Roman history. The early empire, from the assassination of Julius Cæsar to that of Domitian

Contents

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INTRODUCTORY CHAPTER.

Rapid survey of the history of Rome from the death of Julius Caesar to the battle of Actium. PAGE i

Chapter I

AUGUSTUS B. C. 31—A. D. 14.

The change in Octavianus after he gained absolute power, not a mere change of Policy, but of temper and demeanor—The change in the forms of the constitution—The proposal to resign —He avoids the title of king, or of dictator—Had already taken the name of Caesar—Is styled Augustus—Takes the old repub¬ lican titles—The old offices of the executive—New offices created —The Senate—Privy Council—The government of the provinces —Senatorial provinces—Imperial provinces—General character of the new regime—The homely manners of Augustus—Liberal outlay for public objects—Ready acquiescence in these changes The chief ministers of Augustus—Agrippa—His energy, self-sacrifice—Public works—Marries Marcella—Retires to Lesbos —Marries Julia—Dies—Maecenas—His diplomatic skill—The chief adviser of Augustus—Influenced the tone of Roman circles through the poets—His domestic trials—Livia—Sources of her influence over Augustus, and its nature—Suspicion of her sinister dealings to secure the succession of Tiberius—Treat-

V

VI

Contents.

ment of Agrippa Postumus—Story of Livia poisoning Augustus —Julia—Her betrothals and marriages—Extravagance and profligacy at last made known to her father—Her banishment and misery—Disasters in Germany—Defeat of Lollius—Loss of Varus with three legions—Panic at Rome, and grief of Emperor—Augustus grew morose, and resented criticism— Leges majestatis enforced against authors—Ovid—Banished to Tomi—Augustus at last less popular at Rome than in the provinces—Died at Nola—His survey of the Roman world, and summary of offlcial statistics, and advice to his successors —The Monumentum Ancyranum—Augustus deified —Expla¬ nations: i. Polytheism less scrupulous; 2. Eastern peoples had deified their kings; 3. The rationalizing tendency; 4. The Italian worship of the Lares especially fostered by Augustus— Augustales. , ..page 6

Chapter II. Tiberius : A.d. 14-37

The early life of Tiberius—Little liked by Augustus—His retire¬ ment to Rhodes—He wished to return to Rome, but was not allowed—His danger and suspense—Livia procures his recall and adoption by Augustus—He was usually away from Rome with the army—Recalled to the death-bed of Augustus—Pre¬ cautions of Livia—Claim to succeed based on adoption and tribunicia potestas —Consent of the legions all-important— They were in mutiny—Caution of Tiberius, and ambiguous language—He shrank from titles of honor and from flattery— Referred all business to the Senate, but neglected the popular assemblies and the amusements of the people—Seemed anxious to govern well—The great influence of Livia, now called Augusta—Her politic patronage of art—Tiberius showed jealousy of the honor paid to Augusta—Fear of Germanicus, who was recalled from Germany and sent on a mission to the

Contents.

VII

East—The appointment of Cn. Piso to be governor of Syria— PI is offensive conduct to Germanicus, who believed that he was poisoned by Piso—Grief at Rome when the death of Germani¬ cus was known—Popular suspicions—The people disliked Ti¬ berius from the first—Reasons—The “ delatores ” of the Empire now first appeared—Their influence under Tiberius, and in¬ crease in numbers—The character of Sejanus—His rise in power and favor—He schemed to revenge himself on Drusus for the insult of a blow—Seduced Livilla and poisoned Drusus, widened the breach between Tiberius and Agrippina, and urged Tiberius to leave Rome—Tiberius retired to Caprese—The death of Augusta, followed by the fall of Agrippina and her children—The fate of Asinius Gallus—The great power of Sejanus at Rome, his haughtiness—Suspicions of Tiberius at length aroused—His dissimulation—The scene in the Senate-house, where the Emperor’s letter is read, and Sejanus is dragged off to death—Cruelty of Tiberius—The trials and bloodshed at Capreae—His death—The pleas of later critics in favor of a new estimate of the character of Tiberius—The testi¬ mony of Valerius Maximus and Velleius Paterculus—The marks of bias and exaggeration in the common story—The assumptions as to the memoirs of Agrippina, and the guilt of the victims of Tiberius—Ancient writers have formed too harsh an opinion of his motives in some cases, and reported scandalous gossip too lightly. PAGE 44

