Diocletian began to reign A.D. 284, and once more revived the vigor of the declining empire, which now seemed more than ever to depend for its existence upon the qualities of a single ruler. It seems, indeed, to have required an intellect of no common order to preserve the unity of the empire, composed of so many different nations, of territories separated by such vast distances, and threatened on every side by innumerable foes; but, of all his contemporaries, Diocletian was best suited to this task. His parents had been the slaves of a Roman Senator, and he had himself risen from this low station to the highest positions in the army. He acted with generosity toward the servants of the former emperor, not only suffering them to remain in safety under his rule, but even to retain their offices. Finding the empire too large to be governed by a single ruler, he selected as his colleague Maximian, a brave, but fierce and ignorant soldier, who, like himself, had risen to a high rank in the army. Maximian, however, always admitted the intellectual superiority of Diocletian. The emperor assumed the title of Jovius, and Maximian that of Herculius. Diocletian also appointed two Cæsars, Constantius and Galerius, to aid him in the defense of the empire, which was divided between the four princes. Gaul, Spain, and Britain were intrusted to the care of Constantius, Italy and Africa to Maximian, Galerius commanded the legions on the Danube, while Diocletian reserved for himself Thrace, Egypt, and Asia. The four rulers seemed to have labored together in harmony, but the establishment of four courts in different parts of the empire obliged them to increase the taxes, and every province suffered under new impositions. Even Italy, which had always been favored in this particular, was now heavily burdened, and every where lands were abandoned and left uncultivated because their owners could not pay the taxes and impositions. In A.D. 287 a rebellion occurred in Gaul, which was suppressed by Maximian; soon after, Carausius, having become master of Britain, and possessing a considerable fleet, defied the power of the emperor; but when Constantius was appointed Cæsar he prepared to reduce the island to subjection. In A.D. 294 Carausius was put to death by Allectus, a new usurper. Constantius now crossed the Channel and recovered the island, which, after a separation of ten years, was once more reunited to the empire. During this reign the Goths, Vandals, and other northern barbarians wasted their strength in destructive contests with each other; but whenever, in intervals of peace, they invaded the Roman territory, they were driven back by the valor of the two Cæsars. Maximian, in the mean time, subdued a revolt in Africa; and Diocletian himself suppressed one of those seditions to which Egypt was constantly exposed. The emperor besieged Alexandria for eight months, cut off the aqueducts which conveyed water to the city, and, having taken it, put many thousands of its citizens to death. One remarkable edict which he now published forbade the study of alchemy in Egypt, and ordered all books upon that subject to be burned. He also made a treaty with the Nubians, in order to protect the frontiers of Egypt.
It gives us, indeed, a clear view of the immense extent of the Roman power when we reflect that its commanders were, almost at the same moment, struggling successfully against its enemies in Africa, Britain, Germany, and the East. A war with Persia now arose, in which Galerius was at first defeated, A.D. 296. But the next year he passed through the mountains of Armenia at the head of twenty-five thousand chosen men, and, having surprised the Persian army in the night, slaughtered great numbers of them; the booty, too, was immense. A barbarian soldier, finding a bag of shining leather filled with pearls, threw away the contents and preserved the bag; and the uncultivated savages gathered a vast spoil from the tents of the Persians. Galerius, having taken prisoners several of the wives and children of the Persian monarch Narses, treated them with such tenderness and respect that Narses made peace. Mesopotamia was now added to the empire, being taken from the King of Armenia, who received in its place a considerable Persian province.
The two emperors returned to Rome and celebrated their triumph November 20, A.D. 303, the last spectacle of that kind which the world has witnessed. Romulus, more than a thousand years before, had ascended the Capitoline Mount on foot, bearing in his arms the spoil of Acron, and his example had been followed by a long line of Roman heroes. In the last triumph, the two emperors were attended by the spoils of Africa and Britain, of the East and the West.
During this reign also occurred the last persecution of the Christians, who were soon to become the masters of the empire. It began A.D. 303, and continued for ten years; and such multitudes of the Christians perished that the emperors boasted that they had wholly extirpated the sect!
Diocletian introduced an Eastern pomp into his court, assumed the titles of "Lord and Emperor," and wore a diadem set with pearls. His robes were of silk and gold. He required his subjects to prostrate themselves before him, and to adore him as a divinity.
In A.D. 305, like Charles V., he resolved to abdicate his power, having persuaded his colleague Maximian to do the same: he lived in retirement for nine years, and amused himself cultivating his garden. "I wish you would come to Salona" (Spalatro), he wrote to Maximian, who sought to draw him from his retirement, "and see the cabbages I have planted: you would never again mention to me the name of empire." But the close of his life was embittered by the ingratitude of Constantine and Licinius, and the dangers of the empire. It is not known whether he died by disease or by his own hand.
Upon the abdication of Diocletian and his colleague, the two Cæsars, Constantius and Galerius, assumed the title of Augustus. Constantius retained his former provinces, Gaul, Spain, and Britain. He was moderate, amiable, and lived with Roman simplicity. Galerius, on the other hand, was haughty, severe, and ambitious. He had married a daughter of Diocletian, and hoped that the death of Constantius would soon leave him the sole emperor of Rome. The two emperors now appointed two Cæsars, Maximin and Severus, the first nephew to Galerius, and the latter devoted to his interests. Constantius died at York, in Britain, A.D. 306, and his son Constantine was proclaimed Augustus by the soldiers.
