ROMAN E M P I U K. 



cruelty so much that he fo.hule the sacrifice of oxen. 



lie furnished the libraries which were hii'iit with 



new i 1 c-vin M-ni liiTM.ns to Alexandria tn 



Parian*. 

 A. D. 88. 



'"!"" 



, iln-MSS. that h.".d I'rrii lust. The-e fair pro. 

 lti.\\ ev r, were soon blijjhtrd. I Ii, miml became 

 -i-tl with the pursuits of archery and gaming, 

 and lii-i principal ambition was in entertaining tin- pub- 

 lic with extensive exhibitions; and presiding in osten- 

 tatious pomp, for the purpose.' of distributing rewards. 

 I.tary hours were -pent in killing Hies, and stab- 

 bing them with a bodkin ; and when one of his ser- 

 vants, Vibius was asked if the emperor was disen- 

 guged. he is >aid to have replied, that he was not even 

 occupied with H fly. His next passion seems to have 

 been for a military reputation, which led him to envy 

 the glory of his generals. The success of Agricola in 

 Britain in overcoming (Jalgacus, and determining the in- 

 sular nature of the country, rad in discovering and .subju- 

 gating the Orkneys, particularly called forth hisenvy. He 

 recalled him to Italy, under the pretence of appointing 

 him to the government of Syria ; but upon his return, 

 he was received with coolness, and having sometime 

 afterwards been taken ill in retirement, where he died, 

 Domitian was suspected of having hastened his death. 

 Jn order to make himself a great general, the emperor 

 marched into Gaul on a pretended expedition against 

 the Catii, but though he never saw an enemy, he took 

 to himself the honour of a triumph, and entered the 

 capital at the head of a number of slaves whom he had 

 decked in the habiliments of Germans. 



In this condition of the empire, the Sarmatians, 

 aided by several Asiatic tribes, made a formidable ir- 

 ruption into it, and cut off a Roman legion with its 

 general. The Dacians, under the guidance of their 

 king Decebalus, were even more successful, and de- 

 feated the Romans in many engagements. The ener- 

 gies of the state were at last roused, and the barbari- 

 ans driven back. Domitian, elated with the result, 

 tntered Rome in triumph a second time, and assumed 

 the name of Gcnnanicus, from having subdued a peo- 

 ple whom he never met in the field. 



Satiated with military renown, he began now to 

 glut himself with cruelties.* He persecuted the Jews 

 and Christians with unrelenting severity; and his pro- 

 fusion and avarice led him to sieze the estates of every 

 person against whom he could fabricate the most tri- 

 vial charge. A conspiracy was soon formed against 

 him, and he was assassinated, after considerable resis- 

 tance, by Stephanus the comptroller of his household, 

 who was himself slain on the spot by some of the offi- 

 cers of the guard. 



As Domitian, who was the hast of the Caesars, left 

 no heir to the throne, the senate, dreading the influ- 

 ence of the army which had been attached to the late 

 emperor, appointed Cocceius Nerva his successor, on 

 the very day on which Domitian was slain. 



Cocceius Nerva was descended of an illustrious fa- 

 mily, and was by birth a Spaniard. He obtained the 

 made empe- empire at the advanced age of sixty- five years, and 

 rot by the having been chosen by the senate solely from their ex- 

 perience of his talents and his virtues, no doubt was 

 entertained of his doing honour to his imperial eleva- 

 tion. The horrors of the preceding reign induced 

 Ncrva to rule his Mibjects with an excess of clemency 

 and indulgence. When he accepted of the throne, he 

 swore that no Roman senator should be put to death 

 during his reign. He was liberal in his gifts to his 



I'occcius 

 Nervu 



iK-nate. 

 A. D. 07. 



friend*, and he sold all his gold and silver plate to en- Ko* 

 able him to continue his generosities. He took off a 

 severe tax upon carriages; he removed the imposts 

 which had been laid on by Vespasian, and he restored 

 the properties which had been seized by Domitian. 

 Besides making many good laws, he united, more than 

 any other sovereign, a system of retrenchment and 

 economy, with acts of well-judged liberality. He al- 

 lowed tu> statues to be erected to himself. He sold all 

 those which had been raised to Domitian, and con- 

 verted into money the gaudy robes and luxurious fur- 

 niture of the palace. 



Notwithstanding the benevolence and mildness which 

 characterise the life of Nerva, he began to experience 

 that malignity which vice never fails to exhibit against 

 virtue. A dangerous conspiracy was formed against ,\. i>. 97. 

 his life by Calptirnius Crassus ; but though the senate 

 were desirous of treating the conspirators with rigour, 

 Nerva would allow no other severity to be inflicted 

 than that of banishment. 



This unwillingness to punish the guilty promoted 

 no doubt another insurrection which had been or- 

 ganised against Xerva among the Praetorian bands 

 under Casparius Olianius, on the plea of reveng- 

 ing the death of Domitian. Nerva used all gentle 

 means to put an end to the mutiny. He even pre- 

 sented himself to the insurgents, opened his breast, 

 and desired them to take his life rather than to in- 

 volve their country in fresh calamities. Unawed by 

 his courage, the mutineers seized upon Petronius 

 and Parthenrus, and slew them before the emperor. 

 They then compelled Nerva to approve of their sedi- 

 tion, and to thank the Praetorian bands for their fide- 

 lity. These events, though personally disagreeable to 

 Nerva, turned out most favourable for the empire. The 

 turbulence and injustice which the cohorts had now 

 evinced induced Nerva to look around him for a col- 

 league, who might afford him his assistance and advice ^' erv * *- 



i " ('opts Tra- 



in the government of the empire. Having no private * ^ h . s 



objects in view, he set aside all his own relations and colleague, 

 fixed upon M.UIpius Crinitus Trajan, an entire stranger A. L>. 57. 

 to his family, who then held the government in Up- 

 per Germany. 



Having performed the usual formalities, Nerva sent 

 ambassadors to Cologne, where Trajan then resided, in- 

 forming him of his choice, and requesting his presence 

 and assistance in checking the turbulence of the soldii 

 After punishing Caspanius Olianius, Nerva died of a 

 fever, which was brought on by a violent passion, into 

 which he threw himself with one of his senators. 



When Trajan was informed of the death of Xerva, D^th of 

 he returned to Rome with his army, in which he main- Nerra 

 tained a discipline which had long been unknown A. D. 98. 

 among the Roman legions. The provinces through 

 vj'hich he passed were neither ravaged by the soldiers 

 nor taxed by the generals; and the new emperor entered 

 Rome without pomp or circumstance, attended by the 

 officers of state, and followed in peaceful procession by 

 his soldiers. Trajan, though born in Seville, was de- 

 scended of an Julian family. His lather had been 

 raised to the rank of a patrician by \^pasian, and 

 after various successful expeditions on the Euphrates 

 and the Rhine, in which his son accompanied him, 

 he had been honoured with the consulship, and with 

 a triumph. In this way Trajan acquired in tarly 

 life, a very considerable reputation in war. Whin 

 the command of the army in Lower Germany was 



" An account of these and of various other particulars of his life will be found under our article DOMITIAN, vol. viii. p. 42. 

 VOL. XVJ1. PART II. 3 & 