Chapter III. Caligula : A.d. 37-4i

The general joy at the death of Tiberius, and at the succession of Caius, named Caligula—The claims of the young grandchild of Tiberius were ignored—The general gladness—The Emperor’s popularity and sense of power turned his head—He claimed divine honors—Could bear no rival greatness, as in the case of Seneca and Domitius Afer—Was jealous even of the dead—•

VIII

Contents.

Thought himself raised above moral laws, and indulged in wild caprices—His devices to refill his exhausted coffers—Resorted to confiscation—Morbid ferocity—The campaign in Germany—* Ludicrous close—His wild dreams of massacre . . • 74

Chapter IV. Claudius : A.d. 4i-54

The hesitation of the Senate after the murder of Caius—The sol¬ diers meantime saluted Claudius Emperor—In early life he had been weak in mind and body—He had sorry treatment from Tiberius and Caius, and indulged in coarse habits, but he had literary tastes—As Emperor he was ruled by wives and freedmen—The domestic position of the freedmen of Rome, and in the imperial household—Their ambition and greed and oppor¬ tunities of gaining wealth—Pallas—Narcissus—Polybius—Callistus—Felix—Posides—Claudius kept in good humor by his freedmen His love for judicial work, and care for provisioning Rome—Want of dignity in his proclamations—A campaign and victory arranged for him—Scandalous traffic of the freed¬ men—They confiscate the property of the rich by working on their masters’ fears—His wives—Messalina—Her unbounded wantonness and cruelty—At last she causes public scandal by marrying Silius—Narcissus tells Claudius, and procures her death—Debate among the freedmen as to the choice of a new wife—Agrippina, his niece, carried off the prize, and showed at once her intention to rule supreme—Had Octavia betrothed to herson, and the trusted servants of Britannicus removed—Afraid of Narcissus and delay, she had Claudius poisoned—The satire of Seneca on the deification of Claudius . . . page 84

Contents.

IX

Chapter V

The early life of Nero—Saluted as Emperor by the soldiers—His mother, Agrippina, tried at first to govern, but Burrhus and Seneca took her place and ruled in his name—He showed a passion for the fine arts and for low dissipation—His impatience of his mother’s restraint—Treatment of Britannicus and Octavia —The attempts to poison Agrippina failed—The dark scheme to drown her in the Bay of Naples—Its failure followed by her murder—Burrhus and Seneca defended the deed—Nero gave himself up to his pleasures, drove freeborn Romans on the stage, and at last appeared on it himself—Nero had a real love of art, but the art was bad*—Nero’s extravagant display, espe¬ cially in building—The great fire of Rome—The strange rumors of his conduct and suspicions—He had the “ Golden House” built for him—Its most privileged inmates—To turn suspicion from himself Nero made the Christians his victims and his scapegoats—His victims generally of a higher rank—His aunt —His wife Octavia—Poppcea—Burrhus—Seneca spared for a time—Philosophers were looked on with distrust—Stoicism especially distasteful to the prince, but spread rapidly through society—The character and fate of Thrasea Poetus, of Seneca, and of Corbulo—Other victims—Lucan fell into disgrace at court—Took part in a conspiracy and lost both life and honor —Petronius Arbiter excited the jealousy of Tigellinus, and died with frivolous indifference—The rising in Britain and great loss of life and other disasters of the time—The revolt of Vindex in Gaul, taken up by Galba after the death of Vindex—Nero’s in¬ difference at first, followed by despair—He fled to a freedman’s house and hid himself, then at last found nerve to kill himself—• Strange affection for his memory shown by some of the popu¬ lace—Pretenders appeared in his name . . . PAGE 104

X

Contents.

