From A. D. 222.

to

235.

Biography. honoured it in the living, but did all in his power to commemorate its happy effects in the men of former Ages. He collected in Trajan's Square the Statues of all the deified Sovereigns of Rome, as, also, of the more celebrated Commanders who had distinguished themselves and served their Country; adorning them with inscriptions which set forth their exploits and prominent qualities. He had likewise in his Palace two chapels, in which the principal objects of his veneration were ranged in two classes; the one being dedicated to Virtue, the other to eminent abilities. In the former were placed good Monarchs, among whom he thought proper to rank Alexander the Great; and next to them, wise men or Sages, by whose precepts the World had been enlightened and improved, including Abraham, Orpheus, Apollonius Tyanæus, and Jesus Christ. In the latter were Military heroes, and persons conspicuous in the Republic of Letters, such as Achilles, Cicero, Virgil, which last he usually called the Plato of the Poets. In each of these shrines he offered sacrifice every day; confirming thereby his good resolutions with the remembrance of departed excellence, and giving vigour to his motives by perpetuating the fame of good and great actions.

His various pursuits.

His learning, and

Arts.

*

The greater part of his mornings was devoted to the despatch of business with his Ministers; for which purpose he rose even before it was light, and spent several hours together in this occupation without showing any symptoms of uneasiness or fatigue. A countenance always placid and serene, and an invariable sweetness of temper, rendered such labour easy to himself and pleasant to others. After this he allotted some time to reading and amusement. His favourite authors were those whose names have been already mentioned. To the exercises of the mind succeeded those of the body; and to promote health and relaxation, Alexander engaged in the gymnastic arts which were most valued among his contemporaries, running, wrestling, and throwing the quoit. After the bath, and a slight repast, he returned once more to business, when surrounded by the officers of his establishment, he read letters, examined petitions, and corrected despatches, till the approach of evening. Nor was it before these important duties were discharged, that he opened the gates of his Palace to the Nobility, who went to pay visits of compliment, or to share in the entertainments with which the day was usually closed. A temperate meal, with instructive conversation, afforded to the graver class of the Senators the most agreeable pastime; while Plays, or the declamations of Orators and of Poets, who were invited to read their works, supplied that variety of amusement which suited the diversity of ages and of taste.

A life so regulated could not fail to be distinguished by Knowledge as well as by Virtue; and we accordingly love for the find that Alexander had the reputation of learning and of many accomplishments. From his Syrian extraction, we are not surprised to find that he spoke Greek more fluently than Latin, and that he gave a decided preference to the former language. He composed verses in both tongues with so much facility, that he is said to have written in Poetry the lives of the good Emperors. He understood Geometry and Music, and was even

Alexander Severus.

From

A. D. 222.

master of several instruments, on which, however, he Marcus never played except in private. Lampridius, who Aurelius charges him with an unbecoming anxiety respecting his fame, accuses him of showing too much deference to learned men, and of regarding them as the arbiters of his reputation, of which, it is acknowledged, he was extremely jealous. He granted pensions, it is true, to the Professors of the several Sciences and Arts, built Schools and endowed them liberally; but as his patronage was extended to all classes of ingenious men whose labours promised to adorn or benefit Society, there is reason to believe that he was influenced not less by disinterested patriotism than by a selfish regard to his own posthumous celebrity.

to

235.

rence to his

The worst enemies of Alexander have not assailed Accused of his memory with any crime more heinous than that of undue defeyielding a little too far to the caprice and avarice of his mother mother, whom Lampridius describes as an excellent woman, but covetous. He is reported to have connived at her rapacity, when, perhaps, he was unable to check it. But Herodian relates an occurrence which, if true, convicts the Prince of a degree of obsequiousness not quite consistent with the general excellence of his character. He informs us, that Mamæa, after consenting that her son should marry the daughter of a Patrician, became jealous of the influence to which the young Empress very naturally attained, and plotted her ruin. Her resentment could not be appeased until she had expelled the wife of Alexander from the Palace, and banished her into Africa, and finally brought down upon the father, who complained of the injuries inflicted upon his child, the punishment of a traitor or rebel. The same writer, who is throughout very unfriendly to the reputation of this Emperor, assures his readers that Alexander remained a passive spectator of a scene which ought to have interested him the most deeply; that fear of his mother shut his mouth; and that he permitted, with a degree of patience which would have disgraced a simpleton, a transaction which the laws of justice and humanity equally called upon him to prevent.

