Part 23 (2/2)
COCCEIUS NERVA, A.D. 96-98.
This venerable man was sixty-four years old when he was proclaimed emperor upon the death of Domitian. He was a native of the town of Narnia, in Umbria, and his virtues had won him a general esteem. The Praetorians, who had not been consulted in his election, never looked upon him with favor, and Nerva was obliged to act with great caution. He stopped trials for high treason, pardoned political offenders, diminished taxes, recalled exiles, and strove by every honest art to attain popularity. But the Praetorians, becoming mutinous, not only put the murderers of Domitian to death, but forced the emperor to approve of their act publicly. This insult was deeply felt by Nerva, who now resolved to adopt a colleague, in order to increase his own authority.
He therefore selected M. Ulpius Trajan, a distinguished general, who was in command of the army of Lower Germany.
We now enter upon the most pleasing period in the history of the Roman Empire. During the next eighty years a general prosperity prevailed. The emperors were all men worthy to command, and capable of giving tranquillity to their vast dominions. Several of them were of the purest morals, of high mental cultivation, and are still looked upon as ornaments of the human race; and while they could not check the decline of their people, these virtuous emperors prevented, for a time, the fall of the Roman Empire.
Nerva, in order to elevate the condition of his people, purchased lands, which he distributed among them, and he sought to make them feel the necessity of labor and of self-dependence. But it was too late to reform the manners of the indolent, licentious plebs, corrupted by the indulgence of their tyrants. Nerva died of a fever, January 27, A.D.
98.
M. ULPIUS TRAJa.n.u.s, A.D. 98-117
Trajan, the first emperor who was not a native of Italy, was born at Italica, in Spain, and was about forty years of age at the death of Nerva. His memory was so much revered among the Romans, that, two hundred and fifty years later, the Senate hailed the accession of the new emperor with the prayer that he might be happier than Augustus, better than Trajan. He was free from every vice except an occasional indulgence in wine. His mind was naturally strong, his manners pleasing, his appearance n.o.ble and imposing. He desired only to restore the simple manners and virtuous habits of an earlier age.
Trajan, after his adoption by Nerva, entered upon his high office at Cologne, and then traveled toward Rome. In A.D. 99 he entered that city on foot, followed by a small retinue, and was received with general good will. He abolished the trials for high treason, _judicia majestatis_, which had made Rome so often a scene of terror, restored freedom of speech to the Senate, revived the _Comitia_ for the election of magistrates, and bound himself by oath to observe the laws. He punished the princ.i.p.al informers, banis.h.i.+ng many of them to the barren islands around Italy, while he at once, by severe measures, reduced the turbulent Praetorians to obedience. His wife Plotina, who was a woman of excellent character, with her sister Marcina, revived by their virtues the dignity of the Roman matron. The society of the city was purified, and the family of the emperor offered an example of propriety that produced an excellent effect upon the manners of the higher ranks.
Among the first acts of Trajan was the foundation of public schools for the education and maintenance of poor children in various parts of Italy. He founded, too, the Ulpian Library at Rome, and adorned every part of his empire with magnificent buildings, roads, bridges, and various useful improvements. He seemed to live, in fact, wholly for his people, and pa.s.sed his life in devising and executing plans for their advantage.
When Decebalus, king of the Dacians, sent to demand the tribute which had been promised him by Domitian, Trajan refused to be bound by the disgraceful treaty, and, having levied an army of 60,000 men, marched against the Dacians, who had boldly advanced across the Danube. A terrible battle took place, in which the Romans were victorious; but so great was the slaughter that sufficient linen could not be obtained to dress the wounds of the soldiers, and Trajan tore up his imperial robes to supply their wants. He took the capital of the Dacian king, defeated him in various encounters, and compelled him (A.D. 102) to make peace, giving up a part of his territory. Having returned to Rome, Trajan received from the Senate the surname of Dacicus. But in A.D. 104 the Dacians again rose in arms, and the Senate declared Decebalus a public enemy. Trajan led an army in person against the barbarians, and, to provide for an easy access to their territory, built a stone bridge across the Danube of immense size and strength, fortified at each end with towers. He next advanced into the midst of the hostile country, took the capital of the Dacians, and reduced them to subjection.