Chapter VI

The career of Galba before his accession—As governor of Spain he had only a small force—Rival pretenders rose and fell, and Galba made his way to Rome without a struggle, but preceded by ugly rumors—Discontent of the marines, praetorians, legion¬ aries, and city populace, of Nero’s servants and favorites, and of the Senate—The favorites of Galba shamelessly abuse their power—Galba adopted Piso as his colleague, but Otho intrigued with the soldiers of the guard, and was saluted Emperor—Galba set out for the camp, but while on his way was set upon and killed, and Piso, who had fled to sanctuary, was killed at the temple steps.128

CHAPTER VII. otho : A.D. 69.

Otho’s early career of dissipation—Of better repute in provincial rule—Returned to Rome with Galba and displaced him—He gained the soldiers’ loyalty and love—But the armies of the Rhine had chosen Vitellius, and were on the march to Rome—- After fruitless overtures of peace, Otho marched to meet them —His generals urged delay, but he would not wait—His army was routed on the battle-field of Bedriacum, and he died by his own hand. PAGE 134

Chapter VIII. Vitellius: A.d. 69

The antecedents of Vitellius—Sent by Galba to command the army on the Rhine—Glutton and spendthrift though he was he won the affections of the soldiers—Valens and Caecina, being

Contents.

XI disaffected to Galba, stir the army and put Vitellius forward ; he is proclaimed Emperor—The march into Italy and victory of Bedriacum—The entry into Rome of the soldiers of the Rhine with Vitellius—His favorites governed while he feasted —But in the East Vespasian was soon in arms—The treachery of Bassus and Caecina, and second battle of Bedriacum—Sad fate of Cremona—Vitellius tried to abdicate but was prevented by the soldiers, who stormed the Capitol—In the fray the temple of Jupiter was burnt—Antonius entered Rome and slaughtered the Vitellians—Vitellius was dragged from his hiding-place and slain. PAGE 139

Chapter IX. Vespasian ; A.d. 69-79

The humble origin and chequered career of Vespasian—He is sent to command in Judaea—He showed his skill and won the soldiers’ trust—Titus and Mucianus pressed him to make him¬ self Emperor, and he consented with reluctance—The rebellion in Gaul and Germany ; Its causes, early successes, and speedy failure—Vespasian restored order at Rome—The causes of the insurrection in Judaea, and earlier relations of the Jews to Rome—A hasty rising at Jerusalem spread widely till Vespa¬ sian was sent to command the army—The siege of Jerusalem was left to Titus to finish—The obstinate defence and utter destruction of the city and temple—The triumph after the Jewish war as described by Josephus—The economy and homely tastes of Vespasian—He needed and raised a large revenue, and imposed new tolls and taxes—But the money was well used for public objects—He was free from jealousy and suspicion, yet was persuaded to put to death Helvidius Priscus, and also J. Sabinus, in spite of the story of his wife’s faithful love—Vespasian worked hard and died in harness— The characteristic jest at his funeral . . . page 147

XII

Contents ,

CHAPTER X. titus: a.d. 79-81.

The bright prospects of the early life of Titus—His ambitious hopes and intrigues in Judaea—Skill in the siege and cruelty to the prisoners—He shared the imperial power with his father, and studied magnificence of outward show—Money was spent largely on great works—His relations with Berenice were so unpopular that he had to yield—Sinister rumors about him—• The change after his father’s death—His courtesy and liberality made him loved, and universally lamented—The disasters of the time—The eruption of Vesuvius—The account of the younger Pliny—The scene at Pompeii, and various forms of death and ruin—The objects since collected . . PAGE 162

Chapter XI. Domitian ; A.d. 81-96

Domitian’s early life and danger from the soldiers—Sudden change turned his head—He was kept in strict tutelage by Vespasian —He ill requited the tenderness of Titus—'His power of self-restraint as Emperor and wish to rule well—He discouraged informers and legacies to himself—The probable causes of the marked change of temper—His complete failure as a general—■ Conspiracy against him—Want of money—His numerous victims—The Philosophers—Apollonius of Tyana—The gene¬ rals— Julius Agricola — Literary men — Martial — Statius — Juvenal—Tacitus—Domitian assassinated by his wife and freedmen .. PAGE 171

Chapter XII. The Position Of The Emperor

The Emperor virtually the source of law; he interprets the law, and enforces it, as head of the executive—His powers unique

Contents.