The account given by Lampridius of this affair is considerably different, and more creditable to the feelings of the Prince. He relates, that the father-in-law of the Emperor, loaded with dignities and honours which his connection with the Throne enabled him to procure, entertained a criminal design against the Government; and that it was in consequence of a discovery affecting at once his loyalty and his gratitude, that the Ministers of the Crown insisted upon his death and the repudiation of his daughter. It is impossible, indeed, to determine whether the malice of Herodian or the credulity of Lampridius is the more deserving of credit; but the unquestionable authority of Dion Cassius removes all doubt as to the fact, that Mamaa showed towards the wife of her son a degree of jealousy and hatred for which the public eye could not discover any just cause.†

In the administration of Civil affairs, the sedulous His succes attention and pure motives of Alexander secured the in reformin exercise of justice and the restoration of confidence. Civil affair. His choice, too, of wise counsellors contributed much to the tranquillity of the Empire; for public burdens were everywhere imposed with moderation and exacted

* Mulier sancta, sed avara, et auri et argenti cupida, c. 14. Dion Cassius, lib. lxxx. Lamprid. in Alex. Sever. c. 49. Herodian. lib. vi.

From A. D.

222.

to

235.

Biography, with lenity. The Provinces, relieved from the taxes which had been drawn from them by the two preceding Emperors, flourished in peace and prosperity under the administration of Magistrates who were convinced by experience, that to deserve the love of his subjects was the only method of obtaining the favour of the Sovereign. By the judicious economy of the Emperor, the price of provisions and the interest of money were kept within moderate limits. Dignity, freedom, and authority were restored to the Senate; and in every department of the State except one, the powers inherent in the Empire were firmly directed to the confirmation and perpetuity of the renovated order of things. The Army did not sympathize with the great body of the People in the love of peace, and in the administration of equal laws; while their turbulent spirit, confirmed by long impunity, rendered them impatient of the restraints of discipline, and utterly regardless of the public welfare if opposed to their boundless pretensions.*

Seditious

spirit of the Army, and murder of Ulpian.

Domitius Ulpianus, the disciple of the great Papinianus, and tutor to the infancy of the reigning Prince, was elevated by his grateful pupil to the rank of Prætorian Præfect. The fame of Ulpian as a Jurist has reached even to our own times, but he did not display in the Camp the same commanding powers which raised his reputation in the Senate, and in Courts of Justice. His vigilance, as well as his avowed intention to introduce among them certain reforms, gave great offence to the Soldiers, who in return assailed his ears with seditious language, and on several occasions proceeded so far as to threaten his life. The Emperor frequently interposed for his preservation, and by presenting his own body to the swords of the angry Prætorians, saved that of his faithful Minister from mortal wounds. But at length their fury burst through all restraint; and pursuing the unfortunate Præfect to the Palace, they murdered him at the feet of his master. Encouraged by their success, which Alexander had not the firmness or the power to punish, they resolved to despatch in like manner the celebrated Historian Dion Cassius. This officer was just returned from his government in Upper Pannonia, where he had found means to bring the troops under his command to a proper sense of their duty, and to make them respect the auDanger of thority of their superiors. It was the apprehension that this example might be extended to themselves also, which excited the wrath of the Guards against the Pannonian Governor, and rendered them clamorous for his head. But Alexander, so far from listening to their barbarous demand, conferred upon Dion the honour of a second Consulate; an act of firmness, however, in which he did not persevere, for he soon afterwards deemed it expedient to advise the Consul to retire from the neighbourhood of Rome, and finally into Asia Minor, his native country, to spend the remainder of his days at a distance from the mutinous Prætorians.† These facts leave no doubt upon the mind of the act of reader, that the Emperor did not feel his power or his resolution equal to the object which he was so desirous to accomplish,—the reformation of the Military Order. This impression is still further confirmed by the indirect method which he was compelled to adopt for the punishment of Epagathus, the principal author of the

Dica Cassias.

