[Illustration: Famous painting of the head Jesus Christ

(By steadily gazing at the eyes in the picture they will be seen tosuddenly open. )

Painting by Gabriel Max. ]

THE GREAT EVENTS

BY

FAMOUS HISTORIANS

A COMPREHENSIVE AND READABLE ACCOUNT OF THE WORLD'S HISTORY, EMPHASIZINGTHE MORE IMPORTANT EVENTS, AND PRESENTING THESE AS COMPLETE NARRATIVESIN THE MASTER-WORDS OF THE MOST EMINENT HISTORIANS

NON-SECTARIAN NON-PARTISAN NON-SECTIONAL

ON THE PLAN EVOLVED FROM A CONSENSUS OF OPINIONS GATHERED FROM THE MOSTDISTINGUISHED SCHOLARS OF AMERICA AND EUROPE, INCLUDING BRIEFINTRODUCTIONS BY SPECIALISTS TO CONNECT AND EXPLAIN THE CELEBRATEDNARRATIVES, ARRANGED CHRONOLOGICALLY. WITH THOROUGH INDICES, BIBLIOGRAPHIES, CHRONOLOGIES. AND COURSES OF READING

EDITOR-IN-CHIEF

ROSSITER JOHNSON, LL. D. 

ASSOCIATE EDITORS

CHARLES F. HORNE, Ph. D. 

JOHN RUDD, LL. D. 

_With a staff of specialists_

_VOLUME III_

[Illustration: Decorative]

The National Alumni

COPYRIGHT, 1905, BY THE NATIONAL ALUMNI

CONTENTS

VOLUME III

 PAGE

_An Outline Narrative of the Great Events_, xi CHARLES F. HORNE

_Germanicus in Germany (A. D. 13-16)_, 1 TACITUS

_The Crucifixion (A. D. 30)_, 23 FREDERIC WILLIAM FARRAR

_The Rise and Spread of Christianity (A. D. 33)_, 40 RENAN WISE NEWMAN

_Burning of Rome under Nero (A. D. 64)_, 108 SIENKIEWICZ TACITUS

_Persecution of the Christians under Nero (A. D. 64-68)_, 134 FREDERIC WILLIAM FARRAR

_The Great Jewish Revolt__Siege and Destruction of Jerusalem (A. D. 70)_, 150 JOSEPHUS

_Destruction of Pompeii (A. D. 79)_, 207 PLINY LYTTON

_The Jews' Last Struggle for Freedom__Their Final Dispersion (A. D. 132)_, 222 CHARLES MERIVALE

_Martyrdom of Polycarp and Justin Martyr__Polycarp's Epistle to the Philippians (A. D. 155)_, 231 HOMERSHAM COX POLYCARP

_Persecution of the Christians in Gaul (A. D. 177)_, 246 FRANÇOIS P. G. GUIZOT

_Beginning of Rome's Decline__Commodus (A. D. 180)_, 263 EDWARD GIBBON

_Eventful Reign of Sapor I, King of Persia (A. D. 241)_, 277 GEORGE RAWLINSON

_Conversion of Constantine__Decline of Paganism (A. D. 300-337)_, 289 JOHANN L. VON MOSHEIM

_First Nicene Council__Rise and Decline of Arianism (A. D. 325)_, 299 JOHANN L. VON MOSHEIM ARTHUR P. STANLEY

_Foundation of Constantinople (A. D. 330)_, 320 EDWARD GIBBON

_Julian the Apostate Becomes Emperor of Rome (A. D. 360)_, 333 EDWARD GIBBON

_The Huns and Their Western Migration (A. D. 374-376)_, 352 MARCELLINUS

_Final Division of Roman Empire__The Disruptive Intrigues (A. D. 395)_, 364 J. B. BURY

_Universal Chronology (A. D. 13-409)_, 385 JOHN RUDD

LIST OF ILLUSTRATIONS

VOLUME III

 PAGE

_Famous painting of the head of Jesus Christ_ (_page 23_), By Gabriel Max. Frontispiece

_Queen Thusnelda, wife of Arminius, taken prisonerby the soldiers of the Roman general Germanicus_, 4 Painting by H. Koenig. 

AN OUTLINE NARRATIVE

TRACING BRIEFLY THE CAUSES, CONNECTIONS, AND CONSEQUENCES OF

THE GREAT EVENTS

(THE PERIOD OF THE ROMAN EMPIRE)

CHARLES F. HORNE

So vast and wonderful a construction was the Roman world, so differentfrom our own, that we are apt to imagine it as an arrangement far moredeliberately planned, far more mechanically complete, than it appearedto its own inhabitants. 

From a cursory glance, we may carry away wholly mistaken conceptions ofits thought and purpose. Thus, for instance, the Roman Republic neverassumed the definite design of conquering the world; its people had onlythe vaguest conception of whither the world might extend. They merelyquarrelled with their neighbors, defeated and then annexed them. 

At almost any time after Hannibal's death, Rome might have marched herlegions, practically unopposed, over all the lands within her reach. Yetshe permitted a century and a half to elapse ere Pompey asserted hersovereignty over Asia. It was left for Augustus to take the final step, and, by absorbing Egypt, make his country become in name what it hadlong been in fact, the ruler of the civilized world. 

Thus, too, we think of Augustus as a kindly despot, supreme, andgoverned only by his own will. But his compatriots looked on him assimply the chief citizen of their republic. They considered that oftheir own free will, to escape the dangers of further civil war, theyhad chosen to confer upon one man, eminently "safe and sane, " all thehigh offices whose holders had previously battled against one another. So Augustus was Emperor or Imperator, which meant no more than generalof the armies of the Republic; he was Consul, or chief civiladministrator of the Republic; he was Pontifex Maximus, high-priest ofthe Republic. He could have had more titles and offices still if hewould have accepted them from an obsequious senate. 

But the title of "king, " so obnoxious to Roman taste, Augustus neversought, nor did his successors, who were in turn appointed to all hisoffices. For nearly three centuries after the one-man power had becomeabsolute, Rome continued to call itself a republic, to go through formsof election and ceremonial, which grew ever more and more meaninglessand trivial. 

Augustus seems to have felt the tremendous weight of his position, andto have tried honestly to divide his authority. He invested thetrembling senate with both power and responsibility. In theory, itbecame as influential as he. But the appointment of its members, andalso the supreme control of the armies, remained always with theImperator; and thus the senate continued in reality little better than aflickering shadow. Under the reign of a well-meaning emperor, it loomedlarge, and often dilated into a very valuable and honorable body. In thegrip of a tyrant, it sank at once to its true aspect of helpless andobsequious submission. 

THE "ROMAN PEACE"

To the outside world the reign of the emperors was welcome. Theprovinces were governed by salaried officials, whose conduct wasseriously investigated. The hideous extortions and cruelties of thegovernors sent out in the earlier days of the Republic almostdisappeared. This milder rule seemed happy in the contrast. An emperormight be a brute at home, but his personal cruelties could scarce spreadover an entire world. Money for even the hugest extravagances of onlyone man, the provinces could supply. At first they scarce felt thedrain. 

For two entire centuries after Augustus had assumed power, the worldflourished and apparently prospered under the "Roman peace. " The ruinsof Pompeii, the tale of its destruction, show how well and how lazilythe upper classes and even the masses lived. [1] The legions were scarceneeded except for petty wars along the frontier. The defeat inflicted bythe German barbarians was avenged, and the northern wilderness seems tohave come very near to sharing the fate of Gaul. [2] But the longcampaigns were costly and apparently valueless. No taxes flowed into thetreasury from the poor half-subjugated savages; and the emperor Tiberiuscontemptuously declared that he would leave them to fight amongthemselves. Another frontier strife completed the subjugation of Spain. Another added Britain to the Empire. Another made temporary conquestover Dacia and extended the Asian boundary. There were minor revolts inGaul. 

Then the Jews, roused to sudden religious frenzy and believingthemselves invincible, burst into rebellion. [3] Titus stormed theircapital and burned their Temple. But the lesson was wasted on thestubborn, fanatical race, and sixty years later they flared out again. Roman relentlessness was roused to its fullest rage, and accomplishedagainst them the destruction of prophecy. Their cities were razed to theground, and the poor remnant of the race were scattered abroad. Yet, apparently imperishable, refusing to be merged with other men, theyremained a people though without a country. They became what they areto-day, a nation of wanderers. [4]

One other tumult, more central and in that sense more serious, intrudedon the Roman system. Just a century after the rise of Augustus, thetyrannies of his successor Nero became so unbearable that even his ownsenate turned against him; and he was slain, without having appointed asuccessor. The purely military character of the Empire was at oncerevealed. Different armies each upheld their own general as emperor. Theclaimants attacked one another in turn, and the strongest won. Theturmoil lasted for only a year or so, just long enough for the distantlegions to gather around Rome; the bloodshed was nothing as compared toformer ages; the helpless senate acquiesced in each new proclamation ofeach successful army; and the rest of the world, scarce even jarred inits daily course, flowed on as before. 

On the whole, then, these two hundred years were one long period ofpeace. It was Augustus who for the first time in centuries closed thegates of the war-god's temple in Rome. He encouraged literature, and wehave the "Augustan" age. He boasted that he found Rome built of bricks, and left it of marble. He and his successors did far more than that. They constructed roads extending from end to end of their domains. Communication became easy; a mail post was established; people began totravel for pleasure. The nations of the world intermingled freely, anddiscovered, for the first time on earth, that they were much alike. Theuniversal brotherhood of man may be not even yet fully recognized andwelcomed; but the first step toward its acknowledgment was taken underimperial Rome. 

CHRISTIANITY

This brings us to a very solemn thought. Many earnest men have believedthat they see a divine Providence running through the whole course ofhistory, and nowhere more obvious than here. They point to the careersof both Greece and Rome as being a special preparation for the coming ofthe Christ. The mission of Greece, they tell us, was to arouse the mindof man, to make him capable of thought and sensitive to spiritualbeauty; that of Rome was to teach him the value of law and peace, andyet more, to draw all men together, that all might have opportunity tohear the lessons of the new faith. 

Certain it is that at any earlier date it would have seemed practicallyimpossible for a religion to spread beyond a single people. Not only wascommunication between the nations faint and intermittent, but they wereso savage, so suspicious of each other, that a wanderer had to meet themweapon in hand. He must have a ship to flee to or an army at his back. Now, however, under the restraint of Roman law, strangers met and passedwithout a blow. Latin, the tongue of law, was everywhere partly known. Greek was almost equally widespread as the language of art and culture. 

The Hebrews, too, had done their share in the work of preparation. Theyhad developed the religious sense, beyond any of the Aryan peoples. Their religion had become a part, the main part, of their daily lives. They believed it, not with the languid logic of the Romans, not with thesensuous pleasure of the Greeks, but fiercely, fervidly, with a passionthat swept all reason to the winds. 

Among them appeared the Christ, born in the days of Augustus, crucifiedin those of Tiberius. [5] His teaching was mainly the doctrine of love, which Buddha had announced five hundred years before, but which was newto the Roman world; and the promise of life beyond the grave, which manyraces had more or less believed in, but which never before had been madeto carry a vision of such splendor and such glory. He also advocatednon-resistance to enemies, a principle which the early Church obeyed, but which has found small favor among the masses of later Christians. 

These teachings, then, were none of them wholly unconceived before; butthey were enforced by a life so pure, a manner so earnest, as compelledrespect. Converts became many; and one of these at least took literallythe command of the Master, to proclaim the faith to all peoples of theearth. The apostle Paul, stepping beyond the narrow bounds of Judea, preached Christianity to mankind. [6]

Paul was the first great missionary. The earlier faiths of Greece andRome had not sought to extend themselves, because they did not recognizethe brotherhood of man. The new faith insisted upon this, insisted onour duty to our fellows; and so under Paul's leadership every Christianbecame a missionary, teaching, uplifting the downtrodden, giving themhope, not of this world, but of an infinitely brighter one. The faithspread faster than ever world conquest had been spread before. Scarce ageneration after the Crucifixion it had permeated the Empire, and Nero, to divert from himself the suspicion of having burned Rome, accused theChristians. [7]

This led to their first persecution. They were tortured as a punishmentand to extort confession. Most of them stood nobly by their doctrine ofnon-resistance, and endured heroically a martyrdom which they looked onas opening the gates of heaven. [8]

Their devotion drew to them the first serious notice of the Romanauthorities. Hitherto they had been regarded merely as a sect among theJews. But now, with reluctant admiration of their courage, there camealso a recognition of their rapid growth and a suspicion of theirmotives. The Romans could not understand such devotion to a merereligion; and they always feared lest the faith was something more, acloak for nameless crimes, or a secret conspiracy of rebellion amongtheir slaves, who would some day turn and rend them. 

Thus while Nero's attack on the Christians was in a sense an accident, the blind rush of a half-crazed beast, the later persecutions were oftendirected by serious and well-intentioned emperors and magistrates. TheRomans were far from being intolerant. They had interfered very littlewith the religions of their subject races, and had, indeed, adopted morethan one foreign god into their own temples. They were quite willingthat the Christ should be worshipped. What they could not understand wasthat reverence to one god should forbid reverence to another. 

It was the new religion which was intolerant, which, in the passionateintensity of its faith, attacked the old gods, denied their existence, or declared them devils. When a man was summoned before a Roman court onthe charge of being a Christian, he was not, as a rule, asked to denyChrist; only, there being a general impression that his sect was evil, he was required to prove his honest citizenship and general goodcharacter by doing reverence to the Roman gods. [9]

In spite of persecution, some writers say because of it, Christianityspread. Toward the end of the first two hundred years of the Empire, itseemed about the only prosperous institution in a world which wasbeginning to go badly. During the reign of Marcus Aurelius, the last ofthe "good" emperors (161-180), troubles, some accidental, some inherentin the Roman system, were gathering very dark. 

The curse of inaction, of wealth without liberty, of intellect without agoal to strive toward, had long been corrupting the upper classes. Now, a terrible plague swept the world from end to end, so that laborersbecame scarce, lands went untenanted, taxes unpaid. The drain ofsupporting Rome's boundless extravagance, in buildings, feasts, andgladiatorial displays, began to tell upon the provinces at last. Newerand ever harsher methods had to be employed to wring money fromexhausted lands. Driven by their sufferings to cling to religion as asupport, men thought of it more seriously; and a cry went up that earthwas being punished for its neglect and insult of the ancient gods. TheChristians were persecuted anew. [10]

THE PERIOD OF DECAY

The reign of Commodus, [11] son of Marcus Aurelius, marks the beginningof a century which sank almost into anarchy. He was murdered, and hisguards auctioned the Empire to the highest bidder. Once more the legionsfought against each other and placed their generals upon the throne. During ninety-two years there were twenty-five emperors fullyacknowledged, besides a far larger number of claimants who wereoverthrown before Rome had time to hear of and salute them. The Imperialcity was no longer mistress of the world; she was only its capital, asfeeble and helpless as the other cities, which these unstable emperorsbegan at times to favor in her stead. 

The barbarians also, who through all these ages were growing strongerwhile Rome grew weaker, became ever a more serious menace. The internaldisorder of the Empire left its frontiers often unguarded. The Germansplundered Gaul in the West, the Persians ravaged Asia in the East. Infact, so comparatively strong had the Persians grown that one emperor, venturing against them, was defeated and captured, and lived out hismiserable life a Persian slave. Rome could not rescue him. [12]

In the year 284 there came to the front an emperor "of iron, "Diocletian. He did what Augustus had done three centuries before, re-formed and recast the government of the world. The last emptyceremonies of the Republic were discarded. Even the pretence of Rome'sleadership was brushed aside. The Empire was divided into fourdistricts, each with a capital of its own, and Diocletian selected threeother generals to share its rule with him. He and his colleaguesrestored the long-lost peace. They chastised the barbarians. Diocletian's reforms saved the Roman fabric from what seemed inevitableextinction, and enabled it to exist in some shape for almost another twohundred years. 

His system of division did not, however, save the Empire from civilwars. No sooner was his restraining hand removed than his colleaguesfought among themselves, until Constantine overthrew his antagonists andonce more united the entire Empire. Constantine became a Christian. [13]

It has been repeatedly asserted that his conversion was one of policyrather than belief; and there could be no stronger evidence of thechanged position of the new faith. Diocletian had ordered a persecutionagainst it, the last and most terrible which its martyrs suffered. Butall that was best and most energetic and most living in the moribundEmpire seemed to have gathered round the Church. The persecution did butemphasize its worth and influence. 

Constantine did not force his followers to change their beliefs withhim; but he encouraged and rewarded those who did. Under him was heldthe first general council of the faith. The bishops gathered from allthe different cities of the world to compare ideas and settle moreexactly the doctrines to be taught. Christianity stepped out from itshiding-place and supplanted paganism as the state religion of theEmpire. [14]

As though the unimportance of Rome were not thus sufficientlyestablished, Constantine abandoned the decaying capital altogether, andbuilt himself a new city, Constantinople, at the junction of Europe andAsia. This became the centre of the changing world. Built upon the siteof an old Greek colony, it was almost wholly Greek, not only in thenationality of the people who flocked to it, but in the manners of thecourt which Constantine created around him, in the art of itsdecorators, in the language of its streets. [15] The Empire remainedRoman only in name. The might of a thousand years had made that name amagic spell, had sunk its restraining influence deep in the minds ofmen. It was not lightly to be thrown aside. 

Julian, a nephew of Constantine, who after an interval succeeded himupon the throne, abandoned the adopted religion of his family, and triedto revive paganism. [16] Julian was a powerful and clever man; he seemsalso to have been an honest and an earnest one. But he could not turnback the current of the world. He could not make shallow speculationtake the place of earnest faith. Altruism, the spirit of brotherhood, which was the animating force of Christianity, might and later somewhatdid lose itself amid the sands of selfishness; but it could not becombated by one man with a chance preference for egotism. 

Julian turned to a worthier purpose. He died fighting the barbarians. These, held back for a time by Diocletian and Constantine, wererecommencing their ravages with renewed force. And now a change comesover the character of the invasions. Hitherto they had been mere raidsfor plunder; but now a huge, far-reaching, racial movement was inprogress. 

From the distant plains of Asia came the vanguard of the Huns, a race ofhorsemen, whose swift steeds enabled them to scatter or concentrate atwill around slower-paced opponents. [17] The Huns swept over SouthernRussia, then occupied by the Goths, the most civilized of the Teutonictribes. The Goths, finding themselves helpless against the active andfierce marauders, moved onward in their turn. They crossed the Danube, not as a raiding troop, but as an entire nation, and, half begging, halfdemanding a place of refuge, they penetrated into the world ofcivilization. With them came fearful stories of the Huns; but theselatter, sweeping off in another direction, failed for a while to followup the fugitives. 

As for the Goths, after they had defeated and slain one emperor, theywere given lands and temporarily subdued by Theodosius the Great, thelast ruler to hold the entire Roman domain. In 395 Theodosius, dying, divided his possessions, quite like a hereditary monarch, between histwo sons, both mere boys. [18] To the elder he gave Constantinople andthe East, to the younger Rome and the West. So instead of one kingdomthere were two. Partly through its own disorganization, partly from thepressure of the barbarians, the Roman world had burst and fallen intohalves. These proved two very helpless and feeble halves in the hands oftheir boy rulers; and the eager Teutons, finding themselves no longerwithheld, began that remarkable series of plundering invasions by whichthey overwhelmed the ancient world. 

[FOR THE NEXT SECTION OF THIS GENERAL SURVEY SEE VOLUME IV. ]

FOOTNOTES:

[1] See _Destruction of Pompeii_, page 207. 

[2] See _Germanicus in Germany_, page 1. 

[3] See _Siege and Destruction of Jerusalem_, page 150. 

[4] See _Jews' Last Struggle for Freedom_, page 222. 

[5] See _The Crucifixion_, page 23. 

[6] See _Rise and Spread of Christianity_, page 40. 

[7] See _Burning of Rome under Nero_, page 108. 

[8] See _Persecution of the Christians under Nero_, page 134. 

[9] See _Martyrdom of Polycarp and Justin Martyr_, page 231. 

[10] See _Persecutions of Christians in Gaul_, page 246. 

[11] See _Beginning of Rome's Decline_, page 263. 

[12] See _Eventful Reign of Sapor I, King of Persia_, page 277. 

[13] See _Conversion of Constantine_, page 289. 

[14] See _First Nicene Council_, page 297. 

[15] See _Foundation of Constantinople_, page 320. 

[16] See _Julian the Apostate_, page 333. 

[17] See _The Huns and Their Western Migration_, page 352. 

[18] See _Final Division of the Roman Empire_, page 364. 

GERMANICUS IN GERMANY

A. D. 13-16

TACITUS

 When the Germans first became known to the Romans--about B. C. 112--they showed themselves as warlike tribes along the northern borders of Italy and in various parts of Gaul, where Cæsar afterward had frequent encounters with them, driving them across the Rhine into their own country. But Cæsar's knowledge of them was confined to those tribes whose dwellings were near the Rhine, beyond which he did not pursue them. 

 Augustus fortified against the Germans along the Rhine, and Drusus, his step-son, took command against them, defeating them in several expeditions (B. C. 13-9). As a reward, he received for himself and his posterity the surname of Germanicus, conqueror of Germany. He died at the age of thirty. 

 His son, Germanicus, born B. C. 14, was sent, in A. D. 12, to command the forces on the Rhine. After quelling serious mutinies among his legions he crossed the Rhine and attacked and routed some of the German tribes who had been actively aggressive against the Romans. During the following year he defeated other tribes, and after his return across the Rhine he was persuaded by Segestes to aid him against his son-in-law Arminius (the Latin name for Herman), by whom Segestes was besieged and who, according to Tacitus, became in the end the deliverer of Germany from the power of the Romans. But before he was able to render this service to the German peoples he had many hardships to endure, and at the hands of Germanicus he met with severe reverses. 

 Arminius had defeated Varus, who, by reason of that disgrace, killed himself (A. D. 10), and the despatch of Germanicus to command the German legions was ordered in the first instance to revenge the overthrow of his predecessor. Although it required several campaigns, the work of Germanicus was so effectual that he withdrew in the end, at the command of Tiberius, with advantage on his side, and, returning to Rome, enjoyed a triumph (A. D. 17). His name is preserved in history, alike for his military talents and services, for his attainments in literary pursuits, and his nobleness of mind. 

In the consulship of Drusus Cæsar and Caius Norbanus a triumph wasdecreed to Germanicus; the war continuing. He was preparing with alldiligence to prosecute it in the summer, but anticipated it by a suddenirruption early in the spring into the territories of the Cattians: forhe had conceived a hope that the enemy was divided into opposite partiesunder Arminius and Segestes, both remarkable for perfidy or fidelitytoward us: Arminius was the incendiary of Germany, but Segestes hadgiven repeated warning of an intended revolt at other times and duringthe banquet immediately preceding the insurrection, and advised Varus"to secure him and Arminius and all the other chiefs; that themultitude, bereft of their leaders, would not dare to attempt anything;and Varus would have an opportunity to separate the guilty from theinnocent. " But fate decreed it, and he was slain by Arminius. Segestes, though drawn into the war by the universal agreement of the nation init, yet continued to disapprove of it; his detestation being augmentedby motives of a domestic nature, for Arminius had carried away thedaughter of Segestes, already betrothed to another: the son-in-lawhated, the fathers-in-law were at enmity; and those relations which arebonds of affection between friends fomented the animosities of enemies. 

Germanicus therefore handed over to Cæcina four legions, five thousandauxiliaries, and some tumultuous bands of Germans who dwelt on this sidethe Rhine; he led, himself, as many legions, with double the number ofallies, and erecting a fort in Mount Taunus, upon the site of one raisedby his father, he pushed on in light marching order against theCattians; having left Lucius Apronius to secure the roads and therivers, for, as the roads were dry and the rivers within bounds--eventsin that climate of rare occurrence--he had found no check in his rapidmarch, but on his return apprehended the violent rains and floods. Hefell upon the Cattians with such surprise that all the weak (through sexor age) were instantly taken or slaughtered. The young men swam over theAdrana and endeavored to obstruct the Romans, who commenced building abridge; then, repulsed by engines and arrows and having in vain triedterms of peace--after some had gone over to Germanicus--the restabandoned their cantons and villages and dispersed themselves into thewoods. Mattium, the capital of the nation, he burned, ravaged the opencountry, and bent his march to the Rhine; nor durst the enemy harass hisrear, which is their custom whenever they have fled, more from craftthan fear. The Cheruscans had purposed to assist the Cattians, but weredeterred by Cæcina, who moved about with his forces from place to place;and the Marsians, who dared to engage him, he checked by a victory. 

Soon after arrived deputies from Segestes, praying relief against theviolence of his countrymen, by whom he was besieged; Arminius havingmore influence with them than himself, because he advised war, for withbarbarians the more resolute in daring a man is the more he is trustedand preferred in times of commotion. To the deputies Segestes had addedSegimund, his son; but the young man hesitated from self-conviction; forthe year when Germany revolted, having been created priest at the Ubianaltar, he had rent the fillets and fled to the revolters: yet, inducedto rely upon Roman clemency, he undertook the execution of his father'sorders, was graciously received, and conducted with a guard to theGallic bank of the Rhine. Germanicus thought it worth while to marchback, fought the besiegers, and rescued Segestes with a numerous trainof his relations and followers, in which were ladies of illustriousrank, and among them the wife of Arminius--the same who was the daughterof Segestes--with a spirit more like that of her husband than herfather; neither subdued to tears, nor uttering the language ofsupplication, but her hands folded within her bosom, and her eyes fixedupon her teeming womb. There were, likewise, carried off the spoilstaken at the slaughter of Varus and his army, and given as booty to mostof those who then surrendered. 

At the same time appeared Segestes himself, of vast stature, andundaunted in the consciousness of his fidelity. In this manner he spoke:"This is not the first day that I have approved my faith and constancyto the Roman people: from the moment I was by the deified Augustuspresented with the freedom of the city I have chosen my friends andenemies with reference to your interests, and that not from hatred of mycountry--for odious are traitors even to the party they prefer--but, because the interests of the Romans and Germans were the same, andbecause I was inclined to peace rather than war. For this reason, beforeVarus, the then general, I arraigned Arminius, the ravisher of mydaughter and the violator of the league with you. Put off, from thesupineness of the general, and seeing there was little protection in thelaws, I importuned him to throw into irons myself and Arminius and hisaccomplices: witness that night--to me I would rather it had been thelast! More to be lamented than defended are the events which followed. However, I cast Arminius into irons, and was myself cast into irons byhis faction: and now, on the first opportunity of conferring with you, Iprefer old things to new, peace to turbulence; and at the same time Imight be a fitting mediator for the German nation, with no view ofreward, but to clear myself of perfidy, if they would rather repent thanbe destroyed. For the youth and inexperience of my son I implore pardon. I admit my daughter has been brought into this state by constraint; itwill be yours to consider which should preponderate with you--that sheis the wife of Arminius or the daughter of Segestes. " The answer ofGermanicus was gracious: he promised indemnity to his children, andkindred, and to himself, as a retreat, a place called "Vetera, " in theprovince; then returned with his army, and by the direction of Tiberiusreceived the title of _Imperator_. 

[Illustration: Queen Thusnelda, wife of Arminius, taken prisoner by thesoldiers of the Roman general Germanicus

Painting by H. Koenig]

The account circulated of the surrender of Segestes, and his graciousreception, affected his countrymen with hope or anguish as they wereseverally prone or averse to the war. Acting upon a temper naturallyviolent, the captivity of his wife and the child in her womb subjectedto bondage drove Arminius to distraction: he flew about among theCheruscans, calling them to arms against Segestes, against Germanicus;nor did he refrain from invectives--"An excellent father! a greatgeneral; a valiant army, whose many hands had carried off one bit of awoman! That before him three legions fell, three lieutenants-general;for his method of carrying on war was not by treason nor againstpregnant women, but openly, against armed hosts. That the Romanstandards were still to be seen in the German groves, there suspended byhim to his country's gods. Segestes might live upon the vanquished bank;he might get the priesthood restored to his son; but the Germans wouldever regard the fellow as the guilty cause of their having seen betweenthe Elbe and Rhine rods and axes and the toga. That to other nations whoknow not the Roman domination, executions and tributes were unknown;and as they had thrown them off, and as Augustus (he who was enrolledwith the gods) had retreated without accomplishing his object, andTiberius, his chosen successor, let them not dread an inexperiencedstripling and a mutinous army. If they preferred their country, theirparents, and their ancient possessions, to masters and new settlements, they should follow Arminius, who led them to glory and liberty, ratherthan Segestes, who conducted them to infamous servitude. "

By these means not the Cheruscans only were roused, but the borderingnations; and Inguiomer, paternal uncle to Arminius, a man long in highcredit with the Romans, was drawn into the confederacy. Hence Germanicusbecame more alarmed, and to prevent the war falling upon him withunbroken force, sent Cæcina with forty Roman cohorts to the riverAmisia, through the territories of the Bructerians, to effect a divisionin the army of the enemy. Pedo, the prefect, led the cavalry along theconfines of the Frisians; he himself, embarking four legions, sailedthrough the lakes; and at the aforesaid river the whole body met--foot, horse, and fleet. The Chaucians, upon offering their assistance, weretaken into the service; but the Bructerians, setting fire to theireffects and dwellings, were routed by Lucius Stertinius, despatchedagainst them by Germanicus with a band lightly armed. And amid thecarnage and plunder he found the eagle of the Nineteenth legion lost inthe overthrow of Varus. The army marched next to the farthest borders ofthe Bructerians, and the whole country between the rivers Amisia andLuppia was laid waste. Not far hence lay the forest of Teutoburgium, andin it the bones of Varus and the legions, by report, still unburied. 

Germanicus, therefore, conceived a desire to pay the last offices to thelegions and their leader; while the whole of the army present were movedto deep commiseration for their kinsmen and friends, and generally forthe calamities of war and the condition of humanity. Cæcina having beensent before to explore the gloomy recesses of the forest, and to laybridges and causeways over the watery portions of the morasses andinsecure places in the plains, they enter the doleful scene, hideous inappearance and association. The first camp of Varus appeared in view. The extent of ground and the measurement of the _principia_ left nodoubt that the whole was the work of three legions. After that ahalf-decayed rampart with a shallow foss, where their remains, now sadlyreduced, were understood to have sunk down. In the intervening portionof the plain were whitening bones, either scattered or accumulated, according as they had fled or had made a stand. Near them lay fragmentsof javelins and limbs of horses. There were also skulls fixed upon thetrunks of trees. In the adjacent groves were the savage altars, wherethey had immolated the tribunes and centurions of the first rank. Thosewho survived the slaughter, having escaped from captivity and the sword, related the sad particulars to the rest: "Here the commanders of thelegions were slain; there we lost the eagles; here Varus had his firstwound; there he gave himself another, and perished by his own unhappyhand. In that place, too, stood the tribunal whence Arminius harangued. How many gibbets he erected for the execution of his captives; whattrenches he dug; and how, in proud scorn, he made a mock at thestandards and eagles. "

The Roman army which was on the spot buried the bones of the threelegions six years after the slaughter: nor could anyone distinguishwhether he buried the remains of a stranger or of a kinsman; but allconsidered the whole as friends, as relations, with heightenedresentment against the foe, at once sad and revengeful. Germanicus laidthe first sod used in raising a tomb, thus rendering a most acceptableservice to the dead, and showing that he shared the sorrows of theliving, a proceeding not liked by Tiberius; whether it were that uponevery action of Germanicus he put a malignant construction, or that hebelieved that the impression produced by the sight of the unburied slainwould dampen the ardor of the army for battle and inspire them with fearof the enemy. He also said that "A general invested with the office ofaugur and the most ancient religious functions ought not to have put hishand to the ceremonies of the dead. "

Arminius, retiring into pathless places, was pursued by Germanicus, who, as soon as he reached him, commanded the horse to advance and dislodgethe enemy from the post he had possessed. Arminius, having directed hismen to keep close together and draw near to the wood, wheeled suddenlyabout, and to those whom he had hid in the forest gave the signal torush out. Then the Roman horse were thrown into disorder by the assaultof a new army, and the cohorts sent out to support them, broken in uponby the body of troops that fled, had augmented the consternation, andwere now being pushed into the morass--a place well known to thepursuers, but dangerous to those unacquainted with it--had notGermanicus drawn out the legions in order of battle. Hence the enemybecame terrified, our men reanimated, and both retired without advantageon either side. Germanicus, soon after, returning with the army to theAmisia, reconducted the legions, as he had brought them, in the fleet;part of the horse were ordered to march along the sea-shore to theRhine. Cæcina, who led his own men, was warned that, though he was toreturn through well-known roads, yet he should with all speed pass thecauseway called the Long Bridges. It is a narrow causeway, between vastmarshes, and formerly raised by Lucius Domitius. The rest of the countryis of a moist nature, either tough and sticky from a heavy kind of clayor dangerous from the streams which intersect it. Round about are woodswhich rise gently from the plain, which at that time were filled withsoldiers by Arminius, who, by short cuts and quick marching, had arrivedthere before our men, who were loaded with arms and baggage. Cæcina, whowas perplexed how at once to repair the causeway decayed by time and torepulse the foe, resolved to encamp in the place, that while some wereemployed in the work, others might begin the fight. 

The barbarians, having made a vigorous effort to break through theoutposts and fall upon those employed in the works, harass the troops, march round them, and throw themselves in their way. A mingled shoutarose from the workmen and the combatants; all things equally combinedto distress the Romans--the place deep with ooze, sinking under thosewho stood, slippery to such as advanced; their bodies were encumberedwith their coats of mail, nor could they hurl their javelins in themidst of water. The Cheruscans, on the contrary, were inured toencounters in the bogs: their persons tall; their spears long, so as towound at a distance. At last the legions, already giving way, were savedfrom defeat by the approach of night; the Germans not feeling fatigue onaccount of their success, without refreshing themselves with sleep, eventhen diverted all the courses of the springs which rise in theneighboring mountains into the plains; thus the ground being flooded, and the work, as far as they had carried it, overturned, the soldiershad all to do over again. Cæcina, who had served forty years, eitherunder others or in command, was experienced in the vicissitudes of war, prosperous or disastrous, and thence undaunted. Weighing, therefore, allprobabilities, he could devise no other expedient than that ofrestraining the enemy to the wood until he had sent forward all thewounded and baggage; for between the mountains and the marshes therestretched a plain large enough to admit a small army. To this purposethe legions selected were: The Fifth, for the right wing, andTwenty-first, for the left; the soldiers of the First legion to lead thevan of the Twentieth to oppose the pursuers. 

It was a restless night to both armies, but from different causes. Thebarbarians, with festive carousals, songs of triumph, or horrid cries, filled the vales below and echoing wood. Among the Romans were feeblefires, low broken murmurs; they leaned, drooping here and there, againstthe pales, or wandered about the tents, more like men wanting sleep thanquite awake. The general, too, was alarmed by direful visions during hissleep; he thought he heard, and saw, Quintilius Varus, rising out of themarsh, all besmeared with blood, stretching forth his hand and callingupon him, but that he rejected the call, and pushed back his hand as heheld it toward him. At break of day the legions, posted on the wings, whether from perverseness or fear, deserted their post and took suddenpossession of a field beyond the bogs; neither did Arminius fallstraight upon them, though they lay open to assault; but when thebaggage was set fast in the mire and ditches, the soldiers about it indisorder, the order of the standards confounded, and--as usual at such atime--each man acting hastily for himself, when the ears are slow tocatch the word of command, he then commanded his Germans to charge, exclaiming vehemently, "Behold! Varus and his legions again subdued bythe same fate!" Thus he cried, and instantly, with a select body, brokethrough the mass, and chiefly against the horse directed his weapons. Floundering in their own blood and the slippery soil of the marsh, theythrew their riders, overturned all they met, and trampled on those thatwere on the ground. The greatest distress was around the eagles, whichcould neither be carried against a shower of darts nor be planted in theslimy ground. Cæcina, while he sustained the fight, had his horse shotand, having fallen, would have been overpowered had not the First legioncome up to succor him. Our relief came from the greediness of the enemy, who ceased slaying, to seize the spoil. And the legions, as the dayclosed in, by great exertion got into the open and firm ground. Nor wasthis the end of their miseries; a palisade was to be raised, anintrenchment digged; their instruments, too, for throwing up andcarrying earth, and their tools for cutting turf, were almost all lost. No tents for the soldiers; no remedies for the wounded. While dividingamong them their food, defiled with mire or blood, they lamented thatmournful night; they lamented the approaching day, to so many thousandmen the last. 

It happened that a horse which had broken his fastenings and, as hestrayed about, become frightened by a noise, had run over some that werein his way. This raised such a consternation in the camp--from apersuasion that the Germans had forced an entrance--that all rushed tothe gates, especially to the postern, [19] as the farthest from the foeand safer for flight. Cæcina having ascertained that there was no causefor alarm, but unable to stop them or hold them back, either by hisauthority or prayers or even by force, prostrated himself on thethreshold of the gate; and thus at length by appealing to theirhumanity--for if they proceeded it must be over the body of thegeneral--he blocked the passage, and the tribunes and centurionssatisfied them the while that it was a false alarm. 

Then assembling them in the court, and desiring them to hear him withsilence, he warned them of their difficulties, and their duty underthem: "That their sole hope of safety was in their valor, but that mustbe guided by counsel; that they must keep close within their camp tillthe enemy, in hopes of taking it by storm, came up nearer to them; thenmake a sudden sally on every side, that by this sally they might makegood their way to the Rhine; but if they fled, more forests, deepermarshes, and the fierce attack of the foe still remained to them; butthat if they conquered, honor and renown awaited them. " He reminded themof all that was dear to them at home, and the rewards to be obtained inthe camp, but suppressed all mention of defeat. He next distributedhorses, first his own, then those of the tribunes and leaders of thelegions, to all the bravest warriors, without any flattery, that thesefirst, and afterward the infantry, might charge the enemy. 

The Germans were in no less agitation from hope, eagerness, and theopposite counsels of their leaders. Arminius proposed "To let them marchout, and to beset them again in their way when they got into marshes anddifficult passes. " Inguiomer advised measures more resolute andacceptable to barbarians--"To invest the camp; it would be quicklycaptured; there would be more captives, and the plunder uninjured. " Assoon therefore as it was light, they level the ditch, cast hurdles intoit, attempt to scale the palisade, there being but few men on therampart, and those who were, standing as if paralyzed by fear. But whenthey were hampered in the fortifications, the signal was given to thecohorts; the cornets and trumpets sounded at once, and instantly, shouting and charging, they poured down upon their rear, telling themtauntingly "that there were no thickets, no marshes, but equal chancesin a fair field. " The enemy, expecting an easy conquest, and that theRomans were few and half-armed, were overpowered with the sounds oftrumpets and glitter of arms, which were then magnified in proportion asthey were unexpected; and they fell like men who, as they are void ofmoderation in prosperity, are also destitute of conduct in distress. Arminius fled from the fight unhurt, Inguiomer severely wounded. The menwere slaughtered as long as day and rage lasted. At length, at night, the legions returned, and though distressed by the same want ofprovisions and more wounds, yet in victory they found allthings--health, vigor, and abundance. 

Meanwhile a report had spread that an army was cut off, and a body ofGermans on full march to invade Gaul; so that, under the terror of thisnews, there were those whose cowardice would have emboldened them todemolish the bridge upon the Rhine, had not Agrippina forbidden theinfamous attempt. This high-minded woman took upon herself all theduties of a general, and distributed to the soldiers, gratuitously, medicines and clothes, according as anyone was in want or wounded. CaiusPlinius, the writer of the German wars, relates that she stood at thehead of the bridge as the legions returned, and bestowed on them thanksand praises; a behavior which sunk deep into the heart of Tiberius, forthese attentions he thought were not disinterested; nor was it againstforeigners she sought to win the army; for nothing was now left thegenerals to do, when a woman paid her visits of inspection to thecompanies, attended the standards, and presumed to distribute largesses;as if before she had shown but small tokens of ambitious designs incarrying her child (the son of the general) in a soldier's uniformabout the camp and desiring that he be styled Cæsar Caligula. Already Agrippina was in greater credit with the army than thelieutenants-general, or even the generals--a woman had suppressed asedition which the authority of the Emperor was not able to restrain. These jealousies were inflamed and ministered to by Sejanus, who waswell acquainted with the temper of Tiberius, and supplied him withmaterials for hatred, prospectively, that he might treasure them up inhis heart and draw them out augmented in bitterness. 

Germanicus handed over the Second and Fourteenth of the legions, whichhe had brought in ships, to Publius Vitellius to conduct them by land, that his fleet, thus lightened, might sail on the shoally sea, or runaground with safety when the tide ebbed. Vitellius at first marchedwithout interruption while the ground was dry or the tide flowed withinbounds. Presently the ocean beginning to swell by the action of thenorthwest wind upon it, and also by the influence of the equinoxialconstellation--at which season the sea swells most--the troops weremiserably harassed and driven about. The lands were completelyinundated; the sea, the shore, the fields, had one uniform face: nodistinction of depths from shallows, of firm from treacherous footing;they were overturned by billows, absorbed by the eddies; beasts ofburden, baggage, and dead bodies floated among them and came in contactwith them. The several companies were mixed at random, wading now breasthigh, now up to their chin; sometimes, the ground failing them, theyfell, some never more to rise. Their cries and mutual encouragementsavailed them nothing; the noise of the water drowning them; nodifference between the coward and the brave, the wise and the foolish;none between circumspection and hap-hazard, but all were involved in thesweeping torrent. Vitellius at length, having by great exertion gainedthe higher ground, withdrew the legions thither, where they passed thenight without fire and without food, many of them naked or lamed, notless miserable than men enclosed by an enemy--for even such had theresource of an honorable death, while these must perish ingloriously. Daylight restored the land, and they marched to the river Unsingis, whither Germanicus had gone with the fleet. The legions were thenembarked, while rumor reported that they were sunk; nor was their escapebelieved until Germanicus and the army were seen to return. 

Stertinius, who had been sent before to receive the submission ofSigimer, the brother of Segestes, had now brought him and his son to thecity of the Ubians; both were pardoned, the father promptly, the sonwith more hesitation, because he was said to have insulted the corpse ofVarus. For the rest, Spain, Italy, and the Gauls vied in supplying thelosses of the army, offering arms, horses, money, whatever each had athand. Germanicus, applauding their zeal, accepted only the horses andarms for the war; with his own money he assisted the soldiers; and, tosoften by kindness also the memory of the late disaster, he visited thewounded, extolled the exploits of individuals, and, looking at theirwounds, with hopes encouraged some, with a sense of glory animatedothers, and by affability and attention confirmed them all in devotionto himself and to his service. Between the Romans and the Cheruscansflowed the river Visurgis. On its bank stood Arminius, with the otherchiefs, inquiring whether Germanicus was come; and being answered thathe was there, he prayed leave to speak with his brother. This brother ofhis was in the army, his name Flavius, remarkable for his fidelity, andfor the loss of an eye under Tiberius. Permission was then granted. Flavius, advancing, was saluted by Arminius, who having removed his ownattendants, requested that the archers ranged upon our bank mightretire. When they were gone--"How came you, " he asked his brother, "bythat deformity in your face?" The brother having informed him where andin what fight, he desired to know "what reward he had received"? Flaviusanswered, "Increase of pay, the chain, the crown, and other militarygifts"; which Arminius treated with derision, as the vile wages ofservitude. 

After that they began in different strains. Flavius urged "the Romangreatness, the power of Cæsar, the severe punishment inflicted on thevanquished; and the clemency vouchsafed to those who submitted; thatneither the wife nor son of Arminius was treated as a captive. " Arminiusto this opposed "the claims of country, their hereditary liberty, thedomestic gods of Germany; their mother, who joined in his prayer that hewould not prefer the character of a deserter, and a betrayer of hiskinsmen and connections, in short, of his race, to that of theirgeneral. " From this they gradually proceeded to invectives; nor wouldthe interposition of the river have restrained them from an encounter, had not Stertinius, running to him, held back Flavius, full of rage andcalling for his arms and his horse. On the opposite side was seenArminius, menacing furiously and proclaiming battle. For most of what hesaid in this dialogue was in Latin, having, as the general of hiscountrymen, served in the Roman camp. 

Next day the German army stood in order of battle beyond the Visurgis. Germanicus, who thought it became not a general to endanger the legionsin the passage without bridges and guards, made the horse ford over. They were led by Stertinius and Æmilius, one of the principalcenturions, who entered the river at distant places to divide theattention of the foe. Cariovalda, captain of the Batavians, dashedthrough where the stream was most rapid, and was by the Cheruscans--whofeigned flight--drawn into a plain surrounded by woods. Then starting upat once, and pouring upon him on every side, they overthrew those whoresisted, and pressed after those who gave way, who at length, formingthemselves into a circle, were assailed by some hand-to-hand, by otherswere annoyed by missiles. Cariovalda, having long sustained the fury ofthe enemy, exhorted his men to break through the assailing bands in asolid body; he himself charged into the thickest, and fell under ashower of darts--his horse also being killed--and many nobles fellaround him. The rest were saved by their own bravery, or by the cavalryunder Stertinius and Æmilius, which came up to their assistance. 

Germanicus, having passed the Visurgis, learned from a deserter thatArminius had marked out the place of battle; that more tribes also hadjoined him at a wood sacred to Hercules, and would attempt to storm ourcamp by night. The deserter was believed, the enemy's fires were inview, and the scouts, having advanced toward them, reported that theyheard the neighing of horses and the murmur of a mighty and tumultuoushost. Being thus upon the eve of a decisive battle, Germanicus thoughtit behooved him to learn the sentiments of the soldiers, and deliberatedwith himself how to get at the truth; "the reports of the tribunes andcenturions were oftener agreeable than true; the freedmen had servilespirits; friends were apt to flatter; if an assembly were called, there, too, the counsel proposed by a few was carried by the clamorous plauditsof the rest. The minds of soldiers could, then, only be thoroughly knownwhen, by themselves, free from all restraint, and over their mess, theygave unreserved utterance to their hopes and fears. "

At nightfall, taking the path leading by the place of divination, [20] hewent out with a single attendant, a deerskin covering his shoulders, [21]and proceeding by a secret way where there were no sentinels, enteredthe avenues of the camp, stationed himself near the tents, and eagerlylistened to what was said of himself, while one magnified the imperialbirth of his general, another his graceful person, very many hisfirmness, condescension, and the evenness of his temper, whetherseriously occupied or in moments of relaxation; and they confessed thattheir sense of his merits should be shown in battle, protesting at thesame time that those traitors and violators of peace should be made asacrifice to vengeance and to fame. In the mean time one of the enemywho understood Latin rode up to the palisades, and with a loud voiceoffered, in the name of Arminius, to every deserter a wife and land, and, as long as the war lasted, a hundred sesterces a day. This affrontkindled the wrath of the legions. "Let day come, " they cried, "battleshould be given, the soldiers would themselves take the lands of theGermans, lead away wives by right of conquest; they, however, welcomedthe omen, and considered the wealth and women of the enemy theirdestined prey. " About the third watch[22] an attempt was made upon thecamp, but not a dart was discharged, as they found the cohorts plantedthick upon the works, and nothing neglected that was necessary for avigorous defence. 

Germanicus had the same night a cheering dream: he thought hesacrificed, and, in place of his own robe besmeared with the blood ofthe victim, received one fairer from the hands of his grandmotherAugusta. Elated by the omen, and the auspices being favorable, he calledan assembly, and laid before them what in his judgment seemed likely tobe advantageous and suitable for the impending battle. He said "that tothe Roman soldiers not only plains, but, with due circumspection, evenwoods and forests were convenient. The huge targets, the enormous spearsof the barbarians, could never be wielded among trunks of trees andthickets of underwood shooting up from the ground like Roman swords andjavelins, and armor fitting the body; that they should reiterate theirblows, and aim at the face with their swords. The Germans had neitherhelmet nor coat of mail; their bucklers were not even strengthened withleather or iron, but mere contextures of twigs, and boards of nosubstance flourished over with paint; their first rank was armed withpikes, in some sort, the rest had only stakes burned at the end, orshort darts. And now to come to their persons, as they were terrific tosight, and vigorous enough for a brief effort, so they were utterlyimpatient of wounds; unaffected with shame for misconduct, and destituteof respect for their generals. They would quit their posts or run awaybefore the enemy; cowards in adversity, in prosperity despisers of alldivine, of all human laws; if weary of marches and sea voyages, theywished an end of these things, by this battle it was presented to them. The Elbe was now nearer than the Rhine; there was nothing to subduebeyond this; they had only to place him, crowned with victory, in thesame country which had witnessed the triumphs of his father and uncle, in whose footsteps he was treading. " The ardor of the soldiers waskindled by this speech of the general, and the signal for the onset wasgiven. 

Neither did Arminius or the other chiefs neglect solemnly to assuretheir several bands that "these were Romans; the most desperatefugitives of the Varian army, who, to avoid the hardships of war, hadput on the character of rebels; who, without any hope of success, wereagain braving the angry gods, and exposing to their exasperated foes, some of them backs burdened with wounds, others limbs enfeebled with theeffects of storms and tempests. Their motive for having recourse to afleet and the pathless regions of the ocean was that no one might opposethem as they approached or pursue them when repulsed; but when theyengaged hand-to-hand, vain would be the help of winds and oars after adefeat. The Germans needed only remember their rapine, cruelty, andpride; was any other course left them than to maintain their liberty, and, if they could not do that, to die before they took a yoke uponthem?"

The enemy thus inflamed, and calling for battle, were led into a plaincalled Idistavisus. It lies between the Visurgis and the hills, andwinds irregularly along, as it is encroached upon by the projectingbases of the mountains or enlarged by the receding banks of the river. At their rear rose a majestic forest, the branches of the trees shootingup into the air, but the ground clear between their trunks. The army ofbarbarians occupied the plain and the entrances of the forest; theCheruscans alone sat in ambush upon the mountain, in order to pour downfrom thence upon the Romans when engaged in the fight. Our army marchedthus: the auxiliary Gauls and Germans in front, after them the footarchers, next four legions, and then Germanicus with two prætoriancohorts and the choice of the cavalry; then four legions more, and thelight foot with the mounted archers, and the other cohorts of theallies; the men were on the alert and in readiness, so that the order ofmarch might form the order of battle when they halted. 

As the bands of Cheruscans who had impatiently rushed forward were nowperceived, Germanicus commanded the most efficient of his horse tocharge them in the flank, and Stertinius with the rest to wheel round toattack them in the rear, and promised to be ready to assist them at theproper moment. Meanwhile an omen of happiest import appeared; eighteagles, seen to fly toward the wood and to enter it, caught the eye ofthe general. "Advance!" he cried, "follow the Roman birds; follow thetutelar deities of the legions!"

At once the foot charged, and the cavalry sent forward attacked theirflank and rear, and, strange to relate, the two divisions of their armyfled opposite ways; that in the wood ran to the plain, that in the plainrushed into the wood. The Cheruscans between both were driven from thehills; among them Arminius formed a conspicuous object, while with hishand, his voice, and the exhibition of his wounds he strove to sustainthe fight. He had vigorously assaulted the archers, and would havebroken through them had not the cohorts of the Rhætians, theVindelicians, and the Gauls advanced to oppose him. However, by his ownpersonal effort and the impetus of his horse he made good his passage, his face besmeared with his own blood to avoid being known. Some haverelated that the Chaucians, who were among the Roman auxiliaries, knewhim and let him go; the same bravery or stratagem procured Inguiomer hisescape; the rest were slain on all hands; great numbers attempting toswim the Visurgis perished either by the darts showered after them orthe violence of the current, or, if they escaped these, they wereoverwhelmed by the weight of the rushing crowd and the banks which fellupon them. Some, seeking an ignominious refuge, climbed to the tops oftrees, and, concealing themselves among the branches, were shot insport by the archers, who were brought up for the purpose; others weredashed against the ground as the trees were felled. This was a greatvictory, and withal achieved without loss on our side. 

This slaughter of the foe, from the fifth hour[23] of the day untilnight, filled the country for ten miles with carcasses and arms. Amongthe spoils, chains were found, which, sure of conquering, they hadbrought to bind the Roman captives. The soldiers saluted Tiberius as"Imperator"[24] upon the field of battle, and, raising a mount, placedupon it, after the manner of trophies, the German arms, with the namesof all the vanquished nations inscribed below. 

This sight filled the Germans with more anguish and rage than all theirwounds, afflictions, and overthrows. They, who were just now prepared toabandon their dwellings and retire beyond the Elbe, meditate war andgrasp their arms; people, nobles, youth, aged, all rush suddenly uponthe Roman army in its march and disorder it. Lastly, they chose aposition shut in by a river and a forest, the inner space being aconfined and humid plain; the forest, too, surrounded with a deep marsh, except that the Angrivarii had elevated one side by erecting a broadmound to part them and the Cheruscans. Here their foot were posted;their horse were concealed among the neighboring groves, that they mightbe on the rear of the legions when they had entered the wood. 

Nothing of all this was a secret to Germanicus. He knew their counsels, their stations, their overt movements and their concealed measures; andturned their subtlety to the destruction of themselves. To Seius Tubero, his lieutenant, he committed the horse and the plain; the infantry heso formed that part might pass the level approaches into the wood, andthe rest force their way up the rampart; whatever was arduous hereserved to himself, the rest he committed to his lieutenants. Those whohad the even ground to traverse easily forced an entrance; but they whowere to storm the rampart were battered from above, as if they had beenassaulting a wall. The general perceived the inequality of this closeencounter, and, drawing off the legions a small distance, ordered theslingers and engineers to discharge their missiles and dislodge theenemy. Immediately darts were poured from the engines, and the defendersof the barrier, the more conspicuous they were, with the more woundswere beaten down. Germanicus, having taken the rampart, first forced hisway at the head of the prætorian cohorts into the wood, and therefought, foot-to-foot. Behind the enemy was the morass, behind the Romansthe mountains or the river; no room for either to retreat, no hope butin valor, no safety but in victory. 

The Germans were not inferior in courage, but in their method offighting and the nature of their arms; as their vast numbers, hamperedin narrow places, could not push forward, nor recover their immensespears, nor practise their usual assaults and rapid motions, beingcompelled by their crowded condition to adopt a stationary manner offighting. On the contrary, our soldiers, with shields fitted to theirbreasts, and their hands firmly grasping their sword hilts, could gashthe brawny limbs and naked faces of the barbarians, and open themselvesa way with havoc to the enemy. Besides, the activity of Arminius nowfailed him, being either exhausted by a succession of disasters ordisabled by his recent wound. Nay, Inguiomer, too, who flew from placeto place throughout the battle, was abandoned by fortune rather thancourage. Germanicus, to be the easier known, pulled off his helmet, andexhorted his men "to prosecute the slaughter; they wanted no captives, "he said; "the extermination of the people alone would put an end to thewar!" It was now late in the day and he drew off a legion to pitch acamp; the rest glutted themselves till night with the blood of the foe;the horse fought with doubtful success. 

Germanicus, having in a public harangue praised his victorious troops, raised a pile of arms with this proud inscription: "That the army ofTiberius Cæsar, having subdued the nations between the Rhine and theElbe, had consecrated these memorials to Mars, to Jupiter, and toAugustus. " Of himself he made no mention; either fearful of provokingenvy or that he felt satisfied with the consciousness of his own merit. He next charged Stertinius with the war among the Angrivarians, and hewould have proceeded had they not made haste to submit; approaching assupplicants, and making a full confession of their guilt, they receivedpardon without reserve. 

The summer being now far advanced, some of the legions were sent backinto winter quarters by land; the greater part Cæsar put on board thefleet and conveyed them along the Amisia to the ocean. The sea, at firstserene, resounded only with the oars of a thousand ships or theirimpulse when under sail; but presently a shower of hail poured down froma black mass of clouds; at the same time storms raging on all sides inevery variety, the billows rolling now here, now there, obstructed theview and made it impossible to manage the ships. The soldiers, too, unaccustomed to the perils of the sea, in their alarm embarrassed themariners, or, helping them awkwardly, rendered unavailing the servicesof the skilful. After this, the whole expanse of air and sea was sweptby a southwest wind, which, deriving strength from the mountainousregions of Germany, its deep rivers, and boundless tract of cloudedatmosphere, and rendered still harsher by the rigor of the neighboringnorth, tore away the ships, scattered and drove them into the openocean, or upon islands, dangerous from precipitous rocks or the hiddensand-banks which beset them. Having got a little clear of these (butwith great difficulty), the tide turned, and, flowing in the samedirection as that in which the wind blew, they were unable to ride atanchor or bale out the water that broke in upon them. Horses, beasts ofburden, baggage, even arms, were thrown overboard to lighten the holdsof the vessels, which took in water at their sides and from the wavesrunning over them. Around them were either shores inhabited by enemiesor a sea so vast and unfathomable as to be supposed to be the limit ofthe world and unbounded by any land. Part of the fleet was swallowedup; many ships were driven upon remote islands where, without a trace ofcivilized humanity, the men perished through famine, or were kept aliveby the carcasses of horses that were dashed upon the same shore. Thegalley of Germanicus alone reached the coast of the Chaucians[25] where, during the whole period of his stay, both day and night, amid the rocksand prominences of the shore, he reproached himself as being the authorof such overwhelming destruction, and was hardly restrained by hisfriends from destroying himself in the sea. At last, with the returningtide and favoring gale, the shattered ships returned--almost alldestitute of oars, or with garments spread for sails, and some towed bythose which were less disabled. He repaired them hastily, and despatchedthem to search the islands. By this diligence the greater part wererecovered; many were by the Angrivarians (our new subjects) redeemedfrom their more inland neighbors and restored; and some, driven intoGreat Britain, were sent back by the petty kings. Each according to theremoteness of the region he had returned from recounted the wonders hehad witnessed: "the impetuosity of whirlwinds; strange birds; seamonsters of ambiguous form between man and beast"--things either seen orfancied from the effects of fear. 

Intelligence of this wreck animated the Germans with hopes of renewingthe war, which Germanicus, perceiving, resolved to check. He commandedCaius Silius, with thirty thousand foot and three thousand horse, tomarch into the country of the Cattians; he himself, with a greaterforce, invaded the Marsians, where he learned from Malovendus, theirgeneral--lately taken into our subjection--that the eagle of one ofVarus' legions was hidden underground in a neighboring grove kept by aslender guard. Instantly two parties were despatched: one to face theenemy and draw him from his position, the other to march around upon therear and open the ground. Success attended both. Hence Germanicus, advancing toward the interior with greater alacrity, laid waste thecountry and destroyed the effects of the late disaster. The foe, wherever they engaged, were instantly defeated; nor (as was learned fromthe prisoners) were they ever more dismayed. "The Romans, " theyexclaimed, "are invincible; no calamities can subdue them; they havewrecked their fleet, their arms are lost, our shores are covered withthe bodies of their horses and men; and yet they have invaded us withtheir usual spirit, with the same firmness, and as if their numbers wereincreased. "

The army was thence led back into winter quarters, full of joy to havebalanced, by this prosperous expedition, their misfortunes at sea; andby the bounty of Germanicus their happiness was increased; since to eachsufferer he paid as much as he declared he had lost; neither was itdoubted but that the enemy was tottering and concerting measures forobtaining peace, and that the next summer would terminate the war. Tiberius, by frequent letters, pressed him "to come home to the triumphdecreed him. " He urged also that he had experienced enough of events andcasualties; he had indeed fought great and successful battles, but hemust likewise remember his losses and calamities, which (however, owingto wind and waves, and no fault of the general) were yet great andgrievous. He himself had been sent nine times into Germany by Augustus, and effected much more by policy than arms. It was thus he had broughtthe Sygambrians into subjection, thus the Suevians, thus King Maroboduushad been obliged to submit to terms. The Cheruscans, too, and the otherhostile nations--now the Roman honor was vindicated--might be left topursue their own intestine feuds. Germanicus besought one year toaccomplish his conquest, but Tiberius assailed his modesty with freshimportunity, by offering him another consulship, the duties of whichwould require his presence; he added "that if the war were still to beprosecuted, he should leave materials for the fame of his brother, Drusus, who, as there then remained no other enemy, could acquire thetitle of _Imperator_, and earn the privilege of presenting the laurel inGermany alone. " Germanicus persisted no longer; though he knew that thiswas all hypocrisy, and that through envy he was torn away from a ripenedharvest of glory. 

FOOTNOTES:

[19] There were four gates to a Roman camp. Livy says so in expressterms: "_Ad quatuor portas exercitum instruxit, ut, signo dato, exomnibus portubus eruptionem facerent. _" The several gates were the_prætorian_; the gate opposite to it, at the extremity of the camp, called the _decuman_; and two others, called the _right_ and _leftprincipals_, because they stood on the right and left sides of the camp, fronting the street called _Principia_. 

[20] In the camp a place was set apart for taking the auspices, on theright of the general's tent. 

[21] He assumed this disguise in order to appear like a German soldier. 

[22] The Romans divided the night into four watches. Each watch was onduty three hours, and then relieved by the next in turn. The third watchbegan about the modern twelve at night. 

[23] It appears that the battle was fought in July or the beginning ofAugust, _adulta jam æstate_. If so, the _fifth_ hour nearly agrees withour nine in the morning. 

[24] In the time of the republic, the title of Imperator was given bythe soldiers in the field of battle to the commander-in-chief. Thecustom ceased under Augustus, who annexed the title to the imperialdignity, the prince being then generalissimo of all the armies of theempire. The name of Imperator, it is true, was afterward given to thegeneral who gained a victory; but that was not done without the specialpermission of the prince. The same rule was observed under the followingemperors; and accordingly we find that Tiberius was saluted Imperator;but the soldiers did not presume to do that honor to Germanicus. 

[25] The mouth of the Visurgis, or the Weser. 

THE CRUCIFIXION

A. D. 30[26]

FREDERIC WILLIAM FARRAR

 The Crucifixion of Jesus Christ took place on Friday of the Passover week of the Jews, in the year A. D. 30. This day is known and now generally observed by Christians as Good Friday. Crucifixion, as a means of inflicting death in the most cruel, lingering, and shameful way, was used by many nations of antiquity. The Jews never executed their criminals in this way, but the Greeks and Romans made the cross the instrument of death to malefactors. The cross was in the shape either of the letter T or the letter X, or was in the form familiar in such paintings of the Crucifixion as the well-known representation of Rubens. It was the usual custom to compel the criminal to carry his own cross to the place of execution. The cross was then set up and the criminal was usually tied to it by the hands and feet and left to perish of hunger and thirst. Sometimes he was given a narcotic drink to stupefy him. In the case of the crucifixion of Jesus Christ the victim was fastened to the cross by nails driven through his hands and feet. 

 As Dr. Judson Titsworth has plainly pointed out, the men who were crucified with Jesus Christ were not thieves, but robbers (this is the term also used below by Farrar), or perhaps Jewish patriots, to the Romans political rebels and outlaws. They would then be classed with Jesus under the accusation that they were not loyal to the sovereignty of the Roman Emperor. During the procuratorship of Pontius Pilate there was a widely prevailing spirit of sedition and revolt among the Jews, and many rebels were sentenced to crucifixion. Such a rebel was the robber Barabbas, whom Pilate wished to substitute for Jesus as the victim of popular fury. The "robber" episode of the Crucifixion is treated by Farrar with a picturesque effect which heightens the vivid coloring in his account of the supreme event that marks "the central point of the world's history. "

Utterly brutal and revolting as was the punishment of crucifixion, whichhas now for fifteen hundred years been abolished by the common pity andabhorrence of mankind, there was one custom in Judea, and oneoccasionally practised by the Romans, which reveal some touch ofpassing humanity. The latter consisted in giving to the sufferer a blowunder the armpit, which, without causing death, yet hastened itsapproach. Of this I need not speak, because, for whatever reason, it wasnot practised on this occasion. The former, which seems to have been dueto the milder nature of Judaism, and which was derived from a happypiece of rabbinic exegesis on Prov. Xxxi. 6, consisted in giving to thecondemned, immediately before his execution, a draught of wine medicatedwith some powerful opiate. It had been the custom of wealthy ladies inJerusalem to provide this stupefying potion at their own expense, andthey did so quite irrespectively of their sympathy for any individualcriminal. It was probably taken freely by the two malefactors, but whenthey offered it to Jesus he would not take it. The refusal was an act ofsublimest heroism. The effect of the draught was to dull the nerves, tocloud the intellect, to provide an anæsthetic against some part at leastof the lingering agonies of that dreadful death. But he, whom somemodern sceptics have been base enough to accuse of feminine feeblenessand cowardly despair, preferred rather "to look Death in the face"--tomeet the king of terrors without striving to deaden the force of oneagonizing anticipation, or to still the throbbing of one laceratednerve. 

The three crosses were laid on the ground--that of Jesus, which wasdoubtless taller than the other two, being placed in bitter scorn in themidst. Perhaps the cross-beam was now nailed to the upright, andcertainly the title, which had either been borne by Jesus fastened roundhis neck or carried by one of the soldiers in front of him, was nownailed to the summit of his cross. Then he was stripped naked of all hisclothes, and then followed the most awful moment of all. He was laiddown upon the implement of torture. His arms were stretched along thecross-beams; and at the centre of the open palms the point of a hugeiron nail was placed, which, by the blow of a mallet, was driven homeinto the wood. Then through either foot separately, or possibly throughboth together as they were placed one over the other, another huge nailtore its way through the quivering flesh. Whether the sufferer was_also_ bound to the cross we do not know; but, to prevent the hands andfeet being torn away by the weight of the body, which could not "restupon nothing but four great wounds, " there was, about the centre of thecross, a wooden projection strong enough to support, at least in part, ahuman body which soon became a weight of agony. 

It was probably at this moment of inconceivable horror that the voice ofthe Son of Man was heard uplifted, not in a scream of natural agony atthat fearful torture, but calmly praying in divine compassion for hisbrutal and pitiless murderers--aye, and for all who in their sinfulignorance crucify him afresh forever: "Father, forgive them, for theyknow not what they do. "

And then the accursed tree--with its living human burden hanging upon itin helpless agony, and suffering fresh tortures as every movementirritated the fresh rents in hands and feet--was slowly heaved up bystrong arms, and the end of it fixed firmly in a hole dug deep in theground for that purpose. The feet were but a little raised above theearth. The victim was in full reach of every hand that might choose tostrike, in close proximity to every gesture of insult and hatred. Hemight hang for hours to be abused, outraged, even tortured by theever-moving multitude who, with that desire to see what is horriblewhich always characterizes the coarsest hearts, had thronged to gazeupon a sight which should rather have made them weep tears of blood. 

And there, in tortures which grew ever more insupportable, ever moremaddening as time flowed on, the unhappy victims might linger in aliving death so cruelly intolerable that often they were driven toentreat and implore the spectators or the executioners, for dear pity'ssake, to put an end to anguish too awful for man to bear--conscious tothe last, and often, with tears of abject misery, beseeching from theirenemies the priceless boon of death. 

For indeed a death by crucifixion seems to include all that pain anddeath _can_ have of horrible and ghastly--dizziness, cramp, thirst, starvation, sleeplessness, traumatic fever, tetanus, publicity of shame, long continuance of torment, horror of anticipation, mortification ofuntended wounds--all intensified just up to the point at which they canbe endured at all, but all stopping just short of the point which wouldgive to the sufferer the relief of unconsciousness. The unnaturalposition made every movement painful; the lacerated veins and crushedtendons throbbed with incessant anguish; the wounds, inflamed byexposure, gradually gangrened; the arteries--especially of the head andstomach--became swollen and oppressed with surcharged blood; and whileeach variety of misery went on gradually increasing, there was added tothem the intolerable pang of a burning and raging thirst; and all thesephysical complications caused an internal excitement and anxiety whichmade the prospect of death itself--of death, the awful unknown enemy, atwhose approach man usually shudders most--bear the aspect of a deliciousand exquisite release. 

Such was the death to which Christ was doomed; and though for him it washappily shortened by all that he had previously endured, yet he hungfrom soon after noon until nearly sunset before "he gave up his soul todeath. "

When the cross was uplifted the leading Jews, for the first time, prominently noticed the deadly insult in which Pilate had vented hisindignation. Before, in their blind rage, they had imagined that themanner of his crucifixion was an insult aimed at _Jesus_; but now thatthey saw him hanging between the two robbers, on a cross yet loftier, itsuddenly flashed upon them that it was a public scorn inflicted upon_them_. For on the white wooden tablet smeared with gypsum, which was tobe seen so conspicuously over the head of Jesus on the cross, ran, inblack letters, an inscription in the three civilized languages of theancient world--the three languages of which _one_ at least was certainto be known by every single man in that assembled multitude--in theofficial Latin, in the current Greek, in the vernacularAramaic--informing all that this Man who was thus enduring a shameful, servile death--this Man thus crucified between two _sicarii_ in thesight of the world, was "THE KING OF THE JEWS. "

To him who was crucified the poor malice seemed to have in it nothing ofderision. Even on his cross he reigned; even there he seemed divinelyelevated above the priests who had brought about his death, and thecoarse, idle, vulgar multitude who had flocked to feed their greedy eyesupon his sufferings. The malice was quite impotent against One whosespiritual and moral nobleness struck awe into dying malefactors andheathen executioners, even in the lowest abyss of his physicaldegradation. With the passionate ill-humor of the Roman governor thereprobably blended a vein of seriousness. While he was delighted torevenge himself on his detested subjects by an act of public insolence, he probably meant, or half meant, to imply that this _was_, in onesense, the King of the Jews--the greatest, the noblest, the truest ofhis race, whom therefore his race had crucified. The King was notunworthy of his kingdom, but the kingdom of the King. There wassomething loftier even than royalty in the glazing eyes which neverceased to look with sorrow on the City of Righteousness, which had nowbecome a city of murderers. The Jews felt the intensity of the scornwith which Pilate had treated them. It so completely poisoned their hourof triumph that they sent their chief priests in deputation, begging thegovernor to alter the obnoxious title. "Write not, " they said, "'TheKing of the Jews, ' but that 'He _said_, I am the King of the Jews. '" ButPilate's courage, which had oozed away so rapidly at the name of Cæsar, had now revived. He was glad in any and every way to browbeat and thwartthe men whose seditious clamor had forced him in the morning to actagainst his will. Few men had the power of giving expression to asovereign contempt more effectually than the Romans. Without deigningany justification of what he had done, Pilate summarily dismissed thesesolemn hierarchs with the curt and contemptuous reply, "What I havewritten I have written. "

In order to prevent the possibility of any rescue, even at the lastmoment--since instances had been known of men taken from the cross andrestored to life--a quaternion of soldiers with their centurion wereleft on the ground to guard the cross. The clothes of the victims alwaysfell as perquisites to the men who had to perform so weary anddisagreeable an office. Little dreaming how exactly they were fulfillingthe mystic intimations of olden Jewish prophecy, they proceeded, therefore, to divide between them the garments of Jesus. The _tallith_they tore into four parts, probably ripping it down the seams; but the_cetoneth_, or undergarment, was formed of one continuous woven texture, and to tear would have been to spoil it; they therefore contentedthemselves with letting it become the property of any one of the four towhom it should fall by lot. When this had been decided, they sat downand watched him till the end, beguiling the weary lingering hours byeating and drinking, and gibing, and playing dice. 

It was a scene of tumult. The great body of the people seem to havestood silently at gaze; but some few of them as they passed by thecross--perhaps some of the many false witnesses and other conspiratorsof the previous night--mocked at Jesus with insulting noises and furioustaunts, especially bidding him come down from the cross and savehimself, since he could destroy the Temple and build it in three days. And the chief priests, and scribes, and elders, less awe-struck, lesscompassionate than the mass of the people, were not ashamed to disgracetheir gray-haired dignity and lofty reputation by adding their heartlessreproaches to those of the evil few. Unrestrained by the noble patienceof the sufferer, unsated by the accomplishment of their wickedvengeance, unmoved by the sight of helpless anguish and the look of eyesthat began to glaze in death, they congratulated one another under hiscross with scornful insolence: "He saved others, himself he cannotsave;" "Let this Christ, this King of Israel, descend now from thecross, that we may see and believe. " No wonder then that the ignorantsoldiers took their share of mockery with these shameless andunvenerable hierarchs: no wonder that, at their midday meal, theypledged in mock hilarity the Dying Man, cruelly holding up toward hisburning lips their cups of sour wine, and echoing the Jewish tauntsagainst the weakness of the King whose throne was a cross, whose crownwas thorns. Nay, even the poor wretches who were crucified with himcaught the hideous infection; comrades, perhaps, of the respitedBarabbas, heirs of the rebellious fury of a Judas the Gaulonite, trainedto recognize no Messiah but a Messiah of the sword, they reproachfullybade him, if his claims were true, to save himself and them. So _all_the voices about him rang with blasphemy and spite, and in that longslow agony his dying ear caught no accent of gratitude, of pity, or oflove. Baseness, falsehood, savagery, stupidity--such were thecharacteristics of the world which thrust itself into hideous prominencebefore the Saviour's last consciousness, such the muddy and miserablestream that rolled under the cross before his dying eyes. 

But amid this chorus of infamy Jesus spoke not. He _could_ have spoken. The pains of crucifixion did not confuse the intellect or paralyze thepowers of speech. We read of crucified men who, for hours together uponthe cross, vented their sorrow, their rage, or their despair in themanner that best accorded with their character; of some who raved andcursed, and spat at their enemies; of others who protested to the lastagainst the iniquity of their sentence; of others who imploredcompassion with abject entreaties; of one even who, from the cross, asfrom a tribunal, harangued the multitude of his countrymen, andupbraided them with their wickedness and vice. But, except to bless andto encourage, and to add to the happiness and hope of others, Jesusspoke not. So far as the malice of the passers-by, and of priests andsanhedrists and soldiers, and of these poor robbers who suffered withhim, was concerned--as before during the trial so now upon the cross--hemaintained unbroken his kingly silence. 

But that silence, joined to his patient majesty and the divine holinessand innocence which radiated from him like a halo, was more eloquentthan any words. It told earliest on one of the crucified robbers. Atfirst this _bonus latro_ of the Apocryphal Gospels seems to have faintlyjoined in the reproaches uttered by his fellow-sinner; but when thosereproaches merged into deeper blasphemy, he spoke out his inmostthought. It is probable that he had met Jesus before, and heard him, andperhaps been one of those thousands who had seen his miracles. There isindeed no authority for the legend which assigns to him the name ofDysmas, or for the beautiful story of his having saved the life of theVirgin and her Child during their flight into Egypt. But on the plainsof Gennesareth, perhaps from some robber's cave in the wild ravines ofthe Valley of the Doves, he may well have approached his presence--hemay well have been one of those publicans and sinners who drew near tohim for to hear him. And the words of Jesus had found some room in thegood ground of his heart; they had not all fallen upon stony places. Even at this hour of shame and death, when he was suffering the justconsequence of his past evil deeds, faith triumphed. As a flamesometimes leaps up among dying embers, so amid the white ashes of asinful life which lay so thick upon his heart, the flame of love towardhis God and his Saviour was not quite quenched. Under the hellishoutcries which had broken loose around the cross of Jesus there had laina deep misgiving. Half of them seem to have been instigated by doubt andfear. Even in the self-congratulations of the priests we catch anundertone of dread. Suppose that even now some imposing miracle shouldbe wrought! Suppose that even now that martyr-form should burst indeedinto messianic splendor, and the King, who seemed to be in the slowmisery of death, should suddenly with a great voice summon his legionsof angels, and, springing from his cross upon the rolling clouds ofheaven, come in flaming fire to take vengeance upon his enemies! And theair seemed to be full of signs. There was a gloom of gathering darknessin the sky, a thrill and tremor in the solid earth, a haunting presenceas of ghostly visitants who chilled the heart and hovered in awfulwitness above that scene. The dying robber had joined at first in thehalf-taunting, half-despairing appeal to a defeat and weakness whichcontradicted all that he had hoped; but now this defeat seemed to begreater than victory, and this weakness more irresistible than strength. As he looked, the faith in his heart dawned more and more into theperfect day. He had long ceased to utter any reproachful words; he nowrebuked his comrade's blasphemies. Ought not the suffering innocence ofhim who hung between them to shame into silence their just punishmentand flagrant guilt? And so, turning his head to Jesus, he uttered theintense appeal, "O Jesus, remember me when thou comest in thy kingdom. "Then he, who had been mute amid invectives, spake at once in surpassinganswer to that humble prayer, "Verily, I say to thee, to-day shalt thoube with me in Paradise. "

Though none spoke to comfort Jesus--though deep grief, and terror, andamazement kept them dumb--yet there were hearts amid the crowd that beatin sympathy with the awful sufferer. At a distance stood a number ofwomen looking on, and perhaps, even at that dread hour, expecting hisimmediate deliverance. Many of these were women who had ministered tohim in Galilee, and had come from thence in the great band of Galileanpilgrims. Conspicuous among this heart-stricken group were his motherMary, Mary of Magdala, Mary the wife of Clopas, mother of James andJoses, and Salome the wife of Zebedee. Some of them, as the hoursadvanced, stole nearer and nearer to the cross, and at length thefilming eye of the Saviour fell on his own mother Mary, as, with thesword piercing through and through her heart, she stood with thedisciple whom he loved. His mother does not seem to have been much withhim during his ministry. It may be that the duties and cares of a humblehome rendered it impossible. At any rate, the only occasions on which wehear of her are occasions when she is with his brethren, and is joinedwith them in endeavoring to influence, apart from his own purposes andauthority, his messianic course. But although at the very beginning ofhis ministry he had gently shown her that the earthly and filialrelation was now to be transcended by one far more lofty and divine, andthough this end of all her high hopes must have tried her faith with anoverwhelming and unspeakable sorrow, yet she was true to him in thissupreme hour of his humiliation, and would have done for him all that amother's sympathy and love can do. Nor had he for a moment forgotten herwho had bent over his infant slumbers, and with whom he had shared thosethirty years in the cottage at Nazareth. Tenderly and sadly he thoughtof the future that awaited her during the remaining years of her life onearth, troubled as they must be by the tumults and persecutions of astruggling and nascent faith. After his resurrection her lot was whollycast among his apostles, and the apostle whom he loved the most, theapostle who was nearest to him in heart and life, seemed the fittest totake care of her. To him, therefore--to John whom he had loved more thanhis brethren--to John whose head had leaned upon his breast at the LastSupper, he consigned her as a sacred charge. "Woman, " he said to her, infewest words, but in words which breathed the uttermost spirit oftenderness, "behold thy son;" and then to St. John, "Behold thy mother. "He could make no gesture with those pierced hands, but he could bend hishead. They listened in speechless emotion, but from that hour--perhapsfrom that very moment--leading her away from a spectacle which did buttorture her soul with unavailing agony, that disciple took her to hisown home. 

It was now noon, and at the Holy City the sunshine should have beenburning over that scene of horror with a power such as it has in thefull depth of an English summer-time. But instead of this, the face ofthe heavens was black, and the noonday sun was "turned into darkness, "on "this great and terrible day of the Lord. " It could have been nodarkness of any natural eclipse, for the Paschal moon was at the full;but it was one of those "signs from heaven" for which, during theministry of Jesus, the Pharisees had so often clamored in vain. Theearly Fathers appealed to pagan authorities--the historian Phallus, thechronicler Phlegon--for such a darkness; but we have no means of testingthe accuracy of these references, and it is quite possible that thedarkness was a local gloom which hung densely over the guilty city andits immediate neighborhood. But whatever it was, it clearly filled theminds of all who beheld it with yet deeper misgiving. The taunts andjeers of the Jewish priests and the heathen soldiers were evidentlyconfined to the earlier hours of the Crucifixion. Its later stages seemto have thrilled alike the guilty and the innocent with emotions ofdread and horror. Of the incidents of those last three hours we are toldnothing, and that awful obscuration of the noonday sun may well haveoverawed every heart into an inaction respecting which there was nothingto relate. What Jesus suffered _then_ for us men and our salvation wecannot know, for during those three hours he hung upon his cross insilence and darkness; or, if he spoke, there was none there to recordhis words. But toward the close of that time his anguish culminated, and, emptied to the very uttermost of that glory which he had since theworld began, drinking to the very deepest dregs the cup of humiliationand bitterness, enduring not only to have taken upon him the form of aservant, but also to suffer the last infamy which human hatred couldimpose on servile helplessness, he uttered that mysterious cry, of whichthe full significance will never be fathomed by man: _Eli, Eli, lamaSabachthani?_ ("My God, my God, why hast thou forsaken me?")

In those words, quoting the psalm in which the early Fathers rightlysaw a far-off prophecy of the whole passion of Christ, he borrowed fromDavid's utter agony the expression of his own. In that hour he wasalone. Sinking from depth to depth of unfathomable suffering, until, atthe close approach of a death which--because he was God, and yet hadbeen made man--was more awful to him than it could ever be to any of thesons of men, it seemed as if even his divine humanity could endure nomore. 

Doubtless the voice of the sufferer--though uttered loudly in thatparoxysm of an emotion which, in another, would almost have touched theverge of despair--was yet rendered more uncertain and indistinct fromthe condition of exhaustion in which he hung; and so, amid the darkness, and confused noise, and dull footsteps of the moving multitude, therewere some who did not hear what he had said. They had caught only thefirst syllable, and said to one another that he had called on the nameof Elijah. The readiness with which they seized this false impression isanother proof of the wild state of excitement and terror--theinvoluntary dread of something great and unforeseen and terrible--towhich they had been reduced from their former savage insolence. ForElijah, the great prophet of the Old Covenant, was inextricably mingledwith all the Jewish expectations of a Messiah, and these expectationswere full of wrath. The coming of Elijah would be the coming of a day offire, in which the sun should be turned into blackness and the moon intoblood, and the powers of heaven should be shaken. Already the noondaysun was shrouded in unnatural eclipse; might not some awful form at anymoment rend the heavens and come down, touch the mountains and theyshould smoke? The vague anticipation of conscious guilt was unfulfilled. Not such as yet was to be the method of God's workings. His messages toman for many ages more were not to be in the thunder and earthquake, notin rushing wind or roaring flame, but in the "still small voice"speaking always amid the apparent silences of Time in whispersintelligible to man's heart, but in which there is neither speech norlanguage, though the voice is heard. 

But now the end was very rapidly approaching, and Jesus, who had beenhanging for nearly six hours upon the cross, was suffering from thattorment of thirst which is most difficult of all for the human frame tobear--perhaps the most unmitigated of the many separate sources ofanguish which were combined in this worst form of death. No doubt thisburning thirst was aggravated by seeing the Roman soldiers drinking sonear the cross; and happily for mankind, Jesus had never sanctioned theunnatural affectation of stoic impassibility. And so he uttered the onesole word of physical suffering which had been wrung from him by all thehours in which he had endured the extreme of all that man can inflict. He cried aloud, "I thirst. " Probably a few hours before, the cry wouldhave only provoked a roar of frantic mockery; but now the lookers-onwere reduced by awe to a readier humanity. Near the cross there lay onthe ground the large earthen vessel containing the _posca_, which wasthe ordinary drink of the Roman soldiers. The mouth of it was filledwith a piece of sponge, which served as a cork. Instantly some one--weknow not whether he was friend or enemy, or merely one who was there outof idle curiosity--took out the sponge and dipped it in the posca togive it to Jesus. But low as was the elevation of the cross, the head ofthe sufferer, as it rested on the horizontal beam of the accursed tree, was just beyond the man's reach; and therefore he put the sponge at theend of a stalk of hyssop--about a foot long--and held it up to theparched and dying lips. Even this simple act of pity, which Jesus didnot refuse, seemed to jar upon the condition of nervous excitement withwhich some of the multitude were looking on. "Let be, " they said to theman, "let us see whether Elias is coming to save him. " The man did notdesist from his act of mercy, but when it was done he, too, seems tohave echoed those uneasy words. But Elias came not, nor human comforter, nor angel deliverer. It was the will of God, it was the will of the Sonof God, that he should be "perfected through sufferings"; that--for theeternal example of all his children as long as the world should last--heshould "endure unto the end. "

And now the end was come. Once more, in the words of the sweet Psalmistof Israel, but adding to them that title of trustful love which, throughhim, is permitted to the use of all mankind, "Father, " he said, "intothy hands I commend my spirit. " Then with one more great effort heuttered the last cry--"It is finished. " It may be that that great cryruptured some of the vessels of his heart, for no sooner had it beenuttered than he bowed his head upon his breast and yielded his life, "aransom for many"--a willing sacrifice to his Heavenly Father. "Finishedwas his holy life; with his life his struggle, with his struggle hiswork, with his work the redemption, with the redemption the foundationof the new world. " At that moment the veil of the Temple was rent intwain from the top to the bottom. An earthquake shook the earth andsplit the rocks, and as it rolled away from their places the greatstones which closed and covered the cavern sepulchres of the Jews, so itseemed to the imaginations of many to have disimprisoned the spirits ofthe dead, and to have filled the air with ghostly visitants, who afterChrist had risen appeared to linger in the Holy City. Thesecircumstances of amazement, joined to all they had observed in thebearing of the Crucified, cowed even the cruel and gay indifference ofthe Roman soldiers. On the centurion who was in command of them thewhole scene had exercised a yet deeper influence. As he stood oppositeto the cross and saw the Saviour die, he glorified God and exclaimed, "This Man was in truth righteous"--nay, more, "This Man was a Son ofGod. " Even the multitude, utterly sobered from their furious excitementand frantic rage, began to be weighed down with a guilty consciousnessthat the scene which they had witnessed had in it something more awfulthan they could have conceived, and as they returned to Jerusalem theywailed and beat upon their breasts. Well might they do so! This was thelast drop in a full cup of wickedness: this was the beginning of the endof their city and name and race. 

And in truth that scene was more awful than they, or even we, can know. The secular historian, be he ever so sceptical, cannot fail to see in itthe central point of the world's history. Whether he be a believer inChrist or not, he cannot refuse to admit that this new religion grewfrom the smallest of all seeds to be a mighty tree, so that the birds ofthe air took refuge in its branches; that it was the little stone cutwithout hands which dashed into pieces the colossal image of heathengreatness, and grew till it became a great mountain and filled theearth. Alike to the infidel and to the believer the Crucifixion is theboundary instant between ancient and modern days. Morally andphysically, no less than spiritually, the faith of Christ was the_palingenesia_ of the world. It came like the dawn of a new spring tonations "effete with the drunkenness of crime. " The struggle was longand hard, but from the hour when Christ died began the death-knell toevery satanic tyranny and every tolerated abomination. From that hourholiness became the universal ideal of all who name the name of Christas their Lord, and the attainment of that ideal the common heritage ofsouls in which his spirit dwells. 

The effects, then, of the work of Christ are even to the unbelieverindisputable and historical. It expelled cruelty; it curbed passion; itbranded suicide; it punished and repressed an execrable infanticide; itdrove the shameless impurities of heathendom into a congenial darkness. There was hardly a class whose wrongs it did not remedy. It rescued thegladiator; it freed the slave; it protected the captive; it nursed thesick; it sheltered the orphan; it elevated the woman; it shrouded aswith a halo of sacred innocence the tender years of the child. In everyregion of life its ameliorating influence was felt. It changed pity froma vice into a virtue. It elevated poverty from a curse into a beatitude. It ennobled labor from a vulgarity into a dignity and a duty. Itsanctified marriage from little more than a burdensome convention intolittle less than a blessed sacrament. It revealed for the first time theangelic beauty of a purity of which men had despaired and of a meeknessat which they had utterly scoffed. It created the very conception ofcharity, and broadened the limits of its obligation from the narrowcircle of a neighborhood to the widest horizons of the race. And whileit thus evolved the idea of humanity as a common brotherhood, even whereits tidings were _not_ believed--all over the world, wherever itstidings _were_ believed, it cleansed the life and elevated the soul ofeach individual man. And in all lands where it has moulded thecharacters of its true believers it has created hearts so pure and livesso peaceful and homes so sweet that it might seem as though those angelswho had heralded its advent had also whispered to every depressed anddespairing sufferer among the sons of men: "Though ye have lien amongthe pots, yet shall ye be as the wings of a dove, that is covered withsilver wings, and her feathers like gold. "

Others, if they _can_ and _will_, may see in such a work as this nodivine Providence, they may think it philosophical enlightenment to holdthat Christianity and Christendom are adequately accounted for by theidle dreams of a noble self-deceiver and the passionate hallucinationsof a recovered demoniac. We persecute them not, we denounce them not, wejudge them not; but we say that, unless all life be a hollow, therecould have been no such miserable origin to the sole religion of theworld which holds the perfect balance between philosophy and popularity, between religion and morals, between meek submissiveness and the prideof freedom, between the ideal and the real, between the inward and theoutward, between modest stillness and heroic energy--nay, between thetenderest conservatism and the boldest plans of world-wide reformation. The witness of history to Christ is a witness which has been given withirresistible cogency; and it has been so given to none but him. 

But while even the unbeliever must see what the life and death of Jesushave effected in the world, to the believer that life and death aresomething deeper still; to him they are nothing less than a resurrectionfrom the dead. He sees in the cross of Christ something which fartranscends its historical significance. He sees in it the fulfilment ofall prophecy as well as the consummation of all history; he sees in itthe explanation of the mystery of birth, and the conquest over themystery of the grave. In that life he finds a perfect example; in thatdeath an infinite redemption. As he contemplates the Incarnation and theCrucifixion, he no longer feels that God is far away, and that thisearth is but a disregarded speck in the infinite azure, and he himselfbut an insignificant atom chance-thrown amid the thousand million livingsouls of an innumerable race, but he exclaims in faith and hope andlove: "Behold, the tabernacle of God is with men; yea, he will be theirGod, and they shall be his people. " "Ye are the temple of the livingGod; as God hath said, I will dwell in them, and walk in them. "

The sun was westering as the darkness rolled away from the completedsacrifice. They who had not thought it a pollution to inaugurate theirfeast by the murder of their Messiah, were seriously alarmed lest thesanctity of the following day--which began at sunset--should becompromised by the hanging of the corpses on the cross. And horrible torelate, the crucified often lived for many hours--nay, even for twodays--in their torture. The Jews therefore begged Pilate that their legsmight be broken, and their bodies taken down. This _crurifragium_, as itwas called, consisted in striking the legs of the sufferers with a heavymallet, a violence which seemed always to have hastened, if it did notinstantly cause, their death. Nor would the Jews be the only persons whowould be anxious to hasten the end by giving the deadly blow. Until lifewas extinct the soldiers appointed to guard the execution dared notleave the ground. The wish, therefore, was readily granted. The soldiersbroke the legs of the two malefactors first, and then, coming to Jesus, found that the great cry had been indeed his last, and that he was deadalready. They did not therefore break his legs, and thus unwittinglypreserved the symbolism of that Paschal lamb, of which he was theantetype, and of which it had been commanded that "a bone of it shallnot be broken. " And yet, as he might be only in a syncope--as instanceshad been known in which men apparently dead had been taken down from thecross and resuscitated--and as the lives of the soldiers would have hadto answer for any irregularity, one of them, in order to make deathcertain, drove the broad head of his _hasta_ into his side. The wound, as it was meant to do, pierced the region of the heart, and "forthwith, "says St. John, with an emphatic appeal to the truthfulness of hiseye-witness--an appeal which would be singularly and impossiblyblasphemous if the narrative were the forgery which so much elaboratemodern criticism has wholly failed to prove that it is--"forthwith camethere out blood and water. " Whether the water was due to some abnormalpathological conditions caused by the dreadful complication of theSaviour's sufferings, or whether it rather means that the pericardiumhad been rent by the spear point, and that those who took down the bodyobserved some drops of its serum mingled with the blood, in either casethat lance thrust was sufficient to hush all the heretical assertionsthat Jesus had only _seemed_ to die; and as it assured the soldiers, soshould it assure all who have doubted, that he, who on the third dayrose again, had in truth been crucified, dead, and buried, and that hissoul had passed into the unseen world. 

FOOTNOTES:

[26] The disputed date of the Crucifixion of Jesus--long variouslyplaced between A. D. 29 and 33--is definitely fixed by many laterauthorities at the year 30. 

