A History of Rome from A.D. 96. to the Fall of the Western Empire, etc

Front matter

A HISTORY OF ROME, FROM A.D. 96, TO THE FALL OF THE WESTERN EMPIRE By R. W. BROWNE, M.A. Ph.D. PREBENDARY OF ST. PAUL'S, AND WELLS; PKOFESSOR OF CLASSICAL LITERATURE IN KING'S COLLEGE, LONDON, PUBLISHED UNDER THE DIRECTION OF THE COMMITTEE OF GENERAL LITERATURE AND EDUCATION APPOINTED BY THE SOCIETY FOR PROMOTING CHRISTIAN KNOWLEDGE. LONDON : SOCIETY FOR PROMOTING CHRISTIAN KNOWLEDGE SOLD AT THE DEPOSITORIES : 77, GBEAT QtJEEN STREET, LINCOLN'S INN FIELDS; 4, ROYAL EXCHANGE 16, HANOVER STREET, HANOVER SQUARE ; ANT> BY THE BOOKSELLERS. LONDON : R CLAY, PRINTER, BREAD STREET HILL. LIST OF CUTS.

PAGE FAOE Part of Building inclosing the Forum of Nerva .... 4 Proclamation of Roman Emperor 98 Arch of S. Severus 112 Coin of Nerva 8 Altar to Severus and Caracalla . 114 Coin of Trajan 9 Walls of Hadrian and Severus in Britain 115 Arch of Trajan at Beneventum . 12 Civita Vecchia 14 Geta 118 The Romans and their Allies in a battle with the Dacians . 16 Baths of Caracalla 122 Macrinus and Diadumenianus . 130 Trajan's Column at Rome ... 20 M, Aurelius Antoninus Elagabalus 132 Coin of Hadrian 23 Antinous 27 Altar to Alexander and Mamæa. 133 Cyprus 28 Alexander and Mamæa . ... 136 Athens 30 Maximin contending in the Athletic Games 145 Puteoli 32 Castle and Bridge of St. Angelo. 33 Altar to Maximin 147 Maison Carree at Nisraes ... 36 Gordian 152 Antoninus Pius (Coin) .... 37 Fort on the Vallum Antonini. . 153 Aurelius 41 Military Stone in Cumberland in the reign of Philip .... 156 Antoninus Pius (Bust) .... 42 Lucius Verus 43 Concordia Augustorum .... 157 Antioch 45 Decius 159 Tigris 46 Decius defeated by the Goths . 164 Medal of Lucius Verus — triumphant return to Rome ... 47 Gallus and Volusianus .... 165 Valerian 167 Smyrna 57 Gallienus 168 Poita Nigra at Treves .... 169 Glen in Crete 65 Commodus 81, 82 Antioch in Pisidia 172 Lucilla • - • 84 Valerian treated as a Slave . . 173 Palmyra 176 Crigpina 85 Spoils of the Temple at Jerusalem 89 Palm-tree 177 Zenobia 179 Theatre at Ephesus 181 Pertinax LIST OF CUTS.

PAGE PAGE Triumph of Aurelian .... 190 Constantius 246 M. Claudius Tacitus . . . 194, 195 Constans 249 M. Annius Florianus. M. Aurelius Probus 197 Magnentius 256 Babylon 267 Carinus. Numerianus .... 202 Jovian 270 Diocletian 205 Jovian found dead 272 Diocletian's Palace at Spalatro . 214 Valentinian 273 Richborough, near Sandwich . 278 Death os Valentinian .... 280 Bracket in the Palace .... 215 Tomb of Helena 217 Basilica of St. Paul at Rome . 220 Death of Valens 284 Defeat of Maxentius .... 223 Victory over the Goths .... 286 Arch of Constantine, Rome . . 224 Piazza del Popolo 301 Constantine 226 Alaric takes Rome 304 The Labarum 227 The Romans withdraw from Britain 307 Basilica of Constantine, Rome . 231 Battering Ram 233 Ephesus 322 New City of Constantine . . . 235 Aqueduct at Constantinople . . 326 Medal of Colliseum 236 "Writing Implements ■. HISTORY OF ROME.