Ladecided

*Lamprid. in Alex. Sever. c. 21, 22. + Dion Cassius, lib. lxxx.

Marcus

sedition which ended in the murder of Ulpian. He removed him from Italy to Egypt, under the pretext of Aurelius giving him a command in the latter Country; from whence he was, in due time, brought back to Crete, where he paid the penalty due to his crime.

But that it was the want of power and not of courage to which we must ascribe the failure of Alexander in the case of the Prætorians, is rendered manifest by his conduct on other occasions. When the Troops were in the field, he never suffered either officers or soldiers to quit their standard to gratify their love of plunder or private revenge. On the contrary, he punished every such breach of discipline with marked severity and on one occasion, when a farrier destroyed the property of an old woman, and thereby deprived her of the means of obtaining a livelihood, he condemned the man to be her slave, and to labour for her maintenance as long as she should live.

Alexander Severus.

From

A. D. 222.

to

235.

sion.

There is on record a still more remarkable instance His firmness of his coolness and determination. When at Antioch, on a memopreparing for his expedition against the Persians, he rable occafound it necessary to chastise the immorality of a certain number of the men belonging to a particular legion. The Cohorts became mutinous, and demanded back their comrades with seditious cries. Alexander ascended the tribunal, ordered the prisoners to be brought before him loaded with chains, and then addressed the riotous Legionaries in the following terms: "Fellow Soldiers! for such I am still willing to call you, because I make no doubt that you heartily disapprove the conduct of those individuals who have incurred my displeasure, you cannot fail to know that it is the discipline of our ancestors which has hitherto preserved the power and glory of the Commonwealth, and that without this support the Roman Empire and name must infallibly perish. Your companions have been guilty of great irregularities, alike disgraceful to themselves, and fatal to the success and reputation of our arms. Never will I suffer the infamous disorders which prevailed during the reign of my predecessor, that monster of impurity, to be revived while I am on the Throne. The death of the offenders shall expiate

their crime !"

At these words, the clamours of the Legion interrupted his mild expostulation. "Forbear that noise," he exclaimed; "such outcries may be suitable enough in the field of battle, but they become you not when listening to your Emperor. Preserve your warlike shouts until you be in the presence of the Germans, the Persians, and the Sarmatians, but use them not against him who bestows upon you the food, the clothing, and the riches of the Provinces. Be silent, that I may not find it necessary to reduce you all at once from the rank of Soldiers to the condition of private Citizens, if indeed those be worthy of that honoured name who wantonly violate the most sacred laws of our Country." This threatening inflamed the resentment of the mutineers to a still higher pitch. Their murmurs were louder, and expressed more audaciously: they even proceeded so far as to brandish their arms. Alexander, still unintimidated, resumed his address. "Those weapons," said he, "were given you to be employed against the enemies of Rome; prove them in that service, if ye be men of true courage. menaces have no effect upon me. In taking my life, you will remove but one individual, whom the Republic can well spare. Our Country will still remain identified

Your

From A. D.

Biography. with the exertions of the Senate and Roman People, and the hand of National justice will not fail to avenge its own cause." The seditious legion became now more outrageous than ever; upon which the Emperor, 222. who seems to have been prepared for all extremities, pronounced the decisive sentence, "Citizens ! lay down your arms, and depart from a camp which no longer acknowledges you."

to 235.

The success which attended it.