THE RISE AND SPREAD OF CHRISTIANITY

A. D. 33

RENAN WISE NEWMAN

 It is a favorite view of historians and critical students that Jesus was born at a time when the world seemed especially prepared for his birth. The correspondence between world conditions then and the actual process of Christianity in its rise and early spread appears to conform to evolutionary laws as regarded in the light of modern interpretation. 

 In its origin Christianity is most intimately connected with Judaism, the parent religion. The known world, however, in the time of Jesus was largely under Roman dominion. This was true of the land where Jesus was born. The Roman Empire was then comparatively at peace, and it was the admonition of St. Paul that the first Christians should maintain that peace. The wide sovereignty of Rome gave the apostles of Christ access to different nations, many of whom had become civilized under Roman influence. But pure monotheism existed only among the Jews. All other nations had a variety of gods and peculiar forms of worship. In most of the pagan religions there were elements of truth and beauty, but they lacked in ethical principles and in moral application to life. Most of their priestcraft was a vulgar imposition upon the ignorance and credulity of the common people. The prevailing philosophies--which, among the more enlightened, took the place of religion--were the Grecian, adopted also by the Romans, and the oriental, with numerous followers in Persia, Syria, Chaldæa, Egypt, and likewise among the Jews. But the philosophers were divided into antagonistic sects. Out of such conditions no practical religion could develop. In the doctrines of Buddhism were to be found the spirit and purpose of a devout and humanely religious people, but the intricate mythology and racial and other limitations of Buddhism forbade that, although it conquered the half of Asia, it should ever become a universal faith. 

 The condition of the Jews at this period was little better than that of other peoples. Among the Jews there was a lack of intellectual unity, and their moral ideals had been lowered. Oppressed by Herod, the tributary Roman King--who, although professedly a Jew, copied the open despisers of all religion--they yielded to the influences of Roman luxury and licentiousness which spread over Palestine. Although still conducted by the priests and Levites and under the eye of the Sanhedrim or senate, the Jewish religion had lost much of its earlier character. Like philosophy, it was vexed with contending sects. Strict observance of the Mosaic law and the performance of prescriptive rites and duties were in the main regarded as the sum of religion. 

 The race of prophets appeared extinct until prophecy was revived in John the Baptist. The successors of the Maccabæan patriots were not animated by their spirit. There was widespread and passionate expectation of a national messiah, but not such a messiah as John proclaimed and Jesus proved to be; rather a powerful warrior and vindicator of Jewish liberty. Galilee, the early home of Jesus, was especially stirred with messianic fervor. In such a condition of the national mind, and at such a stage of the world's empire, it seems natural in the course of spiritual evolution that such a teacher as Jesus--a spiritual messiah--should arise to be the deliverer not of one people only, but of the world itself. Among the Jewish doctors when Jesus was a child was at least one wise and liberal rabbi, Hillel, a Pharisee, the great reformer of his time, and "the most eminent Jew of the generation before the birth of Jesus. " At his feet the boy Jesus may have sat and learned lessons of wisdom and liberality. It gives us a reassurance of spiritual continuity to think that the teachings of Hillel may have "helped to inspire the humane and tender counsels of the founder of Christianity. "

 In grouping the glowing words of Renan, with their fine spiritual interpretations and descriptive eloquence, the judgments of an eminent contemporary Jewish scholar, and Newman's learned yet simple portrayal of the Church as it took form in its early environment, and as it was seen through the media of contemporary governments, customs, and criticisms, it is believed that readers will derive satisfaction, and will be aided in their own inquiries, through this threefold presentation. On so vast a subject, with its momentous implications, no single author, however profound his genius, can do more than contribute a partial essay toward the many-sided truth. 

JOSEPH ERNEST RENAN

From the moment of the arrest of Jesus, and immediately after his death, it is probable that many of the disciples had already found their way tothe northern provinces. At the time of the Resurrection a rumor wasspread abroad, according to which it was in Galilee that he would beseen again. Some of the women who had been to the sepulchre came backwith the report that the angel had said to them that Jesus had alreadypreceded them into Galilee. Others said that it was Jesus himself whohad ordered them to go there. Now and then some people said that theythemselves remembered that he had said so during his lifetime. 

What is certain is that at the end of a few days, probably after thePaschal Feast of the Passover had been quite over, the disciplesbelieved they had a command to return into their own country, and to itaccordingly they returned. Perhaps the visions began to abate atJerusalem. A species of melancholy seized them. The brief appearances ofJesus were not sufficient to compensate for the enormous void left byhis absence. In a melancholy mood they thought of the lake and of thebeautiful mountains where they had received a foretaste of the kingdomof God. The women especially wished, at any cost, to return to thecountry where they had enjoyed so much happiness. It must be observedthat the order to depart came especially from them. That odious cityweighed them down. They longed to see once more the ground where theyhad possessed Him whom they loved, well assured in advance of meetinghim again there. 

The majority of the disciples then departed, full of joy and hope, perhaps in the company of the caravan which took back the pilgrims fromthe Feast of the Passover. What they hoped to find in Galilee were notonly transient visions, but Jesus himself to continue with them, as hehad done before his death. An intense expectation filled their souls. Was he going to restore the kingdom of Israel, to found definitely thekingdom of God, and, as was said, "reveal his justice"? Everything waspossible. They already called to mind the smiling landscapes where theyhad enjoyed his presence. Many believed that he had given to them arendezvous upon a mountain, probably the same to which with them thereclung so many sweet recollections. Never, it is certain, had there beena more pleasant journey. All their dreams of happiness were on the pointof being realized. They were going to see him once more! And, in fact, they did see him again. Hardly restored to their harmless chimeras, theybelieved themselves to be in the midst of the gospel-dispensationperiod. It was now drawing near to the end of April. The ground is thenstrewn with red anemones, which were probably those "lilies of thefields" from which Jesus delighted to draw his similes. At each step hiswords were brought to mind, adhering, as it were, to the thousandaccidental objects they met by the way. Here was the tree, the flower, the seed, from which he had taken his parables; there was the hill onwhich he delivered his most touching discourses; here was the littleship from which he taught. It was like the recommencement of a beautifuldream--like a vanished illusion which had reappeared. The enchantmentseemed to revive. The sweet Galilean "Kingdom of God" had recovered itssway. The clear atmosphere, the mornings upon the shore or upon themountain, the nights passed on the lakes watching the nets, all thesereturned again to them in distinct visions. They saw him everywherewhere they had lived with him. Of course it was not the joy of the firstenjoyment. Sometimes the lake had to them the appearance of being verysolitary. But a great love is satisfied with little. If all of us, whilewe are alive, could surreptitiously, once a year, and during a momentlong enough to exchange but a few words, behold again those loved oneswhom we have lost--death would not be death!

Such was the state of mind of this faithful band, in this short periodwhen Christianity seemed to return for a moment to his cradle and bid tohim an eternal adieu. The principal disciples, Peter, Thomas, Nathaniel, the sons of Zebedee, met again on the shores of the lake, and henceforthlived together; they had taken up again their former calling offishermen, at Bethsaida or at Capernaum. The Galilean women were nodoubt with them. They had insisted more than the others on that return, which was to them a heartfelt love. This was their last act in theestablishment of Christianity. From that moment they disappear. Faithfulto their love, their wish was to quit no more the country in which theyhad tasted their greatest delight. More than five hundred persons werealready devoted to the memory of Jesus. In default of the lost masterthey obeyed the disciples, the most authoritative--Peter--in particular. 

The activity of these ardent souls had already turned in anotherdirection. What they believed to have heard from the lips of the dearrisen One was the order to go forth and preach, and to convert theworld. But where should they commence? Naturally, at Jerusalem. Thereturn to Jerusalem was then resolved upon by those who at that time hadthe direction of the sect. As these journeys were ordinarily made bycaravan at the time of the feasts, we now suppose, with all manner oflikelihood, that the return in question took place at the Feast ofTabernacles at the close of the year 33, or the Paschal Feast of theyear 34. Galilee was thus abandoned by Christianity, and abandonedforever. The little Church which remained there continued, no doubt, toexist; but we hear it no more spoken of. It was probably broken up, likeall the rest, by the frightful disaster which then overtook the countryduring the war of Vespasian; the wreck of the dispersed community soughtrefuge beyond Jordan. After the war it was not Christianity which wasbrought back into Galilee; it was Judaism. 

Galilee thus counted but an hour in the history of Christianity; but itwas the sacred hour, _par excellence_; it gave to the new religion thatwhich has made it endure--its poetry, its penetrating charms. "TheGospel, " after the manner of the synoptics, was a Galilean work. But"the Gospel" thus extended has been the principal cause of the successof Christianity, and continues to be the surest guarantee of its future. It is probable that a fraction of the little school which surroundedJesus in his last days remained at Jerusalem. 

It is about this period that we can place the vision of James, mentionedby St. Paul. James was the brother, or at least a relation, of Jesus. Wedo not find that he had accompanied Jesus on his last sojourn toJerusalem. He probably went there with the apostles, when the latterquitted Galilee. 

It is very remarkable that the family of Jesus, some of whose membersduring his life had been incredulous and hostile to his mission, constituted now a part of the Church, and held in it a very exaltedposition. One is led to suppose that the reconciliation took placeduring the sojourn of the apostles in Galilee. The celebrity which hadattached itself to the name of their relative, those who believed inhim, and were assured of having seen him after he had arisen, served tomake an impression on their minds. From the time of the definiteestablishment of the apostles at Jerusalem, we find with them Mary, themother of Jesus, and the brothers of Jesus. In what concerns Mary, itappears that John, thinking in this to obey a recommendation of theMaster, had adopted and taken her to his own home. He perhaps took herback to Jerusalem. This woman, whose personal history and character haveremained veiled in obscurity, assumed hence great importance. The wordsthat the evangelist put into the mouth of some unknown woman, "Blessedis the womb that bare thee, and the paps which thou hast sucked, " beganto be verified. It is probable that Mary survived her son a few years. As for the brothers of Jesus, their history is wrapped in obscurity. Jesus had several brothers and sisters. It seemed probable, however, that in the class of persons which were called "Brothers of the Lord"there were included relations in the second degree. The question is onlyof moment so far as it concerns James, whom we see playing a great partin the first thirty years of Christianity. 

The apostles henceforth separated no more, except to make temporaryjourneys. Jerusalem became their head-quarters; they seemed to be afraidto disperse, while certain acts served to reveal in them theprepossession of being opposed to return again into Galilee, whichlatter had dissolved its little society. An express order of Jesus issupposed to have interdicted their quitting Jerusalem, before, at least, the great manifestations which were to take place. People's thoughtswere turned with great force toward a promise which it was supposedJesus had made. During his lifetime Jesus, it was said, had often spokenof the Holy Spirit, which was understood to mean a personification ofdivine wisdom. He had promised his disciples that the Spirit would nervethem in the combats that they would have to engage in, would be theirinspirer in difficulties, and their advocate if they had to speak inpublic. Sometimes it was supposed that Jesus suddenly presented himselfin the midst of his disciples assembled, and breathed on them out of hisown mouth a current of vivifying air. At other times the disappearanceof Jesus was regarded as a premonition of the coming of the Spirit. Manypeople established an intimate connection between this descent and therestoration of the kingdom of Israel. 

The affection that the disciples had the one for the other, while Jesuswas alive, was thus enhanced tenfold after his death. They formed a verysmall and very retired society, and lived exclusively by themselves. AtJerusalem they numbered about one hundred and twenty. Their piety wasactive, and, as yet, completely restrained by the forms of Jewishpiety. The Temple was then the chief place of devotion. They worked, nodoubt, for a living; but at that time manual labor in Jewish societyengaged very few. Everyone had a trade, but that trade by no meanshindered a man from being educated and well-bred. 

The dominant idea in the Christian community, at the moment at which weare now arrived, was the coming of the Holy Spirit. People were believedto receive it in the form of a mysterious breath, which passed over theassembly. Every inward consolation, every bold movement, every flush ofenthusiasm, every feeling of lively and pleasant gayety, which wasexperienced without knowing whence it came, was the work of the Spirit. These simple consciences referred, as usual, to some exterior cause theexquisite sentiments which were being created in them. When all wereassembled, and when they awaited in silence inspiration from on high, amurmur, any noise whatever, was believed to be the coming of the Spirit. In the early times, it was the apparitions of Jesus which were producedin this manner. Now the turn of ideas had changed. It was the divinebreath which passed over the little Church, and filled it with acelestial effluvium. These beliefs were strengthened by notions drawnfrom the Old Testament. The prophetic spirit is represented in theHebrew books as a breathing which penetrates man and inspires him. Inthe beautiful vision of Elijah, God passes by in the form of a gentlewind, which produces a slight rustling noise. 

Among all these "descents of the Spirit, " which appear to have beenfrequent enough, there was one which left a profound impression on thenascent Church. One day, when the brethren were assembled, athunder-storm burst forth. A violent wind threw open the windows: theheavens were on fire. Thunder-storms, in these countries, areaccompanied by prodigious sheets of lightning; the atmosphere is, as itwere, everywhere furrowed with ridges of flame. Whether the electricfluid had penetrated the room itself or whether a dazzling flash oflightning had suddenly illuminated the faces of all, everyone wasconvinced that the Spirit had entered, and that it had alighted on thehead of each in the form of tongues of fire. The idea that the Spirithad alighted on them in the form of jets of flame, resembling tongues offire, gave rise to a series of singular ideas, which took a foremostplace in the thought of the period. 

The tongues of fire appeared a striking symbol. People were convincedthat God desired to signify in this manner that he poured out upon theapostles his most precious gifts of eloquence and of inspiration. Butthey did not stop there. Jerusalem was, like the majority of the largecities of the East, a city in which many languages were spoken. Thediversity of tongues was one of the difficulties which one found therein the way of propagating a universal form of faith. One of the things, moreover, which alarmed the apostles, at the commencement of a ministrydestined to embrace the world, was the number of languages which werespoken there: they were asking themselves incessantly how they couldlearn so many tongues. "The gift of tongues" became thus a marvellousprivilege. It was believed that the preaching of the Gospel would clearaway the obstacle which was created by the diversity of idioms. Therewas in this a liberal idea; they meant to imply that the Gospel shouldhave no language of its own; that it should be translatable into everytongue; and that the translation should be of the same value as theoriginal. 

The custom of living together, holding the same faith, and indulging thesame expectation, necessarily produced many common habits. All lived incommon, having but one heart and one mind. No one possessed anythingwhich was his own. On becoming a disciple of Jesus, one sold one's goodsand made a gift of the proceeds to the society. The chiefs of thesociety then distributed the common possessions to each, according tohis needs. They lived in the same quarter. They took their mealstogether, and continued to attach to them the mystic sense that Jesushad prescribed. They passed long hours in prayers. Their prayers weresometimes improvised aloud, but more often meditated in silence. Theconcord was perfect; no dogmatic quarrels, no disputes in regard toprecedence. The tender recollection of Jesus effaced all dissensions. Joy, lively and deep-seated, was in every heart. Their morals wereaustere, but pervaded by a soft and tender sentiment. They assembled inhouses to pray and to devote themselves to ecstatic exercises. Therecollection of these two or three first years remained and seemed tothem like a terrestrial paradise, which Christianity will pursuehenceforth in all its dreams and to which it will vainly endeavor toreturn. Such an organization could only be applicable to a very smallchurch. 

The apostles chosen by Jesus, and who were supposed to have receivedfrom him a special mandate to announce to the world the kingdom of God, had, in the little community, an incontestable superiority. One of thefirst cares, as soon as they saw the sect settle quietly down atJerusalem, was to fill the vacancy that Judas of Kerioth had left in itsranks. The opinion that the latter had betrayed his master, and had beenthe cause of his death, became more and more general. The legend wasmixed up with him, and every day one heard of some new circumstancewhich enhanced the black-heartedness of his deed. In order to replacehim, it was resolved to have recourse to a vote of some sort. The solecondition was that the candidate should be chosen from the groups of theoldest disciples, who had been witnesses of the whole series of events, from the time of the baptism of John. This reduced considerably thenumber of those eligible. Two only were found in the ranks, JosephBar-Saba, who bore the name of Justus, and Matthias. The lot fell uponMatthias, who was accounted as one of the Twelve. But this was the soleinstance of such a replacing. 

The body of Twelve lived, generally, permanently at Jerusalem. Tillabout the year 60 the apostles did not leave the holy city except upontemporary missions. This explains the obscurity in which the majority ofthe members of the central council remained. Very few of them had a_rôle_. This council was a kind of sacred college or senate, destinedonly to represent tradition and a spirit of conservatism. It finished bybeing relieved of every active function, so that its members had nothingto do but to preach and pray; but as yet the brilliant feats ofpreaching had not fallen to their lot. Their names were hardly knownoutside Jerusalem, and about the year 70 or 80 the lists which weregiven of these chosen Twelve agreed only in the principal names. 

The "Brothers of the Lord" appear often by the side of the "apostles, "although they were distinct from them. Their authority, however, wasequal to that of the apostles. Here two groups constituted, in thenascent Church, a sort of aristocracy founded solely on the more or lessintimate relations that their members had had with the Master. Thesewere the men whom Paul denominated "the pillars" of the Church atJerusalem. For the rest, we see that no distinctions in theecclesiastical hierarchy yet existed. The title was nothing; thepersonal authority was everything. The principle of ecclesiasticalcelibacy was already established, but it required time to bring allthese germs to their complete development. Peter and Philip were marriedand had sons and daughters. 

The term used to designate the assembly of the faithful was the Hebrew_Kahal_, which was rendered by the essentially democratic word_Ecclesia_, which is the convocation of the people in the ancientGrecian cities, the summons to the Pnyx or the _Agora_. Commencing withthe second or the third century before Jesus Christ, the words of theAthenian democracy became a sort of common law in Hellenic language;many of these terms, on account of their having been used in the Greekconfraternities, entered into the Christian vocabulary. It was, inreality, the popular life, which, restrained for centuries, resumed itspower under forms altogether different. The primitive Church was, in itsway, a little democracy. 

The power which was ascribed to the Church assembled and to its chiefswas enormous. The Church conferred every mission, and was guided solelyin its choice by the signs given by the Spirit. Its authority went asfar as decreeing death. It is recorded that at the voice of Peterseveral delinquents had fallen back and expired immediately. St. Paul, alittle later, was not afraid, in excommunicating a fornicator, "todeliver him to Satan for the destruction of the flesh, that the spiritmay be saved in the day of the Lord Jesus. " Excommunication was held tobe equivalent to a sentence of death. The apostles were believed to beinvested with supernatural powers. In pronouncing such condemnations, they thought that their anathemas could not fail but be effectual. Theterrible impression which their excommunications produced, and thehatred manifested by the brethren against all the members thus cut off, were sufficient, in fact, in many cases, to bring about death, or atleast to compel the culprit to expatriate himself. Accounts like thoseof the death of Ananias and Sapphira did not excite any scruple. Theidea of the civil power was so foreign to all that world placed withoutthe pale of the Roman law, people were so persuaded that the Church wasa complete society, sufficient in itself, that no person saw, in amiracle leading to death or the mutilation of an individual, an outragepunishable by the civil law. Enthusiasm and faith covered all, excusedeverything. But the frightful danger which these theocratic maxims laidup in store for the future is readily perceived. The Church is armedwith a sword; excommunication is a sentence of death. There washenceforth in the world a power outside that of the State, whichdisposed of the life of citizens. 

Peter had among the apostles a certain precedence, derived directly fromhis zeal and his activity. In these first years he was hardly everseparate from John, son of Zebedee. They went almost always together, and their amity was doubtless the corner-stone of the new faith. James, the brother of the Lord, almost equalled them in authority, at leastamong a fraction of the Church. 

It is needless to remark that this little group of simple people had nospeculative theology. Jesus wisely kept himself far removed from allmetaphysics. He had only one dogma, his own divine Sonship and thedivinity of his mission. The whole symbol of the primitive Church mightbe embraced in one line: "Jesus is the Messiah, the Son of God. " Thisbelief rested upon a peremptory argument--the fact of the resurrection, of which the disciples claimed to be witnesses. To attest theresurrection of Jesus was the task which all considered as beingspecially imposed upon them. It was, however, very soon put forth thatthe Master had predicted this event. Different sayings of his wererecalled, which were represented as having not been well understood, andin which was seen, on second thoughts, an announcement of theResurrection. The belief in the near glorious manifestation of Jesus wasuniversal. The secret word which the brethren used among themselves, inorder to be recognized and confirmed, was _maran-atha_, "the Lord is athand. "

Jesus, with his exquisite tact in religious matters, had instituted nonew ritual. The new sect had not yet any special ceremonies. Thepractices of piety were Jewish. The assemblies had, in a strict sense, nothing liturgic. They were the meetings of confraternities, at whichprayers were offered up, devoted themselves to _glossolaly_ or prophecy, and the reading of correspondence. There was nothing yet ofsacerdotalism. There was no priest (_cohen_); the _presbyter_ was the"elder, " nothing more. The only priest was Jesus: in another sense, allthe faithful were priests. Fasting was considered a very meritoriouspractice. Baptism was the token of admission to the sect. The rite wasthe same as administered by John, but it was administered in the name ofJesus. Baptism was, however, considered an insufficient initiation. Ithad to be followed by the gifts of the Holy Spirit, which were effectedby means of a prayer, offered up by the apostles, upon the head of thenew convert, accompanied by the imposition of hands. 

This imposition of hands, already so familiar to Jesus, was thesacramental act _par excellence_. It conferred inspiration, universalillumination, the power to produce prodigies, prophesying, and thespeaking of languages. It was what was called the Baptism of the Spirit. It was supposed to recall a saying of Jesus: "John baptized you withwater; but as for you, you shall be baptized by the Spirit. " Graduallyall these ideas became amalgamated, and baptism was conferred "in thename of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Ghost. " But it is notprobable that this formula, in the early days in which we now are, wasyet employed. We see the simplicity of this primitive Christian worship. Neither Jesus nor the apostles had invented it. Certain Jewish sects hadadopted, before them, these grave and solemn ceremonies, which appearedto have come in part from Chaldæa, where they are still practised withspecial liturgies by the Sabeans or Mendaites. The religion of Persiaembraced also many rites of the same description. 

The beliefs in popular medicine, which constituted a part of the forceof Jesus, were continued in his disciples. The power of healing was oneof the marvellous gifts conferred by the Spirit. The first Christians, like almost all the Jews of the time, looked upon diseases as thepunishment of a transgression, or the work of a malignant demon. Theapostles passed, just as Jesus did, for powerful exorcists. Peopleimagined that the anointings of oil administered by the apostles, withimposition of hands and invocation of the name of Jesus, wereall-powerful to wash away the sins which were the cause of disease, andto heal the afflicted one. Oil has always been in the East the medicine_par excellence_. For the rest, the simple imposition of the hands ofthe apostles was reputed to have the same effect. This imposition wasmade by immediate contact. Nor is it impossible that, in certain cases, the heat of the hands, being communicated suddenly to the head, insuredto the sick person a little relief. 

The sect being young and not numerous, the question of deaths was nottaken into account until later on. The effect caused by the firstdemises which took place in the ranks of the brethren was strange. People were troubled by the manner of the deaths. It was asked whetherthey were less favored than those who were reserved to see with theireyes the advent of the Son of Man? They came generally to consider theinterval between death and the resurrection as a kind of blank in theconsciousness of the defunct. At the time of which we speak, belief inthe resurrection almost alone prevailed. The funeral rite wasundoubtedly the Jewish rite. No importance was attached to it; noinscription indicated the name of the dead. The great resurrection wasnear; the bodies of the faithful had only to make in the rock a veryshort sojourn. It did not require much persuasion to put people inaccord on the question as to whether the resurrection was to beuniversal, that is to say, whether it would embrace the good and thebad, or whether it would apply to the elect only. One of the mostremarkable phenomena of the new religion was the reappearance ofprophecy. For a long time people had spoken but little of prophets inIsrael. That particular species of inspiration seemed to revive in thelittle sect. The primitive Church had several prophets and prophetessesanalogous to those of the Old Testament. The psalmists also reappeared. The model of our Christian psalms is without doubt given in thecanticles which Luke loved to disseminate in his gospel, and which werecopied from the canticles of the Old Testament. These psalms andprophecies are, as regards form, destitute of originality, but anadmirable spirit of gentleness and of piety animates and pervades them. It is like a faint echo of the last productions of the sacred lyre ofIsrael. The Book of Psalms was in a measure the calyx from which theChristian bee sucked its first juice. The Pentateuch, on the contrary, was, as it would seem, little read and little studied; there wassubstituted for it allegories after the manner of the Jewish_midraschim_ in which all the historic sense of the books wassuppressed. 

The music which was sung to the new hymns was probably that species ofsobbing, without distinct notes, which is still the music of the GreekChurch, of the Maronites, and in general of the Christians of the East. It is less a musical modulation than a manner of forcing the voice andof emitting by the nose a sort of moaning in which all the inflectionsfollow each other with rapidity. That odd melopoeia was executedstanding, with the eyes fixed, the eyebrows crumpled, the brow knit, andwith an appearance of effort. The word _amen_, in particular, was givenout in a quivering, trembling voice. That word played a great part inthe liturgy. In imitation of the Jews, the new adherents employed it tomark the assent of the multitude to the words of the prophet or theprecentor. People, perhaps, already attributed to it some secret virtuesand pronounced it with a certain emphasis. We do not know whether thatprimitive ecclesiastical song was accompanied by instruments. As to theinward chant, by which the faithful "made melody in their hearts, " andwhich was but the overflowing of those tender, ardent, pensive souls, itwas doubtless executed like the _catilenes_ of the Lollards of theMiddle Ages, in medium voice. In general, it was joyousness which waspoured out in these hymns. 

Till now the Church of Jerusalem presents itself to the outside world asa little Galilean colony. The friends whom Jesus had made at Jerusalemand in its environs, such as Lazarus, Martha, Mary of Bethany, Joseph ofArimathea, and Nicodemus, had disappeared from the scene. The Galileangroup, who pressed around the Twelve, alone remained compact andactive. The proselytism of the faithful was chiefly carried on by meansof struggling conversions, in which the fervor of their souls wascommunicated to their neighbors. Their preachings under the porticoes ofSolomon were addressed to circles not at all numerous. But the effect ofthis was only the more profound. Their discourses consisted principallyof quotations from the Old Testament, by which it was sought to provethat Jesus was the Messiah. 

The real preaching was the private conversations of these good andsincere men; it was the reflection, always noticeable in theirdiscourses, of the words of Jesus; it was, above all, their piety, theirgentleness. The attraction of communistic life carried with it also agreat deal of force. Their houses were a sort of hospitals, in which allthe poor and the forsaken found asylum and succor. 

One of the first to affiliate himself with the rising society was aCypriote, named Joseph Hallevi, or the Levite. Like the others, he soldhis land and carried the price of it to the feet of the Twelve. He wasan intelligent man, with a devotion proof against everything, and afluent speaker. The apostles attached him closely to themselves andcalled him _Barnaba_, that is to say, "the son of prophecy" or of"preaching. " He was accounted, in fact, of the number of the prophets, that is to say, of the inspired preachers. Later on we shall see himplay a capital part. Next to St. Paul, he was the most active missionaryof the first century. A certain Mnason, his countryman, was convertedabout the same time. Cyprus possessed many Jews. Barnabas and Mnasonwere undoubtedly Jewish by race. The intimate and prolonged relations ofBarnabas with the Church at Jerusalem induces the belief thatSyro-Chaldaic was familiar to him. 

A conquest, almost as important as that of Barnabas, was that of oneJohn, who bore the Roman surname of Marcus. He was a cousin of Barnabas, and was circumcised. His mother, Mary, enjoyed an easy competency; shewas likewise converted, and her dwelling was more than once made therendezvous of the apostles. These two conversions appear to have beenthe work of Peter. 

The first flame was thus spread with great rapidity. The men, the mostcelebrated of the apostolic century, were almost all gained over to thecause in two or three years, by a sort of simultaneous attraction. Itwas a second Christian generation, similar to that which had been formedfive or six years previously, upon the shores of Lake Tiberias. Thissecond generation had not seen Jesus, and could not equal the first inauthority. But it was destined to surpass it in activity and in its lovefor distant missions. One of the best known among the new converts wasStephen, who, before his conversion, appears to have been only a simpleproselyte. He was a man full of ardor and of passion. His faith was ofthe most fervent, and he was considered to be favored with all the giftsof the Spirit. Philip, who, like Stephen, was a zealous deacon andevangelist, attached himself to the community about the same time. Hewas often confounded with his namesake, the apostle. Finally, there wereconverted at this epoch, Andronicus and Junia, probably husband andwife, who, like Aquila and Priscilla, later on, were the model of anapostolic couple, devoted to all the duties of missionary work. Theywere of the blood of Israel, and were in the closest relations with theapostles. 

The new converts, when touched by grace, were all Jews by religion, butthey belonged to two very different classes of Jews. The one class wasthe Hebrews; that is to say, the Jews of Palestine, speaking Hebrew orrather Armenian, reading the Bible in the Hebrew text; the other classwas "Hellenists, " that is to say, Jews speaking Greek, and reading theBible in Greek. These last were further subdivided into two classes, theone being of Jewish blood, the other being proselytes, that is to say, people of non-Israelitish origin, allied in divers degrees to Judaism. These Hellenists, who almost all came from Syria, Asia Minor, Egypt, orCyrene, lived at Jerusalem in distinct quarters. They had their separatesynagogues, and formed thus little communities apart. Jerusalemcontained a great number of these special synagogues. It was in thesethat the words of Jesus found the soil prepared to receive it and tomake it fructify. 

The primitive nucleus of the Church at Jerusalem had been composedwholly and exclusively of Hebrews; the Aramaic dialect, which was thelanguage of Jesus, was alone known and employed there. But we see thatfrom the second or third year after the death of Jesus, Greek wasintroduced into the little community, where it soon became dominant. Inconsequence of their daily relations with the new brethren, Peter, John, James, Jude, and in general the Galilean disciples acquired the Greekwith much more facility than if they had already known something of it. The Palestinian dialect came to be abandoned from the day in whichpeople dreamed of a widespread propaganda. A provincial _patois_, whichwas rarely written, and which was not spoken beyond Syria, was as littleadapted as could be to such an object. Greek, on the contrary, wasnecessarily imposed on Christianity. It was at the time the universallanguage, at least for the eastern basin of the Mediterranean. It was, in particular, the language of the Jews who were dispersed over theRoman Empire. 

The conversions to Christianity became soon much more numerous among the"Hellenists" than among the "Hebrews. " The old Jews at Jerusalem werebut little drawn toward a sect of provincials, moderately advanced inthe single science that a Pharisee appreciated--the science of the law. The position of the little Church in regard to Judaism was, as withJesus himself, rather equivocal. But every religious or political partycarries in itself a force that dominates it, and obliges it, despiteitself, to revolve in its own orbit. The first Christians, whatevertheir apparent respect for Judaism was, were in reality only Jews bybirth or by exterior customs. The true spirit of the sect came fromanother source. That which grew out of official Judaism was the_Talmud_; but Christianity has no affinity with the Talmudic school. This is why Christianity found special favor among the parties the leastJewish belonging to Judaism. The rigid orthodoxists took to it butlittle; it was the newcomers, people scarcely catechized, who had notbeen to any of the great schools, free from routine, and not initiatedinto the holy tongue, which lent an ear to the apostles and thedisciples. 

This family of simple and united brethren drew associates from everyquarter. In return for that which these brought, they obtained anassured future, the society of a congenial brotherhood, and precioushopes. The general custom, before entering the sect, was for each one toconvert his fortune into specie. These fortunes ordinarily consisted ofsmall rural, semi-barren properties, and difficult of cultivation. Ithad one advantage, especially for unmarried people: it enabled them toexchange these plots of land against funds sunk in an assurance society, with a view to the Kingdom of God. Even some married people came to thefore in that arrangement; and precautions were taken to insure that theassociates brought all that they really possessed, and did not retainanything outside the common fund. Indeed, seeing that each one receivedout of the latter a share, not in proportion to what one put in, but inproportion to one's needs, every reservation of property was actually atheft made upon the community. The Christian communism had religion fora basis, while modern socialism has nothing of the kind. 

Under such a social constitution, the administrative difficulties werenecessarily very numerous, whatever might be the degree of fraternalfeeling which prevailed. Between two factions of a community, whoselanguage was not the same, misapprehensions were inevitable. It wasdifficult for well-descended Jews not to entertain some contempt fortheir coreligionists who were less noble. In fact, it was not longbefore murmurs began to be heard. The "Hellenists, " who each day becamemore numerous, complained because their widows were not so well treatedat the distributions as those of the "Hebrews. " Till now, the apostleshad presided over the affairs of the treasury. But in face of theseprotestations they felt the necessity of delegating to others this partof their powers. They proposed to the community to confide theseadministrative cares to seven experienced and considerate men. Theproposition was accepted. The seven chosen were Stephanas, or Stephen, Philip, Prochorus, Nicanor, Timon, Parmenas, and Nicholas. Stephen wasthe most important of the seven, and, in a sense, their chief. 

To the administrators thus designated were given the Syriac name of_Schammaschin_. They were also sometimes called "the Seven, " todistinguish them from "the Twelve. " Such, then, was the origin of thediaconate, which is found to be the most ancient ecclesiasticalfunction, the most ancient of sacred orders. Later, all the organizedchurches, in imitation of that of Jerusalem, had deacons. The growth ofsuch an institution was marvellous. It placed the claims of the poor onan equality with religious services. It was a proclamation of the truththat social problems are the first which should occupy the attention ofmankind. It was the foundation of political economy in the religioussense. The deacons were the first preachers of Christianity. Asorganizers, financiers, and administrators, they filled a yet moreimportant part. These practical men, in constant contact with the poor, the sick, the women, went everywhere, observed everything, exhorted, andwere most efficacious in converting people. They accomplished more thanthe apostles, who remained on their seats of honor at Jerusalem. Theywere the founders of Christianity, in respect of that which it possessedwhich was most solid and enduring. 

At an early period women were admitted to this office. They weredesignated, as in our day, by the name of "sisters. " At first widowswere selected; later, virgins were preferred. The tact which guided theprimitive Church in all this was admirable. The grand idea ofconsecrating by a sort of religious character and of subjecting to aregular discipline the women who were not in the bonds of marriage, iswholly Christian. The term "widow" became synonymous with religiousperson, consecrated to God, and, by consequence, a "deaconess. " In thosecountries where the wife, at the age of twenty-four, is already faded, where there is no middle state between the infant and the old woman, itwas a kind of new life, which was created for that portion of the humanspecies the most capable of devotion. These women, constantly going toand fro, were admirable missionaries of the new religion. 

The bishop and the priest, as we now know them, did not yet exist. Still, the pastoral ministry, that intimate familiarity of souls, notbound by ties of blood, had already been established. This latter hasever been the special gift of Jesus, and a kind of heritage from him. Jesus had often said that to everyone he was more than a father and amother, and that in order to follow him it was necessary to forsakethose the most dear to us. Christianity placed some things abovefamily; it instituted brotherhood and spiritual marriage. The ancientform of marriage, which placed the wife unreservedly in the power of thehusband, was pure slavery. The moral liberty of the woman began when theChurch gave to her in Jesus a guide and a confidant, who should adviseand console her, listen always to her, and on occasion counselresistance on her part. Woman needs to be governed, and is happy in sobeing; but it is necessary that she should love him who governs her. This is what neither ancient societies nor Judaism nor Islamism havebeen able to do. Woman has never had, up to the present time, areligious conscience, a moral individuality, an opinion of her own, except in Christianity. 

It was now about the year 36. Tiberius, at Capreæ, has little idea ofthe enemy to the empire which is growing up. In two or three years thesect had made surprising progress. It numbered several thousand of thefaithful. It was already easy to foresee that its conquests would beeffected chiefly among the Hellenists and proselytes. The Galilean groupwhich had listened to the Master, though preserving always itsprecedence, seemed as if swamped by the floods of newcomers speakingGreek. One could already perceive that the principal parts were to beplayed by the latter. At the time at which we are arrived no pagan, thatis to say, no man without some anterior connection with Judaism, hadentered into the Church. Proselytes, however, performed very importantfunctions in it. The circle _de provenance_ of the disciples hadlikewise largely extended; it is no longer a simple little college ofPalestineans; we can count in it people from Cyprus, Antioch, andCyrene, and from almost all the points of the eastern coasts of theMediterranean, where Jewish colonies had been established. Egypt alonewas wanting in the primitive Church, and for a long time continued to beso. 

It was inevitable that the preachings of the new sect, althoughdelivered with so much reserve, should revive the animosities which hadaccumulated against its Founder, and eventually brought about his death. The Sadducee family of Hanan, who had caused the death of Jesus, wasstill reigning. Joseph Caiaphas occupied, up to 36, the sovereignpontificate, the effective power of which he gave over to hisfather-in-law Hanan, and to his relatives, John and Alexander. Thesearrogant and pitiless men viewed with impatience a troop of good andholy people, without official title, winning the favor of the multitude. Once or twice Peter, John, and the principal members of the apostoliccollege were put in prison and condemned to flagellation. This was thechastisement inflicted on heretics. The authorization of the Romans wasnot necessary in order to apply it. As we might indeed suppose, thesebrutalities only served to inflame the ardor of the apostles. They cameforth from the Sanhedrim, where they had just undergone flagellation, rejoicing that they were counted worthy to suffer shame for Him whomthey loved. Eternal puerility of penal repressions applied to things ofthe soul! They were regarded, no doubt, as men of order, as models ofprudence and wisdom; these blunderers, who seriously believed in theyear 36 to gain the upper hand of Christianity by means of a few strokesof a whip!

These outrages proceeded chiefly from the Sadducees, that is to say, from the upper clergy, who crowded the Temple and derived from itimmense profits. We do not find that the Pharisees exhibited toward thesect the animosity they displayed to Jesus. The new believers werestrict and pious people, somewhat resembling in their manner of life thePharisees themselves. The rage which the latter manifested against theFounder arose from the superiority of Jesus--a superiority which he wasat no pains to dissimulate. His delicate railleries, his wit, his charm, his contempt for hypocrites, had kindled a ferocious hatred. Theapostles, on the contrary, were devoid of wit; they never employedirony. The Pharisees were at times favorable to them; many Pharisees hadeven become Christians. The terrible anathemas of Jesus againstPharisaism had not yet been written, and the accounts of the words ofthe Master were neither general nor uniform. These first Christianswere, besides, people so inoffensive that many persons of the Jewisharistocracy, who did not exactly form part of the sect, were welldisposed toward them. Nicodemus and Joseph of Arimathea, who had knownJesus, remained no doubt with the Church in the bonds of brotherhood. 

The most celebrated Jewish doctor of the age, Rabbi Gamaliel the elder, grandson of Hillel, a man of broad and very tolerant ideas, spoke, it issaid, in the Sanhedrim in favor of permitting gospel preaching. Theauthor of the Acts credits him with some excellent reasoning, whichought to be the rule of conduct of governments on all occasions whenthey find themselves confronted with novelties of an intellectual ormoral order. "If this work is frivolous, " said he, "leave it alone--itwill fall of itself; if it is serious, how dare you resist the work ofGod? In any case, you will not succeed in stopping it. " Gamaliel's wordswere hardly listened to. Liberal minds in the midst of opposingfanaticisms have no chance of succeeding. 

A terrible commotion was produced by the deacon Stephen. His preachinghad, as it would appear, great success. Multitudes flocked around him, and these gatherings resulted in acrimonious quarrels. It was chieflyHellenists, or proselytes, _habitués_ of the synagogue, called_Libertini_, people of Cyrene, of Alexandria, of Cilicia, of Ephesus, who took an active part in these disputes. Stephen passionatelymaintained that Jesus was the Messiah, that the priests had committed acrime in putting him to death, that the Jews were rebels, sons ofrebels, people who rejected evidence. The authorities resolved todespatch this audacious preacher. Several witnesses were suborned toseize upon some words in his discourses against Moses. Naturally theyfound that for which they sought. Stephen was arrested and led into thepresence of the Sanhedrim. The sentence with which they reproached himwas almost identical with the one which led to the condemnation ofJesus. They accused him of saying that Jesus of Nazareth would destroythe Temple and change the traditions attributed to Moses. It is quitepossible, indeed, that Stephen had used such language. A Christian ofthat epoch could not have had the idea of speaking directly against theLaw, inasmuch as all still observed it; as for traditions, however, Stephen might combat them as Jesus had himself done; nevertheless, thesetraditions were foolishly ascribed by the orthodox to Moses, and peopleattributed to them a value equal to that of the written Law. 

Stephen defended himself by expounding the Christian thesis, with awealth of citations from the written Law, from the Psalms, from theProphets, and wound up by reproaching the members of the Sanhedrim withthe murder of Jesus. "Ye stiff-necked and uncircumcised in heart, " saidhe to them, "you will then ever resist the Holy Ghost as your fathersalso have done. Which of the prophets have not your fathers prosecuted?They have slain those who announced the coming of the Just One, whom youhave betrayed, and of whom you have been the murderers. This law thatyou have received from the mouth of angels you have not kept. " At thesewords a scream of rage interrupted him. Stephen, his excitementincreasing more and more, fell into one of those transports ofenthusiasm which were called the inspiration of the Holy Spirit. Hiseyes were fixed on high; he witnessed the glory of God, and Jesus by theside of his Father, and cried out, "Behold, I see the heavens opened, and the Son of Man sitting on the right hand of God. " The whole assemblystopped their ears and threw themselves upon him, gnashing their teeth. He was dragged outside the city and stoned. The witnesses, who, according to the law, had to cast the first stones, divested themselvesof their garments and laid them at the feet of a young fanatic namedSaul, or Paul, who was thinking with secret joy of the renown he wasacquiring in participating in the death of a blasphemer. 

In that epoch the persecutors of Christianity were not Romans; they wereorthodox Jews. The Romans preserved in the midst of this fanaticism aprinciple of tolerance and of reason. If we can reproach the imperialauthority with anything it is with being too lenient, and with nothaving cut short with a stroke the civil consequences of a sanguinarylaw which visited with death religious derelictions. But as yet theRoman domination was not so complete as it became later. 

As Stephen's death may have taken place at any time during the years 36, 37, 38, we cannot, therefore, affirm whether Caiaphas ought to be heldresponsible for it. Caiaphas was deposed by Lucius Vitellius, in theyear 36, shortly after the time of Pilate; but the change wasinconsiderable. He had for a successor his brother-in-law, Jonathan, sonof Hanan. The latter, in turn, was succeeded by his brother Theophilus, son of Hanan, who continued the pontificate in the house of Hanan tillthe year 42. Hanan was still alive, and, possessed of the real power, maintained in his family the principles of pride, severity, hatredagainst innovators, which were, so to speak, hereditary. 

The death of Stephen produced a great impression. The proselytessolemnized his funeral with tears and groanings. The separation of thenew sectaries from Judaism was not yet absolute. The proselytes and theHellenists, less strict in regard to orthodoxy than the pure Jews, considered that they ought to render public homage to a man whorespected their constitution, and whose peculiar beliefs did not put himwithout the pale of the law. Thus began the era of Christian martyrs. 

The murder of Stephen was not an isolated event. Taking advantage of theweakness of the Roman functionaries, the Jews brought to bear upon theChurch a real persecution. It seems that the vexations pressed chieflyon the Hellenists and the proselytes, whose free behavior exasperatedthe orthodox. The Church of Jerusalem, though already stronglyorganized, was compelled to disperse. The apostles, according to aprinciple which seems to have seized strong hold of their minds, did notquit the city. It was probably so, too, with the whole purely Jewishgroup, those who were denominated the "Hebrews. " But the great communitywith its common table, its diaconal services, its varied exercises, ceased from that time, and was never reformed upon its first model. Ithad endured for three or four years. It was for nascent Christianity anunequalled good fortune that its first attempts at association, essentially communistic, were so soon broken up. Essays of this kindengender such shocking abuses that communistic establishments arecondemned to crumble away in a very short time or to ignore very soonthe principle upon which they are founded. 

Thanks to the persecution of the year 37, the cenobitic Church ofJerusalem was saved from the test of time. It was nipped in the budbefore interior difficulties had undermined it. It remained like asplendid dream, the memory of which animated in their life of trial allthose who had formed part of it, like an ideal to which Christianityincessantly aspires without ever succeeding in reaching its goal. 

The leading part in the persecution we have just related belonged tothat young Saul, whom we have above found abetting, as far as in himlay, the murder of Stephen. This hot-headed youth, furnished with apermission from the priests, entered houses suspected of harboringChristians, laid violent hold on men and women, and dragged them toprison or before the tribunals. Saul boasted that there was no one ofhis generation so zealous as himself for the traditions. True it is thatoften the gentleness and the resignation of his victims astonished him;he experienced a kind of remorse; he fancied he heard these pious women, whom, hoping for the Kingdom of God, he had cast into prison, sayingduring the night, in a sweet voice, "Why persecutest thou us?" The bloodof Stephen, which had almost smothered him, sometimes troubled hisvision. Many things that he had heard said of Jesus went to his heart. This superhuman being, in his ethereal life, whence he sometimesemerged, revealing himself in brief apparitions, haunted him like aspectre. But Saul shrunk with horror from such thoughts; he confirmedhimself with a sort of frenzy in the faith of his traditions, andmeditated new cruelties against those who attacked him. His name hadbecome a terror to the faithful; they dreaded at his hands the mostatrocious outrages and the most sanguinary treacheries. 

The persecution of the year 37 had for its result, as is always thecase, the spread of the doctrine which it was wished to arrest. Till nowthe Christian preaching had not extended far beyond Jerusalem; nomission had been undertaken; enclosed within its exalted but narrowcommunion, the mother Church had spread no halos around herself norformed any branches. The dispersion of the little circle scattered thegood seed to the four winds of heaven. The members of the Church ofJerusalem, driven violently from their quarters, spread themselves overevery part of Judea and Samaria, and preached everywhere the Kingdom ofGod. The deacons, in particular, freed from their administrativefunctions by the destruction of the community, became excellentevangelists. 

The scene of the first missions, which was soon to embrace the wholebasin of the Mediterranean, was the region about Jerusalem, within aradius of two or three days' journey. Philip the Deacon was the hero ofthis first holy expedition. He evangelized Samaria most successfully. Peter and John, after confirming the Church of Sebaste, departed againfor Jerusalem, evangelizing on their way the villages of the country ofSamaria. Philip the Deacon continued his evangelizing journeys, directing his steps toward the south, into the ancient country of thePhilistines. 

Azote and the Gaza route were the limits of the first evangelicalpreachings toward the south. Beyond were the desert and the nomadic lifeupon which Christianity has never taken much hold. From Azote Philip theDeacon turned toward the north and evangelized all the coast as far asCæsarea, where he settled and founded an important church. Cæsarea was anew city and the most considerable of Judea. It was in a kind of way theport of Christianity, the point by which the Church of Jerusalemcommunicated with all the Mediterranean. 

Many other missions, the history of which is unknown to us, wereconducted simultaneously with that of Philip. The very rapidity withwhich this first preaching was done was the reason of its success. Inthe year 38, five years after the death of Jesus, and probably one yearafter the death of Stephen, all this side of Jordan had heard the gladtidings from the mouths of missionaries hailing from Jerusalem. Galilee, on its part, guarded the holy seed and probably scattered it around her, although we know of no missions issuing from that quarter. Perhaps thecity of Damascus, from the period at which we now are, had also someChristians, who received the faith from Galilean preachers. 

The year 38 is marked in the history of the nascent Church by a muchmore important conquest. During that year we may safely place theconversion of that Saul whom we witnessed participating in the stoningof Stephen, and as a principal agent in the persecution of 37, but whonow, by a mysterious act of grace, becomes the most ardent of thedisciples of Jesus. 

From the year 38 to the year 44 no persecution seems to have beendirected against the Church. The faithful were, no doubt, far moreprudent than before the death of Stephen, and avoided speaking inpublic. Perhaps, too, the troubles of the Jews who, during all thesecond part of the reign of Caligula, were at variance with that prince, contributed to favor the nascent sect. 

This period of peace was fruitful in interior developments. The nascentChurch was divided into three provinces, Judea, Samaria, Galilee, towhich Damascus was no doubt attached. The primacy of Jerusalem wasuncontested. The Church of this city, which had been dispersed after thedeath of Stephen, was quickly reconstituted. The apostles had neverquitted the city. The brothers of the Lord continued to reside there andto wield a great authority. 

Peter undertook frequent apostolical journeys in the environs ofJerusalem. He had always a great reputation as a thaumaturgist. At Lyddain particular he was reputed to have cured a paralytic named Æneas, amiracle which is said to have led to numerous conversions in the plainof Saron. From Lydda he repaired to Joppa, a city which appears to havebeen a centre for Christianity. Peter made a long sojourn at Joppa, atthe house of a tanner named Simon, who dwelt near the sea. Theorganization of works of charity was soon actively entered upon. 

The germ of those associations of women, which are one of the glories ofChristianity, existed in the first churches of Judea. At Jaffa commencedthose societies of veiled women, clothed in linen, who were destined tocontinue through centuries the tradition of charitable secrets. Tabithawas the mother of a family which will have no end as long as there aremiseries to be relieved and feminine instincts to be gratified. 

The Church of Jerusalem was still exclusively composed of Jews and ofproselytes. The Holy Ghost being shed upon the uncircumcised beforebaptism, appeared an extraordinary fact. It is probable that thereexisted thenceforward a party opposed in principle to the admission ofGentiles, and that all did not accept the explanations of Peter. Theauthor of the Acts would have us believe that the approbation wasunanimous. But in a few years we shall see the question revived withmuch greater intensity. This matter of the good centurion was, perhaps, like that of the Ethiopian eunuch, accepted as an exceptional case, justified by a revelation and an express order from God. Still thematter was far from being settled. This was the first controversy whichhad taken place in the bosom of the Church; the paradise of interiorpeace had lasted for six or seven years. 

About the year 40 the great question upon which depended all the futureof Christianity appears thus to have been propounded. Peter and Philiptook a very just view of what was the true solution, and baptizedpagans. 

The new faith was spread from place to place with marvellous rapidity. The members of the Church of Jerusalem, who had been dispersedimmediately after the death of Stephen, pushing their conquests alongthe coast of Phoenicia, reached Cyprus and Antioch. They were at firstguided by the sole principle of preaching the Gospel to the Jews only. 

Antioch, "the metropolis of the East, " the third city of the world, wasthe centre of this Christian movement in Northern Syria. It was a citywith a population of more than five hundred thousand souls, and theresidence of the imperial legate of Syria. Suddenly advanced to a highdegree of splendor by the Seleucidæ, it reaped great benefit from theRoman occupation. Antioch, from its foundation, had been wholly aGrecian city. The Macedonians of Antigone and Seleucus had brought withthem into that country of the Lower Orontes their most livelyrecollections, their worship, and the names of their country. TheGrecian mythology was there adopted as it were in a second home; theypretended to show in the country a crowd of "holy places" forming partof this mythology. The city was full of the worship of Apollo and of thenymphs. The degradation of the people was awful. The peculiarity ofthese centres of moral putrefaction is to reduce all the race of mankindto the same level. The depravity of certain Levantine cities, which aredominated by the spirit of intrigue and delivered up entirely to lowcunning, can scarcely give us an idea of the degree of corruptionreached by the human race at Antioch. It was an inconceivable medley ofmountebanks, quacks, buffoons, magicians, miracle-mongers, sorcerers, false priests; a city of races, games, dances, processions, _fêtes_, revels, of unbridled luxury, of all the follies of the East, of the mostunhealthy superstitions, and of the fanaticism of the orgy. The citywas very literary, but literary only in the literature of rhetoricians. The beauty of works of art and the infinite charm of nature preventedthis moral degradation from sinking entirely into hideousness andvulgarity. 

The Church of Antioch owed its foundation to some believers originallyfrom Cyprus and Cyrene, who had already been much engaged in preaching. Up to this time they had only addressed themselves to the Jews. But in acity where pure Jews--Jews who were proselytes, "people fearing God"--orhalf-Jewish pagans and pure pagans, lived together, exclusive preachingrestricted to a group of houses became impossible. That feeling ofreligious aristocracy on which the Jews of Jerusalem so much pridedthemselves did not exist in those large cities, where civilization wasaltogether of the profane sort, where the scope was greater, and whereprejudices were less firmly rooted. The Cypriot and Cyrenianmissionaries were then constrained to depart from their rule. Theypreached to the Jews and to the Greeks indifferently. 

The success of the Christian preaching was great. A young, innovating, and ardent Church, full of the future, because it was composed of themost diverse elements, was quickly founded. All the gifts of the HolySpirit were there poured out, and it was easy to perceive that this newChurch, emancipated from the strict Mosaism which erected an insuperablebarrier around Jerusalem, would become the second cradle ofChristianity. Assuredly, Jerusalem must remain forever the capital ofthe Christian world; nevertheless, the point of departure of the Churchof the Gentiles, the primordial focus of Christian missions, was, intruth, Antioch. It was there that for the first time a Christian churchwas established, freed from the bonds of Judaism; it was there that thegreat propaganda of the apostolic age was established; it was there thatSt. Paul assumed a definite character. Antioch marks the secondhalting-place of the progress of Christianity, and, in respect ofChristian nobility, neither Rome nor Alexandria nor Constantinople canbe at all compared with it. 

The foundation of Christianity, from this point of view, is the greatestwork that the men of the people have ever achieved. Very quickly, without doubt, men and women of the high Roman nobility joinedthemselves to the Church. At the end of the first century, FlaviusClemens and Flavia Domitilla show us Christianity penetrating almostinto the palace of the Cæsars. 

ISAAC M. WISE

In the rabbinical literature several successes of the apostles arenoticed, especially at Capernaum and Capersamia. One of them is mostremarkable, viz. , the conversion of Rabbi Eliezer ben Hyrcan by theapostle James. This rabbi, the _Talmud_ narrates, was actually arrestedby Roman officers, and, in obedience to the edict against Christianity, was accused of the crime of being a Christian, which he did not deny, although he repented it. 

The most important success, however, which the apostles could boast wasthe conversion of Paul. The man whose colossal genius and giganticenergies grasped the pillars upon which the superstructure ofGræco-Roman paganism rested, bent and broke them like rotten staves, till with a thundering noise down came the ancient fabric, with itsgods, altars, temples, priests, and priestesses, depositing _débris_that took centuries to remove and remodel; the man whose hands wereagainst all, and against whom were all hands; who defied the philosophyof the philosophers, the power of the priests, and the religions of theworld; who was all alone all in all--this man was Paul of Tarsus, thegreat apostle to the Gentiles, with an original gospel of his own. Hekindled a fire in the very heart of the Roman Empire, under the eyes ofthe authorities of Rome and of Jerusalem, which in a few centuriesconsumed ancient heathenism from the Tigris to the Tiber, and from theTiber to the Thames. With a skilful hand he threw the sparks upon theaccumulated combustibles of error, corruption, and slavery, and ancientsociety exploded, to make room and furnish the material for a newcivilization. The conversion of this man was the apostles' greatsuccess. If it had not been for him the nascent Church, like otherJewish sects, would have perished in the catastrophe of Jerusalem, because the apostles did not possess that vigor and energy to resist theviolent shock. In Paul, however, the spirit of John and of Jesusresurrected with double vigor, and he became the actual founder of theChristianity of history. 

Few and far apart are the brilliant stars in the horizon of history. Strike out a hundred names and their influence upon the fate of man, andyou have no history. 

Those brilliant stars, however, did not always make history from theirown wealth, from the original resources of their minds. Ideas which tensof thousands have held, without an attempt to carry them into effect, and others have unsuccessfully attempted to realize, in the right timeand under favorable circumstances are seized upon by an executivegenius, and a new epoch in history is opened. The numerous minor spiritswhich contributed to the sum total of the creative idea disappear in thebrilliancy of the one star which remains visible in history. The worldis a machine shop. Each artificer makes the part of a machine. Onemaster mind combines the parts, and he is known as the master machinist. 

Paul was one of those master machinists, one of those brilliant stars inthe horizon of history. In him the spirit of Jesus resurrected aseminently and vigorously as John had resurrected in Jesus. He was theauthor of Gentile Christianity. He conceived the idea of carrying intoeffect what all the prophets, all pious Israelites of all ages, hopedand expected--the denationalization of the Hebrew ideas, and theirpromulgation in the form of universal religion among the Gentiles; toconciliate and unite the human family under the great banner inscribedwith the motto of "One God and one code of morals to all. " All Jews ofall ages hoped and expected that the kingdom of heaven should beextended to all nations and tongues; but Paul went forth TO DO it; thisis his particular greatness. 

The circumstances, of course, favored his enterprise. Græco-Romanpaganism was undermined. The gods stood in disrepute, and the augurssmiled. The state religion was an organized hypocrisy. The learnedbelieved nothing; the vulgar almost everything, if it was butpreposterously absurd enough. The progress of Grecian philosophy and theinroads of Judaism in the Roman world were so considerable that royalfamilies had embraced Judaism, and the emperor Tiberius had found itnecessary to drive the Jews, together with the Egyptian priests, fromRome, because their religion had its admirers in the very palace of theCæsars, as well as among priests, nobles, and plebeians. All the devoutGentiles whom Paul met on his journeys were Judaized Greeks or Syrians;for the Pharisees traversed land and sea to make one proselyte. Therefore, when Paul preached in Asia Minor, Cicero and Cato _had_spoken in Rome; Seneca and Epictetus gave utterance to sentiments asnearly like those of Paul and other Jews as are the two eyes of the samehead. 

Again, on the other hand, Epicurism in its worst sequences, sensualismin its most outrageous form, the despotism and brutality of the Cæsarsand their favorites, had so undermined the moral sentiments andreligious feelings of the masses that scepticism, fraught with shockingvices and unnatural crimes, coupled with contemptible hypocrisy andridiculous superstition, demoralized the masses and brought truth itselfinto ill-repute. To add to all this there came the steady decline of theJewish state, the growing demonstration of fast-approaching ruin, and, in consequence thereof, the growth of superstition among the Hebrews, among whom a class of mystics sprang up, who professed to know what Godand his angels do, speak, and think in the secret cabinet of heaven, where the throne of the Almighty stands, splendidly and minutelydescribed by those mystics who supposed that they received superiorknowledge by special impressions from on high, without study or researchon their part; and expected to see the status of social and politicalaffairs suddenly changed by miraculous interpositions of the Deity, without human exertion and coöperation. This state of affairs was highlyfavorable to Paul's stupendous enterprise. 

But who was Paul himself? Notwithstanding all the attempts of the authorof the Acts to mystify him into as mythical a character as the Gospelsmade of Jesus, Paul is an open book in history. We have his genuineepistles, in which he gives considerable account of himself and hisexploits. We have one portion of the Acts in which, contrary to the restof that book, the author narrates in the first person plural, "we, "which appears to be taken from the notes of one of Paul'scompanions--Luke, Timothy, Silas, or any other. Then we have the_Talmud_, with its numerous anecdotes about _Acher_, as the rabbiscalled Paul, which are of inestimable value to the historian. Thesesources enable us to form a conception of the man. A few remarks on hislife will be found interesting. 

Paul is not a proper name. It signifies "the little one. " The author ofthe Acts states that his name was Saul. But, it appears, he knew no moreabout it than we do, and changed the P of Paul into an S, to make of itthe Hebrew name Saul. In his epistles he invariably calls himself Paul, and not Saul. So the author of the "we" portion of the Acts always callshim Paul. Passing under an assumed name, the rabbis called him _Acher_, "another, " _i. E. _, one who passes under another or assumed name. Theymaintain that his name was Elisha ben Abujah. But this name must befictitious, because it is a direct and express reference to Paul'stheology. It signifies "the saving deity, son of the father god, " andPaul was the author of the "Son of God" doctrine. The fact is, he wasknown to the world under his assumed name only. 

Nothing is known of his youth, except a few spurious anecdotes recordedin the _Talmud_. When quite young he studied the law and some Grecianliterature at the feet of Gamaliel in Jerusalem, among the thousandstudents who listened to the wisdom of that master. He states that hewas a very zealous Pharisee, who persecuted the Christians. But all of asudden he embraced the cause of the persecuted, and became one of itsmost zealous apostles. We can easily imagine the nature of thatpersecution, although the Stephen story, like the Damascus story and thevision on the way, as narrated in the Acts, is spurious, because Paulnever alludes to it, and the Jews of Jerusalem had no jurisdiction inDamascus over anybody. But what caused his remarkable transition fromone extreme to the other? First a Pharisee, with law and nothing butlaw, and then the author of the epistles, which reject and abrogate theentire law. Transitions of this nature require time, and are wrought byviolent agencies only. 

A number of stories narrated in the _Talmud_, together with those of theActs, point to the fact that the youthful Paul, with his vividimagination, witnessed many an act of barbarous violence and outrageousinjustice. Occurrences of this nature were not rare under the militarydespotism of Rome in Judea. The soil was saturated with innocent blood. The world was governed by the sword, and Rome groaned under theunnatural crimes of her Cæsars. There was universal depravity among thegoverning class, and endless misery among the governed. The rabbis giveus to understand that this state of affairs misled Paul into the beliefthat there was no justice in heaven or earth, no hope for Israel, noreward and no punishment, that the balance of justice was destroyed. Itis quite natural that under such circumstances such a scepticism shouldoverpower young and sensitive reasoners. 

King Saul, in a state of despair, receiving no reply from the prophets, none from the Urim and Thumim, deeply fallen as he was, went in disguiseto the Witch of Endor. Goethe's Faust, in imitation thereof, receivingno answer to his questions addressed to heaven and eternity, no answerthrough his knowledge of nature's laws and nature's forces, no answerfrom the philosophy of his century and the theology of his priests, throws himself into the embrace of Mephistopheles. That is human nature. Exactly the same thing was done in the days of Paul, and exactly thesame thing he himself did. There was the indescribable misery of theage, and there were the knowledge and theories of that overburdenedcentury, and no answer, no reply to the questions addressed to heavenand eternity; and they went to the fountains of mysticism and secretknowledge to quench the thirst of the soul. There sprung up thevisionary Gnostics among the Gentiles, and the Cabalistic Mystics amongthe Jews. History notices the same rotation continually--idealism, sensualism, scepticism, and finally mysticism. 

The mystic art among the Hebrews then was of two different kinds, eitherto attract an evil spirit or to be transported alive into paradise orheaven. An evil spirit was attracted by fasting and remaining for daysand nights alone in burial-grounds, till the brain was maddened andinfatuated, when the artificial demoniac prophesied and performed sundrymiracles. The transportation to heaven or paradise was more difficult. The candidate for a tour into heaven would retire to some isolatedspot, fast until the brain was maddened with delirium and the nervesexcited to second sight by the loss of sleep. Then, in that state oftrance, he would sit down on the ground, draw up his knees, bend downhis head between them, and murmur magic spells, until, through thereversed circulation of the blood, the maddened brain, and the unstrungnerves, he would imagine that he saw the heaven opening to hisinspection, palace after palace thrown widely open to his gaze, hosts ofangels passing within view, until finally he imagined himself entirelyremoved from the earth, transported aloft into those diamond palaces onhigh, or, as Paul calls it, "caught up into paradise, " where he heard"unspeakable words, which it is not possible for a man to utter, " andthe throne of God, with all the seraphim and cherubim, archangels andangels, became visible and their conversation intelligible to theenraptured and transported mystic, in a fit of hallucination, when thebewildered imagination sees objectively its own subjective phantasma, and hears from without, in supposed articulate sounds, its own silentthoughts. It requires no great stretch of the imagination to form acorrect idea of the mystic eccentricities to which this awful practicemust have led those who frequently indulged in it. Rabbinical mystics, like modern trance-speakers, gave vivid descriptions of the interiorsplendor and grand sceneries of heaven and of the conversations ofangels. One of those descriptions is preserved in _Pirke Rabbi Eliezer_, and others in various fragments of the _Talmud_. 

Among those particularly noticed in the _Talmud_ as having been inheaven or paradise there is also Acher, or Paul, who states so himselfin his Second Epistle to the Corinthians (xii. ). That passage gave riseto the story of Jesus appearing in person to Paul, just as therabbinical mystics claimed to have had frequent intercourse with theprophet Elijah, who had been transported alive to heaven. 

So Paul passed the transition from the law school of the Pharisees tothe new school of mystics. In this state of trance he discovered thatcentral figure of the Cabalistic speculation, the _Metathron_, theco-regent of the Almighty; or, as he otherwise was called, the_Synadelphos_, the _confrère_ of the Deity, or Suriel, the "Prince ofthe Countenance, " whom the Cabalists imagined to be the chief marshalor chief scribe in heaven; who was once on earth, as Enoch or as Elijah, and was advanced to that high position in heaven. 

It is the Demiurge, the highest magistrate in heaven, whom the gnosticValentine calls a godlike angel, and of whom the rabbis said, "His nameis like unto the name of his Master. "

This central figure, blended with the messianic speculations of thatage, with the doctrines of Peter and the nascent Church, combined inPaul's mind to one mystic conception of the "Son of God, " intelligibleto pagan ears. So he went forth and proclaimed Jesus of Nazareth the Sonof God. In substance, the expression is about the same as Metathron andSynadelphos, and the office which Paul ascribed to Jesus is precisely ofthe same nature with that which the Cabalists ascribed to the angel whowas the _Saar Haolom_, the prince or ruler of this world, who standsbefore God, or also sits before him, as Paul's Jesus stands before Godor sits at his right hand. It is precisely the same in both systems, thenames only are changed; so that it is difficult to decide whether Paulwas or the rabbis were the authors of the metathronic speculations, especially as these two angels only have Greek names, while all othersare Hebrew or Chaldæan, and later Cabalists frequently put down Joshuaor Jesus in the place of Metathron. 

Those who believe that Acher's dualism of the Deity was the Persian_Ormuzd_ and _Ahriman_, hence a good and an evil principle, and thatMetathron never was an evil demon, are as decidedly mistaken as thosewho believe that Paul had more than one God. Paul's Son of God andAcher's Metathron are the same central figure before the throne of God, and the two authors are identical. 

In that world of secret thoughts Paul discovered the harmonization ofdiscordant speculations and the remedy for all existing evils. "Theworld must be regenerated by a new religion, " was his great ideal. Theancient religions and the philosophies have produced the corruptionwhich rages universally. They must be swept away. Society must bereconstructed on a new basis, and this basis is in the theology andethics of Israel, separated and liberated from their climatical andnational limitations, their peculiar Jewish garb. There was no hopeleft of saving the Jewish nationality and political organization fromthe hands of omnipotent Rome, which swallowed and neutralized kingdomsand nations with wonderful ease; nor was there any particular necessityfor it if society at large was reconstructed on the new basis. Theobject of Jesus was to reconstruct the kingdom of heaven _in Israel_, and he was crucified. All Israel had the same object in view, and stoodat the brink of dissolution. If the basis and principles of the kingdomof heaven became the postulate of society at large, Jesus is resurrectedin the world, and Israel is saved, was Paul's main idea. 

The Pharisean rabbis hoped that this would come to pass at some futureday, when, they maintained, all sacrifices and all laws would beabolished, and all the nations of the earth would be one family, withone God and one moral law. Paul seized upon the idea, and added to itthe simple dogma of Peter, "The Messiah has come. " That hoped-for futureis now. God's promise to Abraham, "And there shall be blessed by thee, and by thy seed, all the families of the earth, " is to be fulfilled atonce. So he came forth from his mystical paradise an apostle of Jesusand a new redeemer of Israel. He argued exactly as the Pharisean doctorsdid who maintained that the Messiah would come when all mankind shouldbe guilty or all righteous. In the estimation of Paul, at thatparticular time all mankind was corrupt and demoralized, and so that wasthe time for the Messiah to make his appearance. 

He went to work at once. He began to preach his new Christianity atDamascus about the year 51, and found out that the world was notprepared for his ideas. He had a narrow escape at Damascus, where thegovernor and soldiers pursued him. Like the spies at Jericho, he was letdown in a basket over the city walls and made his escape. So _he_narrates the story. The author of the Acts, true to his hostility to theJews, of course brings them in as the persecutors. But Paul, in general, never speaks otherwise than with the highest regard and love of hiskinsmen and his brothers according to the flesh. 

The failure at Damascus did not discourage Paul. It only convinced himthat he was too young--he could not at that time have been much overtwenty-one years; that he was not sufficiently prepared for the greatenterprise; that it was not such an easy task to throw down thesuperannuated heathenism and to reorganize society on a new basis. Heretired into Arabia and remained there nearly three years, to perfect aplan of operation. Nearly three years he spent in silent contemplation, to discover the proper means, to take the right hold upon the heathenworld, and to unfurl a new banner of heaven upon this wicked earth. In53 or 54 we meet him again at Antioch, with his new and originalgospel--the gospel for the Gentiles--prepared for his mission and readyto embark in the great enterprise, to wage active war upon all existingsystems of religion and philosophy, and to replace all of them by Paul'sgospel. He had been in Jerusalem fifteen days, had conversed with Peterand nobody else, but he repeatedly tells us that he had taken advice ofnone, consulted none, was appointed by nobody, and learned nothing ofanybody. The gospel was his gospel, and he was an apostle by theappointment of God Almighty himself, who had revealed his Son to him. InAntioch he established the first congregation of Jews and Gentiles, andcalled them Christians. So Paul was the actual author of Christianityamong the Gentiles. 

What was Paul's gospel? Paul, setting out on his journeys with the greatidea of converting heathens, was obliged to paganize the Gospel. Theheathens knew nothing of the Jewish Messiah, and he gave him the namepopularly known among them--he called him the Son of God, which was acommon name in mythology. The Son of God and Mary was a term as popularamong heathens as it was foreign to the Jews, among whom Jesus was toremain the Messiah, only that he became also the Metathron. Thisexplained to Jewish mystics the possibility of the second advent, andgave a metaphysical foundation to the resurrection doctrine. The kingdomof heaven, or the theocracy, was another unintelligible idea to theheathen. Israel's laws and form of government were as odious and decriedamong the pagans as the hostility to that people was fierce andimplacable. Paul made thereof a theological kingdom of heaven, when allthe dead shall resurrect in spiritual bodies, and the living shall bechanged accordingly, together with this earth and all that is thereon;and declared all the laws of Israel abrogated, so that only the spiritthereof, the precepts and not the laws, should be obligatory in the newstate of society. 

The sins and wickedness of the world are forgiven to all who believe inthe Son, and whose flesh is crucified with him, to resurrect with him inpurity; for he died a vicarious atonement for all. He was the lastsacrifice, to blot out the sins of all who have faith in him. 

The Crucified One did not resurrect merely in the spirit, of which theheathens could not form a satisfactory conception, because theimmortality of the soul was by no means a general belief among them, andtheir gods were no spirits; he resurrected in his very body, and wascaught up to heaven, to sit or stand there at God's right hand, to comedown again in proper time. "Here, then, is your tangible proof ofimmortality, " he said to the heathens. "Like the Crucified One, all ofyou will resurrect from the dead, or be changed on the day of judgment. "This was plain language to heathens, who knew that but lately Cæsar hadbeen caught up to heaven as Romulus was before him, and asked noquestions as to how a human body can rise in the atmosphere and becomeincorruptible; none as to what means above or below, up or down, as towhere God is and where he is not, where his right hand, where before andwhere behind him; or as to whether the world is full of his glory. Nosuch questions were asked, and there was the ocular demonstration ofimmortality, tangible and intelligible to the grossest intellect. 

The Jewish nationality and the Jewish law are at their end, and theworld is the heir to that covenant and to the blessing of God by Abrahamand his seed. With the new covenant the old one ceases. It has fulfilledits destiny. It was a state of preparation for this period of universalsalvation to all who have love, hope, and faith. With Adam and the fleshcame the sin, law, and death; with Jesus the flesh ceases, hence no moresin, law, or death. 

These are the main features of Paul's gospel: The Son of God, thetheological kingdom of heaven, the vicarious atonement, the bodilyresurrection of the Crucified One, the abrogation of the law, and thebeginning of the new covenant. He was the first man to utter thesedoctrines; with him Christianity begins, and he named it. 

But Paul knew well that doctrines alone would be insufficient to rousethe heathen world from its demoralized state, its dreary and stupiddreams; and he resorted to the most terrible and most shocking of allmessages. He came to the heathens with the terror-striking proclamation, "The end is nigh!" The whole earth, with all the creatures thereon; thewhole human family, with all its wickedness, all its atrocious crimes, will be destroyed in one moment. All of you, men, women, and children, with all your vices and crimes, will be suddenly summoned before theEternal and All-just; you have to go, all of you, and appear before theomniscient God. The end is nigh, the destruction of the human family iscertain and right before you. It will come soon. It may come any day, atany moment. 

Now Paul's gospel came in. Here is your choice. There are death anddamnation; here are life and happiness everlasting. God has sent his Sonin advance of the approaching catastrophe to warn you, and he isappointed now to conduct the end of all flesh. Cling to him and besaved, or believe not and be condemned forever. So he came to theheathens. This was his gospel. How did he succeed? We will explain aftera brief pause. 

All passages in the Gospels and the Acts which have reference to theabove Christology, to the end of things or against it--in which thesynoptics most fatally contradict one another--are the products ofwriters long after Paul, when the attempts to reconcile Jewish andGentile Christianity were made. For with Paul begins the new form ofChristianity and the struggle with the representatives of the old form. Within ten years he traversed the land from Antioch to Athens, in threedifferent journeys, and established his bishopric, the first Christiancongregations among the Gentiles. He organized them fully, with deaconsand deaconesses, preachers and prophets; and he was their bishop, theiroracle, their revelation, and their demi-god. He let his convertsbelieve that they could do wonderful things, in healing the sick, driving out demons, prophesying and speaking with strange tongues, because it served his purposes, although he did none of these things. Hegave them the Holy Ghost, _i. E. _, he regenerated their feelings andpacified their stormy passions, suppressed their brutal lusts, andelevated their aspirations to higher ideals. He did not feel thatsovereign contempt for money which the Master did whom he glorified; forhe, like the other apostles, took his pay, and argued with theCorinthians, like a good Pharisean lawyer, that bishops and preachersmust be paid--an argument well understood by the dignitaries of theChurch to this day. 

Wonderful, indeed, is the progress which Paul made among the Gentiles inten years. Like a pillar of fire, he traversed the deserts ofheathenism; like a second Elijah, he battled against the priests andprophets of Baal, and conjured down the fire from heaven to hisassistance. Within ten years he laid the foundation of a newcivilization, of the reorganization of society on the new basis. He didnot live to see it realized, but he saw the new system take root andpromise golden fruit. Wonderful, we maintain, was his success; for hewas not only opposed by the entire heathen world, and by the orthodoxJews, although he proclaimed their God and their doctrines, theirreligion and their hopes, but was also most strenuously opposed by theapostles and the nascent congregation in Jerusalem, whose Master heglorified, and whose cause he made the cause of the world. Thedissensions between Paul and the apostles were of a very seriouscharacter, and there was ample cause for them. 

In the first place, he took it upon himself to be an apostle, and theyhad their college of Twelve, to which none could be added, especiallynot Paul, who had never seen Jesus of Nazareth. He maintained that Godhad appointed him, God had revealed his Son and his Gospel to him; butthe apostles did not believe it, and never acknowledged him as anapostle. At the end of his journeys, Peter, James, and John, three outof Twelve, acknowledged him as an apostle to the Gentiles, but not tothe Jews. The rest never did, which, of course, was a great trouble anddrawback to Paul among his own converts. 

In the second place, they could never forgive him for the idea of goingto the Gentiles. Peter, who had become a pious Essene and considered itunlawful to go to the house or into the company of a Gentile; James, whodreaded the idea of eating of the bread of the Gentile, and made ahypocrite in this point of Peter at Antioch--and they were the heads ofthe Church--could not forgive Paul's innovation in going to theGentiles. Paul was sensible enough to silence them by begging money forthem, and to appoint the Sunday for collections to be made for thesaints of Jerusalem. But it was too much for them that Paul went to theGentiles. 

In the third place, he changed their whole religion into a new sort ofmythology. He made of Jesus a Son of God, of which they had noknowledge. He preached vicarious atonement, bodily resurrection, the endof the old covenant and the beginning of a new, the end of all flesh, the last judgment--all of which was foreign to them; not one word of allthat had their Master told them, and they knew only what he did tellthem. They naturally looked upon him as an unscrupulous innovator. Theyhad not experience and forethought enough to understand that Paul'ssuccess among the heathens depended on that means. They were pious menwho prayed much, believed seriously, and had no knowledge of the worldas it was. 

In the fourth place, they could not possibly give their consent toPaul's abrogation of the whole law, knowing, as they did, how theirMaster respected every tittle, every iota of the law; that he had cometo fulfil the law, and to reëstablish the theocracy; how could theypossibly think of the idea of abolishing Sabbath and holidays, circumcision and ablutions, all and everything, to be guided by thephantom of hope, love, and faith, against which James argues in hisepistle with all the energy of his soul? Those inexperienced saints didnot know that the Pharisean doctors held similar theories, and that Paulcould not possibly hope to meet with any success among the Gentiles ifhe had come to them with the laws of the Jews. They were Roman citizens, who contemned the laws of the barbarians. Had Paul come with the wordJudaism on his lips, he would have surely failed. Had he come to enforcea foreign law, he would have been laughed at as a madman. They did notknow that Paul cared not for an hundred and one laws, as long as theessence and substance could be saved and preserved; that he held thatlaws are local, the spirit is universal; that laws are limitations, thespirit is free and the property of all men of all ages and climes; thathe was determined to drop everything which could retard his progress. 

In the fifth place, and this was the worst, they could not forgive himfor preaching the theological kingdom of heaven. A kingdom of Israel--athrone of David, a Davidian prince, a Zion and a Jerusalem in heaven, and slavery, misery, and oppression on earth--was so new and foreign tothem, so contrary to what they had heard from their Master, that theycould not accept it. What should become of Peter's Messiah, of the hopesand promises connected with the second advent, if all at once the wholescheme is transported from earth to heaven? It was too muchdisappointment, they could not endure it. Those men did not understandthat Paul had carefully to avoid every conflict with the Romanauthorities. He was too prudent to be crucified. They could notcomprehend that his great object was not to remove the evil at once; heintended to sow the seed, to bring forth the plant; to give to theheathens correct notions of God, duty, responsibility, purity, holiness, morality, justice, humanity, and freedom, which in proper time shouldnecessarily break the chains, revolutionize the sentiments, and elevatethe views, hopes, aspirations, and designs of the nations. 

They could not comprehend that their Messiah and kingdom of heaven, together with his terrible message of the end of all flesh and the lastjudgment day, were means, and nothing but means, to captivate and reformthe heathen. His Son of God was crucified and resurrected from the deadto forewarn all of the approaching end of all flesh; to show that in alittle while all the dead should resurrect and the living should bechanged to spiritual beings. He had been given all power by the Almightyto conduct the catastrophe of the world, and would be present at thelast judgment day. But after all that is over, the earth and man changedto a new state of spiritual life, then the Son of God returns thekingdom to the Father, and God will be again all in all. So the Son ofGod was a general superintendent, the demiurge for the time being, adoctrine of which the apostles had no knowledge, and to which theycould not give their consent. He could not get them to understand thatthese were the means for the conversion of the Gentiles, and that he hadquite another gospel for the enlightened portion of the community. Theycould not see that among heathens used to apotheosis, man-worship, andplastic gods, ideas, to become effective, must put on concrete andtangible bodies. 

They could not imagine that the sensuality and corruption of the agerequired heroic and terror-striking means to rouse and to move themasses; and so the dissensions and troubles between Paul and the nascentChurch increased with the success of Paul among the Gentiles. Hisepistles, one and all, are polemics, not against heathenism or againstJudaism, but against his colleagues in Jerusalem, whom, together withtheir doctrines, he treats in a most reckless manner. They could notwrite to counterbalance Paul--in fact, there were no writers of any noteamong them. Therefore, only one side of the polemics, that of Paul, isfully represented in the New Testament; and the side of the JewishChristians remained mostly matter of tradition. 

Messengers were sent to follow Paul to undo his gospel and preach thatof the apostles; to introduce the law and circumcision among the GentileChristians. Those messengers in many cases succeeded, notwithstandingthe thundering epistles of Paul. So his influence was weakened and hisprogress retarded among the Gentiles till finally, after ten years ofhard work, he concluded upon going to Jerusalem and, if possible, effecting a compromise with the apostolic congregation. It was adangerous time for him to go to Jerusalem, for just then the fanatichigh-priest, Ananias, had convened a court of his willing tools, triedJames, the brother of Jesus, and, finding him guilty, of what God onlyknows, had him and some of his associates executed--a bloody deed, whichcost him his office, on account of the loud and emphatic protestationsof the Jews before Agrippa II and the Roman governor. Therefore, Paulwas cautioned by prophets and friends not to go to Jerusalem. 

But he was not the man to be frightened by dangers; he was the very typeof boldness and courage. He went to Jerusalem to effect a conciliationwith the Church. A synod met in the house of James the apostle, who hadsucceeded the former James as head of the Church, and Paul was told todo that against which his conscience, his honor, his manhood must haverevolted: he was required to play the hypocrite in Jerusalem, in orderto pacify the brethren who were angry at him. The thousands of Jews, they said, who were zealous for the law, and were informed how Paultaught the people to forsake Moses, to give up circumcision and theancient customs, hearing of his presence in Jerusalem, "the multitudemust needs come together, " which points to the Jewish Christiansfaithful to the law. Therefore they advised him to go through themockery of a purification at the Temple, "to be at charges, " as theycalled it, with some who had vowed a vow, and make the prescribedsacrifices after the purification. 

Poor man! After so much labor, such ardent toils, such numerous perils, dangers, anxieties, trials, reverses, and triumphs, after ten long yearsof such work and such dangers, he is not safe in Jerusalem among his ownkinsmen and among those whose Master he glorified, whose doctrines hetaught, and whose interests he protected. How small must he haveappeared to himself when walking up the Temple Mount in the company ofthe four men, whose expenses he paid, to be purified with them: "And allmay know that those things, whereof they were informed concerning thee, are nothing; but that thou thyself also walkest orderly and keepest thelaw. " The man who had defied a world, to submit to the humblingdictation of his colleagues, who were children in comparison withhim--this is mortifying to the utmost. This is the time of which it issaid in the _Talmud_ that Paul or Acher narrated, that on passing behindthe _sanctum sanctorum_ he heard the _Bath-kol_ or Holy Ghost exclaim:"Return, all ye forward children; all return, except Paul, who has knownme and rebelled against me. " Paul never forgot, never forgave, thishumiliation. It estranged his feelings altogether from his colleagues inJerusalem, and he embraced the first best opportunity to rid himselfentirely of his Jewish associations. 

The opportunity soon offered. While near the Temple some Jews from AsiaMinor recognized him. A disturbance ensued. He was arrested and lockedup in the castle by the Roman commander. Here the author of the Actsbrings in a terrible tumult--speeches, trials, a Jewish mob, with anoble Roman stepping in in time to wind up dramatically--not one word ofwhich is historical. Paul, standing accused as the ringleader of the newsect who expected the second advent of the Messiah, could only appeardangerous to the zealous and vigilant Roman authorities. Nothing elsewas necessary to put his life in jeopardy. In the night he made up hismind to appeal to Cæsar, because he was a Roman citizen. Therefore hewas sent to Cæsarea, to the governor, under the protection of soldiers. Not a sound was heard in his favor among the Jewish Christians. Not anangel appeared. Not a solitary miracle was wrought; none dreamed adream; nobody had a vision; the Holy Ghost was as silent as the grave;none of all the Christians in Palestine showed his face, when Paul, loaded with chains, was transported from Jerusalem to Cæsarea. Thissilence speaks volumes. They did not care much about the innovator. Therefore Paul's epistles from his prison in Cæsarea are thunder-boltsagainst the law, circumcision, and his colleagues in Jerusalem. It isthe offended man, the wounded lion, who retaliates in his anger. 

In Cæsarea another mock trial is described by the author of the Acts. There can be little doubt that Ananias, the Sadducean high-priest whohad slain James, thirsted also after the blood of Paul. But it iscertainly not true that Felix was governor of Judea when Ananias washigh-priest. Felix and Festus had been removed from their offices beforeAnanias was made high-priest, as the authentic sources of history show. If tried at Cæsarea at all--which is doubtful, because Paul had appealedto Cæsar--he was tried before Albinus. His speeches recorded in the Actscontain sentences of Paul, but many more additions from the author ofthe Acts. 

It matters little, however, whether Paul was tried before Albinus orFelix, or whether there was a trial at all. He had appealed to Cæsar, inorder to estrange himself from his colleagues in Jerusalem and to comebefore his converts as an expatriated man, although Agrippa himself hadsaid, "This man might have been set at liberty had he not appealed untoCæsar. "

Fortunately he was detained in Cæsarea, when Nero in Rome put to deaththe Christians in his own gardens with exquisite cruelty, and addedmockery and derision to their sufferings. Had he been brought to Rome_then_, no angels could have saved his life, and no power could haveprotected him for two years. He came to Rome in the year 65, when thecruelty of Nero's proceedings against the Christians filled every breastwith compassion, and humanity relented in favor of the Christians. Thenit was possible for Paul to have a hearing in Rome, where he lived in ahired house for two years. 

Neither Paul nor Peter was ever bishop of Rome, nor was either of thembeheaded in Rome or anywhere else. All the legends and myths concerningthem are void of truth. We know that Paul, who was then aboutthirty-five years old, wrote from Rome epistles in defence of his gospeland against his colleagues in Jerusalem, in the same spirit as thosefrom Cæsarea. We know, furthermore, that he went from Rome to Illyricum, where he preached his gospel. We know that he returned to Asia, andwrote the quintessence of his gospel in his epistle to the Romans. Weknow that many passages in his epistles were written, after thedestruction of Jerusalem, when Paul was about forty years old, and hisprincipal activity commenced still later, in opposition to Rabbi Akibaand his colleagues. We know from the _Talmud_ that he married and leftdaughters. We know also numerous stories of Acher or Paul and hisdisciple, Rabbi Mair. 

Long after the death of the apostles the Christianity of Paul and theMessiahism of Peter were Platonized by the Alexandrian eclectics in asemi-gnostic manner, which gave birth to the fourth gospel, according toJohn, and the two epistles of John the Elder, not the apostle, aboutA. D. 160, of which the Synoptics have no idea. They had only theChristianity of Paul and of Peter before them. An original Peter gospel, Paul's epistles, and the different traditions of the variouscongregations were their sources, which they attempted to blend into onesystem. All the gospel writers lived in the second century; were notacquainted with the particulars of the story; had an imperfect knowledgeof the Jews, their laws and doctrines; wrote in favor of the Romans, whom they wished to convert, and against the Jews, whom they could notconvert. 

The third century inherited four distinct systems of Christianity: thatof Jesus with the pure theocracy, that of Peter with the Messiah and hissecond advent, that of Paul with the Son of God and the approaching endof all flesh, and that of John with the Logos and the self-aggrandizingdemi-god or man-god on earth. The difficulties and dissensions arisingfrom the attempts at uniting all these contradictory systems in one, ended with the Council of Nice, in the beginning of the fourth century, and the establishment of an orthodox creed, the excommunication of theJewish Christians, and the establishment of the Church as a stateinstitution. Then the sword and the pyre established doctrines. 

On comparison you will find that Jesus became the Saviour of theGentiles by the exertion of Paul; that the means which Peter and Pauladopted for momentary purposes have been turned into main dogmas; thatthe religion which Jesus taught and believed is partly laid aside, andthe rest is unimportant in Christology, but he himself has been adoptedin place of his religion; and that the entire New Testament has noknowledge of the Trinity and the orthodox creed. On comparison you willdiscover that, if any of our modern congregations are Christian, theapostolic congregation of Jerusalem was heretic. If the pope is aChristian, Paul was not. If the orthodox creed tells what one mustbelieve in order to be a Christian, then Jesus of Nazareth was a Jew. Ifthe religion and the theocracy which Jesus preached are to become theuniversal religion, all dogmas must fall, and God alone be all in all. Man must become his own priest, prince, and prophet. Justice must governthe nations, love must construe the law, virtue and righteousness mustlead to satisfaction and happiness, and man's consciousness of God, immortality, morals, and moral responsibility must be his catechism, hisguiding star, his protecting angel in life and death. No dogmas; truth, in the name of God!

I see it, although it is not now; I behold it, although it is not nigh. A star will arise from Jacob in whose soft brilliancy will shine forthall the great and redeeming truth. Freedom and humanity, justice andlove in the name of God, are the right religion; to strive for them isdivine worship, to love them is holiness. 

This was the object of Paul. The means to accomplish that object werethe necessities of the age to convert that generation. He could notdream of the idea that the means would obscure the object, that theservant would occupy the master's seat. His was a fearless, powerful, and unyielding character, terribly in earnest to break down the ancientworld and create a new one, and his success, though incomplete, waswonderful. Men like Jesus and Paul, whose great aim was to benefit andto elevate human nature, however widely we may differ from them, deservethe student's laborious research, the philanthropist's most profoundadmiration, the monuments which the human mind rears to their memory. Great works are the testimony of their authors, and great minds are thediadem and honor, the ornament and pride of human nature. The God Jesusand the supernatural Paul appear small in the focus of reason. Thepatriotic and enthusiastic Jesus and the brave, bold, wise, and mightyPaul are grand types of humanity among those hundred stars in thehorizon of history which have made the history of the human family. 

JOHN HENRY NEWMAN

The _prima-facie_ view of early Christianity, in the eyes of witnessesexternal to it, is presented to us in the brief but vivid descriptionsgiven by Tacitus, Suetonius, and Pliny, the only heathen writers whodistinctly mention it for the first hundred and fifty years. 

Tacitus is led to speak of the religion, on occasion of theconflagration of Rome, which was popularly imputed to Nero. "To put anend to the report, " he says, "he laid the guilt on others, and visitedthem with the most exquisite punishment, those, namely, who, held inabhorrence for their crimes (_per flagitia invisos_), were popularlycalled Christians. The author of that profession (_nominis_) was Christ, who, in the reign of Tiberius, was capitally punished by the procurator, Pontius Pilate. The deadly superstition (_exitiabilis superstitio_), though checked for a while, broke out afresh; and that, not onlythroughout Judea, the original seat of the evil, but through the cityalso, whither all things atrocious or shocking (_atrocia aut pudenda_)flow together from every quarter and thrive. At first, certain wereseized who avowed it; then, on their report, a vast multitude wereconvicted not so much of firing the city, as of hatred of mankind (_odiohumani generis_). " After describing their tortures, he continues: "Inconsequence, though they were guilty, and deserved most signalpunishment, they began to be pitied, as if destroyed not for any publicobject, but from the barbarity of one man. "

Suetonius relates the same transactions thus: "Capital punishments wereinflicted on the Christians, a class of men of a new and magicalsuperstition (_superstitionis novæ et maleficæ_). " What gives additionalcharacter to this statement is its context, for it occurs as one out ofvarious police or sanctuary or domestic regulations, which Nero made, such as "controlling private expenses, forbidding taverns to serve meat, repressing the contests of theatrical parties, and securing theintegrity of wills. "

When Pliny was governor of Pontus, he wrote his celebrated letter to theemperor Trajan, to ask advice how he was to deal with the Christians, whom he found there in great numbers. One of his points of hesitationwas whether the very profession of Christianity was not by itselfsufficient to justify punishment; "whether the name itself should bevisited, though clear of flagitious acts (_flagitia_), or only whenconnected with them. " He says he had ordered for execution such aspersevered in their profession after repeated warnings, "as notdoubting, whatever it was they professed, that at any rate contumacy andinflexible obstinacy ought to be punished. " He required them to invokethe gods, to sacrifice wine and frankincense to the images of theEmperor, and to blaspheme Christ; "to which, " he adds, "it is said noreal Christian can be compelled. " Renegades informed him that "the sumtotal of their offence or fault was meeting before light on an appointedday, and saying with one another a form of words (_carmen_) to Christ, as if to a god, and binding themselves by oath (not to the commission ofany wickedness, but) against the commission of theft, robbery, adultery, breach of trust, denial of deposits; that, after this they wereaccustomed to separate, and then to meet again for a meal, but eaten alltogether and harmless; however, that they had even left this off afterhis edicts enforcing the imperial prohibition of _hetæriæ_ orassociations. " He proceeded to put two women to the torture, but"discovered nothing beyond a bad and excessive superstition"(_superstitionem pravam et immodicam_), "the contagion" of which, hecontinues, "had spread through villages and country, till the templeswere emptied of worshippers. "

In these testimonies, which will form a natural and convenient text forwhat is to follow, we have various characteristics brought before us ofthe religion to which they relate. It was a superstition, as all threewriters agree; a bad and excessive superstition, according to Pliny; amagical superstition, according to Suetonius; a deadly superstition, according to Tacitus. Next, it was embodied in a society, and, moreover, a secret and unlawful society or _hetæria_; and it was a proselytizingsociety; and its very name was connected with "flagitious, " "atrocious, "and "shocking" acts. 