XIII in kind, without check or balance—There was no escape from the Emperor’s power, nor for him—His power was based on military force, but his policy was commonly not warlike— Little police force needed. PAGE 181

Chapter XIII. The Rights Of Roman Citizenship

The citizens of Rome a mixed race—Their rights and privileges— Jus Suffragii—Jus honorum—Right of appeal—Immunity from personal violence—Jus exilii—Freedom of speech and writing —Religious liberty—Right of Assembly—Right to food . 184

Chapter XIV. Life In The Provinces

Great variety of political status in the provincial towns, and large amount of self-rule—Scanty reference in literature to the life of the provincial towns—Fuller details in the inscriptions—The executive officials, duumviri juri dicundo, sediles, quaestors, quinquennales—The town council or ordo decurionum—Popu¬ lar assemblies—Offices were burdensome rather than lucrative —Public spirit and munificence—The attractions of Roman culture—The liberal outlay of the rich lightened the burdens of local government—General well-being—Evidences of improve¬ ment and of prosperity—But no guarantees of permanence

Chapter XV. The State Of Trade

The early contempt for industrial art at Rome—The contempt ex¬ tended to professions and the fine arts—Disdain of retail trade did not extend to commerce on a large scale—Growth of a class

XIV

Conte7its.

of merchant capitalists who enrich themselves without benefit to the world—What the Empire did for trade— 1 1 secured the roads and seas—Confined war to the frontiers—Removed a variety of hindrances—Diminished indirectly the supply of slave labor—Lessened the competition of war and politics—The Emperors favored the higher branches of industrial art—Influ¬ ence of Eastern sentiment—The higher status given to industrial classes through magistri vicorum—A vast system of free trade flourished—Balance of trade against Italy . . PAGE 202

Chapter XVI. The Growing Depopulation Of Italy And Greece

The ominous signs of depopulation—Strabo’s account of Greece— Polybius notices the diminishing military force of Italy—Re¬ marks of Livy—Pliny—Dion Cassius—Attempts of Augustus to meet the evil—The causes of decline; 1. War; 2. Changes from peasant proprietors to large estates with slave labor; 3. Slavery was wasteful of life; 4. Attraction of town life and discouragement to industry; 5. Influence of vice and profligacy. PAGE 209

Chapter XVII. The Frontiers And The Army

The frontiers well defined—Dependent kingdoms and diplomatic relations—The pacific policy of the Empire—The standing army of Augustus, and the stations of the legions and of the fleets—The legions recruited from the distant provinces were loyal and steadfast, and attached by many ties to their camp— The moral qualities fostered in the camps by work and disci¬ pline—Two examples of the break-down of discipline—The pay and pensions of the soldiers and “ missio honesta" . PAGE 216

Contents.

xv

Chapter XVIII. The Moral Standard Of The Age

The natural tendency to believe that there was a moral decline in the first century of the Empire; I. But satire is not fair evi¬ dence; 2. Juvenal was too vehement to be fair; 3. Literature deals with the life of Rome ; 4. Complaints about luxury need to be carefully weighed : 5. Philosophy becomes a great moral power—the case of Seneca ; 6. The change of tone and thought on the subject of slavery; 7. The change in the estimate of women’s character; 8. The evidence of a higher tone in Pliny’s letters. PAGE 223

Chapter XIX. The Revival Of Religious Sentiment

Religion seemed to be losing its hold on the Romans of education —The policy of Augustus to strengthen the old religion—Rea¬ sons for believing that the reaction left enduring traces ; 1. The legends might be given up without loss of religious faith; 2. The tone of philosophy was earnest and devout; 3. The intro¬ duction of new creeds and rites; 4. The change in the literary tone ; 5. Monumental evidence—Paganism died hard PAGE 232

Index

The Chief Original Authorities for the History of the

First Century.