Chapter I. Condition Of The Roman Empire

— ACCESSION OF NERVA — HIB CHA- RACTER AND THAT OF HIS ADMINISTRATION— THE EVANGELIST ST. JOHN — FINANCIAL REFORMS — ANECDOTES — ADOPTION OF TRAJAN — DEATH AND APOTHEOSIS OF NERVA — ANTECEDENT HISTORY AND CHARACTER OF TRAJAN — HE COMES TO ROME — DACIAN WARS — PUBLIC WORKS — EXPEDITION TO THE EAST — PERSECUTION OF THE CHRISTIANS — CAREER OF CONQUEST? — EARTHQUAKE AT ANTIOCH— TRAJAN'S ILLNESS, DEATH, AND BURIAL. At the death of the twelfth Cæsar the Roman world entered upon a period of unexampled prosperity. Eighty years and more of tyranny and its correlative degradation had been unable to crush Rome's vital force and vigorous elasticity. The worst of her tyrants had fallen a victim to his own jealous and suspicious disposition, and he was succeeded by a series of five able and virtuous Emperors, who maintained the grandeur of the empire, the extent of its dominions, the varied nature of its resources, and the wealth and civilisation of those who lived beneath its sway.

Nor is it so much the vast extent of the earth's surface comprehended within its limits which constitutes the great marvel. Modern Russia extends over a greater B number of square miles, and is able to maintain a much larger standing army than the thirty formidable legions or brigades of Hadrian.* The true marvel is, that the whole of human civilisation was contained within the boundaries of the Roman empire, whilst almost the whole civilised portion of mankind lies without the Russian portion. The combination of these various tribes and nations into one whole, the addition of province to province, and kingdom to kingdom, is due to the energies of the people when independent and free. The period of the republic, and of the first Cæsar, was one of conquest. The energies of the Roman people were employed in building up that mighty system which entitled Rome to be called the Empress of the World ; and which made it a pardonable piece of vanity to identify the empire with the world.

The far-sighted policy of Augustus recognised the wisdom of setting a bound to Roman ambition, and of con solidating by the arts of peace the various elements which war had subjugated. His last will embodied the advice to limit the dominions of Rome to its natural boundaries — the Rhine and Danube on the north, the Euphrates on the east, the African Desert on the south, and on the west the Atlantic Ocean. This advice was upon the whole acted upon by his successors ; and during the first century of the Christian era Britain alone was added to the empire. * The legion at this period consisted of six thousand eight hundred and thirty-one Roman soldiers, besides so large a number of auxiliaries as would amount to about twelve thousand five hundred men. His army, therefore, consisted of about three hundred and seventy-five thousand.

It was, indeed, disregarded by the soldier-like Trajan ; but Nerva, Hadrian, and the Antonines thought it wiser to preserve the integrity of the empire, than to enlarge its dimensions. M. COCCEIUS NERVA. BORN AD. 32; DIED A.D. 98 On the same day* on which Domitian was assassi nated, M. Cocceius Nerva was proclaimed Emperor by the Prætorians, and confirmed by the people. He owed his elevation principally to Petronius, Prefect of the Prætorians, and Parthenius, chamberlain to the late Emperor. He was of Cretan origin, and a native of Narni in Umbria, and consequently the first Emperor who was not of Italian descent. His family was a distinguished one — three successive generations had been honoured with the consulship ; his grandfather was a celebrated jurist in the reign of Tiberius ; he himself had been decorated with the triumphal in signia by Nero, and had a statue erected to his honour in the palace : twice he filled the consulship, his colleagues having been firstly Vespasian, and secondly Domitian.

He was not entirely destitute of literary merit, for his epigrams are spoken of favourably by Pliny and Martial. He was prudent, upright, generous, and of a gentle temper ; but a feeble frame and weak constitution, added to the burden of sixty-four years, rendered him too reserved, timid, and irresolute for the arduous duties of a sovereign prince. * September 18, A.D. 96. b2 He had but just accepted the purple when there was a rumour that Domitian was alive. This some what shook the fidelity of the army, who were much PART OP A BUILDING INCLOSING THE FORUM OJ NERVA. attached to the late Emperor ; for the soldiers knew that he had been as firm a friend to military despotism as he had been a bitter enemy to the civil power of the Senate. There were also threatenings of mutiny amongst the troops on the Danube, but promises of the usual largess won the hearts of the soldiers, who were also pacified by the influence of Dio Chrysostom.

The rebellion was crushed, and the Senate received Nerva with acclamation. The tolerant and reforming administration of the new Emperor soon became popular. Rome breathed again after the bloody tyranny under which she had been trampled to the dust. The perjured delator was threatened with the severest penalties. The treacherous slave who had denounced his master was put to death. Exiles returned to their native cities, and again enjoyed their confiscated possessions. The crime of high treason against the Emperor was erased from the code. To observe Jewish customs and ordinances, under which were of course included those of Christianity, was no longer penal, and the special imposts levied upon the Jews were removed; the Emperor, in deference to the civil power, bound him self by a solemn oath, as Titus had done before, never to put a senator to death.