Now these few points, which are not all which might be set down, containin themselves a distinct and significant description of Christianity;but they have far greater meaning when illustrated by the history of thetimes, the testimony of later writers, and the acts of the Romangovernment toward its professors. It is impossible to mistake thejudgment passed on the religion by these three writers, and still moreclearly by other writers and imperial functionaries. They evidentlyassociated Christianity with the oriental superstitions, whetherpropagated by individuals or embodied in a rite, which were in that daytraversing the empire, and which in the event acted so remarkable a partin breaking up the national forms of worship, and so in preparing theway for Christianity. This, then, is the broad view which the educatedheathen took of Christianity; and, if it had been very unlike thoserites and curious arts in external appearance, they would not haveconfused it with them. 

Changes in society are by a providential appointment commonly precededand facilitated by the setting in of a certain current in men's thoughtsand feelings in that direction toward which a change is to be made. And, as lighter substances whirl about before the tempest and presageit, so words and deeds, ominous but not effective of the comingrevolution, are circulated beforehand through the multitude or passacross the field of events. This was specially the case withChristianity, as became its high dignity; it came heralded and attendedby a crowd of shadows, shadows of itself, impotent and monstrous asshadows are, but not at first sight distinguishable from it by commonspectators. Before the mission of the apostles a movement, of whichthere had been earlier parallels, had begun in Egypt, Syria, and theneighboring countries, tending to the propagation of new and peculiarforms of worship throughout the empire. Prophecies were afloat that somenew order of things was coming in from the East, which increased theexisting unsettlement of the popular mind; pretenders made attempts tosatisfy its wants, and old traditions of the truth, embodied for ages inlocal or in national religions, gave to these attempts a doctrinal andritual shape, which became an additional point of resemblance to thattruth which was soon visibly to appear. 

The distinctive character of the rites in question lay in theirappealing to the gloomy rather than to the cheerful and hopefulfeelings, and in their influencing the mind through fear. The notions ofguilt and expiation, of evil and good to come, and of dealings with theinvisible world, were in some shape or other preëminent in them, andformed a striking contrast to the classical polytheism, which was gayand graceful, as was natural in a civilized age. The new rites, on theother hand, were secret; their doctrine was mysterious; their professionwas a discipline, beginning in a formal initiation, manifested in anassociation, and exercised in privation and pain. They were from thenature of the case proselytizing societies, for they were rising intopower; nor were they local, but vagrant, restless, intrusive, andencroaching. Their pretensions to supernatural knowledge brought theminto easy connection with magic and astrology, which are as attractiveto the wealthy and luxurious as the more vulgar superstitions to thepopulace. 

The Christian, being at first accounted a kind of Jew, was even on thatscore included in whatever odium, and whatever bad associations, attended on the Jewish name. But in a little time his independence ofthe rejected people was clearly understood, as even the persecutionsshow; and he stood upon his own ground. Still his character did notchange in the eyes of the world; for favor or for reproach, he was stillassociated with the votaries of secret and magical rites. The emperorHadrian, noted as he is for his inquisitive temper, and a partaker in somany mysteries, still believed that the Christians of Egypt allowedthemselves in the worship of Serapis. They are brought into connectionwith the magic of Egypt in the history of what is commonly called theThundering legion, so far as this, that the rain which relieved theEmperor's army in the field, and which the Church ascribed to theprayers of the Christian soldiers, is by Dio Cassius attributed to anEgyptian magician, who obtained it by invoking Mercury and otherspirits. This war had been the occasion of one of the first recognitionswhich the State had conceded to the oriental rites, though statesmen andemperors, as private men, had long taken part in them. The emperorMarcus had been urged by his fears of the Marcomanni to resort to theseforeign introductions, and is said to have employed Magi and Chaldæansin averting an unsuccessful issue of the war. 

It is observable that, in the growing countenance which was extended tothese rites in the third century, Christianity came in for a share. Thechapel of Alexander Severus contained statues of Abraham, Orpheus, Apollonius, Pythagoras, and our Lord. Here indeed, as in the case ofZenobia's Judaism, an eclectic philosophy aided the comprehension ofreligions. But, immediately before Alexander, Heliogabalus, who was nophilosopher, while he formally seated his Syrian idol in the Palatine, while he observed the mysteries of Cybele and Adonis, and celebrated hismagic rites with human victims, intended also, according to Lampridius, to unite with his horrible superstition "the Jewish and Samaritanreligions and the Christian rite, that so the priesthood of Heliogabalusmight comprise the mystery of every worship. " Hence, more or less, thestories which occur in ecclesiastical history of the conversion orgood-will of the emperors to the Christian faith, of Hadrian, Mammæa, and others, besides Heliogabalus and Alexander. Such stories might oftenmean little more than that they favored it among other forms of orientalsuperstition. 

What has been said is sufficient to bring before the mind an historicalfact, which indeed does not need evidence. Upon the establishedreligions of Europe the East had renewed her encroachments, and waspouring forth a family of rites which in various ways attracted theattention of the luxurious, the political, the ignorant, the restless, and the remorseful. Armenian, Chaldee, Egyptian, Jew, Syrian, Phrygian, as the case might be, was the designation of the new hierophant; andmagic, superstition, barbarism, jugglery, were the names given to hisrite by the world. In this company appeared Christianity. When thenthree well-informed writers call Christianity a superstition and amagical superstition, they were not using words at random, or thelanguage of abuse, but they were describing it in distinct andrecognized terms as cognate to those gloomy, secret, odious, disreputable religions which were making so much disturbance up and downthe empire. 

The Gnostic family suitably traces its origin to a mixed race, which hadcommenced its national history by associating orientalism withrevelation. After the captivity of the ten tribes Samaria was colonizedby "men from Babylon and Cushan, and from Ava, and from Hamath, and fromSepharvaim, " who were instructed at their own instance in "the manner ofthe God of the land, " by one of the priests of the Church of Jeroboam. The consequence was that "they feared the Lord and served their owngods. " Of this country was Simon, the reputed patriarch of the Gnostics;and he is introduced in the Acts of the Apostles as professing thosemagical powers which were so principal a characteristic of the orientalmysteries. His heresy, though broken into a multitude of sects, waspoured over the world with a catholicity not inferior in its day to thatof Christianity. St. Peter, who fell in with him originally in Samaria, seems to have encountered him again at Rome. At Rome St. Polycarp metMarcion of Pontus, whose followers spread through Italy, Egypt, Syria, Arabia, and Persia. 

"When [the reader of Christian history] comes to the second century, "says Dr. Burton, "he finds that Gnosticism, under some form or other, was professed in every part of the then civilized world. He finds itdivided into schools, as numerously and as zealously attended as anywhich Greece or Asia could boast in their happiest days. He meets withnames totally unknown to him before, which excited as much sensation asthose of Aristotle or Plato. He hears of volumes having been written insupport of this new philosophy, not one of which has survived to our ownday. " Many of the founders of these sects had been Christians. Otherswere of Jewish parentage; others were more or less connected in factwith the pagan rites to which their own bore so great a resemblance. 

Whatever might be the history of these sects, and though it may be aquestion whether they can be properly called "superstitions, " and thoughmany of them numbered educated men among their teachers and followers, they closely resembled--at least in ritual and profession--the vagrantpagan mysteries which have been above described. Their very name of"Gnostic" implied the possession of a secret, which was to becommunicated to their disciples. Ceremonial observances were thepreparation, and symbolical rites the instrument, of initiation. Tatianand Montanus, the representatives of very distinct schools, agreed inmaking asceticism a rule of life. 

Such were the Gnostics; and to external and prejudiced spectators, whether philosophers, as Celsus and Porphyry, or the multitude, theywore an appearance sufficiently like the Church to be mistaken for herin the latter part of the ante-Nicene period, as she was confused withthe pagan mysteries in the earlier. 

Let us proceed in our contemplation of this reflection, as it may becalled, of primitive Christianity in the mirror of the world. All threewriters, Tacitus, Suetonius, and Pliny, call it a "superstition"; thisis no accidental imputation, but is repeated by a variety of subsequentwriters and speakers. The charge of Thyestean banquets scarcely lasts ahundred years; but, while pagan witnesses are to be found, the Church isaccused of superstition. Now what is meant by the word thus attached bya _consensus_ of heathen authorities to Christianity? At least it cannotmean a religion in which a man might think what he pleased, and was setfree from all yokes, whether of ignorance, fear, authority, orpriestcraft. When heathen writers call the oriental rites superstitions, they evidently use the word in its modern sense. It cannot surely bedoubted that they apply it in the same sense to Christianity. ButPlutarch explains for us the word at length in his treatise which bearsthe name: "Of all kinds of fear, " he says, "superstition is the mostfatal to action and resource. He does not fear the sea who does notsail, nor war who does not serve, nor robbers who keeps at home, nor thesycophant who is poor, nor the envious if he is a private man, nor anearthquake if he lives in Gaul, nor thunder if he lives in Æthiopia; buthe who fears the gods fears everything--earth, seas, air, sky, darkness, light, noises, silence, sleep. Slaves sleep and forget their masters; ofthe fettered doth sleep lighten the chain; inflamed wounds, ulcers crueland agonizing, are not felt by the sleeping. Superstition alone has cometo no terms with sleep; but in the very sleep of her victims, as thoughthey were in the realms of the impious, she raises horrible spectres andmonstrous phantoms and various pains, and whirls the miserable soulabout and persecutes it. They rise, and, instead of making light of whatis unreal, they fall into the hands of quacks and conjurers, who say, 'Call the crone to expiate, bathe in the sea, and sit all day on theground. '"

Here we have a vivid picture of Plutarch's idea of the essence ofsuperstition; it was the imagination of the existence of an unseenever-present Master; the bondage of a rule of life, of a continualresponsibility; obligation to attend to little things, the impossibilityof escaping from duty, the inability to choose or change one's religion, an interference with the enjoyment of life, a melancholy view of theworld, sense of sin, horror at guilt, apprehension of punishment, dread, self-abasement, depression, anxiety, and endeavor to be at peace withheaven, and error and absurdity in the methods chosen for the purpose. Such, too, had been the idea of the Epicurean Velleius, when he shrunkwith horror from the "_sempiternus dominus_" and "_curiosus Deus_" ofthe Stoics. Such, surely, was the meaning of Tacitus, Suetonius, andPliny. And hence, of course, the frequent reproach cast on Christians ascredulous, weak-minded, and poor-spirited. The heathen objectors inMinucius and Lactantius speak of their "old-woman's tales. " Celsusaccuses them of "assenting at random and without reason, " saying, "Donot inquire, but believe. " "They lay it down, " he says elsewhere: "Letno educated man approach, no man of wisdom, no man of sense; but if aman be unlearned, weak in intellect, an infant, let him come withconfidence. Confessing that these are worthy of their God, theyevidently desire, as they are able, to convert none but fools, andvulgar, and stupid, and slavish, women and boys. " They "take in thesimple and lead him where they will. " They address themselves to"youths, house-servants, and the weak in intellect. " They "hurry awayfrom the educated, as not fit subjects of their imposition, and inveiglethe rustic. " "Thou, " says the heathen magistrate to the martyrFructuosus, "who as a teacher dost disseminate a new fable, that ficklegirls may desert the groves and abandon Jupiter, condemn, if thou artwise, the anile creed. "

Hence the epithets of itinerant, mountebank, conjurer, cheat, sophist, and sorcerer, heaped upon the teachers of Christianity; sometimes toaccount for the report or apparent truth of their miracles, sometimes toexplain their success. Our Lord was said to have learned his miraculouspower in Egypt; "wizard, mediciner, cheat, rogue, conjurer, " were theepithets applied to him by the opponents of Eusebius; they "worship thatcrucified sophist, " says Lucian; "Paul, who surpasses all the conjurersand impostors who ever lived, " is Julian's account of the apostle. "Youhave sent through the whole world, " says St. Justin to Trypho, "topreach that a certain atheistic and lawless sect has sprung from oneJesus, a Galilean cheat. " "We know, " says Lucian, speaking of Chaldæansand magicians, "the Syrian from Palestine, who is the sophist in thesematters, how many lunatics, with eyes distorted and mouth in foam, heraises and sends away restored, ridding them from the evil at a greatprice. " "If any conjurer came to them, a man of skill and knowing how tomanage matters, " says the same writer, "he made money in no time, with abroad grin at the simple fellows. " The officer who had custody of St. Perpetua feared her escape from prison "by magical incantations. " WhenSt. Tiburtius had walked barefoot on hot coals, his judge cried outthat Christ had taught him magic. St. Anastasia was thrown into prisonas a mediciner; the populace called out against St. Agnes, "Away withthe witch, " _Tolle magam, tolle maleficam_. When St. Bonosus and St. Maximilian bore the burning pitch without shrinking, Jews and Gentilescried out, "_Isti magi et malefici_. " "What new delusion, " says theheathen magistrate concerning St. Romanus, "has brought in thesesophists to deny the worship of the gods? How doth this chief sorcerermock us, skilled by his Thessalian charm (_carmine_) to laugh atpunishment!"

It explains the phenomenon, which has created so much surprise tocertain moderns--that a grave, well-informed historian like Tacitusshould apply to Christians what sounds like abuse. Yet what is thedifficulty, supposing that Christians were considered _mathematici_ and_magi_, and these were the secret intriguers against establishedgovernment, the allies of desperate politicians, the enemies of theestablished religion, the disseminators of lying rumors, theperpetrators of poisonings and other crimes? "Read this, " says Paley, after quoting some of the most beautiful and subduing passages of St. Paul, "read this, and then think of _exitiabilis superstitio_"; and hegoes on to express a wish "in contending with heathen authorities, toproduce our books against theirs, " as if it were a matter of books. 

Public men care very little for books; the finest sentiments, the mostluminous philosophy, the deepest theology, inspiration itself, movesthem but little; they look at facts, and care only for facts. Thequestion was, What was the worth, what the tendency of the Christianbody in the State? What Christians said, what they thought, was littleto the purpose. They might exhort to peaceableness and passive obedienceas strongly as words could speak; but what did they _do_, what was theirpolitical position? This is what statesmen thought of then, as they donow. What had men of the world to do with abstract proofs or firstprinciples? A statesman measures parties and sects and writers by theirbearing upon _him_; and he has a practised eye in this sort of judgment, and is not likely to be mistaken. "'What is Truth?' said jestingPilate. " Apologies, however eloquent or true, availed nothing with theRoman magistrate against the sure instinct which taught him to dreadChristianity. It was a dangerous enemy to any power not built uponitself; he felt it, and the event justified his apprehension. 

We must not forget the well-known character of the Roman State in itsdealings with its subjects. It had had from the first an extremejealousy of secret societies; it was prepared to grant a largetoleration and a broad comprehension, but, as is the case with moderngovernments, it wished to have jurisdiction and the ultimate authorityin every movement of the body politic and social, and its civilinstitutions were based, or essentially depended, on its religion. Accordingly, every innovation upon the established paganism, except itwas allowed by the law, was rigidly repressed. Hence the professors oflow superstitions, of mysteries, of magic, of astrology, were theoutlaws of society, and were in a condition analogous, if the comparisonmay be allowed, to smugglers or poachers among ourselves, or perhaps toburglars and highwaymen; for the Romans had ever burnt the sorcerer andbanished his consulters for life. It was an ancient custom. And atmysteries they looked with especial suspicion, because, since theestablished religion did not include them in its provisions, they reallydid supply what may be called a demand of the age. 

We know what opposition had been made in Rome even to the philosophy ofGreece; much greater would be the aversion of constitutional statesmenand lawyers to the ritual of barbarians. Religion was the Roman point ofhonor. "Spaniards might rival them in numbers, " says Cicero, "Gauls inbodily strength, Carthaginians in address, Greeks in the arts, Italiansand Latins in native talent, but the Romans surpassed all nations inpiety and devotion. " It was one of their laws, "Let no one have gods byhimself, nor worship in private new gods nor adventitious, unless addedon public authority. " Mæcenas in _Dio_ advises Augustus to honor thegods according to the national custom, because the contempt of thecountry's deities leads to civil insubordination, reception of foreignlaws, conspiracies, and secret meetings. "Suffer no one, " he adds, "todeny the gods or to practise sorcery. " The civilian Julius Paulus laysit down as one of the leading principles of Roman law, that those whointroduce new or untried religions should be degraded, and if in thelower orders put to death. In like manner, it is enacted in one ofConstantine's laws that the haruspices should not exercise their art inprivate; and there is a law of Valentinian's against nocturnalsacrifices or magic. It is more immediately to our purpose that Trajanhad been so earnest in his resistance to _hetæriæ_ or secret societies, that, when a fire had laid waste Nicomedia, and Pliny proposed to him toincorporate a body of a hundred and fifty firemen in consequence, he wasafraid of the precedent and forbade it. 

What has been said will suggest another point of view in which theoriental rites were obnoxious to the government--namely, as beingvagrant and proselytizing religions. If it tolerated foreignsuperstitions, this would be on the ground that districts or countrieswithin its jurisdiction held them; to proselytize to a rite hithertounknown, to form a new party, and to propagate it through the empire--areligion not local, but catholic--was an offence against both order andreason. The State desired peace everywhere, and no change;"considering, " according to Lactantius, "that they were rightly anddeservedly punished who execrated the public religion handed down tothem by their ancestors. "

It is impossible, surely, to deny that, in assembling for religiouspurposes, the Christians were breaking a solemn law, a vital principleof the Roman constitution; and this is the light in which their conductwas regarded by the historians and philosophers of the empire. This wasa very strong act on the part of the disciples of the great apostle, whohad enjoined obedience to the powers that be. Time after time theyresisted the authority of the magistrate; and this is a phenomenoninexplicable on the theory of private judgment or of the voluntaryprinciple. The justification of such disobedience lies simply in thenecessity of obeying the higher authority of some divine law; but ifChristianity were in its essence only private and personal, as so manynow think, there was no necessity of their meeting together at all. If, on the other hand, in assembling for worship and holy communion, theywere fulfilling an indispensable observance, Christianity has imposed asocial law on the world, and formally enters the field of politics. Gibbon says that, in consequence of Pliny's edict, "the prudence of theChristians suspended their _agapæ_; but it was _impossible_ for them toomit the exercise of public worship. " We can draw no other conclusion. 

At the end of three hundred years a more remarkable violation of lawseems to have been admitted by the Christian body. It shall be given inthe words of Dr. Burton; he has been speaking of Maximin's edict, whichprovided for the restitution of any of their lands or buildings whichhad been alienated from them. "It is plain, " he says, "from the terms ofthis edict, that the Christians had for some time been in possession ofproperty. It speaks of houses and lands which did not belong toindividuals, but to the whole body. Their possession of such propertycould hardly have escaped the notice of the government; but it seems tohave been held in direct violation of a law of Diocletian, whichprohibited corporate bodies or associations which were not legallyrecognized, from acquiring property. The Christians were certainly not abody recognized by law at the beginning of the reign of Diocletian, andit might almost be thought that this enactment was specially directedagainst them. But, like other laws which are founded upon tyranny, andare at variance with the first principles of justice, it is probablethat this law about corporate property was evaded. We must suppose thatthe Christians had purchased lands and houses before the law was passed;and their disregard of the prohibition may be taken as another proofthat their religion had now taken so firm a footing that the executorsof the laws were obliged to connive at their being broken by so numerousa body. "

No wonder that the magistrate who presided at the martyrdom of St. Romanus calls them in Prudentius "a rebel people"; that Galerius speaksof them as "a nefarious conspiracy"; the heathen in Minucius, as "men ofa desperate faction"; that others make them guilty of sacrilege andtreason, and call them by those other titles which, more closelyresembling the language of Tacitus, have been noticed above. Hence theviolent accusations against them as the destructors of the empire, theauthors of physical evils, and the cause of the anger of the gods. 

"Men cry out, " says Tertullian, "that the State is beset, that theChristians are in their fields, in their forts, in their islands. Theymourn as for a loss that every sex, condition, and now even rank isgoing over to this sect. And yet they do not by this very means advancetheir minds to the idea of some good therein hidden; they allow notthemselves to conjecture more rightly, they choose not to examine moreclosely. The generality run upon a hatred of this name, with eyes soclosed that in bearing favorable testimony to anyone they mingle with itthe reproach of the name. 'A good man Caius Seius, only he is aChristian. ' So another, 'I marvel that that wise man Lucius Titius hathsuddenly become a Christian. ' No one reflecteth whether Caius be nottherefore good and Lucius wise because a Christian, or therefore aChristian because wise and good. They praise that which they know, theyrevile that which they know not. Virtue is not in such account as hatredof the Christians. Now, then, if the hatred be of the name, what guiltis there in names? What charge against words? Unless it be that any wordwhich is a name have either a barbarous or ill-omened, or a scurrilousor an immodest sound. If the Tiber cometh up to the walls, if the Nilecometh not up to the fields, if the heaven hath stood still, if theearth hath been moved, if there be any famine, if any pestilence, 'TheChristians to the lions' is forthwith the word. "

"Men of a desperate, lawless, reckless faction, " says the heathenCæcilius, in the passage above referred to, "who collect together out ofthe lowest rabble the thoughtless portion, and credulous women seducedby the weakness of their sex, and form a mob of impure conspirators, ofwhom nocturnal assemblies and solemn fastings and unnatural food, nosacred rite but pollution, is the bond. A tribe lurking andlight-hating, dumb for the public, talkative in corners, they despiseour temples as if graves, spit at our gods, deride our religious forms;pitiable themselves, they pity, forsooth, our priests; half-nakedthemselves, they despise our honors and purple; monstrous folly andincredible impudence!. . . Day after day their abandoned morals wind theirserpentine course; over the whole world are those most hideous rites ofan impious association growing into shape;. . . They recognize each otherby marks and signs, and love each other almost before they recognize;promiscuous lust is their religion. Thus does their vain and madsuperstition glory in crimes. . . . The writer who tells the story of acriminal capitally punished, and of the gibbet (_ligna feralia_) of thecross being their observance (_ceremonias_), assigns to them thereby analtar in keeping with the abandoned and wicked, that they may worship(_colant_) what they merit. . . . Why their mighty effort to hide andshroud whatever it is they worship (_colunt_), since things honest everlike the open day, and crimes are secret? Why have they no altars, notemples, no images known to us, never speak abroad, never assemblefreely, were it not that what they worship and suppress is subjecteither of punishment or of shame?

"What monstrous, what portentous notions do they fabricate! that thatGod of theirs, whom they can neither show nor see, should be inquiringdiligently into the characters, the acts--nay, the words and secretthoughts of all men; running to and fro, forsooth, and presenteverywhere, troublesome, restless--nay, impudently curious they wouldhave him; that is, if he is close at every deed, interferes in allplaces, while he can neither attend to each as being distracted throughthe whole, nor suffice for the whole as being engaged about each. Think, too, of their threatening fire, meditating destruction to the wholeearth--nay, the world itself with its stars!. . . Nor content with thismad opinion, they add and append their old wives' tales about a newbirth after death, ashes and cinders, and by some strange confidencebelieve each other's lies. 

"Poor creatures! consider what hangs over you after death, while you arestill alive. Lo, the greater part of you, the better, as you say, are inwant, cold, toil, hunger, and your God suffers it; but I omit commontrials. Lo, threats are offered to you, punishments, torments; crossesto be undergone now, not worshipped (_adorandæ_); fires, too, which yepredict and fear; where is that God who can recover, but cannot preserveyour life? The answer of Socrates, when he was asked about heavenlymatters, is well known: 'What is above us does not concern us. ' Myopinion also is, that points which are doubtful, as are the points inquestion, must be left; nor, when so many and such great men are incontroversy on the subject, must judgment be rashly and audaciouslygiven on either side, lest the consequence be either anile superstitionor the overthrow of all religion. "

Such was Christianity in the eyes of those who witnessed its rise andpropagation--one of a number of wild and barbarous rites which werepouring in upon the empire from the ancient realms of superstition, andthe mother of a progeny of sects which were faithful to the originalthey had derived from Egypt or Syria; a religion unworthy of an educatedperson, as appealing, not to the intellect, but to the fears andweaknesses of human nature, and consisting, not in the rational andcheerful enjoyment, but in a morose rejection of the gifts ofProvidence; a horrible religion, as inflicting or enjoining cruelsufferings, and monstrous and loathsome in its very indulgence of thepassions; a religion leading by reaction to infidelity; a religion ofmagic, and of the vulgar arts, real and pretended, with which magic wasaccompanied; a secret religion which dared not face the day; anitinerant, busy, proselytizing religion, forming an extended confederacyagainst the State, resisting its authority and breaking its laws. Theremay be some exceptions to this general impression, such as Pliny'sdiscovery of the innocent and virtuous rule of life adopted by theChristians of Pontus; but this only proves that Christianity was not infact the infamous religion which the heathen thought it; it did notreverse their general belief to that effect. 

Now it must be granted that, in some respects, this view of Christianitydepended on the times, and would alter with their alteration. When therewas no persecution, martyrs could not be obstinate; and when the Churchwas raised aloft in high places, it was no longer in caves. Still, Ibelieve, it continued substantially the same in the judgment of theworld external to it while there was an external world to judge of it. "They thought it enough, " says Julian in the fourth century, of our Lordand his apostles, "to deceive women, servants, and slaves, and by theirmeans wives and husbands. " "A human fabrication, " says he elsewhere, "put together by wickedness, having nothing divine in it, but making aperverted use of the fable-loving, childish, irrational part of thesoul, and offering a set of wonders to create belief. "

"Miserable men, " he says elsewhere, "you refuse to worship the ancile, yet you worship the wood of the cross, and sign it on your foreheads, and fix it on your doors. Shall one for this hate the intelligent amongyou, or pity the less understanding, who in following you have gone tosuch an excess of perdition as to leave the everlasting gods and go overto a dead Jew?" He speaks of their adding other dead men to him who diedso long ago. "You have filled all places with sepulchres and monuments, though it is nowhere told you in your religion to haunt the tombs and toattend upon them. " Elsewhere he speaks of their "leaving the gods forcorpses and relics. " On the other hand, he attributes the growth ofChristianity to its humanity toward strangers, care in burying the dead, and pretended religiousness of life. In another place he speaks of theircare of the poor. 

Libanius, Julian's preceptor in rhetoric, delivers the same testimony, as far as it goes. He addressed his _Oration for the Temples_ to aChristian emperor, and would in consequence be guarded in his language;however it runs in one direction. He speaks of "those black-habitedmen, " meaning the monks, "who eat more than elephants, and by the numberof their potations trouble those who send them drink in their chantings, and conceal this by paleness artificially acquired. " They "are in goodcondition out of the misfortunes of others, while they pretend to serveGod by hunger. " Those whom they attack "are like bees, they likedrones. " I do not quote this passage to prove that there were monks inLibanius' days, which no one doubts, but to show his impression ofChristianity, as far as his works betray it. 

Numantian in the same century describes in verse his voyage from Rome toGaul: one book of the poem is extant; he falls in with Christianity ontwo of the islands which lie in his course. He thus describes them asfound on one of these: "The island is in a squalid state, being full oflight-haters. They call themselves monks, because they wish to livealone without witness. They dread the gifts, from fearing the reverses, of fortune. " He meets on the other island a Christian, whom he hadknown, of good family and fortune, and happy in his marriage, who"impelled by the Furies had left men and gods, and, credulous exile, was living in base concealment. Is not this herd, " he continues, "worsethan Circean poison? then bodies were changed, now minds. "

In the _Philopatris_, which is the work of an author of the fourthcentury, Critias is introduced pale and wild. His friend asks him if hehas seen Cerberus or Hecate; and he answers that he has heard arigmarole from certain "thrice-cursed sophists"; which he thinks woulddrive him mad if he heard it again, and was nearly sending him headlongover some cliff as it was. He retires for relief with his inquirer to apleasant place, shadowed by planes, where swallows and nightingales aresinging, and a quiet brook is purling. Triephon, his friend, expresses afear lest he has heard some incantation, and is led by the course of thedialogue, before his friend tells his tale, to give some account ofChristianity, being himself a Christian. After speaking of the creation, as described by Moses, he falls at once upon that doctrine of aparticular providence which is so distasteful to Plutarch, Velleius inCicero, and Cæcilius, and generally to unbelievers. "He is in heaven, "he says, "looking at just and unjust, and causing actions to be enteredin books; and he will recompense all on a day which he has appointed. "Critias objects that he cannot make this consistent with the receiveddoctrine about the Fates, "even though he has perhaps been carried aloftwith his master, and initiated in unspeakable mysteries. " He also asksif the deeds of the Scythians are written in heaven for if so there mustbe many scribes there. 

Such was the language of paganism after Christianity had for fifty yearsbeen exposed to the public gaze; after it had been before the world forfifty more, St. Augustine had still to defend it against the charge ofbeing the cause of the calamities of the empire. And for the charge ofmagic, when the Arian bishops were in formal disputations with theCatholic, before Gungebald, Burgundian king of France, at the end of thefifth century, we find still that they charged the Catholics with being"_præstigiatores_, " and worshipping a number of gods; and when theCatholics proposed that the King should repair to the shrine of St. Justus, where both parties might ask him concerning their respectivefaiths, the Arians cried out that "they would not seek enchantmentslike Saul, for Scripture was enough for them, which was more powerfulthan all bewitchments. " This was said, not against strangers of whomthey knew nothing, as Ethelbert might be suspicious of St. Augustine andhis brother missionaries, but against a body of men who lived amongthem. 

I do not think it can be doubted then that, had Tacitus, Suetonius, andPliny, Celsus, Porphyry, and the other opponents of Christianity livedin the fourth century, their evidence concerning Christianity would bevery much the same as it has come down to us from the centuries beforeit. In either case, a man of the world and a philosopher would have beendisgusted at the gloom and sadness of its profession, itsmysteriousness, its claim of miracles, the want of good sense imputableto its rule of life, and the unsettlement and discord it was introducinginto the social and political world. 

On the whole then I conclude as follows: If there is a form ofChristianity now in the world which is accused of gross superstition, ofborrowing its rites and customs from the heathen, and of ascribing toforms and ceremonies an occult virtue; a religion which is considered toburden and enslave the mind by its requisitions, to address itself tothe weak-minded and ignorant, to be supported by sophistry andimposture, and to contradict reason and exalt mere irrational faith; areligion which impresses on the serious mind very distressing views ofthe guilt and consequences of sin, sets upon the minute acts of the day, one by one, their definite value for praise or blame, and thus casts agrave shadow over the future; a religion which holds up to admirationthe surrender of wealth, and disables serious persons from enjoying itif they would; a religion, the doctrines of which, be they good or bad, are to the generality of men unknown; which is considered to bear on itsvery surface signs of folly and falsehood so distinct that a glancesuffices to judge of it, and that careful examination is preposterous;which is felt to be so simply bad that it may be calumniated at hazardand at pleasure, it being nothing but absurdity to stand upon theaccurate distribution of its guilt among its particular acts, orpainfully to determine how far this or that story concerning it isliterally true, or what has to be allowed in candor, or what isimprobable, or what cuts two ways, or what is not proved, or what may beplausibly defended; a religion such that men look at a convert to itwith a feeling which no other denomination raises except Judaism, socialism, or Mormonism--namely, with curiosity, suspicion, fear, disgust, as the case may be, as if something strange had befallen him, as if he had had an initiation into a mystery, and had come intocommunion with dreadful influences, as if he were now one of aconfederacy which claimed him, absorbed him, stripped him of hispersonality, reduced him to a mere organ or instrument of a whole; areligion which men hate as proselytizing, anti-social, revolutionary, asdividing families, separating chief friends, corrupting the maxims ofgovernment, making a mock at law, dissolving the empire, the enemy ofhuman nature, and a "conspirator against its rights and privileges"; areligion which they consider the champion and instrument of darkness, and a pollution calling down upon the land the anger of heaven; areligion which they associate with intrigue and conspiracy, which theyspeak about in whispers, which they detect by anticipation in whatevergoes wrong, and to which they impute whatever is unaccountable; areligion, the very name of which they cast out as evil, and use simplyas a bad epithet, and which from the impulse of self-preservation theywould persecute if they could--if there be such a religion now in theworld, it is not unlike Christianity as that same world viewed it whenfirst it came forth from its divine Author. 

BURNING OF ROME UNDER NERO

A. D. 64

SIENKIEWICZ TACITUS

 Nero when a youth was placed under charge of the philosopher Seneca, who carefully attended to his education. During Nero's nonage he was persevering in his studies and made great progress in Greek. By a subterfuge of his mother's he was proclaimed emperor in the place of Britannicus, the real heir to the throne. In the early part of his reign public affairs were wisely conducted, but the private life of Nero was given up to vice and profligacy. His love for Poppæa led him into the crime of matricide, for she, wishing to share the imperial throne, and knowing it was impossible while his mother, Agrippina, lived, induced him to authorize her assassination. Strange that Seneca and Burrhus should have approved of this, yet Tacitus admits that such was the case. In the eighth year of his reign Nero divorced his wife, Octavia, and married Poppæa. 

 Nero was an accomplished musician and sang verses composed by himself. He eagerly sought the plaudits of the multitude by reciting his compositions in public. Historians are divided in opinion as to whether Nero was the cause of the burning of Rome. During the conflagration, to court popularity he ordered temporary shelters to be provided for the houseless; yet the people did not acclaim this deed, as it was reported that Nero, at "the very time Rome was in flames, " sang the destruction of Troy in his private theatre, likening the present disaster to that ancient catastrophe. In order to divert the masses from what they believed the true origin of the fire, Nero charged it upon the Christians, many hundreds of whom were sacrificed to his fury. He was the last of the Cæsars, and died by his own hand amid universal execrations, in June, A. D. 68, four years after the destruction of Rome. 

HENRYK SIENKIEWICZ

The fire began at the Circus Maximus, in that section which touches thePalatine and Cælian hill; it rushed on with inconceivable rapidity andfastened upon the whole centre of Rome. Since the time of Brennus neverhad the city witnessed such an awful catastrophe. 

A freedman of Cæsar's, Phaon by name, ran panting into Nero's presence, shrieking: "Rome is in flames! the conflagration is great. "

All Cæsar's guests arose from their recumbent attitude. "Ye gods! Ishall see a burning city; now can I finish the _Troyade_, " exclaimedNero, placing his lute aside. "If I go at once, can I view the fire?"

"My lord, the whole city is as a sea of flame; the smoke issuffocatingly heavy and is destroying the people. The inhabitants faintaway or rashly cast themselves into the fire, maddened with terror. AllRome perishes. " And Nero raised his hands and cried, "Woe, woe to thee, thou sacred city of Priam!"

Fires were frequent enough in Rome; during these conflagrations violenceand robbery were rampant, particularly so in those sections of the cityinhabited by needy half-barbarian peoples, a folk comprising rabble fromevery part of the world. The fear of servile rebellion was like anightmare, which had stifled Rome for many years. It was believed thathundreds of thousands of those people were thinking of the times ofSpartacus, and merely waiting for a favorable moment to seize armsagainst their oppressors and Rome. Now the moment had come! Perhaps warand slaughter were raging in the city together with fire. 

It was possible even that the prætorians had hurled themselves on thecity and were slaughtering at command of Cæsar. And that moment the hairrose on Vinicius' head from terror. He recalled all the conversationsabout burning cities which for some time had been repeated at Cæsar'scourt with wonderful persistence; well he recalled Cæsar's complaintsthat he was forced to describe a burning city without having seen anactual fire; his contemptuous answer to Tigellinus, who offered to burnAntium or an artificial wooden city; finally, his complaints againstRome, and the pestilential alleys of the Subura. 

Yes; truly Cæsar has commanded the burning of the city! Only he couldgive such a command, as Tigellinus alone could accomplish it. But ifRome is burning at command of Cæsar, who can be sure that the populationwill not be slaughtered at his command? The monster is capable of justsuch a deed. Conflagration, a servile revolt, and slaughter! What ahorrible chaos, what a letting loose of destructive elements and horrid, universal frenzy!

The night had paled long since, the dawn had passed into light, and onall the nearer summits golden, rosy gleams were shining, which mightcome either from burning Rome or the rising daylight. Vinicius ran tothe hill, the summit was reached, and then a terrible sight struck hiseyes. 

All the lower region was covered with smoke, forming, as it were, onegigantic cloud lying close to the earth. In this cloud towns, aqueducts, villas, trees, disappeared; but farther beyond this gray, ghastly plainthe city was burning on the hills. The conflagration had not the form ofa pillar of fire, as happens when a single building is burning, evenwhen of the greatest size. That was a long belt, rather, shaped like thebelt of dawn. Above this belt rose a wave of smoke, in places entirelyblack, in places looking rose-colored, in places like blood, in placesturning in on itself, in some places inflated, in others squeezed andsquirming, like a serpent which is unwinding and extending. 

That monstrous wave seemed at times to cover even the belt of fire, which became then as narrow as a ribbon; but later this ribbonilluminated the smoke from beneath, changing its lower rolls into wavesof flame. The two extended from one side of the sky to the other, hidingits lower part, as at times a stretch of forest hides the horizon. TheSabine hills were not visible in the least. 

It seemed at the first glance of the eye that not only the city wasburning, but the whole world, and that no living being could save itselffrom that ocean of flame and smoke. The wind blew with increasingstrength from the region of the fire, bringing the smell of burnt thingsand of smoke, which began to hide even nearer objects. Clear daylighthad come, and the sun lighted up the summits surrounding the Alban Lake. 

But the bright golden rays of the morning appeared reddish and sicklythrough the haze. Vinicius, while descending toward Albanum, enteredsmoke which was denser, less and less transparent. The town itself wasburied in it thoroughly. The alarmed citizens had moved out to thestreet. It was a terror to think of what might be in Rome, when it wasdifficult to breathe in Albanum. 

He met increasing numbers of people, who had deserted the city and weregoing to the Alban hills; they had escaped the fire and wished to gobeyond the line of smoke. Before he had reached Ustrinum he had toslacken his pace because of the throng. Besides pedestrians with bundleson their backs he met horses with packs, mules and vehicles laden witheffects, and finally litters in which slaves were bearing the wealthiercitizens. The town of Ustrinum was so thronged with fugitives from Romethat it was difficult to push through the crowd. On the market square, under temple porticos, and on the streets were swarms of fugitives. 

Here and there people were erecting tents under which whole familieswere to find shelter. Others settled down under the naked sky, shouting, calling on the gods, or cursing the Fates. In the general terror it wasdifficult to inquire about anything. New crowds of men, women, andchildren arrived from the direction of Rome every moment; theseincreased the disorder and outcry. Some, gone astray in the throng, sought desperately those whom they had lost; others fought for a campingplace. 

Half-crazy shepherds from the Campania crowded to the town to hear news, or find profit in plunder made easy by the uproar. Here and there crowdsof slaves of every nationality and gladiators fell to robbing houses andvillas in the town, and to fighting with the soldiers who appeared indefence of the citizens. 

Junius, a friend of Vinicius, said, after a moment's hesitation, in alow voice: "I know that thou wilt not betray me, so I will tell theethat this is no common fire. People were not permitted to save theCircus. When houses began to burn in every direction, I myself heardthousands of voices exclaiming, 'Death to those who save!' Certainpeople ran through the city and hurled burning torches into buildings. 

"On the other hand, people are revolting and crying that the city isburning at command. I can say nothing more. Woe to the city, woe to usall and to me! The tongue of man cannot tell what is happening there. People are perishing in flames or slaying one another in the throng. This is the end of Rome!"

Vinicius, nearing the walls, found it easier to reach Rome thanpenetrate to the middle of the city. It was difficult to push along theAppian Way, because of the throng of people. Houses, cemeteries, fields, gardens, and temples, lying on both sides of it, were turned intocamping places. In the temple of Mars, which stood near the Porta Appia, the crowd had thrown down the doors, so as to find a refuge withinduring night hours. In the cemeteries the larger monuments were seized, and battles fought in defence of them, which were carried to bloodshed. Ustrinum with its disorder gave barely a slight foretaste of that whichwas happening beneath the walls of the capital. 

All regard for the dignity of law, for family ties, for difference ofposition, had ceased. Gladiators drunk with wine seized in the Emporium, gathered in crowds and ran with wild shouts through the neighboringsquares, trampling, scattering, and robbing the people. A multitude ofbarbarian slaves, exposed for sale in the city, escaped from the booths. For them the burning and ruin of Rome were at once the end of slaveryand the hour of revenge; so that when the permanent inhabitants, who hadlost all they owned in the fire, stretched their hands to the gods indespair, calling for rescue, these slaves with howls of delightscattered the crowds, dragged clothing from people's backs, and boreaway the younger women. They were joined by other slaves serving in thecity from of old, wretches who had nothing on their bodies save woollengirdles around their hips, dreadful figures from the alleys, who werehardly ever seen on the streets in the daytime, and whose existence inRome it was difficult to suspect. 

Men of this wild and unrestrained crowd--Asiatics, Africans, Greeks, Thracians, Germans, Britons--howling in every language of the earth, raged, thinking that the hour had come in which they were free to rewardthemselves for years of misery and suffering. In the midst of thatsurging throng of humanity, in the glitter of day and of fire, shone thehelmets of prætorians, under whose protection the more peaceablepopulation had taken refuge, and who in hand-to-hand battle had to meetthe raging multitude in many places. Vinicius had seen captured cities, but never had his eyes beheld a spectacle in which despair, tears, pain, groans, wild delight, madness, rage, and license were mingled togetherin such immeasurable chaos. Above this heaving, mad human multituderoared the fire, surging up to the hill-tops of the greatest city onearth, sending into the whirling throng its fiery breath, and coveringit with smoke, through which it was impossible to see the blue sky. 

The young tribune with supreme effort, and exposing his life everymoment, forced his way at last to the Appian Gate; but there he saw thathe could not reach the city through the division of the Porta Capena, not merely because of the throng, but also because of the terrible heatfrom which the whole atmosphere was quivering inside the gate. Besides, the bridge at the Porta Trigenia, opposite the temple of the Bona Dea, did not exist yet, hence those who wished to go beyond the Tiber had topass through to the Pons Sublicius--that is, to pass around the Aventinethrough a part of the city covered now with one sea of flame. That wasan impossibility. Vinicius understood that he must return towardUstrinum, turn from the Appian Way, cross the river below the city, andgo to the Via Portuensis, which led straight to the Trans-Tiber. 

That was not easy because of the increasing disorder on the Appian Way. At the fountain of Mercury, however, he saw a centurion who was known tohim. This man, at the head of a few tens of soldiers, was defending theprecinct of the temple; he commanded him to follow. Recognizing atribune and an Augustian, the centurion did not dare to disobey theorder. 

He and his men were followed by curses and a shower of stones; but tothese he gave no heed, caring only to reach freer spaces at theearliest. Still he advanced with the greatest effort. People who hadencamped would not move, and heaped loud curses on Cæsar and theprætorians. The throng assumed in places a threatening aspect. Thousandsof voices accused Nero of burning the city. He and Poppæa werethreatened with death. Shouts of "Buffoon, actor, matricide!" were heardround about. Some shouted to drag him to the Tiber; others that Rome hadshown patience enough. It was clear that were a leader found thesethreats could be changed into open rebellion which might break out anymoment. 

Meanwhile the rage and despair of the crowd turned against theprætorians, who for another reason could not make their way out of thecrowd: the road was blocked by piles of goods, borne from the firepreviously, boxes, barrels of provisions, furniture the most costly, vessels, infants' cradles, beds, carts, hand-packs. Here and there theyfought hand-to-hand; but the prætorians conquered the weaponlessmultitude easily. After they had ridden with difficulty across the ViæLatina, Numitia, Ardea, Lavinia, and Ostia, and passed around villas, gardens, cemeteries, and temples, Vinicius reached at last a villagecalled Vicus Alexandri, beyond which he crossed the Tiber. There wasmore open space at this spot and less smoke. From fugitives, of whomthere was no lack even there, he learned that only certain alleys of theTrans-Tiber were burning, but that surely nothing could resist the furyof the conflagration, since people were spreading the fire purposely, and permitted no one to quench it, declaring that they acted at command. 

The young tribune had not the least doubt then that Cæsar had givencommand to burn Rome; and the vengeance which people demanded seemed tohim just and proper. What more could Mithradates or any of Rome's mostinveterate enemies have done? The measure had been exceeded; his madnesshad grown to be too enormous, and the existence of people too difficultbecause of him. All believed that Nero's hour had struck, that thoseruins into which the city was falling should and must overwhelm themonstrous buffoon together with all those crimes of his. Should a man befound of courage sufficient to stand at the head of the despairingpeople, that might happen in a few hours. Here vengeful and daringthoughts began to fly through his head. But if he should do that?

The family of Vinicius, which till recent times counted a whole seriesof consuls, was known throughout Rome. The crowds needed only a name. Once, when four hundred slaves of the prefect Pedanius Secundus weresentenced, Rome reached the verge of rebellion and civil war. What wouldhappen to-day in view of a dreadful calamity surpassing almosteverything which Rome had undergone in the course of eight centuries?Whoever calls the _quirites_ to arms, thought Vinicius, will overthrowNero undoubtedly, and clothe himself in purple. 

The Trans-Tiber was full of smoke, and crowds of fugitives made it moredifficult to reach the interior of the place, since people, having moretime there, had saved greater quantities of goods. The main streetitself was in many parts filled completely, and around the NaumachiaAugusta great heaps were piled up. Narrow alleys, in which smoke hadcollected more densely, were simply impassable. The inhabitants werefleeing in thousands. On the way Vinicius saw wonderful sights. Morethan once two rivers of people, flowing in opposite directions, met in anarrow passage, stopped each other, men fought hand-to-hand, struck andtrampled one another. Families lost one another in the uproar; motherscalled on their children despairingly. The young tribune's hair stood onend at thought of what must happen nearer the fire. 

Amid shouts and howls it was difficult to inquire about anything orunderstand what was said. At times new columns of smoke from beyond theriver rolled toward them, smoke black and so heavy that it moved nearthe ground, hiding houses, people, and every object, just as night does. The fervor of a July day, increased by the heat of the burning parts ofthe city, became unendurable. Smoke pained the eyes; breath failed inmen's breasts. Even the inhabitants who, hoping that the fire would notcross the river, had remained in their houses so far, began to leavethem, and the throng increased hourly. The prætorians accompanyingVinicius were in the rear. In the crush some one wounded his horse witha hammer; the beast threw up its bloody head, reared, and refusedobedience. The crowd recognized in Vinicius an Augustian by his richtunic, and at once cries were raised round about, "Death to Nero and hisincendiaries!" This was a moment of terrible danger; hundreds of handswere stretched toward Vinicius; but his frightened horse bore him away, trampling people as he went, and the next moment a new wave of blacksmoke rolled in and filled the street with darkness. Vinicius, seeingthat he could not ride past, sprang to the earth and rushed forward onfoot, slipping along walls, and at times waiting till the fleeingmultitude passed him. He said to himself in spirit that these were vainefforts. 

At times he stopped and rubbed his eyes. Tearing off the edge of histunic, he covered his nose and mouth with it and ran on. As heapproached the river the heat increased terribly. Vinicius, knowing thatthe fire had begun at the Circus Maximus, thought at first that thatheat came from its cinders and from the Forum Boarium and the Velabrum, which, situated near by, must be also in flames. But the heat wasgrowing unendurable. One old man on crutches and fleeing, the last whomVinicius noticed, cried: "Go not near the bridge of Cestius! The wholeisland is on fire!" It was, indeed, impossible to be deceived anylonger. At the turn toward the Vicus Judæorum the young tribune sawflames amid clouds of smoke. Not only the island was burning, but theTrans-Tiber and the other end of the street on which he ran. 

The thunder of the flames was more terrible than the roar of wildbeasts, and the hour had come now in which he must think of his ownsafety, for the river of fire was flowing nearer and nearer from thedirection of the island, and rolls of smoke covered the alley almostcompletely. The taper which he carried was quenched from the current ofair. Vinicius rushed to the street, and ran at full speed toward the ViaPortuensis, whence he had come; the fire seemed to pursue him withburning breath, now surrounding him with fresh clouds of smoke, nowcovering him with sparks, which fell on his hair, neck, and clothing. The tunic began to smoulder on him in places; he cared not, but ranforward lest he might be stifled from smoke. He had the taste of sootand burning in his mouth; his throat and lungs were as if on fire. Theblood rushed to his head, and at moments all things, even the smokeitself, seemed red to him. 

Then he thought: "This is living fire! Better throw myself upon theground and quickly perish. " The running tortured him more and more. Hishead, neck, and shoulders were streaming with sweat, which scalded likeboiling water. 

But he ran on as if drunk, staggering from one side of the street to theother. Meanwhile something changed in that monstrous conflagration whichhad embraced the giant city. Everything which till then had onlyglimmered, burst forth visibly into one sea of flame; the wind hadceased to bring smoke. That smoke which had collected in the streetswas borne away by a mad whirl of heated air. That whirl drove with itmillions of sparks, so that Vinicius was running in a fiery cloud, as itwere. But he was able to see before him all the better, and in a moment, almost when he was ready to fall, he saw the end of the street. Thatsight gave him fresh strength. Passing the corner, he found himself in astreet which led to the Via Portuensis and the Codetan Field. The sparksceased to drive him. He understood that if he could run to the ViaPortuensis he was safe, even were he to faint on it. 

At the end of the street he saw again a cloud, as it seemed, whichstopped the exit. "If that is smoke, " thought he, "I cannot pass. " Heran with the remnant of his strength. On the way he threw off his tunic, which, on fire from the sparks, was burning him like the shirt ofNessus, having only a _capitium_ around his head and before his mouth. When he had run farther, he saw that what he had taken for smoke wasdust, from which rose a multitude of cries and voices. 

"The rabble are plundering houses, " thought Vinicius. But he ran towardthe voices. In any case people were there; they might assist him. Inthis hope he shouted for aid with all his might before he reached them. But this was his last effort. It grew redder still in his eyes, breathfailed his lungs, strength failed his bones; he fell. 

They heard him, however, or rather saw him. Two men ran with gourds fullof water. Vinicius, who had fallen from exhaustion, but had not lostconsciousness, seized a gourd with both hands and emptied one-half ofit. 

"Thanks, " said he; "place me on my feet; I can walk on alone. "

The other laborer poured water on his head; the two not only placed himon his feet, but raised him from the ground and carried him to theothers, who surrounded him and asked if he had suffered seriously. Thistenderness astonished Vinicius. 

"People, who are ye?" asked he. 

"We are breaking down houses, so that the fire may not reach the ViaPortuensis, " answered one of the laborers. 

"Ye came to my aid when I had fallen. Thanks to you. "

"We are not permitted to refuse aid, " answered a number of voices. 

Vinicius, who from early morning had seen brutal crowds slaying androbbing, looked with more attention on the faces around him and said:

"May Christ reward you. "

"Praise to his name!" exclaimed a whole chorus of voices. 

It was evening, but one could see as in daylight, for the conflagrationhad increased. It seemed that not single parts of the city were burning, but the whole city through the length and the breadth of it. The sky wasred as far as the eye could see it, and that night in the world was ared night. 

The light from the burning city filled the sky as far as human eye couldreach. The moon rose large and full from behind the mountains, and, inflamed at once by the glare, took on the color of heated brass. Itseemed to look with amazement on the world-ruling city which wasperishing. In the rose-colored abysses of heaven rose-colored stars wereglittering; but in distinction from usual nights the earth was brighterthan the heavens. Rome, like a giant pile, illuminated the wholeCampania. 

In the bloody light were seen distant mountains, towns, villas, temples, monuments, and the aqueducts stretching toward the city from all theadjacent hills; on the aqueducts were swarms of people who had gatheredthere for safety or to gaze at the burning. Meanwhile the dreadfulelement was embracing new divisions of the city. It was impossible todoubt that criminal hands were spreading the fire, since newconflagrations were breaking out all the time in places remote from theprincipal fire. 

From the heights on which Rome was founded the flames flowed like wavesof the sea into the valleys densely occupied by houses--houses of fiveand six stories, full of shops, booths, movable wooden amphitheatres, built to accommodate various spectacles; and finally storehouses ofwood, olives, grain, nuts, pine cones, the kernels of which nourishedthe more needy population, and clothing, which through Cæsar's favor wasdistributed from time to time among the rabble huddled into narrowalleys. In those places the fire, finding abundance of inflammablematerials, became almost a series of explosions, and took possession ofwhole streets with unheard-of rapidity. People encamping outside thecity or standing on the aqueducts knew from the color of the flame whatwas burning. The furious power of the wind carried forth from the fierygulf thousands and millions of burning shells of walnuts and almonds, which, shooting suddenly into the sky, like countless flocks of brightbutterflies, burst with a crackling, or, driven by the wind, fell inother parts of the city, on aqueducts and fields beyond Rome. 

All thought of rescue seemed out of place; confusion increased everymoment, for on one side the population of the city was fleeing throughevery gate to places outside; on the other the fire had lured inthousands of people from the neighborhood, such as dwellers in smalltowns, peasants, and half-wild shepherds of the Campania brought in byhope of plunder. The shout, "Rome is perishing!" did not leave the lipsof the crowd; the ruin of the city seemed at that time to end every ruleand loosen all bonds which hitherto had joined people in a singleintegrity. The mob, in which slaves were more numerous, cared nothingfor the lordship of Rome. Destruction of the city could only free them;hence here and there they assumed a threatening attitude. 

Violence and robbery were extending. It seemed that only the spectacleof the perishing city arrested attention, and restrained for the momentan outburst of slaughter, which would begin as soon as the city wasturned into ruins. Hundreds of thousands of slaves, forgetting thatRome, besides temples and walls, possessed some tens of legions in allparts of the world, appeared merely waiting for a watchword and aleader. People began to mention the name of Spartacus; but Spartacus wasnot alive. Meanwhile citizens assembled and armed themselves each withwhat he could. The most monstrous reports were current at all the gates. Some declared that Vulcan, commanded by Jupiter, was destroying the citywith fire from beneath the earth; others that Vesta was taking vengeancefor Rubria. People with these convictions did not care to save anything, but, besieging the temples, implored mercy of the gods. It was repeatedmost generally, however, that Cæsar had given command to burn Rome, soas to free himself from odors which rose from the Subura, and build anew city under the name of Neronia. Rage seized the populace at thoughtof this; and if, as Vinicius believed, a leader had taken advantage ofthat outburst of hatred, Nero's hour would have struck whole yearsbefore it did. 

It was said also that Cæsar had gone mad, that he would commandprætorians and gladiators to fall upon the people and make a generalslaughter. Others swore by the gods that wild beasts had been let out ofall the _vivaria_ at Bronze-beard's command. Men had seen on the streetslions with burning manes, and mad elephants and bisons, trampling downpeople in crowds. There was even some truth in this; for in certainplaces elephants, at sight of the approaching fire, had burst thevivaria, and, gaining their freedom, rushed away from the fire in wildfright, destroying everything before them like a tempest. Public reportestimated at tens of thousands the number of persons who had perished inthe conflagration. In truth a great number had perished. There werepeople who, losing all their property, or those dearest their hearts, threw themselves willingly into the flames from despair. Others weresuffocated by smoke. In the middle of the city, between the Capitol onone side, and the Quirinal, the Viminal, and the Esquiline on the other, as also between the Palatine and the Cælian hill, where the streets weremost densely occupied, the fire began in so many places at once thatwhole crowds of people, while fleeing in one direction, struckunexpectedly on a new wall of fire in front of them, and died a dreadfuldeath in a deluge of flame. 

In terror, in distraction and bewilderment, people knew not where toflee. The streets were obstructed with goods and in many narrow placeswere simply closed. Those who took refuge in those markets and squaresof the city where the Flavian Amphitheatre stood afterward, near thetemple of the Earth, near the Portico of Silvia, and higher up, at thetemples of Juno and Lucinia, between the Clivus Virbius and the oldEsquiline gate, perished from heat, surrounded by a sea of fire. Inplaces not reached by the flames were found afterward hundreds ofbodies burned to a crisp, though here and there unfortunates tore upflat stones and half buried themselves in defence against the heat. Hardly a family inhabiting the centre of the city survived in full;hence along the walls, at the gates, on all roads were heard howls ofdespairing women, calling on the dear names of those who had perished inthe throng or the fire. 

And so, while some were imploring the gods, others blasphemed thembecause of this awful catastrophe. Old men were seen coming from thetemple of Jupiter Liberator, stretching forth their hands and crying, "If thou be a liberator, save thy altars and the city!" But despairturned mainly against the old Roman gods, who, in the minds of thepopulace, were bound to watch over the city more carefully than others. They had proved themselves powerless; hence were insulted. On the otherhand, it happened on the Via Asinaria that when a company of Egyptianpriests appeared conducting a statue of Isis, which they had saved fromthe temple near the Porta Cælimontana, a crowd of people rushed amongthe priests, attached themselves to the chariot, which they drew to theAppian gate, and seizing the statue placed it in the temple of Mars, overwhelming the priests of that deity who dared to resist them. 

In other places people invoked Serapis, Baal, or Jehovah, whoseadherents, swarming out of the alleys in the neighborhood of the Suburaand the Trans-Tiber, filled with shouts and uproar the fields near thewalls. In their cries were heard tones as if of triumph; when, therefore, some of the citizens joined the chorus and glorified "theLord of the World, " others, indignant at this glad shouting, strove torepress it by violence. Here and there hymns were heard, sung by men inthe bloom of life, by old men, by women and children--hymns wonderfuland solemn, whose meaning they understood not, but in which wererepeated from moment to moment the words "Behold the Judge cometh in theday of wrath and disaster. " Thus this deluge of restless and sleeplesspeople encircled the burning city, like a tempest-driven sea. Butneither despair nor blasphemy nor hymn helped in any way. 

The destruction seemed as irresistible, perfect, and pitiless asPredestination itself. Around Pompey's Amphitheatre stores of hempcaught fire, and ropes used in circuses, arenas, and every kind ofmachine at the games, and with them the adjoining buildings containingbarrels of pitch with which ropes were smeared. In a few hours all thatpart of the city beyond which lay the Campus Martius was so lighted bybright yellow flames that for a time it seemed to the spectators, onlyhalf conscious from terror, that in the general ruin the order of nightand day had been lost, and that they were looking at sunshine. But latera monstrous bloody gleam extinguished all other colors of flame. Fromthe sea of fire shot up to the heated sky gigantic fountains, andpillars of flame spreading at their summits into fiery branches andfeathers; then the wind bore them away, turned them into golden threads, into hair, into sparks, and swept them on over the Campania toward theAlban hills. The night became brighter; the air itself seemedpenetrated, not only with light, but with flame. The Tiber flowed on asliving fire. The hapless city was turned into one pandemonium. Theconflagration seized more and more space, took hills by storm, floodedlevel places, drowned valleys, raged, roared, and thundered. 

The city burned on. The Circus Maximus had fallen in ruins. Entirestreets and alleys in parts which began to burn first were falling inturn. After every fall pillars of flame rose for a time to the very sky. The wind had changed, and blew now with mighty force from the sea, bearing toward the Cælian, the Esquiline, and the Viminal rivers offlame, brands, and cinders. Still the authorities provided for rescue. At command of Tigellinus, who had hastened from Antium the third daybefore, houses on the Esquiline were torn down so that the fire, reaching empty spaces, died of itself. That was, however, undertakensolely to save a remnant of the city; to save that which was burning wasnot to be thought of. There was need also to guard against furtherresults of the ruin. Incalculable wealth had perished in Rome; all theproperty of its citizens had vanished; hundreds of thousands of peoplewere wandering in utter want outside the walls. Hunger had begun topinch this throng the second day, for the immense stores of provisionsin the city had burned with it. In the universal disorder and in thedestruction of authority no one had thought of furnishing new supplies. Only after the arrival of Tigellinus were proper orders sent to Ostia;but meanwhile the people had grown more threatening. 

Besides flour, as much baked bread as possible was brought at hiscommand, not only from Ostia, but from all towns and neighboringvillages. When the first instalment came at night to the Emporium, thepeople broke the chief gate toward the Aventine, seized all supplies inthe twinkle of an eye, and caused terrible disturbance. In the light ofthe conflagration they fought for loaves, and trampled many of them intothe earth. Flour from torn bags whitened like snow the whole space fromthe granary to the arches of Drusus and Germanicus. The uproar continuedtill soldiers seized the building and dispersed the crowd with arrowsand missiles. 

Never since the invasion by the Gauls under Brennus had Rome beheld suchdisaster. People in despair compared the two conflagrations. But in thetime of Brennus the Capitol remained. Now the Capitol was encircled by adreadful wreath of flame. The marbles, it is true, were not blazing; butat night, when the wind swept the flames aside for a moment, rows ofcolumns in the lofty sanctuary of Jove were visible, red as glowingcoals. In the days of Brennus, moreover, Rome had a disciplined integralpeople, attached to the city and its altars; but now crowds of amany-tongued populace roamed nomad-like around the walls of burningRome, people composed for the greater part of slaves and freedmen, excited, disorderly, and ready, under the pressure of want, to turnagainst authority and the city. 

But the very immensity of the fire which terrified every heart disarmedthe crowd in a certain measure. After fire might come famine anddisease; and to complete the misfortune the terrible heat of July hadappeared. It was impossible to breathe air inflamed both by fire and thesun. Night brought no relief; on the contrary, it presented a hell. During daylight an awful and ominous spectacle met the eye. In thecentre a giant city on heights was turned into a roaring volcano; roundabout as far as the Alban hills was one boundless camp, formed of sheds, tents, huts, vehicles, bales, packs, stands, fires, and all coveredwith smoke and dust, lighted by sun rays reddened by passing throughsmoke--everything filled with roars, shouts, threats, hatred, andterror, a monstrous swarm of men, women, and children. Mingled with_quirites_ were Greeks, shaggy men from the North with blue eyes, Africans, and Asiatics; among citizens were slaves, freedmen, gladiators, merchants, mechanics, servants, and soldiers--a real sea ofpeople, flowing around the island of fire. 

Various reports moved this sea as wind does a real one. These reportswere favorable and unfavorable. People told of immense supplies of wheatand clothing to be brought to the Emporium and distributed gratis. Itwas said, too, that provinces in Asia and Africa would be stripped oftheir wealth at Cæsar's command, and the treasures thus gained be givento the inhabitants of Rome, so that each man might build his owndwelling. 

But it was noised about also that water in the aqueducts had beenpoisoned; that Nero intended to annihilate the city, destroy theinhabitants to the last person, then move to Greece or to Egypt, andrule the world from a new place. Each report ran with lightning speed, and each found belief among the rabble, causing outbursts of hope, anger, terror, or rage. Finally a kind of fever mastered those nomadicthousands. The belief of Christians that the end of the world by firewas at hand spread even among adherents of the gods and extended daily. People fell into torpor or madness. In clouds lighted by the burning, gods were seen gazing down on the ruin; hands were stretched towardthose gods then to implore pity or send them curses. 

Meanwhile soldiers, aided by a certain number of inhabitants, continuedto tear down houses on the Esquiline and the Cælian, as also in theTrans-Tiber; these divisions were saved therefore in considerable part. But in the city itself were destroyed incalculable treasures accumulatedthrough centuries of conquest--priceless works of art, splendid temples, the most precious monuments of Rome's past and Rome's glory. Theyforesaw that of all Rome there would remain barely a few parts on theedges, and that hundreds of thousands of people would be without a roof. Some spread reports that the soldiers were tearing down houses, not tostop the fire, but to prevent any part of the city from being saved. Tigellinus sent courier after courier to Antium, imploring Cæsar in eachletter to come and calm the despairing people with his presence. ButNero moved only when fire had seized the _domus transitoria_ and hehurried so as not to miss the moment in which the conflagration shouldbe at its highest. 

Meanwhile fire had reached the Via Nomentana, but turned from it at oncewith a change of wind toward the Via Lata and the Tiber. It surroundedthe Capitol, spread along the Forum Boarium, destroyed everything whichit had spared before, and approached the Palatine a second time. 

Tigellinus, assembling all the prætorian forces, despatched courierafter courier to Cæsar with an announcement that he would lose nothingof the grandeur of the spectacle, for the fire had increased. 

But Nero, who was on the road, wished to come at night, so as to satehimself all the better with a view of the perishing capital. Thereforehe halted, in the neighborhood of Aqua Albana, and, summoning to histent the tragedian Aliturus, decided with his aid on posture, look, andexpression; learned fitting gestures, disputing with the actorstubbornly whether at the words, "O sacred city, which seemed moreenduring than Ida, " he was to raise both hands, or, holding in one the_forminga_, drop it by his side, and raise only the other. This questionseemed to him then more important than all others. Starting at lastabout nightfall, he took counsel of Petronius also whether to the linesdescribing the catastrophe he might add a few magnificent blasphemiesagainst the gods, and whether, considered from the standpoint of art, they would not have rushed spontaneously from the mouth of a man in sucha position, a man who was losing his birthplace. 

At length he approached the walls about midnight with his numerouscourt, composed of whole detachments of nobles, senators, knights, freedmen, slaves, women, and children. Sixteen thousand prætorians, arranged in line of battle along the road, guarded the peace and safetyof his entrance, and held the excited populace at a proper distance. Thepeople cursed, shouted, and hissed on seeing the retinue, but dared notattack it. In many places, however, applause was given by the rabble, which, owning nothing, had lost nothing in the fire, and which hoped fora more bountiful distribution than usual of wheat, olives, clothing, andmoney. Finally, shouts, hissing, and applause were drowned in the blareof horns and trumpets, which Tigellinus had caused to be sounded. 

Nero, on arriving at the Ostian gate, halted, and said: "Houseless rulerof a houseless people, where shall I lay my unfortunate head for thenight?"

After he had passed the Clivus Delphini, he ascended the Appian aqueducton steps prepared purposely. After him followed the Augustians and achoir of singers, bearing _citharæ_, lutes, and other musicalinstruments. 

And all held the breath in their breasts, waiting to learn if he wouldsay some great words, which for their own safety they ought to remember. But he stood solemn, silent, in a purple mantle and a wreath of goldenlaurels, gazing at the raging might of the flames. 

When Terpnos gave him a golden lute, he raised his eyes to the sky, filled with the conflagration, as if he were waiting for inspiration. The people pointed at him from afar as he stood in the bloody gleam. Inthe distance fiery serpents were hissing. The ancient and most sacrededifices were in flames; the temple of Hercules, reared by Evander, wasburning; the temple of Jupiter Stator was burning, the temple of Luna, built by Servius Tullius, the house of Numa Pompilius, the sanctuary ofVesta with the _penates_ of the Roman people; through waving flames theCapitol appeared at intervals; the past and the spirit of Rome wereburning. But Cæsar was there with a lute in his hand and a theatricalexpression on his face, not thinking of his perishing country, but ofhis posture and the prophetic words with which he might describe bestthe greatness of the catastrophe, rouse most admiration, and receive thewarmest plaudits. 

He detested that city, he detested its inhabitants, he loved only hisown songs and verses; hence he rejoiced in heart that at last he saw atragedy like that which he was writing. The poet was happy, thedeclaimer felt inspired, the seeker for emotions was delighted at theawful sight, and thought with rapture that even the destruction of Troywas as nothing if compared with the destruction of that giant city. Whatmore could he desire? There was world-ruling Rome in flames, and he, standing on the arches of the aqueduct with a golden lute, conspicuous, purple, admired, magnificent, and poetic. Down below, somewhere in thedarkness, the people are muttering and storming; let them mutter! Ageswill elapse, thousands of years will pass, but mankind will remember andglorify the poet who that night sang the fall and the burning of Troy. What was Homer compared with him? What Apollo himself with hishollowed-out lute?

Here he raised his hands, and, striking the strings, with an exaggeratedtheatrical gesture pronounced the words of Priam:

"O nest of my fathers, O dear cradle!" His voice in the open air, withthe roar of the conflagration, and the distant murmur of crowdingthousands, seemed marvellously weak, uncertain, and low, and the soundof the accompaniment like the buzzing of insects. But senators, dignitaries, and Augustians, assembled on the aqueduct, bowed theirheads and listened in silent rapture. He sang long, and his motive wasever sadder. At moments, when he stopped to catch breath, the chorus ofsingers repeated the last verse; then Nero cast the tragic _syrma_ fromhis shoulder with a gesture learned from Aliturus, struck the lute, andsang on. When he had finished the lines composed, he improvised, usinggrandiose comparisons in the spectacle unfolded before him. His facebegan to change. He was not moved, it is true, by the destruction of hiscountry's capital; but he was delighted and moved with the pathos of hisown words to such a degree that his eyes filled with tears on a sudden. 

At last he dropped the lute to his feet with a clatter, and, wrappinghimself in the syrma, stood as if petrified, like one of those statuesof Niobe which ornamented the courtyard of the Palatine. Soon a storm ofapplause broke the silence. But in the distance this was answered by thehowling of multitudes. No one doubted then that Cæsar had given commandto burn the city, so as to afford himself a spectacle and sing a song atit. 

TACITUS

There followed a dreadful disaster, whether fortuitously or by thewicked contrivance of the prince is not determined, for both areasserted by historians; but of all the calamities which ever befell thiscity from the rage of fire, this was the most terrible and severe. Itbroke out in that part of the Circus which is contiguous to mountsPalatine and Cælius, where, by reason of shops in which were kept suchgoods as minister aliment to fire, the moment it commenced it acquiredstrength, and, being accelerated by the wind, it spread at once throughthe whole extent of the Circus: for neither were the houses secured byenclosures nor the temples environed with walls, nor was there any otherobstacle to intercept its progress; but the flame, spreading every wayimpetuously, invaded first the lower regions of the city, then mountedto the higher; then again ravaging the lower, it baffled every effort toextinguish it, by the rapidity of its destructive course, and from theliability of the city to conflagration, in consequence of the narrow andintricate alleys, and the irregularity of the streets in ancient Rome. 

Add to this the wailings of terrified women, the infirm condition of theaged, and the helplessness of childhood; such as strove to provide forthemselves and those who labored to assist others; these dragging thefeeble, those waiting for them; some hurrying, others lingering;altogether created a scene of universal confusion and embarrassment: andwhile they looked back upon the danger in their rear, they often foundthemselves beset before and on their sides; or, if they had escaped intothe quarters adjoining, these, too, were already seized by the devouringflames; even the parts which they believed remote and exempt were foundto be in the same distress. At last, not knowing what to shun or whereto seek sanctuary, they crowded the streets and lay along in the openfields. Some, from the loss of their whole substance, even the means oftheir daily sustenance, others, from affection for their relations whomthey had not been able to snatch from the flames, suffered themselves toperish in them, though they had opportunity to escape. Neither dared anyman offer to check the fire, so repeated were the menaces of many whoforbade to extinguish it; and because others openly threw firebrands, with loud declarations "that they had one who authorized them"; whetherthey did it that they might plunder with the less restraint or inconsequence of orders given. 

Nero, who was at that juncture sojourning at Antium, did not return tothe city till the fire approached that quarter of his house whichconnected the palace with the gardens of Mæcenas; nor could it, however, be prevented from devouring the house and palace and everything around. But for the relief of the people, thus destitute and driven from theirdwellings, he opened the field of Mars and the monumental edificeserected by Agrippa, and even his own gardens. He likewise rearedtemporary houses for the reception of the forlorn multitude, and fromOstia and the neighboring cities were brought, up the river, householdnecessaries, and the price of grain was reduced to three sesterces themeasure. All which proceedings, though of a popular character, werethrown away, because a rumor had become universally current "that at thevery time when the city was in flames, Nero, going on the stage of hisprivate theatre, sang _The Destruction of Troy_, assimilating thepresent disaster to that catastrophe of ancient times. "

At length, on the sixth day, the conflagration was stayed at the foot ofEsquiliæ, by pulling down an immense quantity of buildings, so that anopen space, and, as it were, void air, might check the raging element bybreaking the continuity. But ere the consternation had subsided the firebroke out afresh, with no little violence, but in regions more spacious, and therefore with less destruction of human life; but more extensivehavoc was made of the temples and the porticoes dedicated to amusement. This conflagration, too, was the subject of more censorious remark, asit arose in the Æmilian possessions of Tigellinus, and Nero seemed toaim at the glory of building a new city and calling it by his own name;for, of the fourteen sections into which Rome is divided, four werestill standing entire, three were levelled with the ground, and in theseven others there remained only here and there a few remnants ofhouses, shattered and half consumed. 

It were no very easy task to recount the number of tenements and templeswhich were lost; but the following, most venerable for antiquity andsanctity, were consumed: that dedicated by Servius Tullius to the Moon;the temple and great altar consecrated by Evander the Arcadian toHercules while present; the chapel vowed by Romulus to Jupiter Stator;the palace of Numa with the temple of Vesta, and in it the tutelar godsof Rome. Moreover, the treasures accumulated by so many victories, thebeautiful productions of Greek artists, ancient writings of authorscelebrated for genius, and till then preserved entire, were consumed;and though great was the beauty of the city, in its renovated form, theolder inhabitants remembered many decorations of the ancient which couldnot be replaced in the modern city. There were some who remarked thatthe commencement of this fire showed itself on the fourteenth before thecalends of July, the day on which the Senones set fire to the capturedcity. Others carried their investigation so far as to determine that anequal number of years, months, and days intervened between the twofires. 

To proceed: Nero appropriated to his own purposes the ruins of hiscountry, [27] and founded upon them a palace; in which the old-fashioned, and, in those luxurious times, common ornaments of gold and preciousstones, were not so much the objects of attraction as lands and lakes;in one part, woods like vast deserts; in another part, open spaces andexpansive prospects. The projectors and superintendents of this planwere Severus and Celer, men of such ingenuity and daring enterprise asto attempt to conquer by art the obstacles of nature and fool away thetreasures of the prince. They had even undertaken to sink a navigablecanal from the lake Avernus to the mouth of the Tiber, over an aridshore or through opposing mountains; nor indeed does there occuranything of a humid nature for supplying water except the Pomptinemarshes; the rest is either craggy rock or a parched soil; and had iteven been possible to break through these obstructions, the toil hadbeen intolerable and disproportioned to the object. Nero, however, wholonged to achieve things that exceeded credibility, exerted all hismight to perforate the mountains adjoining to Avernus, and to this daythere remain traces of his abortive project. 

But the rest of the old site not occupied by his palace was laid out, not as after the Gallic fire without discrimination and regularity, butwith the lines of streets measured out, broad spaces left for transit, the height of the buildings limited, open areas left, and porticoesadded to protect the front of the clustered dwellings: these porticoesNero engaged to rear at his own expense, and then to deliver to eachproprietor the areas about them cleared. He, moreover, proposed rewardsproportioned to every man's rank and private substance, and fixed a daywithin which, if their houses, single and clustered, were finished, theyshould receive them. He appointed the marshes of Ostia for a receptacleof the rubbish, and that the vessels which had conveyed grain up theTiber should return laden with rubbish; that the buildings themselvesshould be raised a certain portion of their height without beams, andarched with stone from the quarries of Gabii or Alba, that stone beingproof against fire; that over the water springs, which had beenimproperly intercepted by private individuals, overseers should beplaced, to provide for their flowing in greater abundance, and in agreater number of places, for the supply of the public; that everyhousekeeper should have in his yard means for extinguishing fire, neither should there be party walls, but every house should be enclosedby its own walls. [28]

These regulations, which were favorably received, in consideration oftheir utility, were also a source of beauty to the new city; yet somethere were who believed that the ancient form was more conducive tohealth, as from the narrowness of the streets and the height of thebuildings the rays of the sun were more excluded; whereas now, thespacious breadth of the streets, without any shade to protect it, wasmore intensely heated in warm weather. 

Such were the provisions made by human counsels. The gods were nextaddressed with expiations, and recourse had to the sibyl's books. Byadmonition from them to Vulcan, Ceres, and Proserpina, supplicatorysacrifices were made, and Juno propitiated by the matrons, first in theCapitol, then upon the nearest shore, where, by water drawn from thesea, the temple and image of the goddess were besprinkled; the ceremonyof placing the goddess in her sacred chair, and her vigil, werecelebrated by ladies who had husbands. But not all the relief that couldcome from man, not all the bounties that the prince could bestow, norall the atonements which could be presented to the gods availed torelieve Nero from the infamy of being believed to have ordered theconflagration. Hence, to suppress the rumor, he falsely charged with theguilt and punished with the most exquisite tortures the persons commonlycalled Christians, who were hated for their enormities. 

Christus, the founder of that name, was put to death as a criminal byPontius Pilate, procurator of Judea, in the reign of Tiberius; but thepernicious superstition, repressed for a time, broke out again, not onlythrough Judea, where the mischief originated, but through the city ofRome also, whither all things horrible and disgraceful flow from allquarters as to a common receptacle and where they are encouraged. Accordingly first those were seized who confessed they were Christians;next on their information a vast multitude were convicted, not so muchon the charge of burning the city as of hating the human race. And intheir deaths they were also made the subjects of sport, for they werecovered with the hides of wild beasts, and worried to death by dogs, ornailed to crosses, or set fire to, and when day declined, burned toserve for nocturnal lights. Nero offered his own gardens for thatspectacle, and exhibited a Circensian game, indiscriminately minglingwith the common people in the habit of a charioteer, or else standing inhis chariot. Whence a feeling of compassion arose toward the sufferers, though guilty and deserving to be made examples of by capitalpunishment, because they seemed not to be cut off for the public good, but victims to the ferocity of one man. 

In the mean time, in order to supply money all Italy was pillaged, theprovinces ruined, both the people in alliance with us and the stateswhich are called free. Even the gods were not exempt from plunder onthis occasion, their temples in the city being despoiled, and all thegold conveyed away which the Roman people, in every age, either ingratitude for triumphs or in fulfilment of vows, had consecrated, intimes of prosperity, or in seasons of dismay. Through Greece and Asia, indeed, the gifts and oblations and even the statues of the deities werecarried off. 

FOOTNOTES:

[27] According to Suetonius, Nero turned the public calamity to his ownprivate advantage. He promised to remove the bodies that lay amid theruins, and to clear the ground at his own expense. By that artifice hesecured all the remaining property of the unhappy sufferers for his ownuse. To add to his ill-gotten store, he levied contributions in theprovinces, and by those means collected an immense sum. 

[28] By a law of the Twelve Tables, it was provided that a space ofsomething more than two feet was to be left between all new-builthouses. 

PERSECUTION OF THE CHRISTIANS UNDER NERO

A. D. 64-68

FREDERIC WILLIAM FARRAR

 Down to the reign of Nero Christians in the Roman Empire were regarded by the ruling powers merely as a Jewish sect, harmless and guilty of nothing which could call for the interference of the State with their ways of life or of worship. They were therefore unmolested. But during the reign of the infamous Emperor in whom they saw antichrist and the actual embodiment of the symbolic monstrosities of the Apocalypse, the Christians began to be recognized as a separate people, and from milder persecutions at first, under cover of legal procedure, they were soon subjected to outrages, tortures, and deaths than which history has none more revolting and pitiful to record. In Kaulbach's great painting of Nero's persecution there is enough of portrayal and suggestion to add a terrible vividness to the ordinary historian's word-pictures. The Emperor, surrounded by his boon companions, stands on his garden terrace to receive divine honors, while a group of suffering Christians--among them St. Peter, crucified head down, and St. Paul, passionately protesting against the diabolical work--move to compassion a company of elderly men and a body of German soldiers who look upon the horrible spectacle of martyrdom. 

 This, the first persecution of the Christians, reached its culminating point of ferocity in A. D. 64, after Nero had been accused of kindling, or conniving at the work of those who did kindle, the great fire in Rome. In order to divert attention, even if he could not turn suspicion, from himself, having charged the Christians with causing the conflagration, he ordered the atrocities which added a still darker stain to his personal and imperial record of shameless crime and savage inhumanity. First such as confessed themselves to be Christians were dealt with, and from these information was extorted on which vast numbers were convicted, "not so much on the charge of burning the city as of hating the human race. "

 Nero's character and acts have been depicted by many writers and in famous works of art, but not even the pencil of Kaulbach can make more keen the realization of those scenes enacted in this persecution than the thrilling narration of Farrar, which for picturesque eloquence, fired with dramatic intensity, has seldom been surpassed in English literature. 

Nero was so secure in his absolutism, he had hitherto found it soimpossible to shock the feelings of the people or to exhaust theterrified adulation of the senate, that he was usually indifferent tothe pasquinades which were constantly holding up his name to execrationand contempt. But now[29] he felt that he had gone too far, and that hispower would be seriously imperilled if he did not succeed in divertingthe suspicions of the populace. He was perfectly aware that when thepeople in the streets cursed those who set fire to the city they meantto curse _him_. If he did not take some immediate step, he felt that hemight perish, as Gaius had perished before him, by the dagger of theassassin. 

It is at this point of his career that Nero becomes a prominent figurein the history of the Church. It was this phase of cruelty which seemedto throw a blood-red light over his whole character and led men to lookon him as the very incarnation of the world-power in its most demoniacaspect, as worse than the Antiochus Epiphanes of Daniel's Apocalypse, asthe Man of Sin whom--in language figurative indeed, yet awfullytrue--the Lord should slay with the breath of his mouth and destroy withthe brightness of his coming, for Nero endeavored to fix the odiouscrime of having destroyed the capital of the world upon the mostinnocent and faithful of his subjects--upon the only subjects whooffered heartfelt prayers on his behalf--the Roman Christians. They werethe defenceless victims of this horrible charge, for though they werethe most harmless, they were also the most hated and the most slanderedof living men. 

Why he should have thought of singling out the Christians has alwaysbeen a curious problem, for at this point St. Luke ends the Acts of theApostles, perhaps purposely dropping the curtain, because it would havebeen perilous and useless to narrate the horrors in which the hithertoneutral or friendly Roman government began to play so disgraceful apart. Neither Tacitus, nor Suetonius, nor the Apocalypse, helps us tosolve this particular problem. The Christians had filled no large spacein the eye of the world. Until the days of Domitian we do not hear of asingle noble or distinguished person who had joined their ranks. Thatthe Pudens and Claudia of Rom. Xvi. Were the Pudens and Claudia ofMartial's _Epigrams_ seems to me to be a baseless dream. If the "foreignsuperstition" with which Pomponia Græcina, wife of Aulus Plautius, theconqueror of Britain, was charged, and of which she was acquitted, wasindeed, as has been suspected, the Christian religion, at any rate thename of Christianity was not alluded to by the ancient writers who hadmentioned the circumstance. Even if Rom. Xvi. Was addressed to Rome, andnot, as I believe, to Ephesus, "they of the household of Narcissus whichwere in the Lord" were unknown slaves, as also were "they of Cæsar'shousehold. "

The slaves and artisans, Jewish and Gentile, who formed the Christiancommunity at Rome, had never in any way come into collision with theRoman government. They must have been the victims rather than theexciters of the messianic tumults--for such they are conjectured to havebeen--which led to the expulsion of the Jews from Rome by the futileedict of Claudius. Nay, so obedient and docile were they required to beby the very principles on which their morality was based, so far werethey removed from the fierce independence of the Jewish zealots, that, in writing to them a few years earlier, the greatest of their leadershad urged upon them a payment of tribute and a submission to the higherpowers, not only for wrath, but also for conscience' sake, because theearthly ruler, in his office of repressing evil works, is a minister ofGod. That the Christians were entirely innocent of the crime chargedagainst them was well known both at the time and afterward. But how wasit that Nero sought popularity and partly averted the deep rage whichwas rankling in many hearts against himself, by torturing men and women, on whose agonies he thought that the populace would gaze not only with astolid indifference, but even with fierce satisfaction?

Gibbon has conjectured that the Christians were confounded with theJews, and that the detestation universally felt for the latter fell withdouble force upon the former. Christians suffered even more than theJews because of the calumnies so assiduously circulated against them, and from what appeared to the ancients to be the revolting absurdity oftheir peculiar tenets. "Nero, " says Tacitus, "exposed to accusation, andtortured with the most exquisite penalties, a set of men detested fortheir enormities, whom the common people called 'Christians. ' Christus, the founder of this sect, was executed during the reign of Tiberius, bythe procurator Pontius Pilate, and the deadly superstition, suppressedfor a time, began to burst out once more, not only throughout Judea, where the evil had its root, but even in the city, whither from everyquarter all things horrible or shameful are drifted, and find theirvotaries. "

The lordly disdain which prevented Tacitus from making any inquiry intothe real views and character of the Christians is shown by the fact thathe catches up the most baseless allegations against them. He talks oftheir doctrines as savage and shameful when they breathed the veryspirit of peace and purity. He charges them with being animated by ahatred of their kind when their central tenet was a universal charity. The masses, he says, called them "Christians"; and while he almostapologizes for staining his page with so vulgar an appellation, [30] hemerely mentions in passing that, though innocent of the charge of beingturbulent incendiaries, on which they were tortured to death, they wereyet a set of guilty and infamous sectaries, to be classed with thelowest dregs of Roman criminals. 

But the haughty historian throws no light on one difficulty--namely, thecircumstances which led to the _Christians_ being thus singled out. TheJews were in no way involved in Nero's persecution. To persecute theJews at Rome would not have been an easy matter. They were sufficientlynumerous to be formidable, and had overawed Cicero in the zenith of hisfame. Besides this, the Jewish religion was recognized, tolerated, licensed. Throughout the length and breadth of the empire no man, however much he and his race might be detested and despised, could havebeen burned or tortured for the mere fact of being a Jew. We hear of noJewish martyrdoms or Jewish persecutions till we come to the times ofthe Jewish War, and then chiefly in Palestine itself. It is clear that ashedding of blood--in fact, some form or other of human sacrifice--wasimperatively demanded by popular feeling as an expiation of the ruinouscrime which had plunged so many thousands into the depths of misery. Invain had the sibylline books been once more consulted, and in vain hadpublic prayer been offered, in accordance with their directions toVulcan and the goddesses of Earth and Hades. In vain had the Romanmatrons walked in procession in dark robes, and with their long hairunbound, to propitiate the insulted majesty of Juno, and to sprinklewith sea-water her ancient statue. In vain had largesses been lavishedupon the people, and propitiatory sacrifices offered to the gods. Invain had public banquets been celebrated in honor of various deities. Acrime had been committed, and Romans had perished unavenged. Blood criedfor blood before the sullen suspicion against Nero could be averted orthe indignation of heaven appeased. 

Nero had always hated, persecuted, and exiled the philosophers, and nodoubt, so far as he knew anything of the Christians--so far as he sawamong his own countless slaves any who had embraced this superstition, which the _élite_ of Rome described as not only new, but "execrable" and"malefic"--he would hate their gravity and purity, and feel for themthat raging envy which is the tribute that virtue receives from vice. Moreover, St. Paul, in all probability, had recently stood before histribunal, and though he had been acquitted on the special charges ofturbulence and profanation, respecting which he had appealed to Cæsar, yet during the judicial inquiry Nero could hardly have failed to hearfrom the emissaries of the Sanhedrim many fierce slanders of a sectwhich was everywhere spoken against. The Jews were by far the deadliestenemies of the Christians, and two persons of Jewish proclivities wereat this time in close proximity to the person of the Emperor. One wasthe pantomimist Aliturus, the other was Poppæa, the harlot-empress. [31]The Jews were in communication with these powerful favorites, and hadeven promised Nero that if his enemies ever prevailed at Rome he shouldhave the kingdom of Jerusalem. [32]

It is not even impossible that there may have been a third dark and evilinfluence at work to undermine the Christians, for about this very timethe unscrupulous Pharisee Flavius Josephus had availed himself of theintrigues of the palace to secure the liberation of some Jewish priests. If, as seems certain, the Jews had it in their power during the reign ofNero more or less to shape the whisper of the throne, does nothistorical induction drive us to conclude with some confidence that thesuggestion of the Christians as scapegoats and victims came from them?St. Clement says in his Epistle that the Christians suffered _throughjealousy_. _Whose_ jealousy? Who can tell what dark secrets lie veiledunder that suggestive word? Was Acte a Christian, and was Poppæa jealousof her? That suggestion seems at once inadequate and improbable, especially as Acte was not hurt. But there _was_ a deadly jealousy atwork against the new religion. 

To the pagans, Christianity was but a religiousextravagance--contemptible, indeed, but otherwise insignificant. To theJews, on the other hand, it was an object of hatred, which never stoppedshort of bloodshed when it possessed or could usurp the power, andwhich, though long suppressed by circumstances, displayed itself in allthe intensity of its virulence during the brief spasm of thedictatorship of Barcochebas. Christianity was hateful to the Jews on_every_ ground. It nullified their law. It liberated all Gentiles fromthe heavy yoke of that law, without thereby putting them on a lowerlevel. It even tended to render those who were born Jews indifferent tothe institutions of Mosaism. It was, as it were, a fatal revolt andschism from within, more dangerous than any assault from without. And, worse than all, it was by the Gentiles confounded with the Judaism whichwas its bitterest antagonist. While it sheltered its existence under themantle of Judaism, as a _religio licita_, it drew down upon the religionfrom whose bosom it sprang all the scorn and hatred which were attachedby the world to its own special tenets, for however much the Greeks andRomans despised the Jews, they despised still more the belief that theLord and Saviour of the world was a crucified malefactor who had risenfrom the dead. 

I see in the proselytism of Poppæa, guided by Jewish malice, the onlyadequate explanation of the first Christian persecution. Hers was thejealousy which had goaded Nero to matricide; hers not improbably was theinstigated fanaticism of a proselyte which urged him to imbrue his handsin martyr blood. And she had her reward. A woman of whom Tacitus has nota word of good to say and who seems to have been repulsive even to aSuetonius, is handed down by the renegade Pharisee as "a devoutwoman"--as a worshipper of God!

And, indeed, when once the Christians were pointed out to the popularvengeance, many reasons would be adduced to prove their connection withthe conflagration. Temples had perished--and were they not notoriousenemies of the temples? Did not popular rumor charge them with nocturnalorgies and Thyestæan feasts? Suspicions of incendiarism were sometimesbrought against Jews; but the Jews were not in the habit of talking, asthese sectaries were, about a fire which should consume the world, andrejoicing in the prospect of that fiery consummation. [33] Nay, more, when pagans had bewailed the destruction of the city and the loss ofthe ancient monuments of Rome, had not these pernicious people usedambiguous language, as though they joyously recognized in these eventsthe signs of a coming end? Even when they tried to suppress all outwardtokens of exultation, had they not listened to the fears andlamentations of their fellow-citizens with some sparkle in the eyes, andhad they not answered with something of triumph in their tones? Therewas a satanic plausibility which dictated the selection of theseparticular victims. Because they hated the wickedness of the world, withits ruthless games and hideous idolatries, they were accused of hatredof the whole human race. 

The charge of _incivisme_, so fatal in this reign of terror, wassufficient to ruin a body of men who scorned the sacrifices ofheathendom and turned away with abhorrence from its banquets andgayeties. The cultivated classes looked down upon the Christians with adisdain which would hardly even mention them without an apology. The_canaille_ of pagan cities insulted them with obscene inscriptions andblasphemous pictures on the very walls of the places where they met. [34]Nay, they were popularly known by nicknames, like _Sarmenticii_ and_Semaxii_--untranslatable terms of opprobrium derived from the fagotswith which they were burned and the stakes to which they were chained. Even the heroic courage which they displayed was described as beingsheer obstinacy and stupid fanaticism. 

