ROMAN EMPIRE. 



A. D J I 2. 





Roman ami d>!e young man, then in his sixteenth year, pro- 

 mised, l>y his virtues and talents, to retrieve tin- Roman 

 ""Y"^"' chanu-UT. The senate and the people concurred with 

 the army in his election. His governor and instructor, 

 ..Misitheus, who had been celebrated tor his eloquence 

 anil public virtues, was entrusted with tin- most re- 

 asihle olliees in the stnte. The emperor married 

 Jiis daughter, Furi:i Sabim TrttnqvflUna, and followed 

 the advice of his father-in-law in every question ofim- 



Eortance. They reformed the various abuses which 

 ad crept into the government ; they restored the an- 

 cient discipline of the army ; they endeavoured to re- 

 concile the soldiers and the citizens, and they laid up 

 Stores of provisions in t'n> chief towns of therf' 1 pirc, 

 in order that, upon any emergency, a large army could 

 be maintained for firtt i 



Having thus established himself in the good opinion 

 of his subjects, Gordian marched into the east to at- 

 tack Sapor king of Persia, who had seized upon An- 

 tioch, and plundered Syria and the adjoining provinces. 

 During his march to the east, he fell in with an army 

 of the Gauls in Ma-siu, who had endeavoured to settle 

 in Thrace; and after many successful conflicts, he com- 

 pelled them to retreat into their own territories. He next 

 advanced against the Persians ; and after defeating the 

 army of Sapor, he obtained possession of several of the 

 most flourishing cities in the east. The senate decreed 

 a triumph to Gordian, and selected Misitheus as the 

 guardian of the state. This able and upright minister, 

 however, who had been made Praetorian prefect, and 

 who had a principal share in the success of the Roman 

 arms, died very suddenly, and was supposed to have 

 been poisoned by one Philip, an Arabian, who succeed- 

 ed him as Pnetorian prelect. JMisitheus bequeathed 

 all his possessions for the public benefit. The good 

 fortune of Gordian seems to have left him at the death 

 of his father-in-law. The army was not supplied with 

 provisions as before ; and Philip artfully took advan- 

 tage of the discontent which was thus occasioned. He 

 contrived to have himself raised to equal power with 

 Gordian ; and having attained this elevation, he as- 

 sassinated his colleague, who died in the twenty-second 

 year of his age, and the sixth of his reign. The senate 

 honoured the remains of Gordian with a splendid fu- 

 neral on the confines of Persia ; and they decreed that 

 his descendants should be freed from all the heavy 

 taxes of the state. 



After having thus assassinated his colleague and his 

 patron, Philip \vas proclaimed emperor by the army ; 

 and their choice was with some reluctance confirmed 

 by the voice of the senate, who gave him the title of 

 Augustus. Philip ascended the throne at the age of 

 forty ; and he associated with him, as the partner of 

 his power, his son, who was only six years of age. 

 His lather, who was an Arabian, had been captain 

 of a band of robbers, and had no doubt brought up 

 his son to the same adventurous profession. Philip 

 conceived a desire to visit the scenes of his early ex- 

 ploits, and before he set off from Rome, he went into 

 Arabia, and laid the foundation of a city, to which he 

 gave the name of Philippopolis. Leaving Mesopota- 

 mia a prey to the Persians, he returned to Home, 

 where he was received with respect and submission, 

 though not wiih the usual acclamations of the peo- 

 ple. He soon, however, rendered himself popular by 

 his great liberality and. profusion. As the thousandth 

 A, D. 217. year of Rome fell in the reign of Philip, he caused the 

 secular games to be celebrated with a magnificence cor- 



VOL. XVII. PART II. 



of 



Misitheus. 

 A. D. 243. 



Gordian as- 

 sassinated. 

 A. D. 241. 



Philip pro- 

 claimed em- 

 peror. 

 A. D. 24k 



responding to the joy of this event. The people were 

 entertained with gan es and bhows. The theAi of 

 Pompey was crowded for three days and three ntgflts in 

 succession , and two thousand gladiators bled at once 

 in the circus to administer to the amusement of the 

 people. 



The Goths having invaded the empire, Marinus, the 

 lieutenant of Philip, was sent against them with a 

 powerful army. This ambitious general, however, be- 

 trayed his trust, and was declared emperor by his 

 troops ; but in a short time the very persons who con- 

 ferred upon him this dignity, took it from him and 

 put him to death. Decius, whom Philip had appoint- 

 ed to succeed Marinus in Pannonia, was now offered 

 tha imperial dignity by his soldiers; but he appeared to 

 asMime the honour with reluctance, and wrote to 

 Philip that he took the title merely to secure it to its 

 rightful possessor, to whom he waited only for a fa- 

 vourable opportunity of resigning it. Distrusting these 

 professions, Philip marched with the forces which he 

 was able to collect; but when his army had arrived at 

 Verona, a general revolt took place in favour of De- 

 cius. A sentinel attacked the emperor in person, and 

 cleft his head in two by one cut of his sword. Philip 

 who had reached the forty-fifth year of his age, and 

 had reigned about five years, was succeeded by Decius. 



Cneius Metius Decius was universally acknowledged 

 emperor by the senate and the people. The senate 

 held him in such high estimation, that they gave him 

 the title of Tnijanus ; and in the opinion of historians, 

 he seems to have merited this exalted surname. He 

 permitted the office of censor to be revived ; and Va- 

 lerian, a man of the strictest morals, was elevated to 

 ,that office. Decius endeavoured to watch over the 

 interests of the inferior classes of the people, while he 

 Guarded the dignity of the Patrician orders ; but 

 Rome had now arrived at such a state, that no indivi- 

 dual talents, and no high example of virtue, could 

 save her from destruction. The rapid spread of the 

 Christian religion, and the constant disputes which were 

 carried on between the Christian and the Pagan inhabi- 

 tants, created divisions at home, while the growing 

 insolence and audacity of the barbarian hordes of the 

 north, threatened the destruction of the empire from 

 without. The persecution of the Christians, which 

 arose from the first of these causes, was carried on w ith 

 unrelenting hatred. Thousands were put to death ; 

 and every species of cruelty was resorted to in crder to 

 reduce their numbers and their influence. An irrup- 

 tion of the Goths into Thrace and JMsesia, seemed to 

 follow as a punishment for this persecution. Decius 

 went at the head of a powerful army to oppose them ; 

 and, after an obstinate engagement, he succeeded in 

 destroying 30,000 of the barbarians. In following up 

 hia success, he was led into a defile by the treason of 

 his own general, Gallus, where the king of the Goths 

 hail been instructed to assail him. In this position of 

 danger, the brave emperor, after seeing his son fall by 

 an arrow, and the whole of his army routed, resolved 

 to die on the Held of battle which he had lost. Spur- 

 ring on his horse, he plunged into a mai>h, where he 

 was instantly swallowed up. nnd his body nevermore 

 seen. This event happened in the fiftieth year of his 

 age and the third of his reign. 



The remnant of the Roman army which had survived 

 this disgraceful battle, proclaimed Gallus Hostilius the 

 successor of Decius. Though descended from an ho- 

 nourable family, he seems to have been as destitute of 

 3 H 



Empire- 



Murder of 

 Philip. 

 A. D. 249. 



'Decius pro- 

 claimed 

 eni)*ror. 

 A. D. 9M. 



Persecution _ 

 of the 

 Christian?. 

 A. D. SO. 



Irruption of 

 the Goths, 

 who are 

 defeated by 

 Decius. 



Decius be- 

 frayed by 

 Gallus, and 

 destroys 

 himself. 

 A. D. 251. 



