one being always stationed at Alexandria, to overawe the turbulent populace, besides a select body of nine pare Roman cohorts, three of which held the frontier garrison of Syene. The conduct of the first prefect soon proved that no precautions could be too strict. Though one of Octavian's most trusted friends, Cornelius Gallus began, after four years, to assume airs of independence, speaking lightly of his master, erecting many statues of himself, and inscribing his own deeds upon the pyramids. Being deprived of his government, and banished by a decree of the Senate, he fell upon his own Sword (B.c. 26). He must not be confounded with his successor, lius Gallus, whose expedition into Arabia, though fruitless in any result of conquest, furnished his friend Strabo with information concerning the geography of the peninsula (B.c. 24). Having founded a second Nicopolis, east of Alexandria, on the spot where he had defeated Antony, Octavian began his progress homeward through the eastern provinces before the end of the year. In Judæa, Herod, who repaid him with a devotion more ardent even than he had shown to Antony. his aid was sought by both the rivals who were contending for the Parthian throne, Phraates and Tiridates; but he was content for the present to see the great enemy of Rome divided against itself, and to await the time when in the language of the poet, and in that only, he should

as we have seen, he confirmed the kingdom to

carry the

thunders of war to the deep Euphrates. Octavian spent the following winter in Asia Minor, and remained beyond the Ægæan till the middle of the summer of B.C. 29, as if to give the Senate and people time to

prepare

due honours for his reception. Octavian had now been absent from Rome nearly two years, and the peace of Italy had been preserved unbroken by the calm policy of Mæcenas. The only attempt at its interruption was by the abortive conspiracy of Lepidus, the son of the deposed triumvir, who was seized by Mæcenas and sent in chains to Asia. The few remnants of the aristocratic party were well described by the beautiful image which Horace borrows from Alcæus-a shipwrecked vessel, with the oars broken from its sides, its mast sprung, its yards crazy, its shrouds torn away, its sails in tatters, its leaking hull scarce able to ride on the overmastering sea, no even at its figure-head to pray to, and nothing left but the empty name and useless boast of the " Pontic pine" from which it claimed its origin *-what remained but to make for the port the Pompeian party, which had now but the empty name of the hero of the Pontic war. Pontus, whose pine-forests were famed for shipbuilding, is made the symbol of

gods

who had filled the throne of Egypt for a period, which moderate computers estimate at not much short of three thousand years. The oldest monarchy of the ancient world, the last of the kingdoms established by Alexander's conquests, has succumbed to the destiny of the conquering Republic. Rome is triumphant over the two great systems which have preceded her in the dominion of the world, Oriental despotism and Hellenism. The "IRON which breaketh in pieces and subdueth all things" has "broken in pieces and bruised" the gold, the silver, and the brass of Assyria, Persia, and Macedonia. But little did the victor imagine, when he confirmed Herod in the sovereignty of Judæa, that the rock, upon which the capital of that petty kingdom was built, was the emblem of that eternal foundation of all power, from which a living stone was just about to be cut out without hands, to smite the image of secular despotism upon its feet of iron, already mingled with the weaker clay,-so that "the iron, the clay, the brass, the silver, and the gold were broken to pieces together, and became like the chaff of the summer threshing-floors; and the wind carried them away, that no place was found for them: and the stone that smote the image became a great mountain, and filled the whole earth.” *

In creating Egypt a province of the Roman empire, Octavian took care to make it directly subject to himself, and not to the Senate the type, in fact, of what were afterwards called the "Provinces of Cæsar." Its enormous fertility and wealth, its maritime strength, and its position between the Mediterranean and the East, made it far too important to be trusted out of his own hands; and he seems to have felt the importance of his authority for the continuance of that wise policy of concession to native customs, by which the Ptolemies had so long maintained their hold upon the Egyptians. Not only the religious, but the judicial system, which had been handed down from the Pharaohs, was left to be administered by the people themselves, and the province was carefully guarded from the extortions of the Roman tax-gatherers. The government was entrusted to Cornelius Gallus, a distinguished knight, the friend of Pollio, Virgil, Varus, and Ovid, and Octavian afterwards obtained a decree of the Senate, that the governor should never be of higher than equestrian rank, and that no senator should even visit the province without permission. Under the prefect was an officer of finance (procurator), who rendered his accounts direct to Octavian. The province was guarded by three legions,