But in the method chosen for the punishment of these saintly innocentsNero gave one more proof of the close connection between effeminateæstheticism and sanguinary callousness. As in old days, "on thatopprobrious hill, " the temple of Chemosh had stood close by that ofMoloch, so now we find the _spoliarium_ beside the _fornices_--Lust hardby Hate. The _carnificina_ of Tiberius, at Capreæ, adjoined the_sellariæ_. History has given many proofs that no man is moresystematically heartless than a corrupted debauchee. Like people, likeprince. In the then condition of Rome, Nero well knew that a nation, "cruel, by their sports to blood inured, " would be most likely to forgettheir miseries and condone their suspicions by mixing games and gayetywith spectacles of refined and atrocious cruelty, of which, for eighteencenturies, the most passing record has sufficed to make men's blood runcold. 

Tacitus tells us that "those who confessed were first seized, and thenon their evidence _a huge multitude_[35] were convicted, not so much onthe charge of incendiarism as for their hatred to mankind. " Compressedand obscure as the sentence is, Tacitus clearly means to imply by the"confession" to which he alludes the confession of Christianity, andthough he is not sufficiently generous to acquit the Christiansabsolutely of all complicity in the great crime, he distinctly says thatthey were made the scapegoats of a general indignation. The phrase--"ahuge multitude"--is one of the few existing indications of the number ofmartyrs in the first persecution, and of the number of Christians in theRoman Church. When the historian says that they were convicted on thecharge of "hatred against mankind" he shows how completely he confoundsthem with the Jews, against whom he elsewhere brings the accusation of"hostile feelings toward all except themselves. "

Then the historian adds one casual but frightful sentence--a sentencewhich flings a dreadful light on the cruelty of Nero and the Roman mob. He adds: "And various forms of mockery were added to enhance their dyingagonies. Covered with the skins of wild beasts, they were doomed to dieby the mangling of dogs, or by being nailed to crosses, or to be set onfire and burned after twilight by way of nightly illumination. Nerooffered his own garden for this show, and gave a chariot race, minglingwith the mob in the dress of a charioteer, or actually driving aboutamong them. Hence, guilty as the victims were, and deserving of theworst punishments, a feeling of compassion toward them began to rise, asmen felt that they were being immolated not for any advantage to theCommonwealth, but to glut the savagery of a single man. "

Imagine that awful scene, once witnessed by the silent obelisk in thesquare before St. Peter's at Rome! Imagine it, that we may realize howvast is the change which Christianity has wrought in the feelings ofmankind! There, where the vast dome now rises, were once the gardens ofNero. They were thronged with gay crowds, among whom the Emperor movedin his frivolous degradation--and on every side were men dying slowly ontheir cross of shame. Along the paths of those gardens on the autumnnights were ghastly torches, blackening the ground beneath them withstreams of sulphurous pitch, and each of those living torches was amartyr in his shirt of fire. And in the amphitheatre hard by, in sightof twenty thousand spectators, famished dogs were tearing to pieces someof the best and purest of men and women, hideously disguised in theskins of bears or wolves. Thus did Nero baptize in the blood of martyrsthe city which was to be for ages the capital of the world!

The specific atrocity of such spectacles--unknown to the earlier ageswhich they called barbarous--was due to the cold-blooded selfishness, the hideous realism of a refined, delicate, æsthetic age. To pleasethese "lisping hawthorn buds, " these debauched and sanguinary dandies, art, forsooth, must know nothing of morality; must accept and rejoice ina "healthy animalism"; must estimate life by the number of its fewwildest pulsations; must reckon that life is worthless without the mostthrilling experiences of horror or delight! Comedy must be actual shame, and tragedy genuine bloodshed. When the play of Afranius, called _TheConflagration_, was put on the stage, a house must be really burned andits furniture really plundered. In the mime called _Laureolus_ an actormust really be crucified and mangled by a bear, and really fling himselfdown and deluge the stage with blood. When the heroism of Mucius Scævolawas represented, a real criminal must thrust his hand without a groaninto the flame and stand motionless while it is being burned. Prometheusmust be really chained to his rock, and Dirce in very fact be tossed andgored by the wild bull; and Orpheus be torn to pieces by a real bear;and Icarus must really fly, even though he fall and be dashed to death;and Hercules must ascend the funeral pyre and there be veritably burnedalive; and slaves and criminals must play their parts heroically in goldand purple till the flames envelop them. 

It was the ultimate romance of a degraded and brutalized society. TheRoman people, "victors once, now vile and base, " could now only beamused by sanguinary melodrama. Fables must be made realities, and thecriminal must gracefully transform his supreme agonies into amusementsfor the multitude by becoming a gladiator or a tragedian. Such were thespectacles at which Nero loved to gaze through his emerald eye-glass. And worse things than these--things indescribable, unutterable. Infamousmythologies were enacted, in which women must play their part intorments of shamefulness more intolerable than death. A St. Peter musthang upon the cross in the Pincian gardens, as a real Laureolus upon thestage. A Christian boy must be the Icarus, and a Christian man theScævola or the Hercules or the Orpheus of the amphitheatre; andChristian women, modest maidens, holy matrons, must be the Danaids orthe Proserpine or worse, and play their parts as priestesses of Saturnand Ceres, and in blood-stained dramas of the dead. No wonder that Nerobecame to Christian imagination the very incarnation of evil; theantichrist; the Wild Beast from the abyss; the delegate of the great redDragon, with a diadem and a name of blasphemy upon his brow. No wonderthat he left a furrow of horror in the hearts of men, and that, tencenturies after his death, the church of Sta. Maria del Popolo had to bebuilt by Pope Pascal II to exorcise from Christian Rome his restless andmiserable ghost!

And it struck them with deeper horror to see that the antichrist, so farfrom being abhorred, was generally popular. He was popular because hepresented to the degraded populace their own image and similitude. Thefrog-like unclean spirits which proceeded, as it were, out of his mouthwere potent with these dwellers in an atmosphere of pestilence. They hadlost all love for freedom and nobleness; they cared only for doles andexcitement. Even when the infamies of a Petronius had been superseded bythe murderous orgies of Tigellinus, Nero was still everywhere welcomedwith shouts as a god on earth and saluted on all coins as Apollo, asHercules, as "the savior of the world. " The poets still assured himthat there was no deity in heaven who would not think it an honor toconcede to him his prerogatives; that if he did not place himself wellin the centre of Olympus, the equilibrium of the universe would bedestroyed. Victims were slain along his path, and altars raised forhim--for this wretch, whom an honest slave could not but despise andloathe--as though he was too great for mere human honors. Nay, more, hefound adorers and imitators of his execrable example--an Otho, aVitellius, a Domitian, a Commodus, a Caracalla, a Heliogabalus--topoison the air of the world. The lusts and hungers and furies of theworld lamented him, and cherished his memory, and longed for his return. 

And yet, though all bad men--who were the majority--admired and evenloved him, he died the death of a dog. Tremendous as was the power ofimperialism, the Romans often treated their individual emperors as Nerohimself treated the Syrian goddess, whose image he first worshipped withawful veneration and then subjected to the most grotesque indignities, for retribution did not linger, and the vengeance fell at once on theguilty Emperor and the guilty city. 

 "Careless _seems_ the Great Avenger: History's pages but record One death-grapple in the darkness 'twixt false systems and the Word; Truth forever on the scaffold, wrong forever on the throne, Yet that scaffold sways the future, and behind the dim unknown Standeth God within the shadow, keeping watch above his own. "[36]

The air was full of prodigies. There were terrible storms; the plaguewrought fearful ravages. Rumors spread from lip to lip. Men spoke ofmonstrous births; of deaths by lightning under strange circumstances; ofa brazen statue of Nero melted by the flash; of places struck by thebrand of heaven in fourteen regions of the city; of sudden darkenings ofthe sun. A hurricane devastated Campania; comets blazed in the heavens;earthquakes shook the ground. On all sides were the traces of deepuneasiness and superstitious terror. To all these portents, which wereaccepted as true by Christians as well as by pagans, the Christianswould give a specially terrible significance. They strengthened theirconviction that the coming of the Lord drew nigh. They convinced thebetter sort of pagans that the hour of their deliverance from a tyrannyso monstrous and so disgraceful was near at hand. 

In spite of the shocking servility with which alike the senate and thepeople had welcomed him back to the city with shouts of triumph, Nerofelt that the air of Rome was heavy with curses against his name. Hewithdrew to Naples, and was at supper there on March 19, A. D. 68, theanniversary of his mother's murder, when he heard that the first note ofrevolt had been sounded by the brave C. Julius Vindex, prefect ofFarther Gaul. He was so far from being disturbed by the news that heshowed a secret joy at the thought that he could now order Gaul to beplundered. For eight days he took no notice of the matter. He was onlyroused to send an address to the senate because Vindex wounded hisvanity by calling him _Ahenobarbus_[37] and "a bad singer. " But whenmessenger after messenger came from the provinces with tidings ofmenace, he hurried back to Rome. At last, when he heard that VirginiusRufus had also rebelled in Germany, and Galba in Spain, he became awareof the desperate nature of his position. 

On receiving this intelligence he fainted away, and remained for sometime unconscious. He continued, indeed, his grossness and frivolity, butthe wildest and fiercest schemes chased each other through hismelodramatic brain. He would slay all the exiles; he would give up allthe provinces to plunder; he would order all the Gauls in the city to bebutchered; he would have all the senators invited to banquets, and wouldthen poison them; he would have the city set on fire, and the wildbeasts of the Amphitheatre let loose among the people; he would deposeboth the consuls and become sole consul himself, since legend said thatonly by a consul could Gauls be conquered; he would go with an army tothe province, and when he got there would do nothing but weep, and whenhe had thus moved the rebels to compassion would next day sing with themat a great festival the ode of victory which he must at once compose. Not a single manly resolution lent a moment's dignity to his miserablefall. 

Sometimes he talked of escaping to Ostia and arming the sailors; atothers of escaping to Alexandria and earning his bread by his "divinevoice. " Meanwhile he was hourly subjected to the deadliest insults, andterrified by dreams and omens so sombre that his faith in theastrologers who had promised him the government of the East and thekingdom of Jerusalem began to be rudely shaken. When he heard that not asingle army or general remained faithful to him, he kicked over thetable at which he was dining, dashed to pieces on the ground twofavorite goblets embossed with scenes from the Homeric poems, and placedin a golden box some poison furnished to him by Locusta. 

The last effort which he contemplated was to mount the Rostra, begpardon of the people for his crimes, ask them to try him again, and, atthe worst, to allow him the prefecture of Egypt. But this design he didnot dare to carry out, from fear that he would be torn to pieces beforehe reached the Forum. Meanwhile he found that the palace had beendeserted by his guards, and that his attendants had robbed his chambereven of the golden box in which he had stored his poison. Rushing out, as though to drown himself in the Tiber, he changed his mind, and beggedfor some quiet hiding-place in which to collect his thoughts. Thefreedman Phaon offered him a lowly villa about four miles from the city. Barefooted, and with a faded coat thrown over his tunic, he hid his headand face in a kerchief and rode away with only four attendants. On theroad he heard the tumult of the prætorians cursing his name. Amid evilomens and serious perils he reached the back of Phaon's villa, and, creeping toward it through a muddy reed-bed, was secretly admitted intoone of its mean slave-chambers by an aperture through which he had tocrawl on his hands and feet. 

There is no need to dwell on the miserable spectacle of his end, perhapsthe meanest and most pusillanimous which has ever been recorded. Thepoor wretch who, without a pang, had caused so many brave Romans and somany innocent Christians to be murdered could not summon up resolutionto die. He devised every operatic incident of which he could think. Wheneven his most degraded slaves urged him to have sufficient manliness tosave himself from the fearful infamies which otherwise awaited him, heordered his grave to be dug, and fragments of marble to be collected forits adornment, and water and wood for his funeral pyre, perpetuallywhining, "What an artist to perish!"

Meanwhile a courier arrived for Phaon. Nero snatched his despatches outof his hand and read that the senate had decided that he should bepunished in the ancestral fashion as a public enemy. Asking what theancestral fashion was, he was informed that he would be stripped nakedand scourged to death with rods, with his head thrust into a fork. Horrified at this, he seized two daggers, and, after theatrically tryingtheir edges, sheathed them again, with the excuse that the fatal momenthad not yet arrived! Then he bade Sporus begin to sing his funeral song, and begged some one to show him how to die. Even his own intense shameat his cowardice was an insufficient stimulus, and he whiled away thetime in vapid epigrams and pompous quotations. The sound of horses'hoofs then broke on his ears, and, venting one more Greek quotation, heheld the dagger to his throat. It was driven home by Epaphroditus, oneof his literary slaves. At this moment the centurion who came to arresthim rushed in. Nero was not yet dead, and under pretence of helping himthe centurion began to stanch the wound with his cloak. "Too late, " hesaid; "is this your fidelity?" So he died; and the bystanders werehorrified with the way in which his eyes seemed to be starting out ofhis head in a rigid stare. He had begged that his body might be burnedwithout posthumous insults, and this was conceded by Icelus, thefreedman of Galbo. 

So died the last of the Cæsars! And as Robespierre was lamented by hislandlady, so even Nero was tenderly buried by two nurses who had knownhim in the exquisite beauty of his engaging childhood, and by Acte, whohad inspired his youth with a genuine love. 

But his history does not end with his grave. He was to live on in theexpectation alike of Jews and Christians. The fifth head of the WildBeast of the Revelation was in some sort to reappear as the eighth; thehead with its diadem and its names of blasphemy had been wounded todeath, but in the Apocalyptic sense the deadly wound was to be healed. The Roman world could not believe that the heir of the deified Julianrace could be cut off thus suddenly and obscurely and vanish like foamupon the water. The Christians felt sure that it required something morethan an ordinary death stroke to destroy the antichrist, and to end thevitality of the Wild Beast from the Abyss, who had been the first to sethimself in deadly antagonism against the Redeemer and to wage war uponthe saints of God. 

FOOTNOTES:

[29] In his behavior at the burning of Rome. 

[30] There can be little doubt that the name "Christian"--so curiouslyhybrid, yet so richly expressive--was a nickname due to the wit of theAntiochenes, which exercised itself quite fearlessly even on the Romanemperors. They were not afraid to affix nicknames to Caracalla, and tocall Julian Cecrops and Victimarius, with keen satire of his beard. Itis clear that the sacred writers avoided the name, because it wasemployed by their enemies, and by them mingled with terms of the vilestopprobrium. It only became familiar when the virtues of Christians hadshed lustre upon it, and when alike in its true form, and in theignorant mispronunciation "Chrestians, " it readily lent itself tovaluable allegorical meanings. 

[31] According to John of Antioch and the _Chronicon Paschale_, Nero wasoriginally favorable to the Christians, and put Pilate to death, forwhich the Jews plotted his murder. Poppæa's Judaism is inferred from herrefusing to be burned, and requesting to be embalmed; from her adoptingthe custom of wearing a veil in the streets; from the favor which sheshowed to Aliturus and Josephus; and from the fact that Josephus speaksof her as a religious woman. 

[32] Tiberius Alexander, the nephew of Philo, afterward procurator ofJudea, was a person of influence at Rome; but he was a renegade, andwould not be likely to hate the Christians. It is, however, remarkablethat legend attributed the anger of Nero to the conversion of hismistress and a favorite slave. 

[33] St. Peter--apparently thinking of the fire at Rome and itsconsequences--calls the persecution from which the Christians weresuffering when he wrote his First Epistle a "conflagration. "

[34] Tertullian mentions one of these coarse caricatures--a figure withone foot hoofed, wearing a toga, carrying a book, and with long ass'sears, under which was written, "The God of the Christians, Onokoites. "He says that Christians were actually charged with worshipping the headof an ass. The same preposterous calumny, with many others, is alludedto by Minucius Felix. The Christians were hence called _Asinarii_. Analogous calumnies were aimed at the Jews. 

[35] Tertullian says that "Nero was the first who raged with the swordof Cæsar against this sect, which was then specially rising at Rome. "

[36] James Russell Lowell: _The Present Crisis_. 

[37] "Bronze-beard. " Ahenobarbus was the name of a plebeian family towhich Nero belonged. 

THE GREAT JEWISH REVOLT

SIEGE AND DESTRUCTION OF JERUSALEM

A. D. 70

JOSEPHUS

 From A. D. 66 events of great moment occurred in Palestine. The Jews were in the throes of revolt against the Roman Government. At the same time the chief factions of the revolutionary party were constantly fighting each other. One of these factions was led by the famous John of Gischala, another by Simon bar Gioras, and a third by Eleazar. These factions of a party which--since the reduction of Judea to a Roman province soon after the death of Herod--had resisted the oppression of the procurators, were now stirred to revolt by the exactions of the procurator Gessius Florus. The revolutionary party, called the Zealots, gained power, and there were many outbreaks in Jerusalem. The counsel of the more prudent spirits was disregarded. At last Roman blood was shed. The nobility and priesthood played into the hands of the Zealots by applying to Florus to put down the revolt. Florus marched against Jerusalem and was badly beaten by the Zealots. 

 Open war henceforth existed. Josephus, a Jew of the lineage of Aaron, trained according to the best discipline of his race, and who had also been well received at Rome, was placed by his countrymen in command of the province of Galilee. Afterward, as a historian, he described the events of the war. 

 Vespasian, who was then Rome's greatest general, soon came at the head of sixty thousand Roman soldiers. He attacked Galilee. Josephus, with such followers as he could gather, took position on an almost inaccessible hill in Jotapata, which the Romans for five days stormed in vain, then besieged its brave defenders, afterward repeatedly assaulted; and finally, during the night following the forty-seventh day of the siege, Titus, serving under his father, Vespasian, gained possession of the place. Josephus, with forty of the principal citizens, hid in a cave, but their refuge was discovered through treachery. 

 Vespasian was anxious to take Josephus alive. He sent the tribune Nicanor, who had been his friend, to the Jewish leader to induce him with fair promises to surrender. Josephus was about to give himself up, but was prevented by his companions. "We will care for the honor of our country, " they said. At the same time they offered a sword and "a hand that shall use it against thee. " Josephus then proposed that they should all die together, but by the hands of one another, instead of suicide. Lots were cast. He who drew the first offered his neck to him who stood next and so forward. Finally, through marvellous fortune, Josephus and one other alone were left, and here the slaughter ended. The two survivors surrendered to the Romans. Loud cries for the death of Josephus arose, but he was spared by the intercession of Titus. The fall of Jotapata led to the subjugation of Galilee. 

 When captured, Josephus made to Vespasian the prophecy: "Thou shalt be emperor--thou and thy son after thee, " a prediction soon to be fulfilled, for in A. D. 69 Vespasian was proclaimed emperor, and the next year went to Rome, leaving Titus to carry on the war and subdue Jerusalem. Vespasian himself, it is recorded, released Josephus, "cutting off his chains, " thus relieving him from all stain of dishonor. 

 "The capture of Jerusalem by Titus in this campaign, " says Hosmer, "is one of the most memorable events in the history of mankind. It caused the expulsion of an entire race from its home. The Roman valor, skill, and persistence were never more conspicuously displayed. No more desperate resistance was ever opposed to the eagle-emblemed mistress of the ancient world. There is no event of ancient history the details of which are more minutely known. The circumstances in all their appalling features are given to us by the eye-witness, Josephus, so that we know them as vividly as we do the events of the career of Grant. "

The legions had orders to encamp at the distance of six furlongs fromJerusalem, at the mount called the Mount of Olives, which lies overagainst the city on the east side, and is parted from it by a deepvalley, interposed between them, which is named Cedron. 

Now, when hitherto the several parties in the city had been dashing oneagainst another perpetually, this foreign war, now suddenly come uponthem after a violent manner, put the first stop to their contentions oneagainst another; and as the seditious now saw with astonishment theRomans pitching three several camps, they began to think of an awkwardsort of concord, and said one to another: "What do we here, and what dowe mean, when we suffer three fortified walls to be built to coop us in, that we shall not be able to breathe freely? while the enemy is securelybuilding a kind of city in opposition to us, and while we sit stillwithin our own walls and become spectators only of what they are doing, with our hands idle, and our armor laid by, as if they were aboutsomewhat that was for our good and advantage. We are, it seems (so didthey cry out), only courageous against ourselves, while the Romans arelikely to gain the city without bloodshed by our sedition. " Thus didthey encourage one another when they were gotten together and took theirarmor immediately and ran out upon the Tenth legion and fell upon theRomans with great eagerness, and with a prodigious shout, as they werefortifying their camp. These Romans were caught in different parties, and this in order to perform their several works, and on that accounthad in great measure laid aside their arms, for they thought the Jewswould not have ventured to make a sally upon them; and had they beendisposed so to do, they supposed their sedition would have distractedthem. So they were put into disorder unexpectedly; when some of themleft their works they were about and immediately marched off, while manyran to their arms, but were smitten and slain before they could turnback upon the enemy. The Jews became still more and more in number, asencouraged by the good success of those that first made the attack; andwhile they had such good fortune, they seemed both to themselves and tothe enemy to be many more than they really were. 

The disorderly way of their fighting at first put the Romans also to astand, who had been constantly used to fight skilfully in good order, and with keeping their ranks and obeying the orders that were giventhem, for which reason the Romans were caught unexpectedly and wereobliged to give way to the assaults that were made upon them. Now, whenthese Romans were overtaken and turned back upon the Jews, they put astop to their career; yet when they did not take care enough ofthemselves through the vehemency of their pursuit, they were wounded bythem; but as still more and more Jews sallied out of the city, theRomans were at length brought into confusion, and put to flight, and ranaway from their camp. Nay, things looked as though the entire legionwould have been in danger, unless Titus had been informed of the casethey were in, and had sent them succors immediately. So he reproachedthem for their cowardice and brought those back that were running away, and fell himself upon the Jews on their flank, with those select troopsthat were with him, and slew a considerable number, and wounded more ofthem, and put them all to flight, and made them run away hastily downthe valley. Now as these Jews suffered greatly in the declivity of thevalley, so when they were gotten over it they turned about and stoodover against the Romans, having the valley between them, and therefought with them. Thus did they continue the fight till noon; but whenit was already a little after noon, Titus set those that came to theassistance of the Romans with him, and those that belonged to thecohorts, to prevent the Jews from making any more sallies, and then sentthe rest of the legion to the upper part of the mountain, to fortifytheir camp. 

This march of the Romans seemed to the Jews to be a flight; and as thewatchman who was placed upon the wall gave a signal by shaking hisgarment, there came out a fresh multitude of Jews, and that with suchmighty violence that one might compare it to the running of the mostterrible wild beasts. To say the truth, none of those that opposed themcould sustain the fury with which they made their attacks; but, as ifthey had been cast out of an engine, they brake the enemies' ranks topieces, who were put to flight, and ran away to the mountain; none butTitus himself, and a few others with him, being left in the midst of theacclivity. Now these others, who were his friends, despised the dangerthey were in and were ashamed to leave their general, earnestlyexhorting him to give way to these Jews that are fond of dying, and notto run into such dangers before those that ought to stay before him; toconsider what his fortune was, and not, by supplying the place of acommon soldier, to venture to turn back upon the enemy so suddenly; andthis because he was general in the war, and lord of the habitable earth, on whose preservation the public affairs do all depend. 

These persuasions Titus seemed not so much as to hear, but opposed thosethat ran upon him, and smote them on the face; and when he had forcedthem to go back, he slew them: he also fell upon great numbers as theymarched down the hill, and thrust them forward; while those men were soamazed at his courage and his strength that they could not fly directlyto the city, but declined from him on both sides, and pressed afterthose that fled up the hill; yet did he still fall upon their flank, andput a stop to their fury. In the mean time a disorder and a terror fellagain upon those that were fortifying their camp at the top of thehill, upon their seeing those beneath them running away; insomuch thatthe whole legion was dispersed while they thought that the sallies ofthe Jews upon them were plainly insupportable, and that Titus washimself put to flight, because they took it for granted that, if he hadstayed, the rest would never have fled for it. Thus were theyencompassed on every side by a kind of panic fear, and some dispersedthemselves one way, and some another, till certain of them saw theirgeneral in the very midst of an action, and being under great concernfor him, they loudly proclaimed the danger he was in to the entirelegion; and now shame made them turn back, and they reproached oneanother that they did worse than run away, by deserting Cæsar. So theyused their utmost force against the Jews, and declining from thestraight declivity, they drove them on heaps into the bottom of thevalley. Then did the Jews turn about and fight them; but as they werethemselves retiring, and now, because the Romans had the advantage ofthe ground and were above the Jews, they drove them all into the valley. 

As now the war abroad ceased for a while, the sedition within wasrevived; and on the feast of unleavened bread, which was now come, itbeing the fourteenth day of the month Xanthicus [Nisan], when it isbelieved the Jews were first freed from the Egyptians, Eleazar and hisparty opened the gates of this [inmost court of the] Temple, andadmitted such of the people as were desirous to worship God into it. ButJohn made use of this festival as a cloak for his treacherous designs, and armed the most inconsiderable of his own party, the greater part ofwhom were not purified, with weapons concealed under their garments, andsent them with great zeal into the Temple, in order to seize upon it, which armed men, when they were gotten in, threw their garments away, and presently appeared in their armor. Upon which there was a very greatdisorder and disturbance about the holy house, while the people, who hadno concern in the sedition, supposed that this assault was made againstall without distinction, as the Zealots thought it was made againstthemselves only. So these left off guarding the gates any longer andleaped down from their battlements before they came to an engagement, and fled away into the subterranean caverns of the Temple, while thepeople that stood trembling at the altar and about the holy house wererolled on heaps together and trampled upon, and were beaten both withwooden and with iron weapons without mercy. Such also as had differenceswith others slew many persons that were quiet, out of their own privateenmity and hatred, as if they were opposite to the seditious; and allthose that had formerly offended any of these plotters were now known, and were now led away to the slaughter, and when they had done abundanceof horrid mischief to the guiltless they granted a truce to the guiltyand let those go off that came out of the caverns. These followers ofJohn also did now seize upon this inner temple, and upon all the warlikeengines therein, and then ventured to oppose Simon. And thus thatsedition, which had been divided into three factions, was now reduced totwo. 

But Titus, intending to pitch his camp nearer to the city than Scopus, placed as many of his choice horsemen and footmen as he thoughtsufficient opposite to the Jews to prevent their sallying out upon them, while he gave orders for the whole army to level the distance as far asthe wall of the city. So they threw down all the hedges and walls whichthe inhabitants had made about their gardens and groves of trees, andcut down all the fruit trees that lay between them and the wall of thecity, and filled up all the hollow places and the chasms, and demolishedthe rocky precipices with iron instruments; and thereby made all theplace level from Scopus to Herod's monuments, which adjoined to the poolcalled the Serpent's Pool. 

Now at this very time the Jews contrived the following stratagem againstthe Romans. The bolder sort of the seditious went out at the towers, called the Women's Towers, as if they had been ejected out of the cityby those who were for peace, and rambled about as if they were afraid ofbeing assaulted by the Romans, and were in fear of one another, whilethose that stood upon the wall and seemed to be of the people's sidecried out aloud for peace, and entreated they might have security fortheir lives given them, and called for the Romans, promising to open thegates to them; and as they cried out after that manner they threw stonesat their own people, as though they would drive them away from thegates. These also pretended that they were excluded by force, and thatthey petitioned those that were within to let them in; and rushing uponthe Romans perpetually, with violence, they then came back, and seemedto be in great disorder. Now the Roman soldiers thought this cunningstratagem of theirs was to be believed real, and thinking they had theone party under their power, and could punish them as they pleased, andhoping that the other party would open their gates to them, set to theexecution of their designs accordingly. 

But for Titus himself, he had this surprising conduct of the Jews insuspicion, for whereas he had invited them to come to terms ofaccommodation, by Josephus, but one day before, he could then receive nocivil answer from them; so he ordered the soldiers to stay where theywere. However, some of them that were set in the front of the worksprevented him, and catching up their arms ran to the gates; whereuponthose that seemed to have been ejected at the first retired; but as soonas the soldiers were gotten between the towers on each side of the gatethe Jews ran out and encompassed them round, and fell upon them behind, while that multitude which stood upon the wall threw a heap of stonesand darts of all kinds at them, insomuch that they slew a considerablenumber, and wounded many more, for it was not easy for the Romans toescape, by reason those behind them pressed them forward; besides which, the shame they were under for being mistaken, and the fear they were inof their commanders, engaged them to persevere in their mistake;wherefore they fought with their spears a great while, and received manyblows from the Jews, though indeed they gave them as many blows again, and at last repelled those that had encompassed them about, while theJews pursued them as they retired, and followed them, and threw darts atthem as far as the monuments of Queen Helena. 

Now the warlike men that were in the city, and the multitude of theseditious that were with Simon, were ten thousand, besides the Idumeans. Those ten thousand had fifty commanders, over whom this Simon wassupreme. The Idumeans that paid him homage were five thousand, and hadeight commanders, among whom those of greatest fame were Jacob, the sonof Sosas, and Simon, the son of Cathlas. John, who had seized upon theTemple, had six thousand armed men under twenty commanders; the Zealotsalso that had come over to him and left off their opposition were twothousand four hundred, and had the same commander that they hadformerly, Eleazar, together with Simon, the son of Arinus. Now, whilethese factions fought one against another, the people were their prey onboth sides, and that part of the people who would not join with them intheir wicked practices were plundered by both factions. 

Simon held the upper city and the great wall as far as Cedron, and asmuch of the old wall as bent from Siloam to the east, and which wentdown to the palace of Monobazus, who was king of the Adiabeni, beyondEuphrates; he also held that fountain and the Acra, which was no otherthan the lower city; he also held all that reached to the palace ofQueen Helena, the mother of Monobazus. But John held the Temple and theparts thereto adjoining, for a great way, as also Ophla, and the valleycalled "the Valley of Cedron"; and when the parts that were interposedbetween their possessions were burned by them, they left a space whereinthey might fight with each other, for this internal sedition did notcease even when the Romans were encamped near their very walls. Butalthough they had grown wiser at the first onset the Romans made uponthem, this lasted but awhile, for they returned to their former madness, and separated one from another, and fought it out and did everythingthat the besiegers could desire them to do, for they never sufferedanything that was worse from the Romans than they made each othersuffer; nor was there any misery endured by the city, after these men'sactions, that could be esteemed new. But it was most of all unhappybefore it was overthrown, while those that took it did it a greaterkindness; for I venture to affirm that the sedition destroyed the city, and the Romans destroyed the sedition, which it was a much harder thingto do than to destroy the walls; so that we may justly ascribe ourmisfortunes to our own people, and the just vengeance taken on them tothe Romans; as to which matter let everyone determine by the actions onboth sides. 

Now when affairs within the city were in this posture, Titus went roundthe city on the outside with some chosen horsemen and looked about fora proper place where he might make an impression upon the walls; but ashe was in doubt where he could possibly make an attack on any side--forthe place was no way accessible where the valleys were, and on the otherside the first wall appeared too strong to be shaken by the engines--hethereupon thought it best to make his assault upon the monument of John, the high-priest, for there it was that the first fortification waslower, and the second was not joined to it, the builders neglecting tobuild strong where the new city was not much inhabited. Here also was aneasy passage to the third wall, through which he thought to take theupper city and, through the tower of Antonia, the Temple itself. But atthis time, as he was going round about the city, one of his friends, whose name was Nicanor, was wounded with a dart on his left shoulder, ashe approached, together with Josephus, too near the wall, and attemptedto discourse to those that were upon the wall about terms of peace, forhe was a person known by them. 

On this account it was that Cæsar, as soon as he knew their vehemence, that they would not bear even such as approached them to persuade themto what tended to their own preservation, was provoked to press on thesiege. He also, at the same time, gave his soldiers leave to set thesuburbs on fire, and ordered that they should bring timber together, andraise banks against the city. And when he had parted his army into threeparts, in order to set about those works, he placed those that shotdarts, and the archers in the midst of the banks that were then raising, before whom he placed those engines that threw javelins and darts andstones, that he might prevent the enemy from sallying out upon theirworks and might hinder those that were upon the wall from being able toobstruct them. So the trees were now cut down immediately and thesuburbs left naked. But now while the timber was being carried to raisethe banks, and the whole army was earnestly engaged in their works, theJews were not, however, quiet. And it happened that the people ofJerusalem, who had been hitherto plundered and murdered, were now ofgood courage, and supposed they should have a breathing time, while theothers were very busy in opposing their enemies without the city, andthat they should now be avenged on those that had been the authors oftheir miseries, in case the Romans did but get the victory. 

However, John stayed behind, out of his fear of Simon, even while hisown men were earnest in making a sally upon their enemies without. Yetdid not Simon lie still, for he lay near the place of the siege; hebrought his engines of war and disposed of them at due distances uponthe wall, both those which they took from Cestius formerly, and thosewhich they got when they seized the garrison that lay in the towerAntonia. But though they had these engines in their possession, they hadso little skill in using them that they were in great measure useless tothem; but a few there were who had been taught by deserters how to usethem, which they did use, though after an awkward manner. So they caststones and arrows at those that were making the banks; they also ran outupon them by companies and fought with them. 

Now those that were at work covered themselves with hurdles spread overtheir banks, and their engines were opposed to them when they made theirexcursions. The engines, that all the legions had ready prepared forthem, were admirably contrived; but still more extraordinary onesbelonged to the Tenth legion: those that threw darts and those thatthrew stones were more forcible and larger than the rest, by which theynot only repelled the excursions of the Jews, but drove those away thatwere upon the walls also. Now the stones that were cast were of theweight of a talent, and were carried two furlongs and farther. The blowthey gave was no way to be sustained, not only by those that stood firstin the way, but by those that were beyond them for a great space. 

As for the Jews, they at first watched the coming of the stone, for itwas of a white color, and could therefore not only be perceived by thegreat noise it made, but could be seen also before it came, by itsbrightness. Accordingly, the watchmen that sat upon the towers gave themnotice when the engine was let go, and the stone came from it, and criedout aloud, in their own country language, "The son cometh!" so thosethat were in its way stood off, and threw themselves down upon theground; by which means, and by their thus guarding themselves, the stonefell down and did them no harm. But the Romans contrived how to preventthat, by blacking the stone, who then could aim at them with successwhen the stone was not discerned beforehand as it had been till then;and so they destroyed many of them at one blow. Yet did not the Jews, under all this distress, permit the Romans to raise their banks inquiet, but they shrewdly and boldly exerted themselves, and repelledthem both by night and by day. 

And now, upon the finishing the Roman works, the workmen measured thedistance there was from the wall, and this by lead and a line which theythrew to it from their banks, for they could not measure it any otherwise, because the Jews would shoot at them, if they came to measure itthemselves. And when they found that the engines could reach the wallthey brought them thither. Then did Titus set his engines, at properdistances, so much nearer to the wall that the Jews might not be able torepel them, and gave orders they should go to work; and when, thereupon, a prodigious noise echoed round about from three places, and that on asudden there was a great noise made by the citizens that were within thecity, and no less a terror fell upon the seditious themselves. Whereuponboth sorts, seeing the common danger they were in, contrived to make alike defence. So those of different factions cried out one to anotherthat they acted entirely as in concert with their enemies, whereas theyought, however, notwithstanding God did not grant them a lasting concordin their present circumstances, to lay aside their enmities one againstanother and to unite together against the Romans. Accordingly, Simongave those that came from the Temple leave, by proclamation, to go uponthe wall; John also himself, though he could not believe Simon was inearnest, gave them the same leave. 

So on both sides they laid aside their hatred and their peculiarquarrels, and formed themselves into one body. They then ran round thewalls, and having a vast number of torches with them threw them at themachines, and shot darts perpetually upon those that impelled thoseengines which battered the wall--nay, the bolder sort leaped out bytroops upon the hurdles that covered the machines, and pulled them topieces, and fell upon those that belonged to them, and beat them, not somuch by any skill they had, as principally by the boldness of theirattacks. 

However, Titus himself still sent assistance to those that were thehardest beset, and placed both horsemen and archers on the several sidesof the engines, and thereby beat off those that brought the fire tothem. He also thereby repelled those that shot stones or darts from thetowers, and then set the engines to work in good earnest; yet did notthe wall yield to these blows, excepting where the battering ram of theFifteenth legion moved the corner of a tower, while the wall itselfcontinued unhurt, for the wall was not presently in the same danger withthe tower, which was extant far above it; nor could the fall of thatpart of the tower easily break down any part of the wall itself togetherwith it. 

And now the Jews intermitted their sallies for a while, but when theyobserved the Romans dispersed all abroad at their works, and in theirseveral camps--for they thought the Jews had retired out of wearinessand fear--they all at once made a sally at the tower Hippicus, throughan obscure gate, and at the same time brought fire to burn the works, and went boldly up to the Romans, and to their very fortificationsthemselves, where, at the cry they made, those that were near them camepresently to their assistance, and those farther off came running afterthem. And here the boldness of the Jews was too hard for the good orderof the Romans, and as they beat those whom they first fell upon, so theypressed upon those that were now gotten together. So this fight aboutthe machines was very hot, while the one side tried hard to set them onfire, and the other side to prevent it. On both sides there was aconfused cry made, and many of those in the forefront of the battle wereslain. 

However, the Jews were now too hard for the Romans by the furiousassaults they made like madmen, and the fire caught hold of the works, and both all those works, and the engines themselves, had been in dangerof being burned, had not many of those select soldiers that came fromAlexandria opposed themselves to prevent it, and had they not behavedthemselves with greater courage than they themselves supposed they couldhave done, for they outdid those in this fight that had greaterreputation than themselves. This was the state of things till Cæsar tookthe stoutest of his horsemen and attacked the enemy, while he himselfslew twelve of those that were in the forefront of the Jews, which deathof these men, when the rest of the multitude saw, they gave way, and hepursued them, and drove them all into the city, and saved the works fromthe fire. Now it happened at this fight that a certain Jew was takenalive who, by Titus' order, was crucified before the wall, to seewhether the rest of them would be affrighted and abate of theirobstinacy. But after the Jews were retired, John, [38] who was commanderof the Idumeans, and was talking to a certain soldier of hisacquaintance before the wall, was wounded by a dart shot at him by anArabian, and died immediately, leaving the greatest lamentation to theJews, and sorrow to the seditious, for he was a man of great eminence, both for his actions and his conduct also. 

Now, on the next night, a surprising disturbance fell upon the Romans;for whereas Titus had given orders for the erection of three towers offifty cubits high, that, by setting men upon them at every bank, hemight from thence drive those away who were upon the wall, it sohappened that one of these towers fell down about midnight, and as itsfall made a very great noise, fear fell upon the army, and they, supposing that the enemy was coming to attack them, ran all to theirarms. Whereupon a disturbance and a tumult arose among the legions, andas nobody could tell what had happened, they went on after adisconsolate manner; and seeing no enemy appear, they were afraid one ofanother, and every one demanded of his neighbor the watchword with greatearnestness as though the Jews had invaded their camp. And now were theylike people under a panic fear, until Titus was informed of what hadhappened, and gave orders that all should be acquainted with it; andthen, though with some difficulty, they got clear of the disturbancethey had been under. 

Now these towers were very troublesome to the Jews, who otherwiseopposed the Romans very courageously, for they shot at them out of theirlighter engines from those towers, as they did also by those that threwdarts, and the archers, and those that flung stones. For neither couldthe Jews reach those that were over them, by reason of their height;and it was not practicable to take them, nor to overturn them, they wereso heavy, nor to set them on fire, because they were covered with platesof iron. So they retired out of the reach of the darts, and did nolonger endeavor to hinder the impression of their rams, which, bycontinually beating upon the wall, did gradually prevail against it; sothat the wall already gave way to the Nico, for by that name did theJews themselves call the greatest of their engines, because it conqueredall things. And now they were for a long while grown weary of fightingand of keeping guards, and were retired to lodge in the night-time at adistance from the wall. It was on other accounts also thought by them tobe superfluous to guard the wall, there being besides that two otherfortifications still remaining, and they being slothful, and theircounsels having been ill-concerted on all occasions; so a great manygrew lazy and retired. Then the Romans mounted the breach, where Nicohad made one, and all the Jews left the guarding that wall and retreatedto the second wall; so those that had gotten over that wall opened thegates and received all the army within it. And thus did the Romans getpossession of this first wall, on the fifteenth day of the siege, whichwas the seventh day of the month Artemisius (Jyar), when they demolisheda great part of it, as well as they did of the northern parts of thecity, which had been demolished also by Cestius formerly. 

And now Titus pitched his camp within the city, at that place which wascalled "the Camp of the Assyrians, " having seized upon all that lay asfar as Cedron, but took care to be out of the reach of the Jews' darts. He then presently began his attacks, upon which the Jews dividedthemselves into several bodies, and courageously defended that wall, while John[39] and his faction did it from the tower of Antonia, andfrom the northern cloister of the Temple, and fought the Romans beforethe monuments of King Alexander; and Simon's army also took for theirshare the spot of ground that was near John's monument, [40] andfortified it as far as to that gate where water was brought in to thetower Hippicus. However, the Jews made violent sallies, and thatfrequently also, and in bodies together out of the gates, and therefought the Romans; and when they were pursued all together to the wall, they were beaten in those fights, as wanting the skill of the Romans. But when they fought them from the walls they were too hard for them;the Romans being encouraged by their power, joined to their skill, aswere the Jews by their boldness, which was nourished by the fear theywere in, and that hardiness which is natural to our nation undercalamities; they were also encouraged still by the hope of deliverance, as were the Romans by their hopes of subduing them in a little time. 

Nor did either side grow weary; but attacks and fightings upon the wall, and perpetual sallies out in bodies, were there all the day long; norwere there any sort of warlike engagements that were not then put inuse. And the night itself had much ado to part them, when they began tofight in the morning--nay, the night itself was passed without sleep onboth sides, and was more uneasy than the day to them, while the one wasafraid lest the wall should be taken, and the other lest the Jews shouldmake sallies upon their camps; both sides also lay in their armor duringthe night-time, and thereby were ready at the first appearance of lightto go to the battle. Now among the Jews the ambition was who shouldundergo the first dangers, and thereby gratify their commanders. Aboveall, they had a great veneration and dread of Simon; and to that degreewas he regarded by every one of those that were under him, that at hiscommand they were very ready to kill themselves with their own hands. 

What made the Romans so courageous was their usual custom of conqueringand disuse of being defeated, their constant wars, and perpetual warlikeexercises, and the grandeur of their dominion. And what was now theirchief encouragement--Titus, who was present everywhere with themall--for it appeared a terrible thing to grow weary while Cæsar wasthere, and fought bravely as well as they did--was himself at once aneye-witness of such as behaved themselves valiantly, and he was toreward them also. It was, besides, esteemed an advantage at present tohave anyone's valor known by Cæsar; on which account many of themappeared to have more alacrity than strength to answer it. And now, asthe Jews were about this time standing in array before the wall, andthat in a strong body, and while both parties were throwing their dartsat each other, Longinus, one of the equestrian order, leaped out of thearmy of the Romans, and leaped into the very midst of the army of theJews; and as they dispersed themselves upon this attack, he slew two oftheir men of the greatest courage; one of them he struck in his mouth ashe was coming to meet him, the other was slain by him by that very dartwhich he drew out of the body of the other, with which he ran this manthrough his side as he was running away from him; and when he had donethis, he first of all ran out of the midst of his enemies to his ownside. 

So this man signalized himself for his valor, and many there were whowere ambitious of gaining the like reputation. And now the Jews wereunconcerned at what they suffered themselves from the Romans, and wereonly solicitous about what mischief they could do them; and death itselfseemed a small matter to them, if at the same time they could but killany one of their enemies. But Titus took care to secure his own soldiersfrom harm, as well as to have them overcome their enemies. He also saidthat inconsiderate violence was madness, and that this alone was thetrue courage that was joined with good conduct. He therefore commandedhis men to take care, when they fought their enemies, that they receivedno harm from them at the same time, and thereby show themselves to betruly valiant men. 

And now Titus brought one of his engines to the middle tower of thenorth part of the wall, in which a certain crafty Jew, whose name wasCastor, lay in ambush, with ten others like himself, the rest being fledaway by reason of the archers. These men lay still for a while, as ingreat fear, under their breastplates; but when the tower was shaken, they arose, and Castor did then stretch out his hand, as a petitioner, and called for Cæsar, and by his voice moved his compassion, and beggedof him to have mercy upon them; and Titus, in the innocency of hisheart, believing him to be in earnest, and hoping that the Jews did nowrepent, stopped the working of the battering ram, and forbade them toshoot at the petitioners, and bid Castor say what he had a mind to sayto him. He said that he would come down, if he would give him his righthand for his security. 

To which Titus replied that he was well pleased with such his agreeableconduct, and would be well pleased if all the Jews would be of his mind, and that he was ready to give the like security to the city. Now five ofthe ten dissembled with him, and pretended to beg for mercy, while therest cried out aloud that they would never be slaves to the Romans, while it was in their power to die in a state of freedom. Now whilethese men were quarrelling for a long while the attack was delayed;Castor also sent to Simon, and told him that they might take some timefor consultation about what was to be done, because he would elude thepower of the Romans for a considerable time. And at the same time thathe sent thus to him, he appeared openly to exhort those that wereobstinate to accept of Titus' hand for their security; but they seemedvery angry at it, and brandished their naked swords upon thebreastworks, and struck themselves upon their breast, and fell down asif they had been slain. Hereupon Titus, and those with him, were amazedat the courage of the men; and as they were not able to see exactly whatwas done, they admired at their great fortitude and pitied theircalamity. 

During this interval a certain person shot a dart at Castor, and woundedhim in his nose; whereupon he presently pulled out the dart, and showedit to Titus, and complained that this was unfair treatment; so Cæsarreproved him that shot the dart, and sent Josephus, who then stood byhim, to give his right hand to Castor. But Josephus said that he wouldnot go to him, because these pretended petitioners meant nothing thatwas good; he also restrained those friends of his who were zealous to goto him. But still there was one Eneas, a deserter, who said he would goto him. Castor also called to them, that somebody should come andreceive the money which he had with him; this made Eneas the moreearnestly to run to him with his bosom open. Then did Castor take up agreat stone and threw it at him, which missed him, because he guardedhimself against it; but still it wounded another soldier that was comingto him. When Cæsar understood that this was a delusion, he perceivedthat mercy in war is a pernicious thing, because such cunning trickshave less place under the exercise of greater severity. So he caused theengine to work more strongly than before, on account of his anger at thedeceit put upon him. But Castor and his companions set the tower on firewhen it began to give way, and leaped through the flame into a hiddenvault that was under it, which made the Romans further suppose that theywere men of great courage, as having cast themselves into the fire. 

Now Cæsar took this wall there on the fifth day after he had taken thefirst; and when the Jews had fled from him he entered into it with athousand armed men, and those of his choice troops, and this at a placewhere were the merchants of wool, the braziers, and the market forcloth, and where the narrow streets led obliquely to the wall. Wherefore, if Titus had either demolished a larger part of the wallimmediately, or had come in, and, according to the law of war, had laidwaste what was left, his victory would not, I suppose, have been mixedwith any loss to himself. But now, out of the hope he had that he shouldmake the Jews ashamed of their obstinacy by not being willing, when hewas able, to afflict them more than he needed to do, he did not widenthe breach of the wall, in order to make a safer retreat upon occasion, for he did not think they would lay snares for him that did them such akindness. When therefore, he came in, he did not permit his soldiers tokill any of those they caught, nor to set fire to their housesneither--nay, he gave leave to the seditious, if they had a mind, tofight without any harm to the people, and promised to restore thepeople's effects to them, for he was very desirous to preserve the cityfor his own sake, and the Temple for the sake of the city. 

As to the people, he had them of a long time ready to comply with hisproposals; but as to the fighting men, this humanity of his seemed amark of his weakness, and they imagined that he made these proposalsbecause he was not able to take the rest of the city. They alsothreatened death to the people, if they should any one of them say aword about a surrender. They, moreover, cut the throats of such astalked of a peace, and then attacked those Romans that were come withinthe wall. Some of them they met in the narrow streets, and some theyfought against from their houses, while they made a sudden sally out atthe upper gates, and assaulted such Romans as were beyond the wall, tillthose that guarded the wall were so affrighted that they leaped downfrom their towers and retired to their several camps: upon which a greatnoise was made by the Romans that were within, because they wereencompassed round on every side by their enemies; as also by them thatwere without, because they were in fear for those that were left in thecity. Thus did the Jews grow more numerous perpetually, and had greatadvantages over the Romans, by their full knowledge of those narrowlanes; and they wounded a great many of them, and fell upon them, anddrove them out of the city. 

Now these Romans were at present forced to make the best resistance theycould, for they were not able, in great numbers, to get out at thebreach in the wall, it was so narrow. It is also probable that all thosethat were gotten within had been cut to pieces, if Titus had not sentthem succors, for he ordered the archers to stand at the upper ends ofthese narrow lanes, and he stood himself where was the greatestmultitude of his enemies, and with his darts he put a stop to them; aswith him did Domitius Sabinus also, a valiant man, and one that in thisbattle appeared so to be. Thus did Cæsar continue to shoot darts at theJews continually and to hinder them from coming upon his men, and thisuntil all his soldiers had retreated out of the city. 

And thus were the Romans driven out, after they had possessed themselvesof the second wall. Whereupon the fighting men that were in the citywere lifted up in their minds and were elevated upon this their goodsuccess, and began to think that the Romans would never venture to comeinto the city any more; and that if they kept within it themselves theyshould not be any more conquered, for God had blinded their minds forthe transgressions they had been guilty of, nor could they see how muchgreater forces the Romans had than those that were now expelled, no morethan they could discern how a famine was creeping upon them, forhitherto they had fed themselves out of the public miseries and drankthe blood of the city. But now poverty had for a long time seized uponthe better part, and a great many had died already for want ofnecessaries, although the seditious indeed supposed the destruction ofthe people to be an easement to themselves, for they desired that noneothers might be preserved but such as were against a peace with theRomans, and were resolved to live in opposition to them, and they werepleased when the multitude of those of a contrary opinion were consumed, as being then freed from a heavy burden. And this was their dispositionof mind with regard to those that were within the city, while theycovered themselves with their armor, and prevented the Romans, when theywere trying to get into the city again, and made a wall of their ownbodies over against that part of the wall that was cast down. 

Thus did they valiantly defend themselves for three days; but on thefourth day they could not support themselves against the vehementassaults of Titus, but were compelled by force to fly whither they hadfled before; so he quietly possessed himself again of that wall anddemolished it entirely. And when he had put a garrison into the towersthat were on the south parts of the city, he contrived how he mightassault the third wall. 

A resolution was now taken by Titus to relax the siege for a littlewhile, and to afford the seditious an interval for consideration, and tosee whether the demolishing of their second wall would not make them alittle more compliant, or whether they were not somewhat afraid of afamine, because the spoils they had gotten by rapine would not besufficient for them long; so he made use of this relaxation in order tocompass his own designs. Accordingly, as the usual appointed time whenhe must distribute subsistence money to the soldiers was now come, hegave orders that the commanders should put the army into battle array, in the face of the enemy, and then give every one of the soldiers hispay. 

The Romans spent four days in bringing this subsistence money to theseveral legions. But on the fifth day, when no signs of peace appearedto come from the Jews, Titus divided his legions and began to raisebanks, both at the tower of Antonia and at John's monument. Now hisdesigns were to take the upper city at that monument, and the Temple atthe tower of Antonia, for if the Temple were not taken, it would bedangerous to keep the city itself; so at each of these parts he raisedhim banks, each legion raising one. As for those that wrought at John'smonument, the Idumeans, and those that were in arms with Simon, madesallies upon them, and put some stop to them; while John's party, andthe multitude of Zealots with them, did the like to those that werebefore the tower of Antonia. 

These Jews were now too hard for the Romans, not only in directfighting, because they stood upon the higher ground, but because theyhad now learned to use their own engines, for their continual use ofthem one day after another did by degrees improve their skill aboutthem, for of one sort of engines for darts they had three hundred, andforty for stones; by the means of which they made it more tedious forthe Romans to raise their banks. But then Titus, knowing that the citywould be either saved or destroyed for himself, did not only proceedearnestly in the siege, but did not omit to have the Jews exhorted torepentance; so he mixed good counsel with his works for the siege. Andbeing sensible that exhortations are frequently more effectual thanarms, he persuaded them to surrender the city, now in a manner alreadytaken, and thereby to save themselves, and sent Josephus to speak tothem in their own language, for he imagined they might yield to thepersuasion of a countryman of their own. 

As Josephus was speaking thus with a loud voice, the seditious wouldneither yield to what he said, nor did they deem it safe for them toalter their conduct; but as for the people, they had a great inclinationto desert to the Romans. Accordingly, some of them sold what they had, and even the most precious things that had been laid up as treasures bythem, for a very small matter, and swallowed down pieces of gold, thatthey might not be found out by the robbers; and when they had escaped tothe Romans, went to stool, and had wherewithal to provide plentifullyfor themselves, for Titus let a great number of them go away into thecountry, whither they pleased. And the main reasons why they were soready to desert were these: That now they should be freed from thosemiseries which they had endured in that city, and yet should not be inslavery to the Romans. However John and Simon, with their factions, didmore carefully watch these men's going out than they did the coming inof the Romans; and if any one did but afford the least shadow ofsuspicion of such an intention, his throat was cut immediately. 

But as for the richer sort, it proved all one to them whether theystayed in the city or attempted to get out of it, for they were equallydestroyed in both cases, for every such person was put to death underthis pretence, that they were going to desert, but in reality that therobbers might get what they had. The madness of the seditious did alsoincrease together with their famine, and both those miseries were everyday inflamed more and more, for there was no corn which anywhereappeared publicly, but the robbers came running into and searched men'sprivate houses; and then, if they found any, they tormented them, because they had denied they had any; and if they found none, theytormented them worse, because they supposed they had more carefullyconcealed it. The indication they made use of whether they had any ornot was taken from the bodies of these miserable wretches, which, ifthey were in good case, they supposed they were in no want at all offood; but if they were wasted away, they walked off without searchingany further; nor did they think it proper to kill such as these, becausethey saw they would very soon die of themselves for want of food. Manythere were indeed who sold what they had for one measure. It was ofwheat, if they were of the richer sort; but of barley, if they werepoorer. When these had so done, they shut themselves up in the inmostrooms of their houses, and ate the corn they had gotten. Some did itwithout grinding it, by reason of the extremity of the want they werein, and others baked bread of it, according as necessity and feardictated to them. A table was nowhere laid for a distinct meal, but theysnatched the bread out of the fire, half-baked, and ate it very hastily. 

It was now a miserable case, and a sight that would justly bring tearsinto our eyes, how men stood as to their food, while the more powerfulhad more than enough, and the weaker were lamenting [for want of it]. But the famine was too hard for all other passions, and it isdestructive to nothing so much as to modesty, for what was otherwiseworthy of reverence was in this case despised; insomuch that childrenpulled the very morsels that their fathers were eating out of their verymouths, and what was still more to be pitied, so did the mothers do asto their infants; and when those that were most dear were perishingunder their hands, they were not ashamed to take from them the very lastdrops that might preserve their lives; and while they ate after thismanner, yet were they not concealed in so doing; but the seditiouseverywhere came upon them immediately and snatched away from them whatthey had gotten from others, for when they saw any house shut up thiswas to them a signal that the people within had gotten some food;whereupon they broke open the doors and ran in and took pieces of whatthey were eating almost up out of their very throats, and this by force;the old men who held their food fast were beaten; and if the women hidwhat they had within their hands, their hair was torn for so doing; norwas there any commiseration shown either to the aged or to the infants, but they lifted up children from the ground as they hung upon themorsels they had gotten and shook them down upon the floor. But stillthey were more barbarously cruel to those that had prevented theircoming in, and had actually swallowed down what they were going to seizeupon, as if they had been unjustly defrauded of their right. 

They also invented terrible methods of torments to discover where anyfood was, and they were these: to stop up the passages of the privyparts of the miserable wretches, and to drive sharp stakes up theirfundaments; and a man was forced to bear what it is terrible even tohear, in order to make him confess that he had but one loaf of bread, orthat he might discover a handful of barley meal that was concealed; andthis was done when these tormentors were not themselves hungry, for thething had been less barbarous had necessity forced them to it; but thiswas done to keep their madness in exercise, and as making preparation ofprovisions for themselves for the following days. These men went also tomeet those that had crept out of the city by night, as far as the Romanguards, to gather some plants and herbs that grew wild; and when thosepeople thought they had got clear of the enemy, they snatched from themwhat they had brought with them, even while they had frequentlyentreated them, and that by calling upon the tremendous name of God, togive them back some part of what they had brought, though these wouldnot give them the least crumb, and they were to be well contented thatthey were only spoiled and not slain at the same time. 

It is impossible to go distinctly over every instance of these men'siniquity. I shall therefore speak my mind here at once briefly: Thatneither did any other city ever suffer such miseries, nor did any ageever breed a generation more fruitful in wickedness than this was, fromthe beginning of the world. Finally, they brought the Hebrew nation intocontempt, that they might themselves appear comparatively less impiouswith regard to strangers. They confessed what was true, that they werethe slaves, the scum, and the spurious and abortive offspring of ournation, while they overthrew the city themselves, and forced the Romans, whether they would or no, to gain a melancholy reputation, by actinggloriously against them, and did almost draw that fire upon the Templewhich they seemed to think came too slowly; and indeed when they sawthat Temple burning from the upper city, they were neither troubled atit nor did they shed any tears on that account, while yet these passionswere discovered among the Romans themselves. 

So now Titus' banks were advanced a great way, notwithstanding hissoldiers had been very much distressed from the wall. He then sent aparty of horsemen and ordered they should lay ambushes for those thatwent out into the valleys to gather food. Some of these were indeedfighting men, who were not contented with what they got by rapine; butthe greater part of them were poor people, who were deterred fromdeserting by the concern they were under for their own relations, forthey could not hope to escape away, together with their wives andchildren, without the knowledge of the seditious; nor could they thinkof leaving these relations to be slain by the robbers on their account;nay, the severity of the famine made them bold in thus going out; sonothing remained but that, when they were concealed from the robbers, they should be taken by the enemy; and when they were going to be takenthey were forced to defend themselves for fear of being punished; asafter they had fought they thought it too late to make any supplicationsfor mercy; so they were first whipped and then tormented with all sortsof tortures before they died, and were then crucified before the wall ofthe city. This miserable procedure made Titus greatly to pity them, while they caught every day five hundred Jews; nay, some days theycaught more; yet it did not appear to be safe for him to let those thatwere taken by force go their way, and to set a guard over so many he sawwould be to make such as guarded them useless to him. The main reasonwhy he did not forbid that cruelty was this: that he hoped the Jewsmight perhaps yield at that sight, out of fear lest they mightthemselves afterward be liable to the same cruel treatment. So thesoldiers, out of the wrath and hatred they bore the Jews, nailed thosethey caught, one after one way, and another after another, to thecrosses, by way of jest, when their multitude was so great that room waswanting for the crosses, and crosses wanting for the bodies. 

But so far were the seditious from repenting at this sad sight that, onthe contrary, they made the rest of the multitude believe otherwise, forthey brought the relations of those that had deserted upon the wall, with such of the populace as were very eager to go over upon thesecurity offered them, and showed them what miseries those underwent whofled to the Romans; and told them that those who were caught weresupplicants to them, and not such as were taken prisoners. This sightkept many of those within the city who were so eager to desert, till thetruth was known; yet did some of them run away immediately as untocertain punishment, esteeming death from their enemies to be a quietdeparture, if compared with that by famine. So Titus commanded that thehands of many of those that were caught should be cut off, that theymight not be thought deserters, and might be credited on account of thecalamity they were under, and sent them in to John and Simon, with thisexhortation, that they would now at length leave off (their madness), and not force him to destroy the city, whereby they would have thoseadvantages of repentance, even in their utmost distress, that they wouldpreserve their own lives, and so find a city of their own, and thatTemple which was their peculiar. He then went round about the banksthat were cast up, and hastened them, in order to show that his wordsshould in no long time be followed by his deeds. In answer to which theseditious cast reproaches upon Cæsar himself, and upon his father also, and cried out, with a loud voice, that they contemned death, and didwell in preferring it before slavery; that they would do all themischief to the Romans they could while they had breath in them; andthat for their own city, since they were, as he said, to be destroyed, they had no concern about it, and that the world itself was a bettertemple to God than this. That yet this Temple would be preserved by Himthat inhabited therein, whom they still had for their assistant in thiswar, and did therefore laugh at all his threatenings, which would cometo nothing, because the conclusion of the whole depended upon God only. These words were mixed with reproaches, and with them they made a mightyclamor. 

In the mean time Antiochus Epiphanes came to the city, having with him aconsiderable number of other armed men, and a band called the Macedonianband about him, all of the same age, tall, and just past theirchildhood, armed, and instructed after the Macedonian manner, whence itwas that they took that name. Antiochus with his Macedonians made asudden assault upon the wall; and, indeed, for his own part, hisstrength and skill were so great that he guarded himself from the Jewishdarts, and yet shot his darts at them, while yet the young men with himwere almost all sorely galled, for they had so great a regard to thepromises that had been made of their courage, that they would needspersevere in their fighting, and at length many of them retired, but nottill they were wounded; and then they perceived that true Macedonians, if they were to be conquerors, must have Alexander's good fortune also. 

Now as the Romans began to raise their banks on the twelfth day of themonth Artemisius [Jyar], so had they much ado to finish them by thetwenty-ninth day of the same month, after they had labored hard forseventeen days continually, for there were now four great banks raised, one of which was at the tower Antonia. This was raised by the Fifthlegion, over against the middle of that pool which was called Struthius. Another was cast up by the Twelfth legion at the distance of abouttwenty cubits from the other. But the labors of the Tenth legion, whichlay a great way off these, were on the north quarter, and at the poolcalled Amygdalon; as was that of the Fifteenth legion about thirtycubits from it, and at the high-priest's monument. And now, when theengines were brought, John had from within undermined the space that wasover against the tower of Antonia, as far as the banks themselves, andhad supported the ground over the mine with beams laid across oneanother, whereby the Roman works stood upon an uncertain foundation. 

Then did he order such materials to be brought in as were daubed overwith pitch and bitumen, and set them on fire; and as the cross-beamsthat supported the banks were burning, the ditch yielded on the sudden, and the banks were shaken down, and fell into the ditch with aprodigious noise. Now at the first, there arose a very thick smoke anddust, as the fire was choked with the fall of the bank; but as thesuffocated materials were now gradually consumed, a plain flame brakeout; on which sudden appearance of the flame a consternation fell uponthe Romans, and the shrewdness of the contrivance discouraged them; andindeed this accident coming upon them at a time when they thought theyhad already gained their point, cooled their hopes for the time to come. They also thought it would be to no purpose to take the pains toextinguish the fire, since if it were extinguished the banks wereswallowed up already [and become useless to them]. 

Two days after this Simon and his party made an attempt to destroy theother banks, for the Romans had brought their engines to bear there, andbegan already to make the wall shake. And here one Tephtheus, of Garsis, a city of Galilee, and Megassarus, one who was derived from some ofQueen Mariamne's servants, and with them one from Adiabene, he was theson of Nabateus, and called by the name of Chagiras, from theill-fortune he had, the word signifying "a lame man, " snatched sometorches and ran suddenly upon the engines. Nor were there during thiswar any men that ever sallied out of the city who were their superiors, either in their boldness or in the terror they struck into theirenemies, for they ran out upon the Romans, not as if they were enemies, but friends, without fear or delay; nor did they leave their enemiestill they had rushed violently through the midst of them, and set theirmachines on fire. And though they had darts thrown at them on every sideand were on every side assaulted with their enemies' swords, yet didthey not withdraw themselves out of the dangers they were in till thefire had caught hold of the instruments; but when the flame went up theRomans came running from their camp to save their engines. 

Then did the Jews hinder their succors from the wall, and fought withthose that endeavored to quench the fire, without any regard to thedanger their bodies were in. So the Romans pulled the engines out of thefire, while the hurdles that covered them were on fire; but the Jewscaught hold of the battering rams through the flame itself and held themfast, although the iron upon them was become red hot; and now the firespread itself from the engines to the banks, and prevented those thatcame to defend them; and all this while the Romans were encompassedround about with the flame; and, despairing of saving their works fromit, they retired to their camp. Then did the Jews become still more andmore in number by the coming of those that were within the city to theirassistance; and as they were very bold upon the good success they hadhad, their violent assaults were almost irresistible--nay, theyproceeded as far as the fortifications of the enemies' camp, and foughtwith their guards. 

Now there stood a body of soldiers in array before that camp, whichsucceeded one another by turns in their armor; and as to those, the lawof the Romans was terrible, that he who left his post there, let theoccasion be whatsoever it might be, he was to die for it; so that bodyof soldiers, preferring rather to die in fighting courageously than as apunishment for their cowardice, stood firm; and at the necessity thesemen were in of standing to it, many of the others that had run away, outof shame, turned back again; and when they had set the engines againstthe wall they put the multitude from coming more of them out of the city(which they could the more easily do) because they had made no provisionfor preserving or guarding their bodies at this time; for the Jewsfought now hand-to-hand with all that came in their way, and, withoutany caution, fell against the points of their enemies' spears, andattacked them bodies against bodies, for they were now too hard for theRomans, not so much by their other warlike actions, as by thesecourageous assaults they made upon them; and the Romans gave way more totheir boldness than they did to the sense of the harm they had receivedfrom them. 

And now Titus was come from the tower of Antonia, whither he was gone tolook out for a place for raising other banks, and reproached thesoldiers greatly for permitting their own walls to be in danger, whenthey had taken the walls of their enemies, and sustained the fortune ofmen besieged, while the Jews were allowed to sally out against them, though they were already in a sort of prison. He then went round aboutthe enemy with some chosen troops and fell upon their flank himself; sothe Jews, who had been before assaulted in their faces, wheeled about toTitus and continued the fight. 

The armies also were now mixed one among another, and the dust that wasraised so far hindered them from seeing one another, and the noise thatwas made so far hindered them from hearing one another, that neitherside could discern an enemy from a friend. However, the Jews did notflinch, though not so much from their real strength as from theirdespair of deliverance. The Romans also would not yield, by reason ofthe regard they had to glory and to their reputation in war, and becauseCæsar himself went into the danger before them; insomuch that I cannotbut think the Romans would in the conclusion have now taken even thewhole multitude of the Jews, so very angry were they at them, had thesenot prevented the upshot of the battle, and retired into the city. However, seeing the banks of the Romans were demolished, these Romanswere very much cast down upon the loss of what had cost them so longpains, and this in one hour's time. And many indeed despaired of takingthe city with their usual engines of war only. 

And now did Titus consult with his commanders what was to be done. Thosethat were of the warmest tempers thought he should bring the whole armyagainst the city and storm the wall. The opinion of Titus was, that ifthey aimed at quickness joined with security they must build a wallround about the whole city, and he gave orders that the army should bedistributed to their several shares of this work. Titus began the wallfrom the camp of the Assyrians, where his own camp was pitched, and drewit down to the lower parts of Cenopolis; thence it went along the valleyof Cedron to the Mount of Olives; it then bent toward the south, andencompassed the mountain as far as the rock called Peristereon, and thatother hill which lies next it, and is over the valley which reaches toSiloam; whence it bended again to the west, and went down to the valleyof the Fountain, beyond which it went up again at the monument ofAnanus, the high-priest, and encompassing that mountain where Pompey hadformerly pitched his camp, it returned back to the north side of thecity, and was carried on as far as a certain village called "The Houseof the Erebinthi"; after which it encompassed Herod's monument, andthere, on the east, was joined to Titus' own camp, where it began. 

Now the length of this wall was forty furlongs, one only abated. Now atthis wall without were erected thirteen places to keep garrison in, whose circumferences, put together, amounted to ten furlongs; the wholewas completed in three days; so that what would naturally have requiredsome months was done in so short an interval as is incredible. WhenTitus had therefore encompassed the city with this wall and putgarrisons into proper places, he went round the wall, at the first watchof the night, and observed how the guard was kept; the second watch heallotted to Alexander; the commanders of legions took the third watch. They also cast lots among themselves who should be upon the watch in thenight-time, and who should go all night long round the spaces that wereinterposed between the garrisons. 

So all hope of escaping was now cut off from the Jews, together withtheir liberty of going out of the city. Then did the famine widen itsprogress and devoured the people by whole houses and families; the upperrooms were full of women and children that were dying by famine, and thelanes of the city were full of the dead bodies of the aged; the childrenalso and the young men wandered about the market-places like shadows, all swelled with the famine, and fell down dead, wheresoever theirmisery seized them. As for burying them, those that were sick themselveswere not able to do it; and those that were hearty and well weredeterred from doing it by the great multitude of those dead bodies, andby the uncertainty there was how soon they should die themselves, formany died as they were burying others, and many went to their coffinsbefore that fatal hour was come. Nor was there any lamentations madeunder these calamities, nor were heard any mournful complaints; but thefamine confounded all natural passions, for those who were just going todie looked upon those that were gone to rest before them with dry eyesand open mouths. 

A deep silence also, and a kind of deadly night, had seized upon thecity; while yet the robbers were still more terrible than these miserieswere themselves, for they brake open those houses which were no otherthan graves of dead bodies, and plundered them of what they had; andcarrying off the coverings of their bodies went out laughing, and triedthe points of their swords in their dead bodies; and, in order to provewhat metal they were made of, they thrust some of those through thatstill lay alive upon the ground; but for those that entreated them tolend them their right hand and their sword to despatch them, they weretoo proud to grant their requests, and left them to be consumed by thefamine. Now every one of these died with their eyes fixed upon theTemple, and left the seditious alive behind them. Now the seditious atfirst gave orders that the dead should be buried out of the publictreasury, as not enduring the stench of their dead bodies. Butafterward, when they could not do that, they had them cast down from thewalls into the valleys beneath. 

However, when Titus, in going his rounds along those valleys, saw themfull of dead bodies, and the thick putrefaction running about them, hegave a groan; and, spreading out his hands to heaven, called God towitness that this was not his doing; and such was the sad case of thecity itself. But the Romans were very joyful, since none of theseditious could now make sallies out of the city, because they werethemselves disconsolate, and the famine already touched them also. TheseRomans besides had great plenty of corn and other necessaries out ofSyria and out of the neighboring provinces; many of whom would standnear to the wall of the city and show the people what great quantitiesof provisions they had and so make the enemy more sensible of theirfamine, by the great plenty, even to satiety, which they had themselves. 

In the mean time Josephus, as he was going round the city, had his headwounded by a stone that was thrown at him; upon which he fell down asgiddy. Josephus soon recovered of his wound and came out and cried outaloud, that it would not be long ere they should be punished for thiswound they had given him. He also made a fresh exhortation to the peopleto come out upon the security that would be given them. This sight ofJosephus encouraged the people greatly and brought a great consternationupon the seditious. 

Hereupon some of the deserters, having no other way, leaped down fromthe wall immediately, while others of them went out of the city withstones, as if they would fight them; but thereupon they fled away to theRomans. But here a worse fate accompanied these than what they had foundwithin the city; and they met with a quicker despatch from the too greatabundance they had among the Romans than they could have done from thefamine among the Jews, for when they came first to the Romans they werepuffed up by the famine and swelled like men in a dropsy; after whichthey all on the sudden overfilled those bodies that were before empty, and so burst asunder, excepting such only as were skilful enough torestrain their appetites, and by degrees took in their food into bodiesunaccustomed thereto. 

Yet did another plague seize upon those that were thus preserved, forthere was found among the Syrian deserters a certain person who wascaught gathering pieces of gold out of the excrements of the Jews'bellies, for the deserters used to swallow such pieces of gold, as wetold you before, when they came out, and for these did the seditioussearch them all; for there was a great quantity of gold in the city, insomuch that as much was now sold [in the Roman camp] for twelve Attic[drachmas] as was sold before for twenty-five. But when this contrivancewas discovered in one instance, the fame of it filled their severalcamps, that the deserters came to them full of gold. So the multitudeof the Arabians, with the Syrians, cut up those that came assupplicants, and searched their bellies. Nor does it seem to me that anymisery befell the Jews that was more terrible than this, since in onenight's time about two thousand of these deserters were thus dissected. 

When Titus came to the knowledge of this wicked practice, he threatenedthat he would put such men to death if any of them were discovered to beso insolent as to do so again. Moreover, he gave it in charge to thelegions, that they should make a search after such as were suspected, and should bring them to him. But it appeared that the love of money wastoo great for all their dread of punishment, and a vehement desire ofgain is natural to men, and no passion is so venturesome ascovetousness. Otherwise such passions have certain bounds and aresubordinate to fear. But in reality it was God who condemned the wholenation and turned every course that was taken for their preservation totheir destruction. This, therefore, which was forbidden by Cæsar undersuch a threatening, was ventured upon privately against the deserters, and these barbarians would go out still and meet those that ran awaybefore any saw them, and looking about them to see that no Roman spiedthem, they dissected them and pulled this polluted money out of theirbowels, which money was still found in a few of them, while yet a greatmany were destroyed by the bare hope there was of thus getting by them, which miserable treatment made many that were deserting to return backagain into the city. 

And, indeed, why do I relate these particular calamities? while Manneus, the son of Lazarus, came running to Titus at this very time and told himthat there had been carried out through that one gate, which wasintrusted to his care, no fewer than a hundred and fifteen thousandeight hundred and eighty dead bodies in the interval between thefourteenth day of the month Xanthicus (Nisan), when the Romans pitchedtheir camp by the city, and the first day of the month Panemus (Tamuz). This was itself a prodigious multitude; and though this man was nothimself set as a governor at that gate, yet was he appointed to pay thepublic stipend for carrying these bodies out, and so was obliged ofnecessity to number them, while the rest were buried by theirrelations, though all their burial was but this, to bring them away andcast them out of the city. 

After this man there ran away to Titus many of the eminent citizens andtold him the entire number of the poor that were dead, and that no fewerthan six hundred thousand were thrown out at the gates, though still thenumber of the rest could not be discovered; and they told him furtherthat when they were no longer able to carry out the dead bodies of thepoor they laid their corpses on heaps in very large houses and shut themup therein; as also that a medimno of wheat was sold for a talent; andthat when, a while afterward, it was not possible to gather herbs, byreason the city was all walled about, some persons were driven to thatterrible distress as to search the common sewers and old dunghills ofcattle, and to eat the dung which they got there, and what they of oldcould not endure so much as to see they now used for food. When theRomans barely heard all this they commiserated their case; while theseditious, who saw it also, did not repent, but suffered the samedistress to come upon themselves, for they were blinded by that fatewhich was already coming upon the city, and upon themselves also. 

And now the Romans, although they were greatly distressed in gettingtogether their materials, raised their banks in one-and-twenty days, after they had cut down all the trees that were in the country thatadjoined to the city, and that for ninety furlongs round about. And whenthe banks were finished, they afforded a foundation for fear both to theRomans and to the Jews, for the Jews expected that the city would betaken unless they could burn those banks, as did the Romans expect that, if these were once burned down they should never be able to take it, forthere was a mighty scarcity of materials, and the bodies of the soldiersbegan to fail with such hard labors, as did their souls faint with somany instances of ill-success. 

The Romans had an advantage, in that their engines for sieges coöperatedwith them in throwing darts and stones as far as the Jews, when theywere coming out of the city; whereby the man that fell became animpediment to him that was next to him, as did the danger of goingfarther make them less zealous in their attempts; and for those that hadrun under the darts some of them were terrified by the good order andcloseness of the enemies' ranks before they came to a close fight, andothers were pricked with their spears and turned back again. At lengththey reproached one another for their cowardice, and retired withoutdoing anything. This attack was made upon the first day of the monthPanemus (Tamuz). 

So when the Jews were retreated the Romans brought their engines, although they had all the while stones thrown at them from the tower ofAntonia, and were assaulted by fire and sword, and by all sorts ofdarts, which necessity afforded the Jews to make use of, for althoughthese had great dependence on their own wall, and a contempt of theRoman engines, yet did they endeavor to hinder the Romans from bringingthem. Now these Romans struggled hard, on the contrary, to bring them, as deeming that this zeal of the Jews was in order to avoid anyimpression to be made on the tower of Antonia, because its wall was butweak and its foundations rotten. However, that tower did not yield tothe blows given it from the engines; yet did the Romans bear theimpressions made by the enemies' darts which were perpetually cast atthem, and did not give way to any of those dangers that came upon themfrom above, and so they brought their engines to bear. But then, as theywere beneath the other, and were sadly wounded by the stones thrown downupon them, some of them threw their shields over their bodies, andpartly with their hands and partly with their bodies and partly withcrows they undermined its foundations, and with great pains they removedfour of its stones. Then night came upon both sides, and put an end tothis struggle for the present. However, that night the wall was soshaken by the battering rams in that place where John had used hisstratagem before, and had undermined their banks, that the ground thengave way and the wall fell down suddenly. 

When this accident had unexpectedly happened, the minds of both partieswere variously affected, for though one would expect that the Jews wouldbe discouraged, because this fall of their wall was unexpected by them, and they had made no provision in that case, yet did they pull up theircourage, because the tower of Antonia itself was still standing; as wasthe unexpected joy of the Romans at this fall of the wall soon quenchedby the sight they had of another wall, which John and his party hadbuilt within it. 

Upon the fifth day of the month Panemus (Tamuz), twelve of those menthat were on the forefront and kept watch upon the banks got togetherand called to them the standard-bearer of the Fifth legion, and twoothers of a troop of horsemen, and one trumpeter; these went withoutnoise, about the ninth hour of the night, through the ruins, to thetower of Antonia; and when they had cut the throats of the first guardsof the place, as they were asleep, they got possession of the wall andordered the trumpeter to sound his trumpet. Upon which the rest of theguard got up on the sudden and ran away before anybody could see howmany they were that were gotten up, for partly from the fear they werein and partly from the sound of the trumpet which they heard theyimagined a great number of the enemy were gotten up. But as soon asCæsar heard the signal he ordered the army to put on their armorimmediately, and came thither with his commanders, and first of allascended, as did the chosen men that were with him. And as the Jews wereflying away to the Temple they fell into that mine which John had dugunder the Roman banks. Then did the seditious of both the bodies of theJewish army, as well that belonging to John as that belonging to Simon, drive them away; and indeed were no way wanting as to the highest degreeof force and alacrity; for they esteemed themselves entirely ruined ifonce the Romans got into the Temple, as did the Romans look upon thesame thing as the beginning of their entire conquest. 

So a terrible battle was fought at the entrance of the Temple, while theRomans were forcing their way, in order to get possession of thatTemple, and the Jews were driving them back to the tower of Antonia; inwhich battle the darts were on both sides useless, as well as thespears, and both sides drew their swords and fought it out hand-to-hand. Now during this struggle the positions of the men were undistinguishedon both sides, and they fought at random, the men being intermixed onewith another and confounded, by reason of the narrowness of the place;while the noise that was made fell on the ear after an indistinctmanner, because it was so very loud. Great slaughter was now made onboth sides, and the combatants trod upon the bodies and the armor ofthose that were dead, and dashed them to pieces. Accordingly, to whichside soever the battle inclined, those that had the advantage exhortedone another to go on, as did those that were beaten make greatlamentation. But still there was no room for flight nor for pursuit, butdisorderly revolutions and retreats, while the armies were intermixedone with another; but those that were in the first ranks were under thenecessity of killing or being killed, without any way for escaping, forthose on both sides that came behind forced those before them to go on, without leaving any space between the armies. 

At length the Jews' violent zeal was too hard for the Romans' skill, andthe battle already inclined entirely that way; for the fight had lastedfrom the ninth hour of the night till the seventh hour of the day, whilethe Jews came on in crowds, and had the danger the Temple was in fortheir motive; the Romans having no more here than a part of their army, for those legions, on which the soldiers on that side depended, were notcome up to them. So it was at present thought sufficient by the Romansto take possession of the tower of Antonia. 

In the mean time the rest of the Roman army had, in seven days' time, overthrown [some] foundations of the tower of Antonia, and had made aready and broad way to the Temple. Then did the legions come near thefirst court and began to raise their banks. The one bank was overagainst the northwest corner of the inner temple; another was at thatnorthern edifice which was between the two gates; and of the other two, one was at the western cloister of the outer court of the Temple; theother against its northern cloister. However these works were thus faradvanced by the Romans, not without great pains and difficulty, andparticularly by being obliged to bring their materials from the distanceof a hundred furlongs. 

They had further difficulties also upon them; sometimes by theirover-great security they were in that they should overcome the Jewishsnares laid for them, and by that boldness of the Jews which theirdespair of escaping had inspired them withal. 

In the mean time the Jews were so distressed by the fights they had beenin, as the war advanced higher and higher, and creeping up to the holyhouse itself, that they, as it were, cut off those limbs of their bodywhich were infected, in order to prevent the distemper's spreadingfurther, for they set the northwest cloister, which was joined to thetower of Antonia, on fire, and after that brake off about twenty cubitsof that cloister, and thereby made a beginning in burning the sanctuary;two days after which, or on the twenty-fourth day of the forenamed month[Panemus or Tamuz], the Romans set fire to the cloister that joined tothe other, when the fire went fifteen cubits farther. The Jews, in likemanner, cut off its roof; nor did they entirely leave off what they wereabout till the tower of Antonia was parted from the Temple, even when itwas in their power to have stopped the fire--nay, they lay still whilethe Temple was first set on fire, and deemed this spreading of the fireto be for their own advantage. However, the armies were still fightingone against another about the Temple, and the war was managed bycontinual sallies of particular parties against one another. 

Now of those that perished by famine in the city the number wasprodigious, and the miseries they underwent were unspeakable, for if somuch as the shadow of any kind of food did anywhere appear a war wascommenced presently, and the dearest friends fell a-fighting one withanother about it, snatching from each other the most miserable supportsof life. Nor would men believe that those who were dying had no food, but the robbers would search them when they were expiring, lest anyoneshould have concealed food in his bosom and counterfeited dying; nay, these robbers gaped for want, and ran about stumbling and staggeringalong like mad dogs, and reeling against the doors of the houses likedrunken men; they would also, in the great distress they were in, rushinto the very same houses two or three times in one and the same day. Moreover, their hunger was so intolerable that it obliged them to cheweverything, while they gathered such things as the most sordid animalswould not touch, and endured to eat them; nor did they at lengthabstain from girdles and shoes; and the very leather which belonged totheir shields they pulled off and gnawed; the very wisps of old haybecame food to some; and some gathered up fibres and sold a very smallweight of them for four Attic [drachmas]. 

But why do I describe the shameless impudence that the famine brought onmen in their eating inanimate things, while I am going to relate amatter of fact, the like to which no history relates, either among theGreeks or barbarians? It is horrible to speak of it and incredible whenheard. I had indeed willingly omitted this calamity of ours, that Imight not seem to deliver what is so portentous to posterity, but that Ihave innumerable witnesses to it in my own age; and besides, my countrywould have had little reason to thank me for suppressing the miseriesthat she underwent at this time. 

There was a certain woman that dwelt beyond Jordan, her name was Mary;her father was Eleazar, of the village Bethezob, which signifies "theHouse of Hyssop. " She was eminent for her family and her wealth, and hadfled away to Jerusalem with the rest of the multitude, and was with thembesieged therein at this time. The other effects of this woman had beenalready seized upon, such I mean as she had brought with her out ofPerea, and removed to the city. What she had treasured up besides, asalso what food she had contrived to save, had been also carried off bythe rapacious guards, who came every day running into her house for thatpurpose. This put the poor woman into a very great passion, and by thefrequent reproaches and imprecations she cast at these rapaciousvillains she had provoked them to anger against her; but none of them, either out of the indignation she had raised against herself, or out ofcommiseration of her case, would take away her life; and if she foundany food, she perceived her labors were for others, and not for herself;and it was now become impossible for her any way to find any more food, while the famine pierced through her very bowels and marrow, when alsoher passion was fired to a degree beyond the famine itself; nor did sheconsult with anything but with her passion and the necessity she was in. She then attempted a most unnatural thing; and snatching up her son, whowas a child sucking at her breast, she said: "O thou miserable infant!for whom shall I preserve thee in this war, this famine, and thissedition? As to the war with the Romans, if they preserve our lives wemust be slaves. This famine also will destroy us even before thatslavery comes upon us. Yet are these seditious rogues more terrible thanboth the other. Come on: be thou my food, and be thou a fury to theseseditious varlets, and a by-word to the world, which is all that is nowwanting to complete the calamities of us Jews. "

As soon as she had said this she slew her son, and then roasted him, andeat the one half of him, and kept the other half by her concealed. Uponthis the seditious came in presently, and smelling the horrid scent ofthis food, they threatened her that they would cut her throatimmediately if she did not show them what food she had gotten ready. Shereplied that she had saved a very fine portion of it for them, andwithal uncovered what was left of her son. Hereupon they were seizedwith a horror and amazement of mind, and stood astonished at the sight, when she said to them: "This is mine own son, and what hath been donewas mine own doing! Come, eat of this food, for I have eaten of itmyself! Do not you pretend to be either more tender than a woman or morecompassionate than a mother; but if you be so scrupulous and doabominate this my sacrifice, as I have eaten the one half, let the restbe reserved for me also. " After which those men went out trembling, being never so much affrighted at anything as they were at this, andwith some difficulty they left the rest of that meat to the mother. Uponwhich the whole city was full of this horrid action immediately; andwhile everybody laid this miserable case before their own eyes, theytrembled, as if this unheard-of action had been done by themselves. Sothose that were thus distressed by the famine were very desirous to die, and those already dead were esteemed happy, because they had not livedlong enough either to hear or to see such miseries. 

This sad instance was quickly told to the Romans, some of whom could notbelieve it, and others pitied the distress which the Jews were under;but there were many of them who were hereby induced to a more bitterhatred than ordinary against our nation. But for Cæsar, he excusedhimself before God as to this matter, and said that he had proposedpeace and liberty to the Jews, as well as an oblivion of all theirformer insolent practices; but that they, instead of concord, had chosensedition; instead of peace, war; and before satiety and abundance, afamine. That they had begun with their own hands to burn down thatTemple which we have preserved hitherto, and that therefore theydeserved to eat such food as this was. That, however, this horrid actionof eating an own child ought to be covered with the overthrow of theirvery country itself, and men ought not to leave such a city upon thehabitable earth to be seen by the sun wherein mothers are thus fed, although such food be fitter for the fathers than for the mothers to eatof, since it is they that continue still in a state of war against us, after they have undergone such miseries as these. And at the same timethat he said this, he reflected on the desperate condition these menmust be in; nor could he expect that such men could be recovered tosobriety of mind after they had endured those very sufferings, for theavoiding whereof it only was probable they might have repented. 

And now two of the legions had completed their banks on the eighth dayof the month Lous [Ab]. Whereupon Titus gave orders that the batteringrams should be brought and set over against the western edifice of theinner temple; for before these were brought, the firmest of all theother engines had battered the wall for six days together withoutceasing, without making any impression upon it; but the vast largenessand strong connection of the stones were superior to that engine and tothe other battering rams also. Other Romans did indeed undermine thefoundations of the northern gate, and after a world of pains removed theoutermost stones, yet was the gate still upheld by the inner stones, andstood still unhurt; till the workmen, despairing of all such attempts byengines and crows, brought their ladders to the cloisters. 

Now the Jews did not interrupt them in so doing; but when they weregotten up, they fell upon them and fought with them; some of them theythrust down and threw them backward headlong; others of them they metand slew; they also beat many of those that went down the ladders again, and slew them with their swords before they could bring their shieldsto protect them; nay, some of the ladders they threw down from abovewhen they were full of armed men. A great slaughter was made of the Jewsalso at the same time, while those that bare the ensigns fought hard forthem, as deeming it a terrible thing, and what would tend to their greatshame, if they permitted them to be stolen away. Yet did the Jews atlength get possession of these engines, and destroyed those that hadgone up the ladders, while the rest were so intimidated by what thosesuffered who were slain that they retired; although none of the Romansdied without having done good service before his death. Of theseditious, those that had fought bravely in the former battles did thelike now, as besides them did Eleazar, the brother's son of Simon thetyrant. But when Titus perceived that his endeavors to spare a foreigntemple turned to the damage of his soldiers and made them be killed, hegave order to set the gates on fire. 

But then, on the next day, Titus commanded part of his army to quenchthe fire and to make a road for the more easy marching up of thelegions, while he himself gathered the commanders together. Titusproposed to these that they should give him their advice what should bedone about the holy house. Now some of these thought it would be thebest way to act according to the rules of war [and demolish it], becausethe Jews would never leave off rebelling while that house was standing;at which house it was that they used to get all together. Others of themwere of opinion that in case the Jews would leave it, and none of themwould lay their arms up in it, he might save it; but that in case theygot upon it and fought any more, he might burn it; because it must thenbe looked upon not as a holy house, but as a citadel; and that theimpiety of burning it would then belong to those that forced this to bedone, and not to them. 

But Titus said that "although the Jews should get upon that holy houseand fight us thence, yet ought we not to revenge ourselves on thingsthat are inanimate, instead of the men themselves"? and that he was notin any case for burning down so vast a work as that was, because thiswould be a mischief to the Romans themselves, as it would be anornament to their government while it continued. So Fronto andAlexander and Cerealis grew bold upon that declaration, and agreed tothe opinion of Titus. Then was this assembly dissolved, when Titus hadgiven orders to the commanders that the rest of their forces should liestill; but that they should make use of such as were most courageous inthis attack. So he commanded that the chosen men that were taken out ofthe cohorts should make their way through the ruins and quench the fire. 

Now it is true that on this day the Jews were so weary and under suchconsternation that they refrained from any attacks. But on the next daythey gathered their whole force together, and ran upon those thatguarded the outward court of the Temple very boldly, through the eastgate, and this about the second hour of the day. These guards receivedtheir attack with great bravery, and by covering themselves with theirshields before, as if it were with a wall, drew their squadron closetogether; yet was it evident that they could not abide there very long, but would be overborne by the multitude of those that sallied out uponthem, and by the heat of their passion. However, Cæsar seeing, from thetower of Antonia, that this squadron was likely to give way, sent somechosen horsemen to support them. Hereupon the Jews found themselves notable to sustain their onset, and, upon the slaughter of those in theforefront, many of the rest were put to flight. But as the Romans weregoing off, the Jews turned upon them and fought them; and as thoseRomans came back upon them, they retreated again, until about the fifthhour of the day they were overborne, and shut themselves up in the inner[court of the] Temple. 

So Titus retired into the tower of Antonia and resolved to storm theTemple the next day, early in the morning, with his whole army, and toencamp round about the holy house. But as for that house, God had, forcertain, long ago doomed it to the fire; and now that fatal day wascome, according to the revolution of ages. It was the tenth day of themonth Lous [Ab] upon which it was formerly burned by the king ofBabylon; although these flames took their rise from the Jews themselves, and were occasioned by them, for upon Titus' retiring the seditious laystill for a little while, and then attacked the Romans again when thosethat guarded the holy house fought with those that quenched the firethat was burning the inner [court of the] Temple; but these Romans putthe Jews to flight and proceeded as far as the holy house itself. Atwhich time one of the soldiers, without staying for any orders andwithout any concern or dread upon him at so great an undertaking andbeing hurried on by a certain divine fury, snatched somewhat out of thematerials that were on fire, and being lifted up by another soldier heset fire to a golden window through which there was a passage to therooms that were round about the holy house on the north side of it. 

As the flames went upward the Jews made a great clamor such as so mightyan affliction required and ran together to prevent it; and now theyspared not their lives any longer nor suffered anything to restraintheir force, since that holy house was perishing for whose sake it wasthat they kept such a guard about it. 

