he neglected the opportunity of suppressing his rivals; and gave himself up to luxury and feasting at Antioch. The conduct of Severus, an African by birth, was very different. Being proclaimed by his army, he began by promising to revenge the death of Pertinax, and took upon him his name. He next secured all the strong places in his province; and then resolved to march with his whole force directly to Rome. In the mean time Didius Julianus, who disregarded the attempts of Niger, was greatly alarmed at those of SeveHe first procured the senate to proclaim him a traitor. He then attempted to make the necessary provisions to oppose him, but found nothing but disappointment. The cohorts that elected him were enervated by vice and luxury; the people detested his cause; and the cities of Italy had long been disused to the arts of war. The unfortunate Didius, unequal to the task of empire, and confounded with the multiplicity of councils, could take no other resolution out that of awaiting his rival's coming to Rome. Accordingly, soon after being informed of his approach, he obtained the consent of the senate to send his ambassadors, offering to make him a partner of the empire. But Severus rejected this offer, conscious of his own strength, and of the weakness of the proposer. The senate soon appeared of the same sentiments; alleging that he who could not defend the empire was not worthy to govern it. Didius vainly endeavoured to reduce them to their duty, first by entreaties, and then by threats; but these served only to hasten his destruction. The senate being called together, as was formerly practised by the consuls, they unanimously decreed that Severus should be proclaimed. They then commanded Didius to be slain, and sent assassins to the palace, where they found him disarmed, and weeping among a few friends that still adhered to his interest. When they began to prepare for their

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fatal errand he expostulated with them, demanding what crime he had committed? The executioners, neither able nor willing to enter into the merits of the cause, led him into the secret baths of the palace, and, obliging him to stretch his neck forwards, struck off his head, and placed it up in those courts where he had formerly pleaded with great success.

SEVERUS. The senate then sent ambassadors to Severus, yielding him obedience, granting him the ensigns and the usual titles of empire, and informing him of the death of Didius. Severus, who was now about forty-seven years of age, received them with all proper respect; and, entertaining them honorably, continued his march towards Rome. As he came near the city, his first exertion of power was to have all the prætorian soldiers who had sold the empire come forth unarmed to meet him. These, though sensible of their danger, had no other resource but compliance; and accordingly came forward with branches of laurel to welcome his approach. Severus soon showed how little capable their submission was to atone for their past offences: after upbraiding them with their crimes, he commanded them to be stripped of their military habits, deprived of the honor of soldiers, and banished 100 miles from Rome. He then entered the city in a military manner, took possession of the palace, and promised the senate to conduct himself with clemency and justice. But, though he united great vigor with the most refined policy, his African cunning was not relished. He is celebrated for wit, learning, and prudence; but blamed for infidelity and cruelty. He seemed equally disposed to the greatest acts of virtue and the most bloody severities. He seized all the children of such as had employment or authority in the east, and detained them as pledges for their fathers' loyalty. He next supplied the city with corn; and then with all possible expedition marched against Niger, who was still considered as emperor of the east. One chief obstacle to his march was, the leaving behind him Clodius Albinus, commander of the legions in Britain, whom he wished to secure in his interests. For this end he gave him hopes of succeeding to the empire; insinuating that he himself was declining, and his children were but infants. He wrote in the same style to the senate, gave him the title of Cæsar, and ordered money to be coined with his image. These artifices serving to lull Albinus into false security, Severus marched against Niger with all his forces. After some undecisive conflicts, the last great battle fought between these extraordinary men was upon the plains of Issus, on the very spot where Alexander had formerly conquered Darius. The neighbouring mountains were covered with vast numbers of people, who wished to be spectators of an engagement that was to determine the empire of the world. Severus was conqueror; and Niger's head, being struck off, was insultingly carried through the camp on the point of a lance. This victory secured Severus in the throne. But the Partnians, Persians, and some neighbouring nations took up arms, under pretence of vindicating Niger's cause. ror marched against them in person, had many,

