XII. CHAP. the army; and in an age, when the civil and military professions began to be irrecoverably separated from each other, they were united in the person of Carus. Notwithstanding the severe justice which he exercised against the assassins of Probus, to whose favour and esteem he was highly indebted, he could not escape the suspicion of being accessary to a deed from whence he derived the principal advantage. He enjoyed, at least before his elevation, an acknowledged character of virtue and abilities; but his austere temper insensibly degenerated into moroseness and cruelty; and the imperfect writers of his life almost hesitate whether they shall not rank him in the number of Roman tyrants." When Carus assumed the purple, he was about sixty years of age, and his two sons, Carinus and Numerian had already attained the season of manhood.* The sentiments of and veo ple. The authority of the senate expired with Pro the senate bus; nor was the repentance of the soldiers displayed by the same dutiful regard for the civil power, which they had testified after the unfortunate death of Aurelian. The election of Carus was decided without expecting the approbation of the senate, and the new emperor contented * Probus had requested of the Senate an equestrian statue and a marble palace, at the public expence, as a just recompence of the sin gular merit of Carus. Vopiscus in Hist. August. p. 249. "Vopiscus in Hist. August. p. 242, 249. Julian excludes the cmperor Carus and both his sons from the banquet of the Cæsars. * John Malela, tom. i, p. 401. But the authority of that ignorant Greck is very slight. He ridiculously derives from Carus the city of Carrhæ, and the province of Caria, the latter of which is mentioned by Homer. XII. himself with announcing, in a cold and stately CHAP. epistle, that he had ascended the vacant throne.' A behaviour so very opposite to that of his amiable predecessor afforded no favourable presage of the new reign; and the Romans, deprived of power and freedom, asserted their privilege of licentious murmurs. The voice of congratulation and flattery was not however silent; and we may still peruse, with pleasure and contempt, an eclogue, which was composed on the accession of the emperor Carus. Two shepherds, avoiding the noon-tide heat, retire into the cave of Faunus. On a spreading beech they discover some recent characters. The rural deity had described, in prophetic verses, the felicity promised to the empire, under the reign of so great a prince. Faunus hails the approach of that hero, who, receiving on his shoulders the sinking weight of the Roman world, shall extinguish war and faction, and once again restore the innocence and security of the golden age.* feats the tians, and into the It is more than probable, that these elegant Carus detrifles never reached the ears of a veteran general, Sarmawho, with the consent of the legions, was pre- marches paring to execute the long suspended design of the Persian war. Before his departure for this distant expedition, Carus conferred on his two sons, Carinus and Numerian, the title of Cæsar; ▾ Hist. August. p. 249. Carus congratulated the senate, that one of their own order was made emperor. * Hist. August. p 242. * See the first eclogue of Calphurnins. The design of it is preferred by Fontenelle to that of Virgil's Pollio. See tom, iii, p. 148 East. CHAP. and investing the former with almost an equal XII. A. D. 283, to the Per sian am share of the imperial power, directed the young prince first to suppress some troubles which had arisen in Gaul, and afterwards to fix the seat of his residence at Rome, and to assume the government of the western provinces. The safety of Illyricum was confirmed by a memorable defeat of the Sarmatians; sixteen thousand of those barbarians remained on the field of battle, and the number of captives amounted to twenty thousand. The old emperor, animated with the fame and prospect of victory, pursued his march, in the midst of winter, through the countries of Thrace and Asia Minor; and at length, with his younger son Numerian, arrived on the confines of the Persian monarchy. There, encamping on the summit of a lofty mountain, he pointed out to his troops the opulence and luxury of the enemy whom they were about to invade. The successor of Artaxerxes, Varanes or Bahaudience ram, though he had subdued the Segestans, one of the most warlike nations of Upper Asia, was bassadors. alarmed at the approach of the Romans, and en'deavoured to retard their progress by a negociation of peace. His embassadors entered the camp about sun-set, at the time when the troops were satisfying their hunger with a frugal repast. The Persians expressed their desire of being intro Hist. August. p. 353. Eutropius, ix, 18. Pagi Aunal. Agathias, 1. iv, p. 135. We find one of his sayings in the Bib liothéque Orientale of M. d'Herbelot. "The definition of humanity "includes all other virtues." XII. duced to the presence of the Roman emperor. CHAP. They were at length conducted to a soldier, who was seated on the grass. A piece of stale bacon and a few hard pease composed his supper. A coarse woollen garment of purple was the only circumstance that announced his dignity. The conference was conducted with the same disregard of courtly elegance. Carus taking off a cap which he wore to conceal his baldness, assured the ambassadors, that, unless their master acknowledged the superiority of Rome, he would speedily render Persia as naked of trees, as his own head was destitute of hair. Notwithstanding some traces of art and preparation, we may discover in this scene the manners of Carus, and the severe simplicity which the martial princes, who succeeded Gallienus, had already restored in the Roman camps. The ministers of the great king trembled and retired. ries and death. The threats of Carus were not without effect. His victo He ravaged Mesopotamia, cut in pieces whatever extraordi opposed his passage, made himself master of the nary great cities of Seleusia and Ctesiphon (which seemed to have surrendered without resistance), and carried his victorious arms beyond the Tygris. He had seized the favourable moment for an invasion. The Persian councils were dis Synesius tells this story of Carinus; and it is much more natural to understand it of Carus, than (as Petavius and Tillemont choose to do) of Probus. Vopisens in Hist. August. p. 250. Eutropius, ix, 18. The two Victors. XII. CHAP. tracted by domestic factions, and the greater part of their forces were detained on the frontiers of India. Rome and the East received with transport the news of such important advantages. Flattery and hope painted, in the most lively colours, the fall of Persia, the conquest of Arabia, the submission of Egypt, and a lasting deliverance from the inroads of the Scythian nations.' A. D. 283, But the reign of Carus was destined to expose the vanity of predictions. They were scarcely uttered before they were contradicted by his death; an event attended with such ambiguous circumstances, that it may be related in a letter from his own secretary to the prefect of the city. Dec. 25. Carus," says he, "our dearest emperor, was "confined by sickness to his bed, when a furious 66 tempest arose in the camp. The darknes "which overspread the sky was so thick, that "we could no longer distinguish each other; "and the incessant flashes of lightning took from "us the knowledge of all that passed in the ge"neral confusion. Immediately after the most " violent clap of thunder, we heard a sudden cry, that the emperor was dead; and it soon "appeared, that his chamberlains, in a rage of 66 grief, had set fire to the royal pavilion, a cir"cumstance which gave rise to the report that "Carus was killed by lightning. But, as far as f To the Persian victory of Carus, I refer the dialogue of the Philopatris, which has so long been an object of dispute among the learned But to explain and justify my opinion would require a dissertation. |