And now Cæsar was no way able to restrain the enthusiastic fury of thesoldiers, and the fire proceeded on more and more. He went into the holyplace of the Temple with his commanders and saw it, with what was in it, which he found to be far superior to what the relations of foreignerscontained, and not inferior to what we ourselves boasted of and believedabout it. But as the flame had not as yet reached to its inward parts, but was still consuming the rooms that were about the holy house, andTitus supposing what the fact was, that the house itself might yet besaved, came in haste and endeavored to persuade the soldiers to quenchthe fire, and gave order to Liberalius the centurion, and one of thosespearmen that were about him, to beat the soldiers that were refractorywith their staves and to restrain them; yet were their passions too hardfor the regards they had for Cæsar, and the dread they had of him whoforbade them, as was their hatred of the Jews, and a certain vehementinclination to fight them, too hard for them also. Moreover, the hope ofplunder induced many to go on, as having this opinion, that all theplaces within were full of money, and as seeing that all round about itwas made of gold. And besides, one of those that went into the placeprevented Cæsar, when he ran so hastily out to restrain the soldiers, and threw the fire upon the hinges of the gate, in the dark; whereby theflame burst out from within the holy house itself immediately, when thecommanders retired, and Cæsar with them, and when nobody any longerforbade those that were without to set fire to it. And thus was the holyhouse burned down without Cæsar's approbation. 

While the holy house was on fire everything was plundered that came tohand, and ten thousand of those that were caught were slain; nor wasthere a commiseration of any age, or any reverence of gravity, butchildren, and old men, and profane persons, and priests were all slainin the same manner; so that this war went round all sorts of men, andbrought them to destruction, and as well those that made supplicationfor their lives as those that defended themselves by fighting. The flamewas also carried a long way, and made an echo, together with the groansof those that were slain; and because this hill was high, and the worksat the Temple were very great, one would have thought the whole city hadbeen on fire. Nor can one imagine anything either greater or moreterrible than this noise, for there was at once a shout of the Romanlegions, who were marching all together, and a sad clamor of theseditious, who were now surrounded with fire and sword. 

The people also that were left above were beaten back upon the enemy, and under a great consternation, and made sad moans at the calamity theywere under; the multitude also that was in the city joined in thisoutcry with those that were upon the hill. And besides, many of thosethat were worn away by the famine and their mouths almost closed, whenthey saw the fire of the holy house they exerted their utmost strengthand brake out into groans and outcries again. Perea did also return theecho, as well as the mountains round about [the city], and augmented theforce of the entire noise. Yet was the misery itself more terrible thanthis disorder, for one would have thought that the hill itself, on whichthe Temple stood, was seething hot, as full of fire on every part of it, that the blood was larger in quantity than the fire, and those that wereslain more in number than those that slew them, for the ground didnowhere appear visible for the dead bodies that lay on it; but thesoldiers went over heaps of those bodies, as they ran upon such as fledfrom them. 

And now it was that the multitude of the robbers were thrust out [of theinner court of the Temple] by the Romans, and had much ado to get intothe outward court, and from thence into the city, while the remainder ofthe populace fled into the cloister of that outer court. As for thepriests, some of them plucked up from the holy house the spikes thatwere upon it, with their bases, which were made of lead, and shot themat the Romans instead of darts. But then as they gained nothing by sodoing, and as the fire burst out upon them, they retired to the wallthat was eight cubits broad, and there they tarried. 

And now the Romans, judging that it was in vain to spare what was roundabout the holy house, burned all those places, as also the remains ofthe cloisters and the gates, two excepted: the one on the east side andthe other on the south; both which, however, they burned afterward. Theyalso burned down the treasury chambers, in which was an immense quantityof money and an immense number of garments and other precious goodsthere reposited; and, to speak all in a few words, there it was that theentire riches of the Jews were heaped up together, while the rich peoplehad there built themselves chambers (to contain such furniture). Thesoldiers also came to the rest of the cloisters that were in the outer(court of the) Temple, whither the women and children, and a great mixedmultitude of the people, fled, in number about six thousand. But beforeCæsar had determined anything about these people, or given thecommanders any orders relating to them, the soldiers were in such a ragethat they set that cloister on fire; by which means it came to pass thatsome of these were destroyed by throwing themselves down headlong, andsome were burned in the cloisters themselves. Nor did any one of themescape with his life. 

And now the Romans, upon the flight of the seditious into the city, andupon the burning of the holy house itself and of all the buildings roundabout it, brought their ensigns to the Temple and set them over againstits eastern gate; and there did they offer sacrifices to them, and theredid they make Titus imperator with the greatest acclamations of joy. And now all the soldiers had such vast quantities of the spoils whichthey had gotten by plunder that in Syria a pound weight of gold was soldfor half its former value. 

But as for the tyrants themselves and those that were with them, whenthey found that they were encompassed on every side, and, as it were, walled round, without any method of escaping, they desired to treat withTitus by word of mouth. Accordingly, such was the kindness of his natureand his desire of preserving the city from destruction, joined to theadvice of his friends, who now thought the robbers were come to atemper, that he placed himself on the western side of the outer (courtof the) Temple, for there were gates on that side above the Xystus, anda bridge that connected the upper city to the Temple. This bridge it wasthat lay between the tyrants and Cæsar, and parted them; while themultitude stood on each side; those of the Jewish nation about Simon andJohn, with great hopes of pardon; and the Romans about Cæsar, in greatexpectation how Titus would receive their supplication. 

So Titus charged his soldiers to restrain their rage and to let theirdarts alone, and appointed an interpreter between them, which was a signthat he was the conqueror, and first began the discourse, and said: "Ihope you, sirs, are now satiated with the miseries of your country, whohave not had any just notions either of our great power or of your owngreat weakness, but have, like madmen, after a violent and inconsideratemanner, made such attempts as have brought your people, your city, andyour holy house to destruction. You have been the men that have neverleft off rebelling since Pompey first conquered you, and have since thattime made open war with the Romans. . . . And now, vile wretches, do youdesire to treat with me by word of mouth? To what purpose is it that youwould save such a holy house as this was which is now destroyed? Whatpreservation can you now desire after the destruction of your Temple?Yet do you stand still at this very time in your armor; nor can youbring yourselves so much as to pretend to be supplicants even in thisyour utmost extremity. O miserable creatures! what is it you depend on?Are not your people dead? is not your holy house gone? is not your cityin my power? and are not your own very lives in my hands? And do youstill deem it a part of valor to die? However, I will not imitate yourmadness. If you throw down your arms and deliver up your bodies to me, Igrant you your lives; and I will act like a mild master of a family;what cannot be healed shall be punished, and the rest I will preservefor my own use. "

To that offer of Titus they made this reply: That they could not acceptof it, because they had sworn never to do so; but they desired theymight have leave to go through the wall that had been made about them, with their wives and children; for that they would go into the desertand leave the city to him. 

At this Titus had great indignation, that when they were in the case ofmen already taken captives, they should pretend to make their own termswith him, as if they had been conquerors. So he ordered thisproclamation to be made to them: That they should no more come out tohim as deserters, nor hope for any further security, for that he wouldhenceforth spare nobody, but fight them with his whole army; and thatthey must save themselves as well as they could, for that he would fromhenceforth treat them according to the laws of war. So he gave orders tothe soldiers both to burn and to plunder the city; who did nothingindeed that day; but on the next day they set fire to the repository ofthe archives, to Acra, to the council house, and to the place calledOphlas; at which time the fire proceeded as far as the palace of QueenHelena, which was in the middle of Acra; the lanes also were burneddown, as were also those houses that were full of the dead bodies ofsuch as were destroyed by famine. 

On the same day it was that the sons and brethren of Izates the King, together with many others of the eminent men of the populace, gottogether there, and besought Cæsar to give them his right hand for theirsecurity. Upon which, though he was very angry at all that were nowremaining, yet did he not lay aside his old moderation, but receivedthese men. At that time, indeed, he kept them all in custody, but stillbound the King's sons and kinsmen, and led them with him to Rome, inorder to make them hostages for their country's fidelity to the Romans. 

And now the seditious rushed into the royal palace, into which many hadput their effects, because it was so strong, and drove the Romans awayfrom it. They also slew all the people that had crowded into it, whowere in number about eight thousand four hundred, and plundered them ofwhat they had. 

On the next day the Romans drove the robbers out of the lower city andset all on fire as far as Siloam. These soldiers were indeed glad to seethe city destroyed. But they missed the plunder, because the seditioushad carried off all their effects, and were retired into the upper city, for they did not yet at all repent of the mischiefs they had done, butwere insolent, as if they had done well; for, as they saw the city onfire, they appeared cheerful, and put on joyful countenances, inexpectation, as they said, of death to end their miseries. Accordingly, as the people were now slain, the holy house was burned down, and thecity was on fire, there was nothing further left for the enemy to do. Yet did not Josephus grow weary, even in this utmost extremity, to begof them to spare what was left of the city; he spake largely to themabout their barbarity and impiety, and gave them his advice in order totheir escape, though he gained nothing thereby more than to be laughedat by them; and as they could not think of surrendering themselves up, because of the oath they had taken, nor were strong enough to fight withthe Romans any longer upon the square, as being surrounded on all sides, and a kind of prisoners already, yet were they so accustomed to killpeople that they could not restrain their right hands from actingaccordingly. 

So they dispersed themselves before the city and laid themselves inambush among its ruins, to catch those that attempted to desert to theRomans. Accordingly, many such deserters were caught by them and wereall slain, for these were too weak, by reason of their want of food, tofly away from them; so their dead bodies were thrown to the dogs. Nowevery other sort of death was thought more tolerable than the famine, insomuch that, though the Jews despaired now of mercy, yet would theyfly to the Romans, and would themselves, even of their own accord, fallamong the murderous rebels also. Nor was there any place in the citythat had no dead bodies in it, but what was entirely covered with thosethat were killed either by the famine or the rebellion; and all was fullof the dead bodies of such as had perished, either by that sedition orby the famine. 

So now the last hope which supported the tyrants and that crew ofrobbers who were with them was in the caves and caverns underground;whither, if they could once fly, they did not expect to be searched for;but endeavored that, after the whole city should be destroyed and theRomans gone away, they might come out again and escape from them. Thiswas no better than a dream of theirs, for they were not able to lie hideither from God or from the Romans. However, they depended on theseunderground subterfuges, and set more places on fire than did the Romansthemselves; and those that fled out of their houses thus set on fireinto the ditches they killed without mercy, and pillaged them also; andif they discovered food belonging to anyone they seized upon it andswallowed it down, together with their blood also--nay, they were nowcome to fight one with another about their plunder; and I cannot butthink that, had not their destruction prevented it, their barbaritywould have made them taste of even the dead bodies themselves. 

Now when Cæsar perceived that the upper city was so steep that it couldnot possibly be taken without raising banks against it, he distributedthe several parts of that work among his army, and this on the twentiethday of the month Lous [Ab]. 

It was at this time that the commanders of the Idumeans got togetherprivately and took counsel about surrendering up themselves to theRomans. Accordingly, they sent five men to Titus and entreated him togive them his right hand for their security. So Titus, thinking that thetyrants would yield, if the Idumeans, upon whom a great part of the wardepended, were once withdrawn from them, after some reluctancy and delaycomplied with them, and gave them security for their lives, and sent thefive men back. But as these Idumeans were preparing to march out, Simonperceived it, and immediately slew the five men that had gone to Titus, and took their commanders and put them in prison, of whom the mosteminent was Jacob, the son of Sosas; but as for the multitude of theIdumeans, who did not at all know what to do, now their commanders weretaken from them, he had them watched, and secured the walls by a morenumerous garrison. Yet could not that garrison resist those that weredeserting, for although a great number of them were slain, yet were thedeserters many more in number. These were all received by the Romans, because Titus himself grew negligent as to his former orders for killingthem, and because the very soldiers grew weary of killing them, andbecause they hoped to get some money by sparing them, for they left onlythe populace, and sold the rest of the multitude, with their wives andchildren, and every one of them at a very low price, and that becausesuch as were sold were very many, and the buyers were few; and althoughTitus had made proclamation beforehand that no deserter should comealone by himself, that so they might bring out their families with them, yet did he receive such as these also. 

However, he set over them such as were to distinguish some from others, in order to see if any of them deserved to be punished. And indeed thenumber of those that were sold was immense; but of the populace aboveforty thousand were saved, whom Cæsar let go whither every one of thempleased. 

But now at this time it was that one of the priests, the son ofThebuthus, whose name was Jesus, upon his having security given him, bythe oath of Cæsar, that he should be preserved upon condition that heshould deliver to him certain of the precious things that had beendeposited in the Temple, came out of it and delivered him from the wallof the holy house two candlesticks, like to those that lay in the holyhouse, with tables, and cisterns, and vials, all made of solid gold andvery heavy. He also delivered to him the veils and the garments, withthe precious stones, and a great number of other precious vessels thatbelonged to their sacred worship. 

The treasurer of the Temple also, whose name was Phineas, was seized on, and showed Titus the coats and girdles of the priests, with a greatquantity of purple and scarlet, which were there deposited for the usesof the veil, as also a great deal of cinnamon and cassia, with a largequantity of other sweet spices, which used to be mixed together andoffered as incense to God every day. A great many other treasures werealso delivered to him, with sacred ornaments of the Temple not a few, which things thus delivered to Titus obtained of him for this man thesame pardon that he had allowed to such as deserted of their own accord. 

And now were the banks finished on the seventh day of the month Gorpieus(Elul) in eighteen days' time, when the Romans brought their machinesagainst the wall. But for the seditious, some of them, as despairing ofsaving the city, retired from the wall to the citadel. Others of themwent down into the subterranean vaults, though still a great many ofthem defended themselves against those that brought the engines for thebattery; yet did the Romans overcome them by their number and by theirstrength; and, what was the principal thing of all, by going cheerfullyabout their work, while the Jews were quite dejected and become weak. Now as soon as a part of the wall was battered down, and certain of thetowers yielded to the impression of the battering rams, those thatopposed themselves fled away, and such a terror fell upon the tyrants aswas much greater than the occasion required, for before the enemy gotover the breach they were quite stunned, and were immediately for flyingaway. And now one might see these men, who had hitherto been so insolentand arrogant in their wicked practices, to be cast down and to tremble, insomuch that it would pity one's heart to observe the change that wasmade in those vile persons. 

Accordingly, they ran with great violence upon the Roman wall thatencompassed them, in order to force away those that guarded it, and tobreak through it and get away. But when they saw that those who hadformerly been faithful to them had gone away--as indeed they were fledwhithersoever the great distress they were in persuaded them to flee--asalso when those that came running before the rest told them that thewestern wall was entirely overthrown, while others said the Romans weregotten in, and others that they were near and looking out for them, which were only the dictates of their fear, which imposed upon theirsight, they fell upon their face and greatly lamented their own madconduct; and their nerves were so terribly loosed that they could notflee away. And here one may chiefly reflect on the power of Godexercised upon these wicked wretches, and on the good fortune of theRomans, for these tyrants did now wholly deprive themselves of thesecurity they had in their own power, and came down from those verytowers of their own accord, wherein they could have never been taken byforce, nor indeed by any other way than by famine. And thus did theRomans, when they had taken such great pains about weaker walls, get bygood fortune what they could never have gotten by their engines, forthree of these towers were too strong for all mechanical engineswhatsoever. 

So they now left these towers of themselves, or rather they were ejectedout of them by God himself, and fled immediately to that valley whichwas under Siloam, where they again recovered themselves out of the dreadthey were in for a while, and ran violently against that part of theRoman wall which lay on that side; but as their courage was too muchdepressed to make their attacks with sufficient force, and their powerwas now broken with fear and affliction, they were repulsed by theguards, and dispersing themselves at distances from each other, wentdown into the subterranean caverns. 

So the Romans being now become masters of the walls, they both placedtheir ensigns upon the towers and made joyful acclamations for thevictory they had gained, as having found the end of this war muchlighter than its beginning, for when they had gotten upon the last wall, without any bloodshed, they could hardly believe what they found to betrue; but seeing nobody to oppose them, they stood in doubt what such anunusual solitude could mean. But when they went in numbers into thelanes of the city with their swords drawn they slew those whom theyovertook without mercy, and set fire to the houses whither the Jews werefled, and burned every soul in them, and laid waste a great many of therest; and when they were come to the houses to plunder them they foundin them entire families of dead men; and the upper rooms full ofcorpses, that is, of such as died by the famine. They stood in horror atthis sight, and went out without touching anything. 

Although they had this commiseration for such as were destroyed in thatmanner, yet had they not the same for those that were still alive, butthey ran every one through whom they met, and obstructed the very laneswith their dead bodies, and made the whole city run with blood, to sucha degree indeed that the fire of many of the houses was quenched withthese men's blood. And truly so it happened, that though the slayersleft off at the evening, yet did the fire greatly prevail in the night;and as all was burning, came that eighth day of the month Gorpieus[Elul] upon Jerusalem, a city that had been liable to so many miseriesduring this siege, that, had it always enjoyed as much happiness fromits first foundation, it would certainly have been the envy of theworld. Nor did it on any other account so much deserve these soremisfortunes as by producing such a generation of men as were theoccasion of this its overthrow. 

Now when Titus was come into this (upper) city, he admired not only someother places of strength in it, but particularly those strong towerswhich the tyrants in their mad conduct had relinquished, for when he sawtheir solid altitude, and the largeness of their several stones, and theexactness of their joints, as also how great was their breadth and howextensive their length, he expressed himself after the manner following:"We have certainly had God for our assistant in this war, and it was noother than God who ejected the Jews out of these fortifications, forwhat could the hands of men or any machines do toward overthrowing thesetowers?" At which time he had many such discourses to his friends; healso let such go free as had been bound by the tyrants, and were left inthe prisons. To conclude, when he entirely demolished the rest of thecity and overthrew its walls, he left these towers as a monument of hisgood fortune, which had proved his auxiliaries, and enabled him to takewhat could not otherwise have been taken by him. 

And now, since his soldiers were already quite tired with killing men, and yet there appeared to be a vast multitude still remaining alive, Cæsar gave orders that they should kill none but those that were in armsand opposed them, but should take the rest alive. But, together withthose whom they had orders to slay, they slew the aged and the infirm;but for those that were in their flourishing age and who might beuseful to them they drove them together into the Temple and shut them upwithin the walls of the court of the women, over which Cæsar set one ofhis freedmen, as also Fronto, one of his own friends, which last was todetermine everyone's fate, according to his merits. 

So this Fronto slew all those that had been seditious and robbers, whowere impeached one by another; but of the young men he chose out thetallest and most beautiful and reserved them for the triumph, and as forthe rest of the multitude that were above seventeen years old he putthem into bonds and sent them to the Egyptian mines. Titus also sent agreat number into the provinces as a present to them, that they might bedestroyed upon their theatres by the sword and by the wild beasts; butthose that were under seventeen years of age were sold for slaves. Nowduring the days wherein Fronto was distinguishing these men thereperished, for want of food, eleven thousand, some of whom did not tasteany food, through the hatred their guards bore to them, and others wouldnot take in any when it was given them. The multitude also was so verygreat that they were in want even of corn for their sustenance. 

Now the number of those that were carried captive during this whole warwas collected to be ninety-seven thousand; as was the number of thosethat perished during the whole siege eleven hundred thousand, thegreater part of whom was indeed of the same nation [with the citizens ofJerusalem], but not belonging to the city itself. They were come up fromall the country to the feast of unleavened bread and were on a suddenshut up by an army, which, at the very first, occasioned so great astraitness among them that there came a pestilential destruction uponthem, and soon afterward such a famine as destroyed them more suddenly. 

That this city could contain so many people in it is manifest by thatnumber of them which was taken under Cestius, who, being desirous ofinforming Nero of the power of the city, who otherwise was disposed tocontemn that nation, entreated the high-priests, if the thing werepossible, to take the number of their whole multitude. So thesehigh-priests, upon the coming of that feast which is called thePassover, when they slay their sacrifices, from the ninth hour till theeleventh, but so that a company not less than ten belong to everysacrifice (for it is not lawful for them to feast singly by themselves), and many of them were twenty in a company, found the number ofsacrifices was two hundred and fifty-six thousand five hundred, which, upon the allowance of no more than ten that feast together, amounts totwo millions seven hundred thousand and two hundred persons that werepure and holy; for as to those that have the leprosy, or thegonorrhoea, or women that have their monthly courses, or such as areotherwise polluted, it is not lawful for them to be partakers of thissacrifice; nor indeed for any foreigners neither, who come hither toworship. 

Now this vast multitude is indeed collected out of remote places, butthe entire nation was now shut up by fate as in prison, and the Romanarmy encompassed the city when it was crowded with inhabitants. Accordingly, the multitude of those that therein perished exceeded allthe destructions that either men or God ever brought upon the world;for, to speak only of what was publicly known, the Romans slew some ofthem, some they carried captives, and others they made a search forunderground, and when they found where they were they broke up theground and slew all they met with. There were also found slain thereabove two thousand persons, partly by their own hands and partly by oneanother, but chiefly destroyed by the famine; but then the ill-savor ofthe dead bodies was most offensive to those that lighted upon them, insomuch that some were obliged to get away immediately, while otherswere so greedy of gain that they would go in among the dead bodies thatlay on heaps and tread upon them, for a great deal of treasure was foundin these caverns, and the hope of gain made every way of getting it tobe esteemed lawful. 

Many also of those that had been put in prison by the tyrants were nowbrought out, for they did not leave off their barbarous cruelty at thevery last; yet did God avenge himself upon upon them both in a manneragreeable to justice. As for John, he wanted food, together with hisbrethren, in these caverns, and begged that the Romans would now givehim their right hand for his security, which he had often proudlyrejected before; but for Simon, he struggled hard with the distress hewas in, till he was forced to surrender himself. So he was reserved forthe triumph, and to be then slain, as was John condemned to perpetualimprisonment. And now the Romans set fire to the extreme parts of thecity, and burned them down, and entirely demolished its walls. 

And thus was Jerusalem taken, in the second year of the reign ofVespasian, on the eighth day of the month Gorpieus (Elul). It had beentaken five times before, though this was the second time of itsdesolation, for Shishak, the king of Egypt, and after him Antiochus, andafter him Pompey, and after them Sosius and Herod, took the city, butstill preserved it; but before all these the king of Babylon conqueredit and made it desolate, one thousand four hundred and sixty-eight yearsand six months after it was built. 

But he who first built it was a potent man among the Canaanites, and isin our own tongue called (Melchisedek), the righteous king, for such hereally was. On which account he was (there) the first priest of God, andfirst built a temple (there), and called the city Jerusalem, which wasformerly called Salem. However, David, the king of the Jews, ejected theCanaanites, and settled his own people therein. 

It was demolished entirely by the Babylonians, four hundred andseventy-seven years and six months after him. And from King David, whowas the first of the Jews who reigned therein, to this destruction underTitus, were one thousand one hundred and seventy-nine years; but fromits first building till this last destruction were two thousand onehundred and seventy-seven years; yet hath not its great antiquity, norits vast riches, nor the diffusion of its nation over all the habitableearth, nor the greatness of the veneration paid to it on a religiousaccount, been sufficient to preserve it from being destroyed. And thusended the siege of Jerusalem. 

FOOTNOTES:

[38] Not to be confounded with John of Gischala, leader of one of thethree factions. 

[39] John of Gischala. 

[40] Probably that of John Hyrcanus I, a Maccabæan, prince of Judea, B. C. 135-105. 

DESTRUCTION OF POMPEII

A. D. 79

PLINY LYTTON

 Among the historic calamities of the world none has gathered about itself more of human interest, whether in connection with the study of ancient cities and customs or in the calling forth of sympathy through the magical treatment of imaginative literature, than the destruction of Pompeii and Herculaneum by the eruption of Mount Vesuvius, which occurred at the beginning of the reign of Titus. The eruption was accompanied by an earthquake, and the combination of natural commotions caused the complete ruin and burial of the two cities. 

 One of the most vivid descriptions of the catastrophe is that given in the account of Dion Cassius. Among those who perished in the disaster was the elder Pliny, the celebrated naturalist; and the most famous narrative of the eruption is that here given of Pliny the Younger, nephew of the other, in the two letters which he wrote to Tacitus in order to supply that historian with accurate details. 

 Lytton's well-known _Last Days of Pompeii_, although a work of imagination, deals with this subject in a manner which almost simulates the realistic tale of an actual observer; and his account, linking the calamity itself with the revelations of the earlier explorers of the buried city, after so many centuries had passed, well deserves a place in connection with the story of the older and more circumstantial writer. 

 One of the earliest important discoveries at Pompeii, made in 1771, was that of the "Villa of Diomedes, " named from the tomb of Marcus Arrius Diomedes across the street. Since then every decade has seen some progress in the work of excavation, and among other buildings brought to light are the "House of Pansa, " the "House of the Tragic Poet, " the "House of Sallustius, " the "Castor and Pollux, " a double house, and the "House of the Vettii"--the last, a recent discovery, being left with all its furnishings as found. Many interesting objects have been discovered lately, and a complete picture can now be presented of a small Italian city and its life in the first century A. D. Valuable finds are wall paintings, illustrative of decorative art; floor mosaics, etc. , which may be seen in the Royal Museum of Naples. Another of the most recent discoveries is that of the temple of Venus Pompeiana in the southern corner of the city; others are the remains of persons who, carrying valuables, perished in a wayside inn where they had sought refuge. At the present time about one-half of the city has been excavated, and the circuit of the walls has been found to be about two miles. The uncovering of the whole city will probably require many years. Excavations now being made in the adjacent country promise results as interesting as those already obtained within the city limits. 

PLINY

Your request that I would send you an account of my uncle's death, inorder to transmit a more exact relation of it to posterity, deserves myacknowledgments; for, if this accident shall be celebrated by your pen, the glory of it, I am well assured, will be rendered foreverillustrious. And notwithstanding he perished by a misfortune, which asit involved at the same time a most beautiful country in ruins, anddestroyed so many populous cities, seems to promise him an everlastingremembrance; notwithstanding he has himself composed many and lastingworks; yet I am persuaded, the mentioning of him in your immortalwritings will greatly contribute to render his name immortal. 

Happy I esteem those to be to whom by provision of the gods has beengranted the ability either to do such actions as are worthy of beingrelated or to relate them in a manner worthy of being read; butpeculiarly happy are they who are blessed with both these uncommontalents: in the number of which my uncle, as his own writings and yourhistory will evidently prove, may justly be ranked. It is with extremewillingness, therefore, that I execute your commands; and should indeedhave claimed the task if you had not enjoined it. He was at that timewith the fleet under his command at Misenum. 

On the 24th of August, about one in the afternoon, my mother desired himto observe a cloud which appeared of a very unusual size and shape. Hehad just taken a turn in the sun, [41] and, after bathing himself in coldwater, and making a light luncheon, gone back to his books: heimmediately arose and went out upon a rising ground from whence he mightget a better sight of this very uncommon appearance. A cloud, from whichmountain was uncertain at this distance (but it was found afterward tocome from Mount Vesuvius[42]) was ascending, the appearance of which Icannot give you a more exact description of than by likening it to thatof a pine tree, for it shot up to a great height in the form of a verytall trunk, which spread itself out at the top into a sort of branches;occasioned, I imagine, either by a sudden gust of air that impelled it, the force of which decreased as it advanced upward, or the cloud itself, being pressed back again by its own weight, expanded in the manner Ihave mentioned; it appeared sometimes bright and sometimes dark andspotted, according as it was either more or less impregnated with earthand cinders. 

This phenomenon seemed to a man of such learning and research as myuncle extraordinary and worth further looking into. He ordered a lightvessel to be got ready, and gave me leave, if I liked, to accompany him. I said I had rather go on with my work; and it so happened he hadhimself given me something to write out. As he was coming out of thehouse, he received a note from Rectina, the wife of Bassus, who was inthe utmost alarm at the imminent danger which threatened her; for hervilla lying at the foot of Mount Vesuvius, there was no way of escapebut by sea; she earnestly entreated him therefore to come to herassistance. 

He accordingly changed his first intention, and what he had begun from aphilosophical, he now carried out in a noble and generous, spirit. Heordered the galleys to put to sea, and went himself on board with anintention of assisting not only Rectina, but the several other townswhich lay thickly strewn along that beautiful coast. Hastening then tothe place from whence others fled with the utmost terror, he steered hiscourse direct to the point of danger, and with so much calmness andpresence of mind as to be able to make and dictate his observations uponthe motion and all the phenomena of that dreadful scene. He was now soclose to the mountain that the cinders, which grew thicker and hotterthe nearer he approached, fell into the ships, together withpumice-stones and black pieces of burning rock: they were in danger toonot only of being aground by the sudden retreat of the sea, but alsofrom the vast fragments which rolled down from the mountain andobstructed all the shore. Here he stopped to consider whether he shouldturn back again; to which the pilot advising him, "Fortune, " said he, "favors the brave; steer to where Pomponianus is. " Pomponianus was thenat Stabiæ, separated by a bay, which the sea, after several insensiblewindings, forms with the shore. He had already sent his baggage onboard; for though he was not at that time in actual danger, yet beingwithin sight of it, and indeed extremely near, if it should in the leastincrease, he was determined to put to sea as soon as the wind, which wasblowing dead in-shore, should go down. It was favorable, however, forcarrying my uncle to Pomponianus, whom he found in the greatestconsternation: he embraced him tenderly, encouraging and urging him tokeep up his spirits, and, the more effectually to soothe his fears byseeming unconcerned himself, ordered a bath to be got ready, and then, after having bathed, sat down to supper with great cheerfulness, or atleast--what is just as heroic--with every appearance of it. 

Meanwhile broad flames shone out in several places from Mount Vesuvius, which the darkness of the night contributed to render still brighter andclearer. But my uncle, in order to soothe the apprehensions of hisfriend, assured him it was only the burning of the villages, which thecountry people had abandoned to the flames. After this he retired torest, and it is most certain he was so little disquieted as to fall intoa sound sleep, for his breathing, which, on account of his corpulence, was rather heavy and sonorous, was heard by the attendants outside. 

The court which led to his apartment being now almost filled with stonesand ashes, if he had continued there any time longer, it would have beenimpossible for him to have made his way out. So he was awoke and got up, and went to Pomponianus and the rest of his company, who were feelingtoo anxious to think of going to bed. They consulted together whether itwould be most prudent to trust to the houses--which now rocked from sideto side with frequent and violent concussions as though shaken fromtheir very foundations--or fly to the open fields, where the calcinedstones and cinders, though light indeed, yet fell in large showers andthreatened destruction. In this choice of dangers they resolved for thefields: a resolution which, while the rest of the company were hurriedinto by their fears, my uncle embraced upon cool and deliberateconsideration. They went out then, having pillows tied upon their headswith napkins; and this was their whole defence against the storm ofstones that fell round them. 

It was now day everywhere else, but _there_ a deeper darkness prevailedthan in the thickest night; which, however, was in some degreealleviated by torches and other lights of various kinds. They thoughtproper to go farther down upon the shore to see if they might safely putout to sea, but found the waves still running extremely high andboisterous. There my uncle, laying himself down upon a sail-cloth, whichwas spread for him, called twice for some cold water, which he drank, when immediately the flames, preceded by a strong whiff of sulphur, dispersed the rest of the party, and obliged him to rise. He raisedhimself up with the assistance of two of his servants, and instantlyfell down dead; suffocated, as I conjecture, by some gross and noxiousvapor, having always had a weak throat, which was often inflamed. 

As soon as it was light again, which was not till the third day afterthis melancholy accident, his body was found entire, and without anymarks of violence upon it, in the dress in which he fell, and lookingmore like a man asleep than dead. During all this time my mother and I, who were at Misenum--but this has no connection with your history, andyou did not desire any particulars besides those of my uncle's death, soI will end here, only adding that I have faithfully related to you whatI was either an eye-witness of myself or received immediately after theaccident happened, and before there was time to vary the truth. You willpick out of this narrative whatever is most important: for a letter isone thing, a history another; it is one thing writing to a friend, another thing writing to the public. Farewell. 

 * * * * *

The letter which, in compliance with your request, I wrote to youconcerning the death of my uncle has raised, it seems, your curiosityto know what terrors and dangers attended me while I continued atMisenum; for there, I think, my account broke off:

 "Though my shock'd soul recoils, my tongue shall tell. "

My uncle having left us, I spent such time as was left on my studies--itwas on their account indeed that I had stopped behind--till it was timefor my bath. After which I went to supper, and then fell into a shortand uneasy sleep. There had been noticed for many days before, atrembling of the earth, which did not alarm us much, as this is quite anordinary occurrence in Campania; but it was so particularly violent thatnight that it not only shook but actually overturned, as it would seem, everything about us. 

My mother rushed into my chamber, where she found me rising in order toawaken her. We sat down in the open court of the house, which occupied asmall space between the buildings and the sea. As I was at that time buteighteen years of age, I know not whether I should call my behavior, inthis dangerous juncture, courage or folly; but I took up Livy, andamused myself with turning over that author, and even making extractsfrom him, as if I had been perfectly at my leisure. Just then, a friendof my uncle's, who had lately come to him from Spain, joined us, andobserving me sitting by my mother with a book in my hand, reproved herfor her calmness, and me at the same time for my careless security:nevertheless I went on with my author. 

Though it was now morning, the light was still exceedingly faint anddoubtful; the buildings all around us tottered, and though we stood uponopen ground, yet, as the place was narrow and confined, there was noremaining without imminent danger: we therefore resolved to quit thetown. A panic-stricken crowd followed us, and--as to a mind distractedwith terror every suggestion seems more prudent than its own--pressed onus in dense array to drive us forward as we came out. Being at aconvenient distance from the houses, we stood still, in the midst of amost dangerous and dreadful scene. 

The chariots, which we had ordered to be drawn out, were so agitatedbackward and forward, though upon the most level ground, that we couldnot keep them steady, even by supporting them with large stones. The seaseemed to roll back upon itself, and to be driven from its banks by theconvulsive motion of the earth; it is certain at least the shore wasconsiderably enlarged, and several sea animals were left upon it. On theother side, a black and dreadful cloud, broken with rapid, zig-zagflashes, revealed behind it variously shaped masses of flame: these lastwere like sheet lightning, but much larger. Upon this our Spanishfriend, whom I mentioned above, addressing himself to my mother and mewith great energy and urgency: "If your brother, " he said, "if youruncle be safe, he certainly wishes you may be so too; but if heperished, it was his desire, no doubt, that you might both survive him:why therefore do you delay your escape a moment?"

We could never think of our own safety, we said, while we were uncertainof his. Upon this our friend left us, and withdrew from the danger withthe utmost precipitation. Soon afterward, the cloud began to descend andcover the sea. It had already surrounded and concealed the island ofCapreæ[43] and the promontory of Misenum. 

My mother now besought, urged, even commanded me to make my escape atany rate, which, as I was young, I might easily do; as for herself, shesaid, her age and corpulency rendered all attempts of that sortimpossible; however, she would willingly meet death if she could havethe satisfaction of seeing that she was not the occasion of mine. But Iabsolutely refused to leave her, and, taking her by the hand, compelledher to go with me. She complied with great reluctance, and not withoutmany reproaches to herself for retarding my flight. The ashes now beganto fall upon us, though in no great quantity. I looked back; a dense, dark mist seemed to be following us, spreading itself over the countrylike a cloud. "Let us turn out of the high-road, " I said, "while we canstill see, for fear that, should we fall in the road, we should bepressed to death in the dark by the crowds that are following us. "

We had scarcely sat down when night came upon us, not such as we havewhen the sky is cloudy, or when there is no moon, but that of a roomwhen it is shut up and all the lights put out. You might hear theshrieks of women, the screams of children, and the shouts of men; somecalling for their children, others for their parents, others for theirhusbands, and seeking to recognize each other by the voices thatreplied; one lamenting his own fate, another that of his family; somewishing to die, from the very fear of dying; some lifting their hands tothe gods; but the greater part convinced that there were now no gods atall, and that the final endless night of which we have heard had comeupon the world. [44] Among these there were some who augmented the realterrors by others imaginary or wilfully invented. I remember some whodeclared that one part of Misenum had fallen, that another was on fire;it was false, but they found people to believe them. It now grew ratherlighter, which we imagined to be rather the forerunner of an approachingburst of flames--as in truth it was--than the return of day: however, the fire fell at a distance from us: then again we were immersed inthick darkness, and a heavy shower of ashes rained upon us, which wewere obliged every now and then to stand up to shake off, otherwise weshould have been crushed and buried in the heap. 

I might boast that, during all this scene of horror, not a sigh orexpression of fear escaped me, had not my support been grounded in thatmiserable, though mighty, consolation, that all mankind were involved inthe same calamity, and that I was perishing with the world itself. Atlast this dreadful darkness was dissipated by degrees, like a cloud orsmoke; the real day returned, and even the sun shone out, though with alurid light, like when an eclipse is coming on. Every object thatpresented itself to our eyes--which were extremely weakened--seemedchanged, being covered deep with ashes as if with snow. 

We returned to Misenum, where we refreshed ourselves as well as wecould, and passed an anxious night between hope and fear; though, indeed, with a much larger share of the latter; for the earthquake stillcontinued, while many frenzied persons ran up and down, heighteningtheir own and their friends' calamities by terrible predictions. However, my mother and I, notwithstanding the danger we had passed andthat which still threatened us, had no thoughts of leaving the placetill we could receive some news of my uncle. 

And now you will read this narrative without any view of inserting it inyour history, of which it is not in the least worthy; and indeed youmust put it down to your own request if it should appear not worth eventhe trouble of a letter. Farewell. 

LORD EDWARD BULWER-LYTTON

The Amphitheatre at Pompeii was crowded to the doors. A lion was atlarge in the arena, and the populace surged toward an Egyptian priest, Arbaces, demanding that he be thrown down to be devoured. As the mobrolled around him, intent on his death, Arbaces noted a strange andawful apparition. His craft made him courageous; he stretched forth hishand. 

"Behold!" he shouted with a voice of thunder, which stilled the roar ofthe crowd; "behold how the gods protect the guiltless! The fires of theavenging Orcus burst forth against the false witness of my accusers!"

The eyes of the crowd followed the gesture of the Egyptian, and beheld, with ineffable dismay, a vast vapor shooting from the summit ofVesuvius, in the form of a gigantic pine tree; the trunk, blackness--thebranches, fire!--a fire that shifted and wavered in its hues with everymoment, now fiercely luminous, now of a dull and dying red, that againblazed terrifically forth with intolerable glare!

There was a dead, heart-sunken silence--through which there suddenlybroke the roar of the lion, which was echoed back from within thebuilding by the sharper and fiercer yells of its fellow-beast. Dreadseers were they of the burden of the atmosphere, and wild prophets ofthe wrath to come!

Then there arose on high the universal shrieks of women; the men staredat each other, but were dumb. At that moment they felt the earth shakebeneath their feet; the walls of the theatre trembled, and beyond, inthe distance, they heard the crash of falling roofs; an instant more andthe mountain-cloud seemed to roll toward them, dark and rapid, like atorrent; at the same time it cast forth from its bosom a shower of ashesmixed with vast fragments of burning stone. Over the crushingvines--over the desolate streets--over the Amphitheatre itself--far andwide--with many a mighty splash in the agitated sea--fell that awfulshower!

No longer thought the crowd of justice or of Arbaces; safety forthemselves was their sole thought. Each turned to fly--each dashing, pressing, crushing, against the other. Trampling recklessly over thefallen--amid groans and oaths and prayers and sudden shrieks, theenormous crowd vomited itself forth through the numerous passages. Whither should they fly? Some, anticipating a second earthquake, hastened to their homes to load themselves with their more costly goods, and escape while it was yet time; others, dreading the showers of ashesthat now fell fast, torrent upon torrent, over the streets, rushed underthe roofs of the nearest houses or temples or sheds--shelter of anykind--for protection from the terrors of the open air. But darker andlarger and mightier spread the cloud above them. It was a sudden andmore ghastly Night rushing upon the realm of Noon!

Meanwhile the streets were already thinned; the crowd had hastened todisperse itself under shelter; the ashes began to fill up the lowerparts of the town; but, here and there, you heard the steps of fugitivescranching them warily, or saw their pale and haggard faces by the blueglare of the lightning or the more unsteady glare of torches, by whichthey endeavored to steer their steps. But ever and anon the boilingwater, or the straggling ashes, mysterious and gusty winds, rising anddying in a breath, extinguished these wandering lights, and with themthe last living hope of those who bore them. 

Amid the other horrors, the mighty mountain now cast up columns ofboiling water. Blent and kneaded with the half-burning ashes, thestreams fell like seething mud over the streets in frequent intervals. And full, where the priests of Isis had now cowered around the altars, on which they had vainly sought to kindle fires and pour incense, one ofthe fiercest of those deadly torrents, mingled with immense fragmentsof scoria, had poured its rage. Over the bended forms of the priests itdashed: that cry had been of death--that silence had been of eternity!The ashes--the pitchy stream--sprinkled the altars, covered thepavement, and half concealed the quivering corpses of the priests!

In proportion as the blackness gathered did the lightnings aroundVesuvius increase in their vivid and scorching glare. Nor was theirhorrible beauty confined to the usual hues of fire; no rainbow everrivalled their varying and prodigal dyes. Now brightly blue as the mostazure depth of a southern sky--now of a livid and snakelike green, darting restlessly to and fro as the folds of an enormous serpent--nowof a lurid and intolerable crimson, gushing forth through the columns ofsmoke, far and wide, and lighting up the whole city from arch toarch--then suddenly dying into a sickly paleness, like the ghost oftheir own life!

In the pauses of the showers you heard the rumbling of the earth beneathand the groaning waves of the tortured sea; or, lower still, and audiblebut to the watch of intensest fear, the grinding and hissing murmur ofthe escaping gases through the chasms of the distant mountain. Sometimesthe cloud appeared to break from its solid mass, and, by the lightning, to assume quaint and vast mimicries of human or of monster shapes, striding across the gloom, hurtling one upon the other, and vanishingswiftly into the turbulent abyss of shade; so that to the eyes andfancies of the affrighted wanderers the unsubstantial vapors were as thebodily forms of gigantic foes--the agents of terror and of death. 

The ashes in many places were already knee-deep; and the boiling showerswhich came from the steaming breath of the volcano forced their way intothe houses, bearing with them a strong and suffocating vapor. In someplaces immense fragments of rock, hurled upon the house roofs, bore downalong the streets masses of confused ruin, which yet more and more, withevery hour, obstructed the way; and, as the day advanced, the motion ofthe earth was more sensibly felt--the footing seemed to slide andcreep--nor could chariot or litter be kept steady, even on the mostlevel ground. 

Sometimes the huger stones, striking against each other as they fell, broke into countless fragments, emitting sparks of fire, which caughtwhatever was combustible within their reach; and along the plains beyondthe city the darkness was now terribly relieved, for several houses, andeven vineyards, had been set on flames; and at various intervals thefires rose sullenly and fiercely against the solid gloom. To add to thispartial relief of the darkness, the citizens had, here and there, in themore public places, as the porticoes of temples and the entrances to theforum, endeavored to place rows of torches; but these rarely continuedlong; the showers and the winds extinguished them, and the suddendarkness into which their sudden birth was converted had something in itdoubly terrible and doubly impressing on the impotence of human hopes, the lesson of despair. 

Frequently, by the momentary light of these torches, parties offugitives encountered each other, some hurrying toward the sea, othersflying from the sea back to the land; for the ocean had retreatedrapidly from the shore--an utter darkness lay over it, and upon itsgroaning and tossing waves the storm of cinders and rock fell withoutthe protection which the streets and roofs afforded to the land. Wild--haggard--ghastly with supernatural fears, these groups encounteredeach other, but without the leisure to speak, to consult, to advise; forthe showers fell now frequently, though not continuously, extinguishingthe lights, which showed to each band the death-like faces of the other, and hurrying all to seek refuge beneath the nearest shelter. 

The whole elements of civilization were broken up. Ever and anon, by theflickering lights, you saw the thief hastening by the most solemnauthorities of the law, laden with and fearfully chuckling over theproduce of his sudden gains. If, in the darkness, wife was separatedfrom husband, or parent from child, vain was the hope of reunion. Eachhurried blindly and confusedly on. Nothing in all the various andcomplicated machinery of social life was left save the primal law ofself-preservation!

In parts, where the ashes lay dry and uncommixed with the boilingtorrents, cast upward from the mountain at capricious intervals, thesurface of the earth presented a leprous and ghastly white. In otherplaces cinder and rock lay matted in heaps, from beneath which emergedthe half-hid limbs of some crushed and mangled fugitive. 

The groans of the dying were broken by wild shrieks of women'sterror--now near, now distant--which, when heard in the utter darkness, were rendered doubly appalling by the crushing sense of helplessness andthe uncertainty of the perils around; and clear and distinct through allwere the mighty and various noises from the fatal mountain; its rushingwinds; its whirling torrents; and, from time to time, the burst and roarof some more fiery and fierce explosion. And ever as the winds swepthowling along the street, they bore sharp streams of burning dust, andsuch sickening and poisonous vapors as took away, for the instant, breath and consciousness, followed by a rapid revulsion of the arrestedblood, and a tingling sensation of agony trembling through every nerveand fibre of the frame. 

Suddenly all became lighted with an intense and lurid glow. Bright andgigantic through the darkness, which closed around it like the walls ofhell, the mountain shone--a pile of fire! Its summit seemed riven intwo; or rather, above its surface there seemed to rise two monstershapes, each confronting each, as demons contending for a world. Thesewere of one deep blood-red hue of fire, which lighted up the wholeatmosphere far and wide; but _below_, the nether part of the mountainwas still dark and shrouded, save in three places, adown which flowed, serpentine and irregular, rivers of molten lava. Darkly red through theprofound gloom of their banks they flowed slowly on, as toward thedevoted city. Over the broadest there seemed to spring a cragged andstupendous arch, from which, as from the jaws of hell, gushed thesources of the sudden Phlegethon. And through the still air was heardthe rattling of the fragments of rock, hurtling one upon another as theywere borne down the fiery cataracts--darkening, for one instant, thespot where they fell, and suffused the next, in the burnished hues ofthe flood in which they floated!

 * * * * *

Nearly seventeen centuries had rolled away when the city of Pompeii wasdisinterred from its silent tomb, [45] all vivid with undimmed hues; itswalls fresh as if painted yesterday--not a hue faded on the rich mosaicof its floors--in its forum the half-finished columns as left by theworkman's hand--in its gardens the sacrificial tripod--in its halls thechest of treasure--in its baths the _strigil_--in its theatres thecounter of admission--in its saloons the furniture and the lamp--in its_triclinia_ the fragments of the last feast--in its _cubicula_ theperfumes and the rouge of faded beauty--and everywhere the bones andskeletons of those who once moved the springs of that minute yetgorgeous machine of luxury and of life!

In the house of Diomed, in the subterranean vaults, twenty skeletons(one of a babe) were discovered in one spot by the door, covered by afine ashen dust, that had evidently been wafted slowly through theapertures, until it had filled the whole space. There were jewels andcoins, candelabra for unavailing light, and wine hardened in the_amphoræ_ for the prolongation of agonized life. The sand, consolidatedby damps, had taken the forms of the skeletons as in a cast; and thetraveller may yet see the impression of a female neck and bosom of youngand round proportions. It seems to the inquirer as if the air had beengradually changed into a sulphurous vapor; the inmates of the vaults hadrushed to the door, to find it closed and blocked up by the scoriawithout, and, in their attempts to force it, had been suffocated withthe atmosphere. 

In the garden was found a skeleton with a key by its bony hand, and nearit a bag of coins. This is believed to have been the master of thehouse, who had probably sought to escape by the garden, and beendestroyed either by the vapors or some fragment of stone. Beside somesilver vases lay another skeleton, probably that of a slave. 

Various theories as to the exact mode by which Pompeii was destroyedhave been invented by the ingenious; I have adopted that which is themost generally received, and which, upon inspecting the strata, appearsthe only one admissible by common sense; namely, a destruction byshowers of ashes and boiling water, mingled with frequent irruptions oflarge stones, and aided by partial convulsions of the earth. Herculaneum, on the contrary, appears to have received not only theshowers of ashes, but also inundations from molten lava; and the streamsreferred to must be considered as destined for that city rather than forPompeii. Volcanic lightnings were evidently among the engines of ruin atPompeii. Papyrus, and other of the more inflammable materials, are foundin a burned state. Some substances in metal are partially melted; and abronze statue is completely shivered, as by lightning. Upon thewhole--excepting only the inevitable poetic license of shortening thetime which the destruction occupied--I believe my description of thatawful event is very little assisted by invention, and will be found notthe less accurate for its appearance in a romance. 

FOOTNOTES:

[41] The Romans used to lie or walk naked in the sun, after anointingtheir bodies with oil, which was esteemed as greatly contributing tohealth, and therefore daily practised by them. This custom, however, ofanointing themselves, is inveighed against by the satirists as in thenumber of their luxurious indulgences; but since we find the elder Plinyhere, and the amiable Spurinna in a former letter, practising thismethod, we cannot suppose the thing itself was esteemed unmanly, butonly when it was attended with some particular circumstances of anover-refined delicacy. 

[42] About six miles distant from Naples. 

[43] An island near Naples, now called Capri. 

[44] The Stoic and Epicurean philosophers held that the world was to bedestroyed by fire, and all things fall again into original chaos; notexcepting even the national gods themselves from the destruction of thisgeneral conflagration. 

[45] Destroyed A. D. 79; first discovered A. D. 1750. 

THE JEWS' LAST STRUGGLE FOR FREEDOM: THEIR FINAL DISPERSION

A. D. 132

CHARLES MERIVALE

 The successful revolt of the Maccabees against the bloody persecutions of the Assyrian king Antiochus Epiphanes, about B. C. 164, inaugurated a glorious epoch in Jewish history. From that time the Jews enjoyed their freedom under the dynasty of their priest-kings till, B. C. 63, the Romans under Pompey took possession of Jerusalem. A period of Roman tyranny and oppression followed. In A. D. 66-70 a great revolt of the Jews occurred. The Romans burned Jerusalem to the ground. Josephus says the number killed in this revolt was one million one hundred thousand, and the number of prisoners ninety-seven thousand. Of those who survived, "all above seventeen years old were sent to Egypt to work in the mines, or distributed among the provinces to be exhibited as gladiators in the public theatres and in the combats against wild beasts. "

 About fifty years later, A. D. , 116, a tremendous uprising occurred among the Jews of the eastern Mediterranean, in which many lives were lost. It was quickly suppressed by the emperor Trajan, and the punishments were similar in cruelty to those which followed the previous insurrection. 

 But this dauntless people were not yet conquered. When the emperor Hadrian, A. D. , 130, arrived at Jerusalem on his tour of the empire, he resolved that the holy city of the Jews should be rebuilt as a Roman colony, and its name changed to Ælia Capitolina; and the Jews were forbidden to sojourn in the new city. By this and other measures the spark of revolt was once more kindled among the religious and patriotic spirits of the Jewish nation. The Jews in Palestine flew to arms, A. D. , 132, encouraged by the prayers, the vows, and the material support of their compatriots in Rome, Byzantium, Alexandria, and Babylon. The Jewish war-cry echoed around the civilized world. 

 A fitting leader for the insurrectionists soon appeared in the person of Simon Barcochebas. Julius Severus, who was in Britain ordering the affairs of that distant province, was summoned to the East to quell the disturbance, which had swollen to the dimensions of a revolution and threatened to abolish Roman authority in Palestine. The conflict which ensued lasted from A. D. 132 to 135, and was very bitterly contested on both sides. It was not before the Hebrew leader fell amid thousands of his followers that the Jewish forces were defeated. We are told that in this last revolution the Romans took fifty fortresses, nine hundred and eighty-five villages were occupied, and that the people killed numbered five hundred and eighty thousand. The Jews were dispersed to every quarter of the known world and remain so to this day. The new city of Hadrian continued to exist, but did not prosper; and the Jews were prohibited under penalty of death from ever setting foot in Jerusalem. 

The thread of imperial life could hardly snap without a jar which wouldbe felt throughout the whole extent of the empire. Trajan, likeAlexander, had been cut off suddenly in the Far East, and, likeAlexander, he had left no avowed successor. Several of his generalsabroad might advance nearly equal claims to the sword of Trajan; some ofthe senators at home might deem themselves not unworthy of the purple ofNerva. 

On every side there was an army or faction ready to devote itself to theservice of its favorite or its champion. 

The provinces lately annexed were at the same time in a state of ominousagitation; along one half of the frontiers Britons, Germans, andSarmatians were mustering their forces for invasion; a virulentinsurrection was still glowing throughout a large portion of the empire. Nevertheless, the compact body of the Roman Commonwealth was still heldfirmly together by its inherent self-attraction. There was no tendencyto split in pieces, as in the ill-cemented masses of the Macedonianconquest; and the presence of mind of a clever woman was well employedin effecting the peaceful transfer of power and relieving the State fromthe stress of disruption. 

Of the accession of Publius Ælius Hadrianus, A. D. , 117, to the empire;of the means by which it was effected; of the character and reputationhe brought with him to the throne; of the first measures of his reign, by which he renounced the latest conquests of his predecessor, while heput forth all his power to retain the realms bequeathed him from anearlier period--is matter for another story. 

But let us turn to a review of eastern affairs; to the great Jewishinsurrection, and the important consequences which followed from it. Trajan was surely fortunate in the moment of his death. Vexed, as hedoubtless was, by the frustration of his grand designs for incorporatingthe Parthian monarchy with the Roman, and fulfilling the idea ofuniversal empire which had flitted through the mind of Pompius orJulius, but had been deliberately rejected by Augustus and Vespasian, his proud spirit would have been broken indeed had he lived to witnessthe difficulties in which Rome was plunged at his death, the spread ofthe Jewish revolt in Asia and Palestine, the aggressions of the Moors, the Scythians, and the Britons at the most distant points of hisdominions. 

The momentary success of the insurgents of Cyprus and Cyrene hadprompted a general assurance that the conquering race was no longerinvincible, and the last great triumphs of its legions were followed bya rebound of fortune still more momentous. 

The first act of the new reign was the formal relinquishment of the newprovinces beyond the Euphrates. The Parthian tottered back with feeblestep to his accustomed frontiers. Arabia was left unmolested; India wasno longer menaced. Armenia found herself once more suspended between tworival empires, of which the one was too weak to seize, the other tooweak to retain her. 

All the forces of Rome in the East were now set free to complete thesuppression of the Jewish disturbances. The flames of insurrection whichhad broken out in so many remote quarters were concentrated, and burnedmore fiercely than ever in the ancient centre of the Jewish nationality. 

Martius Turbo, appointed to command in Palestine, was equally amazed atthe fanaticism and the numbers of people whose faith had been mocked, whose hopes frustrated, whose young men had been decimated, whose oldmen, women, and children had been enslaved and exiled. Under theteaching of the doctors of Tiberia faith had been cherished and hope hadrevived. Despised and unmolested for fifty years, a new generation hadrisen from the soil of their ancestors, recruited by the multitudes whoflocked homeward, year by year, with an unextinguishable love ofcountry, and reënforced by the fugitives from many scenes ofpersecution, all animated with a growing conviction that the laststruggle of their race was at hand, to be contested on the site of theirold historic triumphs. 

It is not perhaps wholly fanciful to imagine that the Jewish leaders, after the fall of their city and Temple and the great dispersion oftheir people, deliberately invented new means for maintaining theircherished nationality. Their conquerors, as they might observe, werescattered like themselves over the face of the globe and abode whereverthey conquered; but the laws, the manners, and the traditions of Romewere preserved almost intact amid alien races by the consciousness thatthere existed a visible centre of their nation, the source, as it were, to which they might repair to draw the waters of political life. But thedispersions of the Jews seemed the more irremediable as the destructionof their central home was complete. 

To preserve the existence of their nation one other way presenteditself. In their sacred books they retained a common bond of law anddoctrine, such as no other people could boast. In these veneratedrecords they possessed, whether on the Tiber or the Euphrates, an elixirof unrivalled virtue. With a sudden revulsion of feeling the popularorators and captains betook themselves to the study of law, its historyand antiquities, its actual text and its inner meaning. The schools ofTiberias resounded with debate on the rival principles ofinterpretation, the ancient and the modern, the stricter and the laxer, known respectively by the names of their teachers, Schammai and Hillel. 

The doctors decided in favor of the more accommodating system, by whichthe stern exclusiveness of the original letter was extenuated, and thelaw of the rude tribes of Palestine moulded to the varied taste andtemper of a cosmopolitan society, while the text itself was embalmed inthe _Masora_, an elaborate system of punctuation and notation, to everyparticle of which, to insure its uncorrupted preservation, a mysticalsignificance was attached. By this curious contrivance the letter of theLaw, the charter of Judaism, was sanctified forever, while its spiritwas remodelled to the exigencies of the present or the future, till itwould have been no longer recognized by its authors, or even by veryrecent disciples. To this new learning of traditions and glosses theardent youth of the nation devoted itself with a fanaticism not lessvehement than that which had fought and bled half a century before. Thename of the rabbi Akiba is preserved as a type of the hierophant ofrestored Judaism. 

The stories depicting him are best expounded as myths and figures. Hereached, it was said, the age of a hundred and twenty years, the periodassigned in the sacred records to his prototype, the law-giver Moses. 

Like David, in his youth he kept sheep on the mountains; like Jacob, heserved a master, a rich citizen of Jerusalem, for Jerusalem in his youthwas still standing. His master's daughter cast the eyes of affectionupon him and offered him a secret marriage; but this damsel was no otherthan Jerusalem itself, so often imaged to the mind of the Jewish peopleby the figure of a maiden, a wife, or a widow. 

This mystic bride required him to repair to the schools, acquireknowledge and wisdom, surround himself with disciples; and such, as wehave seen, was the actual policy of the new defenders of Judaism. 

The damsel was rebuked by her indignant father; but when, after thelapse of twelve years, Akiba returned to claim his bride, with twelvethousand scholars at his heels, he heard her replying that, long as hehad been absent, she only wished him to prolong his stay twice over, soas to double his knowledge; whereupon he returned patiently to hisstudies, and frequented the schools twelve years longer. Twice twelveyears thus passed, he returned once more with twice twelve thousanddisciples, and then his wife received him joyfully, and, covered as shewas with rags, an outcast and a beggar, he presented her to hisastonished followers as the being to whom he owed his wisdom, his fame, and his fortune. 

Such were the legends with which the new learning was consecrated to thedefence of Jewish nationality. 

The concentration of the Roman forces on the soil of Palestine seems tohave repressed for a season all overt attempts at insurrection. 

The Jewish leaders restrained their followers from action as long as itwas possible to feed their spirit with hopes only. It was not till aboutthe fourteenth year of Hadrian's reign that the final revolt broke out. 

When the Jews of Palestine launched forth upon the war, the doctorAkiba gave place to the warrior Barcochebas. This gallant warrior, thelast of the national heroes, received or assumed his title, "the Son ofthe Star, " given successively to several leaders of the Jewish people, in token of the fanatic expectations of divine deliverance by which hiscountrymen did not yet cease to be animated. Many were the legends whichdeclared this champion's claims to the leadership of the national cause. His size and strength were vaunted as more than human. "It was the armof God, not of man, " said Hadrian when he saw at last the corpseencircled by a serpent, "that could alone strike down the giant. " Flameand smoke were seen to issue from his lips in speaking, a portent whichwas rationalized centuries later into a mere conjurer's artifice. Theconcourse of the Jewish nation at his summons was symbolized, with acurious reference to the prevalent idea of Israel as a school and theLaw as a master, by the story that at Bethar, the appointed rendezvousand last stronghold of the national defence, were four hundredacademies, each ruled by four hundred teachers, each teacher boasting aclass of four hundred pupils. 

Akiba, now at the extreme point of his protracted existence, like Samuelof old, nominated the new David to the chiefship of the people. Hegirded Barcochebas with the sword of Jehovah, placed the staff ofcommand in his hand, and held himself the stirrup by which he vaultedinto the saddle. 

The last revolt of the Jewish people was precipitated apparently by theincreased severity of the measures which the rebellion under Trajan haddrawn down. They complained that Hadrian had enrolled himself as aproselyte of the Law, and were doubly incensed against him as apersecutor and a renegade. 

This assertion, indeed, may have no foundation. On the other hand, it isnot unlikely that this prince, a curious explorer of religions ofopinions, had sought initiation into some of the mysteries of the Jewishfaith and ritual. 

But however this may be, he gave them mortal offence by perceiving theclear distinction between Judaism and Christianity, and by forbiddingthe Jews to sojourn in the town which he was again raising on the ruinsof Jerusalem, while he allowed free access to their rivals. He is saidto have even prohibited the rite of circumcision by which they jealouslymaintained their separation from the nations of the West. 

At last, when they rose in arms, he sent his best generals against them. Tinnius Rufus was long baffled and often defeated; but Julius Severus, following the tactics of Vespasian, constantly refused the battle theyoffered him, and reduced their strongholds in succession by superiordiscipline and resources. Barcochebas struggled with the obstinacy ofdespair. Every excess of cruelty was committed on both sides, and it iswell, perhaps, that the details of this mortal spasm are almost whollylost to us. 

The later Christian writers, while they allude with unseemly exultationto the overthrow of one inveterate enemy by another who proved himselfin the end not less inveterate, affirmed that the barbarities of theJewish leader were mainly directed against themselves. 

On such interested assertions we shall place little reliance. In thecounter-narration of the Jews even the name of Christian iscontemptuously disregarded. It relates, however, how at the storming ofBethar, when Barcochebas perished in the field, ten of the most learnedof the rabbis were taken and put cruelly to death, while Akiba, reservedto expire last, and torn in pieces with hot pincers, continued to attestthe great principle of the Jewish doctrine, still exclaiming in hisdeath throes, _Jehovah Erhad_! ("God is one"). 

The Jews who fell in these their latest combats are counted by hundredsof thousands, and we may conclude that the suppression of the revolt wasfollowed by sanguinary proscriptions, by wholesale captivity and generalbanishment. The dispersion of the unhappy race, particularly in theWest, was now complete and final. The sacred soil of Jerusalem wasoccupied by a Roman colony, which received the name of Ælia Capitolina, with reference to the Emperor who founded it, and to the supreme God ofthe pagan mythology, installed on the desecrated summits of Zion andMoriah. 

The fane of Jupiter was erected on the site of the holy Temple, and ashrine of Venus planted, we are assured, on the very spot hallowed toChristians by our Lord's crucifixion. But Hadrian had no purpose ofinsulting the disciples of Jesus, and this desecration, if the traditionbe true, was probably accidental. A Jewish legend affirms that thefigure of a swine was sculptured, in bitter mockery, over a gate of thenew city. The Jews have retorted with equal scorn that the effigy of theunclean animal, which represented to their minds every low and bestialappetite, was a fitting emblem of the colony and its founder, of thelewd worship of its gods, and the vile propensities of its Emperor. 

The fancy of later Christian writers that Hadrian regarded theircoreligionists with special consideration seems founded onmisconception. We hear, indeed, of the graciousness with which heallowed them, among other sectarians, to defend their usages and expoundtheir doctrines in his presence; and doubtless his curiosity, if noworthier feeling, was moved by the fact, which he fully appreciated, ofthe interest they excited in certain quarters of the empire. But thereis no evidence that his favor extended further than to the recognitionof their independence of the Jews, from whom they now formally separatedthemselves, and the discouragement of the local persecutions to whichthey were occasionally subjected. 

So far the bigoted hostility of their enemies was overruled at last intheir favor. 

In another way they learned to profit by the example of their rivals. From the recent policy of the Jews they might understand the advantageto a scattered community, without a local centre or a political status, of erecting in a volume of sacred records their acknowledged standard offaith and practice. 

The scriptures of the New Testament, like the _Nuschua_ of the Jewishrabbis, took the place of the holy of holies as the tabernacle of theirGod and the pledge of their union with him. 

The canon of their sacred books, however casual its apparent formation, was indeed a providential development. The habitual references ofbishops and doctors to the words of their Founder, and the writings ofthe first disciples, guided them to the proper sources of their faithand taught them justly to discriminate the genuine from the spurious. 

Meagre as are the remains of Christian literature of the second century, they tend to confirm our assurance that the scriptures of the newdispensation were known and recognized as divine at that early period, and that the Church of Christ, the future mistress of the world, wasalready become a great social fact, an empire within the empire. 

MARTYRDOM OF POLYCARP AND JUSTIN MARTYR

POLYCARP'S EPISTLE TO THE PHILIPPIANS

A. D. 155

H. COX POLYCARP

 The Roman emperor Antoninus Pius, who died A. D. 161, had been tolerant to the new Judaic sect known as Christians. Under his mild _regime_, although he did not encourage them, the faithful had greatly multiplied. The Christians had become a body great enough to be reckoned with in a political sense. The populace were generally hostile to them as "enemies of the gods. " More than one of the apostolic fathers had suffered martyrdom, among them Ignatius, a disciple of St. John and bishop of Antioch, who is said to have been thrown to the lions in the Circus about A. D. 107. But the account of the martyrdom of Polycarp is probably the first authentic description we have. 

 Polycarp was born about A. D. 60, probably of Christian parents. He bridges the little-known period between the age of his master, the apostle John, and that of his own disciple, Irenæus. During the earlier half of the second century he was bishop of Smyrna. Ephesus had become the new hope of the faith, and in that city Polycarp had received his education and "lived in familiar intercourse with many who had seen Christ. " He was also intimate with Papias and Ignatius. The only writing of Polycarp extant is the Epistle to the Philippians, which follows. It is of great value for questions of the canon, the origin of the Church, and the Ignatian epistles. Of the authenticity of Polycarp's epistle Rev. Father W. O'B. Pardow, S. J. , says, "There are long and learned controversies about some of these [apocryphal] books. " Of that in question he says: "Probably authentic; not inspired. " Archbishop Wake was fully convinced of its genuineness, and his translation has been here used. 

 Justin, surnamed "the Martyr, " was born at Sichen, Samaria, about A. D. 100. After his conversion to Christianity he wandered about arguing for the truth of the new faith. He was of a bold, aggressive nature, and scorned to temporize in things spiritual. His language and mode of address were borrowed from the Stoics, but were the "true utterance of his own manly soul. 'You can kill us; you cannot harm us, '" was his answer when condemned for being a Christian. The words proceeded from a believer ready and destined to give his life for the faith. 

 Truly did the blood of the martyrs prove the seed of the Church. Polycarp's Epistle to the Philippians, hereto annexed, is taken from a rare work which contains the uncanonical books of the period of Christ's infancy and the early days of the Church, entitled _The Apocryphal Books of the New Testament_. The laity have little knowledge of it, but it is well known by the clergy. 

HOMERSHAM COX

Polycarp, bishop of Smyrna, was undoubtedly a companion of the apostleJohn, and received instruction from other apostles. "About this time, "says Eusebius, referring to the commencement of the second century, "flourished Polycarp in Asia, an intimate disciple of the apostles, whoreceived the episcopate of the Church of Smyrna at the hands ofeye-witnesses and servants of the Lord. "

The lengthened life of the apostle John, who attained to an extreme oldage, connects the fathers of the second century with the immediatefollowers of Christ. Polycarp must have been a contemporary of St. Johnfor about twenty years. 

A letter of Irenæus, who was a pupil of Polycarp, has been preserved, which gives a graphic and remarkably interesting account of the familiarintercourse of Polycarp with the apostle. The letter is addressed byIrenæus to a friend named Florinus, with whom he remonstrates forholding erroneous doctrines:

"These doctrines, O Florinus, to say the least, are not of a soundunderstanding. These doctrines are inconsistent with the Church, andcalculated to thrust those that follow them into the greatest impiety;these doctrines not even the heretics out of the Church ever attemptedto assert; these doctrines were never delivered to thee by thepresbyters before us, those who also were the immediate disciples of theapostles. 

"For I saw thee when I was yet a boy in Lower Asia with Polycarp movingin great splendor at court, and endeavoring by all means to gain hisesteem. I remember the events of those times much better than those ofmore recent occurrence, as the studies of our youth growing with ourminds unite with them so firmly that I can tell also the very placewhere the blessed Polycarp was accustomed to sit and discourse, and alsohis entrances, his walks, his manner of life, the form of his body, hisconversations with the people and familiar intercourse with John, as hewas accustomed to tell, as also his familiarity with those that hadseen the Lord; also concerning his miracles, his doctrine; all thesewere told by Polycarp in consistency with the Holy Scriptures, and hehad received them from the eye-witnesses of the doctrine of salvation. 

"These things, by the mercy of God and the opportunity then afforded me, I attentively heard, noting them down, not on paper, but in my heart;and these same facts I am always in the habit, by the grace of God, ofrecalling faithfully to mind; and I can bear witness in the sight of Godthat, if that blessed and apostolic presbyter had heard any such thingas this, he would have exclaimed and stopped his ears, and, according tohis custom, would have said: 'O good God! unto what things hast thoureserved me, that I should tolerate these things?' He would have fledfrom the place in which he had sat or stood hearing doctrines likethese. 

"From his epistles also, which he wrote to the neighboring churches inorder to confirm them, or to some of the brethren in order to admonishor exhort them, the same thing may be clearly shown. "

In another place Irenæus states that Polycarp was appointed bishop ofSmyrna by the apostles themselves:

"Polycarp also was not only instructed by apostles, and conversed withmany who had seen Christ, but was also by apostles in Asia appointedbishop of the Church in Smyrna, whom I also saw in my early youth, forhe lived a very long time; and when a very old man, gloriously and mostnobly suffering martyrdom, departed this life, having always taughtthose things which he had learned from the apostles, and which theChurch has handed down, and which alone are true. "

Of the numerous letters which Polycarp as bishop of Smyrna wrote to theneighboring churches only one is extant. It is addressed by "Polycarpand the presbyters with him to the Church of God sojourning atPhilippi, " and probably was written about the middle of the secondcentury. In this epistle he praises the Philippians for their firmChristian faith, and exhorts them to adhere to the doctrine which St. Paul had taught them by word of mouth and by his epistle. After variousexhortations to presbyters, deacons, and other members of the Church, Polycarp refers to the martyrdom of Ignatius, but apparently wasignorant of the circumstances attending it, for the epistle concludeswith a request for information respecting him. 

The martyrdom of Polycarp himself is described in an epistle addressedby the Church of Smyrna, of which he was bishop, to the Church ofPhilomelium, a city of the neighboring province of Phrygia. There areprobably some interpolations; but, excepting these, the document canhardly be of much later date than the death of the martyr. There areseveral reasons for this conclusion. 

In the first place, the general tenor shows that it is intended to giveinformation of events which had recently happened; secondly, apostscript states that a copy of it belonged to Irenæus, a disciple ofPolycarp; and thirdly, a large part of it is transcribed by Eusebius, who treats it as an authentic document. 

The date of the death of Polycarp is well ascertained to be A. D. 167, inthe reign of Marcus Aurelius. For some time previously there had been acruel persecution of the Christians at Smyrna, in which both the Gentileand Jewish inhabitants took part. Against Polycarp especially, as thechief minister of the Christian Church, their hostility was directed. After several Christians had been tortured and thrown to the lions, themultitude clamored for the death of the bishop. 

Yielding to the urgent entreaties of those around him Polycarp quittedthe city; but he was pursued and brought back. The proconsul, who hadreluctantly allowed him to be arrested, was anxious to save him. 

"When he was led forward, a great tumult arose among those that heard hewas taken. At length, as he advanced, the proconsul asked him whether hewas Polycarp, and, he answering that he was, he urged him to denyChrist, saying, 'Have a regard for your age, ' and adding similarexpressions such as are usual for them to employ. 

"'Swear, ' he said, 'by the genius of Cæsar. Repent. Say, "Away withthose that deny the gods. "'

"But Polycarp, with a countenance grave and serious, and contemplatingthe whole multitude that were collected in the stadium, beckoned withhis hand to them, and with a sigh looked up to heaven and said, 'Awaywith the atheists. '

"The governor continued to urge him again, saying: 'Swear, and I willdismiss you. Revile Christ. '

"'Revile Christ!' Polycarp replied. 'Eighty-and-six years have I servedhim and he never did me wrong; and how can I now blaspheme my King whohas saved me?'"

The governor continued to urge him, and in vain threatened him with thewild beasts. At length a herald was ordered to proclaim in the midst ofthe stadium that "Polycarp confesses he is a Christian. " Thereupon themultitude cried out, "This is that teacher of Asia, the father of theChristians, the destroyer of our gods, " and demanded that he should beburned alive; and the governor gave sentence accordingly. 

According to the horrid custom of the times the executioners were aboutto fasten his hands to the stake by spikes, when he begged that he mightbe bound merely, saying that He who gave him strength to bear the flameswould also give him strength to remain unmoved on the pyre. 

This last request was granted; and being bound to the stake, he utteredthis beautiful prayer:

"Father of thy well-beloved and blessed Son, Jesus Christ, through whomwe have received the knowledge of thee, the God of angels and powers andall creation, and of all the family of the righteous that live beforethee, I bless thee that thou hast thought me worthy of the present dayand hour, to have a share in the number of the martyrs and in the crossof Christ unto the resurrection of eternal life, both of the soul andbody, in the incorruptible felicity of the Holy Spirit, among whom may Ibe received in thy sight this day as a rich and acceptable sacrifice, asthou, the faithful and true God, hast prepared, hast revealed, andfulfilled. Wherefore, on this account and for all things, I praise thee, I bless thee, I glorify thee through the eternal High Priest, JesusChrist, thy well-beloved Son, through whom glory be to thee with him inthe Holy Ghost, both now and evermore. Amen. "

The flames did not immediately seize upon his body; so one of theexecutioners--in mercy perhaps--plunged a sword into his body, and soended his sufferings. The centurion then placed the body in the midst ofthe fire and burned it, "according to the custom of the Gentiles. "

"Thus at last, taking up his bones, valued more than precious stones, more tried than gold, we deposited them where they should be. Therealso, as far as we can, the Lord will grant us to celebrate the natalday of his martyrdom in joy and gladness, both in commemoration of thosewho finished their contest before, and to prepare those that shall behereafter. "

There is something wonderfully touching in this reference to the "natalday of his martyrdom. " Those who wrote it thought that the day on whichPolycarp was pierced by the sword was not the day of his death, but thebirthday of a new and happier life. 

 * * * * *

Justin, who from the manner of his death is often called Justin Martyr, was a native of Samaria. He was of Roman parentage, and was born earlyin the second century, and therefore must have been contemporary withmany persons who had seen some of the apostles. 

Justin, who was addicted to philosophical pursuits, has given in one ofhis works a very curious account of his studies and search afterreligious truth. First, he thought to find it in the Stoic philosophy:

"I surrendered myself to a certain Stoic, and, having spent aconsiderable time with him, when I had not acquired any furtherknowledge of God--for he did not know it himself, and said suchinstruction was unnecessary--I left him and betook myself to another, who was called a Peripatetic, and, as he fancied, shrewd. And this man, after having entertained me for a few days, requested me to settle thefee, in order that our intercourse might not be unprofitable. Him, too, for this reason I abandoned, believing him to be no philosopher at all. "

Disgusted with the mercenary spirit of the Peripatetic, the inquirernext determined to make a trial of Pythagorean philosophy. But thecelebrated Pythagorean teacher whom he consulted wished him to learnmusic, astronomy, and geometry. Those kinds of knowledge, however, werenot what Justin wanted, and besides he thought that they would take uptoo much time. So he next resolved to make a trial of Platonism; andthis time he was more successful. 

"In my helpless condition it occurred to me to have a meeting with thePlatonists, for their fame was great. I thereupon spent as much of mytime as possible with one who had lately settled in our city--asagacious man holding a high position among the Platonists--and Iprogressed and made the greatest improvements daily. And the perceptionof immaterial things quite overpowered me, and the contemplation ofideas furnished my mind with wings, so that in a little while I supposedthat I had become wise; and such was my folly that I expected forthwithto look upon God, for this is the end of Plato's philosophy. "

Justin then proceeds to give a remarkably interesting and graphicaccount of his conversion to Christianity:

"And while I was thus disposed, when I wished to be filled with greatquietness and to shun the path of men, I used to go into a certain fieldnot far from the sea. And when I was near that spot one day where Ipurposed to be by myself, a certain old man of dignified appearance, exhibiting meek and venerable manners, followed me at a little distance. And when I turned around on him, having halted, I fixed my eyes ratherkeenly upon him. "

Justin gets into conversation with the old man and says that he delightsin solitary spots, where his attention is not distracted and where hisconverse with himself is uninterrupted, and proceeds to a fervidlaudation of philosophy. 

"'Does philosophy, then, make happiness?' said he, interrupting. 'Assuredly, ' said I, 'and it alone. ' 'What, then, is philosophy?' hesaid, 'and what is happiness? Pray tell me, unless something hinders youfrom saying. '

"'Philosophy, ' said I, 'is a knowledge of that which really exists and aclear perception of truth, and happiness is the reward of such knowledgeand wisdom. ' 'But what do you call God?' said he. 'That which alwaysmaintains the same nature and is the cause of all other things--that, indeed, is God. ' So I answered him, and he listened with pleasure. "

The conversation, which is too long to be fully transcribed, turns onthe attributes of the soul. Justin discourses on that topic after themanner of the Platonists. The old man, on the other hand, urges him tostudy the prophets of the Old Testament, for they predicted the comingof Christ, and their prophecies have been fulfilled. "'They, ' said he, 'both glorified the Creator, the God and Father of all, and proclaimedhis Son the Christ sent by him. But, ' he added, 'pray that, above allthings, the gates of light may be opened to you, for these things cannotbe perceived or understood by all, but only by him to whom God and hisChrist have imparted wisdom. '

"When he had spoken these and many other things which there is no timefor mentioning at present, he went away, bidding me attend to them, andI have not seen him since. But straightway a flame was kindled in mysoul, and a love of the prophets and of those men who are friends ofChrist possessed me; and whilst revolving his words in my mind I foundthis philosophy alone to be safe and profitable. Thus and for thisreason I am a philosopher. Moreover, I would that all, making aresolution similar to my own, would regard the words of the Saviour, forthey possess a terrible power in themselves, and are sufficient toinspire those who turn aside from the path of rectitude with awe, whilethe sweetest rest is afforded to those who diligently observe them. "

The _Dialogue_ from which these passages are taken is a real orimaginary disputation with Trypho, a learned Jew at Ephesus, respectingthe principles of Christianity, and contains an elaborate demonstrationthat Christ is the Messiah of the Old Testament. The controversy iscarried on with courtesy on both sides, and each disputant is equallyearnest in his attempt to convert the other. 

Justin was a very copious writer. The two most important of his writingsnow remaining are the two _Apologies_. These are certainly the twoearliest of the numerous ancient pleas for toleration of Christianitynow extant. The first _Apologia_ is addressed to the emperor AntoninusPius and the Roman senate and the "whole people of the Romans"; and thepurport of it may be inferred from the commencement, in which Justinsays that he presents this "address and petition in behalf of allnations who are unjustly hated and wantonly abused, myself being one ofthem. "

The second _Apologia_ was addressed to the Roman senate, probably in thereign of Antoninus Marcus Aurelius, and successor of Antoninus Pius. Inthis work Justin appeals indignantly to the Roman senate against theunjust conduct of one Urbicus, who at Rome had condemned several personsto death simply because they professed to be Christians. This Urbicusseems to have held the office of prefect of the city--a magistrate fromwhom there was no appeal except to the prince himself, or, as this_Apologia_ would suggest, to the senate. 

The two _Apologies_ contain the most vehement invectives against thewhole system of heathen idolatry, and accuse Jupiter and the other godswhom the Romans revered of ineffable vices. 

Of course the man who could thus tell the Roman senate and people thatall that they held sacred was unspeakably and hideously wicked couldexpect but one fate. Justin threw down the gauntlet, and the constitutedauthorities very quietly took it up, with a result which, as the humanpower was all with them, it was not difficult to foresee. 

Some time in the reign of Aurelius, but in what year is not known, Justin and several other Christians were accused before Rusticus, prefect of Rome, of disobedience to certain decrees then in force, bywhich Christians who refused to sacrifice to the gods were liable to beput to death. It is difficult to reconcile the passing of these decreeswith the known character of Aurelius, who is universally described as ahumane, as a benevolent king. The probable explanation is that, like hispredecessor Trajan, he was actuated by motives of state policy, andregarded Christianity as rebellion against the authority of the State. 

Eusebius has given an account of the martyrdom of Justin upon theauthority of Tatian, who was a disciple of the martyr. This accountsubstantially agrees with the very ancient _Martyrdom of Justin_, whichconcludes thus:

"The prefect says to Justin: 'Hearken, you who are called learned andthink that you know true doctrines: if you are scourged and beheaded, doyou believe that you will ascend into heaven?'

"Justin said, 'I hope that if I endure these things I shall have thisgift, for I know that to all who have thus lived there abides the divinefavor until the completion of the world. '

"Rusticus, the prefect, said, 'Do you suppose that you will ascend intoheaven to receive such a recompense?' Justin said, 'I do not suppose it, but I know and am fully persuaded of it. '

"Thus also said the other Christians, 'Do what you will, for we areChristians and do not sacrifice to idols. '

"Rusticus, the prefect, pronounced sentence, saying, 'Let those who haverefused to sacrifice to the gods and to yield to the command of theEmperor be scourged and led away to suffer decapitation according to thelaw. '

"The holy martyrs, having glorified God and having gone forth to theaccustomed place, were beheaded, and perfected their testimony in theconfession of the Saviour. And some of the faithful, having secretlyremoved their bodies, laid them in a suitable place, the grace of ourLord Jesus Christ having wrought along with them, to whom be gloryforever and ever. Amen. "

THE EPISTLE OF POLYCARP TO THE PHILIPPIANS

Polycarp, and the presbyters that are with him, to the Church of Godwhich is at Philippi: mercy unto you and peace from God Almighty and theLord Jesus Christ, our Saviour, be multiplied. I rejoiced greatly withyou in our Lord Jesus Christ, that ye received the images of a truelove, and accompanied, as it is behooved you, those who were in bonds, becoming saints; which are the crowns of such as are truly chosen by Godand our Lord: as also that the root of the faith which was preached fromancient times remains firm in you to this day; and brings forth fruit toour Lord Jesus Christ, who suffered himself to be brought even to thedeath for our sins. Whom God hath raised up, having loosed the pains ofdeath; whom, having not seen, ye love; in whom, though now ye see himnot, yet believing, ye rejoice with joy unspeakable and full of glory. 

Into which many desire to enter; knowing that by grace ye are saved; notby works, but by the will of God through Jesus Christ. Wherefore girdingup the loins of your minds, serve the Lord with fear and in truth;laying aside all empty and vain speech, and the error of many; believingin him that raised up our Lord Jesus Christ from the dead, and hathgiven him glory and a throne at his right hand. To whom all things aremade subject, both that are in heaven and that are in earth; whom everyliving creature shall worship; who shall come to be the judge of thequick and dead: whose blood God shall require of them that believe inhim. 

But he that raised up Christ from the dead shall also raise up us inlike manner, if we do his will and walk according to his commandments;and love those things which he loved; abstaining from allunrighteousness, inordinate affection, and love of money; from evilspeaking; false witness; not rendering evil for evil, or railing forrailing, or striking for striking, or cursing for cursing. Butremembering what the Lord has taught us, saying, Judge not, and ye shallnot be judged; forgive and ye shall be forgiven; be merciful, and yeshall obtain mercy; for with the same measure that ye mete withal, itshall be measured to you again. And again, that blessed are the poor andthey that are persecuted for righteousness' sake; for theirs is thekingdom of God. 

These things, my brethren, I took not the liberty of myself to writeunto you concerning righteousness, but you yourselves before encouragedme to it. For neither can I, nor any other such as I am, come up to thewisdom of the blessed and renowned Paul: who, being himself in personwith those who then lived, did with all exactness and soundness teachthe word of truth; and being gone from you wrote an epistle to you. Intowhich, if you look, you will be able to edify yourselves in the faiththat has been delivered unto you; which is the mother of us all; beingfollowed with hope, and led on by a general love, both toward God andtoward Christ and toward our neighbor. 

For if any man has these things he has fulfilled the law ofrighteousness: for he that has charity is far from all sin. But the loveof money is the root of all evil. Knowing therefore that as we broughtnothing into this world, so neither may we carry anything out; let usarm ourselves with the armor of righteousness. And teach ourselves firstto walk according to the commandments of the Lord; and then your wivesto walk likewise according to the faith that is given to them; incharity, and in purity; loving their own husbands with all sincerity, and all others alike with all temperance; and to bring up their childrenin the instruction and fear of the Lord. The widows likewise teach thatthey be sober as to what concerns the faith of the Lord: praying alwaysfor all men; being far from all detraction, evil speaking, falsewitness; from covetousness, and from all evil. Knowing that they are thealtars of God, who sees all blemishes, and from whom nothing is hid; whosearches out the very reasonings, and thoughts, and secrets of ourhearts. 

Knowing, therefore, that God is not mocked, we ought to walk worthy bothof his command and of his glory. Also the deacons must be blamelessbefore him, as the ministers of God in Christ, and not of men. Not falseaccusers; not double-tongued; not lovers of money; but moderate in allthings, compassionate, careful; walking according to the truth of theLord, who was the servant of all. Whom if we please in this presentworld we shall also be made partakers of that which is to come, according as he has promised to us, that he will raise us from the dead;and that if we shall walk worthy of him, we shall also reign togetherwith him, if we believe. 

In like manner the younger men must be unblamable in all things; aboveall, taking care of their purity, and to restrain themselves from allevil. For it is good to be cut off from the lusts that are in the world, because every such lust warreth against the Spirit; and neitherfornicators, nor effeminate, nor abusers of themselves with mankind, shall inherit the kingdom of God; nor they who do such things as arefoolish and unreasonable. Wherefore ye must needs abstain from all thesethings, being subject to the priests and deacons, as unto God andChrist. The virgins admonish to walk in a spotless and pure conscience. And let the elders be compassionate and merciful toward all; turningthem from their errors; seeking out those that are weak; not forgettingthe widows, the fatherless, and the poor; but always providing what isgood both in the sight of God and man. Abstaining from all wrath, respect of persons, and unrighteous judgment; and especially being freefrom all covetousness. Not easy to believe anything against any; notsevere in judgment; knowing that we are all debtors in point of sin. 

If, therefore, we pray to the Lord that he would forgive us, we oughtalso to forgive others; for we are all in the sight of our Lord and God;and must all stand before the judgment seat of Christ; and shall everyone give an account of himself. Let us, therefore, serve him in fear, and with all reverence as both himself hath commanded, and as theapostles who have preached the gospel unto us, and the prophets who haveforetold the coming of our Lord have taught us. Being zealous of what isgood; abstaining from all offence, and from false brethren; and fromthose who bear the name of Christ in hypocrisy; who deceive vain men. 

For whosoever does not confess that Jesus Christ is come in the flesh, he is antichrist; and whoever does not confess his suffering upon thecross is from the devil. And whosoever perverts the oracles of the Lordto his own lusts, and says that there shall neither be any resurrection, nor judgment, he is the first-born of Satan. Wherefore, leaving thevanity of many and their false doctrines, let us return to the word thatwas delivered to us from the beginning. Watching unto prayer, andpersevering in fasting. With supplication beseeching the all-seeing Godnot to lead us into temptation; as the Lord hath said, The spirit istruly willing, but the flesh is weak. Let us, therefore, without ceasinghold steadfastly to him who is our hope, and the earnest of ourrighteousness, even Jesus Christ; who his own self bare our sins in hisown body on the tree; who did no sin, neither was guile found in hismouth. But suffered all for us that we might live through him. Let us, therefore, imitate his patience; and if we suffer for his name, let usglorify him; for this example he has given us by himself, and so have webelieved. 

Wherefore I exhort all of you that ye obey the word of righteousness, and exercise all patience; which ye have seen set forth before our eyes, not only in the blessed Ignatius and Zosimus and Rufus, but in othersamong ourselves; and in Paul himself, and the rest of the apostles. Being confident of this, that all these have not run in vain, but infaith and righteousness, and are gone to the place that was due to themfrom the Lord, with whom they also suffered; for they loved not thispresent world, but him who died, and was raised again by God for us. Stand, therefore, in these things and follow the example of the Lord;being firm and immutable in the faith, lovers of the brotherhood, loversof one another, companions together in the truth, being kind and gentletoward each other, despising none. When it is in your power to do good, defer it not, for charity delivered from death. Be all of you subjectone to another, having your conversation honest among the Gentiles; thatby your good works both ye yourselves may receive praise and the Lordmay not be blasphemed through you. But woe be to him by whom the name ofthe Lord is blasphemed. Therefore teach all men sobriety; in which do yealso exercise yourselves. 

I am greatly afflicted for Valens, who was once a presbyter among you;that he should so little understand the place that was given to him inthe Church. Wherefore I admonish you that ye abstain from covetousness, and that ye be chaste, and true of speech. Keep yourselves from allevil; for he that in these things cannot govern himself, how shall he beable to prescribe them to another? If a man does not keep himself fromcovetousness he shall be polluted with idolatry and be judged as if hewere a Gentile. But who of you are ignorant of the judgment of God? Dowe not know that the saints shall judge the world, as Paul teaches? ButI have neither perceived nor heard anything of this kind in you, amongwhom the blessed Paul labored, and who are named in the beginning of hisepistle. For he glories of you in all the churches who then only knewGod; for we did not then know him. Wherefore, my brethren, I amexceedingly sorry both for him and for his wife; to whom God grant atrue repentance. 

And be ye also moderate upon this occasion, and look not upon such asenemies, but call them back as suffering and erring members, that ye maysave your whole body; for by so doing ye shall edify your own selves. For I trust that ye are well exercised in the Holy Scriptures, and thatnothing is hid from you; but at present it is not granted unto me topractise that which is written, Be angry and sin not; and again, Let notthe sun go down upon your wrath. Blessed be he that believeth andremembereth these things, which also I trust you do. 

Now the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, and he himself who isour everlasting high-priest, the Son of God, even Jesus Christ, buildyou up in faith and in truth and in all meekness and lenity; inpatience and long-suffering, in forbearance and chastity. And grant untoyou a lot and portion among his saints; and us with you, and to all thatare under the heavens, who shall believe in our Lord Jesus Christ, andin his Father who raised him from the dead. Pray for all the saints;pray also for kings, and all that are in authority; and for those whopersecute you, and hate you, and for the enemies of the cross; that yourfruit may be manifest in all, and that ye may be perfect in Christ. Yewrote to me, both ye and also Ignatius, that if anyone went from henceinto Syria he should bring your letters with him, which also I will takecare of, as soon as I shall have a convenient opportunity, either bymyself or him whom I shall send upon your account. The Epistles ofIgnatius, which he wrote unto us, together with what others of his havecome to our hands, we have sent to you, according to your order, whichare subjoined to this epistle. By which we may be greatly profited; forthey treat of faith and patience, and of all things that pertain toedification in the Lord Jesus. What you know certainly of Ignatius andthose that are with him signify to us. 

These things have I written unto you by Crescens, whom by this presentepistle I have recommended to you, and do now again commend. For he hashad his conversation without blame among us, and I suppose also withyou. Ye will also have regard unto his sister when she shall come untoyou. Be ye safe in the Lord Jesus Christ, and in favor with all yours. Amen. 

PERSECUTION OF THE CHRISTIANS IN GAUL

A. D. 177

FRANÇOIS P. G. GUIZOT

 That the persecutions of Christians under the Roman Empire should have been inaugurated by a Nero is not a subject of wonder in view of that Emperor's character as depicted in history through all ages since his own. But it is difficult to understand how an emperor like Trajan--an enlightened and humane ruler--if he was powerless to prevent, could have brought himself to give countenance to a policy at once so intolerant and cruel, and in the end to prove so short-sighted. A great cause prospers by persecution. The martyr-spirit is strengthened by blows and fagots. History has well proved the truth of that saying of the Church Fathers, tersely given by St. Jerome: _Est sanguis martyrium seminarium Ecclesiarum_ ("The blood of the martyrs is the seed of the Church"). 