The voice fell on their ears like thunder, and it was instantly obeyed. Those very men who had so obstinately opposed the punishment of their comrades, quietly submitted to the punishment which was inflicted upon themselves. They forthwith laid down their arms and other military accoutrements, and, instead of returning to the Camp, sought a temporary lodging in private houses. Nay, what is more, they entreated Alexander in the most humble manner to embody them once more as a legion, and to afford them an opportunity of proving their repentance, and recovering their character as soldiers. At the end of thirty days he granted their petition, but not before he had punished with death those Tribunes by whose neglect or instigation the mutiny had been excited: and it is worthy of remark, that the legion which was thus broken and restored, was ever afterwards greatly attached to the Emperor, served him faithfully while living, and revenged him when dead.*

But Alexander, generally speaking, had recourse to more gentle means for gaining the affections of his troops. It was with him a standing maxim, that military discipline could not be effectually supported unless the men were well fed, suitably clothed and armed, and even somewhat at ease in their general circumstances.† For this reason, he not only vindicated the rights of the private soldiers with the most severe exactness, punishing every officer who attempted to infringe their privileges or diminish their dues; but he also devised means for lessening their fatigue on the march, for alleviating their sufferings when sick or wounded, and for securing to them a comfortable retirement at the end of their services. He relaxed the ancient rule by which every man was obliged to carry on his shoulders seventeen days' provisions. Ample magazines were formed along the public roads within the boundaries of the Empire; and as soon as they entered an enemy's country, they were supplied with mules, or other beasts of burden, to carry their baggage. Besides, the Emperor was always ready to share whatever labours he imposed upon his followers. He solaced their privations, and praised their exertions; and, in a word, he embraced every occasion of expressing his warmest regard for a Body of men, whose welfare he was pleased to describe as being closely connected with that of the whole Empire. His endeavours, indeed, to restore discipline and subordination, were not attended with the success which they deserved; and though, in the latter part of his reign, neither his prudence nor his courage could be

* Deponite dextras, contra hostem erigendus, si fortes estis: me enim ista non terrent. Si enim unum hominum occideritis, non nobis deerit Respublica, non Senatus, non Populus Romanus qui me de vobis vindicet. Quirites, discedite, atque arma deponite. Lamprid. in Alex. Sever. c. 54.

Nec exercitum unquam timuerit, idcirco, quod in vitam suam nihil dici posset, quod unquam Tribuni vel duces de stipendiis militum quidquam accessissent: dicens, Miles non timet, nisi vestitus, armatus, calceatus, et satur, et habens aliquid in zonula. Lamprid, in Alex. Sever, c. 52.

questioned, he at length fell a victim to the turbulent Marcus and licentious spirit which he had in vain attempted to subdue.

Aurelius Alexander Severus.

From

A. D.

222. to

But the course of events calls us from the consideration of private character and domestic arrangements to follow him into the East, where, about the tenth year of his reign, he conducted a successful war against the Persians. There are, indeed, in the Augustan History, obscure hints of hostile movements said to have taken 235 place at an earlier period, among the Barbarians of the He prepares Northern frontiers; and we find allusions to triumphs Eastern which on several occasions are imagined to have crowned the arms of the Imperial Lieutenants. But it does not appear that Alexander took the field in person until the dignity of the Empire was insulted, and its Asiatic Provinces endangered by the pretensions of Artaxerxes, the new Sovereign of Persia.

for an

war.

the renova

The reader of ancient History requires not to be in- State of formed, that the Parthians, under the command of their Parthia, an celebrated Prince Arsaces, rose, about two centuries tion of the and a half before Christ, to the Sovereignty of those Persian fine countries which are watered by the Tigris and Empire. Euphrates; and also that, governed by a dynasty of Kings who perpetuated the name of their founder, they maintained an undisputed ascendency in that part of Asia during the long period of nearly five hundred years. Artabanes, the last Monarch of the House of the Arsacidæ, weakened his Kingdom by a protracted Civil war, waged with his brother for the occupation of the Throne; and hence he found that he had no sooner suppressed all opposition at home, than he had to encounter the more formidable array of certain vassal Princes, who were resolved to shake off his yoke.

