Chap. II 
of the East I n die s. 
Princes, than to the great Wealth that was poured in upon 
them by their extend ve Trade. Of thefe Princes, and of 
their Condud, it is neceffary, that we fliould fay fomething, 
in order to preferve the Thread of our Hiftory, and that 
the Connection may be preferved throughout ; but, at the 
fame time, we fhall ufe ali poffible Brevity, in order to 
reftrain this Sedion within due Bounds. 
3» M. Aurelius Antoninus , furnamed the Philo fopher , 
focceeded Antoninus Pius , A. D. 161. and affociated Lu- 
cius Vents in the Government, which was the firft Time 
the Remans had feen two Emperors at once ; neither had it, 
in this Inftance, any ill Confequence : For, as M. Aurelius 
was juftly efteemed the very belt of all the Roman Em- 
perors, lb his Collegue Lucius , during the nine Years 
of his Reign, behaved towards him with all that Modefty 
and Refped, which was due from him to the Author of 
his Greatnefs. After his Deceafe, M. Aurelius governed 
alone, with the utmoft Wifdom and Moderation, neglect- 
ing nothing that could contribute to maintaining the great 
Character he had gained, and fecuring, at once, the Love 
and Efteem of his Subjects. He made a Vifit to Egypt, 
in the fifteenth Year of his Reign ; and though the Inha- 
bitants had, a little before, fhewn an Inclination to revolt, 
yet he behaved towards them very kindly, and renewed all 
their Privileges 3 : So that there is not the leaft Reafon to 
doubt, that the Trade of the Romans through that Country, 
was preferved in its full Extent. 
His Son Commodus , who fucceeded him in the Empire, 
'A.D. 180 was as wicked and cruel a Prince, as his Fa- 
ther had been juft and virtuous : Elis Reign was a conti- 
nued Scene of Blood and Debauchery •, and as the Empire, 
in general, fuffered exceedingly under his fcandalous Ad- 
miniftration, fo the Trade of the Eaft was particularly en- 
dangered by an Irruption of the Saracens , who were now 
firft heard of in Arabia , where they defeated the Roman 
Armies, an the laft Year of the Reign of this Prince b , who 
was murdered by feme of his Favourites, that he had in- 
tended ro remove in the fame Way. 
Helvius Pertinax was raifed to the Empire in A.D. 193. 
and as his Reign was very fhort, I fhould not dwell upon 
it at all, but for the fmgular Circumftance of his Name, 
which fignifies Obftinate, and was given him for a Reafon 
that the Reader may, perhaps, think worth his Notice. 
! His Father was. a W oodmonger •, but, having acquired a 
considerable Fortune, he was willing, that his Son fhould 
have entered the World in another Character, than that of 
i a Trader •, to which, however, he was fo ftrongly in- 
clined, that all his Father’s Perfuafion, for fome time, had 
no Effect : And from thence he was called Pertinax c . He 
altered his ConduCt afterwards, and rofe regularly, through 
i a long Series of Civil and Military Employments, to the 
Empire: With his Preferment to. which, all Degrees of 
People were pleafed, except the Soldiers, who, after a 
. Reign of three Months,' murdered him d . 
After his Death followed many Difturbances ; but at laft 
A.D . 193. Severus was raifed to the Empire, in which, 
; however, he had Niger , who was declared Emperor in 
the Eaft, for his Competitor. In the fifth Year of his 
Reign, he entered Arabia with an Army, and laid Siege to 
Atra, the fame Place that had been formerly attacked by 
Trajan , out of a covetous Difpofition, and that he might 
make himfelf Matter of the vaft Wealth, that he under- 
stood was in the Place; but he was repulfed with great 
Lofs, and forced to retire. His Paffion for Money, how- 
ever, was fo ftrong, that he returned thither a fecond 
l Time ; and had certainly taken the Place, if his Covetouf- 
nefs had not hindered him : For the Breach being made, he 
was apprehenfive, that his Soldiers, if they took it by Storm, 
r would Share the Plunder amongft themfelves ; and there- 
fore ^ he would needs give the Befieged time to capitulate, 
which they employed in repairing the Breach ; and diditfo 
effectually, that the Roman Army refufed to return to the 
j-Aftault : So that he was obliged to raife the Siege a fecond 
time °. This Inftance fufficiently Shews us, to how great 
a Height of Power the Profits of their Trade had, in thofe 
Days, raifed the Arabians , fince a final! Principality amongft 
them, was capable of defending its Liberties againft two 
fuch Princes as Trajan and Severus : And we may add to 
this another great Prince no lefs powerful, viz. Artaxerxes , 
who re-eftablilhed the Empire of the Perfians. In 'the 
Succeeding Year Severus vifited Egypt , and made fome Stay 
in Alexandria, where he* repaired the Tomb of Pompey,and. 