Eusebius* states that the Evangelist St. John was a participator in the advan tages derived from Nerva's toleration, and was thus enabled to return from his banishment in Patmos, and to discharge the duties of his apostolate. Determined to administer the government for the benefit of the Roman people, he turned his attention to the question of finance, and to the burdensome taxation which was the fruit of the extravagance of his predecessors. In order to render the diminution of taxation possible, he began with retrenchment. In * Euseb. Chron. iii. 20. accordance with his own wish, a commission was appointed by the Senate to report upon the public expenditure, and to place it upon the most economical footing. He diminished the enormous sums which were lavished upon shows and spectacles, and reduced, as far as was possible, his personal and household expenses.

He made restitution of all property which Domitian had unjustly confiscated ; abolished the succession and legacy duty of five per cent, which had been imposed by Augustus ; sold a large portion of the imperial property to meet the exigencies of the State ; and showed great liberality to the poorer citizens. The following anecdote which is related of him illustrates his uprightness: — Atticus, a citizen of Athens, having found a treasure in his house, re quested instructions from Nerva as to the disposal of it. Nerva simply replied that he might make what use of it he pleased. Atticus again referred the question to the Emperor, alleging that he dared not take advantage of his generosity, because the treasure was too great for a person of his condition. Still Nerva was firm, and bid him use, or, if he pleased, abuse the wealth which he owed to his good fortune, for it was his and his only.

His principal faults were those of age and of a cautious and gentle disposition. Though a reformer on principle, he was slow and timid in carrying out his principles in practice. He was a bit-by-bit reformer, when the corruption of manners required immediate and decided measures. He threatened the delators, but too often the lame foot of Punishment halted even more than usual. On one occasion* amongst the guests at his table were present Junius Mauricus, who had been exiled by Domitian, and Fabricius Veiento, who had ruined many during the previous reign by secret informations. The con versation turned upon Catullus Messalinus, an infa mous informer. " What," said the Emperor, " would Catullus do now if he were alive?" "Probably," replied Mauricus sarcastically, " he would be dining with us."

It was not probable that an emperor of so weak and yielding a character, notwithstanding his good qualities as a prince and a statesman, would be ac ceptable to a licentious and dominant soldiery. But a few months had elapsed when a conspiracy was organized against him by Calpurnius Crassus. It was, however, discovered ; and the ringleader having confessed his crime, experienced the Emperor's usual generosity, being only punished by banishment to Tarentum. It is said that Nerva even invited the conspirators to sit by him in the amphitheatre, and presented them with swords, in order to show that he had no fear of death. Meanwhile the Prætorians, led on by Ælianus Carperius, who had been their Prefect under Domitian, besieged Nerva in his palace, with cries of vengeance upon the assassins of his prede cessor, murdered Petronius and Parthenius, and com pelled the timid Emperor publicly to express his approbation of the deed, and to testify his obligation to them for wreaking vengeance on the guilty.

Ever since the time of Augustus, it had been the custom with each emperor to associate with himself * Plin. Ep. iv. 22. as colleague whomsoever he designed to be his successor. It was a wise policy, calculated to meet the dangers consequent upon an interregnum in elective monarchies, and rendering the change of government, when it occurred, almost imperceptible to the go verned. Nerva was in declining years, and, taught COIN OF NERVA. by circumstances that he was unequal to curb or cope with the insolence of the soldiery, adopted Trajan as his son and successor. Soon after, he conferred upon him in the Senate the rank of Cæsar, and the name of Germanicus, and added the tribuneship and the title of Emperor. This act calmed the tumult, and was welcomed with the unanimous consent of the Senate and the people.

It appears from some medals, which give Nerva the title of proconsul, a title which the emperors never assumed unless absent from Rome, that he made a journey from Rome at the close of this year. Soon after the adoption of Trajan he died of a fit of ague which brought on fever, at the gardens of Sallust, after a reign of sixteen months, in the sixty-sixth year of his age.* He was * A. D. 98. buried in the mausoleum of Augustus, and Trajan built temples in his honour. It was now a regular custom that divine honours should be paid to deceased emperors, and the ceremonies of an apotheosis enrolled Nerva amongst the number of the gods. M. ULPIUS NERVA TRAJANUS. BORN A. D. 52 ; DIED A. D. 117. The choice which Nerva had made proved a fortunate one. M. UTpius Nerva Trajanus was a Spaniard, a native of Italica, near Seville {Alcala de Rio).

