V.

fervitude. These new advocates of prerogative CHAP were heard with pleasure by the court, and with patience by the people, when they inculcated the duty of paffive obedience, and defcanted on the inevitable mischiefs of freedom. The lawyers and the hiftorians concurred in teaching, that the Imperial authority was held, not by the delegated commiffion, but by the irrevocable refignation of the fenate; that the emperor was freed from the restraint of civil laws, could command by his arbitrary will the lives and fortunes of his fubjects, and might dispose of the empire as of his private patrimony The most eminent of the civil lawyers, and particularly Papinian, Paulus, and Ulpian, flourished under the houfe of Severus ; and the Roman jurifprudence having closely united itself with the fyftem of monarchy, was fuppofed to have attained its full maturity and perfection.

71

The contemporaries of Severus, in the enjoyment of the peace and glory of his reign, forgave the cruelties by which it had been introduced. Pofterity, who experienced the fatal effects of his maxims and example, juftly confidered him as the principal author of the decline of the Roman empire.

CHAP. VI.

The Death of Severus.

Tyranny of Caracalla.

СНАР,

VI.

and dif

Severus.

Ufurpation of Macrinus. Follies of Elagabalus. Virtues of Alexander Severus. Licentiousness of the Army. General State of the Roman Fi

nances,

THE afcent to greatness, however steep and Greatnefs dangerous, may entertain an active fpirit with the confcioufnefs and 'exercife of its own powers; content of but the poffeffion of a throne could never yet afford a lafting fatisfaction to an ambitious mind. This melancholy truth was felt and acknowledged by Severus, Fortune and merit had, from an humble station, elevated him to the first place among mankind. He had been all things, as he faid himself,and all was of little value'." Diftracted with the care, not of acquiring, but of preferving an empire, oppreffed with age and infirmities careless of fame, and fatiated with power, all his profpects of life were .clofed. The defire of perpetuating the greatnefs of his family, was the only remaining wish of his ambition and paternal tenderness.

His wife

prefs Ju

lia.

وو

Like most of the Africans, Severus was pafthe em- fionately addicted to the vain ftudies of magic and divination, deeply verfed in the interpretation of dreams and omens, and perfectly acquainted with the science of judicial aftrology; which, in almost every age, except the prefent, has maintained its

dominion over the mind of man. He had loft his first wife, whilft he was governor of the Lionnese Gaul'. In the choice of a fecond, he fought only to connect himself with fome favourite of fortune; and as foon as he had discovered that a young lady of Emefa in Syria had a royal nativity, he folicited, and obtained her hand *. Julia Domna (for that was her name) deferved all that the ftars could promise her. She poffeffed, even in an advanced age, the attractions of beauty', and united to a lively imagination, a firmness of mind, and ftrength of judgment, feldom beftowed on her fex. Her amiable qualities never made any deep impreffion on the dark and jealous temper of her husband; but in her fon's reign, she administered the prin cipal affairs of the empire, with a prudence, that fupported his authority; and with a moderation, that fometimes corrected his wild extravagancies Julia applied herself to letters and philofophy, with fome fuccefs, and with the moft fplendid reputation. She was the patronefs of every art, and the friend of every man of genius'. The grateful flattery of the learned has celebrated her virtues; but, if we may credit the scandal of ancient history, chastity was very far from being the most confpicuous virtue of the empress Julia '.

Two fons, Caracalla' and Geta, where the fruit of this marriage, and the deftined heirs of the empire. The fond hopes of the father, and of the Roman world, were foon difappointed by these vain youths, who difplayed the indolent fecurity of hereditary princes; and a prefumption that fortune

VI,

fion to

each other.

СНАР. would fupply the place of merit and application. Without any emulation of virtue or talents, they difcovered, almost from their infancy, a fixed and Their mu- implacable antipathy for each other. Their averfion, tual aver confirmed by years, and fomented by the arts of their interested favourites, broke out in childish and gradually in more ferious, competitions; and at length divided the theatre, the circus, and the court, into two factions; actuated by the hopes and fears of their respective leaders. The prudent emperor endeavoured, by every expedient of advice and authority, to allay this growing animofity. The unhappy difcord of his fons clouded all his prospects, and threatened to overturn a throne raised with so much labour, cemented with so much blood, and guarded with every defence of arms and treasure. With an impartial hand he maintained between them an exact balance of favour, conferred on both the rank of Auguftus, with the revered name of Antoninus; and for the firft time the Three em- Roman world beheld three emperors °. Yet even this equal conduct ferved only to inflame the contest, whilft the fierce Caracalla afferted the right of primogeniture, and the milder Geta courted the affections of the people and the foldiers. In the anguish of a disappointed father, Severus foretold, that the weaker of his fons would fall a facrifice to the ftronger; who, in his turn, would be ruined by his own vices ".

perors.

The Cale

donian

I

In these circumstances the intelligence of a war in Britain, and of an invafion of the province by A. D. 208. the barbarians of the North, was received with

war.

VI.

pleasure by Severus. Though the vigilance of his CHAP lieutenants might have been fufficient to repel the diftant enemy, he refolved to embrace the honourable pretext of with drawing his fons from the luxury of Rome, which enervated their minds and irritated their paffions; and of inuring their youth to the toils of war and government. Notwithstanding his advanced age (for he was above three-fcore), and his gout, which obliged him to be carried in a litter, he tranfported himself in perfon into that remote island, attended by his two fons, his whole court, and a formidable army. He immediately paffed the walls of Hadrian and Antoninus, and entered the enemy's country, with a defign of completing the long attempted conqueft of Britain. He penetrated to the northern extremity of the island, without meeting an enemy. But the concealed ambufcades of the Caledonians, who hung unfeen on the rear and flanks of his army, the coldness of the climate, and the feverity of a winter march across the hills and moraffes of Scotland, are reported to have coft the Romans above fifty thousand men. The Caledonians at length yielded to the powerful and obftinate attack, fued for peace, and furrendered a part of their arms, and a large tract of territory. But their apparent submission lasted no longer than the present terror. As foon as the Roman legions had retired, they resumed their hoftile independence. Their restless fpirit provoked Severus to fend a new army into Caledonia, with the most bloody orders, not to fubdue but to extirpate the natives. They were