Appian, “ Civil Wars ” : for the period of the civil struggle.

Dion Cassius, “ Roman History.”

Inscriptionum Latinarum Corpus: Auctortate Acad. Berol. ed. Josephus: for the Jewish war.

“Monumentum Ancyranum v. Res. gestae divi Augusti ’: ed. Th. Mommsen.

Pliny, " Letters” : for the close of the period.

Plutarch, “ Lives of Julius Caesar, Cicero, Antonius, M. Brutus Galba, Ctho.”

Seneca, in the historical illustrations of his moral treatises. Suetonius, “ Lives of the Caesars.”

Tacitus, “Annals and Histories.”

Velleius Paterculus, for the reigns of Augustus and Tiberius.

Of the poets: Horace, Juvenal, and Martial especially illustrate the history of the period.

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ROMAN HISTORT .

THE EARLIER EMPIRE.

Introduction

The genius and statesmanship, of Julius Caesar secured only a few years of absolute power, and had not time enough to shape the forms of empire, or „

^ A A Rapid survey

carry out far-reaching plans. When he fell of the history

under the daggers of his murderers, he left the death of no system of established rule, and no sue- ^hebattkof cessor to replace him. The Commonwealth A ctium. had been discredited by years of impotence ; anarchy at home, misgovernment abroad had shown the break¬ down of the ancient institutions of the state, and the frail plant of liberty needed more to bring it back to healthy life than to be watered with the blood of Caesar. But when the young Octavius left his books at Apollonia, and came to Rome to claim his rights, few could have had serious fears of his ambition, or could have foreseen in him the man who was to close the drama of the great Republic and bring the empire on the stage. For he had played no part as yet in public life, was known to be of feeble health, had given no proof of genius or of self-reliant courage. Sent on before to the advanced

The Earlier Empire.

camp in Epirus, to be ready for campaigns in the far East, he was startled from his round of rhetoric and drill by the news of his great uncle’s murder. He crossed the sea without delay ; and hearing on his way that his kinsman’s will had named him heir, he took at once the name of Caesar Octavianus, and hurried on to claim his heritage at Rome. His mother told him of her fear, his stepfather urged the need of caution, and pointed to the dangers in his way ; but he persisted, though almost alone, and though he saw the need to be resolute and wary. The daggers that had been sharpened against Julius might be drawn upon him¬ self, if he spoke too openly of vengeance, or appealed at once to the soldiers and the people. The name that he had just assumed had an ominous sound in the ears of Senate and of nobles; and M. Antonius, the old confi¬ dant and partisan of Cassar, by right of his authority as consul, had taken the reins of power into his hands, had gained possession of the treasures and the papers of the fallen ruler, and was in no mood to share them with a rival claimant. The conduct of Octavianus, though bold, was very politic and far-sighted. Resolved at any cost to show respect for the last wishes of his kinsman, he drew largely on the means of his family or friends to pay the legacies bequeathed by Caesar to every citizen of Rome, and defrayed even the expenses of the public shows that had been promised. He paid his court with tact to the members of the Senate, and talked of amnes¬ ty and peace ; put on a show of winning deference for the leaders of the moderate party, and for Cicero above all, and fed their hopes, that they might find in his grow¬ ing popularity a harmless counterpoise to the violent am¬ bition of Antonius. Even when forced at last to arm in self-defence, and to levy troops among the veterans of

Introduction.

Caesar, he courted the old statesman still; he played upon his vanity, and called him father. Affecting to draw his sword only in defence of the constitution and the Senate, he offered to serve with his own legions under the new consuls against Antonius, the common enemy of all loyal citizens. But he clearly read the jealous sus¬ picions of the nobles, and had no mind to be used awhile and then thrown aside like a dishonored