His native town was one of the earliest Roman settlements COIN Or TRAJAN. in Spain, having been founded by the soldiers of the Scipios. He was of an ancient and distinguished family, and his father had filled the office of consul. Although a foreigner, he was a Roman in habits, sympathies, and language ; for the south of Spain had become so completely Roman that the inhabitants generally spoke Latin. When a young man he had distinguished himself in a war against the Parthians.* * About A. D. 80. b3 In due course he discharged the duties of prætor* and consult and at the time of his adoption by Nerva he was in command of a powerful army in Lower Germany, his head-quarters being at Cologne. He was in the prime of life, possessed of a robust constitution, a commanding figure, and a majestic countenance.

He was a perfect soldier, by taste and education, and was endowed with all the qualities of a general ; he was vigilant, indefatigable, capable of enduring hardship, content with the hardest fare, despising luxury, teaching his soldiers their duty by himself sharing all the privations and discomforts of the campaign. Although he never spared himself, he was compassionate to his troops, and the sick and wounded were always sure of his sympathy and con solation. He was a strict disciplinarian, but he knew all his veterans, spoke to them by their names, and never let a gallant action pass unrewarded. His simple-minded frankness and hatred of pomp and state, his courtesy to all, his devotion to public business, his kindliness, his patronage of science, literature, and philosophy, fitted him for the discharge of hi3 duties in peace, as his other virtues rendered him a popular and successful general.

His amusements and relaxations, instead of the effeminate and luxurious indulgences which disgraced most of his predecessors, were manly. He delighted in the pleasures of the chase, in sailing and rowing, and the practice of athletic exercises. Although he is said to have been guilty of occasional excesses, he had not enervated his constitution by habitual * a.d. 86. t a.d. 91. self-indulgence. His passions were strong, and his temper somewhat irascible, but these are defects to which men of strong will and indomitable energy are often subject. He seldom, however, allowed him self to be overcome by their violence, but kept them in check by his good sense, practical judgment, and moral determination. With such qualities for com manding respect, he could afford to be loved rather than feared.

When his friends blamed him for his too great kindness and courtesy towards everybody, his reply was an illustration of the great Christian moral maxim: — " I wish," said he, " so to behave as I should wish an emperor to behave to me were I a private man." In his financial administrations he was just and equitable, and his aim was to correct the oppressive extortions which generally filled the imperial treasury. In the administration of justice he was exact and impartial, and was the author of the celebrated maxim, that it is better that a criminal should go unpunished rather than an innocent man be condemned. Such was the character which centuries later commanded the unfeigned admiration of Gregory the Great, and called forth his well-known prayer, that the grace of God would bring Trajan to a knowledge of Jesus Christ.

That he had an ardent passion for military glory is by no means to be wondered at ; but, as Pliny writes, he was a sincere lover of peace, without being afraid of war. The news of Nerva's death was conveyed to him at Cologne by his cousin Hadrian, where he immediately received the imperial power. During the first year of his reign he remained with the army in Germany, engaged in establishing the discipline of the troops and in inspiring them with a love of their duty. The Emperors were, generally speaking, consuls during the first year of their reign ; but although the Senate pressed that office upon Trajan, he declined it, because he was unable to discharge the duties of it at Rome. The ensuing year he made his entry into Rome BEN EVEN TUM. on foot, together with his empress, Pompeia Plotina, whose amiability and estimable character contributed much to the popularity of her husband.

Her conduct, together with that of his sister, Marciana, exercised a most beneficial influence upon Roman society. They were the first ladies of the imperial court who by their example checked the shameless licentiousness which had long prevailed amongst women of the higher classes. The Romans conferred upon him the title of Father of his Country {Pater Patriœ), of which his liberality to the poor, especially to the children, both in Rome and the provinces, proved him to be eminently deserving. The tastes and habits of his former life led to a change in the peaceful policy which had so long pre vailed. The first war in which he was engaged was with the Dacians, who inhabited the country beyond the Danube. Decebalus, their king, had, during the reign of Domitian, compelled Rome to purchase peace by the payment of an annual tribute.

