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KotTiing equals their ingratitude ; I have granted them every- 

 thing they could defire ; I have reftored their ancient privi- 

 leges ; I have given them new ones ; in conftquence of" this 

 they were grateful to me when prefr-nt ; but I had fcarcely 

 turned my back when they iufolently attacked my ion Verus, 

 and I believe you know what they i\ave faid of Antoninus, 

 &c. &c." For Nero the Alexandrians l)uilt batlu in the 

 city, when they expetted a vifit from him in his way to 

 Egypt ; and becaufe Cxcina Tufcns, the fon of his nurfe, 

 whom he had made prxfeCt of Egypt, prcfnmi.d to make ufe 

 of them, he wis coiuiemned to baniihmciit. To Alexandria 

 belon"-ed th_' honour of being the ilrll place where Vefpafian 

 was acknowledged and proclaimed, A. D. 69, and the em- 

 peror remained here whiUl his generals and armies were fight- 

 ing againll Vitellius ; and though he came hither for the 

 purpofe of llarving Italy, by preventing its fuppliea of fo- 

 rei'i^n corn, yet as foon as he heard of the death of Vitellius, 

 and that Home had fnbmitted, the bell ftiips of Alexandria 

 were immediately laden with corn, and ordered to fail for 

 their fupply. Whilll Vefpafian continued in this city, he 

 received ambalTadors from the Vologefes, who offered him 

 40,000 Parthian horfe ; but peace was then reRored to the 

 Roman empire. During his Hay in this place he was no 

 favourite with the Alexandrians. They were fond of pomp 

 and magniiicence, and Vefpafian loved iimplicity. They 

 had flattered themfelves with the hopes of receiving a gra- 

 tification, becaufe they liad been the iirll who acknow- 

 ledged him for emperor ; but on the contrary they were har- 

 rafl'ed with impofts, either new, or levied with uncommon ri- 

 gour. The Alexandrians revenged themfelves with fneers and 

 farcafms, calling him CybwfaSes, a name which they liad for- 

 merly given to one of their kings, who was fordidly avaricious ; 

 but heaven, if we credit fome Pagan writers, dillinguiflied 

 him by miracles. The emperor Severus, in his vilit to Egypt, 

 A. D. 202, granted the Alexandrians a council, the mem- 

 bers of which had the title and privileges of fenators, and 

 affilled in the adminiftration of public affairs, and thus miti- 

 gated the rigour of the defpotic government of the prajfeft 

 inftituted by Auguftus. He alfo changed feveral laws in 

 tlieir favour ; and they erected a column as a monument of 

 their gratitude, called by Abulfeda the PtlLir of Se-vcrus. It 

 has already appeared that the Alexandrians were inclined to 

 be farcaflic, and that they deferved the charaiter given to 

 them by Herodotus, who fays, that they loved to be merry at 

 the expence even of their princes. In the cafe of Caracalla, 

 whofe vanity they ridiculed, becaufe, though he was of fmall 

 ftature, deformed, and deftitute of evei y kind of military 

 merit, he had compared himfelf to Achilles and to Alexan- 

 der, their raillery was productive of very ferious confe- 

 quenccs. Wliilft the Alexandrians were preparing to re- 

 ceive him with joy and magnificence, when he vifited tlie 

 temple of Ser^pis, and the tomb of Alexander, he was medi- 

 tating cruel retaliation. In the midll of peace, and on the 

 flighteft provocation, he iffued his commands for a general 

 maffacre, A. D. 21;. From a fecure part of the temple of 

 Serapis, he viewed and direfted the fkuighter of many thou- 

 fand citizens, as well as ftrangers, without diHinguifliing 

 either the number or the crime of the fufTerers ; fince, as he 

 coolly informed the fenate, all the Alexandrians, thofe who 

 had perifhed and thofe who had efcaped, were alike guilty. 

 Dion. (lib. Ixxvii. p. 1307.) reprefents it as a cruel maflacre ; 

 Jierodian (lib. iv. p. 155.) fays, that it was alfo perfidious. 