This prince, afterward Constantine the Great, was the son of Constantius and Helena, who was said to have been the daughter of an inn-keeper. When Constantius became Cæsar he divorced Helena, and her son was, in a measure, neglected. Constantine, however, soon distinguished himself as a soldier, and won the affection of the army. In appearance he was tall, dignified, and pleasing; he excelled in all military exercises, was modest, prudent, and well informed. He soon attracted the jealousy of Galerius, who would have put him to death had he not escaped to his father in Britain; and now Galerius refused to allow him any higher title than that of Cæsar.
Maxentius, the son of the abdicated emperor Maximian, was also proclaimed Augustus by his soldiers, and prevailed upon his father once more to ascend the throne. Severus, who marched against them, was defeated and put to death; and Constantine now married Fausta, the daughter of Maximian. Galerius led a large army from the East, but was repulsed from Rome and retreated, leaving Maximian and his son masters of the capital. Galerius next associated Licinius with him in his power, and there were now six sovereigns upon the throne.
In A.D. 310, however, Maximian, having conspired against the life of Constantine, was put to death; Galerius died the next year; in A.D. 312 Maxentius fell before the arms of Constantine, and was drowned in the Tiber while attempting to make his escape. It was during this campaign that Constantine is said to have seen the miraculous cross in the heavens.
The Roman Senate paid unusual honors to Constantine; games and festivals were instituted in memory of his victory over Maxentius, and a triumphal arch was erected, whose imperfect architecture shows the decline of ancient taste. The Arch of Trajan was stripped of its ornaments to adorn that of Constantine.
The new emperor introduced good order into the administration of the West, revived the authority of the Senate, and disbanded the Prætorian Guards; he revoked the edicts against the Christians, and paid unusual deference to the bishops and saints of the Church. The Emperor Licinius, who had married his sister, in A.D. 313 defeated and put to death Maximin, so that the empire was now shared between Constantine and Licinius.
The former now summoned a council of bishops at Arles to suppress the heresy of the Donatists, but, before it met, was forced to march against Licinius, who had conspired against him. Licinius was defeated in two battles, and forced to give up a large part of his dominions to his conqueror. Constantine next defeated the Goths and Sarmatæ. Licinius had assumed the defense of Paganism, while Constantine raised the standard of the Cross. The last struggle between them took place near Adrianople; the Pagan army was defeated and put to flight, and in A.D. 324 Licinius was put to death. Thus Constantine reigned alone over the empire of Augustus.
At the famous Council of Nice, which met in A.D. 325, the doctrine of the Trinity was established, Arianism condemned, and at the same time the emperor was, in effect, acknowledged to be the spiritual head of the Church. But an event now occurred which must have destroyed forever the happiness of Constantine. He was induced to put to death his virtuous son Crispus, through the false accusations of his wife Fausta, and when afterward he discovered the falseness of the charges made against Crispus, he directed Fausta and her accomplices to be slain.
Rome, which had so long been the capital of the world, was now to descend from that proud position and become a provincial city. When Constantine returned to Rome after the Council of Nice, he found himself assailed with insults and execrations. The Senate and the people of the capital saw with horror the destroyer of their national faith, and they looked upon Constantine as accursed by the gods. The execution of his wife and son soon after increased the ill feeling against the emperor, and Constantine probably resolved to abandon a city upon which he had bestowed so many favors, and which had repaid him with such ingratitude. He was conscious, too, that Rome, seated in the heart of Italy, was no longer a convenient capital for his empire, and he therefore resolved to build a new city on the site of ancient Byzantium. The Bosphorus, a narrow strait, connects the Black Sea and the Sea of Marmora; and here, on a triangular piece of ground, inclosing on one side an excellent harbor, Constantine laid the foundations of his capital. It was situated in the forty-first degree of latitude, possessed a temperate climate, and a fertile territory around it; while, being placed on the confines of both Europe and Asia, it commanded the two divisions of the empire.
Constantinople was adorned with all the architectural elegance of the age, but the arts of sculpture and of decoration had so declined that Constantine was forced to rob the cities of Greece of their finest works in order to supply the deficiencies of his own artists: Athens and Asia were despoiled to adorn his semi-barbarous capital. The city was provided with a forum, in which was placed a column of porphyry upon a white marble base, in all one hundred and twenty feet high, upon which stood a bronze figure of Apollo. A hippodrome, or circus of great size, and the baths and pleasure-grounds, recalled the memory of those of Rome. Schools and theatres, aqueducts, fourteen churches, fourteen palaces, and a great number of magnificent private houses, added to the splendor of the new city. Constantine designed, it is said, to have called his capital the SECOND OR NEW ROME, but his own name has always been preferred.
Having thus provided a capital, Constantine next began to form a new constitution for his empire; he established, therefore, a complete despotism, all the power being lodged in the emperor, and all honors and titles being conferred by him alone. The name of Consul was still preserved, these officers being yearly appointed by the emperor; but we now notice the titles of Count and Duke joined with those of Quæstors and Proconsuls. All the civil magistrates were taken from the legal profession. The law was now the most honorable of the professions, and the law school at Berytus, in Phœnicia, had flourished since the reign of Alexander Severus.
The Roman Empire was divided into four great præfectures, which were themselves subdivided into dioceses and provinces. The præfectures were named that of the East, of Illyricum, of Italy, and of Gaul. A Prætorian Præfect had charge of each præfecture, and regulated its civil government; took care of the roads, ports, granaries, manufactures, coinage; was the supreme legal magistrate, from whose decision there was no appeal. Rome and Constantinople had their own Præfects, whose courts took the place of those of the ancient Prætors, while a considerable police force preserved the quiet of each city. The magistrates of the empire were divided into three classes, the Illustrissimi, or illustrious; the Spectabiles, or respectable; and the Clarissimi, or the honorable.