The empe

engagements with them, and obtained such signal victories over them as enlarged the empire, and established peace in the east. Severus now turned his views against Albinus, whom he resolved to destroy. For this purpose he sent assassins into Britain, under a pretence of bringing him letters, but in reality to despatch him. Albinus, apprised of their designs, recurred to open force, and proclaimed himself emperor. Nor was he without a powerful army to support his pretensions; of which Severus being sensible, bent his whole force to oppose him. From the east he continued his course across the straits of Byzantium, into the most western parts of Europe, without intermission. Albinus went over to meet him with his forces into Gaul; the campaign on both sides was carried on with great vigor. Fortune seemed variable; but at last a decisive engagement was fought, one of the most desperate recorded in the Roman history. It lasted from morning till night, without any seeming advantage on either side; at length the troops of Severus began to fly, and, he himself happening to fall from his horse, the army of Albinus cried out, Victory. But the engagement was renewed with vigor by Lætus, one of Severus's commanders, who came up with a body of reserve, designing to destroy both parties and make himself emperor. This attempt turned out entirely to the advantage of Severus. He charged with such fury and exactness that he soon obtained the victory; and, pursuing them into the city of Lyons, took Albinus prisoner, and cut off his head; treating his dead body with insults that could only flow from a mean and revengeful temper. All the senators who were slain in battle he ordered to be quartered, and such as were taken alive were immediately executed. Having thus secured himself in the empire, upon his return to Rome he loaded his soldiers with rewards and honors, giving them such privileges as strengthened his own power, while they destroyed that of the state; for the soldiers, who had hitherto showed the strongest inclination to an abuse of power, were now made arbiters of the fate of emperors. Being thus secure of his army, he resolved to give way to his natural turn for conquest, and to oppose his arms against the Parthians, who were then invading the frontiers. Having therefore previously given the government of domestic policy to one Plautianus, a favorite, to whose daughter he married his son Caracalla, he set out for the east, and prosecuted the war with his usual expedition and success. He forced submission from the king of Armenia, destroyed several cities in Arabia Felix, landed on the Parthian coasts, took and plundered the famous city Ctesiphon, marched back through Palestine and Egypt, and at length returned to Rome in triumph. During this interval Plauti anus, who was left to direct the affairs of Rome, began to think of aspiring to the empire himself. Upon the emperor's return he employed a tribune of the prætorian cohorts to assassinate him and his son Caracalla. The tribune informed Severus of his favorite's treachery. He at first received it as an improbable story, and as the artifice of some who envied his favorite. But he was at last persuaded to permit the tribune to

conduct Plautianus to the emperor's apartments. The tribune went and amused him with a pretended account of his killing the emperor and his son, desiring him, if he wished to see them dead, to come with him to the palace. As Plautianus ardently desired their deaths, he gave credit to this relation; and, following the tribune, he was conducted at midnight into the innermost recesses of the palace. But what must have been his disappointment, when, instead of finding the emperor murdered, as he expected, he beheld the room lighted up with torches, and Severus, surrounded by his friends, prepared in array to receive him. Being asked by the emperor, with a stern countenance, what had brought him there at that unseasonable time, he was utterly confounded, and, not knowing what excuse to make, confessed the whole, entreating forgiveness. The emperor seemed inclined to pardon him, but Caracalla spurned him away in the midst of his supplications, and with his sword ran him through the body. After this Severus spent a considerable time in visiting some cities in Italy, permitting none of his officers to sell places of trust or dignity, and distributing justice with the strictest impartiality. He took such an exact order in managing his exchequer that, notwithstanding his great expenses, he left more money behind him than any of his predecessors. His armies also were kept upon the most respectable footing; so that he feared no invasion. Being equally attentive to the preservation of all parts of the empire, he resolved to make his last expedition into Britain, where the Romans were in danger of being destroyed. Wherefore, after appointing his sons Caracalla and Geta joint successors in the empire, and taking them with him, he landed in Britain, to the great terror of such as had incurred his resentment. Upon his progress into the country, he left Geta in the south part of the province, which had continued in obedience, and marched with Caracalla against the Caledonians. In this expedition his army suffered prodigious hardships in pursuing the enemy; they were obliged to hew their way through intricate forests, to drain extensive marshes, and form bridges over rapid rivers: so that he lost 50,000 men by fatigue and sickness. However, he supported all these inconveniences with the greatest bravery; and prosecuted his successes with such vigor that he compelled the enemy to sue for peace, which, it is said, they obtained upon the surrender of a considerable part of their country. Having made peace, and built his celebrated wall, he retired to York; where, partly through age and fatigue, partly through grief at the vices of Caracalla, he found himself fast declining, having already lost the use of his feet. To add to his distress, he was told that the soldiers had revolted, and declared his son emperor. In this exigence he seemed once more to recal his natural vigor; he got himself immediately put into his litter, and commanded the new emperor, with the tribunes and centurions, to be brought before him. Though all were willing to court the favor of the young emperor, such was the authority of Severus that none dared to disobey. They appeared before him confounded and trembling, and implored pardon upon their knees. Upon

which, putting his hand to his head, he cried out, Know that it is the head that governs, and not the feet.' However soon perceiving his disorder to increase, and knowing that he could not outlive it, he called for poison; which being refused him, he loaded his stomach with food, which, not being able to digest, soon brought him to his end, in the fifty-sixth year of his age, after an active though cruel reign of about eighteen years.