This insurrection originated with the Persians, who at that time consented to be led by a spirited youth, distinguished by the title of Artaxerxes, which he had probably assumed, and still more by the honour of founding the Royal Family of the Sassanides, which governed Persia from the days of Alexander Severus down to the era of the Mohammedan conquest. The birth of this adventurer, as is usual in Oriental tradition, is darkly clouded with fable. He was the son of a soldier, whose name was Sassan, by the wife of a shoemaker, who being very learned in Astrology, was thereby enabled to foresee that the descendants of his military neighbour were to acquire great fame and power, coveted for his spouse the honour of giving birth to the first of such a favoured race, and accordingly handed her over to the father of Artaxerxes. But whatever might be his extraction, there seems to be no doubt that he was the means of rousing the Persians to a sense of their degradation, as the tributaries of a People whom their ancestors despised. Recalling to their recollection the glories of Cyrus, and the long succession of Kings which they had given to Asia, he induced them to rise against Artabanes, whose arms and treasures, he reminded them, were no longer in a condition to resist their efforts to recover their just independence. In three battles he so completely defeated the Parthians, that he forthwith transferred to the Sceptre of Persia the authority of which it had been so long deprived, and invested it once more with a paramount sway over all the nations of Western Asia.*

* Herodian. lib. vi. Lamprid. in Alex. Sever. c. 50, 55.

A. D. 222.

Artabanes

Biography. Encouraged by this brilliant success, he resolved to turn his arms immediately against the Romans. He From advanced into Mesopotamia, threatened Syria, and even laid claim to the whole of Asia Minor; asserting, that these countries had been conquered by Cyrus, and to governed for centuries by Persian Satraps, under the 235. authority of the Great King, whose glory, he added, he attacks the himself had in some measure retrieved, and whose Romans, territories he was determined to repossess. When inwho attempt telligence of the Parthian revolution reached Rome, to negociate. together with the pretensions founded upon it by the victorious rebel, the pacific Government of Alexander was not a little disturbed. On all occasions the son of Mamaa was more inclined to have recourse to reason than to force. Herodian, indeed, takes pleasure in representing him as smitten with grief and consternation; shuddering at the fatigue and danger of so distant a war against so powerful an enemy. It is certain, that he sent ambassadors to the Persian Chief, with the view of dissuading him from his projected invasion of the Roman Provinces, by exhibiting the evils which must result from the conflict of two such mighty Empires. He reminded him at the same time of the repeated victories which had been gained over the Parthians by Trajan, Severus, and other Commanders, when the whole power of Persia was included in that of a single Province of the great Kingdom which owned the Sovereignty of the Arsacidæ.

Alexander

Attoch.

Artaxerxes, as might have been expected, paid no regard to those remonstrances. Haughty by nature, and elated with prosperity, he answered the embassy of Rome by the commencement of actual hostilities. He entered Mesopotamia with an increased armament, laid siege to its principal cities, routed some legions which he attacked in their separate camps, and gained a temporary possession of the whole country.

The deliberations which preceded the departure of asters his Alexander from his Capital indicated, without doubt, that he regarded war in general as a great calamity, and looked forward to that upon which he was about to enter with the serious conviction, that before it could be brought to a close, much time and treasure, and many valuable lives, must be sacrificed to the ambition of an upstart. He levied, indeed, a powerful army, selected brave and skilful officers, and provided them with supplies adapted to the service in which they were to be employed. Still, he did not despair of obviating the necessity of a direct appeal to arms. When he arrived at Antioch, he despatched a second message to the Persian King, exhorting him to moderate his views, and listen to equitable terms of accommodation. He had hoped that his presence in Syria, at the head of a large army, might induce his rival to withdraw his pretensions, and retreat beyond the Tigris; but Artaxerxes, on the contrary, esteeming these repeated attempts to avoid a war as proofs of weakness or of fear, received every overture with scorn, and became more unreasonable in the conditions which

he proposed. He returned an answer to the Emperor by four hundred of his Lords, magnificently dressed, armed with bows, and mounted upon fine horses; informing him, that the Great King demanded that the Romans should without delay relinquish all Syria, as well as the countries situated between the sea of Cilicia, the Ægean Sea, and the Euxine, as belonging to the ancient dominions of the Persians.