* Daniel ii. 35.

one being always stationed at Alexandria, to overawe the turbulent populace, besides a select body of nine pure Roman cohorts, three of which held the frontier garrison of Syene. The conduct of the first prefect soon proved that no precautions could be too strict. Though one of Octavian's most trusted friends, Cornelius Gallus began, after four years, to assume airs of independence, speaking lightly of his master, erecting many statues of himself, and inscribing his own deeds upon the pyramids. Being deprived of his government, and banished by a decree of the Senate, he fell upon his own sword (B.c. 26). He must not be confounded with his successor, Ælius Gallus, whose expedition into Arabia, though fruitless in any result of conquest, furnished his friend Strabo with information concerning the geography of the peninsula (B.c. 24).

Having founded a second Nicopolis, east of Alexandria, on the spot where he had defeated Antony, Octavian began his progress homeward through the eastern provinces before the end of the year. In Judæa, as we have seen, he confirmed the kingdom to Herod, who repaid him with a devotion more ardent even than he had shown to Antony. In Syria, his aid was sought by both the rivals who were contending for the Parthian throne, Phraates and Tiridates; but he was content for the present to see the great enemy of Rome divided against itself, and to await the time when in the language of the poet, and in that only, he should carry the thunders of war to the deep Euphrates. Octavian spent the following winter in Asia Minor, and remained beyond the Ægæan till the middle of the summer of B.C. 29, as if to give the Senate and people time to prepare due honours for his reception.

Octavian had now been absent from Rome nearly two years, and the peace of Italy had been preserved unbroken by the calm policy of Mæcenas. The only attempt at its interruption was by the abortive conspiracy of Lepidus, the son of the deposed triumvir, who was seized by Mæcenas and sent in chains to Asia. The few remnants of the aristocratic party were well described by the beautiful image which Horace borrows from Alcæus-a shipwrecked vessel, with the oars broken from its sides, its mast sprung, its yards crazy, its shrouds torn away, its sails in tatters, its leaking hull scarce able to ride on the overmastering sea, no gods even at its figure-head to pray to, and nothing left but the empty name and useless boast of the " Pontic pine" from which it claimed its origin *—what remained but to make for the port

* Pontus, whose pine-forests were famed for shipbuilding, is made the symbol of the Pompeian party, which had now but the empty name of the hero of the Pontic war.

in which the Republic itself rode safely. The popular feeling, now entirely with Octavian, added acclamations to the honours which were voted by the Senate-the constant use of the triumphal dress, a quinquennial festival to be kept in his name, the observance of his birthday with religious rites, and the addition of his name to the Senate and People of Rome in the public prayers for the state. This alteration of the style and title which had so long floated on the banners of the Republic, and had been affixed to her treaties and mandates-the S. P. Q. R., at the sight of which kings and commonwealths had trembled-was the most significant sign of the change now completed. The Vestal Virgins, with the Senate and people, went out to meet the returning conqueror beyond the gates, and he entered the city in a triple triumph for his Dalmatian victories, for the battle of Actium, and for the conquest of Egypt, on the 7th, 8th, and 9th of Sextilis (August). The triumph was followed by splendid games, by the dedication of the Julian basilica in the Forum, which now became the usual Senate-house, and of the shrine for the worship of Cæsar on the spot where his body had been burnt, besides other temples built from the spoils of Egypt. The vast quantities of precious metals brought back by Octavian from the East-the plunder chiefly of the temples at Alexandria-enabled him to heap rewards upon his soldiers and pour largesses on the citizens, and completely disturbed the prices of money and commodities at Rome. All classes shared in the public wealth; and "the enhancement of prices hardly touched a populace whose subsistence and diversions were provided by the state. The restoration of universal peace-for no account was taken of the petty wars in Gaul and Spain-was solemnly inaugurated by the closing of the temple of Janus in the Forum, for the third time in all Roman history. Its first shutting had marked the peaceful reign of Numa; its second, the end of the First Punic War.

*

"Estates and commodities were doubled in nominal value, and the interest of money at the same time sank two-thirds." (Merivale, vol. iii. p. 405.)