Constantine also made Christianity the established religion of the state, and appropriated a large portion of the revenues of the cities to the support of the churches and the clergy. His standing army was very large, but the ranks were now filled chiefly by barbarians, the Roman youth having lost all taste for arms. It is said the young men of Italy were in the habit of cutting off the fingers of the right hand in order to unfit themselves for military service.
In order to support this extensive system, Constantine was forced to impose heavy taxes upon his people. Every year the emperor subscribed with his own hand, in purple ink, the indiction, or tax levy of each diocese, which was set up in its principal city, and when this proved insufficient, an additional tax, or superindiction, was imposed. Lands, cattle, and slaves were all heavily taxed, and the declining agriculture of the empire was finally ruined by the exorbitant demands of the state. In Campania alone, once the most fertile part of Italy, one eighth of the whole province lay uncultivated, and the condition of Gaul seems to have been no better. Besides this, merchants, manufacturers, mechanics, and citizens were taxed beyond their power of endurance, while those who failed to pay were shut up in prison. Every fourth year these taxes on industry were levied, a period to which the people looked forward with terror and lamentation. Gifts were also demanded from the cities or provinces on various occasions, such as the accession of an emperor, the birth of an emperor's heir, the free gift of the city of Rome, for example, being fixed at about three hundred thousand dollars; and, in fine, the imperial despotism reduced the people to want, and hastened, even more than the inroads of the barbarians, the destruction of civil society.
Constantine in his old age adopted the luxury and pomp which Diocletian introduced from the East; he wore false hair of various colors carefully arranged, a diadem of costly gems, and a robe of silk embroidered with flowers of gold. His family, at an earlier period, consisted of Crispus, a son by his first wife Minervina, and the three sons of Fausta, Constantine, Constantius, and Constans. Besides these there were three daughters. Crispus, however, who was beloved by the people and the army, excited the jealousy of Fausta. Constantine was led to believe that his son was engaged in a conspiracy against his life, and Crispus was executed by his father's orders, together with Cæsar Licinius, the son of Constantine's favorite sister. Helena, the aged mother of Constantine, undertook to avenge her grandson. Fausta was finally proved to be unfaithful to her husband, and put to death, with many of her friends and followers. These fearful scenes within the palace recalled to the Roman people the memory of Nero and Caligula.
The three sons of Fausta were now the heirs of the throne, and, with their two cousins, Dalmatius and Hannibalianus, were carefully instructed by Christian professors, Greek philosophers, and Roman jurisconsults, the emperor himself teaching them the science of government and of man. They also studied the art of war in defending the frontiers of the empire; but no important war disturbed the last fourteen years of this reign. Constantine reigned thirty years, the longest period of any since Augustus; and he died May 22, A.D. 337, at his palace at Nicomedia, aged sixty-four years.
Constantine, although professing the Christian faith, was not baptized until a short time before his death, when he received that solemn rite with many professions of penitence, and of a desire to live in future according to the precepts of religion. He seems to have possessed many excellent qualities, was brave, active, and untiring, ruled with firmness, and gave a large portion of his time to the cares of state.
The three sons of the late emperor, Constantine, Constantius, and Constans, as soon as their father was dead, put to death their two cousins, Hannibalianus and Dalmatius, with many more of their relatives; only Gallus and Julian, the children of Julius Constantius, being left alive. They then divided the empire, A.D. 337, Constantine, the elder, retaining the new capital, Constans receiving the western provinces, while to Constantius was left Syria and the East. Sapor, king of Persia, invaded the Eastern provinces, and defeated the Romans in various battles. Meanwhile a quarrel broke out between Constantine and Constans, and the former, having invaded his brother's provinces, was defeated and slain, A.D. 350. Ten years afterward Constans was himself put to death by Magnentius, an ambitious soldier, who at once assumed the name of emperor. Constantius marched against him, but found that Vetranio, præfect of Illyricum, had joined him, instigated by the Princess Constantina. He finally, however, defeated Magnentius, and deposed the aged Vetranio, and thus became the master of Rome. Having recalled Gallus and Julian from banishment, the emperor gave them the title of Cæsars. Gallus proved unfit for public affairs, while Julian won the esteem of all men by his conduct and valor. He drove the Germans out of Gaul, which they had invaded, and even crossed the Rhine, in imitation of Julius Cæsar.
Constantius now became jealous of the rising fame of Julian, who was beloved by the Western legions, and commanded him to send the finest part of his army to the East. Julian prepared to obey, but the soldiers rose in revolt, proclaiming him Julian Augustus. He sent messengers to the emperor demanding the recognition of his election; but war could not long be averted. Julian abjured Christianity, which he had hitherto professed, together with his allegiance to the emperor, and led a small army of well-chosen soldiers against his rival. Meantime Constantius, in A.D. 361, November 3d, died of a fever in Syria, while Julian entered Constantinople December 11th, amid the applause of the people. He was acknowledged emperor. He was now in his thirty-second year, in many particulars the most remarkable of the second Flavian family.
Julian had been educated by the Platonic philosophers, and resolved to restore the ancient form of religion. He sacrificed to the pagan gods, rebuilt their temples, revived the practice of augury, or divination, and vainly strove to impose upon the human mind a superstition which it had just thrown off. In order to mortify the Christians, he resolved to rebuild the Temple of Jerusalem, and restore the Jews to their ancient seat. But some natural phenomenon interposed; the workmen were driven away by balls of fire, and Julian abandoned his design.
Except this unphilosophical hostility toward the Christians, whose faith he had once professed, Julian seems to have made a sincere attempt to improve the condition of his people. He lived with frugality, rewarded merit, and encouraged learning, except where it was employed in the defense of Christianity. He was also successful in his wars against the Germans and the Persians, but at length was defeated by the latter, and was killed A.D. 363, June 26th.