Alexander, finding that war could be no longer

VOL. XI.

Marcus Aurelius Alexander Severus.

From A. D. 222.

to 235.

Persia.

avoided, made his final preparations for carrying it on with vigour. As he had a numerous army, drawn from different nations, and trained to fight according to the various systems of tactics which at that time prevailed among the Romans, the Greeks, and the Asiatics, he was advised by the ablest Generals who followed his banners to divide his followers into three great bodies, and to attack the Persian Empire in three vital points at the same moment. One of these detachments was to cross Armenia, a country still in And invades alliance with the Romans, and to pass from thence into Media; the second was to march southwards into the Province of Susiana, and to ravage the Capital of the rising Empire; and the third or main division, with the Emperor at its head, was to take the middle road through Mesopotamia, and at once to carry the weight of Alexander's vengeance into the heart of the enemy's hereditary dominions. The plan of the campaign likewise required that all the Troops should afterwards meet at one point, and cooperate together for the final reduction of the Persian confederacy.*

obtains a

In regard to the details of the actual warfare which He gains a ensued, we have, as usual, to reconcile as well as we signal viccan the conflicting statements of Herodian and Lam- tory, and pridius. The Greek Historian insinuates, that the Triumph at timidity of Alexander and the terrors of his mother Rome. retarded the progress of the main division of the Army, and rendered useless the success of the other two, which were conducted with greater resolution. But whatever occurrences may have diversified the opening of the campaign, it is admitted on all hands, that the grand Armies came at length to an engagement, in which the Romans carried away a signal advantage. Artaxerxes is reported to have entered the field with seven hundred elephants, a thousand armed chariots, and a hundred and twenty thousand cavalry. The Emperor is said to have displayed great firmness, skill, and the utmost contempt of death; moving from point to point with the coolness of an experienced Commander, encouraging his men, and setting an example of every military excellence. The victory is described as having been most complete. In his address pronounced before the Senate, Alexander stated, that, of the seven hundred elephants, the Romans had killed two hundred and taken three hundred; that they had captured a great many of the chariots, and put to flight sixscore thousand horse; that they had slain two thousand men armed in coats of mail, and made as many captives as would enrich by their ransoms the whole Army which had been collected round the Imperial standards at Antioch. "We have put to flight," says he,

Artaxerxes, denominated by the Eastern world the Great King, and who, if we measure his title by his power, is not unworthy of that distinction. He has retired, defeated and disgraced, into his native dominions; and the Provinces which, in days not long gone by, saw our captive Eagles carried in triumph by an insulting conqueror, have recently witnessed the flight of that presumptuous Chief, who left in our possession the national standard of his confederated Tribes. Our Soldiers return rich and happy. The benefits which have crowned their victory have made them forget the fatigue and peril with which it was purchased; and all that now remains is the duty of returning thanks to

*Lamprid. in Alex. Sever. c. 55. Herodian. lib. vi. Aurel. Vict.

F

Biography. the Gods, by whose favour our exertions have been rewarded with this triumphant issue."*

From A. D.

222.

to 235. The Ger

The Triumph which was decreed to Alexander did not detain him long at Rome. He endured, indeed, the fatigue of the usual display, exhibited his prisoners, and set forth to public gaze the variety of his spoils. He conferred the accustomed largess on the Military, mans invade and gratified the luxurious idleness of the Citizens with Games and theatrical amusements. He founded Schools for the gratuitous education of the poorer classes, and dedicated them in honour of his mother, whose name they bore; but his chief attention, meanwhile, was directed to a rising storm on the frontiers of Germany and Gaul, which threatened to lay waste the fairest parts of Italy.

Gaul.

Alexander

the banks of the Rhine.