granted to the City a Senate and publick Council, which 
s hitherto the Romans had conftantly refufed them f . This 
Emperor travelled over all Egypt ; inquired carefully into 
every thing chat related either to his Government, or Com- 
merce and, having feen the Body of Alexander, he ordered 
the Tomb to be walled up, that others might not fatisfy 
their Curiofity in like manner 2 . His Son Caracalla fuc- 
ceeded him, A.D. 21 1. and proved as great a Tyrant as 
any that had hitherto fat upon the Throne. He was, how- 
ever, extremely fond of Egypt ; and admitted one Ceranus , 
an Alexandrian, into the Senate of Rome, contrary to the 
eftablifhed Maxim of Augujlus , that no Egyptian fliould 
ever enter that Auguft Affembly h . Towards the End of 
his Reign, he went to Alexandria upon a very odd Errand : 
He had heard, that the People treated his Vices and Follies 
with Elatred and Contempt : He, under Pretence of vifit- 
ing it, as his Father had done,, entered it with his Troops ; 
and, having directed them to kill, without Diftindion, all 
they met, deftroyed an infinite Number of all Ranks and 
Ages, Fie afterwards abolifhed their Privileges ; deftroyed 
a great Part of the City ; demolifhed the Mufeum ; ba- 
niffied the learned Men who lived there, and all Strangers, 
Merchants only excepted, to whom he vouchsafed his fpe- 
cial Protection i This Tyrant was foon after killed, in 
an Expedition he made into the Eaft ; to the great joy of 
the Senate and People of Rome. 
Macrinus , one of his Officers, and his Murderer alio, 
fucceeded him : But v/e find nothing in his Reign, nor that 
of his Succeffor, the execrable Heliogabalus , worthy of 
Notice. 
Alexander Severus was raifed to the Empire while a Boy, 
A. D. 222. He proved an excellent Prince, and a great 
Bleffing to the Empire ; and, being governed, during his 
whole Reign, by very wife and prudent Counfels, did every 
Thing that could be expeded from him, for promoting 
the Welfare and Happinefs of his Subjeds. He was par- 
ticularly attentive to Trade, and the Eafe and Comfort of 
fuch as were engaged in it. He took off many of the high 
Duties impofed by his Predeceffors : And it is remarkable, 
that he was the firft of the Roman Emperors who made 
any Diftindion between Merchants, and Tradefmen or 
Mechanics ; which he did by dividing them into feparate 
Companies, and appointing Judges to hear and decide the 
Difputes that might arife amongft the Members of either 
Company. Towards the End of his Reign, he made an 
Expedition into the Eaft ; from whence he returned vido- 
rious, and was honoured with a Triumph. But the Sol- 
diers, who were, in a great meafure, corrupted by the 
Licence allowed them under former Emperors, being no 
longer able to bear the Stridnefs of his Difcipline, or endure 
the Purity of his Manners, took an Opportunity to murder 
him a little after Dinner, v/hen he was left almoft alone, in 
his Tent, in the twenty-feventh Year of his Age, and four- 
teenth of his Reign k . 
4. The execrable Murder of fo good an Emperor was 
followed by the Soldiers Setting up a perfed Monfter, both 
in Body and Mind, called Maximin \ which obliged the 
Senate to fet up other Emperors, in order to preferve fome 
Degree of Decency in the Government, which they found 
very difficult for them to do, the Army being as much 
bent to maintain their Power, as the Senate were to flip- 
port their Authority : But at laft Maximin, on whofe Ac- 
count thefe Difturbances began, being ilain, and Gordian 
and his Nephew, who were exalted to the Empire in the 
Year 236. being {lain alfo, the People would needs have 
a Share in making Emperors ; and therefore obliged the 
Senate to declare the younger Gordian , who was a Boy of 
thirteen, and the third of his Name, Augujlus. It is natu- 
cllP^ rC rifZt- : - Vi K P '%' j l - h n He . roc ! ian * liL iiL Spartian. ds Vita Nigri, p. 77 . « Capitol*. de Vita Pertinacis . 4 Dion 
wfi ’ * ' He* odtan, L b. 11. Capitohn. de Vita Pertmacis. . * Dion GaJJius, lib. Ixxv. Herodian, lib. lii. f Dion Caijius, 
lib iv k Zot^”li& i tt<l Cl ee ° er ‘ XU a fPv” C fdfi us > t' 455 * /*£. Ixxyi. p. 862, 1 Dion CaJJius, lib. lxxvii. Herodian , 
fj Lo P m - lib * Ghron. Alex . p. 626. Herodian, lib. vi. 
‘ 5 T ' xal 
