A.D. 68.

CHAPTER LII.

GALBA,

SIXTH EMPEROR OF ROME, A.D. 68.

THE reign of Galba was extremely short, lasting only about six months. He was an oid man when he came to the throne, and was not liked because he was suspected of being fond of saving money, though most probably he only desired to cut short the extravagance which had been practised by the emperors who went before him. The persons who had the greatest influence over him were three favourite servants, or freedmen; and, by their advice, he acted in a way which appeared harsh and caused him soon to be out of favour with his subjects, and especially with the soldiers.

Galba did not know how much he was disliked, and imagined that the great cause of the general discontent was because he had no heir to succeed him; accordingly he chose a young man of high character, Piso Lucinianus, and presented him to the soldiers and to the senate as his adopted son. A sum of money had been promised to the prætorian guards, but Galba unfortunately neglected to fulfil the promise, and in consequence greatly increased the general ill-will; and when Silvius Otho, who had hoped to have been adopted himself, tried to form a conspiracy amongst them to dethrone Galba, they willingly listened to him. The plot broke out six days after the adoption of Lucinianus; for the soldiers seized upon Otho, and declared him emperor. Galba determined to defend himself, but he was killed as he was crossing the

forum; and Piso and many of his other friends shared the same fate.

CHAPTER LIII.

отно,

SEVENTH EMPEROR OF ROME, A.D. 69.

OTHо's reign was even shorter than A.D. 69. that of Galba: he was emperor only for three months. During that time he showed a better disposition than could have been expected, and seemed inclined to be just, and even benevolent. It was now, however, the practice of the soldiers to choose their own rulers; and the legions in Germany, having received large sums of money from their general Vitellius, determined to make him emperor instead of Otho. There was a great struggle in consequence. Otho led an army against Vitellius, and was defeated; and, when he found that his cause was hopeless, he put an end to his own life.

A.D. 69.

CHAPTER LIV.

VITELLIUS,

EIGHTH EMPEROR OF ROME, A. D. 69.

VITELLIUS Succeeded Otho. His cha racter is one of the most disagreeable that we read of in history. Eating was his one great pleasure, and the stories of his gluttony are quite dis gusting. He reigned little more than eight months,

and was then dethroned and murdered by the soldiers, who were weary of his contemptible conduct, and chose Vespasian, the general who was carrying on the war in Judea, to take the government from him.

CHAPTER LV.

VESPASIAN, A.D. 69

VESPASIAN set himself earnestly to re

A. D. 70. form the empire he had undertaken to

rule; while his son Titus carried on the war in Judea with courage, skill, and mercy.

The Jews made a brave defence against their Roman conquerors; but they lost one battle after another, and one town after another, till at length only Jerusalem was left. It was a very strong city, and, if it had not been for the quarrels of the people within, it would have been very difficult for any army from without to have taken it. But, instead of joining against their common enemy, the unhappy Jews spent their time and strength in destroying one another.

It was at the feast of the Passover, when great numbers of people were collected together, that Titus undertook to besiege Jerusalem. He began by battering down the outer wall, and still, as hc went on and gained ground, he continued to offer the Jews pardon, and beg them to submit. But they were desperately bent upon resisting him; and even when Titus sent Josephus, one of their own countrymen, who had been taken prisoner, to entreat them to yield, they would not listen to him. At length Titus surrounded the city so completely

that the inhabitants could neither escape nor gain help from any one without; and, as their provisions began to fail, their sufferings from famine became more and more dreadful. Josephus, who wrote a history of the Jews, and particularly describes the last siege of Jerusalem, says that the miseries they underwent were unspeakable; but no words can describe what happened so awfully as the prophecy which was given in the Bible, many hundred years before, in the twenty-eighth chapter of the book of Deuteronomy. Every thing there mentioned was exactly fulfilled.

The destruction of Jerusalem was foretold also by dreadful signs in the heavens-chariots, and troops of horses, and a flaming sword being seen amongst the clouds; but the Jews could not be persuaded to believe that their ruin was so near, till the Romans had taken possession of nearly the whole of the city, and burnt the buildings near the temple: then they were driven to desperation, and sought refuge in the sacred edifice; but a Roman soldier set fire to a window, through which there was a passage into the temple, and in a short space afterwards the whole was in flames. When Titus was told what had been done, he left his tent, and ran to the temple, followed by his commanders and several legions, and, calling to the soldiers, gave them a signal to quench the fire. But they did not hear nor attend; for they were furious with eagerness to revenge themselves for the length of time that their enemies had withstood them, and, rushing into the temple, slew the unhappy Jews without mercy, till their dead bodies lay piled around the altar.

Even to the last Titus strove to restrain his soldiers and persuade them to extinguish the fire ; but a Higher Power than his had doomed the tem

ple of Jerusalem to destruction, and, in spite of all his efforts, it was burnt to the ground. The Roman ensigns were set over against the Eastern Gate, and the Romans offered sacrifices to their false deities, and gave praise to their great commander, in the sanctuary of the True God.

The fate of the Jews after the fall of Jerusalem is well known. Even in our own days we can see how strictly the prophecy has been fulfilled, which said that they should "be led away captive-into all nations," and that "their city should be trodden down of the Gentiles."

The Roman power may be said to have been at its height in the reign of Vespasian, for his generals conquered Britain, and thus made the empire larger than it had ever been before. But Vespasian himself loved peace. He governed wisely, encouraged learned men, and gained popularity by pulling down the wicked Nero's Golden House, and building on part of its site the Amphitheatre, now known as the Colosseum, which was used for the fights of the gladiators, who were hired to amuse the Roman people. Vespasian died A.D. 79, at the age of seventy. When he knew that death was at hand he caused himself to be raised upright, saying that "an emperor ought to die standing." He was succeeded by his son Titus, who had for some time previous shared his power.

TITUS, A.D. 79.

Titus, though not so good a man as Vespasian, was a person of thought and learning as well as of courage. It is said of him that, recollecting one night that he had done nothing during the day to benefit his subjects, he exclaimed, "Alas! I have

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