 The maffacre was accompanied with the plunder both of 

 temples and houfes ; and all ftrangers, except merchants, 

 were driven from the city. The focieties of learned men, 

 who were maintained in the Mufa;um, were abolifhed ; and 

 ^e different auarca'3 of tlie city were feparatcd fraai eacli 

 Vol. L 



other by wilU add towers to prevent ail communication 

 between them. However, this defolation was but a tempo- 

 rary evil ; for Caracalla being foon after killed, Alexandria 

 recovered its fplcndourby its own rcfources, and foon became 

 again the feeond city of the empire. Under the reign of 

 Gallienus, Tlimilian, who had l)etn prxfetl of Egypt for 

 {om<; years, aifumed tiie Imperial purple, on occaiion of a 

 violent fedilion, which terminated in a ruinouo war. AU 

 communication between the diiTerent quarters of Alexan- 

 dria was cut off, and it was eafier, fays St. Dionyfius, to go 

 from one end of the world to the other than from Alexan- 

 dria to Alexandria. The itreets were filled with blood, the 

 dead bodies putrified, and, by their infertion, brought on 

 the plague. iEmilian, in vain, endeavcnired to appeafc the 

 people. 'I'hcy were cxafpcrated againll him, and attacked hint 

 wiili Hones and darts ; upon wliich,in order to avert the im- 

 minent danger that threatened him, he declared himfelf 

 emperor, 'i he foldiers and the people, happy in the prof- 

 peel of being rcfcued from the yoke of Gallienns, acknow- 

 ledged his fovercign authority. At length he was at- 

 tacked and defeated by Theodotus, the miniller of Gallie. 

 nus's vengeance. Upon this he retired to the Bruchium, a 

 quarter of Alexandria, and fullained a fiegci in which St- 

 Analtafius and St. Eufcbius, intimate friends, and afterwardf 

 bilhops of I.aodicea, were admired for their ingenious cha- 

 rity in comforting and relieving the unhappy bclieged, who 

 perifhed v/ith hunger. Anatolius was (luit up in Bruchium, 

 and Eufebius remained with the Romans. The former, 

 moved with compuflion to the wants and mifcry of tlie bc- 

 fieged, applied to the latter in order to obtain amnefty for 

 tiiofe who Ihould leave the garrifon and furrender them- 

 felves. Having fuceeedcd in his application, he immediately 

 propofed funendering the place, and making peace witli the 

 befiegers. The anfwer was, that no peace Ihould be made. 

 Anatolius then propofed, tliat all who were of no fervice 

 fliould leave the place in difguife, and they were kindly re- 

 ceived and feafonably fupplied by Eufebius. jEmilian wa» 

 afterwards taken by Theodotus and fent to Galhenus, who 

 ordered him to be Itranglcd in prifon. The various misfor- 

 tunes that befell Alexandria fo depopulated this great city, 

 tliat, after thefe calamities, the number of its inhabitanti, 

 from four to fourfcore years of age, was not equal to that 

 whicli had been ufually reckoned Ijefore of thofe who were 

 between 40 and 70. This difference was known by 

 the regifters that were kept for the gratuitous dillribu- 

 tion of corn. Eufebius, Eccl. Hill. vii. 21. Di'oelefian, 

 A. D. 296, marched againll Achilleus, who had ufurped 

 the government of Egypt ; and, having driven him to 

 Alexandria, befieged the city, cut off the aquedutts wliicli 

 conveyed the waters of tlie Nile into eveiy quarter of that 

 immenfe city, and rendering his camp impregnable to the {al- 

 lies of the befieged multitude, he puflied his reiterated at- 

 tacks with caution and vigour. After a fiege of eight 

 months, Alexandria, walled by the fword and by fire, im- 

 plored the clemency of the conqueror, but it experienced the 

 full extent of his fevcrity. IVIany thoufands of the citizens 

 perilhed in a proraifcuous {laughter, and there were few ob- 

 noxious perfons in Egypt, who efcaped a lentence either of 

 death, or at leatl of exile. Eutropius, ix. 24. Orofius (vii. 25.) 

 fays, that he gave up the city to be plundered. As an apo- 

 logy for the levtrity of this emperor, it has been alledged 

 that the feditions of Alexandria had often affetled the tran- 

 quillity and fubfillence of Rome itfelf, and that his fevcrity 

 was counterbalanced by fahitary regulations. In 302 he 

 eftablifhed, for the benefit of this city, a perpetual diltribu- 

 tion of corn. Conllantine, with a view of ellablifhing his new 

 city of CouH^uiUaoplc, diltributed every day 80,000 bufheU 



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