Trajan could ill put up with this disgrace, and the Dacians, en couraged in insolence by such pusillanimous sub mission, provoked resistance by some overt acts of hostility. A sanguinary battle was fought, in which the Romans gained the victory, but with great loss.* Trajan, with his usual humanity, when linen for bandages failed, tore up his own clothes to supply the wounded. Victory after victory was gained by him and his lieutenant-generals, until at length his warlike and courageous foe was reduced to sue for peace. But the Romans continued their advance into the centre of his territories, until they reached the capital. The sister of Decebalus fell into the hands of the Roman general Maximus, so that he compelled him to purchase peace by the surrender of a large portion of his dominions.

Trajan then returned to Rome in triumph, and assumed the surname of Daci cus. The peace with the Dacians lasted three years, « A. D. 101. during which interval Trajan constructed a harbour at Centum Cellæ, which was probably Civita Vecchia, the present port of Rome. XCCHl. Rumours now began to reach Rome that Decebalus was making preparations for a second war;* that he was levying troops, fortifying his towns, and endea vouring, by force or persuasion, to attach the Scythians and neighbouring barbarian nations to his standard. When the Senate received this intelligence, it declared war, and Trajan marched in person against the Dacian king. Decebalus treacherously endeavoured to have the Emperor assassinated on his march through Mœsia, but the plot was discovered, and the Romans arrived a.d. 104, on the banks of the Danube.

Across the majestic stream Trajan threw a bridge of stone, whose twenty one arches (the span of each being one hundred and seventy feet) rested upon twenty piers sixty feet in diameter, and one hundred and fifty feet in height. It was flanked at each extremity by a massive tetedu pont. Although the Danube was here narrow, it was proportionately deep and rapid, and would have deterred a general of less energy and de termination. Traces of this bridge are still visible, a little below the ancient town of Viminac, in Hun gary. The ensuing year saw this great work com pleted, and Trajan and his army crossed over. The Dacian monarch proved by no means an unworthy opponent, but he was unable to resist the generalship of Trajan. The soldiers emulated the bravery of their imperial commander, and amongst them Hadrian, the successor of Trajan, was eminently signalised.

The conquest of Dacia was in no slight degree owing to his skill and courage, and Trajan acknowledged his obliga tions to him by presenting him with a diamond which Nerva had sent him on the occasion of his adoption. The Dacian king, seeing that all was lost, too proud to sue for pardon, and despairing of obtaining it, killed himself. His head was carried to Rome ; his buried treasures of gold and precious stones be came the prize of the conquerors. Dacia was made a Roman province, and continued so until the invasion of the Goths, a century and a half after. Forts were built to overawe the inhabitants, and colonies were settled in its principal towns, especially in Transyl vania and the hill country of Wallachia and Moldavia. So Latinized did Dacia become, that even now the Roman language is the basis of the Wallachian.

This new province was bounded by the Danube, the Theiss, the Dniester, and the Euxine. Trajan returned to Rome a second time in triumph ; the beautiful column which bears his name was erected ; and the interesting THE ROMANS AND THEIR ALLIES IN A BATTLE WITH THE D. bas-reliefs which wind like a wreath from the base to the capital, immortalise the events of the two Dacian wars. Simultaneously with these northern conquests, Arabia Petræa submitted to the Roman arms. A few years of peace ensued, which Trajan endured with patient reluctance ; and many great public works undertaken during the interval show his genius for civil as well as for military administration. A road stretched across the unwholesome Pomptine marshes, and plans were made for embellishing the capital. But his presence was soon required in the East, and he joyfully hailed the opportunity thus offered him for gaining fresh laurels.

The real object of this expedition was ambition — the pretext, that Exedarius, or Exodares, king of Armenia, had received the crown from the king of Parthia, instead of from the Emperor of Rome, as Tiridates had from the hands of Nero. For this insult he demanded satisfaction. Chosroes, the king of Parthia, at first treated his message with contempt ; but afterwards, seeing that war was imminent, he sent ambassadors with presents to meet Trajan at Athens, and to announce to him the deposition of Exedarius, and to entreat him to confer the crown of Armenia upon Parfhamasiris, or Parthamaspes. Trajan received the ambassadors coldly, told them that he was on his march to Syria, and would there act as he thought fit. Accordingly he crossed into Asia, and marched by way of Cilicia, Syria, and Seleucia to Antioch.