CARACALLA. Caracalla and Geta, being acknowledged as emperors by the army, began to show a mutual hatred to each other even before their arrival at Rome. Their only agreement was, in resolving to deify Severus their father; but soon after each sought to attach the senate and army to his own interest. They were of very opposite dispositions; Caracalla was fierce and cruel to an extreme; Geta was mild and merciful; so that the people soon found the dangerous effects of being governed by two princes of equal power and contrary inclinations. But this opposition was short; for Caracalla, resolved to govern alone, furiously entered Geta's apartment, and, followed by ruffians, slew him in his mother's arms. Having committed this detestable murder, he issued with great haste from the palace, crying out, that his brother would have slain him; and that he was obliged, in self-defence, to retaliate the intended injury. He then took refuge among the prætorian cohorts, and in a pathetic tone began to implore their assistance, still making the same excuse for his conduct. To this he added a much more prevailing argument, promising to bestow upon them the largesses usually given upon the election of new emperors, and distributing among them almost all the treasures which had been amassed by his father. By such persuasives the soldiers did not hesitate to proclaim him sole emperor, and to stigmatise the memory of his brother Geta as a traitor. The senators were induced, through favor or fear, to approve what had been done by the army; Caracalla wept for the death of his brother whom he had slain; and, to carry his hypocrisy to the utmost extreme, ordered him to be adored as a god. After this he continued to mark his course with blood. Whatever was done by Domitian or Nero fell short of this monster's barbarities. Lætus, who first advised him to murder his brother, was the first who fell a sacrifice to his jealousy. His own wife Plautina followed. Papilian, the renowned civilian, was beheaded for refusing to write in vindication of his cruelty; answering the emperor's request, by observing, 'That it was much easier to commit a parricide than to defend it.' He commanded all governors to be slain whom his brother had appointed; and destroyed no less than 2000 persons who had adhered to the party. Whole nights were spent in the execution of his bloody decrees; and the dead bodies of people of all ranks were carried out of the city in carts, where they were burnt in heaps, without any of the ceremonies of a funeral. He once ordered his soldiers to set upon a crowded audience in the theatre, only for discountenancing a charioteer whom he happened to favor. Perceiving himself hated by the people, he said that he could insure

his own safety, so that he neither valued their reproaches, nor feared their hatred. This safety which he so much trusted in was the protection of his soldiers. He had exhausted the treasury, drained the provinces, and committed a thousand acts of rapacity, merely to keep them stedfast in his interests; and, being disposed to trust himself with them particularly, he resolved to lead them upon a visit through all the provinces of the empire. He first went into Germany; where he dressed himself in the habit of the country. Thence he travelled into Macedonia, where he pretended to be a great admirer of Alexander the Great; and, among other extravagancies, caused a statue of that monarch to be made with two faces; one of which resembled Alexander and the other himself. He called himself Alexander; walked as he was told that monarch had walked; and, like him, bent his head to one shoulder. Shortly after, arriving at Lesser Asia and the ruins of Troy, as he was viewing the tomb of Achilles, he took it into his head to resemble that hero; and, one of his freed men happening to die at that time, he used the same ceremonies that were performed at the tomb of Patroclus. Passing thence into Egypt, he massacred in the most terrible manner the inhabitants of Alexandria, on account of the satires they composed on him. See ALEXANDRIA. Going thence into Syria, he invited Artabanus, king of Parthia to a conference, which he ended by a most infernal piece of treachery. Upon his return towards Rome, his vices seemed inexhaustible; for, having been guilty of parricide, he now resolved to marry the mother of Geta whom he had slain. One day seeing her drop her veil, which disclosed her naked bosom, which was extremely beautiful, he told her that he would possess those charms if it were lawful. To this unnatural request the worthless woman answered that he might enjoy all things who possessed all. Whereupon, setting aside all respect for his deceased father, he celebrated his nuptials with her in public, totally disregarding the censures and sarcasms of mankind. However, though he disregarded shame, he was not insensible to fear. He was continually consulting astrologers what death he should die. He sent one of his confidants, named Maternianus, to consult all the astrologers in the city concerning his end. Maternianus considered this as a proper time to ge rid of Macrinus, the emperor's commander in Mesopotamia. He therefore informed him by letter, as if from the astrologers, that Macrinus had a design against his life; and advised him to put the conspirator to death. This letter was sent sealed, and made up, amongst many others, to be delivered to the emperor, as he was preparing for a chariot-race. However he gave the packet to Macrinus to read over, and to inform him of the contents when at leisure. In perusing these letters, when Macrinus came to that which regarded himself, he was filled with surprise and terror. He reserved the letter to himself, and acquainted the emperor with the substance of the rest. He then set about the most probable means of compassing his death. He applied to one Martialis, a man of great strength, and a centurion of the guards, who hated the emperor