 Still more incomprehensible to modern students is the fact that Marcus Aurelius, the imperial philosopher and benevolent man, should also be stained with the infamy of the persecutions. The charges brought against him as a cruel persecutor of the Christians have given rise to much dispute among historical scholars. Among modern Christian writers of favorable disposition toward Marcus, F. W. Farrar has perhaps as clearly as any set forth the views that explain his conduct and vindicate his reputation for humanity: "That he shared the profound dislike with which Christians were regarded is very probable. That he was a cold-blooded and virulent persecutor is utterly unlike his whole character. The deep calamities in which during his whole reign the empire was involved caused widespread distress, and roused into peculiar fury the feelings of the provincials against men whose atheism (for such they considered it to be) had kindled the anger of the gods. Marcus, when appealed to, simply let the existing law take its course. " In like manner the purely official or legal view of human affairs often leads the most kindly and conscientious of men to pursue or acquiesce in policies against which, in different situations, their moral nature would rebel. 

 There were many reasons which led the populace to hate Christians, whom, first of all, they regarded as being unpatriotic. While among Romans it was considered the highest honor to possess the privileges of Roman citizenship, the Christians announced that they were citizens of heaven. They shrank from public office and military service. 

 Again, the ancient religion of Rome was an adjunct of state dignity and ceremonial. It was hallowed by a thousand traditional and patriotic associations. The Christians regarded its rites and its popular assemblies with contempt and abhorrence. The Romans viewed the secret meetings of the Christians with suspicion, and accused them of abominable excesses and crime. They were known to have representatives in every important city of Gaul, Spain, Italy, and Asia; and the more their communities grew, the more the Roman populace raged against them. Only such considerations appear to mitigate the historical judgments against Aurelius for marring the splendor of his reign by persecutions. The tragedies enacted in the churches of Lyons and Vienne, as described in the following pages, form one of the most melancholy records of history. 

When Christianity began to penetrate into Gaul, it encountered there tworeligions very different one from the other, and infinitely moredifferent from the Christian religion; these were Druidism andpaganism--hostile one to the other, but with a hostility political only, and unconnected with those really religious questions that Christianitywas coming to raise. 

Druidism, considered as a religion, was a mass of confusion, wherein theinstinctive notions of the human race concerning the origin and destinyof the world and of mankind were mingled with the oriental dreams ofmetempsychosis--that pretended transmigration, at successive periods, ofimmortal souls into divers creatures. This confusion was worseconfounded by traditions borrowed from the mythologies of the East andthe North, by shadowy remnants of a symbolical worship paid to thematerial forces of nature, and by barbaric practices, such as humansacrifices, in honor of the gods or of the dead. 

People who are without the scientific development of language and theart of writing do not attain to systematic and productive religiouscreeds. There is nothing to show that, from the first appearance of theGauls in history to their struggle with victorious Rome, the religiousinfluence of Druidism had caused any notable progress to be made inGallic manners and civilization. A general and strong, but vague andincoherent, belief in the immortality of the soul was its noblestcharacteristic. But with the religious elements, at the same time coarseand mystical, were united two facts of importance: the Druids formed averitable ecclesiastical corporation, which had, throughout Gallicsociety, fixed attributes, special manners and customs, an existence atthe same time distinct and national; and in the wars with Rome thiscorporation became the most faithful representatives and the mostpersistent defenders of Gallic independence and nationality. 

The Druids were far more a clergy than Druidism was a religion; but itwas an organized and a patriotic clergy. It was especially on thisaccount that they exercised in Gaul an influence which was stillexistent, particularly in Northwestern Gaul, at the time whenChristianity reached the Gallic provinces of the South and Centre. 

The Græco-Roman paganism was, at this time, far more powerful thanDruidism in Gaul, and yet more lukewarm and destitute of all religiousvitality. It was the religion of the conquerors and of the State, andwas invested, in that quality, with real power; but, beyond that, it hadbut the power derived from popular customs and superstitions. As areligious creed, the Latin paganism was at bottom empty, indifferent, and inclined to tolerate all religions in the State, provided only thatthey, in their turn, were indifferent at any rate toward itself, andthat they did not come troubling the State, either by disobeying herrulers or by attacking her old deities, dead and buried beneath theirown still standing altars. 

Such were the two religions with which in Gaul nascent Christianity hadto contend. Compared with them it was, to all appearance, very small andvery weak; but it was provided with the most efficient weapons forfighting and beating them, for it had exactly the moral forces whichthey lacked. Christianity, instead of being, like Druidism, a religionexclusively national and hostile to all that was foreign, proclaimed auniversal religion, free from all local and national partiality, addressing itself to all men in the name of the same God, and offeringto all the same salvation. It is one of the strangest and mostsignificant facts in history that the religion most universally _human_, most dissociated from every consideration but that of the rights andwell-being of the human race in its entirety--that such a religion, beit repeated, should have come forth from the womb of the most exclusive, most rigorously and obstinately national religion that ever appeared inthe world, that is, Judaism. Such, nevertheless, was the birth ofChristianity; and this wonderful contrast between the essence and theearthly origin of Christianity was without doubt one of its mostpowerful attractions and most efficacious means of success. 

Against paganism Christianity was armed with moral forces not a whitless great. Confronting mythological traditions and poetical orphilosophical allegories, appeared a religion truly religious, concernedsolely with the relations of mankind to God and with their eternalfuture. To the pagan indifference of the Roman world the Christiansopposed the profound conviction of their faith, and not only theirfirmness in defending it against all powers and all dangers, but alsotheir ardent passion for propagating it without any motive but theyearning to make their fellows share in its benefits and its hopes. Theyconfronted, nay, they welcomed martyrdom, at one time to maintain theirown Christianity, at another to make others Christians around them;propagandism was for them a duty almost as imperative as fidelity. 

And it was not in memory of old and obsolete mythologies, but in thename of recent deeds and persons, in obedience to laws proceeding fromGod, One and Universal, in fulfilment and continuation of a contemporaryand superhuman history--that of Jesus Christ, the Son of God and Son ofMan--that the Christians of the first two centuries labored to convertto their faith the whole Roman world. Marcus Aurelius was contemptuouslyastonished at what he called the obstinacy of the Christians; he knewnot from what source these nameless heroes drew a strength superior tohis own, though he was at the same time emperor and sage. It isimpossible to assign with exactness the date of the first footprints andfirst labors of Christianity in Gaul. It was not, however, from Italy, nor in the Latin tongue and through Latin writers, but from the East andthrough the Greeks, that it first came and began to spread. Marseillesand the different Greek colonies, originally from Asia Minor and settledupon the shores of the Mediterranean or along the Rhone, mark the routeand were the places whither the first Christian missionaries carriedtheir teaching: on this point the letters of the apostles and thewritings of the first two generations of their disciples are clear andabiding proof. 

In the West of the empire, especially in Italy, the Christians at theirfirst appearance were confounded with the Jews, and comprehended underthe same name. "The emperor Claudius, " says Suetonius, "drove from Rome(A. D. 52) the Jews who, at the instigation of Christus, were incontinual commotion. " After the destruction of Jerusalem by Titus (A. D. 70), the Jews, Christian or not, dispersed throughout the empire; butthe Christians were not slow to signalize themselves by their religiousfervor, and to come forward everywhere under their own true name. 

Lyons became the chief centre of Christian preaching and association inGaul. As early as the first half of the second century there existedthere a Christian congregation, regularly organized as a church, andalready sufficiently important to be in intimate and frequentcommunication with the Christian churches of the East and West. There isa tradition, generally admitted, that St. Pothinus, the first bishop ofLyons, was sent thither from the East by the bishop of Smyrna, St. Polycarp, himself a disciple of St. John. One thing is certain, that theChristian Church of Lyons produced Gaul's first martyrs, among whom wasthe bishop, St. Pothinus. 

It was under Marcus Aurelius, the most philosophical and mostconscientious of the emperors, that there was enacted for the first timein Gaul, against nascent Christianity, that scene of tyranny andbarbarity which was to be renewed so often and during so many centuriesin the midst of Christendom itself. In the eastern provinces of theempire and in Italy the Christians had already been several timespersecuted, now with cold-blooded cruelty, now with some slighthesitation and irresolution. Nero had caused them to be burned in thestreets of Rome, accusing them of the conflagration himself had kindled, and, a few months before his fall, St. Peter and St. Paul had undergonemartyrdom at Rome. Domitian had persecuted and put to death Christianseven in his own family, and though invested with the honors of theconsulate. 

Righteous Trajan, when consulted by Pliny the Younger on the conduct heshould adopt in Bithynia toward the Christians, had answered: "It isimpossible, in this sort of matter, to establish any certain generalrule; there must be no quest set on foot against them, and no unsignedindictment must be accepted; but if they be accused and convicted, theymust be punished. " To be punished, it sufficed that they were convictedof being Christians; and it was Trajan himself who condemned St. Ignatius, bishop of Antioch, to be brought to Rome and thrown to thebeasts, for the simple reason that he was highly Christian. MarcusAurelius, not only by virtue of his philosophical conscientiousness, butby reason of an incident in his history, seemed bound to be further thanany other from persecuting the Christians. 

During one of his campaigns on the Danube, A. D. 174, his army wassuffering cruelly from fatigue and thirst; and at the very moment whenthey were on the point of engaging in a great battle against thebarbarians, the rain fell in abundance, refreshed the Roman soldiers, and conduced to their victory. There was in the Roman army a legion, theTwelfth, called the _Melitine_ or the _Thundering_, which bore on itsroll many Christian soldiers. They gave thanks for the rain and thevictory to the one omnipotent God who had heard their prayers, while thepagans rendered like honor to Jupiter, the Rain-giver and the Thunderer. The report about these Christians got spread abroad and gained credit inthe empire, so much so that there was attributed to Marcus Aurelius aletter, in which by reason, no doubt, of this incident, he forbadepersecution of the Christians. 

Tertullian, a contemporary witness, speaks of this letter in perfectconfidence; and the Christian writers of the following century did nothesitate to regard it as authentic. Nowadays, a strict examination ofits existing text does not allow such a character to be attributed toit. At any rate the persecutions of the Christians were not forbidden, for in the year 177, that is, only three years after the victory ofMarcus Aurelius over the Germans, there took place, undoubtedly by hisorders, the persecution which caused at Lyons the first Gallicmartyrdom. This was the fourth, or, according to others, the fifth greatimperial persecution of the Christians. 

Most tales of the martyrs were written long after the event, and came tobe nothing more than legends laden with details often utterly puerile ordevoid of proof. The martyrs of Lyons in the second century wrote, soto speak, their own history; for it was their comrades, eye-witnesses oftheir sufferings and their virtue, who gave an account of them in a longletter addressed to their friends in Asia Minor, and written withpassionate sympathy and pious prolixity, but bearing all thecharacteristics of truth. It seems desirable to submit for perusal thatdocument, which has been preserved almost entire in the _EcclesiasticalHistory_ of Eusebius, bishop of Cæsarea in the third century, and whichwill exhibit, better than any modern representations, the state of factsand of souls in the midst of the imperial persecutions, and the mightyfaith, devotion, and courage with which the early Christians faced themost cruel trials:

"The servants of Christ, dwelling at Vienne and Lyons in Gaul, to thebrethren settled in Asia and Phrygia, who have the same faith and hopeof redemption that we have, peace, grace, and glory from God the Fatherand Jesus Christ our Lord!

"None can tell to you in speech or fully set forth to you in writing theweight of our misery, the madness and rage of the Gentiles against thesaints, and all that hath been suffered by the blessed martyrs. Ourenemy doth rush upon us with all the fury of his powers, and alreadygiveth us a foretaste and the first-fruits of all the license with whichhe doth intend to set upon us. He hath omitted nothing for the trainingof his agents against us, and he doth exercise them in a sort ofpreparatory work against the servants of the Lord. Not only are wedriven from the public buildings, from the baths, and from the Forum, but it is forbidden to all our people to appear publicly in any placewhatsoever. 

"The grace of God hath striven for us against the devil: at the sametime that it hath sustained the weak, it hath opposed to the Evil One, as it were, pillars of strength--men strong and valiant, ready to drawon themselves all his attacks. They have had to bear all manner ofinsult; they have deemed but a small matter that which others find hardand terrible; and they have thought only of going to Christ, proving bytheir example that the sufferings of this world are not worthy to be putin the balance with the glory which is to be manifested in us. Theyhave endured, in the first place, all the outrages that could be heapedupon them by the multitude, outcries, blows, thefts, spoliation, stoning, imprisonment, all that the fury of the people could deviseagainst hated enemies. Then, dragged to the Forum by the militarytribune and the magistrates of the city, they have been questionedbefore the people and cast into prison until the coming of the governor. He, from the moment our people appeared before him, committed all mannerof violence against them. 

"Then stood forth one of our brethren, Vettius Epagathus, full of lovetoward God and his neighbor, living a life so pure and strict that, young as he was, men held him to be the equal of the aged Zacharias. Hecould not bear that judgment so unjust should go forth against us, and, moved with indignation, he asked leave to defend his brethren, and toprove that there was in them no kind of irreligion or impiety. Thosepresent at the tribunal, among whom he was known and celebrated, criedout against him, and the governor himself, enraged at so just a demand, asked him no more than this question, 'Art thou a Christian?'Straightway with a loud voice he declared himself a Christian, and wasplaced among the number of the martyrs. 

"Afterward, the rest began to be examined and classed. The first, firmand well prepared, made hearty and solemn confession of their faith. Others, ill prepared and with little firmness, showed that they lackedstrength for such a fight. About ten of them fell away, which caused usincredible pain and mourning. Their example broke down the courage ofothers, who, not being yet in bonds, though they had already had much tosuffer, kept close to the martyrs, and withdrew not out of their sight. Then were we all stricken with dread for the issue of the trial: notthat we had great fear of the torments inflicted, but because, prophesying the result according to the degree of courage of theaccused, we feared much falling away. They took, day by day, those ofour brethren who were worthy to replace the weak; so that all the bestof the two churches, those whose care and zeal had founded them, weretaken and confined. 

"They took, likewise, some of our slaves, for the governor had orderedthat they should be all summoned to attend in public; and they, fearingthe torments they saw the saints undergo, and instigated by thesoldiers, accused us falsely of odious deeds, such as the banquet ofThyestes, the incest of Oedipus, and other crimes which must not benamed or even thought of, and which we cannot bring ourselves to believethat men were ever guilty of. These reports having once spread among thepeople, even those persons who had hitherto by reason, perhaps, ofrelationship, shown moderation toward us, burst forth into bitterindignation against our people. Thus was fulfilled that which had beenprophesied by the Lord: 'The time cometh when whosoever shall kill youshall think that he doeth God service. ' Since that day the holy martyrshave suffered tortures that no words can express. 

"The fury of the multitude, of the governor, and of the soldiers fellchiefly upon Sanctus, a deacon of Vienne; upon Maturus, a neophytestill, but already a valiant champion of Christ; upon Attalus also, bornat Pergamus, but who hath ever been one of the pillars of our Church;upon Blandina, lastly, in whom Christ hath made it appear that personswho seem vile and despised of men are just those whom God holds in thehighest honor by reason of the excellent love they bear him, which ismanifested in their firm virtue and not in vain show. All of us, andeven Blandina's mistress here below, who fought valiantly with the othermartyrs, feared that this poor slave, so weak of body, would not be in acondition to freely confess her faith; but she was sustained by suchvigor of soul that the executioners, who from morn till eve put her toall manner of torture, failed in their efforts, and declared themselvesbeaten, not knowing what further punishment to inflict, and marvellingthat she still lived, with her body pierced through and through, andtorn piecemeal by so many tortures, of which a single one should havesufficed to kill her. But that blessed saint, like a valiant athlete, took fresh courage and strength from the confession of her faith; allfeeling of pain vanished, and ease returned to her at the mere utteranceof the words, 'I am a Christian, and no evil is wrought among us. '

"As for Sanctus, the executioners hoped that in the midst of thetortures inflicted upon him--the most atrocious which man coulddevise--they would hear him say something unseemly or unlawful; but sofirmly did he resist them, that, without even saying his name, or thatof his nation or city, or whether he was bond or free, he only repliedin the Roman tongue, to all questions, 'I am a Christian. ' Therein was, for him, his name, his country, his condition, his whole being; andnever could the Gentiles wrest from him another word. The fury of thegovernor and the executioners was redoubled against him; and, notknowing how to torment him further, they applied to his most tendermembers bars of red-hot iron. His members burned; but he, upright andimmovable, persisted in his profession of faith, as if living watersfrom the bosom of Christ flowed over him and refreshed him. Some daysafter, these infidels began again to torture him, believing that if theyinflicted upon his blistering wounds the same agonies, they wouldtriumph over him, who seemed unable to bear the mere touch of theirhands; and they hoped, also, that the sight of his torturing alive wouldterrify his comrades. But, contrary to general expectation, the body ofSanctus, rising suddenly up, stood erect and firm amid these repeatedtorments, and recovered its old appearance and the use of its members, as if, by divine grace, this second laceration of his flesh had causedhealing rather than suffering. 

"When the tyrants had thus expended and exhausted their tortures againstthe firmness of the martyrs sustained by Christ, the devil devised othercontrivances. They were cast into the darkest and most unendurable placein their prison; their feet were dragged out and compressed to theutmost tension of the muscles; the jailers, as if instigated by a demon, tried every sort of torture, insomuch that several of them, for whom Godwilled such an end, died of suffocation in prison. Others, who had beentortured in such a manner that it was thought impossible they shouldlong survive, deprived as they were of every remedy and aid from men, but supported nevertheless by the grace of God, remained sound andstrong in body as in soul, and comforted and reanimated their brethren. 

"The blessed Pothinus, who held at that time the bishopric of Lyons, being upward of ninety, and so weak in body that he could hardlybreathe, was himself brought before the tribunal, so worn with old ageand sickness that he seemed nigh to extinction; but he still possessedhis soul, wherewith to subserve the triumph of Christ. Being brought bythe soldiers before the tribunal, whither he was accompanied by all themagistrates of the city and the whole populace, that pursued him withhootings, he offered, as if he had been the very Christ, the mostglorious testimony. At a question from the governor, who asked what theGod of the Christians was, he answered, 'If thou be worthy, thou shaltknow. ' He was immediately raised up, without any respect or humanity, and blows were showered upon him; those who happened to be nearest tohim assaulted him grievously with foot and fist, without the slightestregard for his age; those who were farther off cast at him whatever wasto their hand; they would all have thought themselves guilty of thegreatest default if they had not done their best, each on his own score, to insult him brutally. They believed they were avenging the wrongs oftheir gods. Pothinus, still breathing, was cast again into prison, andtwo days after yielded up his spirit. 

"Then were manifested a singular dispensation of God and theimmeasurable compassion of Jesus Christ: an example rare among brethren, but in accord with the intentions and the justice of the Lord. All thosewho, at their first arrest, had denied their faith, were themselves castinto prison and given over to the same sufferings as the other martyrs, for their denial did not serve them at all. Those who had madeprofession of being what they really were--that is, Christians--wereimprisoned without being accused of other crimes. The former, on thecontrary, were confined as homicides and wretches, thus suffering doublepunishment. The one sort found repose in the honorable joys ofmartyrdom, in the hope of promised blessedness, in the love of Christ, and in the spirit of God the Father; the other were a prey to thereproaches of conscience. It was easy to distinguish the one from theother by their looks. The one walked joyously, bearing on their faces amajesty mingled with sweetness, and their very bonds seemed unto them anornament, even as the broidery that decks a bride; the other, withdowncast eyes and humble and dejected air, were an object of contempt tothe Gentiles themselves, who regarded them as cowards who had forfeitedthe glorious and saving name of Christians. And so they who were presentat this double spectacle were thereby signally strengthened, and whoeveramong them chanced to be arrested confessed the faith without doubt orhesitation. 

"Things having come to this pass, different kinds of death wereinflicted on the martyrs, and they offered to God a crown of diversflowers. It was but right that the most valiant champions, those who hadsustained a double assault and gained a signal victory, should receive asplendid crown of immortality. The neophyte Maturus and the deaconSanctus, Blandina and Attalus, then, were led into the amphitheatre, andthrown to the beasts, as a sight to please the inhumanity of theGentiles. Maturus and Sanctus there underwent all kinds of tortures, asif they had hitherto suffered nothing; or, rather, like athletes who hadalready been several times victorious, and were contending for the crownof crowns, they braved the stripes with which they were beaten, thebites of the beasts that dragged them to and fro, and all that wasdemanded by the outcries of an insensate mob, so much the more furiousbecause it could by no means overcome the firmness of the martyrs orextort from Sanctus any other speech than that which, on the first day, he had uttered--'I am a Christian. ' After this fearful contest, as lifewas not extinct, their throats were at last cut, when they alone hadthus been offered as a spectacle to the public instead of the varietydisplayed in the combat of gladiators. 

"Blandina, in her turn, tied to a stake, was given to the beasts; shewas seen hanging, as it were, on a sort of cross, calling upon God withtrustful fervor, and the brethren present were reminded, in the personof a sister, of Him who had been crucified for their salvation. As noneof the beasts would touch the body of Blandina, she was released fromthe stake, taken back to prison, and reserved for another occasion. 

"Attalus, whose execution, seeing that he was a man of mark, wasfuriously demanded by the people, came forward ready to braveeverything, as a man deriving confidence from the memory of his life, for he had courageously trained himself to discipline, and had alwaysamong us borne witness for the truth. He was led all round theAmphitheatre, preceded by a board bearing this inscription in Latin:'This is Attalus the Christian. ' The people pursued him with the mostfurious hootings; but the governor, having learned that he was a Romancitizen, had him taken back to prison with the rest. Having subsequentlywritten to Cæsar, he waited for his decision as to those who were thusdetained. 

"This delay was neither useless nor unprofitable, for then shone forththe boundless compassion of Christ. Those of the brethren who had beenbut dead members of the Church were recalled to life by the pains andhelp of the living; the martyrs obtained grace for those who had fallenaway; and great was the joy in the Church, at the same time virgin andmother, for she once more found living those whom she had given up fordead. Thus revived and strengthened by the goodness of God, who willethnot the death of the sinner, but rather inviteth him to repentance, theypresented themselves before the tribunal, to be questioned afresh by thegovernor. Cæsar had replied that they who confessed themselves to beChristians should be put to the sword, and they who denied sent awaysafe and sound. When the time for the great market had fully come, thereassembled a numerous multitude from every nation and every province. Thegovernor had the blessed martyrs brought up before his judgment-seat, showing them before the people with all the pomp of a theatre. Hequestioned them afresh; and those who were discovered to be Romancitizens were beheaded, the rest were thrown to the beasts. 

"Great glory was gained for Christ by means of those who had at firstdenied their faith, and who now confessed it contrary to the expectationof the Gentiles. Those who, having been privately questioned, declaredthemselves Christians were added to the number of the martyrs. Those inwhom appeared no vestige of faith and no fear of God, remained withoutthe pale of the Church. When they were dealing with those who had beenreunited to it, one Alexander, a Phrygian by nation, a physician byprofession, who had for many years been dwelling in Gaul, a man wellknown to all for his love of God and open preaching of the faith, tookhis place in the hall of judgment, exhorting by signs all who filled itto confess their faith, even as if he had been called in to deliverthem of it. The multitude, enraged to see that those who had at firstdenied turned round and proclaimed their faith, cried out againstAlexander, whom they accused of the conversion. 

"The governor forthwith asked him what he was, and at the answer, 'I ama Christian, ' condemned him to the beasts. On the morrow Alexander wasagain brought up, together with Attalus, whom the governor, to pleasethe people, had once more condemned to the beasts. After they had bothsuffered in the Amphitheatre all the torments that could be devised, they were put to the sword. Alexander uttered not a complaint, not aword; he had the air of one who was talking inwardly with God. Attalus, seated on an iron seat, and waiting for the fire to consume his body, said, in Latin, to the people: 'See what ye are doing; it is in truthdevouring men; as for us, we devour not men, and we do no evil at all. 'He was asked what was the name of God: 'God, ' said he, 'is not like usmortals; he hath no name. '

"After all these martyrs, on the last day of the shows, Blandina wasagain brought up, together with a young lad, named Ponticus, aboutfifteen years old. They had been brought up every day before that theymight see the tortures of their brethren. When they were called upon toswear by the altars of the Gentiles, they remained firm in their faith, making no account of those pretended gods, and so great was the fury ofthe multitude against them that no pity was shown for the age of thechild or the sex of the woman. Tortures were heaped upon them; they weremade to pass through every kind of torment, but the desired end was notgained. 

"Supported by the exhortations of his sister, who was seen and heard bythe Gentiles, Ponticus, after having endured all magnanimously, gave upthe ghost. Blandina, last of all--like a noble mother that hath rousedthe courage of her sons for the fight, and sent them forth to conquerfor their king--passed once more through all the tortures they hadsuffered, anxious to go and rejoin them, and rejoicing at each steptoward death. At length, after she had undergone fire, the talons ofbeasts, and agonizing aspersion, she was wrapped in a network and thrownto a bull that tossed her in the air; she was already unconscious ofall that befell her, and seemed altogether taken up with watching forthe blessings that Christ had in store for her. Even the Gentilesallowed that never a woman had suffered so much or so long. 

"Still their fury and their cruelty toward the saints were not appeased. They devised another way of raging against them; they cast to the dogsthe bodies of those who had died of suffocation in prison, and watchednight and day that none of our brethren might come and bury them. As forwhat remained of the martyrs' half-mangled or devoured corpses, theyleft them exposed under a guard of soldiers, coming to look on them withinsulting eyes, and saying: 'Where is now their God? Of what use to themwas this religion for which they laid down their lives?' We wereovercome with grief that we were not able to bury these poor corpses;nor the darkness of night, nor gold, nor prayers could help us tosucceed therein. After being thus exposed for six days in the open air, given over to all manner of outrage, the corpses of the martyrs were atlast burned, reduced to ashes, and cast hither and thither by theinfidels upon the waters of the Rhone, that there might be left no traceof them on earth. They acted as if they had been more mighty than God, and could rob our brethren of their resurrection: ''Tis in that hope, 'said they, 'that these folk bring among us a new and strange religion, that they set at naught the most painful torments, and that they gojoyfully to face death: let us see if they will rise again, if their Godwill come to their aid and will be able to tear them from our hands. '"

It is not without a painful effort that, even after so many centuries, we can resign ourselves to be witnesses, in imagination only, of such aspectacle. We can scarce believe that among men of the same period andthe same city so much ferocity could be displayed in opposition to somuch courage, the passion for barbarity against the passion for virtue. Nevertheless, such is history; and it should be represented as it reallywas: first of all, for truth's sake; then for the due appreciation ofvirtue and all it costs of effort and sacrifice; and, lastly, for thepurpose of showing what obstacles have to be surmounted, what strugglesendured, and what sufferings borne, when the question is theaccomplishment of great moral and social reforms. Marcus Aurelius was, without any doubt, a virtuous ruler, and one who had it in his heart tobe just and humane; but he was an absolute ruler, that is to say, onefed entirely on his own ideas, very ill-informed about the facts onwhich he had to decide, and without a free public to warn him of theerrors of his ideas or the practical results of his decrees. He orderedthe persecution of the Christians without knowing what the Christianswere or what the persecution would be, and this conscientiousphilosopher let loose at Lyons, against the most conscientious ofsubjects, the zealous servility of his agents, and the atrociouspassions of the mob. 

The persecution of the Christians did not stop at Lyons or with MarcusAurelius; it became, during the third century, the common practice ofthe emperors in all parts of the empire: from A. D. 202 to 312, under thereigns of Septimius Severus, Maximinus the First, Decius, Valerian, Aurelian, Diocletian, Maximian, and Galerius, there are reckoned sixgreat general persecutions, without counting others more circumscribedor less severe. The emperors Alexander Severus, Philip the Arabian, andConstantius Chlorus were almost the only exceptions to this cruelsystem; and nearly always, wherever it was in force, the pagan mob, inits brutality or fanatical superstition, added to imperial rigor its ownatrocious and cynical excesses. 

But Christian zeal was superior in perseverance and efficacy to paganpersecution. St. Pothinus the Martyr was succeeded as bishop at Lyons bySt. Irenæus, the most learned, most judicious, and most illustrious ofthe early heads of the Church in Gaul. Originally from Asia Minor, probably from Smyrna, he had migrated to Gaul, at what particular dateis not known, and had settled as a simple priest in the diocese ofLyons, where it was not long before he exercised vast influence, as wellon the spot as also during certain missions intrusted to him, and amongthem one, they say, to the pope, St. Eleutherius, at Rome. 

While bishop of Lyons, from A. D. 177 to 202, he employed thefive-and-twenty years in propagating the Christian faith in Gaul, and indefending, by his writings, the Christian doctrines against the discordto which they had already been subjected in the East, and which wasbeginning to penetrate the West. 

In 202, during the persecution instituted by Septimius Severus, St. Irenæus crowned by martyrdom his active and influential life. It was inhis episcopate that there began what may be called the swarm ofChristian missionaries who, toward the end of the second and during thethird century, spread over the whole of Gaul, preaching the faith andforming churches. Some went from Lyons at the instigation of St. Irenæus; others from Rome, especially under the pontificate of Pope St. Fabian, himself martyred in 249; St. Felix and St. Fortunatus toValence, St. Ferréol to Besançon, St. Marcellus to Châlons-sur-Saône, St. Benignus to Dijon, St. Trophimus to Arles, St. Paul to Narbonne, St. Saturninus to Toulouse, St. Martial to Limoges, St. Andéol and St. Privatus to the Cévennes, St. Austremoine to Clermont-Ferrand, St. Galian to Tours, St. Denis to Paris, and so many others that their namesare scarcely known beyond the pages of erudite historians, or the veryspots where they preached, struggled, and conquered, often at the priceof their lives. 

Such were the founders of the faith and of the Christian Church inFrance. At the commencement of the fourth century their work was, if notaccomplished, at any rate triumphant; and when, A. D. 312, Constantinedeclared himself a Christian, he confirmed the fact of the conquest ofthe Roman world, and of Gaul in particular, by Christianity. No doubtthe majority of the inhabitants were not as yet Christians; but it wasclear that the Christians were in the ascendant and had command of thefuture. 

Of the two grand elements which were to meet together on the ruins ofRoman society, for the formation of modern society, the moral element, the Christian religion, had already taken possession of souls; thedevastated territory awaited the coming of new peoples, known to historyunder the general name of Germans, whom the Romans called theBarbarians. 

BEGINNING OF ROME'S DECLINE: COMMODUS

A. D. 180

EDWARD GIBBON

 That a ruler of such noble character as the Roman philosopher Marcus Aurelius should have had for his son and successor a man like Commodus is one of the strange contrasts of history. The succession of Commodus, marking as it does the beginning of the decline of the great empire, may be regarded as one of the most critical moments in the existence of Rome. How folly and cruelty, shameless vice and unbridled ferocity, may be associated in the same character has often been illustrated in the careers of the world's rulers, and nowhere more conspicuously than in some of the Roman emperors; and in the case of Commodus the combination of these qualities led to acts which involved not only the Emperor himself, but also the empire over which he ruled, in fatal consequences. 

 This vast empire, composed of many different peoples, was under the rule and subject to the caprice of one man. The form of the government imposed practically no checks on his power. With such able emperors as Nerva, Trajan, Hadrian, and Marcus Aurelius the State was safe; but the wise men of Rome had foreseen that a tyrant or weak and inexperienced ruler, under this system, might plunge the empire into confusion and ruin. Yet they had made no provision against such a contingency. In the death of such a ruler and the accession of an abler and juster one lay their only hope of amelioration. 

 The course of events during the bloody reign of the degenerate Commodus was such as surely to forecast the decline of Roman power and supremacy. In the next hundred years there were twenty-three emperors, thirteen of whom were murdered by their own soldiers or servants--a tragic period of cruelty, licentiousness, and decay. 

If a man were called to fix the period in the history of the worldduring which the condition of the human race was most happy andprosperous, he would, without hesitation, name that which elapsed fromthe death of Domitian to the accession of Commodus. The vast extent ofthe Roman Empire was governed by absolute power, under the guidance ofvirtue and wisdom. The armies were restrained by the firm but gentlehand of four successive emperors, whose characters and authoritycommanded involuntary respect. The forms of the civil administrationwere carefully preserved by Nerva, Trajan, Hadrian, and the Antonines, who delighted in the image of liberty, and were pleased with consideringthemselves as the accountable ministers of the laws. Such princesdeserved the honor of restoring the republic, had the Romans of theirdays been capable of enjoying a rational freedom. 

The labors of these monarchs were overpaid by the immense reward thatinseparably waited on their success, by the honest pride of virtue, andby the exquisite delight of beholding the general happiness of whichthey were the authors. A just but melancholy reflection imbittered, however, the noblest of human enjoyments. They must often haverecollected the instability of a happiness which depended on thecharacter of a single man. The fatal moment was perhaps approaching whensome licentious youth or some jealous tyrant would abuse, to thedestruction, that absolute power which they had exerted for the benefitof their people. The ideal restraints of the senate and the laws mightserve to display the virtues, but could never correct the vices, of theemperor. The military force was a blind and irresistible instrument ofoppression, and the corruption of Roman manners would always supplyflatterers eager to applaud, and ministers prepared to serve, the fearor the avarice, the lust or the cruelty, of their masters. 

These gloomy apprehensions had been already justified by the experienceof the Romans. The annals of the emperors exhibit a strong and variouspicture of human nature, which we should vainly seek among the mixed anddoubtful characters of modern history. In the conduct of those monarchswe may trace the utmost lines of vice and virtue; the most exaltedperfection, and the meanest degeneracy of our own species. 

The mildness of Marcus Aurelius, which the rigid discipline of theStoics was unable to eradicate, formed, at the same time, the mostamiable, and the only defective, part of his character. His excellentunderstanding was often deceived by the unsuspecting goodness of hisheart. Artful men, who study the passions of princes, and conceal theirown, approached his person in the disguise of philosophic sanctity, andacquired riches and honors by affecting to despise them. His excessiveindulgence to his brother, [46] his wife, and his son exceeded the boundsof private virtue, and became a public injury, by the example andconsequences of their vices. 

Faustina, the daughter of Pius and the wife of Marcus, has been as muchcelebrated for her gallantries as for her beauty. The grave simplicityof the philosopher was ill-calculated to engage her wanton levity, or tofix that unbounded passion for variety which often discovered personalmerit in the meanest of mankind. The Cupid of the ancients was, ingeneral, a very sensual deity; and the amours of an empress, as theyexact on her side the plainest advances, are seldom susceptible of muchsentimental delicacy. Marcus was the only man in the empire who seemedignorant or insensible of the irregularities of Faustina, which, according to the prejudices of every age, reflected some disgrace on theinjured husband. He promoted several of her lovers to posts of honor andprofit, and, during a connection of thirty years, invariably gave herproofs of the most tender confidence and of a respect which ended notwith her life. In his _Meditations_ he thanks the gods, who had bestowedon him a wife so faithful, so gentle, and of such a wonderful simplicityof manners. The obsequious senate, at his earnest request, declared hera goddess. She was represented in her temples with the attributes ofJuno, Venus, and Ceres; and it was decreed that, on the day of theirnuptials, the youth of either sex should pay their vows before the altarof their chaste patroness. 

The monstrous vices of the son have cast a shade on the purity of thefather's virtues. It has been objected to Marcus that he sacrificed thehappiness of millions to a fond partiality for a worthless boy; and thathe chose a successor in his own family rather than in the empire. Nothing, however, was neglected by the anxious father, and by the men ofvirtue and learning whom he summoned to his assistance, to expand thenarrow mind of young Commodus, to correct his growing vices, and torender him worthy of the throne for which he was designed. But the powerof instruction is seldom of much efficacy, except in those happydispositions where it is almost superfluous. The distasteful lesson ofa grave philosopher was, in a moment, obliterated by the whisper of aprofligate favorite; and Marcus himself blasted the fruits of thislabored education by admitting his son, at the age of fourteen orfifteen, to a full participation of the imperial power. He lived butfour years afterward; but he lived long enough to repent a rash measurewhich raised the impetuous youth above the restraint of reason andauthority. 

Most of the crimes which disturb the internal peace of society areproduced by the restraints which the necessary but unequal laws ofproperty have imposed on the appetites of mankind by confining to a fewthe possession of those objects that are coveted by many. Of all ourpassions and appetites the love of power is of the most imperious andunsociable nature, since the pride of one man requires the submission ofthe multitude. In the tumult of civil discord, the laws of society losetheir force, and their place is seldom supplied by those of humanity. The ardor of contention, the pride of victory, the despair of success, the memory of past injuries, and the fear of future dangers allcontribute to inflame the mind and to silence the voice of pity. Fromsuch motives almost every page of history has been stained with civilblood; but these motives will not account for the unprovoked crueltiesof Commodus, who had nothing to wish and everything to enjoy. 

The beloved son of Marcus succeeded to his father, amid the acclamationsof the senate and armies; and when he ascended the throne the happyyouth saw round him neither competitor to remove nor enemies to punish. In this calm, elevated station it was surely natural that he shouldprefer the love of mankind to their detestation, the mild glories of hisfive predecessors to the ignominious fate of Nero and Domitian. 

Yet Commodus was not, as he has been represented, a tiger born with aninsatiate thirst of human blood, and capable, from his infancy, of themost inhuman actions. Nature had formed him of a weak rather than awicked disposition. His simplicity and timidity rendered him the slaveof his attendants, who gradually corrupted his mind. His cruelty, whichat first obeyed the dictates of others, degenerated into habit, and atlength became the ruling passion of his soul. 

Upon the death of his father, Commodus found himself embarrassed withthe command of a great army, and the conduct of a difficult war againstthe Quadi and Marcomanni. The servile and profligate youths whom Marcushad banished soon regained their station and influence about the newEmperor. They exaggerated the hardships and dangers of a campaign in thewild countries beyond the Danube; and they assured the indolent princethat the terror of his name and the arms of his lieutenants would besufficient to complete the conquest of the dismayed barbarians, or toimpose such conditions as were more advantageous than any conquest. By adexterous application to his sensual appetites they compared thetranquillity, the splendor, the refined pleasures of Rome with thetumult of a Pannonian camp, which afforded neither leisure nor materialsfor luxury. Commodus listened to the pleasing advice, but while hehesitated between his own inclination and the awe which he stillretained for his father's counsellors, the summer insensibly elapsed, and his triumphal entry into the capital was deferred till the autumn. His graceful person, popular address, and imagined virtues attracted thepublic favor; the honorable peace which he had recently granted to thebarbarians diffused a universal joy; his impatience to revisit Rome wasfondly ascribed to the love of his country; and his dissolute course ofamusements was faintly condemned in a prince of nineteen years of age. 

During the three first years of his reign the forms, and even thespirit, of the old administration were maintained by those faithfulcounsellors to whom Marcus had recommended his son, and for whose wisdomand integrity Commodus still entertained a reluctant esteem. The youngprince and his profligate favorites revelled in all the license ofsovereign power; but his hands were yet unstained with blood; and he hadeven displayed a generosity of sentiment which might perhaps haveripened into solid virtue. [47] A fatal incident decided his fluctuatingcharacter. 

One evening, as the Emperor was returning to the palace through a darkand narrow portico in the Amphitheatre, an assassin, who waited hispassage, rushed upon him with a drawn sword, loudly exclaiming, "_Thesenate sends you this_. " The menace prevented the deed; the assassin wasseized by the guards, and immediately revealed the authors of theconspiracy. It had been formed, not in the state, but within the wallsof the palace. Lucilla, the Emperor's sister, and widow of Lucius Verus, impatient of the second rank, and jealous of the reigning empress, hadarmed the murderer against her brother's life. She had not ventured tocommunicate the black design to her second husband, Claudius Pompeianus, a senator of distinguished merit and unshaken loyalty; but among thecrowd of her lovers--for she imitated the manners of Faustina--she foundmen of desperate fortunes and wild ambition, who were prepared to serveher more violent as well as her tender passions. The conspiratorsexperienced the rigor of justice, and the abandoned princess waspunished, first with exile, and afterward with death. 

But the words of the assassin sunk deep into the mind of Commodus, andleft an indelible impression of fear and hatred against the whole bodyof the senate. Those whom he had dreaded as importunate ministers he nowsuspected as secret enemies. The delators, a race of men discouraged andalmost extinguished under the former reigns, again became formidable, assoon as they discovered that the Emperor was desirous of findingdisaffection and treason in the senate. That assembly, whom Marcus hadever considered as the great council of the nation, was composed of themost distinguished of the Romans; and distinction of every kind soonbecame criminal. The possession of wealth stimulated the diligence ofthe informers; rigid virtue implied a tacit censure of theirregularities of Commodus; important services implied a dangeroussuperiority of merit; and the friendship of the father always insuredthe aversion of the son. Suspicion was equivalent to proof; trial tocondemnation. The execution of a considerable senator was attended withthe death of all who might lament or revenge his fate, and when Commodushad once tasted human blood he became incapable of pity or remorse. 

Of these innocent victims of tyranny none died more lamented than thetwo brothers of the Quintilian family, Maximus and Condianus, whosefraternal love has saved their names from oblivion and endeared theirmemory to posterity. Their studies and their occupations, their pursuitsand their pleasures, were still the same. In the enjoyment of a greatestate they never admitted the idea of a separate interest: somefragments are now extant of a treatise which they composed in common;and in every action of life it was observed that their two bodies wereanimated by one soul. The Antonines, who valued their virtues anddelighted in their union, raised them, in the same year, to theconsulship; and Marcus afterward intrusted to their joint care the civiladministration of Greece, and a great military command, in which theyobtained a signal victory over the Germans. The kind cruelty of Commodusunited them in death. 

The tyrant's rage, after having shed the noblest blood of the senate, atlength recoiled on the principal instrument of his cruelty. WhileCommodus was immersed in blood and luxury, he devolved the detail of thepublic business on Perennis, a servile and ambitious minister, who hadobtained his post by the murder of his predecessor, but who possessed aconsiderable share of vigor and ability. By acts of extortion and theforfeited estates of the nobles sacrificed to his avarice he hadaccumulated an immense treasure. The prætorian guards were under hisimmediate command; and his son, who already discovered a militarygenius, was at the head of the Illyrian legions. Perennis aspired to theempire; or what, in the eyes of Commodus, amounted to the same crime, hewas capable of aspiring to it, had he not been prevented, surprised, andput to death. 

The fall of a minister is a very trifling incident in the generalhistory of the empire; but it was hastened by an extraordinarycircumstance, which proved how much the nerves of discipline werealready relaxed. The legions of Britain, discontented with theadministration of Perennis, formed a deputation of fifteen hundredselect men, with instructions to march to Rome and lay their complaintsbefore the Emperor. These military petitioners, by their own determinedbehavior, by inflaming the divisions of the guards, by exaggerating thestrength of the British army, and by alarming the fears of Commodus, exacted and obtained the minister's death, as the only redress of theirgrievances. This presumption of a distant army, and their discovery ofthe weakness of government, were a sure presage of the most dreadfulconvulsions. 

The negligence of the public administration was betrayed, soonafterward, by a new disorder, which arose from the smallest beginnings. A spirit of desertion began to prevail among the troops; and thedeserters, instead of seeking their safety in flight or concealment, infested the highways. Maternus, a private soldier, of a daring boldnessabove his station, collected those bands of robbers into a little army, set open the prisons, invited the slaves to assert their freedom, andplundered with impunity the rich and defenceless cities of Gaul andSpain. The governors of the provinces, who had long been the spectators, and perhaps the partners, of his depredations, were at length rousedfrom their supine indolence by the threatening commands of the Emperor. Maternus found that he was encompassed, and foresaw that he must beoverpowered. A great effort of despair was his last resource. He orderedhis followers to disperse, to pass the Alps in small parties and variousdisguises, and to assemble at Rome, during the licentious tumult of thefestival of Cybele. To murder Commodus, and to ascend the vacant throne, were the ambition of no vulgar robber. His measures were so ablyconcerted that his concealed troops already filled the streets of Rome. The envy of an accomplice discovered and ruined this singular enterprisein the moment when it was ripe for execution. 

Suspicious princes often promote the last of mankind from a vainpersuasion that those who have no dependence, except on their favor, will have no attachment, except to the person of their benefactor. Cleander, the successor of Perennis, was a Phrygian by birth; of anation over whose stubborn but servile temper blows only could prevail. He had been sent from his native country to Rome, in the capacity of aslave. As a slave he entered the imperial palace, rendered himselfuseful to his master's passions, and rapidly ascended to the mostexalted station which a subject could enjoy. His influence over themind of Commodus was much greater than that of his predecessor; forCleander was devoid of any ability or virtue which could inspire theEmperor with envy or distrust. 

Avarice was the reigning passion of his soul and the great principle ofhis administration. The rank of consul, of patrician, of senator, wasexposed to public sale; and it would have been considered asdisaffection if anyone had refused to purchase these empty anddisgraceful honors, with the greatest part of his fortune. In thelucrative provincial employments the minister shared with the governorthe spoils of the people. The execution of the laws was venal andarbitrary. A wealthy criminal might obtain not only the reversal of thesentence by which he was justly condemned, but might likewise inflictwhatever punishment he pleased on the accuser, the witnesses, and thejudge. 

By these means Cleander, in the space of three years, had accumulatedmore wealth than had ever yet been possessed by any freedman. Commoduswas perfectly satisfied with the magnificent presents which the artfulcourtier laid at his feet in the most seasonable moments. To divert thepublic envy, Cleander, under the Emperor's name, erected baths, porticoes, and places of exercise for the use of the people. Heflattered himself that the Romans, dazzled and amused by this apparentliberality, would be less affected by the bloody scenes which were dailyexhibited; that they would forget the death of Byrrhus, a senator towhose superior merit the late Emperor had granted one of his daughters;and that they would forgive the execution of Arrius Antoninus, the lastrepresentative of the name and virtues of the Antonines. The former, with more integrity than prudence, had attempted to disclose, to hisbrother-in-law, the true character of Cleander. An equitable sentencepronounced by the latter, when proconsul of Asia, against a worthlesscreature of the favorite proved fatal to him. After the fall ofPerennis, the terrors of Commodus had for a short time assumed theappearance of a return to virtue. He repealed the most odious of hisacts, loaded his memory with the public execration, and ascribed to thepernicious counsels of that wicked minister all the errors of hisinexperienced youth. But his repentance lasted only thirty days; and, under Cleander's tyranny, the administration of Perennis was oftenregretted. 

Pestilence and famine contributed to fill up the measure of thecalamities of Rome. The first could be only imputed to the justindignation of the gods; but a monopoly of corn, supported by the richesand power of the minister, was considered as the immediate cause of thesecond. The popular discontent, after it had long circulated inwhispers, broke out in the assembled Circus. The people quitted theirfavorite amusements for the more delicious pleasure of revenge, rushedin crowds toward a palace in the suburbs, one of the Emperor'sretirements, and demanded, with angry clamors, the head of the publicenemy. Cleander, who commanded the prætorian guards, ordered a body ofcavalry to sally forth and disperse the seditious multitude. Themultitude fled with precipitation toward the city; several were slain, and many more were trampled to death; but when the cavalry entered thestreets their pursuit was checked by a shower of stones and darts fromthe roofs and windows of the houses. 

The foot-guards, who had been long jealous of the prerogatives andinsolence of the prætorian cavalry, embraced the party of the people. The tumult became a regular engagement, and threatened a generalmassacre. The prætorians at length gave way, oppressed with numbers; andthe tide of popular fury returned with redoubled violence against thegates of the palace, where Commodus lay, dissolved in luxury, and aloneunconscious of the civil war. It was death to approach his person withthe unwelcome news. He would have perished in this supine security hadnot two women, his eldest sister Fadilla, and Marcia, the most favoredof his concubines, ventured to break into his presence. Bathed in tears, and with dishevelled hair, they threw themselves at his feet, and, withall the pressing eloquence of fear, discovered to the affrighted Emperorthe crimes of the minister, the rage of the people, and the impendingruin which, in a few minutes, would burst over his palace and person. Commodus started from his dream of pleasure and commanded that the headof Cleander should be thrown out to the people. The desired spectacleinstantly appeased the tumult; and the son of Marcus might even yet haveregained the affection and confidence of his subjects. 

But every sentiment of virtue and humanity was extinct in the mind ofCommodus. While he thus abandoned the reins of empire to these unworthyfavorites, he valued nothing in sovereign power except the unboundedlicense of indulging his sensual appetites. The influence of a politeage and the labor of an attentive education had never been able toinfuse into his rude and brutish mind the least tincture of learning;and he was the first of the Roman emperors totally devoid of taste forthe pleasures of the understanding. Nero himself excelled, or affectedto excel, in the elegant arts of music and poetry; nor should we despisehis pursuits, had he not converted the pleasing relaxation of a leisurehour into the serious business and ambition of his life. But Commodus, from his earliest infancy, discovered an aversion to whatever wasrational or liberal, and a fond attachment to the amusements of thepopulace; the sports of the Circus and Amphitheatre, the combats ofgladiators, and the hunting of wild beasts. The masters in every branchof learning, whom Marcus provided for his son, were heard withinattention and disgust, while the Moors and Parthians, who taught himto dart the javelin and to shoot with the bow, found a disciple whodelighted in his application, and soon equalled the most skilful of hisinstructors in the steadiness of the eye and the dexterity of the hand. 

The servile crowd, whose fortune depended on their master's vices, applauded these ignoble pursuits. The perfidious voice of flatteryreminded him that by exploits of the same nature, by the defeat of theNemæan lion, and the slaughter of the wild boar of Erymanthus, theGrecian Hercules had acquired a place among the gods and an immortalmemory among men. They only forgot to observe that in the first ages ofsociety, when the fiercer animals often dispute with man the possessionof an unsettled country, a successful war against those savages is oneof the most innocent and beneficial labors of heroism. In the civilizedstate of the Roman Empire the wild beasts had long since retired fromthe face of man and the neighborhood of populous cities. To surprisethem in their solitary haunts and to transport them to Rome that theymight be slain in pomp by the hand of an emperor was an enterpriseequally ridiculous for the prince and oppressive for the people. 

Ignorant of these distinctions, Commodus eagerly embraced the gloriousresemblance and styled himself (as we still read on his medals) theRoman Hercules. The club and the lion's hide were placed by the side ofthe throne, among the ensigns of sovereignty, and statues were erectedin which Commodus was represented in the character and with theattributes of the god whose valor and dexterity he endeavored to emulatein the daily course of his ferocious amusements. 

Elated with these praises, which gradually extinguished the innate senseof shame, Commodus resolved to exhibit before the eyes of the Romanpeople those exercises which till then he had decently confined withinthe walls of his palace and to the presence of a few favorites. On theappointed day the various motives of flattery, fear, and curiosityattracted to the Amphitheatre an innumerable multitude of spectators;and some degree of applause was deservedly bestowed on the uncommonskill of the imperial performer. Whether he aimed at the head or heartof the animal, the wound was alike certain and mortal. With arrows whosepoint was shaped into the form of a crescent Commodus often interceptedthe rapid career and cut asunder the long, bony neck of the ostrich. 

A panther was let loose, and the archer waited till he had leaped upon atrembling malefactor. In the same instant the shaft flew, the beastdropped dead, and the man remained unhurt. The dens of the Amphitheatredisgorged at once a hundred lions: a hundred darts from the unerringhand of Commodus laid them dead as they ran raging round the arena. Neither the huge bulk of the elephant nor the scaly hide of therhinoceros could defend them from his stroke. Æthiopia and India yieldedtheir most extraordinary productions; and several animals were slain inthe Amphitheatre which had been seen only in the representations of artor perhaps of fancy. In all these exhibitions the securest precautionswere used to protect the person of the Roman Hercules from the desperatespring of any savage, who might possibly disregard the dignity of theEmperor and the sanctity of the god. 

But the meanest of the populace were affected with shame and indignationwhen they beheld their sovereign enter the lists as a gladiator, andglory in a profession which the laws and manners of the Romans hadbranded with the justest note of infamy. [48] He chose the habit and armsof the _secutor_, whose combat with the _retiarius_ formed one of themost lively scenes in the bloody sports of the Amphitheatre. The secutorwas armed with a helmet, sword, and buckler; his naked antagonist hadonly a large net and a trident; with the one he endeavored to entangle, with the other to despatch his enemy. If he missed the first throw, hewas obliged to fly from the pursuit of the secutor till he had preparedhis net for a second cast. 

The Emperor fought in this character seven hundred and thirty-fiveseveral times. These glorious achievements were carefully recorded inthe public acts of the empire; and that he might omit no circumstance ofinfamy, he received from the common fund of gladiators a stipend soexorbitant that it became a new and most ignominious tax upon the Romanpeople. It may be easily supposed that in these engagements the masterof the world was always successful; in the Amphitheatre his victorieswere not often sanguinary; but when he exercised his skill in the schoolof gladiators or his own palace, his wretched antagonists werefrequently honored with a mortal wound from the hand of Commodus, andobliged to seal their flattery with their blood. 

He now disdained the appellation of Hercules. The name of Paulus, acelebrated secutor, was the only one which delighted his ear. It wasinscribed on his colossal statues and repeated in the redoubledacclamations of the mournful and applauding senate. Claudius Pompeianus, the virtuous husband of Lucilla, was the only senator who asserted thehonor of his rank. As a father, he permitted his sons to consult theirsafety by attending the Amphitheatre. As a Roman he declared that hisown life was in the Emperor's hands, but that he would never behold theson of Marcus prostituting his person and dignity. Notwithstanding hismanly resolution, Pompeianus escaped the resentment of the tyrant, and, with his honor, had the good fortune to preserve his life. 

Commodus had now attained the summit of vice and infamy. Amid theacclamations of a flattering court he was unable to disguise fromhimself that he had deserved the contempt and hatred of every man ofsense and virtue in his empire. His ferocious spirit was irritated bythe consciousness of that hatred, by the envy of every kind of merit, bythe just apprehension of danger, and by the habit of slaughter which hecontracted in his daily amusements. History has preserved a long list ofconsular senators sacrificed to his wanton suspicion, which sought out, with peculiar anxiety, those unfortunate persons connected, howeverremotely, with the family of the Antonines, without sparing even theministers of his crimes or pleasures. 

His cruelty proved at last fatal to himself. He had shed with impunitythe noblest blood of Rome: he perished as soon as he was dreaded by hisown domestics. Marcia, his favorite concubine, Eclectus, hischamberlain, and Lætus, his prætorian prefect, alarmed by the fate oftheir companions and predecessors, resolved to prevent the destructionwhich every hour hung over their heads, either from the mad caprice ofthe tyrant or the sudden indignation of the people. Marcia seized theoccasion of presenting a draught of wine to her lover, after he hadfatigued himself with hunting some wild beasts. Commodus retired tosleep; but while he was laboring with the effects of poison anddrunkenness, a robust youth, by profession a wrestler, entered hischamber and strangled him without resistance. The body was secretlyconveyed out of the palace, before the least suspicion was entertainedin the city, or even in the court, of the Emperor's death. Such was thefate of the son of Marcus, and so easy was it to destroy a hated tyrant, who, by the artificial powers of government, had oppressed, duringthirteen years, so many millions of subjects, each of whom was equal totheir master in personal strength and personal abilities. 

FOOTNOTES:

[46] His brother by adoption, and his colleague, L. Verus. MarcusAurelius had no other brother. 

[47] Manilius, the confidential secretary of Avidius Cassius, wasdiscovered after he had lain concealed several years. The Emperor noblyrelieved the public anxiety by refusing to see him, and burning hispapers without opening them. 

[48] The virtuous and even the wise princes forbade the senators andknights to embrace this scandalous profession, under pain of infamy, or, what was more dreaded by those profligate wretches, of exile. Thetyrants allured them to dishonor by threats and rewards. Nero onceproduced in the arena forty senators and sixty knights. 

EVENTFUL REIGN OF SAPOR I, KING OF PERSIA

A. D. 240

GEORGE RAWLINSON

 Under Mithradates I the Parthian empire rose to great power, and that monarch, about B. C. 163, began to make conquests toward the west. By B. C. 150 he had added to his possessions Media Magna, Susiana, Babylonia, Assyria proper, and Persia. The Persians appear to have yielded without resistance to his rule, and he governed them with a fair degree of moderation, allowing them, as was the Parthian policy toward subject peoples, a large measure of self-government under their hereditary native kings, the "King of Kings" exacting little from them besides regular tribute and the required number of men for his armies. 

 The Parthian empire was in turn overthrown by Ardashir or Artaxerxes, who about B. C. 226 defeated and killed Ardavan, the last Parthian king, and became the chief founder of the Sassanian dynasty, which ruled Persia until the Mahometan invasion. 

 The victories of Artaxerxes had fatal results for the Roman power in the East, for the new head of the Persian monarchy was no sooner established on his throne than he sent an embassy to the Roman Emperor, Alexander Severus, to demand from him the surrender of all Asia and the withdrawal of Roman arms and authority to the western shores of the Ægean Sea and of the Propontis, as the Sea of Marmora was anciently called. From this began a series of wars which continued at intervals for four centuries, and which ended only with the Mahometan conquests that overwhelmed Roman and Persian power alike. The first campaigns of the Romans against Artaxerxes were indecisive, but the renewal of the war in the reign of his son, Sapor I, was followed by disasters to the Roman arms which Rawlinson describes in his most lucid and vigorous manner, together with the other feats of this remarkable man. 

Artaxerxes appears to have died in A. D. 240. He was succeeded by his sonShahpuhri, or Sapor, the first Sassanian prince of that name. Accordingto the Persian historians, the mother of Sapor was a daughter of thelast Parthian king, Artabanus, whom Artaxerxes had taken to wife afterhis conquest of her father. But the facts known of Sapor throw doubt onthis story, which has too many parallels in oriental romance to claimimplicit credence. Nothing authentic has come down to us respectingSapor during his father's lifetime, but from the moment that he mountedthe throne we find him engaged in a series of wars, which show him tohave been of a most active and energetic character. 

Armenia, which Artaxerxes had subjected, attempted, it would seem, toregain its independence at the commencement of the reign; but Saporeasily crushed the nascent insurrection, and the Armenians made nofurther effort to free themselves till several years after his death. Contemporaneously with this revolt in the mountain region of the North adanger showed itself in the plains country of the South, where Manizen, king of Hatra, or El Hadhr, not only declared himself independent, butassumed dominion over the entire tract between the Euphrates and theTigris, the Jezireh of the Arabian geographers. 

The strength of Hatra was great, as had been proved by Trajan andSeverus; its thick walls and valiant inhabitants would probably havedefied every attempt of the Persian prince to make himself master of itby force. He, therefore, resorted to stratagem. Manizen had a daughterwho cherished ambitious views. On obtaining a promise from Sapor that ifshe gave Hatra into his power he would make her his queen, thisunnatural child turned against her father, betrayed him into Sapor'shands, and thus brought the war to an end. Sapor recovered his lostterritory; but he did not fulfil his bargain. Instead of marrying thetraitoress, he handed her over to an executioner, to receive the deaththat she had deserved, though scarcely at his hands. 

Encouraged by his success in these two lesser contests, Sapor resolved(apparently in A. D. 241) to resume the bold projects of his father, andengage in a great war with Rome. The confusion and troubles whichafflicted the Roman Empire at this time were such as might well give himhopes of obtaining a decided advantage. Alexander, his father'sadversary, had been murdered in A. D. 235 by Maximin, who from thecondition of a Thracian peasant had risen into the higher ranks of thearmy. The upstart had ruled like the savage that he was, and after threeyears of misery the whole Roman world had risen against him. Twoemperors had been proclaimed in Africa. On their fall two others hadbeen elected by the senate; a third, a mere boy, had been added at thedemand of the Roman populace. All the pretenders except the last had metwith violent deaths; and after the shocks of a year, unparalleled sinceA. D. 69, the administration of the greatest kingdom in the world was inthe hands of a youth of fifteen. Sapor, no doubt, thought he saw in thiscondition of things an opportunity that he ought not to miss, andrapidly matured his plans lest the favorable moment should pass away. 

Crossing the middle Tigris into Mesopotamia, the bands of Sapor firstattacked the important city of Nisibis. Nisibis, at the time a Romancolony, was strongly situated on the outskirts of the mountain rangewhich traverses Northern Mesopotamia between the thirty-seventh andthirty-eighth parallels. The place was well fortified and well defended;it offered a prolonged resistance; but the walls were breached and itwas forced to yield itself. The advance was then made along the southernflank of the mountains by Carrhæ (Harran) and Edessa to the Euphrates, which was probably reached in the neighborhood of Birehjik. The hordesthen poured into Syria, and, spreading themselves over that fertileregion, surprised and took the metropolis of the Roman East, the richand luxurious city of Antioch. But meantime the Romans had shown aspirit which had not been expected from them. 

Gordian, young as he was, had quitted Rome and marched through Moesiaand Thrace into Asia, accompanied by a formidable army and by at leastone good general. Timesitheus, whose daughter Gordian had recentlymarried, though his life had hitherto been that of a civilian, exhibitedon his elevation to the dignity of prætorian prefect considerablemilitary ability. The army, nominally commanded by Gordian, really actedunder his orders. With it Timesitheus attacked and beat the bands ofSapor in a number of engagements, recovered Antioch, crossed theEuphrates, retook Carrhæ, defeated the Persian monarch in a pitchedbattle near Resaina (Ras-el-Ain), recovered Nisibis, and once moreplanted the Roman standards on the banks of the Tigris. Sapor hastilyevacuated most of his conquests, and retired first across the Euphrates, and then across the more eastern river, while the Romans advanced as heretreated, placed garrisons in the various Mesopotamian towns, and eventhreatened the great city of Ctesiphon. 

Gordian was confident that his general would gain further triumphs, andwrote to the senate to that effect; but either disease or the arts of arival cut short the career of the victor, and from the time of his deaththe Romans ceased to be successful. The legions had, it would seem, invaded Southern Mesopotamia when the prætorian prefect who hadsucceeded Timesitheus brought them intentionally into difficulties byhis mismanagement of the commissariat, and at last retreat wasdetermined on. 

The young Emperor had almost reached his own frontier, when thediscontent of the army, fomented by the prefect, Philip, came to a head. Gordian was murdered at a place called Zaitha, about twenty miles southof Circesium, and was buried where he fell, the soldiers raising atumulus in his honor. His successor, Philip, was glad to make peace onany tolerable terms with the Persians; he felt himself insecure upon histhrone, and was anxious to obtain the senate's sanction of hisusurpation. He therefore quitted the East in A. D. 244, having concludeda treaty with Sapor by which Armenia seems to have been left to thePersians, while Mesopotamia returned to its old condition of a Romanprovince. 

The peace made between Philip and Sapor was followed by an interval offourteen years, during which scarcely anything is known of the conditionof Persia. We may suspect that troubles in the northeast of his empireoccupied Sapor during this period, for at the end of it we find Bactria, which was certainly subject to Persia during the earlier years of themonarchy, occupying an independent position, and even assuming anattitude of hostility toward the Persian monarch. Bactria had, from aremote antiquity, claims to preëminence among the Aryan nations. She wasmore than once inclined to revolt from the Achæmenidæ, and during thelater Parthian period she had enjoyed a sort of semi-independence. Itwould seem that she now succeeded in detaching herself altogether fromher southern neighbor and becoming a distinct and separate power. Tostrengthen her position she entered into relations with Rome, whichgladly welcomed any adhesions to her cause in this remote region. 

Sapor's second war with Rome was, like his first, provoked by himself. After concluding his peace with Philip he had seen the Roman worldgoverned successively by six weak emperors, of whom four had diedviolent deaths, while at the same time there had been a continued seriesof attacks upon the northern frontiers of the empire by Alamanni, Goths, and Franks, who had ravaged at will a number of the finest provinces, and threatened the absolute destruction of the great monarchy of theWest. It was natural that the chief kingdom of Western Asia should notethese events, and should seek to promote its own interests by takingadvantage of the circumstances of the time. Sapor, in A. D. 258, determined on a fresh invasion of the Roman provinces, and once moreentering Mesopotamia carried all before him, became master of Nisibis, Carrhæ, and Edessa, and, crossing the Euphrates, surprised Antioch, which was wrapped in the enjoyment of theatrical and otherrepresentations, and only knew its fate on the exclamation of a coupleof actors that "the Persians were in possession of the town!" The agedEmperor, Valerian, hastened to the protection of his more easternterritories, and at first gained some successes, retaking Antioch, andmaking that city his head-quarters during his stay in the East. 

But after this the tide turned. Valerian intrusted the whole conduct ofthe war to Macrianus, his prætorian prefect, whose talents he admired, and of whose fidelity he did not entertain a suspicion. Macrianus, however, aspired to the empire, and intentionally brought Valerian intodifficulties in the hope of disgracing or removing him. His tactics weresuccessful. The Roman army in Mesopotamia was betrayed into a situationwhence escape was impossible and where its capitulation was only aquestion of time. A bold attempt made to force a way through the enemy'slines failed utterly, after which famine and pestilence began to dotheir work. In vain did the aged Emperor send envoys to propose a peaceand offer to purchase escape by the payment of an immense sum in gold. Sapor, confident of victory, refused the overture, and, waitingpatiently till his adversary was at the last gasp, invited him to aconference, and then treacherously seized his person. The armysurrendered or dispersed. Macrianus, the prætorian prefect, shortlyassumed the title of emperor and marched against Gallienus, the son andcolleague of Valerian, who had been left to direct affairs in the West. But another rival started up in the East. Sapor conceived the idea ofcomplicating the Roman affairs by himself putting forward a pretender;and an obscure citizen of Antioch, a certain Miriades, or Cyriades, arefugee in his camp, was invested with the purple and assumed the titleof Cæsar. 

The blow struck at Edessa laid the whole of Roman Asia open to attack, and the Persian monarch was not slow to seize the occasion. His troopscrossed the Euphrates in force, and, marching on Antioch, once morecaptured that unfortunate town, from which the more prudent citizens hadwithdrawn, but where the bulk of the people, not displeased at the turnof affairs, remained and welcomed the conqueror. Miriades was installedin power, while Sapor himself, at the head of his irresistiblesquadrons, pressed forward, bursting "like a mountain torrent" intoCilicia, and thence into Cappadocia. Tarsus, the birthplace of St. Paul, at once a famous seat of learning and a great emporium of commerce, fell; Cilicia Campestris was overrun, and the passes of Taurus, desertedor weakly defended by the Romans, came into Sapor's hand. 

Penetrating through them and entering the campaign country beyond, hisbands soon began the siege of Cæsarea Mazaca, the greatest city of theseparts, estimated at this time to have contained a population of fourhundred thousand souls. Demosthenes, the governor of Cæsarea, defendedit bravely, and, had force only been used against him, might haveprevailed; but Sapor found friends within the walls, and by their helpmade himself master of the place, while its bold defender was obliged tocontent himself with escaping by cutting his way through the victorioushost. All Asia Minor now seemed open to the conqueror; and it isdifficult to understand why he did not at any rate attempt a permanentoccupation of the territory which he had so easily overrun. But it seemscertain that he entertained no such idea. 

Devastation and plunder, revenge and gain, not permanent conquest, werehis objects; and hence his course was everywhere marked by ruin andcarnage, by smoking towns, ravaged fields, and heaps of slain. Hiscruelties have no doubt been exaggerated; but when we hear that hefilled the ravines and valleys of Cappadocia with dead bodies, and soled his cavalry across them; that he depopulated Antioch, killing orcarrying off into slavery almost the whole population; that he sufferedhis prisoners in many cases to perish of hunger, and that he drove themto water once a day like beasts, we may be sure that the guise in whichhe showed himself to the Romans was that of a merciless scourge--anavenger bent on spreading the terror of his name, not of one who reallysought to enlarge the limits of his empire. During the whole course ofthis plundering expedition, until the retreat began, we hear but of onecheck that the bands of Sapor received. It had been determined to attackEmesa, one of the most important of the Syrian towns, where the templeof Venus was known to contain a vast treasure. The invaders approached, scarcely expecting to be resisted; but the high-priest of the temple, having collected a large body of peasants, appeared in his sacerdotalrobes at the head of a fanatic multitude armed with slings, andsucceeded in beating off the assailants. Emesa, its temple, and itstreasure escaped the rapacity of the Persians; and an example ofresistance was set, which was not perhaps without importantconsequences. 

For it seems certain that the return of Sapor across the Euphrates wasnot effected without considerable loss and difficulty. On his advanceinto Syria he had received an embassy from a certain Odenathus, aSyrian, or Arab chief, who occupied a position of semi-independence atPalmyra, which through the advantages of its situation, had latelybecome a flourishing commercial town. Odenathus sent a long train ofcamels laden with gifts, consisting in part of rare and preciousmerchandise, to the Persian monarch, begging him to accept them, andclaiming his favorable regard on the ground that he had hithertorefrained from all acts of hostility against the Persians. It appearsthat Sapor took offence at the tone of the communication, which was notsufficiently humble to please him. Tearing the letter to fragments andtrampling it beneath his feet he exclaimed: "Who is this Odenathus, andof what country, that he ventures thus to address his lord? Let him now, if he would lighten his punishment, come here and fall prostrate beforeme with his hands tied behind his back. Should he refuse, let him bewell assured that I will destroy himself, his race, and his land. " Atthe same time he ordered his servants to cast the costly presents of thePalmyrene prince into the Euphrates. 

This arrogant and offensive behavior naturally turned the willing friendinto an enemy. Odenathus, finding himself forced into a hostileposition, took arms and watched his opportunity. So long as Saporcontinued to advance he kept aloof. As soon, however, as the retreatcommenced, and the Persian army, encumbered with its spoil and captives, proceeded to make its way back slowly and painfully to the Euphrates, Odenathus, who had collected a large force--in part from the Syrianvillages, in part from the wild tribes of Arabia--made his appearance inthe field. His light and agile horsemen hovered about the Persian host, cut off their stragglers, made prize of much of their spoil, and evencaptured a portion of the seraglio of the great king. 

The harassed troops were glad when they had placed the Euphrates betweenthemselves and their pursuer, and congratulated each other on theirescape. So much had they suffered and so little did they feel equal tofurther conflicts that on their march through Mesopotamia they consentedto purchase the neutrality of the people of Edessa by making over tothem all the coined money that they had carried off in their Syrianraid. After this it would seem that the retreat was unmolested, andSapor succeeded in conveying the greater part of his army, together withhis illustrious prisoner, to his own country. 

With regard to the treatment that Valerian received at the hands of hisconqueror it is difficult to form a decided opinion. The writers nearestto the time speak vaguely and moderately, merely telling us that he grewold in his captivity and was kept in the condition of a slave. It isreserved for authors of the next generation to inform us that he wasexposed to the constant gaze of the multitude, fettered, but clad in theimperial purple; and that Sapor, whenever he mounted on horseback, placed his foot upon his prisoner's neck. Some add that when theunhappy captive died, about the year A. D. 265 or 266, his body wasflayed and the skin inflated and hung up to view in one of the mostfrequented temples of Persia, where it was seen by Roman envoys on theirvisits to the great king's court. 

It is impossible to deny that oriental barbarism may conceivably havegone to these lengths; and it is in favor of the truth of the detailsthat Roman vanity would naturally have been opposed to their invention. But, on the other hand, we have to remember that in the East the personof a king is generally regarded as sacred, and that self-interestrestrains the conquering monarch from dishonoring one of his own class. We have also to give due weight to the fact that the earlier authoritiesare silent with respect to any such atrocities, and that they are firstrelated half a century after the time when they are said to haveoccurred. 

Under these circumstances the scepticism of Gibbon with respect to themis perhaps worthy of commendation. 

It may be added that oriental monarchs, when they are cruel, do not showthemselves ashamed of their cruelties, but usually relate them openly intheir inscriptions or represent them in their bas-reliefs. The remainsascribed on good grounds to Sapor do not, however, contain anythingconfirmatory of the stories which we are considering. Valerian isrepresented on them in a humble attitude, but not fettered, and never inthe posture of extreme degradation commonly associated with his name. Hebends his knee, as no doubt he would be required to do, on being broughtinto the great king's presence; but otherwise he does not appear to besubjected to any indignity. It seems thus to be on the whole mostprobable that the Roman Emperor was not more severely treated than thegenerality of captive princes, and that Sapor has been unjustly taxedwith abusing the rights of conquest. 

The hostile feeling of Odenathus against Sapor did not cease with theretreat of the latter across the Euphrates. The Palmyrene prince wasbent on taking advantage of the general confusion of the times to carveout for himself a considerable kingdom, of which Palmyra should be thecapital. Syria and Palestine, on the one hand, Mesopotamia, on theother, were the provinces that lay most conveniently near to him andthat he especially coveted. But Mesopotamia had remained in thepossession of the Persians as the prize of their victory over Valerian, and could only be obtained by wresting it from the hands into which ithad fallen. Odenathus did not shrink from this contest. It has been, with some reason, conjectured that Sapor must have been at this timeoccupied with troubles which had broken out on the eastern side of hisempire. At any rate, it appears that Odenathus, after a short contestwith Macrianus and his son, Quietus, turned his arms once more, aboutA. D. 263, against the Persians, crossed the Euphrates into Mesopotamia, took Carrhæ and Nisibis, defeated Sapor and some of his sons in abattle, and drove the entire Persian host in confusion to the gates ofCtesiphon. He even returned to lay siege to that city; but it was notlong before effectual relief arrived; from all the provinces flocked incontingents for the defence of the western capital; several engagementswere fought, in some of which Odenathus was defeated; and at last hefound himself involved in difficulties through his ignorance of thelocalities, and so thought it best to retire. Apparently his retreat wasundisturbed; he succeeded in carrying off his booty and his prisoners, among whom were several satraps, and he retained possession ofMesopotamia, which continued to form a part of the Palmyrene kingdomuntil the capture of Zenobia by Aurelian, A. D. 273. 

The successes of Odenathus, in A. D. 263, were followed by a period ofcomparative tranquillity. That ambitious prince seems to have beencontent with ruling from the Tigris to the Mediterranean, and with thetitle of "Augustus, " which he received from the Roman emperor Gallienus, and "King of Kings, " which he assumed upon his coins. He did not pressfurther upon Sapor, nor did the Roman Emperor make any serious attemptto recover his father's person or revenge his defeat upon the Persians. An expedition which he sent out to the East, professedly with thisobject, in the year A. D. 267, failed utterly, its commander, Heraclianus, being signally defeated by Zenobia, the widow and successorof Odenathus. Odenathus himself was murdered by a kinsman three or fouryears after his great successes, and though Zenobia ruled his kingdomalmost with a man's vigor, the removal of his powerful adversary musthave been felt as a relief by the Persian monarch. It is evident, too, that from the time of the accession of Zenobia the relations betweenRome and Palmyra had become unfriendly; the old empire grew jealous ofthe new kingdom which had sprung up upon its borders; and the effect ofthis jealousy, while it lasted, was to secure Persia from any attack onthe part of either. 

It appears that Sapor, relieved from any further necessity of defendinghis empire in arms, employed the remaining years of his life in theconstruction of great works, and especially in the erection andornamentation of a new capital. The ruins of Shapur, which still existnear Kazerun, in the province of Fars, commemorate the name and affordsome indication of the grandeur of the second Persian monarch. Besidesremains of buildings, they comprise a number of bas-reliefs and rockinscriptions, some of which were, beyond a doubt, set up by Sapor I. Inone of the most remarkable, the Persian monarch is represented onhorseback, wearing the crown usual upon his coins, and holding by thehand a tunicked figure, probably Miriades, whom he is presenting to thecaptured Romans as their sovereign. Foremost to do him homage is thekneeling figure of a chieftain, probably Valerian, behind whom arearranged in a double line seventeen persons, representing probably thedifferent corps of the Roman army. All these persons are on foot, whilein contrast with them are arranged behind Sapor ten guards on horseback, who represent his irresistible cavalry. Another bas-relief at the sameplace gives us a general view of Sapor on his return to Persia with hisillustrious prisoners. Here fifty-seven guards are ranged behind him, while in front are thirty-three tribute bearers having with them anelephant and a chariot. In the centre is a group of seven figures, comprising: Sapor, who is on horseback in his usual costume; Valerian, who is under the horse's feet; Miriades, who stands by Sapor's side;three principal tribute bearers in front of the main figure; and a_Victory_, which floats in the sky. 

Another important work, assigned by tradition to Sapor I, is the greatdike at Shuster. This is a dam across the river Karun, formed of cutstones, cemented by lime and fastened together by cramps of iron; it istwenty feet broad and no less than twelve hundred feet in length. Thewhole is a solid mass except in the centre, where two small arches havebeen constructed for the purpose of allowing a part of the stream toflow in its natural bed. The greater portion of the water is directedeastward into a canal cut for it; and the town of Shuster is thusdefended on both sides by a water barrier, whereby the position becomesone of great strength. Tradition says that Sapor used his power overValerian to obtain Roman engineers for this work; and the great dam isstill known as the "Dam of Cæsar" to the inhabitants of the neighboringcountry. 

Sapor died, having reigned thirty-one years, from A. D. 240 to A. D. 271. He was undoubtedly one of the most remarkable princes of the Sassanianseries. In military talent, indeed, he may not have equalled his father, for though he defeated Valerian he had to confess himself inferior toOdenathus. But in general governmental ability he is among the foremostof the Neo-Persian monarchs, and may compare favorably with almost anyprince of the series. He baffled Odenathus, when he was not able todefeat him, by placing himself behind walls, and by bringing into playthose advantages which naturally belonged to the position of a monarchattacked in his own country. He maintained, if he did not permanentlyadvance, the power of Persia in the West, while in the East it isprobable that he considerably extended the bounds of his dominion. 

To the internal administration of his empire he united works ofusefulness with the construction of memorials which had only asentimental and æsthetic value. He was a liberal patron of art and isthought not to have confined his patronage to the encouragement ofnative talent. On the subject of religion he did not suffer himself tobe permanently led away by the enthusiasm of a young and boldfreethinker. He decided to maintain the religious system that haddescended to him from his ancestors, and turned a deaf ear topersuasions that would have led him to revolutionize the religiousopinion of the East without placing it upon a satisfactory footing. Theorientals add to these commendable features of character that he was aman of remarkable beauty, of great personal courage, and of a noble andprincely liberality. According to them, "he only desired wealth that hemight use it for good and great purposes. "

CONVERSION OF CONSTANTINE

DECLINE OF PAGANISM

A. D. 300-337

JOHANN LORENZ VON MOSHEIM

 A new epoch in the history of the Roman Empire began with the accession of Diocletian to the throne in A. D. 284. From that time the old names of consul, tribune, etc. , belonging to the republic lost their significance, and even the senate was practically abolished. Thenceforth the empire became an oriental sovereignty. In the year 292, having previously associated with himself one colleague, Maximianus Herculius, Diocletian created two Cæsars: the one, Galerius Maximianus, to act as his subordinate in the East; the other, Constantius Chlorus, to divide the government of the western provinces with Maximianus Herculius. Each of these emperors ruled with vigor in his own territory, defending the frontiers of the empire and also suppressing such revolts as broke out within its borders. 

 But these transformations in the empire were preparing the way for events of unprecedented nature and importance, and for the rise of an emperor destined to play a part in the history of the world quite different from that performed by any of his predecessors. This was Constantine, in whose character, throughout his life, opposing elements seemed to contend for mastery, as was shown in his treatment of the perplexing questions that arose during his reign concerning Christianity, which was persecuted under Diocletian and the old Roman religion. Of his statesmanship and his further transformation of the empire, in ways which Diocletian could not have foreseen, history has made an impressive record. 

 But the great events of his reign, which caused it to be regarded as the inauguration of a new era, were his conversion to Christianity and the acts whereby he secured its toleration and then its supremacy in the empire. In the account which follows it is clearly shown by what steps these results were attained, and how the work of Constantine the Great became the chief agency by which Christianity mounted the throne of the Cæsars. 

In the beginning of the fourth century the Roman Empire had foursovereigns, of whom two were superior to the others and bore the titleof Augustus, namely, Diocletian and Maximianus Herculius; the twoinferior sovereigns, who bore the title of Cæsars, were ConstantiusChlorus and Galerius Maximianus. Under these four emperors the state ofthe Church was peaceful and happy. Diocletian, though superstitious, indulged no hatred toward the Christians. Constantius Chlorus, followingonly the dictates of reason in matters of religion, was averse to thepopular idolatry, and friendly to the Christians. The pagan priests, therefore, from well-grounded fears lest Christianity, to their greatand lasting injury, should spread far and wide its triumphs, endeavoredto excite Diocletian, whom they knew to be both timid and credulous, bymeans of feigned oracles and other impositions, to engage in persecutingthe Christians. 

These artifices not succeeding very well, they made use of the otheremperor, Galerius Maximianus, who was son-in-law to Diocletian, in orderto effect their purpose. This Emperor, who was of a ferocious characterand ill-informed in everything except the military art, continued towork upon his father-in-law, being urged on partly by his owninclination, partly by the instigation of his mother, a mostsuperstitious woman, and partly by that of the pagan priests, till atlast, when Diocletian was at Nicomedia, in the year 303, he obtainedfrom him an edict by which the temples of the Christians were to bedemolished, their sacred books committed to the flames, and themselvesdeprived of all their civil rights and honors. This first edict sparedthe lives of the Christians; for Diocletian was averse from slaughterand bloodshed. Yet it caused many Christians to be put to death, particularly those who refused to deliver up their sacred books to themagistrates. Seeing this operation of the law, many Christians, andseveral even of the bishops and clergy, in order to save their lives, voluntarily surrendered the sacred books in their possession. But theywere regarded by their more resolute brethren as guilty of sacrilege. 

Not long after the publication of this first edict, there were twoconflagrations in the palace of Nicomedia; and the enemies of theChristians persuaded Diocletian to believe that Christian hands hadkindled them. He therefore ordered many Christians of Nicomedia to beput to the torture and to undergo the penalties due to incendiaries. Nearly at the same time there were insurrections in Armenia and inSyria; and as their enemies charged the blame of these also upon theChristians, the Emperor by a new edict ordered all bishops and ministersof Christ to be thrown into prison; and by a third edict, soon after, heordered that all these prisoners should be compelled by tortures andpunishments to offer sacrifice to the gods; for he hoped, if the bishopsand teachers were once brought to submission, the Christian churcheswould follow their example. A great multitude, therefore, of excellentmen, in every part of the Roman Empire, Gaul only excepted, which wassubject to Constantius Chlorus, were either punished capitally orcondemned to the mines. 

In the second year of the persecution, A. D. 304, Diocletian published afourth edict, at the instigation of his son-in-law and other enemies ofthe Christians. By this edict the magistrates were directed to compelall Christians to offer sacrifices to the gods, and to use tortures forthat purpose. And as the governors yielded strict obedience to theseorders, the Christian Church was reduced to the last extremity. GaleriusMaximianus therefore no longer hesitated to disclose the secret designshe had long entertained. He required his father-in-law, Diocletian, together with his colleague, Maximianus Herculius, to divest themselvesof their power, and constituted himself emperor of the East; leaving theWest to Constantius Chlorus, whose health he knew to be very infirm. Healso associated with him in the government two assistants of his ownchoosing, namely, Caius Galerius Maximinus, his sister's son, andFlavius Severus; excluding altogether Constantine, the son ofConstantius Chlorus. This revolution in the Roman Government restoredpeace to Christians in the Western provinces, which were underConstantius; but in the Eastern provinces the persecution raged withgreater severity than before. 

But divine Providence frustrated the whole plan of Galerius Maximianus. For, Constantius Chlorus dying in Britain, in the year 306, the soldieryby acclamation made his son Constantine, who afterward by hisachievements obtained the title of "the Great, " Augustus or Emperor; andthe tyrant Galerius was obliged to submit, and even to approve thisadverse event. Soon after a civil war broke out. For Maxentius, theson-in-law of Galerius Maximianus, being indignant that Galerius shouldprefer Severus before him, and invest him with imperial power, himselfassumed the purple, and took his father, Maximianus Herculius, for hiscolleague in the empire. In the midst of these commotions Constantine, beyond all expectation, made his way to the imperial throne. The westernChristians, those of Italy and Africa excepted, enjoyed a good degree oftranquillity and liberty during these civil wars. But the orientalchurches experienced various fortune, adverse or tolerable, according tothe political changes from year to year. At length Galerius Maximianus, who had been the author of the heaviest calamities, being brought low bya terrific and protracted disease, and finding himself ready to die, inthe year 311, issued a decree which restored peace to them, after theyhad endured almost unbounded sufferings. 

After the death of Galerius Maximianus, Caius Galerius Maximianus andCaius Valerius Licinius divided between themselves the provinces whichhad been governed by Galerius. At the same time Maxentius, who heldAfrica and Italy, determined to make war upon Constantine, who governedin Spain and Gaul, in order to bring all the West under his authority. Constantine anticipated his designs, marched his army into Italy in theyear 312, and in a battle fought at the Milvian bridge, near Rome, routed the army of Maxentius. In the flight the bridge broke down, andMaxentius fell into the Tiber and was drowned. After this victoryConstantine, with his colleague Licinius, immediately gave full libertyto the Christians of living according to their own institutions andlaws; and this liberty was more clearly defined the following year, A. D. 313, in a new edict drawn up at Milan. Caius Galerius Maximinus, indeed, who reigned in the East, was projecting new calamities for theChristians, and menacing the emperors of the West with war; but beingvanquished by Licinius, he put an end to his own life, in the year 313, by swallowing poison, at Tarsus. 

About this time Constantine the Great, who was previously a man of noreligion, is said to have embraced Christianity, being induced theretoprincipally by the miracle of a cross appearing to him in the heavens. But this story is liable to much doubt. His first edict in favor of theChristians, and many other things, sufficiently evince that he wasindeed at that time well disposed toward the Christians and theirworship, but that he by no means regarded Christianity as the only trueand saving religion; on the contrary, it appears that he regarded otherreligions, and among them the old Roman religion, as likewise true anduseful to mankind; and he therefore wished all religions to be freelypractised throughout the Roman Empire. But as he advanced in life, Constantine made progress in religious knowledge, and gradually came toregard Christianity as the only true and saving religion, and toconsider all others as false and impious. Having learned this, he nowbegan to exhort his subjects to embrace Christianity; and at length heproclaimed war against the ancient superstitions. At what time thischange in the views of the Emperor took place, and he began to look uponall religions but the Christian as false, cannot be determined. This, however, is certain, that the change in his views was first mademanifest by his laws and edicts in the year 324, after the death ofLicinius, when Constantine became sole emperor. His purpose, however, ofabolishing the ancient religion of the Romans, and of tolerating onlythe Christian religion, he did not disclose till a little before hisdeath, when he published his edicts for pulling down the pagan templesand abolishing the sacrifices. 

That the Emperor was sincere, and not a dissembler, in regard to hisconversion to Christianity, no person can doubt who believes that men'sactions are an index of their real feelings. It is indeed true thatConstantine's life was not such as the precepts of Christianityrequired; and it is also true that he remained a catechumen all hislife, and was received to full membership in the Church, by baptism, only a few days before his death, at Nicomedia. But neither of these isadequate proof that the Emperor had not a general conviction of thetruth of the Christian religion, or that he only feigned himself aChristian. For in that age many persons deferred baptism till near theclose of life, that they might pass into the other world altogether pureand undefiled with sin; and it is but too notorious that many personswho look upon the Christian religion as indubitably true and of divineorigin, yet do not conform their lives to all its holy precepts. It isanother question whether worldly motives might not have contributed insome degree to induce Constantine to prefer the Christian religion tothe ancient Roman, and to all other religions, and to recommend theobservance of it to his subjects. Indeed, it is no improbable conjecturethat the Emperor had discernment to see that Christianity possessedgreat efficacy, and idolatry none at all, to strengthen publicauthority, and to bind citizens to their duty. 

The sign of the cross, which Constantine most solemnly affirmed he sawin the heavens, near midday, is a subject involved in the greatestobscurities and difficulties. It is, however, an easy thing to refutethose who regard this prodigy as a cunning fiction of the Emperor, orwho rank it among fables; and also those who refer the phenomenon tonatural causes, ingeniously conjecturing that the form of a crossappeared in a solar halo, or in the moon; and likewise those who ascribethe transaction to the power of God, who intended by a miracle toconfirm the wavering faith of the Emperor. Now these suppositions beingrejected, the only conclusion that remains is that Constantine saw, in adream while asleep, the appearance of a cross, with the inscription, _Inhoc signo vinces_ ("By this sign thou shalt conquer"). Nor is thisopinion unsupported by competent authorities of good credit. 

The happiness anticipated by the Christians from the edicts ofConstantine and Licinius was a little afterward interrupted by Licinius, who waged war against his kinsman Constantine. Being vanquished in theyear 314, he was quiet for about nine years. But in the year 324 thisrestless man again attacked Constantine, being urged on both by his owninclination and by the instigation of the pagan priests. That he mightsecure himself a victory, he attached the pagans to his cause byseverely oppressing the Christians, and putting not a few of theirbishops to death. But all his plans failed; for, after severalunsuccessful battles, he was obliged to throw himself upon the mercy ofthe victor, who, nevertheless, ordered him to be strangled, in the year325. After his victory over Licinius, Constantine reigned sole emperortill his death; and by his plans, his enactments, his regulations, andhis munificence he endeavored as much as possible to obliterategradually the ancient superstitions and to establish Christian worshipthroughout the Roman Empire. He had undoubtedly learned from the warsand the machinations of Licinius that neither himself nor the RomanEmpire could remain secure while the ancient superstition continuedprevalent; and therefore, from this time onward, he openly opposed thepagan deities and their worship, as being prejudicial to the interestsof the State. 

After the death of Constantine, which happened in the year 337, histhree surviving sons, Constantine II, Constantius, and Constans, assumedthe empire, and were all proclaimed emperors by the Roman senate. Therewere still living two brothers of Constantine the Great, namely, Constantius Dalmatius and Julius Constans, and they had several sons. But nearly all of these were slain by the soldiers at the command ofConstantine's sons, who feared lest their thirst for power might leadthem to make insurrections and disturb the Commonwealth. Only Gallus andJulian, sons of Julius Constans, escaped the massacre; and the latter ofthese afterward became emperor. Constantine II held Britain, Gaul, andSpain, but lost his life, A. D. 340, in a war with his brother Constans, who at first governed only Illyricum, Italy, and Africa; but after thefall of his brother, Constantine II, he annexed his provinces to hisempire, and thus became emperor of all the West, until he lost his life, A. D. 350, in the war with Maxentius, a usurper. After the death ofConstans, Maxentius being subdued, the third brother, Constantius, whohad before governed Asia, Syria, and Egypt, in the year 353 became soleemperor, and governed the whole empire till the year 361, when he died. Neither of these brothers possessed the disposition or the discernmentof their father; yet they all pursued their father's purpose ofabolishing the ancient superstitions of the Romans and other pagans, andof propagating the Christian religion throughout the Roman Empire. Thething itself was commendable and excellent; but in the means employedthere was much that was censurable. 

Rhetoricians and philosophers, whose schools were supposed to be soprofitable to the community, exhausted all their ingenuity, both beforethe days of Constantine the Great and afterward, to arrest the progressof Christianity. In the beginning of this century Hierocles, the greatornament of the Platonic school, composed two books against theChristians, in which he had the audacity to compare our Saviour withApollonius Tyanæus, and for which he was chastised by Eusebius in atract written expressly against him. Lactantius speaks of anotherphilosopher who endeavored to convince the Christians they were inerror; but his name is not mentioned. After the reign of Constantine theGreat, Julian wrote a large volume against the Christians, and Himeriusand Libanius in their public declamations, and Eunapius in his lives ofthe philosophers, zealously decried the Christian religion. Yet no oneof these persons was punished at all for the licentiousness of histongue or of his pen. 