B C 43

tool. So, after the successes won at Mutina, which cost the lives of both the consuls, he flung away the mask that he had worn, came to terms of union with Antonius and with Lepidus, the governor of Gaul, and marched with his soldiers straight to Rome to wrest the consulship from the reluctant Senate. Then the era of Proscriptions opened, for the confederates agreed to ce¬ ment their league with blood. Each marked his victims’ names upon the fatal list, and each consented to give up adherents of his own to the greed or hatred of his col¬ leagues. Meanwhile the Senatorian party, crushed at Rome, was gathering fresh strength beyond the seas. Brutus in Macedonia, Cassius in Syria, the foremost of the murderers of Caesar, had turned the provinces which they governed into one vast recruiting-ground for a last decisive struggle. When all was ready they combined their forces and offered battle to the enemies who had crossed over to attack them. Once more came the crash of mighty armies met again

in civil war, and the battle-fields of Philippi saw the fall

of the last of the great republicans of Rome.

The world lay prostrate at the conquerors’ feet; it re¬ mained only to divide the spoil. Antonius stayed behind to organize and rule the East. The Province of Africa was thought enough to content the absent Lepidus, while Italy and all the West fell to the portion of Octavianus.

The Earlier Empire.

But still as the young schemer mounted higher the dangers seemed to thicken in his path, to test his hardi¬ hood and patient statecraft. He returned to Italy to find an exhausted treasury and half-ruined people; veterans clamoring for their pay and settling with fierce eager¬ ness upon the promised lands; peasants ousted from their homes, taken to brigandage from sheer despair ; the city populace in no loyal mood to a master who had little to bestow; while the wife and brother of his rival fanned the smouldering discontent, and vexed him sorely with intrigues, then flew to arms at last, and when beaten stood sullenly at bay within the beleagured fortress of Perusia. The sea meanwhile was at the b- c. 41- mercy of the bold Sextus Pompeius, who

scoured the coasts of Italy with galleys manned by motley crews of republicans who had fought under his father’s lead, of pirates to whom that father’s name had been once a sound of terror, of ruined victims of the late proscriptions, of slaves and runaways of every class. The corn-ships dared not venture near the blockaded ports, and prices mounted to famine height, till the starving population rose in fierce mutiny against their ruler ; while Antonius was on his way with a great fleet to call him to account for the treatment of his brother, who had hardly escaped with life from the horrors of the siege. But Italy was sick of civil war. The soldiers, tired of constant bloodshed, made their leaders sheath their swords and join in league and amity, in pledge of which Antonius took to wife Octavia, the sister of his rival, while Sextus bargained as the price of peace to keep his hold upon the islands and the sea, and Lepidus, displaced already from his office of command, held only in his feeble grasp the dignity and functions of High Pontiff.

Introduction.

For six more years of divided power Octavianus schemed, and toiled, and waited. He secured his hold on Italy, calmed the elements of disorder in its midst, refilled the treasury and stocked the granaries, till he felt himself strong enough to defy Sextus on the seas and crush the bold buccaneer after many a hard-fought strug j gle. At last, but not till all was safe elsewhere, came the cri¬ sis of the duel with Antonius. Eastern luxury had done its work upon his passionate nature. Slothful self-indulg¬ ence, broken only by fitful moods of fiery energy, clouded his reason and unnerved his manhood. The Egyptian Cleopatra had lured him with her blandishments and wound her snares around his heart, till Rome heard with indignation of the wrongs of the forsaken wife and of the orgies of the wanton pair. Nay, more, they heard that not content with parodying the names and attributes of foreign gods, they claimed the right to change the seat of empire and make Alexandria the new capital of the Roman world. Was the dignity of a chaste matron, it was asked, to be the sport of the minions of an Eastern court ? Should Octavianus tamely wait to see the na¬ tional honor further outraged, and the monstrous forms of uncouth worships install themselves, within the Seven Hills and drive the old deities from their venerable shrines ? The personal quarrel was transformed into a war of creeds and races. In place of the horrors of a civil struggle men thought only of the motley aggregate of foreign peoples arrayed at Actium in the extravagance of barbaric pomp against the discipline and valor of the West.

