338 



AUGUSTUS. 



pursued his rival to Egypt, and ended the war, after 

 lie liad rejected the proposal of Antony to decide 

 their differences by a personal combat. Cleopatra 

 and Antony killed themselves. ( U-iavius caused them 

 to be splendidly buried. A son of Antony and Fulvia 

 -.:erificcd, to ensure his safety. Cassarion, a son 

 of Caesar and Cleopatra, shared the same fate. All 

 the other relations of Antony remained uninjured, 

 and Oclavius, on the whole, used his power with mo- 

 deration. He spent two years in the East, in order 

 to arrange the adairs of Kgypt, (in ere, Syria, Asia 

 Minor, and the islands. On hi> return to Home, lie 

 celebrated a triumph tor three days in succession. 

 Freed from his rivals and enemies, and master of the 

 world, he was undecided concerning the way in which 

 lie should exercise his power in future. Agrippa, 

 whose victory had given him universal dominion, 

 counseled him to renounce his authority. Marenas 

 opposed this ; and Octavius followed his advice, or 

 rather his own inclinations. In order to make the 

 people look upon him as an unlimited monarch, he 

 abolished the laws of the triumvirate, beautified the 

 city, and exerted himself in correcting the abuses 

 which liad prevailed during the civil war. At the 

 end of his seventh consulship, he entered the senate- 

 house, and declared his resolution to lay down his 

 power. The senate, astonished at his moderation, 

 besought him to retain it. He yielded to their 

 pressing entreaties, and continued to govern through 

 them. He now obtained the surname of Augustus, 

 which marked the dignity of his person and rank, 

 and united, by degrees, in himself, the offices of im- 

 perator, or commander-in-chief by sea and land, with 

 power to make war and peace ; of proconsul over all 

 the provinces ; of perpetual tribune of the people, 

 which rendered his person inviolable, and gave him 

 the power of interrupting public proceedings ; and, 

 in fine, of censor, and pomifex maximus, or controller 

 of all religious matters. The laws themselves were 

 subject to him, and the observance of them depended 

 upon his will. To these dignities we must add the 

 tide of father of his country. Great as was the 

 power given to him, he exercised it with wise mode- 

 ration. It was the spirit of his policy to retain old 

 names and forms, and he steadfastly refused to assume 

 the title of dictator, which Sylla and Caesar had made 

 odious. A. conducted many wars in Africa, Asia, and 

 particularly in Gaul and Spain, where he triumphed 

 over the Cantabrians after a severe struggle. His 

 arms subjected Aquitania, Pannonia, Dalmatia, and 

 Jllyria, and held the Uacians, Numidians, and Ethi- 

 opians In check. He concluded a treaty with the 

 Partisans, by which they gave up Armenia, and re- 

 stored the eagles taken from Crassus and Antony. 

 At the foot of the Alps, he erected monuments 

 of his triumphs over the mountaineers, the proud 

 remains of which are yet to be seen at Susa and Ao- 

 sta. After he had established peace throughout the 

 empire, he closed (for the third time since the foun- 

 dation of Rome) the temple of Janus, B. C. 10. 

 But this peace was interrupted, A. D. 9, by the de- 

 feat of Varus, who lost three legions in an engage- 

 ment with the Germans, under Anniuius, and killed 

 himself in despair. The information of this misfor- 

 tune greatly agitated A. He let his beard and hair 

 grow, and often cried out in the. deepest grief, "O 

 Varus, restore me my legions!" Meanwhile the 

 Germans were held in check by Tiberius. Durinj 

 the peace, A. had issued many useful decrees, am 

 abolished abuses in the government. He gave a new 

 form to the senate, employed himself in improving 

 the manners of the people, particularly by promoting 

 marriage, enacted laws for the suppression of luxury, 

 introduced discipline into the armies, and order into 

 the games of the circus. He adorned Rome in such 



a manner, that it was truly said, " He found i! nf 

 brick, and left it of marble." He also made journeys, 

 as Velleius says, every where, to increase the bless- 

 ings of peace: he went to Sicily and Greece, As a 

 Minor, Syria, Gaul,&c. : in several places he founded 

 cities and colonies. The people erected altars to him, 

 and, by a decree of the senate, the month Sextilis 

 was called slug nut. Two conspiracies, which threat- 

 ened his life, miscarried. Ca-pio. Alurena, and Egna- 

 tins were punished with death : Cinna was more for- 

 tunate, receiving pardon from the emperor. This 

 magnanimity increased the love of the Romans, and 

 diminished the number of the disaffected ; so that the 

 master of Rome would have nothing to wish for, if 

 his family had been as obedient as the world. The 

 debauchery of his daughter Julia gave him j>rcat 

 pain ; and lie showed himself more severe against 

 those who destroyed the honour of his family, than 

 against those who threatened his life. History says, 

 that, in his old age, he was ruled by Livia, the only 

 person, perhaps, whom he truly loved. He had no 

 sons, and lost by death his sister's son, Marcellus, 

 and his daughter's sons, Caius and Lucius, whom he 

 had appointed his successors. Also, Drusus, his son- 

 in-law, whom he loved, died early ; and Tiberius, the 

 brother of the latter, whom he hated, on account of 

 his bad qualities, alone survived. These numerous 

 calamities, together with his continually-increasing 

 infirmities, gave him a strong desire of repose. He 

 undertook a journey to Campania, from whose purer 

 air he hoped for relief ; but disease fixed upon him, 

 and he died, at Nola (August 19, A. D. 14), in the 

 76th year of his age, and 45th of his reign. When 

 he felt his death approaching, he is baid to have 

 called for a mirror, arranged lib- hair, and demanded 

 of the by-standers, " Have I plnyed my part well ?'' 

 and, an answer being returned in the affirmative, 

 "Then," added he, using the htm of the players, 

 " farewell, and applaud," (valctt , it plauditc). If this 

 last passage in the life of A. is true, it is certainly 

 indicative of his character, his policy, and even of his 

 fortune. It is certain, that his conduct was always 

 measured and determined beforehand, and that he 

 had a great power of remaining cool and unnun ed 

 amid the cares and agitations of government. Stu- 

 diously concealing his own plans, he made use of the 

 passions, as well as the talents, of others, to further 

 them. He conquered Brutus by means of Antony, 

 and Antony, by means of Agrippa. He several times 

 changed his party, but never his purposes, and knew 

 how to cause power to be offered, and pressed upon 

 him, while it was, in fact, the object of all his exer- 

 tions. It cannot be denied that he used his power 

 with wisdom, and became the benefactor of his coun- 

 try, which lie had previously plunged into the horrors 

 of civil war. His taste and active mind led him to 

 favour and protect the learned ; and he even exer- 

 cised the art of the poet himself; so that he was not 

 unworthy of giving his name to an age distinguished 

 for intellectual creations. His death plunged the 

 empire into the greatest grief. He was numbered 

 among the gods, and temples and altars were erected 

 to him. 



AUGUSTUS II., Frederic, elector of Saxony and king 

 of Poland, second son of John George III., elector 

 of Saxony, born at Dresden, in 1670, was remarka- 

 ble for his bodily strength and activity. To his re- 

 sidence in France he owed that taste for luxury and 

 the fine arts, which afterwards made the axon court 

 inferior in splendour to none in Europe, except that 

 of Louis XIV. In .1691, he visited Vienna, where 

 he contracted a friendship with the archduke Joseph, 

 afterwards Joseph I. By the death of his elder 

 brother, John George IV., in 1694, he l>ccame elec- 

 tor. The Polish throne having became vacant, in 