Julian affected in his dress and manners the rudeness and indifference of a philosopher, was free from vice, possessed considerable learning, and wrote a work of some value, in which he compared and studied the characters of the long line of his predecessors.
Jovian was now proclaimed emperor by the Eastern army, and concluded a dishonorable peace with the Persians. He next published an edict restoring Christianity, but was found dead in his bed, A.D. 364.
Valentinian was next chosen emperor, who gave the Eastern provinces to his brother Valens. He made Milan the seat of his own government, while Valens reigned at Constantinople; and the empire was from this time divided into the Eastern and the Western. The whole of the Western world was distressed by the invasion of barbarous tribes, and Valentinian now made his son Gratian his heir, in order to remove all doubt as to the succession. The Saxon pirates, meantime, harassed all the coasts of Gaul, while Britain was invaded by the Picts and Scots. Theodosius, however, defeated them, and was soon after sent to quell an insurrection in Africa. This he succeeded in doing, when Valentinian died suddenly, A.D. 375.
Valens, his brother, meantime had suppressed a rebellion in the East, led by Procopius; and then, having become an Arian, commenced a severe persecution of the orthodox, of whom no fewer than eighty ecclesiastics were put to death for supporting the election of a bishop of their own faith at Constantinople. Valens also succeeded in repelling the attacks of the Persians.
In the West Valentinian had been succeeded by his sons Gratian and Valentinian II. The brave Theodosius, meanwhile, whose valor had preserved the peace of the nation, was executed by order of Gratian, and soon after the Huns appeared upon the Danube. These savages are thought to have entered Europe from Tartary. Their faces were artificially flattened and their beards plucked out. They left the cultivation of their fields to the women or slaves, and devoted their lives to warfare. A wandering race, they built no cities nor houses, and never slept beneath a roof. They lived upon horseback. The Huns first attacked their fellow-barbarians, the Ostrogoths, and made a fearful carnage, putting all the women and children to death.
The Gothic nation now begged permission from the Romans to cross the Danube, and settle within the Roman territory. Their request was granted, upon condition that they should surrender all their arms; but this condition was imperfectly fulfilled. The celebrated Bishop Ulphilas about this time converted the Goths to Arianism, invented a Gothic alphabet, and infused among the Goths a hatred for the Catholic faith, which served to increase their zeal in all their future conflicts with the Romans. Ill-treated by the Roman commissioners who had been sent by the Emperor Valens to superintend their settlement, the Goths marched against Constantinople. Valens wrote to Gratian for aid, and the latter, although his own dominions were harassed by the Germans, marched to the aid of his uncle, but died at Sirmium. Valens encountered Fritigern, the Gothic leader, near Adrianople, in A.D. 378, and was defeated and slain. Nearly the whole of the Roman army was destroyed upon this fatal field.
Gratian now chose as his colleague Theodosius, the son of the former brave commander of that name, and Theodosius for a time restored the Roman empire. He defeated the Goths, won their affections by his clemency, and induced them to protect the frontiers of the Danube. Gratian was defeated and put to death, A.D. 383, by a usurper, Maximus, who also deprived Valentinian II. of his province of Italy. Theodosius, however, defeated the usurper in A.D. 388, and generously restored Valentinian to his throne. Valentinian was murdered by a Frank, Arbogastes, in A.D. 392, but Theodosius marched against him, and defeated and destroyed the rebels Arbogastes and Eugenius, A.D. 394.
Theodosius the Great, who had thus reunited the empire under his own sway, belonged to the orthodox faith, and sought to suppress Arianism, as well as many other heresies which, had crept into the Christian Church. He was a prudent ruler, and resisted successfully the inroads of the barbarians. He divided his empire between his two sons, Honorius and Arcadius, the former becoming Emperor of the West, the latter, who was the elder, succeeding his father at Constantinople; and Theodosius soon after died, lamented by his subjects. Rufinus, who became the chief minister of Arcadius, oppressed and plundered the Eastern empire. He was universally hated by the people. Stilicho, on the other hand, who also became the chief minister of Honorius, was a very different character. He was a brave and active commander, and restored the former glory of the Roman arms. His chief opponent was the famous Alaric, who now united the Gothic forces under his own command, and, having penetrated into Greece, ravaged and desolated that unhappy country. The barbarians plundered Athens, Corinth, Sparta, and Argos; and those cities, once so renowned for valor, seemed to offer him no resistance, so fallen was the ancient spirit of the Greeks. Stilicho, however, pursued Alaric into Elis, and would, perhaps, have totally destroyed the barbarians had not the feeble Arcadius not only made peace with Alaric, but appointed him to the command of Illyricum. Alaric, not long after, invaded Italy, but was defeated by his rival. In A.D. 403 he again invaded Italy, and was induced to retreat by a considerable bribe.
The Emperor Honorius removed from Rome to Ravenna, where he believed himself more secure; and when a new horde of barbarians invaded Italy in A.D. 406, and had besieged Florence, they were totally defeated and destroyed by Stilicho. A portion of the invaders escaped into Gaul, where they committed great ravages, until Constantine, the governor of Britain, was proclaimed emperor, who wrested Gaul and Spain from the dominion of Honorius. This weak prince, in A.D. 408, consented to the murder of Stilicho. His new minister, Olympius, directed the slaughter of the families of the barbarians throughout Italy, a cruelty which was fearfully avenged.
Alaric, the scourge of Rome, marched into Italy, and in A.D. 408 besieged the capital. Pestilence and famine soon raged within the walls of Rome, until the Senate purchased a respite from their calamities by an enormous ransom. Honorius refused to confirm the treaty, and the next year Alaric once more appeared before the city. He took possession of Ostia, the port of Rome, reduced the Senate to surrender, and proclaimed Attalus emperor. Honorius still refusing to yield to his demands, Alaric resolved to punish Rome for the vices of its emperor. The sack of that city now followed, one of the most fearful tragedies in history.
