The Empire. R O 
which seemed to contradict the reports of the fertility of the 
countries he was induced to invade. The inconveniences of 
increasing age also contributed to damp the ardour of this 
enterprise, which at one time he intended to pursue to the 
confines of the earth. Returning, therefore, along the Persian 
gulf, and sending the senate a particular account of all the 
nations he had conquered, the names of which alone com¬ 
posed a long catalogue, he prepared to punish those countries 
which had revolted from him. He began by laying the fa¬ 
mous city of Edessa, in Mesopotamia, in ashes, and in a 
short space of time not only retook all those places which 
had before acknowledged subjection, but conquered many 
other provinces, so as to make himself master of the most 
fertile kingdoms of Asia. In this train of successes he 
scarce met with a repulse,'except before the city of Atra, in 
the deserts of Arabia. Wherefore judging that this was 
a proper time for bounding his conquests, he resolved 
to give a master to the countries he had subdued. 
He established accordingly a king over the kingdom 
of Albania, near the Caspian sea. Then placing 
governors and lieutenants in other provinces, he resolved 
to return to his capital in a more magnificent manner than 
any of his predecessors had done before him. He accord¬ 
ingly left Adrian general of all his forces in the east; and 
continued his journey towards Rome, where the most mag¬ 
nificent preparations were made for his arrival. But he had 
not proceeded farther than the province of Cilicia, when he 
found himself too weak to travel in his usual manner. He 
therefore caused himself to be carried on ship-board to the 
city of Seleucia, where he died of apoplexy, having been 
once before attacked by that disorder. During the time 
of his indisposition, his wife Plotina constantly attended 
near him ; and, knowing the emperor’s dislike to Adrian, 
it is thought forged the will, by which he was adopted to 
succeed. 
Trajan died in the 63d year of his age, after a reign of 
nineteen years six months and fifteen days. How highly he 
was esteemed by his subjects appears by their manner of 
blessing his successors, always wishing them the fortune of 
Augustus and the goodness of Trajan. His military virtues, 
however, upon which he chiefly valued himself, produced 
no real advantages to his country; and all his conquests 
disappeared, when the power was withdrawn that enforced 
them. 
Adrian was by descent a Spaniard, and his ancestors 
were of the same city where Trajan was born. He was 
nephew to Trajan. When Trajan was adopted to the em¬ 
pire, Adrian was a tribune of the army in Maesia, and was 
sent by the troops to congratulate the emperor on his ad¬ 
vancement. However, his brother-in-law, who desired to 
have an opportunity of congratulating Trajan himself, 
supplied Adrian with a carriage that broke down on the way. 
But Adrian was resolved to lose no time, and perfonned the rest 
of the journey on foot. This assiduity was very pleasing to the 
emperor; but he disliked Adrian for several more prevailing 
motives. His kinsman was expensive, and involved in debt. 
He was, besides, inconstant, capricious, and apt to envy 
another’s reputation. These were faults that, in Trajan’s 
opinion, could not be compensated either by his learning or 
his talents; his great skill in the Greek and Latin lan¬ 
guages, his intimate acquaintance with the laws of his 
country and the philosophy of the times, being no per¬ 
fections to the warlike Trajan. 
Upon Adrian’s election, his first care was to write to the 
senate, excusing himself for assuming the empire without 
their previous approbation; imputing it to the hasty zeal of 
the army, who rightly judged that the senate ought not 
long to remain without a head. He then Began to pursue a 
course quite opposite to that of his predecessor, taking every 
method of declining war, and promoting the arts of peace. 
For this reason he abandoned all the conquests which Trajan 
had made, judging them to be rather an inconvenience than 
an advantage to the empire; and making the river Euphrates 
the boundary of the empire, placed the legions along its 
banks, to prevent the incursions of the enemy. 
M E. The Empire. 275 
Leaving Severus governor of Syria, he now took his 
journey by land to Rome. Upon his approach to the city, 
he was informed that a magnificent triumph was preparing 
for him; but this he modestly declined, desiring that the 
honours might be paid to Trajan’s memory, which had been 
designed for him. In consequence of this command, a 
most superb triumph was decreed, in which Trajan’s statue 
was carried as the principal figure in the procession, an 
honour never before conferred on the dead; and moreover 
his ashes were placed in a golden urn, upon the top of a 
column a hundred and forty feet high; charged with the 
particulars of all his exploits in basso-relievo, which is still 
remaining. 
It was difficult for any man to appear to advantage after 
Trajan ; yet Adrian was one of the most remarkable of the 
Roman emperors, for the variety of his endowments. He 
was highly skilful in all the exercises both of body and 
mind. He composed with great beauty, both in prose and 
verse; he pleaded at the bar, and was one of the best 
orators of his time. He was deeply versed in the mathema¬ 
tics, and no less skilful in physic. In drawing and painting, 
he was equal to the greatest masters; an excellent musician, 
and sung to admiration. Besides these qualifications, he 
had an astonishing memory; he knew the names of all his 
soldiers, though ever so long absent. He could dictate to 
one, confer with another, and write himself, all at the same 
time. He was remarkably expert in military discipline; 
strong and very skilful in arms, both on horseback and foot; 
and frequently killed wild boars, and even lions, in hunting. 
His moral virtues were not inferior to his other accom¬ 
plishments. Upon his exaltation to the empire, he forgave 
an infinite number of debts due to the treasury, from 
individuals and provinces; and he gave the estates of con¬ 
demned persons to the public, instead of appropriating them 
to himself. His moderation and clemency appeared by 
pardoning the injuries which he had received when he was a 
private man. He had so great a veneration for the senate, 
and was so careful of not introducing unworthy persons 
into it, that he told the captain of his guard, when he 
made him a senator, that he had no honour in his gift 
equal to what he then bestowed. 
These virtues, however, were contrasted by a strange 
mixture of vices, most of which arose from a weakness of 
resolution. Thus he is represented as proud and vain¬ 
glorious ; and he permitted the persecution against the 
Christians. 
Adrian was scarcely settled on the throne, when several 
of the northern barbarians, the Alani, the Sarmatians, and 
the Dacians, began to make devastations on the empire. 
These hardy nations, by their desultory incursions, began to 
be truly formidable to Rome. Adrian wished to have con¬ 
tracted the limits of the empire, that he might be freed from 
their attacks; but his friends dissuading him, he contented 
himself with breaking down the bridge over the Danube, 
which his predecessor had built, sensible that the same 
passage which was open to him, was equally convenient to 
his barbarous neighbours. 
While he was employed in compelling these nations to 
submission, a conspiracy, concerted by four persons of 
consular dignity, was discovered against his life ; but their 
designs being detected, the conspirators were put to death, 
by order of the senate. Adrian took great pains to clear 
himself from the imputation of having had any hand in their 
execution; but, in order entirely to suppress the murmurs of 
the people upon this head, he distributed large sums of 
money among them, and entertained them with magnificent 
shows in the amphitheatre. 
After a short stay at Rome, which was employed in regu¬ 
lating public affairs, he prepared to visit and take a view of 
his whole empire. He therefore took with him a splendid 
court, and a considerable force, and entered the province of 
Gaul, where he numbered the inhabitants. From Gaul he 
went into Germany, from thence to Holland, and then 
passed over into Britain. There, reforming many abuses, 
and reconciling the natives to the Romans, for the better 
security 