Several of those fierce Tribes which dwelt beyond marches to the Rhine, taking advantage of his absence in the East, had invaded the Roman Provinces on the South, and carried devastation into the very heart of Gaul. Alexander, accompanied by his mother, marched against them with a powerful host, consisting not only of the veteran Legionaries who had just vanquished the Persian cavalry and bowmen, but also of Mauritanian slingers, Parthian archers, and other light troops selected from the Provincial armies, who were prepared to assail the Germans with weapons more formidable to their massy columns than either spear or sword. No sooner had the Emperor crossed the Alps than the enemy retired. Equally ready for peace or for war, he built a temporary bridge over the Rhine to command an entrance into their territory, and at the same time sent messengers to their Chiefs, to induce them to listen to terms of accommodation. History has not preserved the tenour of their reply, but we may presume that they rejected his offers and defied his

Marcus Aurelius Alexander

From A. D. 222.

to

235.

power; for it is clear that Alexander found it necessary to winter on the German frontiers, where he employed the interval in reforming the Gallic Legions, Severus and in attempting to revive among them the spirit of ancient discipline. These stubborn cohorts, long accustomed to unbounded licentiousness, opposed the patriotic designs of the Emperor, and even became seditious; and the Officers who were employed to second the efforts of their Prince, instead of following up his instructions with firmness, listened to the complaints of the men, and studied to turn their disaffection to the furtherance of their personal ambition. Among these, Maximinus held a distinguished place. He was appointed to the command of the new levies, which he undertook to form after the model of the fine troops who under Severus had conquered the East and West. One day as he approached their lines to resume the usual exercises, the Soldiers, either from a sudden impulse or a premeditated conspiracy, saluted him by the title of Emperor, and urged him to complete their rebellion by the murder of Alexander. The catastrophe which followed is variously related.* Some writers His assass assert that the son of Mamaa was assassinated in his nation. tent, whither he had retired to enjoy a few hours of repose after dinner; while others maintain that he was pursued thither by the insurgents, who had openly declared for Maximinus. No doubt, however, exists as to the main fact, that he was murdered by the Soldiers at the instigation of the Commander just named; who to the number of his victims immediately added the Empress, and the most faithful friends of her Government. A system of proscription and cruelty ensued, which revived all the horrors of the evil days under Nero, Commodus, and Caracalla.

From A. D. 235.

to

238.

Biography. THE troubles which followed the mild reign of Alexander Severus have left a deep impression on the page of Roman History. Native authors have compared the change which took place at his death to the fabled transition from the Golden Age to that of Iron; for the Sceptre then passed from the hands of a gentle, pacific, and truly patriotic Prince, into those of a cruel barbarian, who took pride to himself for governing the Empire by means of terror and brutal force. The fury which he manifested against every person distinguished either by his birth or by his services to the State, soon exhausted, indeed, the endurance of the Senate, and induced that illustrious Body to supersede him by the appointment of men more worthy to rule; but so great was his interest with the Army, as well as the means which he possessed for carrying on war, that before he was expelled from the Throne he triumphed over two

Lamprid, in Alex. Sever. c. 56, 57

competitors, who fell on the field of battle, and finally involved the other two in the effects of the catastrophe which closed his bloody career.†

Caius

Julius

Verus

Maximi

From A. D

235

to 238

The personal history of Maximinus, while it presents some striking incidents as a separate narrative, tends to throw considerable light on the degraded condition of the Civil authority at Rome, and on the complete ascendency which had been acquired by the Military power in the Provinces not less than in Italy. The adventurer now named appears to have been a native The ear of Thrace, and is first noticed on an occasion of festi- history vity, celebrated by Severus, when marching through that country, on his return from the East. During the military Games which were given on the birth-day of Geta, the attention of the Emperor was attracted by the boastful manner of a gigantic barbarian, who

* Lamprid. in Alex. Sever. c. 59. Herodian. lib. vi. Capitolin. in Maxim. c. 7. + Herodian. lib. vii

Maximi