How much harm these sophists or philosophers, who were full of the prideof imaginary knowledge and of hatred to the Christian name, did to thecause of Christianity in this century appears from many examples, andespecially from the apostasy of Julian, who was seduced by men of thisstamp. Among those who wished to appear wise, and to take moderateground, many were induced by the arguments and explanations of these mento devise a kind of reconciling religion, intermediate between the oldsuperstition and Christianity, and to imagine that Christ had enjoinedthe very same thing which had long been represented by the pagan priestsunder the envelope of their ceremonies and fables. Of these views wereAmmianus Marcellinus, a very prudent and discreet man; Chalcidius, aphilosopher; Themistius, a very celebrated orator, and others, whoconceived that both religions were in unison, as to all the moreimportant points, if they were rightly understood, and therefore heldthat Christ was neither to be contemned nor to be honored to theexclusion of the pagan deities. 

As Constantine the Great and his sons and successors took much pains toenlarge the Christian Church, it is not strange that many nations, before barbarous and uncivilized, became subject to Christ. Manycircumstances make it probable that the light of Christianity cast someof its rays into both Armenias, the Greater and the Less, soon after theestablishment of the Christian Church. But the Armenian Church firstreceived due organization and firm establishment in this century; inthe beginning of which Gregory, the son of Anax, commonly called "theIlluminator, " because he dispelled the mists of superstition whichbeclouded the minds of the Athenians, first persuaded some privateindividuals, and afterward Tiridates, the king of the Armenians, as wellas his nobles, to embrace and observe the Christian religion. He wastherefore ordained the first bishop of Armenia, by Leontius, bishop ofCappadocia, and gradually diffused the principles of Christianitythroughout that country. 

In the European provinces of the Roman Empire there still remained avast number of idolaters; and though the Christian bishops endeavored toconvert them to Christ, the business went on but slowly. In Gaul, thegreat Martin, bishop of Tours, was not unsuccessful in this work; buttravelling through the provinces of Gaul, he everywhere persuaded manyto renounce their idols and embrace Christ, and he destroyed theirtemples and threw down their statues. He therefore merited the title"Apostle of the Gauls. "

It is very evident that the victories of Constantine the Great, and boththe fear of punishment and the desire of pleasing the Roman emperors, were cogent reasons, in the view of whole nations as well as ofindividuals, for embracing the Christian religion. Yet no person wellinformed in the history of this period will ascribe the extension ofChristianity wholly to these causes. For it is manifest that theuntiring zeal of the bishops and other holy men, the pure and devoutlives which many of the Christians exhibited, the translations of thesacred volume, and the excellence of the Christian religion were asefficient motives with many persons as the arguments from worldlyadvantage and disadvantage were with some others. 

Although the Christian Church within the Roman Empire was involved in nosevere calamities from the times of Constantine the Great onward, exceptduring the commotion of Licinius and the short reign of Julian, yetslight tempests sometimes beat upon them in certain places. Athanaric, for instance, a king of the Goths, fiercely assailed for a time thatportion of the Gothic nation which had embraced Christianity. In themore remote provinces, also, the adherents to idolatry often defendedtheir hereditary superstitions with the sword, and murdered theChristians, who in propagating their religion were not always as gentleor as prudent as they ought to have been. Beyond the limits of the RomanEmpire, Sapor II, the king of Persia, waged three bloody wars againstthe Christians in his dominions. The first was in the eighteenth year ofhis reign; the second was in the thirtieth year; and the third, whichwas the most cruel and destroyed an immense number of Christians, commenced in his thirty-first year, A. D. 330, and lasted forty years, ortill A. D. 370. Yet religion was not the ostensible cause of thisdreadful persecution, but a suspicion of treasonable practices among theChristians; for the Magi and the Jews persuaded the King to believe thatall Christians were in the interests of the Roman Empire. 

FIRST NICENE COUNCIL

RISE AND DECLINE OF ARIANISM

A. D. 325

J. L. VON MOSHEIM A. P. STANLEY

 Controversies in the Christian Church concerning the mystery of the Trinity began in the second century, prior to which the word trinity--a term not found in the Scriptures--had scarcely been used in Christian writings. It was prominently introduced by theologians of the second century, who employed new metaphysical methods in their attempts to explain the divine nature. The dispute turned upon the questions whether Christ was God or man or an intermediate being, whether or not he was created, and like inquiries. Arius, a deacon of Alexandria, early in the fourth century, held that Christ was a created being, though superior to all other created beings. The Son, he maintained, is of a nature similar to--not the same as--that of the Father, to whom the Son is subordinate. This heresy obtained such currency in the Church that, in 321, a provincial synod at Alexandria excommunicated Arius, who in his learned writings had set them forth since 318. Once started among the people, the controversy begun in the schools became very bitter, and in many of the churches partisans of the heretical view equalled in number those of the orthodox. Meanwhile Arius continued to publish his doctrines. 

 The emperor Constantine, having become the patron of Christianity, conceived that the controversy might be settled by an assembly of the whole Church, and in the year 325 he convoked the first council of Nicæa, which was also the first ecumenical or general council. At this council, before which Arius defended his views, over three hundred bishops were in attendance, and pronounced in favor of the orthodox doctrine--that of the equality of the Son with the Father--and condemned the Arians to exile and their books to be burned. This council also promulgated the Nicene Creed in its early form. The chief opponent of the Arians was Athanasius, the "Father of Orthodoxy, " whose name was given to a modified creed later adopted into the Greek, Roman, and English services. The Arian heresy, however, continued to spread in the East, and had the strong support of Constantine and his son Constantius. The controversy was renewed again and again, and for a long time Arianism was an important factor in theological and political affairs. Some phases of its peculiar doctrine have reappeared in various teachings and sects of modern times. But the orthodox doctrine affirmed at Nicæa has prevailed in the great branches of the Christian Church, and the acceptance of its fundamental principle--that of the Incarnation--in the post-apostolic age was destined to have an incalculable influence upon the development of individual and national life, civil as well as religious, throughout the world. 

JOHANN LORENZ VON MOSHEIM

In the year 317 a storm arose in Egypt which spread its ravages over thewhole Christian world. The ground of this controversy was the doctrineof three persons in the Godhead, which during the three precedingcenturies had not been in all respects defined. The doctors explainedthis subject in different ways, and gave various representations of thedifference between the Father, Son, and Holy Spirit, without offencebeing taken. 

Alexander, the bishop of Alexandria--it is uncertain on whatoccasion--expressed himself very freely on this subject in a meeting ofhis presbyters, and maintained, among other things, that the Sonpossesses not only the same dignity as the Father, but also the sameessence. But Arius, one of the presbyters, a man of an acute mind andfluent, at first denied the truth of Alexander's positions, on theground that they were allied to the Sabellian errors, which werecondemned by the Church; and then, going to the opposite extreme, hemaintained that the Son is totally and essentially distinct from theFather; that he was only the first and noblest of those created beingswhom God the Father formed out of nothing, and the instrument which theFather used in creating the material universe, and therefore that he wasinferior to the Father both in nature and in dignity. No one of theancients has left us a connected and systematic account of the religionprofessed by Arius and his associates. 

The opinions of Arius were no sooner divulged than they found very manyabettors, and among them men of distinguished talents and rank, both inEgypt and the neighboring provinces. Alexander, on the other hand, accused Arius of blasphemy before two councils assembled at Alexandria, and cast him out of the Church. He was not discouraged by this disgrace;but retiring to Palestine he wrote various letters to men ofdistinction, in which he labored to demonstrate the truth of hisdoctrines, and with so much success that he drew over immense numbers tohis side, and in particular Eusebius, bishop of Nicomedia, who was a manof vast influence. The emperor Constantine, who considered thediscussion as relating to a matter of little importance and remote fromthe fundamentals of religion, at first addressed the disputants byletter, admonishing them to desist from contention. But when he foundthat nothing was effected by this measure, and that greater commotionwas daily rising throughout the empire, he in the year 325 summoned thatfamous council of the whole Church which met at Nice in Bithynia, to putan end to this controversy. In this council, after various altercationsand conflicts of the bishops, the doctrine of Arius was condemned, Christ was pronounced to be of the same essence with the Father, Ariuswas sent into exile in Illyricum, and his followers were compelled toassent to a creed or confession of faith composed by the council. 

No part of church history, perhaps, has acquired more celebrity thanthis assembly of bishops at Nice to settle the affairs of the Church;and yet it is very singular that scarcely any part of ecclesiasticalhistory has been investigated and explained more negligently. Theancient writers are not agreed as to the time and year, nor the place, nor the number of the judges, nor the president of this council, nor asto many other particulars. No written journal of the proceedings of thisvenerable tribunal was kept--at least none has reached us. How many andwhat canons or ecclesiastical laws were enacted is not agreed on by theEastern and Western Christians. The latter tell us they were only twentyin number, but the orientals make them far more numerous. From thecanons universally received, and from the other monuments of thecouncil, it appears not only that Arius was condemned, but that otherthings were decreed, with a view to settle the affairs of the Church. Inparticular, the controversy respecting the time of celebrating Easter, which had long perplexed Christians, was terminated; the jurisdiction ofthe greater bishops was defined, and several other matters of a likenature were determined. 

But the passions of men were more efficient than either the decrees ofthe Nicene Council or the authority of the Emperor; for there were thosewho, though they did not fall in with the doctrine of Arius, yet weredissatisfied with some things in the decrees and the creed of thecouncil, and the Arians left no means untried to free themselves fromthe evils inflicted on them by those decrees. And the issue wasfavorable to their wishes; for in a few years after the Nicene Councilan Arian presbyter whom Constantia, the Emperor's sister, at her deathhad recommended to the care of her brother, succeeded in persuadingConstantine the Great that Arius had been wrongfully condemned frompersonal enmity. Accordingly, in the year 330, the Emperor recalledArius from exile, rescinded the decrees passed against his associatesand friends, and permitted Eusebius of Nicomedia, the principalsupporter of Arius, and his powerful faction, now thirsting for revenge, to persecute the defenders of the Nicene Council. They assailed no onemore fiercely than Athanasius, the bishop of Alexandria. When he couldin no way be brought to restore Arius to his former honors andecclesiastical standing, Athanasius was first deprived of his office, ina council held at Tyre, A. D. 335, and then banished to Gaul, while inthe same year, by a numerous council held at Jerusalem, Arius and hisfriends were solemnly admitted to the communion of the Church. But bynone of these proceedings could the Alexandrians be induced to receiveArius among their presbyters. Accordingly the Emperor called him toConstantinople, in the year 336, and ordered Alexander, the bishop ofthat city, to open the doors of his church to him. But before that couldtake place Arius died at Constantinople in a tragical manner;[49] andthe Emperor himself closed life shortly after. 

After the death of Constantine the Great, one of his sons, Constantius, the Emperor of the East, with his wife and his court, was very partialto the Arian cause, but Constantine and Constans supported in thewestern parts, where they governed, the decisions of the Nicene Council. Hence the broils, the commotions, the plots, the injuries had neithermeasure nor bounds, and on both sides councils were assembled to opposecouncils. Constans died in the year 350, and two years afterward a greatpart of the West, particularly Italy and Rome, came under the dominionof his brother Constantius. This revolution was most disastrous to thefriends of the Nicene Council; for this Emperor, being devoted to theArians, involved the others in numerous evils and calamities, and bythreats and punishments compelled many of them to apostatize to thatsect to which he was himself attached. The Nicene party made nohesitation to return the same treatment as soon as time, place, andopportunity were afforded them, and the history of Christianity underConstantius presents the picture of a most stormy period, and of a waramong brethren which was carried on without religion or justice orhumanity. 

On the death of Constantius, in the year 362, the prosperous days of theArians were at an end. Julian had no partiality for either, andtherefore patronized neither the Arians nor the orthodox. Jovianespoused the orthodox sentiments, and therefore all the West, with nosmall part of the East, rejecting Arian views, reverted to the doctrinesof the Nicene Council. But the scene was changed under the two brothersValentinian and Valens, who were advanced to the government of theEmpire in the year 364. Valentinian adhered to the decisions at Nice, and therefore in the West the Arian sect, a few churches excepted, waswholly extirpated. Valens, on the contrary, took sides with the Arians, and hence in the eastern provinces many calamities befell the orthodox. But when this Emperor had fallen in a war with the Goths, A. D. 378, Gratian--who succeeded Valentinian in the West, in the year 376, andbecame master of the whole empire in 378--restored peace to theorthodox. After him Theodosius the Great, by depriving the Arians of alltheir churches and enacting severe laws against them, caused thedecisions of the Nicene Council to triumph everywhere, and none couldany longer publicly profess Arian doctrines except among the barbarousnations, the Goths, the Vandals, and the Burgundians. That there weregreat faults on both sides in this long and violent contest no candidperson can deny, but which party was guilty of the greatest wrong it isdifficult to say. 

The Arians would have done much more harm to the Church if they had notbecome divided among themselves, after the Nicene Council, and splitinto sects which could not endure each other. Unhappily the Ariancontests produced, as was very natural, some new sects. Some persons, while eager to avoid and to confute the opinions of Arius, fell intoopinions equally dangerous. Others, after treading in the footsteps ofArius, ventured on far beyond him and became still greater errorists. The human mind, weak and subject to the control of the senses and theimagination, seldom exerts all its energies to comprehend divinesubjects in such a manner as to be duly guarded against extremes. In theformer class I would reckon Apollinaris the Younger, bishop of Laodicea, though otherwise a man of great merit, and one who in various waysrendered important service to the Church. He manfully asserted thedivinity of Christ against the Arians, but by philosophizing too freelyand too eagerly he almost set aside the human nature of the Saviour. This great man was led astray, not merely by the ardor of debate, butlikewise by his immoderate attachment to the Platonic doctrineconcerning a twofold soul, from which if the divines of the age had beenfree they would have formed more wise and more correct judgments on manypoints. The doctrine of Apollinaris met the approbation of many innearly all the eastern provinces, and, being explained in differentways, it became a source of new sects. But as it was assailed by thelaws of the emperors, the decrees of councils, and the writings oflearned men, it gradually sunk under these united assaults. 

At the head of those whom the contests with Arius led into still greatererrors may undoubtedly be placed Photinus, bishop of Sirmium, who in theyear 343 advanced opinions concerning God equally remote from those ofthe orthodox and those of the Arians. The temerity of the man waschastened not only by the orthodox, in their councils of Antioch in 345, of Milan in 347, and of Sirmium, but also by the Arians in a councilheld at Sirmium in 351. He was deprived of his office, and died inexile in the year 372. After him Macedonius, bishop of Constantinople, adistinguished semi-Arian teacher, being deprived of his office by theCouncil of Constantinople, in the year 360, in his exile founded thesect of the Pneumatomachi. He openly professed that the Holy Spirit is adivine energy diffused throughout the universe, and not a persondistinct from the Father and the Son. This doctrine was embraced by manyin the Asiatic provinces; but the Council of Constantinople, assembledby Theodosius the Great, in the year 381, and which is commonlyconsidered as the second ecumenical council, early dissipated by itsauthority this young and immature sect. One hundred and fifty bishopspresent in this council defined fully and perfectly the doctrine ofthree persons and one God, as it is still professed by the great body ofChristians, which the Nicene Council had only in part performed. Theyalso anathematized all the heresies then known. 

 * * * * *

In the fifth century the Arians, oppressed and persecuted by theimperial edicts, took refuge among those barbarous nations who graduallyoverturned the Roman Empire in the West; and found among the Goths, Heruli, Suevi, Vandals, and Burgundians a fixed residence and a quietretreat. Being now safe, they treated the orthodox with the sameviolence which the orthodox had employed against them and otherheretics, and had no hesitation about persecuting the adherents to theNicene doctrines in a variety of ways. The Vandals, who had establishedtheir kingdom in Africa, surpassed all the rest in cruelty andinjustice. At first Genseric, their king, and then Huneric, his son, demolished the temples of such Christians as maintained the divinity ofthe Saviour, sent their bishops into exile, mutilated many of the morefirm and decided, and tortured them in various ways; and they expresslystated that they were authorized to do so by the example of theemperors, who had enacted similar laws against the Donatists in Africa, the Arians, and others who dissented from them in religion. 

At the beginning of the sixth century the Arians were triumphant in someparts of Asia, Africa, and Europe. Not a few of the Asiatic bishopsfavored them. The Vandals in Africa, the Goths in Italy, many of theGauls, the Suevi, the Burgundians, and the Spaniards openly espousedtheir interests. The Greeks indeed, who approved of the Nicene Council, oppressed and also punished them wherever they were able; but the Ariansreturned the like treatment, especially in Africa and Italy. Yet thisprosperity of the Arians wholly terminated when, under the auspices ofJustinian, the Vandals were driven from Africa and the Goths from Italy. For the other Arian kings, Sigismund, king of the Burgundians, Theodimir, king of the Suevi in Lusitania, and Receared, king of Spain, without violence and war, suffered themselves to be led to arenunciation of the Arian doctrine, and to efforts for its extirpationamong their subjects by means of legal enactments and councils. Whetherreason and arguments or hope and fear had the greater influence in theconversion of these kings, it is difficult to say; but it is certainthat the Arian sect was from this time dispersed and could never afterrecover any strength. 

ARTHUR PENRHYN STANLEY

The delegates to the council assembled in the first instance in one ofthe chief buildings of Nicæa, apparently for the purpose of athanksgiving and a religious reunion. Whether it was an actual churchmay be questioned. Christians, no doubt, there had been in Bithynia forsome generations. Already in the second century Pliny had found them insuch numbers that the temples were deserted and the sacrificesneglected. But it would seem that on this occasion a secular buildingwas fitted up as a temporary house of prayer. At least the traditionalaccount of the place where their concluding prayers were held exactlyagrees with Strabo's account of the ancient gymnasium of Nicæa. 

It was a large building, shaped like a basilica, with an apsis at oneend, planted in the centre of the town, and thus commanding down each ofthe four streets a view of the four gates, and therefore called_Mesomphalos_, the "Navel" of the city. Whether, however, this edificeactually was a church or not, its use as such on this occasion served asa precedent for most of the later councils. From the time of the Councilof Chalcedon, they have usually been held within the walls of churches. But for this the first council, the church, so far as it was a church, was only used as the beginning and the end. After these thanksgivingswere over, the members of the assembly must have been collectedaccording to the divisions which shall now be described. 

The group which, above the rest, attracts our attention, is thedeputation from the Church of Egypt. Shrill above all other voices, vehement above all other disputants, "brandishing their arguments, " asit was described by one who knew them well, "like spears, against thosewho sate under the same roof and ate off the same table as themselves, "were the combatants from Alexandria, who had brought to its present passthe question which the council was called to decide. Foremost in thegroup in dignity, though not in importance or in energy, was the agedAlexander, whose imprudent sermon had provoked the quarrel, and whosesubsequent vacillation had encouraged it. He was the bishop, not indeedof the first, but of the most learned, see of Christendom. He was knownby a title which he alone officially bore in that assembly. He was "thePope. " "The Pope of Rome" was a phrase which had not yet emerged inhistory. But "Pope of Alexandria" was a well-known dignity. _Papa_, thatstrange and universal mixture of familiar endearment and of reverentialawe, extended in a general sense to all Greek presbyters and all Latinbishops, was the special address which, long before the name ofpatriarch or of archbishop, was given to the head of the AlexandrianChurch. 

In the Patriarchal Treasury at Moscow is a very ancient scarf or_omophorion_, said to have been given by the bishop of Nicæa in theseventeenth century to the czar Alexis, and to have been left to theChurch of Nicæa by Alexander of Alexandria. It is white, and is rudelyworked with a representation of the Ascension; possibly an allusion tothe first Sunday of their meeting. This relic, true or false, is thenearest approach we can now make to the bodily presence of the oldtheologian. The shadow of death is already upon him; in a few months hewill be beyond the reach of controversy. 

But close beside the pope Alexander is a small insignificant young man, of hardly twenty-five years of age, of lively manners and speech, and ofbright, serene countenance. Though he is but the deacon, the chiefdeacon, or archdeacon, of Alexander, he has closely riveted theattention of the assembly by the vehemence of his arguments. He isalready taking the words out of the bishop's mouth, and briefly actingin reality the part he had before, as a child, acted in name, and thatin a few months he will be called to act both in name and in reality. Insome of the conventional pictures of the council his humble rank as adeacon does not allow of his appearance. But his activity and prominencebehind the scenes made enemies for him there, who will never leave himthrough life. Anyone who had read his passionate invectives afterwardmay form some notion of what he was when in the thick of his youthfulbattles. That small, insignificant deacon is the great Athanasius. 

Next after the pope and deacon of Alexandria we must turn to one of itsmost important presbyters--the parish priest of its principal church, which bore the name of Baucalis, and marked the first beginnings of whatwe should call a parochial system. In appearance he is the very oppositeof Athanasius. He is sixty years of age, very tall and thin, andapparently unable to support his stature; he has an odd way ofcontorting and twisting himself, which his enemies compare to thewrigglings of a snake. He would be handsome but for the emaciation anddeadly pallor of his face, and a downcast look, imparted by a weaknessof eyesight. At times his veins throb and swell and his limbs tremble, as if suffering from some violent internal complaint--the same, perhaps, that will terminate one day in his sudden and frightful death. There isa wild look about him, which at first sight is startling. His dress anddemeanor are those of a rigid ascetic. He wears a long coat with shortsleeves, and a scarf of only half size, such as was the mark of anaustere life; and his hair hangs in a tangled mass over his head. He isusually silent, but at times breaks out into fierce excitement, such aswill give the impression of madness. Yet with all this there are asweetness in his voice and a winning, earnest manner which fascinatesthose who come across him. Among the religious ladies of Alexandria heis said to have had from the first a following of not less than sevenhundred. This strange, captivating, moon-struck giant is the hereticArius, or, as his adversaries called him, the madman of Ares or Mars. Close beside him was a group of his countrymen, of whom we know little, except their fidelity to him through good report and evil: Saras, likehimself a presbyter, from the Libyan province; Euzoius, a deacon ofEgypt; Achillas, a reader; Theonas, bishop of Marmarica in theCyrenaica; and Secundus, bishop of Ptolemais in the Delta. 

These were the most remarkable deputies from the Church of Alexandria. But from the interior of Egypt came characters of quite another stamp;not Greeks, nor Grecized Egyptians, but genuine Copts, speaking theGreek language not at all, or with great difficulty; living half or thewhole of their lives in the desert; their very names taken from theheathen gods of the times of the ancient Pharaohs. One was Potammon, bishop of Heracleopolis, far up the Nile; the other, Paphnutius, bishopof the Upper Thebaid. Both are famous for the austerity of their lives. Potammon--that is, "dedicated to Ammon"--had himself visited the hermitAntony; Paphnutius--that is, "dedicated to his God"--had been brought upin a hermitage. Both, too, had suffered in the persecutions. Eachpresented the frightful spectacle of the right eye dug out with iron. Paphnutius, besides, came limping on one leg, his left having beenhamstrung. 

Next in importance must be reckoned the bishop of Syria and of theinterior of Asia; or, as they are sometimes called in the latercouncils, the _Eastern_ bishops, as distinguished from the Church ofEgypt. Then, as afterward, there was a rivalry between those branches oforiental Christendom; each, from long neighborhood, knowing each, yeteach tending in an opposite direction till, after the Council ofChalcedon, a community of heresy drew them together again. Here, as inEgypt, we find two classes of representatives--scholars from the morecivilized cities of Syria; wild ascetics from the remoter East. Thefirst in dignity was the orthodox Eustathius, who either was, or was onthe point of being made, bishop of the capital of Syria, the metropolisof the Eastern Church, Antioch, then called "the city of God. " He hadsuffered in heathen persecutions, and was destined to suffer inChristian persecutions also. But he was chiefly known for his learningand eloquence, which was distinguished by an antique simplicity ofstyle. One work alone has come down to us on the "Witch of Endor. "

Next in rank and far more illustrious was his chief suffragan, themetropolitan of Palestine, the bishop of Cæsarea, Eusebius. We honor himas the father of ecclesiastical history, as the chief depositary of thetraditions which connect the fourth with the first century. But in thebishops of Nicæa his presence awakened feelings of a very differentkind. He alone of the eastern prelates could tell what was in the mindof the Emperor; he was the clerk of the imperial closet; he was theinterpreter, the chaplain, the confessor of Constantine. And yet he wason the wrong side. Two especially, we may be sure, of the EgyptianChurch, were on the watch for any slip that he might make. Athanasius--whatever may have been the opinions of later timesrespecting the doctrines of Eusebius--was convinced that he was at heartan Arian. Potammon of the one eye had known him formerly in the days ofpersecution, and was ready with that most fatal taunt, which, on a lateroccasion, he threw out against him, that, while he had thus suffered forthe cause of Christ, Eusebius had escaped by sacrificing to an idol. 

If Eusebius was suspected of Arianism, he was supported by most of hissuffragan bishops in Palestine, of whom Paulinus of Tyre, andPatrophilus of Bethshan (Scythopolis) were the most remarkable. One, however, a champion of orthodoxy, was distinguished, not in himself, butfor the see which he occupied--once the highest in Christendom, in a fewyears about to claim something of its former grandeur, but at the timeof the council known only as a second-rate Syro-Roman city--Macarius, bishop of Ælia Capitolina, that is, "Jerusalem. "

From Neocæsarea, a border fortress on the Euphrates, came its confessorbishop, Paul, who, like Paphnutius and Potammon, had suffered in thepersecutions, but more recently under Licinius. His hands were paralyzedby the scorching of the muscles of all the fingers with red-hot iron. Along with him were the orthodox representatives of four famouschurches, who, according to the Armenian tradition, travelled incompany. Their leader was the marvel, "the Moses" as he was termed, ofMesopotamia, James, or Jacob, bishop of Nisibis. He had lived for yearsas a hermit on the mountains--in the forests during the summer, incaverns during the winter--browsing on roots and leaves like a wildbeast, and like a wild beast clothed in a rough goat-hair cloak. Thisdress and manner of life, even after he became bishop, he never laidaside; and the mysterious awe which his presence inspired was increasedby the stories of miraculous powers which, we are told, he exercised ina manner as humane and playful as it was grotesque; as when he turnedthe washerwoman's hair white, detected the impostor who pretended to bedead, and raised an army of gnats against the Persians. His fame as atheologian rests on disputed writings. 

The second was Ait-allaha--"the brought of God, " like the Greek"Theophorus"--who had just occupied the see of Edessa, and finished thebuilding of the cemetery of his cathedral. 

The third was Aristaces, said to be the cousin of Jacob of Bisibis andson of Gregory the Illuminator, founder of the Armenian Church. Herepresented both his father and the bishop and Tiridates, the king ofArmenia; the bishop and King having received a special invitation fromConstantine, and sent their written professions of faith by the hands ofAristaces. 

The fourth came from beyond the frontier, the sole representativeof the more distant East, "John the Persian, " who added to hisname the more sounding title--here appearing for the first time, but revived in our own days as the designation of our own bishopsof Calcutta--"Metropolitan of India. "

A curious tradition related that this band, including eleven other namesfrom the remote East, were the only members of the Nicene Council whohad not sustained some bodily mutilation or injury. 

As this little band advanced westward, they encountered a remarkablepersonage, who stands at the head of the next group which we meet--theprelates of Asia Minor and Greece. This was Leontius of Cæsarea inCappadocia. From his hands, it was said, Gregory of Armenia hadreceived ordination, and from his successors in the see of Cæsarea haddesired that every succeeding bishop of Armenia should receiveordination likewise. For this reason, it may be, Aristaces and hiscompany sought them out. They found Leontius already on his journey, andthey overtook him at a critical moment. He was on the point of baptizinganother Gregory, father of a much more celebrated Gregory, the futurebishop of Nazianzen. A light, it was believed, shone from the water, which was only discerned by the sacred travellers. 

Leontius was claimed by the Arians, but still more decidedly by theorthodox. Others, of the same side, are usually named as from the sameregion, among them Hypatius of Gangra, whose end we shall witness at theclose of these events, and Hermogenes the deacon, afterward bishop ofCæsarea, who acted as secretary of the council. 

Eusebius of Nicomedia, afterward of Constantinople, Theognis of Nicæa, Maris of Chalcedon, and Menophantus of Ephesus, were among the mostresolute defenders of Arius. It is curious to reflect that theyrepresent the four sees of the four orthodox councils of the Church. Thethree last named soon vanish away from history. But Eusebius ofNicomedia, friend, namesake, perhaps even brother of the bishop ofCæsarea, was a personage of high importance both then and afterward. AsAthanasius was called "the Great" by the orthodox, so was Eusebius bythe Arians. Even miracles were ascribed to him. Originally bishop ofBeyruth (Berytus), he had been translated to the see of Nicomedia, thenthe capital of the Eastern Empire. He had been a favorite of theEmperor's rival Licinius, and had thus become intimate with Constantia, the Emperor's sister, the wife, now the widow of Licinius. Through herand through his own distant relationship with the imperial family hekept a hold on the court which he never lost, even to the moment when hestood by the dying bed of the Emperor, years afterward, and received himinto the Church. We must not be too hard on the Christianity ofEusebius, if we wish to vindicate the baptism of Constantine. 

Not far from the great prelate of the capital of the East would be therepresentative of what was now a small Greek town, but in five yearsfrom that time would supersede altogether the glories of Nicomedia. Metrophanes, bishop of Byzantium, was detained by old age and sickness, but Alexander, his presbyter, himself seventy years of age, was therewith a little secretary of the name of Paul, not more than twelve yearsold, one of the readers and collectors of the Byzantine Church. Alexander had already corresponded with his namesake on the Ariancontroversy, and was apparently attached firmly to the orthodox side. 

Besides their more regular champions the orthodox party of Greece andAsia Minor had a few very eccentric allies. One was Acesius, theNovatian, "the Puritan, " summoned by Constantine from Byzantium withAlexander, from the deep respect entertained by the Emperor for hisascetic character. He was attended by a boy, Auxanon, who lived to agreat age afterward as a presbyter in the same sect. This child was thenliving with a hermit, Eutychianus, on the heights of the neighboringmountain of the Bithynian Olympus, and he descended from these solitudesto attend upon Acesius. From him we have obtained some of the mostcurious details of the council. 

Marcellus, Bishop of Ancyra, was among the bishops, the fiercestopponent of Arius, and, when the active deacon of Alexandria was notpresent, seems to have borne the brunt of the arguments. Yet, if we mayjudge from his subsequent history, Athanasius could never have beenquite at ease in leaving the cause in his hands. He was one of thoseawkward theologians who never could attack Arianism without falling intoSabellianism; and in later life he was twice deposed from his see forheresy, once excommunicated by Athanasius himself; and in the presentform of the Nicene Creed one clause--that which asserts that "thekingdom of Christ shall have no end"--is said to have been expresslyaimed at his exaggerated language. 

And now come two, who in the common pictures of the council alwaysappear together, of whom the one probably left the deepest impression onhis contemporaries; and the other, if he were present at all, on thesubsequent traditions of the council. From the island of Cyprus therearrived the simple shepherd Spyridion, a shepherd both before and afterhis elevation to the episcopate. Strange stories were told by hisfellow-islanders to the historian Socrates of the thieves who weremiraculously caught in attempting to steal his sheep, and of Spyridion'sgood-humored reply when he found them in the morning, and gave them aram, that they might not have sat up all night for nothing. 

Another tale, exactly similar to the fantastic Mussulman legends whichhand about stories of Jerusalem, told how he had gained an answer fromhis dead daughter Irene to tell where a certain deposit was hidden. Twoless marvellous, but more instructive, stories bring out the simplicityof his character. He rebuked a celebrated preacher at Cyprus foraltering, in a quotation from the gospels, the homely word for "bed"into "couch. " "What! are you better than He who said 'bed, ' that you areashamed to use his words?" On occasion of a way-worn traveller coming tohim in Lent, finding no other food in the house, he presented him withsalted pork; and when the stranger declined, saying that he could not asa Christian break his fast: "So much the less reason, " he said, "haveyou for scruple; to the pure all things are pure. "

A characteristic legend attaches to the account of his journey to thecouncil. It was his usual practice to travel on foot. But on thisoccasion the length of the journey, as well as the dignity of hisoffice, induced him to ride, in company with his deacon, on two mules, awhite and a chestnut. One night at his arrival at a caravansary where acavalcade of orthodox bishops were already assembled, the mules wereturned out to pasture, while he retired to his devotions. The bishopshad conceived an alarm lest the cause of orthodoxy should suffer in thecouncil by the ignorance or awkwardness of the Shepherd of Cyprus whenopposed to the subtleties of the Alexandrian heretic. Accordingly, taking advantage of his encounter, they determined to throw a decisiveimpediment in his way. They cut off the heads of his two mules, andthen, as is the custom in oriental travelling, started on their journeybefore sunrise. Spyridion also rose, but was met by his terrified deaconannouncing the unexpected disaster. On arriving at the spot the saintbade the deacon attach the heads to the dead bodies. He did so, and at asign from the bishop the two mules with their restored heads shookthemselves as if from a deep sleep, and started to their feet. Spyridionand the deacon mounted and soon overtook the travellers. As the daybroke the prelates and the deacon were alike astonished at seeing thathe, performing the annexation in the dark and in haste, had fixed theheads on the wrong shoulders, so that the white mule had now a chestnuthead, and the chestnut mule had the head of its white companion. Thusthe miracle was doubly attested, the bishops doubly discomfited, and thesimplicity of Spyridion doubly exemplified. 

Many more stories might be told of him, but, to use the words of anancient writer who has related some of them, "from the claws you canmake out the lion. " Of all the Nicene fathers, it may yet be said thatin a certain curious sense he is the only one who has survived the decayof time. After resting for many years in his native Cyprus his body wastransferred to Constantinople, where it remained till a short timebefore the fall of the empire. It was thence conveyed to Corfu, where itis still preserved. Hence by a strange resuscitation of fame he hasbecome the patron saint, one might almost say the divinity, of theIonian Islands. Twice a year in solemn procession he is carried roundthe streets of Corfu. Hundreds of Corfutes bear his name, now abridgedinto the familiar diminutive of "Spiro. " The superstitious venerationentertained for the old saint is a constant source of quarrel betweenthe English residents and the native Ionians. But the historian may bepardoned for gazing with a momentary interest on the dead hands, nowblack and withered, that subscribed the Creed of Nicæa. 

Still more famous--and still more apocryphal, at least in his attendanceat Nicæa--is Nicolas, bishop of Myra. Not mentioned by a single ancienthistorian, he yet figures in the traditional pictures of the council asthe foremost figure of all. Type as he is of universal benevolence tosailors, to thieves, to the victims of thieves, to children--known byhis broad red face and flowing white hair--the traditions of the Eastalways represent him as standing in the midst of the assembly, andsuddenly roused by righteous indignation to assail the heretic Ariuswith a tremendous box on the ear. 

One more group of deputies closes the arrivals. The Nicene Council was acouncil of the Eastern Church, and Eastern seemingly were at least threehundred and ten of the three hundred and eighteen bishops. But the Westwas not entirely unrepresented. Nicasius from France, Marcus fromCalabria, Capito from Sicily, Eustorgius from Milan--where a venerablechurch is still dedicated to his memory--Domnus of Stridon in Pannoniawere the less conspicuous deputies of the western provinces. 

But there were five men whose presence must have been full of interestto their Eastern brethren. Corresponding to John the Persian from theExtreme East was Theophilus the Goth from the extreme North. His lightcomplexion doubtless made a marked contrast with the tawny hue and darkhair of almost all the rest. They rejoiced to think that they had agenuine Scythian among them. From all future generations of his Teutoniccountrymen he may claim attention as the predecessor and teacher ofUlphilas, the great missionary of the Gothic nation. 

Out of the province of Northern Africa, the earliest cradle of the LatinChurch, came Cæcilian, bishop of Carthage. A few years ago he hadhimself been convened before the two Western councils of the Lateran andof Arles, and had there been acquitted of the charges brought againsthim by the Donatists. 

If any of the distant orientals had hoped to catch a sight of the bishopof the "Imperial City, " they were doomed to disappointment. Doubtlesshad he been there his position as prelate of the capital would havebeen, if not first, at least among the first. But Sylvester was now faradvanced in years; and in his place came the two presbyters, who, according to the arrangement laid down by the Emperor, would haveaccompanied him had he been able to make the journey. In this simpledeputation later writers have seen--and perhaps by a gradual process theconnection might be traced--the first germ of _legati a latere_. But itmust have been a very far-seeing eye which in Victor and Vincentius, thetwo unknown elders, representing their sick old bishop, could havedetected the predecessors of Pandulf or of Wolsey. With them, however, was a man who, though now long forgotten, was then an object of deeperinterest to Christendom than any bishop of Rome could at that time havebeen. It was the world-renowned Spaniard, as he is called by Eusebius;the magician from Spain, as he is called by Zosimus; Hosius, bishop ofCordova. He was the representative of the westernmost of Europeanchurches; but, as Eusebius of Cæsarea was the chief counsellor of theEmperor in the Greek Church, so was Hosius in the Latin, as shown in thedarkest and most mysterious crisis of Constantine's life. 

It was probably by degrees that these different arrivals took place, andthe lapse of two or three weeks must be supposed for the preparatoryarrangements before the council was formally opened. This interval wasoccupied by eager discussions on the questions likely to be debated. Thefirst assemblage had been, as we have seen, within the walls of a publicbuilding. But the other preliminary meetings were held, as was natural, in the streets or colonnades in the open air. The novelty of theoccasion had collected many strangers to the spot. Laymen, philosophers, heathen as well as Christians, might be seen joining in the arguments oneither side, orthodox as well as heretical. There were also discussionsamong the orthodox themselves as to the principle on which the debatesshould be conducted. The enumeration of the characters just given showsthat there were two very different elements in the assembly, such indeedas will always constitute the main difficulty in making any generalstatements of theology which shall be satisfactory at once to the fewand to the many. A large number, perhaps the majority, consisted ofrough, simple, almost illiterate men, like Spyridion the shepherd, Potammon the hermit, Acesius the puritan, who held their faith earnestlyand sincerely, but without conscious knowledge of the grounds on whichthey maintained it, incapable of arguing themselves, or of entering intothe arguments of their opponents. These men, when suddenly brought intocollision with the acutest and most learned disputants of the age, naturally took up the position that the safest course was to hold bywhat had been handed down, without any further inquiry or explanation. 

A story somewhat variously told is related of an encounter of one ofthese simple characters with the more philosophical combatants, which, in whatever way it be taken, well illustrates the mixed character of thecouncil, and the choice of the courses open before it. As Socratesdescribes the incident, the disputes were running so high, from the merepleasure of argument, that there seemed likely to be no end to thecontroversy, when suddenly a simple-minded layman, who by his sightlesseye or limping leg bore witness of his zeal for the Christian faith, stepped among them and abruptly said, "Christ and the apostles left usnot a system of logic nor a vain deceit, but a naked truth to be guidedby faith and good works. " "There has, " says Bishop Kaye in recording thestory, "been hardly any age of the Church in which its members have notrequired to be reminded of this lesson. " On the present occasion thebystanders, at least for the moment, were struck by its happyapplication. The disputants, after hearing this plain word of truth, took their differences more good-humoredly and the hubbub of controversysubsided. 

The tradition grew in later times into the form which it bears in allthe pictures of the council, and which is commemorated in the servicesof the Greek Church. Aware of his incapacity of argument he took a brickand said: "You deny that three can be one. Look at this: it is one, andyet it is composed of the three elements of fire, earth, and water. " Ashe spoke the brick resolved itself into its component parts; the fireflew upward, the clay remained in his hand, and the water fell to theground. The philosopher, or, according to some accounts, Arius himselfwas so confounded as to declare himself converted on the spot. 

These tales represent probably the feeling of a large portion of thecouncil--the sound, unprofessional, untheological, lay element which layat the basis of all their weakness and their strength. The historianSocrates is very anxious to prove that the assembly was not entirelycomposed of men of this kind, and he points triumphantly to the presenceof such men as Eusebius of Cæsarea. No proof was necessary. Thesubsequent history of the council itself is a sufficient indicationthat, however small a minority might be the dialecticians andtheologians, yet they constitute the life and movement of the whole. Socrates dwells with evident pleasure on the circumstance that theultimate decisions were only made after long inquiry, and thateverything was stirred to the bottom. 

We may wish with Bishop Jeremy Taylor and Bishop Kaye that it had beenotherwise. But there is a point of view in which we may fully sympathizewith the course that was taken. All the elements which go to make up theinterest of theology were involved: love of free inquiry, desire ofprecision in philosophical statements, research into Christianantiquity, comparison of the texts of Scripture one with another. Traditional and episcopal authority was regarded as insufficient for theestablishment of the faith. The well-known clause of the Twenty-firstArticle does but express the principle of the Nicene Fathers themselves:"Things ordained by them as necessary for salvation have neitherstrength nor authority unless it may be declared that they are taken outof Holy Scripture. " The battle was fought and won by quotations, notfrom tradition, but from the Old and New Testaments. The overrulingsentiment was that even ancient opinions were not to be received withoutsifting and inquiry. The chief combatant and champion of the faith wasnot the bishop of Antioch or of Rome, nor the pope of Alexandria, butthe deacon Athanasius. The eager discussions of Nicæa present the firstgrand precedent for the duty of private judgment, and the free, unrestrained exercise of biblical and historical criticism. 

FOOTNOTES:

[49] Some of the old writers declared that Arius died by the falling outof his bowels, as if by a miracle. The matter became a subject of muchcontroversy. Mosheim thinks it most probable that Arius was poisoned byhis enemies. Most recorders of the present day are content to say simplythat "he died suddenly. "

FOUNDATION OF CONSTANTINOPLE

A. D. 330

EDWARD GIBBON

 On the eastern part of the site of Constantinople stood the ancient Greek city of Byzantium, said to have been founded in the seventh century B. C. From its situation on the Bosporus it enjoyed great advantages as a trading centre, and was especially noted for its control of the corn supply. There also were fisheries from which vast wealth was derived. After the battle of Platæa (B. C. 479), which put an end to the Persian invasion of Greece, Byzantium was recolonized. In the later Grecian wars it was many times taken, being besieged in the year B. C. 339 by Philip of Macedon and relieved by Phocion. Soon after this it formed an alliance with Alexander the Great; but the city was thenceforth continually harassed by enemies, and never regained its former prosperity. About the year B. C. 277 it was menaced by the Gauls, to whom the Byzantines were forced to pay tribute. When those invaders had been driven back by the Thracian tribes, these in turn exacted from Byzantium like payments, and to increase its revenues the city taxed all vessels entering the Euxine. This led, B. C. 220, to a war with Rhodes, instigated by aggrieved merchants in different parts of the world, the result of which was that the Byzantines levied no more tribute on ships. 

 By treaty, B. C. 148, Byzantium entered into relations with Rome, then engaged in eastern wars, and from that time the Byzantines sought Roman favor, and long maintained an alliance with the empire. After this, little is told of Byzantium until the war of the emperor Septimius Severus with his great rival, Niger, governor of Syria. Byzantium adhered to the cause of Niger. Confident in their future if he should be victorious, the Byzantines indulged dreams of becoming the head of an eastern empire. Their city was strongly fortified, they had a powerful fleet, and for three years they held out against the Roman besiegers, then, after untold sufferings and slaughter, yielded under the distress of famine. "At last they were reduced to chewing leather hides soaked in water, and finally to the horrible extremity in which the weak become literally the prey of the strong. " The Romans destroyed the magnificent city walls and deprived Byzantium of municipal and political liberties. 

 The fall of Byzantium was accomplished in A. D. 194-196, and when next its site became the scene of historic events a wholly new order of things had been inaugurated in the world. After his successful war with his colleague Licinius, sole ruler of the East, Constantine had him put to death in A. D. 325. Constantine then became sole augustus, and in 330 he transferred the capital of the empire from Rome to Byzantium, which was henceforth called Constantinople. 

The unfortunate Licinius was the last rival who opposed the greatness, and the last captive who adorned the triumph, of Constantine. After atranquil and prosperous reign, the conqueror bequeathed to his familythe inheritance of the Roman Empire; a new capital, a new policy, and anew religion; and the innovations which he established have beenembraced and consecrated by succeeding generations. 

After the defeat and abdication of Licinius, his victorious rivalproceeded to lay the foundations of a city destined to reign in futuretimes, the mistress of the East, and to survive the empire and religionof Constantine. The motives, whether of pride or of policy, which firstinduced Diocletian to withdraw himself from the ancient seat ofgovernment, had acquired additional weight by the example of hissuccessors and the habits of forty years. Rome was insensibly confoundedwith the dependent kingdoms which had once acknowledged her supremacy;and the country of the Cæsars was viewed with cold indifference by amartial prince, born in the neighborhood of the Danube, educated in thecourts and armies of Asia, and invested with the purple by the legionsof Britain. The Italians, who had received Constantine as theirdeliverer, submissively obeyed the edicts which he sometimescondescended to address to the senate and people of Rome; but they wereseldom honored with the presence of their new sovereign. 

During the vigor of his age, Constantine, according to the variousexigencies of peace and war, moved with slow dignity, or with activediligence, along the frontiers of his extensive dominions, and wasalways prepared to take the field either against a foreign or a domesticenemy. But as he gradually reached the summit of prosperity and thedecline of life, he began to meditate the design of fixing in a morepermanent station the strength as well as majesty of the throne. In thechoice of an advantageous situation, he preferred the confines of Europeand Asia; to curb with a powerful arm the barbarians who dwelt betweenthe Danube and the Tanais; to watch with an eye of jealousy the conductof the Persian monarch, who indignantly supported the yoke of anignominious treaty. With these views, Diocletian had selected andembellished the residence of Nicomedia: but the memory of Diocletian wasjustly abhorred by the protector of the Church; and Constantine was notinsensible to the ambition of founding a city which might perpetuate theglory of his own name. During the late operations of the war againstLicinius, he had sufficient opportunity to contemplate, both as asoldier and as a statesman, the incomparable position of Byzantium, andto observe how strongly it was guarded by nature against a hostileattack, while it was accessible on every side to the benefits ofcommercial intercourse. 

Many ages before Constantine, one of the most judicious historians ofantiquity had described the advantages of a situation, from whence afeeble colony of Greeks derived the command of the sea and the honors ofa flourishing and independent republic. [50]

The harbor of Constantinople, which may be considered as an arm of theBosporus, obtained, in a very remote period, the denomination of the"Golden Horn. " The curve which it describes might be compared to thehorn of a stag, or as it should seem, with more propriety, to that of anox. The epithet of _golden_ was expressive of the riches which everywind wafted from the most distant countries into the secure andcapacious port of Constantinople. The river Lycus, formed by the confluxof two little streams, pours into the harbor a perpetual supply of freshwater, which serves to cleanse the bottom and to invite the periodicalshoals of fish to seek their retreat in that convenient recess. As thevicissitudes of tides are scarcely felt in those seas, the constantdepth of the harbor allows goods to be landed on the quays without theassistance of boats; and it has been observed that in many places thelargest vessels may rest their prows against the houses, while theirsterns are floating in the water. From the mouth of the Lycus to thatof the harbor, this arm of the Bosporus is more than seven miles inlength. The entrance is about five hundred yards broad, and a strongchain could be occasionally thrown across it, to guard the port and cityfrom the attack of a hostile navy. 

The geographers who, with the most skilful accuracy, have surveyed theform and extent of the Hellespont, assign about sixty miles for thewinding course, and about three miles for the ordinary breadth, of thosecelebrated straits. But the narrowest part of the channel is found tothe northward of the old Turkish castles between the cities of Sestusand Abydus. It was here that the adventurous Leander braved the passageof the flood for the possession of his mistress. [51] It was herelikewise, in a place where the distance between the opposite bankscannot exceed five hundred paces, that Xerxes imposed a stupendousbridge of boats, for the purpose of transporting into Europe a hundredand seventy myriads of barbarians. A sea contracted within such narrowlimits may seem but ill to deserve the singular epithet of _broad_, which Homer, as well as Orpheus, has frequently bestowed on theHellespont. But our ideas of greatness are of a relative nature: thetraveller, and especially the poet, who sailed along the Hellespont, whopursued the windings of the stream, and contemplated the rural scenery, which appeared on every side to terminate the prospect, insensibly lostthe remembrance of the sea: and his fancy painted those celebratedstraits, with all the attributes of a mighty river flowing with a swiftcurrent, in the midst of a woody and inland country, and at length, through a wide mouth, discharging itself into the Ægean or Archipelago. 

Ancient Troy, seated on an eminence at the foot of Mount Ida, overlookedthe mouth of the Hellespont, which scarcely received an accession ofwaters from the tribute of those immortal rivulets, the Simois andScamander. The Grecian camp had stretched twelve miles along the shorefrom the Sigæan to the Rhætean promontory; and the flanks of the armywere guarded by the bravest chiefs who fought under the banners ofAgamemnon. 

The first of those promontories was occupied by Achilles with hisinvincible myrmidons, and the dauntless Ajax pitched his tents on theother. After Ajax had fallen a sacrifice to his disappointed pride andto the ingratitude of the Greeks, his sepulchre was erected on theground where he had defended the navy against the rage of Jove and ofHector; and the citizens of the rising town of Rhæteum celebrated hismemory with divine honors. Before Constantine gave a just preference tothe situation of Byzantium, he had conceived the design of erecting theseat of empire on this celebrated spot, from whence the Romans derivedtheir fabulous origin. The extensive plain which lies below ancientTroy, toward the Rhætean promontory and the tomb of Ajax, was firstchosen for his new capital; and though the undertaking was soonrelinquished, the stately remains of unfinished walls and towersattracted the notice of all who sailed through the straits of theHellespont. 

We are at present qualified to view the advantageous position ofConstantinople; which appears to have been formed by nature for thecentre and capital of a great monarchy. Situated in the forty-firstdegree of latitude, the imperial city commanded, from her seven hills, the opposite shores of Europe and Asia; the climate was healthy andtemperate, the soil fertile, the harbor secure and capacious; and theapproach on the side of the Continent was of small extent and easydefence. The Bosporus and the Hellespont may be considered as the twogates of Constantinople; and the prince who possessed these importantpassages could always shut them against a naval enemy and open them tothe fleets of commerce. The preservation of the eastern provinces may, in some degree, be ascribed to the policy of Constantine, as thebarbarians of the Euxine, who in the preceding age had poured theirarmaments into the heart of the Mediterranean, soon desisted from theexercise of piracy and despaired of forcing this insurmountable barrier. 

When the gates of the Hellespont and Bosporus were shut, the capitalstill enjoyed within their spacious enclosure every production whichcould supply the wants or gratify the luxury of its numerousinhabitants. The sea-coasts of Thrace and Bithynia, which languish underthe weight of Turkish oppression, still exhibit a rich prospect ofvineyards, of gardens, and of plentiful harvests; and the Propontis hasever been renowned for an inexhaustible store of the most exquisitefish, that are taken in their stated seasons, without skill and almostwithout labor. But when the passages of the straits were thrown open fortrade, they alternately admitted the natural and artificial riches ofthe north and south, of the Euxine, and of the Mediterranean. Whateverrude commodities were collected in the forests of Germany and Scythia, as far as the sources of the Tanais and the Borysthenes; whatsoever wasmanufactured by the skill of Europe or Asia; the corn of Egypt, and thegems and spices of the farthest India, were brought by the varying windsinto the port of Constantinople, which for many ages attracted thecommerce of the ancient world. 

The prospect of beauty, of safety, and of wealth, united in a singlespot, was sufficient to justify the choice of Constantine. But as somedecent mixture of prodigy and fable has, in every age, been supposed toreflect a becoming majesty on the origin of great cities, the Emperorwas desirous of ascribing his resolution, not so much to the uncertaincounsels of human policy as to the infallible and eternal decrees ofdivine wisdom. In one of his laws he has been careful to instructposterity that, in obedience to the commands of God, he laid theeverlasting foundations of Constantinople: and though he has notcondescended to relate in what manner the celestial inspiration wascommunicated to his mind, the defect of his modest silence has beenliberally supplied by the ingenuity of succeeding writers, who describethe nocturnal vision which appeared to the fancy of Constantine, as heslept within the walls of Byzantium. The tutelar genius of the city, avenerable matron sinking under the weight of years and infirmities, wassuddenly transformed into a blooming maid, whom his own hands adornedwith all the symbols of imperial greatness. The monarch awoke, interpreted the auspicious omen, and obeyed, without hesitation, thewill of heaven. 

The day which gave birth to a city or colony was celebrated by theRomans with such ceremonies as had been ordained by a generoussuperstition; and though Constantine might omit some rites which savoredtoo strongly of their pagan origin, yet he was anxious to leave a deepimpression of hope and respect on the minds of the spectators. On foot, with a lance in his hand, the Emperor himself led the solemn procession, and directed the line which was traced as the boundary of the destinedcapital: till the growing circumference was observed with astonishmentby the assistants, who, at length, ventured to observe that he hadalready exceeded the most ample measure of a great city. "I shall stilladvance, " replied Constantine, "till He, the invisible guide who marchesbefore me, thinks proper to stop. " Without presuming to investigate thenature or motives of this extraordinary conductor, we shall contentourselves with the more humble task of describing the extent and limitsof Constantinople. 

In the actual state of the city, the palace and gardens of the seragliooccupy the eastern promontory, the first of the seven hills, and coverabout one hundred and fifty acres of our own measure. The seat ofTurkish jealousy and despotism is erected on the foundations of aGrecian republic; but it may be supposed that the Byzantines weretempted by the conveniency of the harbor to extend their habitations onthat side beyond the modern limits of the seraglio. The new walls ofConstantine stretched from the port to the Propontis across the enlargedbreadth of the triangle, at a distance of fifteen stadia from theancient fortification; and with the city of Byzantium they enclosed fiveof the seven hills, which, to the eyes of those who approachConstantinople, appear to rise above each other in beautiful order. About a century after the death of the founder the new buildings, extending on one side up the harbor, and on the other along thePropontis, already covered the narrow ridge of the sixth and the broadsummit of the seventh hill. 

The necessity of protecting those suburbs from the incessant inroads ofthe barbarians engaged the younger Theodosius to surround his capitalwith an adequate and permanent enclosure of walls. From the easternpromontory to the Golden Gate, the extreme length of Constantinople wasabout three Roman miles; the circumference measured between ten andeleven; and the surface might be computed as equal to about two thousandacres. It is impossible to justify the vain and credulous exaggerationsof modern travellers, who have sometimes stretched the limits ofConstantinople over the adjacent villages of the European and even ofthe Asiatic coast. [52] But the suburbs of Pera and Galata, thoughsituate beyond the harbor, may deserve to be considered as a part of thecity; and this addition may perhaps authorize the measure of a Byzantinehistorian, who assigns sixteen Greek, about fourteen Roman, miles forthe circumference of his native city. Such an extent may seem notunworthy of an imperial residence. Yet Constantinople must yield toBabylon and Thebes, to ancient Rome, to London, and even to Paris. 

The master of the Roman world, who aspired to erect an eternal monumentof the glories of his reign, could employ in the prosecution of thatgreat work the wealth, the labor, and all that yet remained of thegenius of obedient millions. Some estimate may be formed of the expensebestowed with imperial liberality on the foundation of Constantinople, by the allowance of about two million five hundred thousand pounds forthe construction of the walls, the porticos, and the aqueducts. Theforests that overshadowed the shores of the Euxine, and the celebratedquarries of white marble in the little island of Proconnesus, suppliedan inexhaustible stock of materials, ready to be conveyed, by theconvenience of a short water-carriage, to the harbor of Byzantium. Amultitude of laborers and artificers urged the conclusion of the workwith incessant toil; but the impatience of Constantine soon discoveredthat, in the decline of the arts, the skill as well as numbers of hisarchitects bore a very unequal proportion to the greatness of hisdesigns. The magistrates of the most distant provinces were thereforedirected to institute schools, to appoint professors, and by the hopesof rewards and privileges to engage in the study and practice ofarchitecture a sufficient number of ingenious youths who had received aliberal education. The buildings of the new city were executed by suchartificers as the reign of Constantine could afford; but they weredecorated by the hands of the most celebrated masters of the age ofPericles and Alexander. To revive the genius of Phidias and Lysippussurpassed indeed the power of a Roman emperor; but the immortalproductions which they had bequeathed to posterity were exposed withoutdefence to the rapacious vanity of a despot. 

By his commands the cities of Greece and Asia were despoiled of theirmost valuable ornaments. The trophies of memorable wars, the objects ofreligious veneration, the most finished statues of the gods and heroes, of the sages and poets, of ancient times, contributed to the splendidtriumph of Constantinople, and gave occasion to the remark of thehistorian Cedrenus, who observes, with some enthusiasm, that nothingseemed wanting except the souls of the illustrious men whom thoseadmirable monuments were intended to represent. But it is not in thecity of Constantine, nor in the declining period of an empire, when thehuman mind was depressed by civil and religious slavery, that we shouldseek for the souls of Homer and of Demosthenes. 

During the siege of Byzantium the conqueror had pitched his tent on thecommanding eminence of the second hill. To perpetuate the memory of hissuccess, he chose the same advantageous position for the principalforum, which appears to have been of a circular or rather ellipticalform. The two opposite entrances formed triumphal arches; the porticos, which enclosed it on every side, were filled with statues; and thecentre of the forum was occupied by a lofty column, of which a mutilatedfragment is now degraded by the appellation of the "burnt pillar. " Thiscolumn was erected on a pedestal of white marble twenty feet high, andwas composed of ten pieces of porphyry, each of which measured about tenfeet in height and about thirty-three in circumference. On the summit ofthe pillar, above one hundred and twenty feet from the ground, stood thecolossal statue of Apollo. It was of bronze, had been transported eitherfrom Athens or from a town of Phrygia, and was supposed to be the workof Phidias. The artist had represented the god of day, or, as it wasafterward interpreted, the emperor Constantine himself, with a sceptrein his right hand, the globe of the world in his left, and a crown ofrays glittering on his head. [53]

The Circus, or Hippodrome, was a stately building about four hundredpaces in length and one hundred in breadth. The space between the two_metæ_ or goals was filled with statues and obelisks; and we may stillremark a very singular fragment of antiquity, the bodies of threeserpents, twisted into one pillar of brass. Their triple heads had oncesupported the golden tripod which, after the defeat of Xerxes, wasconsecrated in the temple of Delphi by the victorious Greeks. The beautyof the hippodrome has been long since defaced by the rude hands of theTurkish conquerors; but, under the similar appellation of Atmeidan, itstill serves as a place of exercise for their horses. From the throne, whence the emperor viewed the Circensian games, a winding staircasedescended to the palace; a magnificent edifice, which scarcely yieldedto the residence of Rome itself, and which, together with the dependentcourts, gardens, and porticos, covered a considerable extent of groundupon the banks of the Propontis between the Hippodrome and the Church ofSt. Sophia. We might likewise celebrate the baths, which still retainedthe name of Zeuxippus, [54] after they had been enriched, by themunificence of Constantine, with lofty columns, various marbles, andabove threescore statues of bronze. But we should deviate from thedesign of this history if we attempted minutely to describe thedifferent buildings or quarters of the city. It may be sufficient toobserve that whatever could adorn the dignity of a great capital, orcontribute to the benefit or pleasure of its numerous inhabitants, wascontained within the walls of Constantinople. A particular description, composed about a century after its foundation, enumerates a capitol orschool of learning, a circus, two theatres, eight public and one hundredand fifty-three private baths, fifty-two porticos, five granaries, eightaqueducts or reservoirs of water, four spacious halls for the meetingsof the senate or courts of justice, fourteen churches, fourteen palaces, and four thousand three hundred and eighty-eight houses, which, fortheir size or beauty, deserved to be distinguished from the multitude ofplebeian habitations. 

The populousness of his favored city was the next and most seriousobject of the attention of its founder. In the dark ages which succeededthe translation of the empire, the remote and the immediate consequencesof that memorable event were strangely confounded by the vanity of theGreeks and the credulity of the Latins. It was asserted, and believed, that all the noble families of Rome, the senate, and the equestrianorder, with their innumerable attendants, had followed their Emperor tothe banks of the Propontis; that a spurious race of strangers andplebeians was left to possess the solitude of the ancient capital; andthat the lands of Italy, long since converted into gardens, were at oncedeprived of cultivation and inhabitants. Since the growth ofConstantinople cannot be ascribed to the general increase of mankind andof industry, it must be admitted that this artificial colony was raisedat the expense of the ancient cities of the empire. 

Many opulent senators of Rome, and of the eastern provinces, wereprobably invited by Constantine to adopt for their country the fortunatespot which he had chosen for his own residence. The invitations of amaster are scarcely to be distinguished from commands; and theliberality of the Emperor obtained a ready and cheerful obedience. Hebestowed on his favorites the palaces which he had built in the severalquarters of the city, assigned them lands and pensions for the supportof their dignity, and alienated the demesnes of Pontus and Asia to granthereditary estates by the easy tenure of maintaining a house in thecapital. But these encouragements and obligations soon becamesuperfluous and were gradually abolished. Wherever the seat ofgovernment is fixed, a considerable part of the public revenue will beexpended by the prince himself, by his ministers, by the officers ofjustice, and by the domestics of the palace. The most wealthy of theprovincials will be attracted by the powerful motives of interest andduty, of amusement and curiosity. A third and more numerous class ofinhabitants will insensibly be formed, of servants, of artificers, andof merchants, who derive their subsistence from their own labor and fromthe wants or luxury of the superior ranks. In less than a centuryConstantinople disputed with Rome itself the preëminence of riches andnumbers. New piles of buildings, crowded together with too little regardto health or convenience, scarcely allowed the intervals of narrowstreets for the perpetual throng of men, of horses, and of carriages. The allotted space of ground was insufficient to contain the increasingpeople; and the additional foundations, which, on either side, wereadvanced into the sea, might alone have composed a very considerablecity. 

The frequent and regular distributions of wine and oil, of corn orbread, of money or provisions, had almost exempted the poorer citizensof Rome from the necessity of labor. The magnificence of the firstCæsars was in some measure imitated by the founder of Constantinople;but his liberality, however it might excite the applause of the people, has incurred the censure of posterity. A nation of legislators andconquerors might assert their claim to the harvests of Africa, which hadbeen purchased with their blood; and it was artfully contrived byAugustus that, in the enjoyment of plenty, the Romans should lose thememory of freedom. But the prodigality of Constantine could not beexcused by any consideration either of public or private interest; andthe annual tribute of corn imposed upon Egypt for the benefit of his newcapital was applied to feed a lazy and insolent populace at the expenseof the husbandmen of an industrious province. Some other regulations ofthis Emperor are less liable to blame, but they are less deserving ofnotice. He divided Constantinople into fourteen regions or quarters, dignified the public council with the appellation of senate, communicated to the citizens the privileges of Italy, and bestowed onthe rising city the title of colony, the first and most favored daughterof ancient Rome. The venerable parent still maintained the legal andacknowledged supremacy which was due to her age, to her dignity, and tothe remembrance of her former greatness. 

As Constantine urged the progress of the work with the impatience of alover, the walls, the porticos, and the principal edifices werecompleted in a few years, or, according to another account, in a fewmonths; but this extraordinary diligence should excite the lessadmiration, since many of the buildings were finished in so hasty andimperfect a manner that, under the succeeding reign, they were preservedwith difficulty from impending ruin. But while they displayed the vigorand freshness of youth, the founder prepared to celebrate the dedicationof his city. The games and largesses which crowned the pomp of thismemorable festival may easily be supposed; but there is one circumstanceof a more singular and permanent nature, which ought not entirely to beoverlooked. As often as the birthday of the city returned, the statue ofConstantine, framed by his order, of gilt wood, and bearing in its righthand a small image of the genius of the place, was erected on atriumphal car. The guards, carrying white tapers, and clothed in theirrichest apparel, accompanied the solemn procession as it moved throughthe Hippodrome. When it was opposite to the throne of the reigningEmperor, he rose from his seat, and with grateful reverence adored thememory of his predecessor. At the festival of the dedication, an edict, engraved on a column of marble, bestowed the title of "Second or NewRome" on the city of Constantine. But the name of Constantinople hasprevailed over that honorable epithet; and after the revolution offourteen centuries, still perpetuates the fame of its author. 

FOOTNOTES:

[50] The navigator Byzas, who was styled the Son of Neptune, founded thecity 656 years before the Christian era. His followers were drawn fromArgos and Megara. Byzantium was afterward rebuilt and fortified by theSpartan general Pausanias. 

[51] The practical illustration of the possibility of Leander's feat byLord Byron is too well known to need particular reference. 

[52] The accurate Thevenot walked in one hour and three-quarters roundtwo of the sides of the triangle, from the Kiosk of the Seraglio to theseven towers. D'Anville examines with care, and receives withconfidence, this decisive testimony, which gives a circumference of tenor twelve miles. The extravagant computation of Tournefort ofthirty-four or thirty miles, without including Scutari, is a strangedeparture from his usual character. 

[53] On this column Constantine, with singular shamelessness, placed hisown statue with the attributes of Apollo and Christ. He substituted thenails of the Passion for the rays of the sun. Constantine was replacedby the "great and religious" Julian; Julian, by Theodosius. A. D. 1412the keystone was loosened by an earthquake. The statue fell in the reignof Alexius Comnenus, and was replaced by the cross. The palladium wassaid to be buried under the pillar. 

[54] Zeuxippus was an epithet of Jupiter, and the baths were a part ofold Byzantium. 

JULIAN THE APOSTATE BECOMES EMPEROR OF ROME

A. D. 360

EDWARD GIBBON

 The great reign of Constantine was ended. The new capital, Constantinople, which after fifteen centuries still perpetuates the name of its imperial founder, had outrivalled Rome. The heirs of Constantine, the sons of Fausta, had all been called Cæsar, and were appointed to succeed to imperial power. Constantine, Constantius, and Constans they were named. They held court in different parts of the realm during their father's life, although he reserved for himself the title of Augustus. 

 The last years of his reign of thirty years had been peaceful, disturbed only by the insurrection in Cyprus and the wars of the Goths and Sarmatians. And so he died, and the purple and diadem were but empty symbols, as he lay in state upon his golden bed. 

 The great Emperor was no sooner dead than the sons made haste to rid themselves of all possible rivals in a family that seemed too numerous for peace. Two uncles and seven cousins were quickly put out of the way under one pretence and another. 

 The provinces were divided between the three brothers, and they reigned peacefully for three years, until Constantine demanded the surrender to him of a part of the dominions of Constans. In the war which ensued Constantine was killed, and Constans took possession of his brother's provinces, refusing any share of them to Constantius. 

 He reigned ten years longer, when he was destroyed, A. D. 350, by a conspiracy in Gaul headed by one Magnentius. This soldier, of barbarian extraction, was soon defeated by Constantius, who now became sole Emperor. 

 He soon found his burden of power too great, and decided to share it with the two young nephews who had been permitted to live when the massacre of the house of Constantine occurred. 

 To Gallus, the elder, he gave the title of cæsar, and invested him with the government of the East. Gallus conducted himself like a Nero and was disgraced and executed about three years later. 

 The younger nephew, Julian, had been brought up in the Christian faith, and received an excellent education, which was finished in the philosophical schools of Athens. He was created cæsar by Constantius, whose sister Helena he married, and was invested with the government of Gaul, Spain, and Britain. 

 Julian's wise civil administration was very acceptable to the people, and his brilliant military exploits established his fame throughout the empire and won the affection of his soldiers. He repulsed the Alemanns and the Franks, sending captives to the court of Constantius. His expeditions beyond the Rhine were crowned with success. He restored the cities of Gaul and stemmed the tide of barbarian invasion. 

 All these triumphs had awakened the jealousy of the emperor Constantius, who was practically ruled by the eunuchs and bishops at his court. The rising fortunes of Julian had caused envy among many, who set about to poison the mind of Constantius with innuendoes and false suggestions. They resolved to disarm Julian and to separate him from his army. The Emperor ordered Julian to send his best troops to the war in Persia. But they forgot that the troops adored Julian. They overlooked the fact that the soldiers would see through such a scheme to humiliate their commander. The Gauls also feared the departure of Julian's men, for they dreaded the attacks of the Germans. This then was the situation. Julian attempted to follow the orders of the Emperor. But fate ordained otherwise. The army proclaimed him emperor. He refused the honor at first, but was forced to assume the dangerous title. The war which immediately followed was cut short by the sudden death of Constantius, and Julian became sole ruler of the Roman Empire. He renounced Christianity and is known in history as Julian the Apostate. 

While the Romans languished under the ignominious tyranny of eunuchs andbishops, the praises of Julian were repeated with transport in everypart of the empire, except in the palace of Constantius. The barbariansof Germany had felt and still dreaded the arms of the young cæsar; hissoldiers were the companions of his victory; the grateful provincialsenjoyed the blessings of his reign; but the favorites, who had opposedhis elevation, were offended by his virtues; and they justly consideredthe friend of the people as the enemy of the court. As long as the fameof Julian was doubtful the buffoons of the palace, who were skilled inthe language of satire, tried the efficacy of those arts which they hadso often practised with success. They easily discovered that hissimplicity was not exempt from affectation; the ridiculous epithets of ahairy savage, of an ape invested with the purple, were applied to thedress and person of the philosophic warrior; and his modest despatcheswere stigmatized as the vain and elaborate fictions of a loquaciousGreek, a speculative soldier, who had studied the art of war amid thegroves of the academy. 

The voice of malicious folly was at length silenced by the shouts ofvictory; the conqueror of the Franks and Alemanni could no longer bepainted as an object of contempt; and the monarch himself was meanlyambitious of stealing from his lieutenant the honorable reward of hislabors. In the letters crowned with laurel, which, according to ancientcustom, were addressed to the provinces, the name of Julian was omitted. "Constantius had made his dispositions in person; _he_ had signalizedhis valor in the foremost ranks; _his_ military conduct had secured thevictory; and the captive king of the barbarians was presented to _him_on the field of battle, " from which he was at that time distant aboutforty days' journey. So extravagant a fable was incapable, however, ofdeceiving the public credulity, or even of satisfying the pride of theEmperor himself. Secretly conscious that the applause and favor of theRomans accompanied the rising fortunes of Julian, his discontented mindwas prepared to receive the subtle poison of those artful sycophants, who colored their mischievous designs with the fairest appearances oftruth and candor. Instead of depreciating the merits of Julian, theyacknowledged, and even exaggerated, his popular fame, superior talents, and important services. But they darkly insinuated that the virtues ofthe cæsar might instantly be converted into the most dangerous crimes ifthe inconstant multitude should prefer their inclinations to their duty;or if the general of a victorious army should be tempted from hisallegiance by the hopes of revenge and independent greatness. Thepersonal fears of Constantius were interpreted by his council as alaudable anxiety for the public safety; while in private, and perhaps inhis own breast, he disguised, under the less odious appellation of fear, the sentiments of hatred and envy, which he had secretly conceived forthe inimitable virtues of Julian. 

The apparent tranquillity of Gaul, and the imminent danger of theeastern provinces, offered a specious pretence for the design which wasartfully concerted by the imperial ministers. They resolved to disarmthe cæsar; to recall those faithful troops who guarded his person anddignity; and to employ, in a distant war against the Persian monarch, the hardy veterans who had vanquished, on the banks of the Rhine, thefiercest nations of Germany. While Julian used the laborious hours ofhis winter quarters at Paris in the administration of power, which, inhis hands, was the exercise of virtue, he was surprised by the hastyarrival of a tribune and a notary, with positive orders from theEmperor, which _they_ were directed to execute and _he_ was commandednot to oppose. 

Constantius signified his pleasure that four entire legions, the Celtæ, and Petulants, the Heruli, and the Batavians, should be separated fromthe standard of Julian, under which they had acquired their fame anddiscipline; that in each of the remaining bands three hundred of thebravest youths should be selected; and that this numerous detachment, the strength of the Gallic army, should instantly begin their march, andexert their utmost diligence to arrive, before the opening of thecampaign, on the frontiers of Persia. The cæsar foresaw and lamented theconsequences of this fatal mandate. Most of the auxiliaries, who engagedtheir voluntary service, had stipulated that they should never beobliged to pass the Alps. The public faith of Rome, and the personalhonor of Julian, had been pledged for the observance of this condition. Such an act of treachery and oppression would destroy the confidence andexcite the resentment of the independent warriors of Germany, whoconsidered truth as the noblest of their virtues, and freedom as themost valuable of their possessions. 

The legionaries who enjoyed the title and privileges of Romans wereenlisted for the general defence of the republic; but those mercenarytroops heard with cold indifference the antiquated names of the republicand of Rome. Attached, either from birth or long habit, to the climateand manners of Gaul, they loved and admired Julian; they despised, andperhaps hated, the Emperor; they dreaded the laborious march, thePersian arrows, and the burning deserts of Asia. They claimed as theirown the country which they had saved, and excused their want of spirit, by pleading the sacred and more immediate duty of protecting theirfamilies and friends. The apprehensions of the Gauls were derived fromthe knowledge of the impending and inevitable danger. As soon as theprovinces were exhausted of their military strength the Germans wouldviolate a treaty which had been imposed on their fears; andnotwithstanding the abilities and valor of Julian, the general of anominal army, to whom the public calamities would be imputed, must findhimself, after a vain resistance, either a prisoner in the camp of thebarbarians or a criminal in the palace of Constantius. 

If Julian complied with the orders which he had received, he subscribedhis own destruction and that of a people who deserved his affection. Buta positive refusal was an act of rebellion and a declaration of war. Theinexorable jealousy of the Emperor, the peremptory and perhaps insidiousnature of his commands, left not any room for a fair apology or candidinterpretation; and the dependent station of the cæsar scarcely allowedhim to pause or to deliberate. Solitude increased the perplexity ofJulian; he could no longer apply to the faithful counsels of Sallust, who had been removed from his office by the judicious malice of theeunuchs; he could not even enforce his representations by theconcurrence of the ministers, who would have been afraid or ashamed toapprove the ruin of Gaul. The moment had been chosen when Lupicinus, thegeneral of the cavalry, was despatched into Britain to repulse theinroads of the Scots and Picts; and Florentius was occupied at Vienne bythe assessment of the tribute. The latter, a crafty and corruptstatesman, declining to assume a responsible part on this dangerousoccasion, eluded the pressing and repeated invitations of Julian, whorepresented to him that in every important measure the presence of theprefect was indispensable in the council of the prince. 

In the mean while the cæsar was oppressed by the rude and importunatesolicitations of the imperial messengers, who presumed to suggest thatif he expected the return of his ministers, he would charge himself withthe guilt of the delay, and reserve for them the merit of the execution. Unable to resist, unwilling to comply, Julian expressed, in the mostserious terms, his wish, and even his intention, of resigning thepurple, which he could not preserve with honor, but which he could notabdicate with safety. 

After a painful conflict, Julian was compelled to acknowledge thatobedience was the virtue of the most eminent subject, and that thesovereign alone was entitled to judge of the public welfare. He issuedthe necessary orders for carrying into execution the commands ofConstantius; a part of the troops began their march for the Alps; andthe detachments from the several garrisons moved toward their respectiveplaces of assembly. They advanced with difficulty through the tremblingand affrighted crowds of provincials, who attempted to excite their pityby silent despair or loud lamentations; while the wives of the soldiers, holding their infants in their arms, accused the desertion of theirhusbands, in the mixed language of grief, of tenderness, and ofindignation. This scene of general distress afflicted the humanity ofthe cæsar; he granted a sufficient number of post-wagons to transportthe wives and families of the soldiers, endeavored to alleviate thehardships which he was constrained to inflict, and increased, by themost laudable arts, his own popularity and the discontent of the exiledtroops. 

The grief of an armed multitude is soon converted into rage; theirlicentious murmurs, which every hour were communicated from tent to tentwith more boldness and effect, prepared their minds for the most daringacts of sedition; and by the connivance of their tribunes, a seasonablelibel was secretly dispersed, which painted in lively colors thedisgrace of the cæsar, the oppression of the Gallic army, and the feeblevices of the tyrant of Asia. The servants of Constantius were astonishedand alarmed by the progress of this dangerous spirit. They pressed thecæsar to hasten the departure of the troops; but they imprudentlyrejected the honest and judicious advice of Julian, who proposed thatthey should not march through Paris, and suggested the danger andtemptation of a last interview. 

As soon as the approach of the troops was announced the cæsar went outto meet them, and ascended his tribunal, which had been erected in aplain before the gates of the city. After distinguishing the officersand soldiers who by their rank or merit deserved a peculiar attention, Julian addressed himself in a studied oration to the surroundingmultitude: he celebrated their exploits with grateful applause;encouraged them to accept, with alacrity, the honor of serving under theeyes of a powerful and liberal monarch; and admonished them that thecommands of Augustus required an instant and cheerful obedience. 

The soldiers, who were apprehensive of offending their general by anindecent clamor, or of belying their sentiments by false and venalacclamations, maintained an obstinate silence, and after a short pausewere dismissed to their quarters. The principal officers wereentertained by the cæsar, who professed, in the warmest language offriendship, his desire and his inability to reward, according to theirdeserts, the brave companions of his victories. They retired from thefeast, full of grief and perplexity, and lamented the hardship of theirfate, which tore them from their beloved general and their nativecountry. The only expedient which could prevent their separation wasboldly agitated and approved; the popular resentment was insensiblymoulded into a regular conspiracy; their just reasons of complaint wereheightened by passion, and their passions were inflamed by wine, as, onthe eve of their departure, the troops were indulged in licentiousfestivity. At the hour of midnight, the impetuous multitude, with swordsand bows and torches in their hands, rushed into the suburbs, encompassed the palace, and, careless of future dangers, pronounced thefatal and irrevocable words "JULIAN AUGUSTUS!"

The prince, whose anxious suspense was interrupted by their disorderlyacclamations, secured the doors against their intrusion, and, as long asit was in his power, secluded his person and dignity from the accidentsof a nocturnal tumult. At the dawn of day the soldiers, whose zeal wasirritated by opposition, forcibly entered the palace, seized, withrespectful violence, the object of their choice, guarded Julian withdrawn swords through the streets of Paris, placed him on the tribunal, and with repeated shouts saluted him as their emperor. Prudence, as wellas loyalty, inculcated the propriety of resisting their treasonabledesigns, and of preparing, for his oppressed virtue, the excuse ofviolence. Addressing himself by turns to the multitude and toindividuals, he sometimes implored their mercy, and sometimes expressedhis indignation; conjured them not to sully the fame of their immortalvictories; and ventured to promise, that if they would immediatelyreturn to their allegiance, he would undertake to obtain from theEmperor not only a free and gracious pardon, but even the revocation ofthe orders which had excited their resentment. 

But the soldiers, who were conscious of their guilt, chose rather todepend on the gratitude of Julian than on the clemency of the Emperor. Their zeal was insensibly turned into impatience, and their impatienceinto rage. The inflexible cæsar sustained, till the third hour of theday, their prayers, their reproaches, and their menaces; nor did heyield till he had been repeatedly assured that if he wished to live hemust consent to reign. He was exalted on a shield in the presence andamid the unanimous acclamations of the troops; a rich military collar, which was offered by chance, supplied the want of a diadem; the ceremonywas concluded by the promise of a moderate donative; and the newEmperor, overwhelmed with real or affected grief, retired into the mostsecret recesses of his apartment. 

The grief of Julian could proceed only from his innocence, but hisinnocence must appear extremely doubtful in the eyes of those who havelearned to suspect the motives and the professions of princes. Hislively and active mind was susceptible of the various impressions ofhope and fear, of gratitude and revenge, of duty and of ambition, of thelove of fame, and of the fear of reproach. But it is impossible for usto calculate the respective weight and operation of these sentiments; orto ascertain the principles of action which might escape theobservation, while they guided, or rather impelled, the steps of Julianhimself. 

The discontent of the troops was produced by the malice of his enemies;their tumult was the natural effect of interest and of passion; and ifJulian had tried to conceal a deep design under the appearances ofchance, he must have employed the most consummate artifice withoutnecessity, and probably without success. He solemnly declares, in thepresence of Jupiter, of the Sun, of Mars, of Minerva, and of all theother deities, that till the close of the evening which preceded hiselevation he was utterly ignorant of the designs of the soldiers; and itmay seem ungenerous to distrust the honor of a hero and the truth of aphilosopher. Yet the superstitious confidence that Constantius was theenemy, and that he himself was the favorite, of the gods, might prompthim to desire, to solicit, and even to hasten the auspicious moment ofhis reign, which was predestined to restore the ancient religion ofmankind. When Julian had received the intelligence of the conspiracy heresigned himself to a short slumber, and afterward related to hisfriends that he had seen the Genius of the Empire waiting with someimpatience at his door, pressing for admittance, and reproaching hiswant of spirit and ambition. Astonished and perplexed, he addressed hisprayers to the great Jupiter, who immediately signified, by a clear andmanifest omen, that he should submit to the will of heaven and of thearmy. 

The conduct which disclaims the ordinary maxims of reason excites oursuspicion and eludes our inquiry. Whenever the spirit of fanaticism, atonce so credulous and so crafty, has insinuated itself into a noblemind, it insensibly corrodes the vital principles of virtue andveracity. 

To moderate the zeal of his party, to protect the persons of hisenemies, to defeat and to despise the secret enterprises which wereformed against his life and dignity, were the cares which employed thefirst days of the reign of the new emperor. Although he was firmlyresolved to maintain the station which he had assumed, he was stilldesirous of saving his country from the calamities of civil war, ofdeclining a contest with the superior forces of Constantius, and ofpreserving his own character from the reproach of perfidy andingratitude. Adorned with the ensigns of military and imperial pomp, Julian showed himself in the field of Mars to the soldiers, who glowedwith ardent enthusiasm in the cause of their pupil, their leader, andtheir friend. He recapitulated their victories, lamented theirsufferings, applauded their resolution, animated their hopes, andchecked their impetuosity; nor did he dismiss the assembly till he hadobtained a solemn promise from the troops, that if the emperor of theEast would subscribe an equitable treaty, they would renounce any viewsof conquest and satisfy themselves with the tranquil possession of theGallic provinces. 

On this foundation he composed, in his own name, and in that of thearmy, a specious and moderate epistle, which was delivered to Pentadius, his master of the offices, and to his chamberlain Eutherius, twoambassadors whom he appointed to receive the answer and observe thedispositions of Constantius. This epistle is inscribed with the modestappellation of cæsar; but Julian solicits, in a peremptory, thoughrespectful, manner, the confirmation of the title of augustus. Heacknowledges the irregularity of his own election, while he justifies, in some measure, the resentment and violence of the troops which hadextorted his reluctant consent. He allows the supremacy of his brotherConstantius, and engages to send him an annual present of Spanishhorses, to recruit his army with a select number of barbarian youths, and to accept from his choice a prætorian prefect of approved discretionand fidelity. But he reserves for himself the nomination of his othercivil and military officers, with the troops, the revenue, and thesovereignty of the provinces beyond the Alps. He admonishes the Emperorto consult the dictates of justice; to distrust the arts of those venalflatterers, who subsist only by the discord of princes, and to embracethe offer of a fair and honorable treaty, equally advantageous to therepublic and to the house of Constantine. 

In this negotiation Julian claimed no more than he already possessed. The delegated authority which he had long exercised over the provincesof Gaul, Spain, and Britain was still obeyed under a name moreindependent and august. The soldiers and the people rejoiced in arevolution which was not stained even with the blood of the guilty. Florentius was a fugitive; Lupicinus a prisoner. The persons who weredisaffected to the new government were disarmed and secured; and thevacant offices were distributed, according to the recommendation ofmerit, by a prince who despised the intrigues of the palace and theclamors of the soldiers. 

The negotiations of peace were accompanied and supported by the mostvigorous preparations for war. The army, which Julian held in readinessfor immediate action, was recruited and augmented by the disorders ofthe times. The cruel persecution of the faction of Magnentius had filledGaul with numerous bands of outlaws and robbers. They cheerfullyaccepted the offer of a general pardon from a prince whom they couldtrust, submitted to the restraints of military discipline, and retainedonly their implacable hatred to the person and government ofConstantius. 

As soon as the season of the year permitted Julian to take the field, heappeared at the head of his legions; threw a bridge over the Rhine inthe neighborhood of Cleves; and prepared to chastise the perfidy of theAttuarii, a tribe of Franks, who presumed that they might ravage, withimpunity, the frontiers of a divided empire. The difficulty, as well asglory, of this enterprise consisted in a laborious march; and Julian hadconquered, as soon as he could penetrate into a country which formerprinces had considered as inaccessible. After he had given peace to thebarbarians, the emperor carefully visited the fortifications along theRhine from Cleves to Basel; surveyed, with peculiar attention, theterritories which he had recovered from the hands of the Alemanni, passed through Besançon, which had severely suffered from their fury, and fixed his head-quarters at Vienne for the ensuing winter. 

The barrier of Gaul was improved and strengthened with additionalfortifications; and Julian entertained some hopes that the Germans, whomhe had so often vanquished, might, in his absence, be restrained by theterror of his name. Vadomair was the only prince of the Alemanni whom heesteemed or feared; and while the subtle barbarian affected to observethe faith of treaties, the progress of his arms threatened the Statewith an unseasonable and dangerous war. The policy of Juliancondescended to surprise the prince of the Alemanni by his own arts: andVadomair, who, in the character of a friend, had incautiously acceptedan invitation from the Roman governors, was seized in the midst of theentertainment, and sent away prisoner into the heart of Spain. Beforethe barbarians were recovered from their amazement the Emperor appearedin arms on the banks of the Rhine, and, once more crossing the river, renewed the deep impressions of terror and respect which had beenalready made by four preceding expeditions. 

The ambassadors of Julian had been instructed to execute, with theutmost diligence, their important commission. But, in their passagethrough Italy and Illyricum, they were detained by the tedious andaffected delays of the provincial governors; they were conducted by slowjourneys from Constantinople to Cæsarea in Cappadocia; and when atlength they were admitted to the presence of Constantius, they foundthat he had already conceived, from the despatches of his own officers, the most unfavorable opinion of the conduct of Julian and of the Gallicarmy. The letters were heard with impatience; the trembling messengerswere dismissed with indignation and contempt; and the looks, thegestures, the furious language of the monarch expressed the disorder ofhis soul. The domestic connection, which might have reconciled thebrother and the husband of Helena, was recently dissolved by the deathof that princess, whose pregnancy had been several times fruitless, andwas at last fatal to herself. The empress Eusebia had preserved, to thelast moment of her life, the warm, and even jealous, affection which shehad conceived for Julian; and her mild influence might have moderatedthe resentment of a prince, who, since her death, was abandoned to hisown passions, and to the arts of his eunuchs. 

But the terror of a foreign invasion obliged him to suspend thepunishment of a private enemy; he continued his march toward theconfines of Persia, and thought it sufficient to signify the conditionswhich might entitle Julian and his guilty followers to the clemency oftheir offended sovereign. He required that the presumptuous cæsar shouldexpressly renounce the appellation and rank of augustus, which he hadaccepted from the rebels; that he should descend to his former stationof a limited and dependent minister; that he should vest the powers ofthe State and army in the hands of those officers who were appointed bythe imperial court; and that he should trust his safety to theassurances of pardon, which were announced by Epictetus, a Gallicbishop, and one of the Arian favorites of Constantius. Several monthswere ineffectually consumed in a treaty which was negotiated at thedistance of three thousand miles between Paris and Antioch; and, as soonas Julian perceived that his modest and respectful behavior served onlyto irritate the pride of an implacable adversary, he boldly resolved tocommit his life and fortune to the chance of a civil war. 

He gave a public and military audience to the quæstor Leonas; thehaughty epistle of Constantius was read to the attentive multitude; andJulian protested, with the most flattering deference, that he was readyto resign the title of augustus, if he could obtain the consent of thosewhom he acknowledged as the authors of his elevation. The faint proposalwas impetuously silenced; and the acclamations of "Julian Augustus, continue to reign, by the authority of the army, of the people, of therepublic which you have saved, " thundered at once from every part of thefield, and terrified the pale ambassador of Constantius. A part of theletter was afterward read, in which the Emperor arraigned theingratitude of Julian, whom he had invested with the honors of thepurple; whom he had educated with so much care and tenderness; whom hehad preserved in his infancy, when he was left a helpless orphan. 

"An orphan!" interrupted Julian, who justified his cause by indulginghis passions: "does the assassin of my family reproach me that I wasleft an orphan? He urges me to revenge those injuries which I have longstudied to forget. " The assembly was dismissed; and Leonas, who, withsome difficulty, had been protected from the popular fury, was sent backto his master with an epistle, in which Julian expressed, in a strain ofthe most vehement eloquence, the sentiments of contempt, of hatred, andof resentment, which had been suppressed and imbittered by thedissimulation of twenty years. After this message, which might beconsidered as a signal of irreconcilable war, Julian, who, some weeksbefore, had celebrated the Christian festival of the Epiphany, made apublic declaration that he committed the care of his safety to theIMMORTAL GODS, and thus publicly renounced the religion as well as thefriendship of Constantius. 

The situation of Julian required a vigorous and immediate resolution. Hehad discovered, from intercepted letters, that his adversary, sacrificing the interest of the State to that of the monarch, had againexcited the barbarians to invade the provinces of the West. The positionof two magazines, one of them collected on the banks of the Lake ofConstance, the other formed at the foot of the Cottian Alps, seemed toindicate the march of two armies; and the size of those magazines, eachof which consisted of six hundred thousand quarters of wheat, or ratherflour, was a threatening evidence of the strength and numbers of theenemy who prepared to surround him. But the imperial legions were stillin their distant quarters of Asia; the Danube was feebly guarded; and ifJulian could occupy, by a sudden incursion, the important provinces ofIllyricum, he might expect that a people of soldiers would resort to hisstandard, and that the rich mines of gold and silver would contributeto the expenses of the civil war. 

He proposed this bold enterprise to the assembly of the soldiers;inspired them with a just confidence in their general and in themselves;and exhorted them to maintain their reputation of being terrible to theenemy, moderate to their fellow-citizens, and obedient to theirofficers. His spirited discourse was received with the loudestacclamations, and the same troops which had taken up arms againstConstantius, when he summoned them to leave Gaul, now declared withalacrity that they would follow Julian to the farthest extremities ofEurope or Asia. The oath of fidelity was administered; and the soldiers, clashing their shields, and pointing their drawn swords to theirthroats, devoted themselves, with horrid imprecations, to the service ofa leader whom they celebrated as the deliverer of Gaul and the conquerorof the Germans. This solemn engagement, which seemed to be dictated byaffection rather than by duty, was singly opposed by Nebridius, who hadbeen admitted to the office of prætorian prefect. 

That faithful minister, alone and unassisted, asserted the rights ofConstantius in the midst of an armed and angry multitude, to whose furyhe had almost fallen an honorable but useless sacrifice. After losingone of his hands by the stroke of a sword, he embraced the knees of theprince whom he had offended. Julian covered the prefect with hisimperial mantle, and, protecting him from the zeal of his followers, dismissed him to his own house, with less respect than was perhaps dueto the virtue of an enemy. The high office of Nebridius was bestowed onSallust; and the provinces of Gaul, which were now delivered from theintolerable oppression of taxes, enjoyed the mild and equitableadministration of the friend of Julian, who was permitted to practisethose virtues which he had instilled into the mind of his pupil. 

The hopes of Julian depended much less on the number of his troops thanon the celerity of his motions. In the execution of a daring enterprise, he availed himself of every precaution, as far as prudence couldsuggest; and where prudence could no longer accompany his steps, hetrusted the event to valor and to fortune. In the neighborhood of Baselhe assembled and divided his army. One body, which consisted of tenthousand men, was directed under the command of Nevitta, general of thecavalry, to advance through the midland parts of Rhætia and Noricum. Asimilar division of troops, under the orders of Jovius and Jovinus, prepared to follow the oblique course of the highways, through the Alpsand the northern confines of Italy. The instructions to the generalswere conceived with energy and precision: to hasten their march in closeand compact columns, which, according to the disposition of the ground, might readily be changed into any order of battle; to secure themselvesagainst the surprises of the night by strong posts and vigilant guards;to prevent resistance by their unexpected arrival; to elude examinationby their sudden departure; to spread the opinion of their strength andthe terror of his name; and to join their sovereign under the walls ofSirmium. 