No foreign enemy had appeared before the gates of Rome since the invasion of Hannibal, until Alaric made his successful inroad into Italy. The city still retained all that magnificence with which it had been invested by the emperors. The Colosseum, the baths, the aqueducts, the palaces of the Senators, the public gardens, and the ancient temples, still remained; but its people were lost in luxury and vice. Learning was no longer respected among them, the gamester or the cook being more esteemed than philosophers or poets; and the luxurious Senators passed their lives in frivolous and degrading amusements. The indolent people were maintained by a daily distribution of bread, baked in the public ovens; and oil, wine, and bacon were also provided for them during a part of the year. The public baths were open to the people, and for a small copper coin they might enter those scenes of luxury where the walls were incrusted with precious marble, and perpetual streams of hot water flowed from silver tubes. From the bath they passed to the Circus, where, although the combats of gladiators had been suppressed by Christian princes, a succession of amusements was still provided. In this manner the luxurious nobles and people of Rome passed their tranquil, inglorious lives.
The wealth of the capital was such as might well attract the barbarous invader. The palaces of the Senators were filled with gold and silver ornaments, and the churches had been enriched by the contributions of pious worshipers. Many of the nobles possessed estates which produced several hundred thousand dollars a year, and the wealth of the world was gathered within the walls of its capital.
We have no means of estimating accurately the population of Rome. Its walls embraced a circuit of twenty-one miles, and it is probable that nearly a million of people were contained within the walls and the suburbs.
Such was the condition of Rome when it was about to fall before the arms of the barbarians. August 24th, A.D. 410, Alaric approached the city, and the gates being opened to him by some Gothic slaves, his troops began at night a fearful scene of pillage and destruction. Men, women, and children were involved in a general massacre; nobles and plebeians suffered under a common fate. The Goths, as they entered, set fire to the houses in order to light their path, and the flames consumed a large part of the city. Great numbers of the citizens were driven away in hordes to be sold as slaves; others escaped to Africa, or to the islands on the coast of Italy, where the Goths, having no ships, were unable to follow them. But Alaric, who was an Arian, spared the churches of Rome, and was anxious to save the city from destruction. From this time, however, A.D. 410, began that rapid decay which soon converted Rome into a heap of ruins.
Alaric, after six days given to plunder, marched out of the city, to the southern part of Italy, where he died. His body was buried under the waters of a rivulet, which was turned from its course in order to prepare his tomb; and, the waters being once more led back to their channel, the captives who had performed the labor were put to death, that the Romans might never discover the remains of their Gothic scourge.
The brother of Alaric, Adolphus, who succeeded him, was married to the Princess Placidia, and now became the chief ally of Honorius. He restored Gaul to the empire, but was murdered while upon an expedition into Spain. Wallia, the next Gothic king, reduced all Spain and the eastern part of Gaul under the yoke of the Visigoths. The empire of the West was now rapidly dismembered. The Franks and Burgundians took possession of Gaul. Britain, too, was from this time abandoned by the Romans, and was afterward, in A.D. 448, overrun and conquered by the Angles and the Saxons, and thus the two great races, the English and the French, began.
Arcadius, the Eastern emperor, governed by his minister, the eunuch Eutropius, and by the Empress Eudoxia, was led into many cruelties; and St. Chrysostom, the famous bishop and orator, was one of the illustrious victims of their persecutions. Arcadius died in A.D. 408, and was succeeded by the young Theodosius, who was controlled in all his measures by his sister Pulcheria, and for forty years Pulcheria ruled the East with uncommon ability. Honorius died in A.D. 423, when Valentinian III., son of Placidia, his sister, was made Emperor of the West. He was wholly governed by his mother, and thus Placidia and Pulcheria ruled over the civilized world.
The Vandals, who had settled in the province of Andalusia, in Spain, were invited into Africa by Count Boniface, who had been led into this act of treachery by the intrigues of his rival Ætius. Genseric, the Vandal king, conquered Africa, although Boniface, repenting of his conduct, endeavored to recover the province; and thus Italy was now threatened on the south by the Vandal power in Africa.
The Huns, meantime, who had been detained upon the upper side of the Danube, now crossed that river, being united under the control of Attila, and became the terror of the civilized world. Attila first threatened an attack upon the Eastern empire, but at length turned his arms against the West. He was defeated by Ætius and the Visigoths in A.D. 451, but the next year he invaded Italy, demanded the Princess Honoria in marriage, and destroyed many of the Italian cities. He spared the city of Rome, however, and finally died in A.D. 453. His death alone saved the empire from complete ruin.
Valentinian III., who had put to death the brave commander Ætius, was murdered by the patrician Maximus in A.D. 455. The Vandals now besieged and plundered Rome, and sold many thousands of the citizens as slaves. Avitus, a Gaul, next became emperor by the influence of Theodoric, king of the Visigoths, but was soon deposed by Count Ricimer, and was followed by Majorian, a man of merit, who endeavored to reform the nation. He died in A.D. 461. Count Ricimer then declared Severus emperor, but was forced to apply for aid against the Vandals to the court of Constantinople, where Leo was now emperor. Leo appointed Anthemius to the throne of the West, and sent an army against the Vandals in Africa, which was totally defeated. Ricimer then deposed Anthemius, and declared Olybrius emperor; but both Ricimer and Olybrius died in A.D. 472. Leo next appointed Julius Nepos his colleague. Glycerius, an obscure soldier, made an effort to obtain the throne, but yielded to Nepos, and became Bishop of Salona. Orestes, who had succeeded Count Ricimer as commander of the barbarian mercenaries, deprived Nepos of his throne; and Nepos, having fled into Dalmatia, was executed by his old rival Glycerius.