Decebalus, in despair, fell by his own hand. All Dacia, comprising the modern countries of Moldavia, Wallachia, and Transylvania, was made a Roman province; and several Roman colonies were planted among the barbarians, thus for the first time preparing for the spread of civilization in that savage country. Trajan now returned to Rome, to triumph a second time for his Dacian successes. He also began that famous Column in commemoration of his victories which still stands at Rome, and which shows in its rich sculpture the various captives and spoils of the Dacian war.
[Ill.u.s.tration]
Arabia Petraea was also at this time added to the Roman Empire, after which a peace of several years succeeded. In A.D. 114, a Parthian war breaking out, Trajan hastened to the East, and, having pa.s.sed the winter at Antioch, witnessed a severe earthquake, which shook that city as well as all Syria. He himself escaped with difficulty from a falling house.
In the spring, at the head of his legions, he overran Armenia and formed it into a province. He next built a bridge across the Tigris, resembling that upon the Danube, and led his army into a.s.syria, a country never yet visited by a Roman general. He took Babylon and Ctesiphon, the capital of the Parthian kingdom, and, sailing down the Tigris, pa.s.sed through the Persian Gulf, and annexed a large portion of Arabia Felix to his empire. The Jews, too, about this time revolted, but were subdued, after a brave resistance, and treated with great severity. His Eastern conquests, however, proved by no means secure, and his new subjects revolted as soon as his armies were gone. In A.D. 117 Trajan entered Southern Arabia to complete the subjection of that country, when he was seized with a dropsy and forced to return to Rome. He did not reach that city, but died, August 9th, A.D. 117, at Selinus, in Cilicia. His ashes were carried to Rome, and placed under the magnificent column which recorded his Dacian victories.
During Trajan's reign, the empire, already too extensive, was made more unwieldy by his various conquests. He was evidently ambitious of the fame of a conqueror, and possessed many of the qualities of an able general. He was also a skillful ruler of his immense dominions, leaving no portion unprotected by his vigilance. The only stain upon his fame is his persecution of the Christians, whom he continued to treat with severity even when convinced of their perfect innocence.
After the conclusion of the Dacian war he celebrated games and spectacles, which are said to have lasted through four months, and in which ten thousand gladiators fought and suffered for the entertainment of the people--a proof that the Romans were yet, in some respects, barbarians. Trajan, however, forbade the performance of indecent pantomimes. Trajan's bridge across the Danube is described by Dion Ca.s.sius as of greater importance than any of his other works. He designed it to form an easy access to his Dacian province. It was formed of twenty stone piers, distant about 170 feet from each other, and sixty feet wide: they were probably connected by arches of wood. Trajan also began to make roads across the Pontine Marshes, and founded several public libraries. Pliny the younger, who lived during this reign, was the most eminent literary man of the time, and wrote a fine panegyric upon his friend the emperor. Pliny saw the first eruption of Vesuvius, in which his uncle and adopted father, the elder Pliny, perished. He was a person of great wealth and uncommon generosity, having given 300,000 sesterces yearly to maintain the children of the poor in his native town of Comum. His letters to Trajan show that he was an excellent master, husband, and friend, and we may well believe that in this happy period many Romans resembled Trajan and his learned correspondent.
REIGN OF HADRIAN, A.D. 117-138.
Hadrian, descended from a family of Hadria, in Picenum, was a military commander, distinguished for his courage and activity. His father had married an aunt of the late emperor, who, upon the father's death, was appointed one of Hadrian's guardians. Yet it is supposed Trajan made no nomination of a successor to the throne, and that his wife Plotina forged the will by which the world was made to believe that he had adopted Hadrian. This will was, however, published, and Hadrian entered upon his government at Antioch, August 11th, A.D. 117, and was there proclaimed emperor. The Senate, to whom he wrote a letter announcing his appointment, at once confirmed him in his power. He now made peace with the Parthians, and restored to Chosroes, their king, a.s.syria and Mesopotamia. He adopted the policy of Augustus, refusing to extend the limits of the empire. In A.D. 118 he returned to Rome, but was soon forced to march to the defense of the province of Moesia, which had been invaded by the Sarmatae and Roxolani. His object being merely to preserve the boundaries of the empire, he concluded a peace with the Roxolani, and probably purchased their submission. He was about to march against the Sarmatae, when the news of a conspiracy at Rome was brought to him. He seems to have ordered the leaders to be put to death, although he afterward denied that he had done so. Having returned to Rome, he endeavored to win the affections of the people by donations, games, and gladiatorial shows. He also canceled a large amount of unpaid taxes, now due for fifteen years, and promised the Senators never to punish one of their body without their approval. He divided Italy into four regions, a Consular Magistrate being placed over each; and he introduced a new system of administration into the palace, the army, and the state, which lasted until the reign of Constantine the Great.