For himself Julian had reserved a more difficult and extraordinary part. He selected three thousand brave and active volunteers, resolved, liketheir leader, to cast behind them every hope of a retreat: at the headof this faithful band he fearlessly plunged into the recesses of theMarcian, or Black Forest, which conceals the sources of the Danube; and, for many days, the fate of Julian was unknown to the world. The secrecyof his march, his diligence and vigor, surmounted every obstacle; heforced his way over mountains and morasses, occupied the bridges or swamthe rivers, pursued his direct course, without reflecting whether hetraversed the territory of the Romans or of the barbarians, and atlength emerged, between Ratisbon and Vienna, at the place where hedesigned to embark his troops on the Danube. By a well-concertedstratagem, he seized a fleet of light brigantines as it lay at anchor;secured a supply of coarse provisions sufficient to satisfy theindelicate but voracious appetite of a Gallic army; and boldly committedhimself to the stream of the Danube. 

The labors of his mariners, who plied their oars with incessantdiligence, and the steady continuance of a favorable wind, carried hisfleet above seven hundred miles in eleven days; and he had alreadydisembarked his troops at Bononia, only nineteen miles from Sirmium, before his enemies could receive any certain intelligence that he hadleft the banks of the Rhine. In the course of this long and rapidnavigation, the mind of Julian was fixed on the object of hisenterprise; and though he accepted the deputations of some cities, whichhastened to claim the merit of an early submission, he passed before thehostile stations, which were placed along the river, without indulgingthe temptation of signalizing a useless and ill-timed valor. The banksof the Danube were crowded on either side with spectators, who gazed onthe military pomp, anticipated the importance of the event, and diffusedthrough the adjacent country the fame of a young hero, who advanced withmore than mortal speed at the head of the innumerable forces of theWest. Lucilian, who, with the rank of general of the cavalry, commandedthe military powers of Illyricum, was alarmed and perplexed by thedoubtful reports, which he could neither reject nor believe. 

He had taken some slow and irresolute measures for the purpose ofcollecting his troops, when he was surprised by Dagalaiphus, an activeofficer, whom Julian, as soon as he landed at Bononia, had pushedforward with some light infantry. The captive general, uncertain of hislife or death, was hastily thrown upon a horse, and conducted to thepresence of Julian; who kindly raised him from the ground, and dispelledthe terror and amazement which seemed to stupefy his faculties. ButLucilian had no sooner recovered his spirits than he betrayed his wantof discretion, by presuming to admonish his conqueror that he had rashlyventured, with a handful of men, to expose his person in the midst ofhis enemies. "Reserve for your master Constantius these timidremonstrances, " replied Julian, with a smile of contempt: "when I gaveyou my purple to kiss, I received you not as a counsellor, but as asuppliant. " Conscious that success alone could justify his attempt, andthat boldness only could command success, he instantly advanced, at thehead of three thousand soldiers, to attack the strongest and mostpopulous city of the Illyrian provinces. 

As he entered the long suburb of Sirmium, he was received by the joyfulacclamations of the army and people, who, crowned with flowers, andholding lighted tapers in their hands, conducted their acknowledgedsovereign to his imperial residence. Two days were devoted to thepublic joy, which was celebrated by the games of the Circus; but, earlyon the morning of the third day, Julian marched to occupy the narrowpass of Succi, in the defiles of Mount Hæmus; which, almost in themidway between Sirmium and Constantinople, separates the provinces ofThrace and Dacia, by an abrupt descent toward the former, and a gentledeclivity on the side of the latter. The defence of this important postwas intrusted to the brave Nevitta; who, as well as the generals of theItalian division, successfully executed the plan of the march andjunction which their master had so ably conceived. 

The homage which Julian obtained, from the fears or the inclination ofthe people, extended far beyond the immediate effect of his arms. Theprefectures of Italy and Illyricum were administered by Taurus andFlorentius, who united that important office with the vain honors of theconsulship; and, as those magistrates had retired with precipitation tothe court of Asia, Julian, who could not always restrain the levity ofhis temper, stigmatized their flight by adding, in all the Acts of theYear, the epithet of _fugitive_ to the names of the two consuls. 

The provinces which had been deserted by their first magistratesacknowledged the authority of an emperor who, conciliating the qualitiesof a soldier with those of a philosopher, was equally admired in thecamps of the Danube and in the cities of Greece. From his palace, or, more properly, from his head-quarters of Sirmium and Naissus, hedistributed, to the principal cities of the empire, a labored apologyfor his own conduct; published the secret despatches of Constantius, andsolicited the judgment of mankind between two competitors, the one ofwhom had expelled, and the other had invited, the barbarians. Julian, whose mind was deeply wounded by the reproach of ingratitude, aspired tomaintain, by argument as well as by arms, the superior merits of hiscause; and to excel, not only in the arts of war, but in those ofcomposition. His epistle to the senate and people of Athens seems tohave been dictated by an elegant enthusiasm; which prompted him tosubmit his actions and his motives to the degenerate Athenians of hisown times, with the same humble deference as if he had been pleading, in the days of Aristides, before the tribunal of the Areopagus. Hisapplication to the senate of Rome, which was still permitted to bestowthe titles of imperial power, was agreeable to the forms of the expiringrepublic. An assembly was summoned by Tertullus, prefect of the city;the epistle of Julian was read; and, as he appeared to be master ofItaly, his claims were admitted without a dissenting voice. 

His oblique censure of the innovations of Constantine, and hispassionate invective against the vices of Constantius, were heard withless satisfaction; and the senate, as if Julian had been present, unanimously exclaimed, "Respect, we beseech you, the author of your ownfortune"--an artful expression, which, according to the chance of war, might be differently explained; as a manly reproof of the ingratitude ofthe usurper, or as a flattering confession that a single act of suchbenefit to the State ought to atone for all the failings of Constantius. 

The intelligence of the march and rapid progress of Julian was speedilytransmitted to his rival, who, by the retreat of Sapor, had obtainedsome respite from the Persian war. Disguising the anguish of his soulunder the semblance of contempt, Constantius professed his intention ofreturning into Europe, and of giving chase to Julian; for he never spokeof his military expedition in any other light than that of a huntingparty. In the camp of Hierapolis, in Syria, he communicated this designto his army; slightly mentioned the guilt and rashness of the cæsar, andventured to assure them that if the mutineers of Gaul presumed to meetthem in the field they would be unable to sustain the fire of their eyesand the irresistible weight of their shout of onset. 

The speech of the Emperor was received with military applause, andTheodotus, the president of the council of Hierapolis, requested, withtears of adulation, that _his_ city might be adorned with the head ofthe vanquished rebel. A chosen detachment was despatched away inpost-wagons, to secure, if it were yet possible, the pass of Succi; therecruits, the horses, the arms, and the magazines, which had beenprepared against Sapor, were appropriated to the service of the civilwar; and the domestic victories of Constantius inspired his partisanswith the most sanguine assurances of success. The notary Gaudentius hadoccupied in his name the provinces of Africa; the subsistence of Romewas intercepted; and the distress of Julian was increased by anunexpected event, which might have been productive of fatalconsequences. Julian had received the submission of two legions and acohort of archers, who were stationed at Sirmium; but he suspected withreason the fidelity of those troops which had been distinguished by theEmperor; and it was thought expedient, under the pretence of the exposedstate of the Gallic frontier, to dismiss them from the most importantscene of action. 

They advanced, with reluctance, as far as the confines of Italy; but asthey dreaded the length of the way and the savage fierceness of theGermans, they resolved, by the instigation of one of their tribunes, tohalt at Aquileia, and to erect the banners of Constantius on the wallsof that impregnable city. The vigilance of Julian perceived at once theextent of the mischief, and the necessity of applying an immediateremedy. By his order, Jovinus led back a part of the army into Italy;and the siege of Aquileia was formed with diligence and prosecuted withvigor. But the legionaries, who seemed to have rejected the yoke ofdiscipline, conducted the defence of the place with skill andperseverance; invited the rest of Italy to imitate the example of theircourage and loyalty; and threatened the retreat of Julian, if he shouldbe forced to yield to the superior numbers of the armies of the East. 

But the humanity of Julian was preserved from the cruel alternativewhich he pathetically laments, of destroying or of being himselfdestroyed; and the seasonable death of Constantius delivered the RomanEmpire from the calamities of civil war. The approach of winter couldnot detain the monarch at Antioch; and his favorites durst not opposehis impatient desire of revenge. A slight fever, which was perhapsoccasioned by the agitation of his spirits, was increased by thefatigues of the journey; and Constantius was obliged to halt at thelittle town of Mopsucrene, twelve miles beyond Tarsus, where he expired, after a short illness, in the forty-fifth year of his age and thetwenty-fourth of his reign. Julian thus became master of the Romanworld. 

THE HUNS AND THEIR WESTERN MIGRATION

A. D. 374-376

MARCELLINUS

 The Huns, whose incursions into Europe constituted the first "yellow peril, " were a nomadic Mongolian race. In the fourth century before Christ they successfully invaded China. From that country, about A. D. 90, they were driven by Hiong-nu, and the Huns then proceeded, joined by hordes of their fellows from the steppes of Tartary, to make their way to the Caspian Sea. 

 Previous to the incursion of the Huns another Tartar tribe, the Alani--the first of that race known to the Romans--had ravaged Media and Armenia, A. D. 75, carrying off a vast number of prisoners and an enormous booty. They later settled themselves in the country between the Volga and the Tanais, at an equal distance from the Black Sea and the Caspian. The Huns, having crossed the Volga, drove the Alani before them to the Danube. Valens, the then Emperor of the East, was a weak, incapable ruler; he failed to recognize the peril by which his empire would ere long be threatened, and permitted the Alani to find a refuge in his dominions. These were in turn followed and absorbed by the Huns, and the whole Roman Empire was finally faced by Mongol foes. 

 The historian Ammianus Marcellinus wrote racily of these events at the time of their occurrence. 

The swift wheel of fortune, which continually alternates adversity withprosperity, was giving Bellona the Furies for her allies, and arming herfor war; and now transferred our disasters to the east, as many presagesand portents foreshowed by undoubted signs. 

For after many true prophecies uttered by diviners and augurs, dogs wereseen to recoil from howling wolves, and the birds of night constantlyuttered querulous and mournful cries; and lurid sunrises made themornings dark. Also, at Antioch, among the tumults and squabbles of thepopulace, it had come to be a custom for anyone who fancied himselfill-treated to cry out, in a licentious manner: "May Valens be burnedalive. " And the voices of the criers were constantly heard orderingwood to be carried to warm the baths of Valens, which had been builtunder the superintendence of the Emperor himself. 

All which circumstances all but pointed out in express words that theend of the Emperor's life was at hand. Besides all these things, theghost of the King of Armenia, and the miserable shades of those who hadlately been put to death in the affair of Theodorus, agitated numbers ofpeople with terrible alarms, appearing to them in their sleep, andshrieking out verses of horrible import. 

Last of all, when the ancient walls of Chalcedon were thrown down inorder to build a bath at Constantinople, and the stones were tornasunder, on one squared stone which was hidden in the very centre of thewalls these Greek verses were found engraved, which gave a fullrevelation of what was to happen:

 "But when young wives and damsels blithe, in dances that delight, Shall glide along the city streets, with garlands gayly bright; And when these walls, with sad regrets, shall fall to raise a bath, Then shall the Huns in multitude break forth with might and wrath, By force of arms the barrier-stream of Ister they shall cross, O'er Scythic ground and Moesian lands spreading dismay and loss; They shall Pannonian horsemen brave, and Gallic soldiers slay, And nought but loss of life and breath their course shall ever stay. "

The following circumstances were the original cause of all thedestruction and various calamities which the fury of Mars roused up, throwing everything into confusion by his usual ruinous violence: thepeople called Huns, slightly mentioned in the ancient records, livebeyond the Sea of Azov, on the border of the Frozen Ocean, and are arace savage beyond all parallel. 

At the very moment of their birth the cheeks of their infant childrenare deeply marked by an iron, in order that the usual vigor of theirhair, instead of growing at the proper season, may be withered by thewrinkled scars; and accordingly they grow up without beards, andconsequently without any beauty, like eunuchs, though they all haveclosely knit and strong limbs and plump necks; they are of great size, and bow-legged, so that you might fancy them two-legged beasts, or thestout figures which are hewn out in a rude manner with an axe on theposts at the end of bridges. 

They are certainly in the shape of men, however uncouth, but are sohardy that they neither require fire nor well-flavored food, but live onthe roots of such herbs as they get in the fields, or on the half-rawflesh of any animal, which they merely warm rapidly by placing itbetween their own thighs and the back of their horses. 

They never shelter themselves under roofed houses, but avoid them, aspeople ordinarily avoid sepulchres as things not fitted for common use. Nor is there even to be found among them a cabin thatched with reed; butthey wander about, roaming over the mountains and the woods, andaccustom themselves to bear frost and hunger and thirst from their verycradles. And even when abroad they never enter a house unless under thecompulsion of some extreme necessity; nor, indeed, do they think peopleunder roofs as safe as others. 

They wear linen clothes, or else garments made of the skins offield-mice; nor do they wear a different dress out of doors from thatwhich they wear at home; but after a tunic is once put round theirnecks, however much it becomes worn, it is never taken off or changedtill, from long decay, it becomes actually so ragged as to fall topieces. 

They cover their heads with round caps, and their shaggy legs with theskins of kids; their shoes are not made on any lasts, but are sounshapely as to hinder them from walking with a free gait. And for thisreason they are not well suited to infantry battles, but are nearlyalways on horseback, their horses being ill-shaped, but hardy; andsometimes they even sit upon them like women if they want to do anythingmore conveniently. There is not a person in the whole nation who cannotremain on his horse day and night. On horseback they buy and sell, theytake their meat and drink, and there they recline on the narrow neck oftheir steed, and yield to sleep so deep as to indulge in every varietyof dream. 

And when any deliberation is to take place on any weighty matter, theyall hold their common council on horseback. They are not under theauthority of a king, but are contented with the irregular government oftheir nobles, and under their lead they force their way through allobstacles. 

Sometimes, when provoked, they fight; and when they go into battle, theyform in a solid body, and utter all kinds of terrific yells. They arevery quick in their operations, of exceeding speed, and fond ofsurprising their enemies. With a view to this, they suddenly disperse, then reunite, and again, after having inflicted vast loss upon theenemy, scatter themselves over the whole plain in irregular formations:always avoiding the fort or an intrenchment. 

And in one respect you may pronounce them the most formidable of allwarriors, for when at a distance they use missiles of various kinds, tipped with sharpened bones instead of the usual points of javelins, andthese bones are admirably fastened into the shaft of the javelin orarrow; but when they are at close quarters they fight with the sword, without any regard for their own safety; and often while theirantagonists are warding off their blows they entangle them with twistedcords, so that, their hands being fettered, they lose all power ofeither riding or walking. 

None of them plough, or even touch a plough handle; for they have nosettled abode, but are homeless and lawless, perpetually wandering withtheir wagons, which they make their homes; in fact, they seem to bepeople always in flight. Their wives live in these wagons, and thereweave their miserable garments; and here, too, they sleep with theirhusbands, and bring up their children till they reach the age ofpuberty; nor, if asked, can any one of them tell you where he was born, as he was conceived in one place, born in another at a great distance, and brought up in another still more remote. 

In truces they are treacherous and inconstant, being liable to changetheir minds at every breeze of every fresh hope which presents itself, giving themselves up wholly to the impulse and inclination of themoment; and, like brute beasts, they are utterly ignorant of thedistinction between right and wrong. They express themselves with greatambiguity and obscurity; have no respect for any religion orsuperstition whatever; are immoderately covetous of gold; and are sofickle and irascible that they very often, on the same day that theyquarrel with their companions without any provocation, again becomereconciled to them without any mediator. 

This active and indomitable race, being excited by an unrestrainabledesire of plundering the possessions of others, went on ravaging andslaughtering all the nations in their neighborhood till they reached theAlani, who were formerly called the Massagetæ; and from what countrythese Alani came, or what territories they inhabit--since my subject hasled me so far--it is expedient now to explain, after showing theconfusion existing in the accounts of the geographers, who, at last, have found out the truth. 

The Danube, which, is greatly increased by other rivers falling into it, passes through the territory of the Sauromatæ [Scythians], which extendsas far as the river Don, the boundary between Asia and Europe. On theother side of this river the Alani inhabit the enormous deserts ofScythia, deriving their own name from the mountains around; and they, like the Persians, having gradually subdued all the bordering nations byrepeated victories, have united them to themselves and comprehended themunder their own name. Of these other tribes the Neuri inhabit the inlanddistricts, being near the highest mountain chains, which are bothprecipitous and covered with the everlasting frost of the north. Next tothem are the Budini, and the Geloni, a race of exceeding ferocity, whoflay the enemies they have slain in battle, and make of their skinsclothes for themselves and trappings for their horses. Next to theGeloni are the Agathyrsi, who dye both their bodies and their hair of ablue color, the lower classes using spots few in number and small; thenobles broad spots, close and thick, and of a deeper hue. 

Next to those are the Melanchlænæ and the Anthropophagi, who roam aboutupon different tracts of land and live on human flesh. And these men areso avoided on account of their horrid food that all the tribes whichwere their neighbors have removed to a distance from them. And in thisway the whole of that region to the northeast, till you come to theChinese, is uninhabited. 

On the other side the Alani again extend to the east, near theterritories of the Amazons, and are scattered among many populous andwealthy nations, stretching to the parts of Asia which, as I am told, extend up to the Ganges, a river which passes through the country of theIndians, and falls into the Southern Ocean. 

Then the Alani, being thus divided among the two quarters of theglobe--the various tribes which make up the whole nation it is not worthwhile to enumerate--although widely separated, wander, like the nomads, over enormous districts. But in the progress of time all these tribescame to be united under one generic appellation, and are called Alani. 

They have no cottages, and never use the plough, but live solely on meatand plenty of milk, mounted on their wagons which they cover with acurved awning made of the bark of trees, and then drive them throughtheir boundless deserts. And when they come to any pasture land, theypitch their wagons in a circle, and live like a herd of beasts, eatingup all the forage--carrying, as it were, their cities with them in theirwagons. In them the husbands sleep with their wives--in them theirchildren are born and brought up; these wagons, in short, are theirperpetual habitation, and, wherever they fix them, that place they lookupon as their home. 

They drive before them their flocks and herds to their pasturage; andabout all other cattle, they are especially careful of their horses. Thefields in that country are always green, and are interspersed withpatches of fruit-trees, so that, wherever they go, there is no deartheither of food for themselves or fodder for their cattle. And this iscaused by the moisture of the soil and the number of the rivers whichflow through these districts. 

All their old people, and especially all the weaker sex, keep close tothe wagons and occupy themselves in the lighter employments. But theyoung men, who from their earliest childhood are trained to the use ofthe horses, think it beneath them to walk. They are also all trained bycareful discipline of various sorts to become skilful warriors. And thisis the reason why the Persians, who are originally of Scythianextraction, are very skilful in war. 

Nearly all the Alani are men of great stature and beauty. Their hair issomewhat yellow, their eyes are terribly fierce; the lightness of theirarmor renders them rapid in their movements, and they are in everyrespect equal to the Huns, only more civilized in their food and theirmanner of life. They plunder and hunt as far as the Sea of Azov and theCimmerian Bosporus, ravaging also Armenia and Media. 

And as ease is a delightful thing to men of a quiet and placiddisposition, so danger and war are a pleasure to the Alani, and amongthem that man is called happy who has lost his life in battle; for thosewho grow old, or who go out of the world from accidental sicknesses, they pursue with bitter reproaches as degenerate and cowardly. Nor isthere anything of which they boast with more pride than of having killeda man; and the most glorious spoils they esteem the scalps which theyhave torn from the heads of those whom they have slain, which they putas trappings and ornaments on their war horses. 

Nor is there any temple or shrine seen in their country, nor even anycabin thatched with straw, their only idea of religion being to plunge anaked sword into the ground with barbaric ceremonies, and they worshipthat with great respect, as Mars, the presiding deity of the regionsover which they wander. 

They presage the future in a most remarkable manner, for they collect anumber of great twigs of osier, then with certain secret incantationsthey separate them from one another on particular days; and from themthey learn clearly what is about to happen. 

They have no idea of slavery, inasmuch as they themselves are all bornof noble families; and those whom even now they appoint to be judges arealways men of proved experience and skill in war. But now let us returnto the subject which we proposed to ourselves. 

The Huns, after having traversed the territories of the Alani, andespecially of that tribe of them who border on the Gruthungi, and whoare called Tanaitæ, and having slain many of them and acquired muchplunder they made a treaty of friendship and alliance with those whoremained. And when they had united them to themselves, with increasedboldness they made a sudden incursion into the extensive and fertiledistricts of Ermenrichus, a very warlike prince, and one whom hisnumerous gallant actions of every kind had rendered formidable to allthe neighboring nations. 

He was astonished at the violence of this sudden tempest, and although, like a prince whose power was well established, he long attempted tohold his ground, he was at last overpowered by a dread of the evilsimpending over his country, which were exaggerated by common report, till he terminated his fear of great danger by a voluntary death. 

After his death Vithimiris was made king. He for some time maintained aresistance to the Alani, relying on the aid of other tribes of the Hunswhom by large promises of pay he had won over to his party; but, afterhaving suffered many losses, he was defeated by superior numbers andslain in battle. He left an infant son named Viderichus, of whomAlatheus and Saphrax undertook the guardianship, both generals of greatexperience and proved courage. And when they, yielding to thedifficulties of the crisis, had given up all hope of being able to makean effectual resistance, they retired with caution till they came to theriver Dniester, which lies between the Danube and the Dnieper, and flowsthrough a vast extent of country. 

When Athanaric, the chief magistrate of the Thuringians, had becomeinformed of those unexpected occurrences, he prepared to maintain hisground, with a resolution to rise up in strength should he be assailedas the others had been. 

At last he pitched his camp at a distance in a very favorable spot nearthe banks of the Dniester and the valleys of the Gruthungi, and sentMuderic, who afterward became duke of the Arabian frontier, withLagarimanus and others of the nobles, with orders to advance for twentymiles, to reconnoitre the approach of the enemy; while in the mean timehe himself, without delay, marshalled his troops in line of battle. 

However, things turned out in a manner very contrary to hisexpectations. For the Huns--being very sagacious inconjectures--suspecting that there must be a considerablemultitude farther off, contrived to pass beyond those they hadseen, and arranged themselves to take their rest where there wasnothing at hand to disturb them; and then, when the moondispelled the darkness of night, they forded the river, which wasthe best plan which presented itself, and fearing lest thepickets at the outposts might give the alarm to the distant camp, they made all possible speed and advanced with the hope ofsurprising Athanaric himself. 

He was stupefied at the suddenness of their onset, and, after losingmany of his men, was compelled to flee for refuge to the precipitousmountains in the neighborhood, where, being wholly bewildered with thestrangeness of this occurrence, and the fear of greater evils to come, he began to fortify with lofty walls all the territory between the banksof the River Pruth and the Danube, where it passes through the land ofthe Taifali; and he completed this line of fortification with greatdiligence, thinking that by this step he should secure his own personalsafety. 

While this important work was going on, the Huns kept pressing on histraces with great speed, and they would have overtaken and destroyed himif they had not been forced to abandon the pursuit from being impeded bythe great quantity of their booty. In the mean time a report spreadextensively through the other nations of the Goths, that a race of men, hitherto unknown, had suddenly descended like a whirlwind from the loftymountains, as if they had risen from some secret recess of the earth, and were ravaging and destroying everything which came in their way. Andthen the greater part of the population which, because of their want ofnecessaries, had deserted Athanaric, resolved to flee and to seek a homeremote from all knowledge of the barbarians; and after a longdeliberation where to fix their abode, they resolved that a retreat intoThrace was the most suitable for these two reasons: first of all, because it is a district most fertile in grass; and also because, by thegreat breadth of the Danube, it is wholly separated from the barbarians, who were already exposed to the thunder-bolts of foreign warfare. Andthe whole population of the tribe adopted this resolution unanimously. 

Accordingly, under the command of their leader Alavivus, they occupiedthe bank of the Danube, and having sent ambassadors to Valens, theyhumbly entreated to be received by him as his subjects, promising tolive quietly, and to furnish a body of auxiliary troops if any necessityfor such a force should arise. 

While these events were passing in foreign countries, a terrible rumorarose that the tribes of the North were planning new and unprecedentedattacks upon us; and that over the whole region, which extends from thecountry of the Marcomanni and Quadi to Pontus, a barbarian host, composed of different distant nations, which had suddenly been driven byforce from their own country, was now, with all their families, wandering about in different directions on the banks of the riverDanube. 

At first this intelligence was lightly treated by our people, becausethey were not in the habit of hearing of any wars in those remotedistricts till they were terminated either by victory or by treaty. 

But presently, as the belief in these occurrences grew stronger, beingconfirmed, too, by the arrival of the foreign ambassadors, who, withprayers and earnest entreaties, begged that the people thus driven fromtheir homes and now encamped on the other side of the river might bekindly received by us, the affair seemed a cause of joy rather than offear, according to the skilful flatterers who were always extolling andexaggerating the good fortune of the Emperor; congratulating him that anembassy had come from the farthest corners of the earth unexpectedly, offering him a large body of recruits; and that, by combining thestrength of his own nation with these foreign forces, he would have anarmy absolutely invincible; observing further that, by the yearlypayment for military reinforcements which came in every year from theprovinces, a vast treasure of gold might be accumulated in his coffers. 

Full of this hope, he sent forth several officers to bring thisferocious people and their wagons into our territory. And such greatpains were taken to gratify this nation which was destined to overthrowthe Empire of Rome, that not one was left behind, not even of those whowere stricken with mortal disease. Moreover, having obtained permissionof the Emperor to cross the Danube and to cultivate some districts inThrace, they crossed the stream day and night, without ceasing, embarking in troops on board ships and rafts, and canoes made of thehollow trunks of trees, in which enterprise, as the Danube is the mostdifficult of all rivers to navigate, and was at that time swollen withcontinual rains, a great many were drowned, who, because they were toonumerous for the vessels, tried to swim across, and in spite of alltheir exertions were swept away by the stream. 

In this way, through the turbulent zeal of violent people, the ruin ofthe Roman Empire was brought on. This, at all events, is neither obscurenor uncertain that the unhappy officers who were intrusted with thecharge of conducting the multitude of the barbarians across the river, though they repeatedly endeavored to calculate their numbers, at lastabandoned the attempt as hopeless; and the man who would wish toascertain the number might as well--as the most illustrious of poetssays--attempt to count the waves in the African Sea, or the grains ofsand tossed about by the zephyrs. 

Let, however, the ancient annals be accredited which record that thePersian host which was led into Greece was, while encamped on the shoresof the Hellespont, and making a new and artificial sea, numbered inbattalions at Doriscus; a computation which has been unanimouslyregarded by all posterity as fabulous. 

But after the innumerable multitudes of different nations, diffused overall our provinces and spreading themselves over the vast expanses of ourplains, who filled all the champaign country and all the mountainranges, are considered, the credibility of the ancient accounts isconfirmed by this modern instance. And first of all Tritigernus wasreceived with Alavivus, and the Emperor assigned them a temporaryprovision for their immediate support, and ordered lands to be assignedthem to cultivate. 

At that time the defences of our provinces were much exposed, and thearmies of barbarians spread over them like the lava of Mount Ætna. Theimminence of our danger manifestly called for generals alreadyillustrious for their past achievements in war; but nevertheless, as ifsome unpropitious deity had made the selection, the men who were soughtout for the chief military appointments were of tainted character. Thechief among them were Lupicinus and Maximus, the one being count ofThrace, the other a leader notoriously wicked--and both men of greatignorance and rashness. 

And their treacherous covetousness was the cause of all our disasters. For--to pass over other matters in which the officers aforesaid, orothers with their unblushing connivance, displayed the greatestprofligacy in their injurious treatment of the foreigners dwelling inour territory, against whom no crime could be alleged--this onemelancholy and unprecedented piece of conduct--which, even if they wereto choose their own judges, must appear wholly unpardonable--must bementioned:

When the barbarians who had been conducted across the river were ingreat distress from want of provisions, those detested generalsconceived the idea of a most disgraceful traffic; and having collectedhounds from all quarters with the most unsatiable rapacity, theyexchanged them for an equal number of slaves, among whom were severalsons of men of noble birth. 

About this time also, Vitheric, the King of the Gruthungi, with Alatheusand Saphrax, by whose influence he was mainly guided, and also withFarnobius, approached the bank of the Danube and sent envoys to theEmperor to entreat that he also might be received with the same kindnessthat Alavivus and Fritigern had experienced. 

But when, as seemed best for the interests of the State, theseambassadors had been rejected, and were in great anxiety what theyshould do, Athanaric, fearing similar treatment, departed, recollectingthat long ago, when he was discussing a treaty with Valens, he hadtreated that Emperor with contempt in affirming that he was bound by areligious obligation never to set his foot on the Roman territory; andthat, by this excuse, he had compelled the Emperor to conclude a peacein the middle of the war. And he, fearing that the grudge which Valensbore him for this conduct was still lasting, withdrew with all hisforces to Caucalandes, a place which, from the height of its mountainsand the thickness of its woods, is completely inaccessible; and fromwhich he had lately driven out the Sarmatians. 

FINAL DIVISION OF ROMAN EMPIRE: THE DISRUPTIVE INTRIGUES

A. D. 395

J. B. BURY

 When Theodosius I, surnamed "the Great, " was elevated to power as ruler of the East, that part of the empire was distracted in consequence of wars with the Visigoths who, flying from the Huns, had been granted a refuge in the Roman provinces of Moesia and Thrace. Ill-treatment by the Romans drove the Visigoths to revolt, and Valens, then Emperor of the East, set out with an army to punish them. In the battle of Adrianople, August 9, 378, the Roman army was defeated, and in the retreat Valens was killed. The Visigoths pressed on, ravaging the country even to the foot of the walls of Constantinople, and the doom of the empire seemed to be at hand. 

 At this juncture Gratian--Emperor of the West, who also upon the death of Valens succeeded him as ruler of the East--sent for Theodosius, then a Roman general living in retirement in Spain, made him his colleague in the East, and placed him, A. D. , 379 at the head of an army for the suppression of the Gothic outbreaks. Theodosius enabled his soldiers to regain their lost confidence by waging a successful _guerilla_ war with the marauding Goths; but having thus shown his mastery over their straggling bands, he did not undertake to drive them out from Roman territory, but weakened them by causing them to quarrel among themselves; then, showing himself as their friend, he gave them lands and settled them within definite limits. To the Visigoths, or West Goths, he gave Thrace, and to the Ostrogoths, or East Goths, who had also now poured into the Roman provinces, he assigned Pannonia. 

 By this policy Theodosius established his authority in the East and restored the empire to something of its earlier power. Except during the last four months of his life, when he was sole Emperor, his direct authority was confined to the East; but he exerted a potent influence upon the affairs of the whole empire, both temporal and spiritual. He warred steadily against paganism and heresy. He took the side of Trinitarian orthodoxy against Arianism, which had previously triumphed in the East, and restored religious unity to the empire by making the Athanasian doctrine the faith of Constantinople, as it was that of the West. This policy was ratified by the second ecumenical council, called by Theodosius, at Constantinople in 381, when the orthodoxy first promulgated by the Council of Nicæa in 325 was substantially reaffirmed. It was also largely through the influence of Theodosius, who was the friend of Ambrose, archbishop of Milan, that the Roman senate, by a great majority, voted (388) to abolish the worship of Jupiter and to adopt the worship of Christ, thus making Christianity the state religion. In the debate which preceded this transition the eloquence of Symmachus, on the pagan side, was overmatched by the arguments of Ambrose, aided by the powerful support of Theodosius in person. 

 In his further dealings with the Visigoths, Theodosius, following a precedent already established, enlisted in the Roman service a separate Gothic army of forty thousand soldiers; but this policy, as the event proved, was fatal to the permanency of his hitherto successful control of these alien elements, for they soon gathered strength to take the mastery into their own hands. Theodosius died in 395, after publishing a decree for partition of the empire between his two sons, Honorius to rule in the West, and Arcadius in the East. He meant, not to establish two independent jurisdictions, but that there should be one commonwealth, whose two rulers should be colleagues and coadjutors in its defence. This new disposition of the empire was followed by dissensions and intrigues against which the weak sons of Theodosius were helpless in the hands of able and unscrupulous self-seekers, the result of which was the final separation of the empire into two distinct governments and the weakening of the powers of resistance of both against those ever-increasing encroachments of the barbarians which eventually caused the fall of both empires. 

One of the few men in history who have won the title of great, theemperor Theodosius I, who had by his policy, at once friendly and firm, pacified the Goths, who had confirmed the triumph of Athanasian overArian Christianity, who had stamped out the last flames of refractorypaganism represented by the tyrant Eugenius, died on the 17th ofJanuary, A. D. 395. His wishes were that his younger son, Honorius, thena boy of ten years, should reign in the West, where he had alreadyinstalled him, and that his eldest son, Arcadius, whom he had left asregent in Constantinople when he set out against Eugenius, shouldcontinue to reign in the East. 

But he was not willing to leave his youthful heirs--Arcadius was onlyeighteen--without a protector, and the most natural protector was onebound to them by ties of relationship. Accordingly on his deathbed hecommended them to the care of the Vandal Stilicho, whom he had raisedfor his military and other talents to the rank of commander-in-chief, and, deeming him worthy of an alliance with his own family, had unitedto his favorite niece Serena. We can hardly doubt that it was in thiscapacity, as the husband of his niece and a trusted friend, not as ageneral, that Stilicho received Theodosius' dying wishes; it was as anelder member of the same family that the husband of their cousin couldclaim to exert an influence over Arcadius and Honorius, of whom, however, the latter, it would appear, was more especially committed tohis care, not only as the younger, but because Stilicho, being _magistermilitum_ of the armies of Italy, would come more directly into contactwith him than with his brother. 

Arcadius, with whom we are especially concerned, was about eighteen atthe time of his father's death. He was of short stature, of darkcomplexion, thin and inactive, and the dulness of his wit was betrayedby his speech and by his eyes, which always seemed as if they were aboutto close in sleep. His smallness of intellect and his weakness ofcharacter made it inevitable that he should come under the influence, good or bad, of commanding personalities, with which he might be broughtin contact. Such a potent personality was the prætorian prefect Rufinus, a native of Aquitaine, who in almost every respect presented a contrastto his sovereign. He was tall and manly, and the restless movements ofhis keen eyes and the readiness of his speech signified his intellectualpowers. He was a strong, worldly man, ambitious of power, andsufficiently unprincipled; avaricious, too, like most ministers of theage. 

He had made many enemies by acts which were perhaps somewhat more thanusually unscrupulous, but we cannot justly assume that in the overthrowof certain rivals he was entirely guilty and they entirely innocent, asis sometimes represented. It is almost certain that he formed the schemeand cherished the hope of becoming joint emperor with Arcadius. 

This ambition of Rufinus placed him at once in an attitude of oppositionto Stilicho, who was himself not above the suspicion of entertainingsimilar schemes, not, however, in the interest of his own person, butfor his son Eucherius. The position of the Vandal, who was connected bymarriage with the imperial family, gave him an advantage over Rufinus, which was strengthened by the generally known fact that Theodosius hadgiven him his last instructions. Stilicho, moreover, was popular withthe army, and for the present the great bulk of the forces of the empirewas at his disposal; for the regiments united to suppress Eugenius hadnot yet been sent back to their various stations. Thus a struggle wasimminent between the ambitious minister who had the ear of Arcadius, andthe strong general who held the command and enjoyed the favor of thearmy. 

Before the end of the year this struggle began and concluded in anextremely curious way; but we must first relate how a certain scheme ofRufinus had been checkmated by an obscurer but wilier rival nearer athand. 

It was the cherished project of Rufinus to unite Arcadius with his onlydaughter; once the Emperor's father-in-law, he might hope to becomespeedily an emperor himself. But he imprudently made a journey toAntioch, in order to execute vengeance personally on the Count of theEast, who had offended him; and during his absence from Byzantium anadversary stole a march on him. This adversary was the eunuch Eutropius, the lord chamberlain, a bald old man, who with oriental craftiness hadwon his way up from the meanest services and employments. Determiningthat the future Empress should be bound to himself and not to Rufinus, he chose Eudoxia, a girl of singular beauty, the daughter of adistinguished Frank, but herself of Roman education. 

Her father, Bauto, was dead, and she lived in the house of the widow andsons of one of the victims of Rufinus. Eutropius showed a picture of theFrank maiden to the Emperor and engaged his affections for her; thenuptials were arranged by the time Rufinus returned to Constantinople, and were speedily celebrated (April 27, 395). This was a blow toRufinus, but he was still the most powerful man in the East. 

The event which at length brought him into contact with Stilicho was therising of the Visigoths, who had been settled by Theodosius in Moesiaand Thrace, and were bound in return for their lands to serve in thearmy as _foederati_. They had accompanied the Emperor to Italy againstEugenius, and had returned to their habitations sooner than the rest ofthe army. 

The causes of discontent which led to their revolt are not quite clear;but it seems that Arcadius refused to give them certain grants of moneywhich had been allowed them by his father, and, as has been suggested, they probably expected that favor would wane and influence decrease nowthat the "friend of Goths" was dead, and consequently determined to makethemselves heard and felt. To this must be added that their mostinfluential chieftain, Alaric, called Baltha ("the Bold"), desired to bemade a commander-in-chief, _magister militum_, and was offended that hehad been passed over. 

However this may be, the historical essence of the matter is that animmense body of restless, uncivilized Germans could not abidepermanently in the centre of Roman provinces in a semi-dependent, ill-defined relation to the Roman government; the West Goths had not yetfound their permanent home. Under the leadership of Alaric they raisedthe ensign of revolt, and spread desolation in the fields and homesteadsof Macedonia, Moesia, and Thrace, even advancing close to the walls ofConstantinople. They carefully spared certain estates outside the city, belonging to the prefect Rufinus, but this policy does not seem to havebeen adopted with the same motive that caused Archidamus to spare thelands of Pericles. Alaric may have wished not to render Rufinussuspected, but to conciliate his friendship and obtain thereby morefavorable terms. Rufinus actually went to Alaric's camp, dressed as aGoth, but the interview led to nothing. 

It was impossible to take the field against the Goths, because therewere no forces available, as the eastern armies were still with Stilichoin the West. Arcadius therefore was obliged to summon Stilicho to sendor bring them back immediately, to protect his throne. This summons gavethat general the desired opportunity to interfere in the politics ofConstantinople; and having with energetic celerity arranged matters onthe Gallic frontier, he marched overland through Illyricum andconfronted Alaric in Thessaly, whither the Goth had traced hisdevastating path from the Propontis. 

It appears that Stilicho's behavior is quite as open to the charges ofambition and artfulness as the behavior of Rufinus, for I do notperceive how we can strictly justify his detention of the forces, whichought to have been sent back to defend the provinces of Arcadius at thevery beginning of the year. Stilicho's march to Thessaly can scarcelyhave taken place before October, and it is hard to interpret this longdelay in sending back the troops, over which he had no rightfulauthority, if it were not dictated by a wish to implicate the governmentof New Rome in difficulties and render his own intervention necessary. 

We are told, too, that he selected the best soldiers from the easternregiments and enrolled them in the western corps. If we adopted theCassian maxim, _Cui bono fuerit_, we should be inclined to accuseStilicho of having been privy to the revolt of Alaric; such asupposition would at least be far more plausible than the calumny whichwas circulated charging Rufinus with having stirred up the Visigoths. For such a supposition, too, we might find support in the circumstancethat the estates of Rufinus were spared by the soldiers of Alaric; itwould be intelligible that Stilicho suggested the plan in order to bringodium upon Rufinus. To such a conjecture, finally, certain othercircumstances, soon to be related, point: but it remains nothing morethan a suspicion. 

It seems that before Stilicho arrived Alaric had experienced a defeat atthe hands of garrison soldiers in Thessaly; at all events he shuthimself up in a fortified camp and declined to engage with the Romangeneral. In the mean time Rufinus induced Arcadius to send a peremptoryorder to Stilicho to despatch the eastern troops to Constantinople anddepart himself whence he had come; the Emperor resented, or pretended toresent, the presence of his cousin as an officious interference. Stilicho yielded so readily that his willingness seems almostsuspicious; but we shall probably never know whether he was responsiblefor the events that followed. He consigned the eastern soldiers to thecommand of a Gothic captain, Gainas, and himself departed to Salona, allowing Alaric to proceed on his wasting way into the lands of Hellas. 

Gainas and his soldiers marched by the Via Egnatia to Constantinople, and it was arranged that, according to a usual custom, the Emperor andhis court should come forth from the city to meet the army in the CampusMartius, which extended on the west side of the city near the GoldenGate. We cannot trust the statement of a hostile writer that Rufinusactually expected to be created augustus on this occasion, and appearedat the Emperor's side prouder and more sumptuously arrayed than ever; weonly know that he accompanied Arcadius to meet the army. 

It is said that, when the Emperor had saluted the troops, Rufinusadvanced and displayed a studied affability and solicitude to pleasetoward even individual soldiers. They closed in round him as he smiledand talked, anxious to secure their good-will for his elevation to thethrone, but just as he felt himself very nigh to supreme success, theswords of the nearest were drawn, and his body, pierced with wounds, fell to the ground. His head, carried through the streets, was mocked bythe people, and his right hand, severed from the trunk, was presented atthe doors of houses with the request: "Give to the insatiable!"

We can hardly suppose that the lynching of Rufinus was the fatalinspiration of a moment, but whether it was proposed or approved of byStilicho, or was a plan hatched among the soldiers on their way toConstantinople, is uncertain. One might even conjecture that the wholeaffair was the result of a prearrangement between Stilicho and the partyin Byzantium, which was adverse to Rufinus and led by the eunuchEutropius; but there is no evidence. Our knowledge of this sceneunfortunately depends on a partial and untrustworthy writer, who, moreover, wrote in verse--the poet Claudian. 

He enjoyed the patronage of Stilicho, and his poems _Against Rufinus_, _Against Eutropius_, and _On the Gothic War_ are a glorification of hispatron's splendid virtues. Stilicho and Rufinus he paints as twoopposite forces, the force of good and the force of evil, like theprinciples of the Manichæans. 

Rufinus is the terrible Pytho, the scourge of the world; Stilicho is theradiant Apollo, the deliverer of mankind. Rufinus is a power ofdarkness, whose tartarean wickedness surpasses even the wickedness ofthe Furies of hell; Stilicho is an angel of light. In the works of apoet whose leading idea was so extravagant, we can hardly expect to findmuch fair historical truth; it is, as a rule, only accidental referencesand allusions that we can accept, unless other authorities confirm hisstatements. Yet even modern writers, who know well how cautiouslyClaudian must be used, have been unconsciously prejudiced in favor ofStilicho and against Rufinus. 

We must return to the movements of Alaric, who had entered the regionsof classical Greece, for which he showed scant respect. The commander ofthe garrison at Thermopylæ, and the proconsul of Achaia, offered noresistance, and the West Goths entered Boeotia, where Thebes aloneescaped their devastation. They occupied the Piræus, but Athens itselfwas spared, and Alaric was entertained as a guest in the city of Athene. But the great temple of the mystic goddesses Demeter and Persephone, atEleusis, was burned down by the irreverent barbarians; Megara, the nextplace on their southward route, fell; then Corinth, Argos, and Sparta. 

But when they reached Elis they were confronted by an unexpectedopponent. Stilicho had returned from Italy, by way of Salona, which hereached by sea, to stay the hand of the invader. He blockaded him in theplain of Pholoe, but for some reason, not easily comprehensible, hedid not press his advantage, and set free the hordes of the Visigothicland pirates to resume their career of devastation. He went back toItaly, and Alaric returned, plundering as he went, to Illyricum andThrace, where he made terms with the government of New Rome, andreceived the desired title of _magister militum per Illyricum_. No onewill suppose that Stilicho went all the way from Italy to thePeloponnesus, and then, although he had Alaric practically at his mercy, retreated, leaving matters just as they were, without some excellentreason. 

If he had genuinely wished to deliver the distressed countries andassist the emperor Arcadius, he would not have acted in this ineffectualmanner. And it is difficult to see that his conduct is explained byassuming that he was not willing, by a complete extermination of theGoths, to enable Arcadius to dispense with his help in future. In thatcase, what did he gain by going to the Peloponnesus at all? Or we mightask, if he wished Arcadius to summon his assistance from year to year, is it likely that he would have adopted the method of rendering noassistance whatever? But, above all, the question occurs, what pleasurewould it have been to the general to look forward to being called uponagain and again to take the field against the Visigoths?

It seems evident that Stilicho and Alaric made at Pholoe some secretand definite arrangement, which conditioned Stilicho's departure, andthat this arrangement was conducive to the interests of Stilicho, whowas in the position of advantage, and at the same time not contrary tothe interests of Alaric, for otherwise Stilicho could not have been surethat the agreement would be carried out. What this secret compact wascan only be a matter of conjecture; but I would suggest that Stilichohad already formed the plan of creating his son Eucherius emperor, andthat he designed the Balkan peninsula to be the dominion over whichEucherius should hold sway. His conduct becomes perfectly explicable ifwe assume that by a secret agreement he secured Alaric's assistance forthe execution of this scheme, which the preponderance of Gothic power inIllyricum and Thrace would facilitate. 

It was not only the European parts of Arcadius' dominions that wereravaged in 395, by the fire and sword of barbarians. In the same yearhordes of trans-Caucasian Huns poured through the Caspian gates, and, rushing southward through the provinces of Mesopotamia, carrieddesolation into Syria. St. Jerome was in Palestine at this time, and intwo of his letters we have the account of an eye-witness: "As I wassearching for an abode worthy of such a lady (Fabiola, his friend), behold, suddenly messengers rush hither and thither, and the whole Easttrembles with the news that from the far Mæotis, from the land of theice-bound Don and the savage Massagetæ, where the strong works ofAlexander on the Caucasian cliffs keep back the wild nations, swarms ofHuns had burst forth, and, flying hither and thither, were scatteringslaughter and terror everywhere. The Roman army was at that time, absentin consequence of the civil wars in Italy. . . . May Jesus protect theRoman world in future from such beasts! They were everywhere, when theywere least expected, and their speed outstripped the rumor of theirapproach; they spared neither religion nor dignity nor age; they showedno pity to the cry of infancy. 

"Babes, who had not yet begun to live, were forced to die; and, ignorantof the evil that was upon them, as they were held in the hands andthreatened by the swords of the enemy, there was a smile upon theirlips. There was a consistent and universal report that Jerusalem was thegoal of the foes, and that on account of their insatiable lust for goldthey were hastening to this city. The walls, neglected by thecarelessness of peace, were repaired. Antioch was enduring a blockade. Tyre, fain to break off from the dry land, sought its ancient island. Then we too were constrained to provide ships, to stay on the sea-shore, to take precautions against the arrival of the enemy, and, though thewinds were wild, to fear a shipwreck less than the barbarians--makingprovision not for our own safety so much as for the chastity of ourvirgins. " In another letter, speaking of these "wolves of the north, " hesays: "How many monasteries were captured? The waters of how many riverswere stained with human gore? Antioch was besieged and the other cities, past which the Halys, the Cydnus, the Orontes, the Euphrates flow. Herdsof captives were dragged away; Arabia, Phoenicia, Palestine, Egypt, were led captive by fear. "

The Huns, however, were not the only depredators at whose hands theprovinces of Asia Minor and Syria suffered. There were other enemieswithin, whose ravages were constant, while the expedition of the Hunsfrom without occurred only once. These enemies were the freebooters whodwelt in the Isaurian mountains, wild and untamed in their securefastnesses. Ammianus Marcellinus describes picturesquely the habits ofthese sturdy robbers. They used to descend from the difficult mountainslopes like a whirlwind to places on the sea-shore, where in hidden waysand glens they lurked till the fall of night, and in the light of thecrescent moon watched until the mariners riding at anchor slept; thenthey boarded the vessels, killed and plundered the crews. Thus the coastof Isauria was like a deadly shore of Sciron; it was avoided by sailors, who made a practice of putting in at the safer ports of Cyprus. 

The Isaurians did not always confine their land expeditions to thesurrounding provinces of Cilicia and Pamphylia; they penetrated, in A. D. 403, northward to Cappadocia and Pontus, or southward to Syria andPalestine; and the whole range of the Taurus, as far as the confines ofSyria, seems to have been their spacious habitation. An officer namedArbacazius was intrusted by Arcadius with an office similar in object tothat which, four and a half centuries ago, had been assigned toPompeius; but, though he quelled the spirits of the freebooters for amoment, Arbacazius did not succeed in eradicating the lawless element, in the same way as Pompeius had succeeded in exterminating the piracywhich in his day infested the same regions. In the years 404 and 405Cappadocia was overrun by the robber bands. 

Meanwhile, after the death of Rufinus, the weak emperor Arcadius passedunder the influence of the eunuch Eutropius, who, in unscrupulous greedof money, resembled Rufinus and many other officials of the time, and, like Rufinus, has been painted far blacker than he really was. All theevil things that were said by his enemies of Rufinus were said ofEutropius by his enemies; but in reading of the enormities of the latterwe must make great allowance for the general prejudice existing againsta person with Eutropius' physical disqualifications. 

Eutropius naturally looked on the prætorian prefects, the most powerfulmen in the administration next to the Emperor, with jealousy andsuspicion, as dangerous rivals. It was his interest to reduce theirpower and to raise the dignity of his own office to an equality withtheirs. To his influence, then, we are probably justified in ascribingtwo innovations which were made by Arcadius. The administration of the_cursus publicus_, or office of postmaster-general, was transferred fromthe prætorian prefects to the master of offices, and the sametransferrence was made in regard to the manufactories of arms. On theother hand, the grand chamberlain, _præpositus sacri cubiculi_, was madean _illustris_, equal in rank to the prætorian prefects. Both theseinnovations were afterward altered. 

The general historical import of the position of Eutropius is that theempire was falling into a danger, by which it had been threatened fromthe outset, and which it had been ever trying to avoid. We may say thatthere were two dangers which constantly impended over the Roman Empirefrom its inauguration by Augustus to its redintegration by Diocletian--aScylla and Charybdis, between which it had to steer. The one was acabinet of imperial freedmen, the other was a military despotism. Theformer danger called forth, and was counteracted by, the creation of acivil service system, to which Hadrian perhaps made the most importantcontributions, and which was finally elaborated by Diocletian, who atthe same time averted the other danger by separating the military andcivil administrations. But both dangers revived in a new form. Thedanger from the army became danger from the Germans, who preponderatedin it; and the institution of court ceremonial tended to create acabinet of chamberlains and imperial dependents. 

This oriental ceremonial, so marked a feature of late "Byzantinism, "involved, as one of its principles, difficulty of access to the Emperor, who, living in the retirement of his palace, was tempted to trust lessto his eyes than his ears, and saw too little of public affairs. Diocletian appreciated this disadvantage himself, and remarked that thesovereign, shut up in his palace, cannot know the truth, but must relyon what his attendants and officers tell him. We may also remark thatabsolute monarchy, by its very nature, tends in this direction; forabsolute monarchy naturally tends to a dynasty, and a dynasty impliesthat there must sooner or later come to the throne weak men, inexperienced in public affairs, reared up in an atmosphere of flatteryand illusion, easily guided by intriguing chamberlains and eunuchs. Under such conditions, then, aulic cabals and chamber cabinets are sureto become dominant sometimes. Diocletian, whose political insight andingenuity were remarkable, tried to avoid the dangers of a dynasty byhis artificial system, but artifice could not contend with successagainst nature. 

The greatest blot on the ministry of Eutropius--for, as he was the mosttrusted adviser of the Emperor, we may use the word ministry--was thesale of offices, of which Claudian gives a vivid and exaggeratedaccount. This was a blot, however, that stained other men of those daysas well as Eutropius, and we must view it rather as a feature of thetimes than as a personal enormity. Of course, the eunuch's spies wereubiquitous; of course, informers of all sorts were encouraged andrewarded. All the usual stratagems for grasping and plundering were putinto practice. 

The strong measures that a determined minister was ready to take for themere sake of vengeance may be exemplified by a treatment which the wholeLycian province received at the hands of Rufinus. On account of a singleindividual, Tatian, who had offended that minister, all the provincialswere excluded from public offices. After the death of Rufinus, theLycians were relieved from these disabilities; but the fact that theedict of emancipation expressly enjoins "that no one henceforwardventure to wound a Lycian citizen with a name of scorn" shows what aserious misfortune their degradation was. 

The eunuch won considerable odium in the first year of his power (396)by bringing about the fall of two men of distinction--Abundantius, towhose patronage he owed his rise in the world, and Timasius, who hadbeen the commander-general in the East. An account of the manner inwhich the ruin of the latter was wrought will illustrate the sort ofintrigues that were spun at the Byzantine court. 

Timasius had brought with him from Sardis a Syrian sausage-seller, namedBargus, who, with native address, had insinuated himself into his goodgraces and obtained a subordinate command in the army. The pryingomniscience of Eutropius discovered that, years before, this same Bargushad been forbidden to enter Constantinople for some misdemeanor, and bymeans of this knowledge he gained an ascendency over the Syrian, andcompelled him to accuse his benefactor, Timasius, of a treasonableconspiracy, supporting the charge by forgeries. The accused was tried, condemned, and banished to the Lybian oasis, a punishment equivalent todeath; he was never heard of more. Eutropius, foreseeing that thecontinued existence of Bargus might at some time compromise himself, suborned his wife to lodge very serious charges against her husband, inconsequence of which he was put to death. Whether Eutropius then got ridof the wife we are not informed. 

Among the adherents of Eutropius, who were equally numerous andinsincere, two were of especial importance--Osius, who had risen fromthe post of a cook to be count of the sacred largesses, and finallymaster of the offices, and Leo, a soldier, corpulent and good-humored, who was known by the sobriquet of Ajax, a man of great body and littlemind, fond of boasting, fond of eating, fond of drinking, and fond ofwomen. 

On the other hand, Eutropius had many enemies, and enemies in twodifferent quarters. Romans of the stamp of Timasius and Aurelian werenaturally opposed to the supremacy of an emasculated chamberlain; while, as we shall see subsequently, the German element in the empire, represented by Gainas, was also inimical. It seems certain that aserious confederacy was formed in the year 397, aiming at the overthrowof Eutropius. Though this is not stated by any writer, it seems aninevitable conclusion from the law which was passed in the autumn ofthat year, assessing the penalty of death to anyone who had conspired"with soldiers or private persons, including barbarians, " against thelives "of _illustres_ who belong to our consistory or assist at ourcounsels, " or other senators, such a conspiracy being consideredequivalent to treason. Intent was to be regarded as equivalent to crime, and not only did the individual concerned incur capital punishment, buthis descendants were visited with disfranchisement. 

It is generally recognized that this law was an express palladium forchamberlains; but surely it must have been suggested by some actuallyformed conspiracy, of which Eutropius discovered the threads before itwas carried out. The particular mention of soldiers and barbarianspoints to a particular danger, and we may suspect that Gainas, whoafterward brought about the fall of Eutropius, had some connection withit. 

While the eunuch was sailing in the full current of success atByzantium, the Vandal Stilicho was enjoying an uninterrupted course ofprosperity in the somewhat less stifling air of Italy. The poetClaudian, who acted as a sort of poet-laureate to Honorius, was reallyan apologist for Stilicho, who patronized and paid him. Almost everypublic poem he produced is an extravagant panegyric on that general, andwe cannot but suspect that many of his utterances were directmanifestoes suggested by his patron. In the panegyric in honor of thethird consulate of Honorius (396), which, composed soon after the deathof Rufinus, breathes a spirit of concord between East and West, thewriter calls upon Stilicho "to protect with his right hand the twobrothers" (_geminos dextra tu protege fratres_). 

Such lines as this are written to put a certain significance onStilicho's policy. In the panegyric in honor of the fourth consulate ofHonorius (398) he gives an absolutely false and misleading account ofStilicho's expedition to Greece two years before, an account which noallowance for poetical exaggeration can defend. At the same time heextols Honorius with the most absurd eulogiums, and overwhelms him withthe most extravagant adulations, making out the boy of fourteen to begreater than his father and grandfather. If Claudian were not a poet, weshould say that he was a most outrageous liar. We are therefore unableto accord him the smallest credit when he boasts that the subjects inthe western provinces are not oppressed by heavy taxes and that thetreasury is not replenished by extortion. 

Stilicho and Eutropius had shaken hands over the death of Rufinus, butthe good understanding was not destined to last longer than the song oftriumph. We cannot justly blame Eutropius for this. No minister ofArcadius could regard with good-will or indifference the desire ofStilicho to interfere in the affairs of New Rome; for this desire cannotbe denied, even if one do not accept the theory that the scheme ofdetaching Illyricum from Arcadius' dominion was entertained by him at asearly a date as 396. His position as master of soldier in Italy gave himno power in other parts of the empire; and the attitude which he assumedas an elderly relative, solicitously concerned for the welfare of hiswife's young cousin, in obedience to the wishes of that cousin's father, was untenable, when it led him to exceed the acts of a strictly privatefriendship. 

We can then well understand the indignation felt at New Rome, not onlyby Eutropius, but probably also by men of a quite different faction, when the news arrived that Stilicho purposed to visit Constantinople toset things in order and arrange matters for Arcadius. Such officiousnesswas intolerable, and it was plain that the strongest protest must bemade against it. The senate accordingly passed a resolution declaringStilicho a public enemy. This action of the senate is very remarkable, and its signification is not generally perceived. If the act had beenaltogether due to Eutropius, it would surely have taken the form of animperial decree. Eutropius would not have resorted to the troublesomemethod of bribing or threatening the whole senate even if he had beenable to do so. We must conclude then that the general feeling againstStilicho was strong, and we must confess naturally strong. 

The situation was now complicated by a revolt in Africa, whicheventually proved highly fortunate for the glory and influence ofStilicho. 

Eighteen years before, the Moor Firmus had made an attempt to create akingdom for himself in the African provinces (A. D. 379), and had beenquelled by the arms of Theodosius, who received important assistancefrom Gildo, the brother and enemy of Firmus. Gildo was duly rewarded. Hewas finally military commander, or Count, of Africa, and his daughterSalvina was united in marriage to a nephew of the empress ÆliaFlaccilla. But the faith of the Moors was as the faith of Carthaginians. Gildo refused to send aid to Theodosius in his expedition againstEugenius. 

After Theodosius' death he prepared to take a more positive attitude, and he engaged numerous African nomad tribes to support him in hisrevolt. The strained relations between Old and New Rome, which did notescape his notice, suggested to him that his rebellion might assume theform of a transition from the sovereignty of Honorius to the sovereigntyof Arcadius. He knew that if he were dependent only on New Rome he wouldbe practically independent. He entered accordingly into communicationwith the government of Arcadius, but the negotiations came to nothing. It appears that Gildo demanded that Lybia should be consigned to hisrule, and he certainly took possession of it. It also appears thatembassies on the subject passed between Italy and Constantinople, andthat Symmachus the orator was one of the ambassadors. But it is certainthat Arcadius did not in any way assist Gildo, and the comparativelyslight and moderate references which the hostile Claudius makes to thehesitating attitude of New Rome indicate that the government ofAlexandrius did not behave very badly after all. 

We need not go into the details of the Gildonic war, through whichStilicho won well-deserved laurels, although he did not take the fieldhimself. What made the revolt of the Count of Africa of such greatmoment was the fact that the African provinces were the granary of OldRome, as Egypt was the granary of New Rome. By stopping the supplies ofcorn, Gildo might hope to starve out Italy. The prompt action andefficient management of Stilicho, however, prevented any catastrophe;for ships from Gaul and from Spain, laden with corn, appeared in theTiber, and Rome was supplied during the winter months. Early in 398 afleet sailed against the tyrant, whose hideous cruelties and oppressionswere worthy of his Moorish blood; and it is a curious fact that thisfleet was under the command of Mascezel, Gildo's brother, who was nowplaying the same part toward Gildo that Gildo had played toward hisbrother Firmus. The undisciplined nomadic army of the rebel wasscattered without labor at Ardalio, and Africa was delivered from theMoor's reign of ruin and terror, to which Roman rule, with all itsfiscal sternness, was peace and prosperity. 

This subjugation of the man whom the senate of Old Rome had pronounced apublic enemy redounded far and wide to the glory of the man whom thesenate of New Rome had proclaimed a public enemy. And in the mean timeStilicho's position had become still more splendid and secure by themarriage of his daughter Maria with the emperor Honorius (398), forwhich an epithalamium was written by Claudian, who, as we might expect, celebrates the father-in-law as expressly as the bridal pair. TheGildonic war also supplied, we need hardly remark, a grateful materialfor his favorite theme; and the year 400, to which Stilicho gave hisname of consul, inspired an enthusiastic effusion. 

It may seem strange that now, almost at the zenith of his fame, thefather-in-law of the Emperor and the hero of the Gildonic war did notmake some attempt to carry out his favorite project of interfering withthe government of the eastern provinces. But there are twoconsiderations which may help to explain this. 

In the first place Stilicho himself was not the man of indomitable willwho forms a project and carries it through; he was a man rather of thatambitious but hesitating character which Mommsen attributes to Pompey. He was half a Roman and half a barbarian; he was half strong and halfweak; he was half patriotic and half selfish. His intentions wereunscrupulous, but he was almost afraid of them. Besides this, his wife, Serena, probably endeavored to check his policy of discord and maintainunity in the Theodosian house. In the second place, it is sufficientlyprobable that he was in constant communication with Gainas, the Germangeneral of the eastern armies and chief representative of the Germaninterests in the realm of Arcadius, and that Gainas was awaiting histime for an outbreak, by which Stilicho hoped to profit and execute hisdesigns. He had no excuse for interference, and he was willing to wait. His inactive policy of the next two years must not be taken to indicatethat he cherished no ambitious projects. 

The Germans looked up to Stilicho as the most important German in theempire; their natural protector and friend, while there was a largeRoman faction opposed to him as a foreigner. But as yet this faction wasnot strong enough to overpower him. It is remarkable that his fall wasfinally brought about by the influence of a palace official (A. D. 408), while the fall of his rival Eutropius, which occurred far sooner (A. D. 399), was brought about by the compulsion of a German general. Thesefacts indicate that the two dangers to which I have already calledattention--the preponderating influence of chamberlains andeunuchs--were mutually checks on each other. 

CHRONOLOGY OF UNIVERSAL HISTORY

EMBRACING THE PERIOD COVERED IN THIS VOLUME

A. D. 13-409

JOHN RUDD, LL. D. 

CHRONOLOGY OF UNIVERSAL HISTORY

EMBRACING THE PERIOD COVERED IN THIS VOLUME

A. D. 13-409

JOHN RUDD, LL. D. 

Events treated at length are here indicated in large type; the numeralsfollowing give volume and page. 

Separate chronologies of the various nations, and of the careers offamous persons, will be found in the INDEX VOLUME, with volume and pagereferences showing where the several events are fully treated. 

* Denotes date uncertain. 

A. D. 

13. A fifth ten-year term of imperial rule is voted to Augustus at Rome. 

Roman invasion of Germany under Germanicus. See "GERMANICUS IN GERMANY, "iii, 1. 

14. Death of Augustus; succeeded by his adopted son, Tiberius, asemperor of Rome. 

16. Germanicus successful in his campaign against Arminius. He isrecalled to Rome by Tiberius. See "GERMANICUS IN GERMANY, " iii, 1. 

17. Ephesus, Magnesia, and other cities in Asia destroyed by anearthquake. 

Germanicus fêted in Rome. 

18. Herod the Tetrarch builds the city of Tiberias in Galilee. 

Wealthy women of Jerusalem provide wine medicated with opiates forcrucified malefactors. See "THE CRUCIFIXION, " iii, 23. 

19. Death of Germanicus. 

Jews and Egyptians expelled from Rome; four thousand of them colonize inSardinia. 

21. The theatre of Pompey, at Rome, destroyed by fire. 

23. Birth of Pliny the Elder. 

26. Tiberius leaves Rome to the government of Sejanus. 

27. The Roman Pantheon completed. 

30 (29-33). Death of Jesus. See "THE CRUCIFIXION, " iii, 23. 

31. Downfall and execution of Sejanus. 

33. Great impetus of Christianity. See "THE RISE AND SPREAD OFCHRISTIANITY, " iii, 40. 

37. Caius, called Caligula, succeeds Tiberius as emperor of Rome. 

41. Emperor Caligula murdered; Claudius elevated to the throne. 

The Herodian kingdom of Judea restored under Herod Agrippa. 

43. Beginning of the Roman conquest of Britain under Aulus Plautius andClaudius. 

44. Plautius is appointed the first Roman governor of Britain. 

Death of Herod Agrippa; end of the kingdom of Judea. 

51. Caractacus, King of the Trinobantes in Britain, captured by Ostoriusand sent in chains to Rome. 

52. Aqueducts of the Aqua Claudia in Rome, begun in A. D. 38, completed. 

54. Agrippina poisons Claudius; Nero, her son, becomes emperor. 

55. * Birth of Tacitus. 

59. Agrippina murdered at Nero's order. 

61. Boadicea in Britain revolts against the Romans; the uprising quelledby Suetonius Paulinus. 

62. * Birth of Pliny the Younger. 

64. The burning of Rome. See "BURNING OF ROME UNDER NERO, " iii, 108. 

First persecution of Christians. See "PERSECUTION OF THE CHRISTIANSUNDER NERO, " iii, 134. 

65. The conspiracy of Piso against Nero. Execution of Lucan and Senecaby command of Nero. 

66. Revolt of the Jews against the Roman government. 

67. Victorious campaigns of Vespasian against the rebellious Jews. 

68. Rise of the Roman commanders against Nero. Galba's march upon Rome. Suicide of Emperor Nero; accession of Galba. 

69. Galba murdered. Otho becomes emperor; vanquished by Vitellius, whoascends the throne. Vespasian overthrows Vitellius and succeeds him. 

Uprising of the Batavians under Claudius Civilis. 

70. The Roman Capitol rebuilt by Vespasian. 

Jerusalem besieged and destroyed by Titus. See "THE GREAT JEWISHREVOLT, " iii, 150. 

76. Birth of the emperor Hadrian. 

78. Agricola succeeds Julius Frontinus in Britain; extends the Romandominion to the Tyne and introduces the useful arts. 

79. Death of Vespasian; Titus on the throne. 

Destruction of Herculaneum and Pompeii by an eruption of Vesuvius; Plinythe Elder, writer of the _Studiosus_, loses his life. See "DESTRUCTIONOF POMPEII, " iii, 207. 

80. The Roman Empire swept by pestilence. 

The Colosseum, the work of Vespasian, dedicated by Titus. 

81. Death of Titus; Domitian, his brother, becomes emperor. 

Agricola extends Roman dominion in Britain. 

84. Successful campaigns of Agricola against the Caledonians underGalgacus. Agricola builds a wall of defence between the Clyde and theForth, and sails around the north of Scotland for the first time. 

85. Agricola recalled to Rome through jealousy of Domitian, who appointsSallustius in his stead. 

86. Successful onslaught of the Dacians, under the Decebalus, againstthe Romans. 

Capitoline games instituted by Domitian at Rome. 

87. Dacian wars led Rome to agree to pay tribute and provoked thecruelties of Domitian. 

88. Celebration of the secular games at Rome. 

Tacitus appointed prætor. 

91. Domitian concludes a peace with the Dacians. 

94. Domitian's wholesale slaughter of his subjects appalls Rome. 

95. Jews and Christians refusing to pay taxes to rebuild the temple ofJupiter at Rome are severely punished. These cruelties are sometimescalled the "second persecution. "

96. The tyrannies of Domitian finally provoke a conspiracy whichaccomplishes his death. Nerva succeeds him as emperor. Exiles recalledand the unjustly imprisoned freed. 

97. Tacitus, the historian, becomes consul at Rome. Nerva adopts Trajan. 

98. Nerva dies and is succeeded by Trajan; Pliny and Plutarch are highlydistinguished by him. 

99. Julius Servius becomes governor of Britain. 

101. Trajan discontinues the annual payment to the Dacians; they invadethe Roman provinces; Trajan attacks and drives them over the Danube. 

102. Rome continues the war in Dacia. Trajan's Empress, Plotina Pompeia, and his sister, Marciana, by their example reform the manners andcharacter of the Roman women. 

103. Trajan dictates a treaty of peace to Decebalus, the Dacian leader. 

104. Rome renews the Dacian war; Trajan again in command; Hadrian servesunder him. 

Pliny writes his famous letter to the Roman Emperor in regard to theChristians. 

105. Trajan's bridge over the Danube constructed. 

Plutarch is governor of Illyricum. 

106. Decebalus falling in battle, the Dacian war ends; Dacia becomes aRoman province beyond the Danube. 

107. Trajan drains the Pontine marshes and constructs a road throughthem; he erects a school for poor children and performs othermeritorious works. 

Great discontent is aroused by the progress of Christianity among thenumerous classes of those whose livelihood is derived from the servicesand ceremonies of the heathen temples. The third persecution ofChristians begins. 

114. Trajan's Column erected; it was made of twenty-four huge blocks ofmarble so closely united that they seem like one piece; it is still inexistence, although Trajan's statue, surmounting it, was replaced by oneof St. Peter. 

115. War of Rome with Parthia; Trajan adds Armenia and Mesopotamia tothe Roman domains. Rome attains its greatest extension. 

Great earthquake at Antioch. 

116. Great revolt of the Jews in Cyrene, Cyprus, and Egypt; theyslaughter many thousands of Greeks and Romans. 

117. Death of Trajan, who is succeeded by Hadrian; the Asiatic conquestsare relinquished by him. 

118. Hadrian, who was with Trajan at the time of his death, returns toRome; a plot against him is discovered and four conspiring senators areput to death. Hadrian conciliates the people with large gifts. He entersupon his campaign in Moecia. 

119. Hadrian begins a personal survey of his dominions; he visitsCampania, Gaul, and Britain. 

121. Birth of Marcus Aurelius Antoninus. 

131. Birth of Galen, long the supreme authority in medical science. 

132. Insurrection of the Jews under Bar Cocheba; their final dispersionfollows. See "THE JEWS' LAST STRUGGLE FOR FREEDOM: THEIR FINALDISPERSION, " iii, 222. 

138. Death of Hadrian and succession of Antoninus Pius. 

155. * About this time Polycarp and Justin suffer martyrdom. See"MARTYRDOM OF POLYCARP AND JUSTIN MARTYR, " iii, 231. 

161. Death of Antoninus Pius; Marcus Aurelius Antoninus succeeds to theRoman throne and makes Lucius Verus his associate in the Empire. 

Roman war with Parthia begins. 

162. Volagases, with a Parthian army, invades Syria and defeats theRomans. 

163. Verus, the Roman Emperor, enjoys himself at Antioch and Daphnewhile his generals reap successes in Armenia and Media. 

165. Seleucia and Ctesiphon are captured by the Romans; end of theParthian war; Rome acquires Mesopotamia. 

166. * Great plague throughout the Roman Empire. 

War begins between Rome and the Germanic tribes of the Marcomanni andQuadi, which had invaded Roman territories. 

168. The Marcomanni retire into their own country, but M. Aureliuspursues his preparations against them, in order to safeguard Italy. 

169. Sudden death of Verus, while in his chariot, on his journey toRome. 

174. Aurelius makes a short visit to Rome; when he rejoins the army theGerman tribes are signally defeated; this gives rise to the fable of the"Thundering Legion. "

177. Persecution of the Christians in Gaul begins; Pothinus, Bishop ofLyons, suffers martyrdom. See "PERSECUTION OF THE CHRISTIANS IN GAUL, "iii, 246. 

180. Death of Marcus Aurelius; his son, Commodus, succeeds him on theRoman throne. See "BEGINNING OF ROME'S DECLINE: COMMODUS, " iii, 263. 

183. Lucilla, the sister of Commodus, having conspired against herbrother, is exiled from Rome; Commodus vents his rage on the senators. 

184. The Caledonians break through the wall on the northern borders ofBritain; they are driven back by Ulpius Marcellus. 

185. Marcia, the favorite of Commodus, protects the Christians. 

Birth of Origen, one of the early Church fathers, at Alexandria. 

186. Many prominent Roman citizens are put to death, by order ofCommodus. 

187. Commodus degrades himself by acting as a gladiator and slaying wildbeasts in the Circus at Rome. See "BEGINNING OF ROME'S DECLINE:COMMODUS, " iii, 263. 

188. Lightning strikes the Capitol at Rome; the library and manyadjacent buildings are burned. 

189. Revolt of Maternus in Spain and Gaul subdued by Pescennius Niger. 

Famine and pestilence in Rome; popular commotions; the guards areovercome and Commodus is driven to Lanuvium; the populace is appeased bythe sacrifice of Cleander. See "BEGINNING OF ROME'S DECLINE: COMMODUS, "iii, 263. 

191. Great fire at Rome; the temples of Vesta and of Peace are burned;many valuable libraries destroyed, in which some works of Galen's arelost. 

192. Murder of Commodus. 

193. Pertinax elected emperor by the Roman senate; he is laterassassinated by the prætorians. The Imperial dignity is purchased byDidius Julianus; he is slain the same year. Albinus in Britain, Niger inSyria, and Septimus Severus in Pannonia are proclaimed emperors by theirrespective legions. Fall of Didius Julianus and accession of Severus. 

194. In the East, Severus triumphs over his rival, Niger. Byzantiumresists Severus. 

196. Byzantium falls before Severus. 

197. Albinus in Gaul is crushed by Severus. 

198. Septimus Severus proceeds against the Parthians; he besieges andcaptures Ctesiphon. 

208. Successful campaign of Severus against the Caledonians in Britainand Caledonia. 

211. Death of Septimus Severus at York; his sons Caracalla and Getasucceed him. 

212. Caracalla slays his brother Geta. 

213. Caracalla, universally detested for his cruelties, goes into Gauland assumes the surname of Germanicus. He leads the first attack of theRomans against the Alemanni. 

215. Having proceeded through Dacia, Thrace, and Antioch to Alexandria, Caracalla orders a massacre of the Egyptians. 

216. By a delusive offer of marriage with the daughter of Artabanus, Caracalla decoys the Parthians into his camp, where he treacherouslyattacks and slays a great number of them. 

217. Caracalla is assassinated; Macrinus is proclaimed emperor; hepurchases peace with the Parthians. Julia Domna, the mother of Caracallaand Geta, being banished to Antioch, starves herself to death. 

218. Macrinus is overthrown by Elagabalus, who succeeds him as emperorof Rome. This was accomplished by Moesa, sister of Julia Domna, bribing a portion of the army to espouse the cause of her grandsonElagabalus. 

219. Elagabalus arrives at Rome; he brings with him his Syrian idol, which he places in a stately temple. 

220. The highest offices of the State are filled by Elagabalus with hisvilest associates. 

222. Alexander Severus (Alexianus) succeeds Elagabalus, who is slain bythe prætorians; his mother, Sooemias, is killed with him. 

223. All persecution of the Christians ceases in Rome. 

Alexander Severus guided by his mother, Marnæa, who is created augusta. 

224. The Persians, under Ardashir (known by the Greeks as Artaxerxes), revolt against the Parthians. 

225. Marriage of Alexander Severus to Sulpitia Memmia. 

226. Ardashir overthrows the Parthian kingdom; he founds the new Persiankingdom of the Sassanidæ. 

228. Ulpian, prætorian prefect, endeavors to restrain the licentiousnessof the guards; a mutiny ensues and he is put to death. 

229. Dion Cassius having, as governor of Dalmatia and Pannonia, offendedthe army by his strictness, the Emperor testifies his approbation bymaking him his colleague in the consulship. 

230. Artaxerxes, now at the head of a powerful empire and great army, lays claim to all the former territories of Persia. 

231. Alexander Severus, at Antioch, prepares to resist the Persiandemands by arms. 

232. After a campaign in Mesopotamia without decisive results, but inwhich the Romans claim the victory, Alexander returns to Antioch. 

233. Close of the Persian war. 

234. Alexander musters his forces in Gaul to repel the German tribesthat had invaded the province. 

235. Alexander Severus and his mother, Mamæa, are murdered in a mutinyof the army, near Mainz (or Mentz). 

Maximin is proclaimed emperor. 

Ambrosius assists the labors of Origen by paying clerks to copy forhim. 

236. Maximin defeats the Germans and drives them across the Rhine. 

237. Maximin proceeds to Sirmium, with the design of attacking theSarmatians. His ferocious tyranny excites universal horror. 

238. A rebellion against Maximin in Africa; Gordian, the proconsul, andhis son are proclaimed emperors; they are overthrown by Capelianus andslain, Maximus and Balbinus are elected by the senate as joint emperors;they are murdered by the prætorians. On his march to Rome, Maximin isassassinated by his soldiers; his son is also slain. The Third Gordianis associated with Maximus and Capelianus in the empire. The two latterare slain, and Gordian becomes ruler of the Roman domain. 

239. The young emperor of Rome, at first deceived by the eunuchs of thepalace, is extricated from their pernicious influence by Misitheus. 

240. Various tribes of Germany confederate under the name of Franks. This is the first time they are mentioned in history. 

241. Victorious advance of Sapor I against the Roman dominions. See"EVENTFUL REIGN OF SAPOR I, KING OF PERSIA, " iii, 277. 

242. The Persians are defeated by Gordian; Misitheus, his general, recovers Mesopotamia. Plotinus accompanies the Roman army, in the hopeof reaching India. 

244. Gordian, aged nineteen, is murdered, near Circesium (Carchemish); alofty mound is there raised to his memory. 

Philip the Arabian becomes emperor of Rome; he makes peace with Sapor. 

249. The Roman legions revolt in several provinces; some proclaimJotapianus, and others Marinus, both of whom are killed by their ownmen. Decius, who is sent to appease the mutineers, is compelled by themto assume the purple and lead them into Italy. Battle of Verona. Philipis defeated and slain, and his son murdered at Rome. Decius is emperor. 

250. Decius orders the persecution of the Christians. 

The Goths cross the Danube, enter the Roman dominions as far as Thrace, and capture Philippopolis. 

251. Victory of the Goths; Decius, at the head of the Romans, isdefeated and slain. Gallus ascends the throne. 

253. Barbarians invade Moesia and Pannonia; they are defeated byÆmilianus, who is hailed as emperor by his army; he marches againstGallus, who, with his son, is assassinated by his soldiers. On theapproach of Valerian, at the head of the Gallic legions, Æmilianus isslain, near Spoleto. Valerian becomes emperor. 

254. Franks invade the northern provinces of Gaul. 

An eruption of Mount Ætna. 

Persecution of the Christians recommences. 

256. The Roman Empire is assailed on all sides. The Franks pass throughGaul and sack Tarraco in Spain; the Alemanni attack Italy; theSarmatians and Quadi force their way into Pannonia; Macedon and Greeceare ravaged by the Goths; Persians invade Syria and Mesopotamia. 

Cyprian, one of the early fathers of the Church, assembles anothercouncil at Carthage, which provokes angry disputes. 

258. Valerian goes into the East against the Persians. The invaders ofGaul are checked by Postumus. The Goths capture Trebizond. 

260. Roman war with Persia; defeat and capture of Valerian by Sapor. Outbreaks continue throughout the provinces. Gallienus ascends thethrone. 

261. Manes originates the Manichæan heresy, which taught among otherthings that there were two souls or spirits in man, one good and theother evil; also that the soul at death went first to the moon and thento the sun, and thence to God. 

267. Various Gothic bands, called by some Scythians, ravage Greece andAsia. One section is driven out of Asia by Odenathus; later he isassassinated by his nephew, Mæonius. His widow, Zenobia, avenges hisdeath and fills with glory his vacant throne of Palmyra. 

268. Murder of the emperor Gallienus; accession of Claudius II. 

269. Claudius signally defeats the Goths at Naissus, Moesia. 

Zenobia rules in Egypt in the name of Claudius. 

270. The Goths are again defeated by Claudius; shortly after, he dies ofthe plague at Sirmium. His brother assumes the purple, but dies by hisown hand seventeen days later. Aurelian is universally acknowledged asemperor; he makes peace with the Goths, and relinquishes Dacia to them, transferring that name to another province south of the Danube. 

271. The Alemanni who had invaded Italy are overwhelmed by Aurelian. 

272. Aurelian attacks Zenobia, Queen of Palmyra; he captures Tyana, Emesa, and Antioch. 

273. Palmyra surrenders to Aurelian, and Queen Zenobia is made prisoner. 

274. Aurelian, having reunited the Roman Empire, celebrates a splendidtriumph at Rome. Queen Zenobia is treated generously and passes her lifein peace and affluence. 

275. On his march to attack Persia, Aurelian is assassinated; Tacitus iselected by the senate. 

276. Aurelian's murderers are punished by Tacitus; he dies while leadingan expedition against the Goths, who had invaded Asia. Florian, hisbrother, succeeds him; he is slain. Probus is proclaimed emperor by thearmy; the senate confirms it. 

277. Probus drives out the Franks, Burgundians, and other German tribesthat had overrun Gaul. A number of his prisoners, removed to Pontus, seize a fleet in the Euxine, escape through the Bosporus, plunder manycities on the shores of the Mediterranean, and reach Germany again. 

278. Probus repairs the fortified line from the Rhine to the Danube, expels the Goths from Thrace, represses the Isaurian robbers, andarrives in Syria, where he arranges terms of peace with Persia. 

282. Probus, successful since 276 against the enemies of Rome, is killedin a mutiny of the army at Sirmium. 

Accession of Carus; he gives the title of cæsar to each of his two sons, Carinus and Numerianus. 

283. Carus wages a successful campaign against Persia; he diesmysteriously in his tent, near Ctesiphon, during a violent storm. Carinus and Numerianus become joint emperors of Rome. 

284. Murder of Numerianus; Diocletian proclaimed emperor. 

285. Carinus is murdered. 

286. Maximian made Imperial colleague of Diocletian. 

287. The Bagauds revolt in Gaul. 

288. Carausius, in command of the Roman fleet at Gessoriacum, revoltsand establishes an independent sovereignty in Britain. 

292. Constantius Chlorus and Galerius are appointed cæsars by Diocletianand Maximian; the Roman Empire is divided among the four. 

293. Carausius is treacherously murdered by Allectus, who assumes thegovernment of Britain. 

296. Athanasius, the "Father of Orthodoxy, " born. *

297. Achillius having revolted in Egypt, Diocletian in person suppressesthe insurrection; Alexandria is captured and the inhabitantsslaughtered. 

298. Rome makes a victorious peace with Persia; extension of the RomanEmpire. 

300. From this date paganism declines. See "CONVERSION OF CONSTANTINE, "iii, 289. 

303. Diocletian persecutes the Christians; the fiercest and mostsystematic persecution which they had yet suffered. 

304. Severe illness of Diocletian, imputed to his long journey in thewinter, but attributable rather to his vexation at the disorders causedby his change of policy toward the Christians, and to his finding itimpossible to extirpate their religion. See "CONVERSION OF CONSTANTINE, "iii, 289. 

305. The dilemma in which Diocletian is placed by the rash counsels ofGalerius determines him to abdicate. He resigns the purple at Nicomedia, and persuades Maximian to follow his example on the same day at Milan. Constantius and Galerius take the title of augustus, and that of cæsaris given to Severus and Maximian. 

306. Death of Constantius Chlorus; Constantine the Great, his son, ismade cæsar; Severus becomes augustus; Maxentius, son of Maximian, assumes the purple. Maximian resumes the rank of augustus. Civil warbegins between Constantine and his rivals. The Salian Franks aredefeated by Constantine. 

307. Licinius is made augustus on the fall of Severus. 

308. There are five emperors actually ruling in the Roman Empire, withMaximian, as a sixth, holding nominal power in the court of hisson-in-law, Constantine. 

310. Maximian is slain by order of Constantine. 

311. Galerius issues an order to stop the persecution of the Christians;his death occurs soon afterward. 

312. Constantine vanquishes Maxentius in Italy, and becomes sole rulerof the Western Roman Empire. See "CONVERSION OF CONSTANTINE, " iii, 289. 

313. Constantine and Licinius proclaim toleration for the Christians. 

Maximian is overthrown by Licinius, who unites the Roman Empire of theEast under his rule. 

314. Constantine and Licinius have their first war; the latter isvanquished. See "CONVERSION OF CONSTANTINE, " iii, 289. 

315. Constantine issues an edict against infanticide; another edictcondemns to be burned alive any Jews who persecute or ill-treat convertsfrom their sect to Christianity. 

318. Beginning of the Arian controversy. 

321. Constantine makes an edict ordering the Aruspices to be consultedin certain cases, according to the ancient form. Two others prescribethe observance of Sunday. 

323. Licinius is overcome by Constantine, who becomes sole master of theRoman Empire. See "CONVERSION OF CONSTANTINE, " iii, 289. 

324. Constantine, who had promised his sister not to injure Licinius, orders Licinius to be strangled. 

325. Council of Nice, the first general council of the Church; thefollowers of Athanasius pronounce the condemnation of the Arians. See"FIRST NICENE COUNCIL, " iii, 299. 

326. Helena, saint and Empress, visits Palestine and founds churchesthere. 

329. Frumentius preaches Christianity to the Abyssinians. 

330. Removal of the capital of the Roman Empire from Rome to Byzantium. See "FOUNDATION OF CONSTANTINOPLE, " iii, 320. 

331. Birth of Hieronymus (St. Jerome). 

333. The title of cæsar given by Constantine to his youngest son, Constans. 

An edict of Constantine's exempts medical men and professors ofliterature from military service. This confirmed the procedure ofcertain former emperors. 

337. Death of Constantine, soon after his baptism by Eusebius, an Arianbishop. Partition of the Roman Empire between his sons, Constantine, Constans, and Constantius. 

340. Constantine II makes war upon Constans; the former is slain, andConstans becomes ruler of the greater part of the Roman Empire. Constantius rules in the East. 

341. Gaul is invaded by the Franks, who resist Constans. 

Ulfilas becomes bishop of the Goths. *

Violent earthquakes in Syria. The Synod of Antioch assents to an Ariancreed, deposes Athanasius, and appoints Gregory bishop of Alexandria. 

347. A general council is held at Sardica. The majority approves theNicene faith; the deposition of Arian bishops voted, and the restorationof Athanasius and Marcellus to episcopal honors. The minority secede toPhilippopolis and annul their acts; the two bodies mutuallyexcommunicate each other. 

348. Sapor, at the head of the Persians, defeats the Romans at Singara. 

350. Magentius proclaims himself emperor; Constans flees into Spain, where he is assassinated. 

351. Constantius defeats Magentius at the battle of Mursa. 

352. Italy declares against Magentius, who gains a useless victory atPavia. 

353. Constantius sole emperor, Magentius being overthrown by him. 

Constantius convokes the Council of Arles, which condemns Arianism. 

354. Birth of St. Augustine. 

355. Julian, being appointed cæsar, takes command of the Roman troops inGaul. 

Athanasius is deposed by the Council of Milan. 

356. Julian is successful against the Alemanni and Franks in Gaul. 

357. Constantius visits Rome; he presents an obelisk from Egypt to thecity. 

Julian has a great victory at Strasburg. 

358. Julian winters in Paris, after which he resumes his campaign anddefeats the Franks. 

359. Again the Rhine is crossed by Julian, who conquers all before him. 

360. The Cathedral of St. Sophia is dedicated at Constantinople. 

Julian is elected emperor in Gaul. See "JULIAN THE APOSTATE BECOMESEMPEROR OF ROME, " iii, 333. 

361. Death of Constantius while on his way to oppose Julian. 

A revival of paganism. 

362. Julian proclaims universal toleration and recalls the exiledbishops to their sees. 

363. Expedition of Julian against the Persians, under Sapor II; Julianretreats and is slain; Jovian succeeds him in the purple; he purchasespeace of Sapor by allotting him the Roman frontiers. 

Christianity again in the ascendant. 

364. Death of Emperor Jovian; Valentinian succeeds him in the West, andValens in the East. 

365. Great earthquake in the Roman dominions. 

Gaul is harassed by the Alemanni; Britain by the Picts, Scots, andSaxons. 

367. First campaign of Theodosius against the Picts and Scots inBritain. 

368. The Alemanni repulsed from Gaul. 

369. Theodosius, having subdued a revolt in Britain, returns to Gaul. 

370. Saxons infest the coast of Gaul; they are driven back to theirships by Severus. 

374. Huns cross the Volga and proceed westward, overpowering the Alani. See "THE HUNS AND THEIR WESTERN MIGRATION, " iii, 352. 

St. Ambrose is elected bishop of Milan. 

375. Death of Valentinian I; he is succeeded by his son Gratian andValentinian II, his infant brother. 

376. Driven by the Huns, the Visigoths are admitted into the RomanEmpire south of the Danube. 

378. Death of Emperor Valens in an encounter with the Visigoths atAdrianople. 

Gaul is invaded by the Alemanni; they are repulsed by Gratian. 

379. Theodosius is recalled from his retirement in Spain and awarded thesovereignty of the East by Gratian. 

380. Theodosius is baptized by the Bishop of Thessalonica. 

381. Second general council, held at Constantinople. 

382. Theodosius makes a treaty with the Visigoths; their finalsettlement in Thrace and Moesia. 

383. Rebellion of Maximus in Britain; he lands in Gaul, where he isjoined by the forces there; he overthrows Gratian. 

387. Maximus invades Italy. Valentinian flees with his mother andsister, Galla, to Thessalonica; Theodosius meets them, marries Galla, and prepares to meet Maximus. 

388. Maximus is defeated and slain. 

A formal vote of the senate establishes Christianity in the RomanEmpire. 

389. Theodosius visits Rome; he commands the destruction of the heathentemples. Valentinian becomes sole ruler of the West. 

390. Sedition at Thessalonica, and massacre of its inhabitants, by orderof Theodosius. 

392. Paganism in the Roman Empire is finally suppressed by law. 

Murder of Valentinian II by Arbogast; Eugenius usurps the throne in theWest. 

394. Eugenius and Arbogast are vanquished by Theodosius the Great, whounites the whole Roman Empire under his sceptre. 

395. Death of Theodosius the Great; final division of the Empire. See"FINAL DIVISION OF ROMAN EMPIRE, " iii, 364. 

399. The Ostrogoths, under Tribigild, revolt and ravage Phrygia. 

Stilicho sends additional forces into Britain, and fortifies the coastagainst the Saxons. 

402. Alaric advances in Italy, and Stilicho prepares to resist him. 

403. Honorius, on the approach of Alaric, flees from Milan. 

Alaric, King of the Visigoths, encounters Stilicho, Honorius' general, at Pollentia; the Romans claim the victory, but Alaric continues hisadvance toward Rome. Stilicho defeats and drives him back, near Verona;Alaric retires from Italy. *

404. Triumph of Honorius and Stilicho at Rome. Combats of gladiatorsexhibited for the last time. 

The capital of the Western Empire is removed from Rome to Ravenna. *

Chrysostom, the patriarch, is banished Constantinople; the Church of St. Sophia, probably kindled by the angry adherents of Chrysostom, burned tothe ground. 

405. Radagaisus collects a great horde of Ostrogoths, Vandals, Suevi, and other Barbarians, and leads them into Italy. He is defeated byStilicho near Florence, and surrenders on condition of having his lifespared. He is, however, treacherously put to death. 

St. Jerome completes his Latin translation of the Bible. *

406. German tribes break down the Rhine barrier and establish themselvesin Gaul. 

Vigilantius, a presbyter of Barcelona, condemns celibacy, the worship ofrelics, etc. ; St. Jerome attacks him in a furious epistle, saying thathe ought to be put to death. 

407. Constantine usurps authority in Britain and Gaul. 

408. Arcadius is succeeded by his son Theodosius II in the Byzantineempire. 

Honorius orders Stilicho to be put to death, accusing him oftreacherously treating with Alaric, who is besieging Rome. 

409. Alaric receives a large ransom from the citizens of Rome andwithdraws into Tuscany. Deceived in his negotiations with Honorius, heagain lays siege to Rome, which is again spared on condition of Attalusbeing made emperor. 

Owing to the passes of the Pyrenees being left unguarded, the Vandals, Suevi, and Alani enter Spain. 

END OF VOLUME III