Orestes gave the throne to his son Romulus, to whom he also gave the title of Augustus, which was afterward changed by common consent to Augustulus. But Odoacer, the leader of the German tribes, put Orestes to death, sent Augustulus into banishment, with a pension for his support, and, having abolished the title of emperor, in A.D. 476 declared himself King of Italy.
Romulus Augustus was the last emperor of the West, and bore the name of the founder of the monarchy as well as of the empire, a singular circumstance.
In this manner fell the Roman Empire, a noble fabric, which its founder hoped would endure forever. Its destruction, however, gave rise to the various kingdoms and states of modern Europe, and thus civilization and Christianity, which might have remained confined to the shores of the Mediterranean, have been spread over a large portion of the world.
Roman literature, which had risen to its highest excellence under Augustus, declined rapidly under his successors, and was finally lost with the fall of the Western empire. The language was no longer pure, and neither prose nor poetry retained the harmony and elegance of the Augustan age. A certain sadness and discontent, which marks all the later literature, forms also a striking contrast with the cheerful tone of the earlier writers. Every part of the empire, however, abounded with men of letters, and a high degree of mental cultivation seems every where to have prevailed.
Epic poetry continued to nourish, and Virgil found many imitators. The best epic writer of this period was M. Annæus Lucanus, who was born at Corduba, in Spain, in the year A.D. 38. Lucan was educated at Rome under the Stoic Cornutus, and was introduced by his uncle Seneca to the Emperor Nero. Having for a time enjoyed the patronage of Nero, he at length became the object of his jealousy and hatred, was accused of having taken part in Piso's conspiracy, and was condemned to death. He was allowed, as a favor, to put an end to his own life, and thus died, A.D. 65. Although so young, for he was scarcely twenty-seven years of age, Lucan, besides several shorter poems, produced the Pharsalia, an epic, of which he finished only ten books: it relates the wars between Cæsar and Pompey, and contains many fine thoughts and striking images. He evidently prefers Pompey to Cæsar, and possessed a strong love for liberty, which lends vigor to his verses. His language is pure, his rhythm often harmonious, but he never attains the singular delicacy and sweetness of his master, Virgil.
C. Silius Italicus, the place of whose birth is unknown, also lived during the reign of Nero, and was Consul in the year A.D. 68. He was a Stoic, and put an end to his own life in the year A.D. 100, when he was about seventy-five years of age. His poem, the Punica, is an account of the second Punic War in verse, and is chiefly valuable to the historical student. He had little inventive power, and takes but a low rank in poetry.
P. Papinius Statius, the son of the teacher of the Emperor Domitian, was carefully educated at Rome, and became renowned at an early age for his poetical talents. He spent the last years of his life at Naples, which was also the place of his birth, and died there in the year A.D. 96. He wrote the Thebais, in twelve parts; the Achilleis, in two books; the Sylvæ, a collection of poems; a tragedy, and other works. He seems to have borrowed much from earlier Greek writers, but was possessed of considerable poetical fervor.
Claudius Claudianus, who lived under Theodosius the Great and his two sons, was probably born and educated at Alexandria, but we know little of his history. He came to Rome about A.D. 395, and, under the patronage of Stilicho, rose to a high position in the state. The time and place of his death are unknown. His chief works were, 1. Raptus Proserpinæ, an unfinished poem in three parts; 2. Gigantomachia, another unfinished work; 3. De Bello Gildonico, of which we possess only the first book; and, 4. De Bello Getico, in which the poet sings the victory of Stilicho over Alaric at Pollentia. His poems have a rude vigor which sometimes strikes the attention, but are chiefly valued for the light they throw upon the Gothic wars. They are marked by many faults of taste.
Lyric poetry was little cultivated at Rome after the death of Horace; but satire, which was peculiar to the Romans, reached its highest excellence under the empire. Juvenal is still the master of this kind of writing, although he has been imitated by Boileau, Pope, and Johnson; and his contemporary Persius was also a writer of great power.
Aulus Persius Flaccus was born at Volaterræ, in Etruria, in the year A.D. 34, of a distinguished family of the equestrian rank. He was educated at Rome under the best masters, particularly under the Stoic Cornutus, with whom he lived in close friendship, as well as with Lucan, Seneca, and the most distinguished men of his time. He died at the early age of twenty-eight, leaving behind him six satires and a brief preface. Persius possessed a generous, manly character, was the foe of every kind of vice, and formed one of that graceful band of writers who maintained their independence under the terrors of a despotic government.
Decimus Junius Juvenalis, of whose life we have few particulars, was born at Aquinum A.D. 38 or 40, and came up to Rome, where he at first studied eloquence with great ardor, but at length gave himself wholly to satirical writing. He offended Domitian by his satires, it is said, and was sent by that emperor to the extreme boundary of Egypt, where he died of grief and exile; but scarcely any fact in the history of this great man has been perfectly ascertained.
We possess sixteen satires of Juvenal, the last of which, however, is of doubtful authenticity. These satires are full of noble appeals to the purest emotions of virtue, and of severe rebukes for triumphant vice. Juvenal's language is often harsh and his taste impure; but his ideas are so elevated, his perception of truth, honor, and justice so clear, that he seldom fails to win the attention of his readers.