The condemnation of the martyr bishop St. Ignatius marked his stay in that city. It seems strange that the persecution of the Christians should have met with countenance and support from an emperor like Trajan ; but the fact is, the Roman mind could not separate the Christian from the Jew. The religious distinction was beneath their notice ; they contemplated the former merely as a sect of the latter. The Roman party in Asia were persuaded that the Jews were meditating and pre paring for insurrection ; and the rebellions of this and the ensuing reign proved that their apprehensions were not unreasonable. Hence, at Antioch, the imperial influence was on the side of persecution ; and hence when Pliny, the gentle governor of Pontus and Bithynia, wrote to Trajan for instructions respecting the Christians in his province, his "rescript" spoke of Christianity as a dangerous superstition, and en joined the punishment of its professors if discovered, although he would not have them sought for.

Having received the voluntary submission of Abgarus, prince of Osrhoene in Mesopotamia, he marched against Armenia. Parthamasiris, who had assumed the royal state, laid his diadem at his feet, in the hopes that he would return it to him as Nero had to Tiridates. Trajan claimed his kingdom as a province of the Roman people, and the unfortunate monarch lost his life in a useless struggle for his crown. This was the commencement of his triumphs : he received the voluntary submission of the kings of Iberia, Sarmatia, the Bosphorus, Colchis, Albania ; and he assigned kings to most of the barbarous tribes that inhabited the coast of the Euxine. Still he proceeded on his career of conquest. He chastised the king of Adiabene, who had behaved to him with treachery, and took possession of his dominions, subjugated the rest of Mesopotamia, constructed a bridge of boats over the Tigris, and commenced a canal to unite the two great rivers of Assyria.

His course of conquest was resistless ; he captured Seleucia, earned the title of Parthicus by taking Ctesiphon, the capital of Parthia, imposed a tribute on Mesopotamia, and reduced Assyria to the condition of a Roman province. He returned to winter at Antioch, which was in the same winter almost destroyed by an earthquake. Trajan escaped through a window, not without per sonal injury. It is said that beneath the ruins none were found alive, except an infant hanging to the breast of its mother, already dead, and a mother who had sustained her own and her child's life with her milk during those terrible days.* The river Tigris bore the victorious Emperor from the scene of his conquests down to the Persian Gulf; he subjugated Arabia Felix, and, like a second Alex ander, was meditating and even making preparations for an invasion of India by sea; but his ambitious designs were frustrated by troubles nearer at hand.

Some of the conquered nations revolted, and his gar risons were either expelled or put to the sword. He sent his generals to crush the rebels; one of them, Maximus, was conquered and slain ; the other, Lusius Quietus, gained considerable advantages and was made governor of Palestine, which had begun to be in a state of insurrection. He himself marched to punish the revolted Hagareni {Saracens), whose city was called Atra, in Mesopotamia. It was situated in a desert plain, almost without water, occupying a position of great natural strength, and surrounded with fortifications. Trajan laid siege to it, but was obliged to raise the siege with great loss. Soon after this he was seized with illness, which some attributed to poison : it was dropsy, accompanied with partial paralysis. Leaving his army therefore to the care of Hadrian, whom he had made governor of Syria, he embarked for Rome at the earnest solicitation of the Senate.

On arriving at Selinus in Cilicia (afterwards named Trajanopolis), he was seized with diarrhœa, and expired in the twentieth year of his reign. His corpse was burnt, * A. D. 115. and his ashes conveyed to Rome in a golden urn by his widow Plotina and his niece Matidia. They entered the gates in a triumphal car, on which was placed a statue of the deceased, and were buried beneath his magnificent column — an exception to the wise provisions of the Roman law, which forbade FAN'S COLU intramural burial. He died childless, and it is said had not intended to nominate a successor, following in this the example of Alexander. Hadrian owed his adoption to Plotina : it is said that after Trajan had expired, she caused some one to counterfeit the voice of the deceased Emperor, and to declare that he adopted Hadrian.

Dio positively asserts that she concealed her husband's death for some days, and that the letter informing the Senate of his last inten tions was signed by her, and not by Trajan. Hadrian received the despatches declaring his adoption on the 9th of August, and those announcing Trajan's death two days afterwards. The eastern conquests of Trajan were not destined to be per manent ; almost all the conquered nations revolted, and his successor thought it wiser to surrender than to reconquer them. His works as a civilian conferred a more lasting benefit upon his subjects. Besides the ports and other works already mentioned, he adorned Rome with a library, a theatre, a large num ber of fountains, and the grand place in the middle of which stood his column ; he made a canal to discharge the superfluous waters of the Tiber, and he provided for the public safety by forbidding the building of houses beyond the height of sixty feet.