In the actual conflict Antonius displayed neither a general’s skill nor a soldier’s courage. He fought, seem¬ ingly, to cover a retreat that had been planned before. Cleopatra’s galleys gave the

The Earlier Empire.

si'jnal for the flight, and the leader of what was now a hopeless cause hastened after her to Egypt, where he found discontent and treachery spread around him. After a few months spent in moody despair or riotous excesses he died by his own hand, to be soon followed by his paramour to his dishonored grave.

Chapter I. Augustus: B.c. 31—a.d. 1 4

The victory of Actium had made Octavianus the undis¬ puted master of the Roman world. One by one rivals and obstacles had been swept away, and the patient schemer had now mounted to the top¬ most round of the ladder of ambition. Dur¬ ing the troublous years of the long struggle for power his public life had been one course of selfish aims, unscrupulous acts, and makeshift policy ; he had yet to prove that there was anything of real and abiding greatness in his schemes to raise him from the ranks of mere political adventurers. But from this time we may trace a seeming change of character, which is the more remarkable because it is so hard to parallel.

It was no change of measures only, such as often comes with new conditions, such as that which changcToF made the founder of the dynasty reverse

policy, much of the policy of earlier years.

For, spendthrift and prodigal as Julius had been be¬ fore, he used his power to curtail extravagance, sent police agents to the markets, and even to the houses of

The remark¬ able change in Octavi¬ anus after he gained abso¬ lute power

Augustus.

the wealthy, to put down luxury by force; the leader of the popular party forbade the growth of guilds and social clubs like those which had often carried the elections in his favor; the favorite of the populace was anxious to check the pride of pauperism by sterner measures ; the revolutionary general whose tent had been the refuge of the men of tarnished name and ruined fortunes baffled all their hopes of plunder, by passing stringent measures to restore credit and to curb official greed. Octavianus also in like case resorted to like policy. One of his first cares was to repeal the unconstitutional acts of his earlier life, and so to close the period of revolution. He took steps without delay to restore order and to strengthen the moral safeguards which years of anarchy and civil war had almost ruined. To this end he passed laws like those of Julius, and, unlike his kinsman, was enabled by his long tenure of power to carry out a conservative reform in morals and religion which left some enduring traces.

But the change in character lay deeper far than this. He had shown while the struggle lasted a cruelty with¬ out excuse. Though possibly reluctant at the first to engage in the proscriptions, he is and demeanor* said to have acted in them more relentlessly than either of his colleagues ; he had his prisoners of war butchered in cold blood, mocked at their prayers for decent burial, and calmly watched their dying agonies.

That he was hard and pitiless beyond'the spirit of his times is implied in many stories of the day, and among others we read that when the captives of Philippi passed in bonds before their conquerors they saluted Antonius with marked respect, but vented their deepest curses on Octavianus to his face.

But after Actium he showed what was for that age an unusual clemency. He spared his open enemies, he

The Earlier Empire.

hunted out no victims, and professed even to burn the secret papers of his rival which might have compromised his partisans at Rome. The same gentler spirit breathes through the whole of his long period of rule. His jeal¬ ous intolerance had led him once to drive a consul elect to suicide for a bitter word, and to fine or banish citizens of Nursia for honoring with a monument their dead who had fallen, as they wrote, in defence of freedom on the field of Mutina. But he was ready now to show respect to the memory of Pompeius, to let historians write the praises of the great republicans of Rome, to congratu¬ late the men of Mediolanum (Milan) for prizing the busts of Brutus, to listen calmly to the gibes vented on himself in popular satires or in dead men’s wills, to let even lampoons be scattered in the Senate House, and make no effort to hunt out the authors. His suspicious fears had made him once give orders for the instant ex¬ ecution of a curious bystander who had pressed in too eagerly to hear him speak in public, and put even to the torture a praetor who came to greet him, and whose hid¬ den note book was mistaken for a dagger; but in later life he walked without an escort through the streets, went to and fro to join the social gatherings of his friends, and showed no fear of an assassin’s knife. The cheerful cordiality and homely courtesies of his maturer age were a marked contrast to the cold, ungenial reserve of earlier days; and those who find his real character hard to read may see perhaps a fitting symbol of it in the figure of the Sphinx which he wore upon his signet-ring.