Epigrams seem to have been a favorite mode of expressing thought at the court of Augustus, and almost every eminent Roman from the time of Cicero has left one or more of these brilliant trifles behind him. M. Valerius Martialis, the chief of the epigrammatists, was born about A.D. 40, at Bibilis, in Spain, from whence he came to Rome, when about twenty, to perfect his education. Here he lived for thirty-five years, engaged in poetical pursuits, and patronized by Titus and Domitian. He seems finally to have returned to his native land, where he was living in the year A.D. 100. His poems are about fifteen hundred in number, divided into fourteen books, and are altogether original in their design. They are always witty, often indecent, and contain many personal allusions which can not now be understood. Martial is one of the most gifted of the Roman writers.
The practice of writing epigrams was preserved until a very late period. Seneca, Pliny the younger, Hadrian, and many others, were fond of composing them; and in modern times the epigram has been a favorite kind of poetry with most good writers.
Phædrus, who lived under Augustus and Tiberius, wrote pleasing fables. Calphurnius and Ausonius imitated Virgil's bucolics, and fragments of many other poets are preserved, whom we can not mention here.
Historical writers also abounded under the empire. Velleius Paterculus, an excellent historian descended from a patrician family, was born about B.C. 19. He was the friend and flatterer of Tiberius, and rose, in consequence, to several high offices. He was Quæstor in perhaps A.D. 7, and Prætor in A.D. 15. His Historicæ Romanæ, two books of which remain, is an abridgment of the history of the world, written in a clear and pleasing style, and is, in general, trustworthy. He flatters his benefactors, Augustus and Tiberius, but his fine tribute to the memory of Cicero shows that he felt a strong sympathy with that chief of the Republicans.
Valerius Maximus, who also lived under Tiberius, wrote a considerable work, composed of remarkable examples of virtue, and other anecdotes, collected from Roman or foreign history. He had plainly a just conception of moral purity, although he dedicates his book to Tiberius. His style is inflated and tasteless, but the work is not without interest.
Next after Valerius arose Tacitus, the chief of the imperial prose writers. Tacitus, a plebeian by birth, was born at Interamna. The year of his birth is not known, but must have lain between A.D. 47 and A.D. 61. Tacitus served in the army under Vespasian and Titus. He rose to many honors in the state, but in A.D. 89 left Rome, together with his wife, the daughter of the excellent Agricola. He returned thither in A.D. 97, and was made Consul by the Emperor Nerva. His death took place, no doubt, after A.D. 117. So few are the particulars that remain of the life of this eminent man; but the disposition and sentiments of Tacitus may be plainly discovered in his writings. He was honest, candid, a sincere lover of virtue. He lamented incessantly the fall of the old republic, and does not spare Augustus or Tiberius, whom he believed to be its destroyers. Like Juvenal, whom he resembled in the severity of his censure as well as the greatness of his powers, Tacitus wrote in a sad, desponding temper of mind, as if he foresaw the swift decline of his country.
His style is wholly his own—concise, obscure, strong, forever arousing the attention. He could never have attained the easy elegance of Livy, and he never tells a story with the grace of that unequaled narrator, but he has more vigor in his descriptions, more reality in his characters.
The life of his father-in-law Agricola is one of the most delightful of biographies. His account of the Germans was a silent satire upon the corrupt condition of the Roman state. The Historiarum Libri is a history of his own age, from the fall of Galba to the death of Domitian, and was probably designed to embrace the reigns of Nerva and Trajan. A small portion only of this work is preserved. The Annales relate the history of Rome from the death of Augustus to that of Nero, but are also imperfect. A treatise upon the orators is also attributed to the historian. Tacitus and Juvenal are the last great names in Roman literature.
Quintus Curtius Rufus, an interesting writer, who lived perhaps under Claudius or Tiberius, his true period being uncertain, wrote, in ten books, an account of the exploits of Alexander the Great. He was succeeded by C. Suetonius Tranquillus, who came to Rome during the reign of Domitian, and there studied rhetoric and grammar. Under Hadrian he fell into disgrace and went into exile: the period of his death is unknown. Suetonius wrote the lives of the twelve Cæsars, ending with Domitian. His language is good, and he paints with uncommon minuteness the vices as well as the virtues of his subjects; he abounds, too, in particulars which throw light upon the manners of the Romans. Suetonius also wrote several short treatises, while various biographies have been attributed to him which probably belong to inferior writers.
L. Annæus Florus, who perhaps lived under Trajan, wrote an epitome of Roman history. Justin, whose period is unknown, wrote or abridged from an earlier author, Trogus, a history of the world. The Scriptores Historiæ Augustæ is a collection of writers of little merit, who flourished in different periods of the empire. Aurelius Victor, who was probably Præfect of Rome under Theodosius, wrote Origo Gentis Romanæ, only a small portion of which has been preserved, and several other historical works. Eutropius, who served under Julian against the Persians, composed a brief history of Rome, written in a pure and natural style.
Ammianus Marcellinus, who lived under Valens, Valentinian, and Theodosius until A.D. 410, and was a Greek by birth, wrote a history of the empire from Nerva to the death of Valens, A.D. 378. A large part of this work is lost. Ammianus abounds in digressions and descriptions, and is, on that account, the more entertaining. His manner can not be praised.
The Spaniard Orosius concludes the list of the Latin historians. Orosius was a Christian presbyter, and, while defending Christianity, paints a lamentable picture of the condition of the pagan world. He borrowed from Justin and other writers, and lived in the fifth century.