ship. Heliogabalus, having thus raised his cousin, had scarcely given him his power, when he wished again to take it away; but the virtues of this young prince had so greatly endeared him to the people and the army, that the attempt had like to have been fatal to the tyrant. The prætorian soldiers, mutinying, attempted to kill him as he was walking in his gardens; but he escaped by hiding himself from their fury. How ever, upon returning to their camp, they continued the sedition; requiring that the emperor should remove such persons from about him as oppressed the subjects, and contributed to contaminate him. They required also the being permitted to guard the young prince themselves, and that none of the emperor's favorites or familiars should be permitted to converse with him. Heliogabalus was reluctantly obliged to comply; and, conscious of the danger he was in, made preparations for death, when it should arrive, in a manner truly whimsical and peculiar. He built a lofty tower, with steps of gold and pearl, whence to throw himself headlong in case of necessity. He also prepared cords of purple silk and gold to strangle himself with; he provided golden swords and daggers to stab himself with; and poison to be kept in boxes of emerald, in order to obtain what death he chose best. Thus fearing all things, but particularly suspicious of the designs of the senate, he banished them all out of the city: he next attempted to poison Alexander, and spread a report of his death; but, perceiving the soldiers begin to mutiny, he immediately took him in his chariot to the camp, where he experienced a fresh mortification, by finding all the acclamations of the army directed only to his successor. This not a little raised his indignation, and excited his desire of revenge. He returned towards the city, threatening the most severe punishments against those who had displeased him, and meditating fresh cruelties. However the soldiers were unwilling to give him time to put his designs in execution: they followed him directly to his palace, pursued him from apartment to apartment, and at last found him concealed in a privy; a situation very different from that in which he expected to die. Having dragged him thence through the streets, with the most bitter invectives, and having despatched him, they attempted once more to squeeze his pampered body into a privy; but, not effecting this, they threw it into the Tiber, with heavy weights, that none might afterwards find or give it burial. This was the miserable and ignominious death of Heliogabalus, in the eighteenth year of his age, after a detestable reign of four years. His mother also was slain at the same time by the soldiers; as were also many of the opprobrious associates of his criminal pleasures.

ALEXANDER SEVERUS.-Alexander being without opposition declared emperor, the senate, with their usual adoration, were for conferring new titles upon him; but he modestly declined them all, alleging that titles were only honorable when given to virtue. This outset was a happy omen of his future virtues; and few princes in history have been more commended by their contemporaries, or indeed more deserved com

mendation. To the most rigid justice he added the greatest humanity. He loved the good, and was a severe reprover of the lewd and infamous. His accomplishments were equal to his virtues. He was an excellent mathematician, geometrician, and musician; he was skilled in painting and sculpture; and in poetry few of his time could equal him. In short, such were his talents, and such the solidity of his judgment, that, though but sixteen years of age, he was considered as a wise man. The first part of his reign was spent in a reformation of the abuses of his predecessor. He restored the senators to their rank: nothing being undertaken without the most sage advisers, and most mature deliberation. Among the number of his advisers was his mother Mammaa, a woman eminent for her virtues and accomplishments, and who made use of her power to secure her son the affections of his subjects, and to procure them the most just administration. He was a rigid punisher of such magistrates as took bribes, saying that it was not enough to deprive such of their places; for, their trusts being great, their lives in most cases ought to pay for a breach of them. On the contrary, he thought he could never sufficiently reward such as had been remarkable for their justice and integrity, keeping a register of their names, and sometimes asking such of them as appeared modest and unwilling to approach him why they were so backward in demanding their reward, and why they suffered him to be in their debt? His clemency extended even to the Christians, who had been punished in the former reigns with unrelenting barbarity. Upon a contest between them and a company of cooks and vintners, about a piece of public ground, which the one claimed as a place for public worship, and the other for exercising their respective trades, he decided the point by his rescript, in these words: It is better that God be worshipped there in any manner than that the place should be put to uses of drunkenness and debauchery. His abilities in war were equal to his assiduity in peace. The empire, which from the remissness and debauchery of the preceding reigns now began to be attacked on every side, wanted a person of vigor and conduct to defend it. Alexander faced the enemy wherever the invasion was most formidable, and for a short time deferred its ruin. His first expedition, in the tenth year of his reign, was against the Parthians and Persians, whom he opposed with a powerful army. The Persians were routed in a decisive engagement with great slaughter; the cities of Ctesiphon and Babylon were once more taken, and the Roman empire was restored to its former limits. Upon his return to Antioch his mother Mammaa sent for the famous Origen, to be instructed by him in the principles of Christianity; and, after discoursing with him for some time upon the subject, dismissed him, with a proper safeguard, to his native city of Alexandria. About the same time that Alexander was victorious in the east, Furius Celsus, his general, obtained a signal victory over the Mauritanians in Africa. Varius Macrinus was successful in Germany, and Junius Palmatus returned conqueror from Armenia.