In A.D. 119 he began a journey through all the provinces of his empire, in order to examine into their condition, and to discover and amend any faults in the system of government. Hadrian, too, was fond of travel, and was never content to remain long in repose. A large part of his reign was occupied with this important journey. He first visited Gaul and Germany, and thence, in A.D. 121, pa.s.sed over into Britain. Here he found the Britons already partially civilized, but unable to defend themselves from the incursions of their neighbors the Caledonians. To protect them from these forays, he built a wall across the island from the mouth of the Tyne to Solway, remains of which are still shown to the traveler. On his return he adorned the town of Nemausus (Nismes) with fine buildings, and then went into Spain, where he pa.s.sed the winter. He returned to Rome A.D. 122, but soon after went to Athens, where he spent three years. During his residence in that city he began many magnificent buildings, and he seems to have looked upon Athens with singular affection and reverence. He visited Sicily, returned to Rome, set out for Africa, whence, after a brief visit, he once more visited Athens, to view the completion of his architectural designs. He finished the Temple of the Olympian Jupiter, the largest and most magnificent in the world, which had been commenced by Pisistratus, and left many other fine works behind him. Then he pa.s.sed through Asia, inspecting the conduct of the provincial officers, and next traveled through Syria into Egypt, where his favorite Antinous, a beautiful youth, was drowned. This event seems to have filled him with a lasting grief. At length, in A.D. 131, he returned to Rome.
[Ill.u.s.tration: Mole of Hadrian restored.[78]]
Here he published the _Edictum Perpetuum_, a codification of the edicts of the Roman Praetors, which was composed by Salvius Julia.n.u.s, an eminent lawyer. The design of this work was to condense the vast body of the law into a convenient form.
A revolt broke out among the Jews, Hadrian having established a colony called aelia Capitolina on the site of Jerusalem, and, not content with introducing pagan wors.h.i.+p into the holy city, had even issued an edict forbidding the practice of circ.u.mcision. These imprudent measures produced a revolt among the Jews, who, under their leader Barcochab, fought with their usual courage and desperation. The war continued for several years, during which more than half a million of Jews are said to have perished. At length Julius Severus came from Britain to lead the Roman armies, and the rebellion was suppressed. The Jews were now forbidden to live in Jerusalem or its neighborhood, and the nation was scattered over the habitable world.
A war which seemed about to break out with the Albanians and Iberians in the East was prevented by Hadrian, who, with his usual policy, sent large presents to his enemies, and thus converted them into friends. He now returned from his travels to Rome, where he built his magnificent villa at Tibur, the extensive ruins of which may still be seen; and he pa.s.sed the remainder of his life either at Tibur or in Rome. His health had been affected by his incessant labors, and in A.D. 135 he was seized with dropsy. Having no children, he adopted L. Ceionius, under the name of L. aelius Verus, a young n.o.ble, who, however, died on the first day of the year A.D. 138. Hadrian then adopted Arrius Antoninus (afterward the Emperor Antoninus Pius), and presented him as his successor to the Senators a.s.sembled around his bed. At the same time he obliged him to adopt L. Commodus Verus, the son of the former Verus, and also M. Annius Verus, the future Emperor Marcus Aurelius. Ill health seems now to have fatally affected the mind and disposition of Hadrian. He became morose and cruel. He put many eminent n.o.bles to death, and is said to have sunk into debauchery at his Tiburtine villa. His disease proving incurable, he several times attempted suicide; but having removed to Baiae, hoping for some relief in that fine climate, he died there July 10th, A.D. 138, aged sixty-three. He was buried in the villa of Cicero, near Puteoli.
When the Senate, enraged at his cruelties in the latter part of his life, wished to annul his acts, and would have refused him divine honors, Antoninus interposed, and excused his adopted father on the plea that ill health had disordered his mind. For this filial conduct he received the name of Pius. The Senate not only numbered Hadrian among the deities, but ordered temples to be erected in his honor. He left the empire prosperous and at peace. During his reign the Senate lost its importance in the administration of affairs, since Hadrian supplied its place by a _Consistorium Principis_, or council, composed of eminent men, presided over by a distinguished lawyer. Hadrian was fond of letters and the arts, and adorned every part of his empire with fine buildings or useful works. Wherever he traveled he did something for the benefit of his subjects.
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