Rhetoric continued to be cultivated, but eloquence no longer possessed the power which it held under the Republic. The speeches now delivered were chiefly declamations upon unimportant themes. M. Annæus Seneca, the father of the philosopher, came to Rome from his native city Corduba, in Spain, during the reign of Augustus, and became a famous rhetorician. M. Fabius Quintilianus, a greater name in literature, was born A.D. 42, at Calgurris, in Spain, but, as was customary with men of merit at that period, went up to Rome, and became celebrated as a teacher of rhetoric. He was a person of excellent character, and, besides practicing at the bar, rose to the consulship. Having passed many years in politics or the law, Quintilian at last returned to his old profession, and in the close of his life gave himself wholly to letters. He now wrote his work upon oratory, Libri duodecim Institutionis Oratoriæ. In this valuable work he seeks to restore the purity of the language, inculcates simplicity, and shows an excellent taste. The younger Pliny was also a famous orator or declaimer.
The Romance, or modern novel, is also thought to have begun in the first century with the satirical tale ascribed to Petronius Arbiter, or perhaps with the translation of the Milesian tales of Aristides from the Greek by Sisenna. The Petronii Arbitri Satiricon is a romance in prose and verse, and was probably written in the first century by an author of whom nothing is known. It relates the adventures of a certain Encolopius, and satirizes the vices and follies of the age. The language of this work is pure, the wit lively, but indecent: only a portion, however, of the Satiricon has been preserved. During the age of the Antonines arose Appuleius, the best known of the ancient writers of tales. He was born at Madaura, in Africa, but went to Carthage, and from thence to Athens, where he was initiated into the Grecian mysteries, and studied the Platonic philosophy. Appuleius was an agreeable speaker, and had filled his mind with the learning of his age; but his fame with posterity rests upon his novel Metamorphoseon, in which he strives to correct the vices of his contemporaries. In this work a vicious young man is transformed into an ass, under which form he goes through many amusing adventures, but is at last changed to a new man through the influence of the mysteries. The story is full of episodes, the moral good, but the language shows the decline of literary taste.
Philosophy, since the time of Cicero, had become a favorite study with the Romans, although they produced no remarkable philosopher. Seneca, the most eminent of them, was the son of M. Annæus Seneca, the rhetorician. He was probably born at Corduba, in Spain, soon after the Christian era, and was educated by the best masters at Rome. He possessed an active intellect, was early renowned, and held various high offices in the state. Having been the preceptor of Nero, he was finally condemned to death by that monster, and put an end to his life A.D. 65. Seneca was a Stoic, and taught self-control, tranquillity of mind, and contempt for the changes of fortune. His various essays and other writings have always been admired, although he wanted a correct taste, and is often affected and rhetorical. He possessed great wealth, which he either inherited or accumulated. His town house was adorned with marbles and citron-wood, and his country villas, of which he had several, were filled with costly luxuries; yet his morals were probably pure, and he was much beloved for his generosity and fidelity to his many friends.
The elder Pliny, Plinius Secundus Major, another famous philosopher, was born in the year A.D. 23, either at Como or Verona. He served with the army in Germany, and rose high in office under Vespasian. Being in command of the fleet at Misenum during the first eruption of Vesuvius in A.D. 79, in order to gratify his curiosity he remained too long near the burning mountain, and was suffocated by its exhalations. Pliny passed his whole life in study, and was never satisfied unless engaged in acquiring knowledge. His Historia Naturalis resembles the Cosmos of Humboldt, and passes in review over the whole circle of human knowledge. It treats of the heavens, of the earth and its inhabitants, of the various races of man, of animals, trees, flowers, minerals, the contents of the sea and land, of the arts and sciences; and shows that the author possessed an intellect of almost unequaled activity. His nephew, the younger Pliny, who lived under Trajan, and was the favorite correspondent of that emperor, is remembered for his agreeable letters, and the purity and dignity of his character.
Grammatical studies and critical writings also afforded employment for many intelligent Romans; and every part of the empire seems to have been filled with cultivated men, who, possessing wealth and leisure, gave themselves to literary studies. Aulus Gellius, one of the best known of the grammarians, lived during the period of the Antonines. His Noctes Atticæ is a critical work in twenty books, in which he discusses many questions in language, philosophy, and science. He seems to have passed his life in traveling over Italy and Greece, collecting materials for this work, and, wherever he goes he never fails to meet with agreeable, intelligent friends, who delight, like himself, in improving conversation.
Aurelius Macrobius, another well-known grammarian, lived during the fifth century. His Commentary on the Dream of Scipio is full of the scientific speculations of his age. His Saturnalia contains many extracts from the best Roman writers, with criticisms upon them, in which he detects the plagiarisms of Virgil, and observes the faults as well as the beauties of the orators and poets of Rome. The works of other grammarians have been preserved or are partly known to us, among which are those of Servius, Festus, Priscianus, and Isidorus.
The study of the law, too, flourished in uncommon excellence under the emperors, and nearly two thousand legal works were condensed in the Digests of Justinian, few of which belonged to the Republican period. Under Augustus and Tiberius, Q. Antistius Labeo founded the famous school of the Proculians. He left four hundred volumes upon legal subjects. His rival, C. Ateius Capito, founded the school of the Sabinians, and was also a profuse writer. Under Hadrian, Salvius Julianus prepared the Edictum Perpetuum, about the year A.D. 132, which condensed all the edicts of former magistrates into a convenient code. Papinianus, Ulpianus, and Paulus were also celebrated for their legal writings. The only complete legal work, however, which we possess from this period, is a Commentary by Gaius, who lived probably under Hadrian. This valuable treatise was discovered in the year 1816 by the historian Niebuhr, in the library of Verona. It contains a clear account of the principles of the Roman law, and the Institutes of Justinian are little more than a transcript of those of Gaius.
Various medical writers also belong to the Imperial period, the most important of whom is A. Cornelius Celsus. Works on agriculture were also written by Columella, Palladius, and others, which serve to show the decline of that pursuit among the Romans. Geography, mathematics, and architecture were also cultivated; but of most of these scientific authors only the name is preserved.